Postcard from Bishkek

In the US, March 3rd is known as National Anthem Day … a day for celebrating the patriotic music that is thought to represent the history, traditions and struggles of a nation, as recognized either officially by its government as the official national song … or by convention, through use by the people. In Britain, […]

Little did I know last week, when I prepared last Saturday’s postcard, An After Dinner Question …, how timely it would turn out to be … In it, I described how, having given an after dinner speech about Tourism in Kyrgyzstan, one of the audience had posed the question: Which tourists spend the most money? … and how […]

Although there had been taxis plying the streets in the Soviet period, (even operating with proper meters), they had more or less disappeared in the early days after Independence and, for a time at least, almost any vehicle served as a taxi.  It was some years before recognizable taxis reappeared. In fact, when I first arrived […]

According to the Doomsday Clock, mankind is just three minutes away from annihilation … fortunately it is not a “real” clock and doesn’t measure “real time”. Actually, there is a clock – or, at least, a clock face – in the University of Chicago, in the offices of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The […]

In his budget in 1798, William Pitt the Younger announced a new tax which was introduced into force on 9th January the following year: Income Tax.  The new tax was needed to finance the war against the French forces under Napoleon, that were threatening an invasion – and had already landed briefly in both Wales […]

In his story The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain makes great play of the Great Seal of England – a seal that is used to symbolize the royal approval of important state documents. At a crucial point in the narrative – the seal has disappeared … Tom Canty, (the pauper of the title), unaware […]

Today is the Professional Holiday for workers in the Customs Service of the Kyrgyz Republic. The day was established in 2006 in order to create and ensure the continuity of traditions in the Customs Service and the date was chosen to commemorate the signing of the decree “On the formation of the State Customs Inspectorate […]

The Kenyan politician, Senator Beatrice Elachi, says: “It is not easy being in politics …”, and the statistics suggest that it is even harder making your mark in politics if you’re a woman. With a few notable exceptions … there are far fewer women who “break the glass ceiling” and make it to the top […]

On my dirst visit to Kyrgyzstan, back in 1994, I was taken up to Lake Issyk Kul where a group of us stayed in one of the large Sanatoria that the Soviets built on the northern shore.  There were five or six of us who planned to stay there for four or five days, but […]

I know that some people don’t consider Norman Rockwell as a serious artist, including, incidentally, Rockwell himself – who modestly referred to himself as many of his critics did – as an “illustrator”. He was, however,  a prolific artist, producing over 4000 paintings in his working life … but he is probably best known for […]