Category Archives: Politics

Gray’s Gauntlet

Posted on 29/03/2020 by alasdairflett

“At least now there is something we all have in abundance – time” – one of the truisms of the Corona era. But time is what we’re fighting for now; the Quarry’s been brought in to buy it, to put … Continue reading →

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Mindforming Misattributions

Posted on 18/11/2019 by alasdairflett

I realise there’s no shame in being poor…but it’s no great honour either. The above quotation is from the musical Fiddler on the Roof and is spoken by the bumbling patriarch, Tevye before he launches into his song ‘If I … Continue reading →

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1979

Posted on 25/08/2019 by alasdairflett

I do not mean our political and civil liberties. They will endure. […] The threat is nearly invisible in ordinary ways. It is a crisis of confidence. It is a crisis that strikes at the very heart and soul and … Continue reading →

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Nynorn and beyond

Posted on 30/07/2019 by alasdairflett

Orkney: an interesting case study for historical linguists In the following, I’ll discuss my passion for historical linguistics and how this discipline is especially interesting in relation to Orkney and the now-extinct language of Norn. Firstly, I’d like to explain … Continue reading →

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Appeasing AfD: precedent for Chemnitz?

Posted on 01/09/2018 by alasdairflett

About the Nazis though… This week around 6000 far right supporters and neo-Nazis gathered in the small city of Chemnitz in Saxony. They turned out in response to the killing of a 35-year-old Cuban-German man by two refugees. About a … Continue reading →

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On Orwell

Posted on 28/01/2018 by alasdairflett

I don’t know if you know or don’t know but I’m currently living and, ostensibly, working in Germany as part of my Year Abroad from the University of Edinburgh. Hence weird gushing praise of Burns, hence the invocation of glorious … Continue reading →

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The man o’ independent mind: who was Robert Burns?

Posted on 25/01/2018 by alasdairflett

Robert Burns is the National Poet of Scotland – a phrase I use to introduce the most important figure of Scottish literature. This led, after about the third repetition to the question of: Why does not England then have a … Continue reading →

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A Free Admission

Posted on 28/10/2017 by alasdairflett

Midday in Manchester; streetlamps lit. The overcast gloom was a mental association, acquired thanks to Morrissey and co, satisfyingly confirmed as I was transported through a city whose psychogeography was already etched deep into my mind and which was later … Continue reading →

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The bleary pilgrim

Posted on 21/08/2017 by alasdairflett

Bundled into the Corsa. Beltless, unshaven and woozy. Despite its lack of a working radio I still love this car. The defunct Blaupunkt reads “SAFE” in all-caps instead of channel, or frequency. It couldn’t display track number; in this respect, … Continue reading →

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I am the Ferryman

Posted on 11/06/2017 by alasdairflett

  Midsummer’s in ten days and I’m eking out all I can of this year’s solstice light, situated as I am just a couple more degrees north of Scotland’s capital where I’ve been studying these past two years at the … Continue reading →

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