The Twelve Books of Christmas
For the Christmas edition of Critical Mass, Dave Middleton asked contributors for lists of twelve: books, songs, films; whatever we like. So naturally I chose books. Now Critical Mass is…
Access and Adventure in Lakeland
This is my entry to the Kendal Mountain Festival Open Mountain Competition. It was not selected so I am sharing it here. Background The county of Cumbria is not well…
Trickle Down Treats
On mischief night I lock my door Against the knocking of the poor.“Trick or Treat?” I hear them cry.We need to eat or we will die!”“The treats are on the…
On names and the meaning of words
Wilhelm Von Humboldt (1767 – 1835) was a linguist and a philosopher of language who tells this story about naming. A peasant was listening to astronomy students as they were…
Black Lives Matter and language matters.
A recent article online attracted some criticism because it referred to black women instead of Black women. The rationale is that ‘Black’ is a placeholder for identity. And it makes…
Kabul Airport 16 August 2021
KABUL AIRPORT 16 AUGUST 2021“Completing the pre-flight checklist:”Flight controls — CheckedInstruments and radios — CheckedAltimeter — CheckedGyroscope — CheckedFuel gauges — CheckedPropeller — CheckedMagnetos — CheckedFlaps — Checked Unchecked items:…
Vaccines, Covid and Anti-Vaxxers
I have just started reading Vaxxers. It is a brilliant book that tackles the anxiety that surrounds the rollout of the Covid vaccine programme. How do I know it is…
A Tale of Two Industries.
Compare these two areas of government expenditure. One contributes over £42 billion to the economy and employs nearly 200,000 people. It also directly supports another 260,000 jobs in the UK,…
Three Lions
Following the final of EURO21 three black footballers were subject to a torrent of racist abuse on social media. Whatever their intent, the racists have only succeeded in provoking a…