In 2001 the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act came before the U.S. Congress. It would have given those who had arrived illegally as children the chance of permanent legal residency. But it failed to pass then and failed again on two subsequent occasions. The Obama administration implemented the Deferred Action for…Read more Dreamers
folk
Let the Cards Fall
Fate is fickle, they say. On another day her pointing finger may have selected the indie pop of A Trick of the Light by The Villagers or the classical/folk guitar work of Impossible Air by Nathan Salsburg. But, today, she has guided Crotchety Man to a new single release by The Breath called Let the…Read more Let the Cards Fall
As I Roved Out
I've always thought of oak trees as being quintessentially English. Robin Hood is supposed to have sheltered under the Major Oak in Sherwood forest, King Charles II hid from his enemies in the Royal Oak and the indomitable English navy was built from the wood of that noble tree until the 19th century. But, apparently,…Read more As I Roved Out
Cwlwm
When the Crotchety Kid was just nine or ten years old one of his teachers was a woman not so young in years but with all the best attributes of youth in her manner. There was a timeless beauty in her face and the fresh warmth of her personality has never been matched in all the…Read more Cwlwm
Days of Pearly Spencer
Sometimes I feel I'm losing the will to live. It's usually when I'm ironing - shirts are so darn fiddly, aren't they? So I do my ironing weekday afternoons between 1 and 4 pm so that I can listen to the Radcliffe and Maconie show on the radio. They play some good music and…Read more Days of Pearly Spencer
The Black Rock
March came in with an icy blast here in the UK. We had 10 - 20 cm of snow, much of the country's transport system ground to a halt and some unfortunate motorists got stuck on a Scottish motorway for eight hours. It was all due to "the beast from the east" - a weather…Read more The Black Rock
River Man
I don't have much to say about this Track of the Week. So, instead, here's a silly little ditty about the Chinese fisherman's friend, the cormorant. The common cormorant, or shag, Lays eggs inside a paper bag. The reason you will see, no doubt, Is to keep the lightning out. But what these unobservant birds…Read more River Man
