Feb Writing Comp:….Cabin Fever.

The heat in the air beat down like an oppresive blanket enveloped in steam and covered in treacle as the woman stumbled in the road and cursed yet again as she blinked away the sweat that was pouring down her face and turning her expensive dress into a sodden rag.  A parrot screeched and the sound mingled with the strains of a radio playing a fast Rhumba beat somewhere nearby.  She strained again to lift the suitcase from the dusty road to continue and then saw a seedy looking place that looked as if it may contain the type of man she was looking for, a man built for speed rather than comfort and who wouldn’t ask too many questions. Continue reading “Feb Writing Comp:….Cabin Fever.”

The Ribbon of death

It had been a few months since we last held a meeting. The authorities had cracked down hard on our activities and our band of disenfranchised rebels was dwindling. As I still retained my membership I was summoned to an extraordinary reunion of the Ribbonmen.

The venue chosen brought tears to my eyes. It was in this holy place that I said a final goodbye to my kid brother. Everybody loved Gerry, from the little kids to the old rummies. He never got mixed up in schemes of Nationalism. Gerry was always exploring, on the move making new friends but the Good Lord had taken him in the prime of his life.
Continue reading “The Ribbon of death”

A Welcome for Cuprum, and Bootsy and Peter

In the early days of this site, every new author was formally greeted with a notice in the sidebar, but this pleasantry appears to have lapsed recently.

So, a belated welcome to Bootsy, our true blue correspondent in Perth; a more up-to-date welcome to Peter Barnett, a seasoned campaigner from the Dark Side, and an on time welcome to Cuprum426.    It’s great to have the three of you on board.

I must confess that Cuprum is known to Boadicea and to me.   I shall not compromise his privacy, for that is down to him to retain or to abandon at his choice, but I felt that the pre-existing relationship should be disclosed to all other passengers on the Chariot for the sake of probity.   You may all relax, however, for he is not yet another Australian – he is actually quite normal, for a Pom.

Greetings again to Bootsy, Peter and Cuprum – it’ll be the last you get! 😀

Assimilation depends on a shared sense of national pride

If we radiate no sense of pride, no community of identity, we make it much harder for settlers to want to belong. If we deride and traduce the concept of patriotism, if we teach that the nation-state is finished, if we affect to believe that British history was a hateful chronicle of racism and exploitation, if we insist that we’re all Europeans now, we can hardly be surprised if people – whether long-settled or the children of immigrants – begin to cast around for alternative identities.

Article here

Continue reading “Assimilation depends on a shared sense of national pride”

What’s the best question ever asked?

How far east can you go before you’re heading west?

If you dug a hole through the centre of the earth,and jumped in, would you stay at the centre because of gravity?

When does it stop being partly cloudy and start being partly sunny?

If ghosts can walk through walls and glide down stairs, why don’t they fall through the floor?

Do you have a favourite?

Terror Alerts

Variations on an oldie.
The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist threats and have therefore raised their security level from “Miffed” to “Peeved.” Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to “Irritated,” or even “A Bit Cross.”

The English have not been “A Bit Cross” since “The Blitz” in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out.

Terrorists have been re-categorized from “Tiresome” to “A Bloody Nuisance.” The last time the British issued a “Bloody Nuisance” warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada. Continue reading “Terror Alerts”