Issue 13-05-2011
Featured story
Horace Alexander: Gandhi’s interpreter
Horace Alexander was in the first of two cohorts of weighty Friends who, as peace emissaries, moved us through the twentieth century. The first was spearheaded by Carl Heath, Horace Alexander, Corder Catchpool and Agatha Harrison – the list is not exhaustive. Then came those whom we have lost more recently,...
Top stories
Looking for Agnes and Olga
A drab, grey bus station in the Prague suburbs, just before 10am. I have left my family behind to go it alone. It’s a pilgrimage in search of Agnes Barsdorf and her daughter Olga Grunberg (née Barsdorf).
Reactions to the election results
Friends have given contrasting reactions to last week’s election results. No Quakers, as far as the Friend understands, have been elected to the Scottish parliament or the Welsh or Northern Irish assemblies, although a number of Friends continue to serve as local councillors.
BAE board challenged
What happens when the arms industry comes face to face with its critics? There is one day every year when the representatives of a top arms manufacturer are legally obliged to listen to opponents facing them in the same room: the annual general meeting (AGM) of multinational arms firm BAE...
China Convoy on the move
Plans are under way to launch a website devoted to the relief work done by conscientious objectors on the ‘China Convoy’.
Christian Aid Week supported
Quakers throughout Britain are supporting Christian Aid Week (15-21 May) by raising funds and promoting campaigns on global poverty.
All articles
Simplicity and solar panels
A few months ago I read a detailed article in the Guardian about solar panels and the new ‘Feed-in Tariffs’. Labour’s parting shot was this new legislation that suddenly made solar not just affordable, but actually a sound investment. The solar electricity generated on our roof is fed back...
Eye - 13 May 2011
Into the woods On the theme of outdoor worship, Brian Wardrop wrote in to tell Eye of a fascinating little walk he had recently. He and his wife went down to the woods to seek out the beautiful blue carpet of silent bells. Reaching a crossroads of paths deep in...
Living by means and ends
Small is beautiful; scale is essential. It is easy to see what I can do locally. It is much harder to see how my local choices affect the global economy. Are my decisions irrelevant, or am I the butterfly flapping its wings in the Rockies and causing a heatwave in...
Ireland Yearly Meeting 29th April – 1st May 2011
Tucked away on the edge of Dublin, amid playing fields and fine trees, lies King’s Hospital School. It provided an excellent location for 150 Friends and attenders to hold Ireland Yearly Meeting (IYM).
Jesus – who was he?
Recently, I have been reading A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes. It is the weirdest book I have ever read. Rebecca West calls it: ‘A hot draught of mad, primal fantasy and poetry’. One experience is of children witnessing an adult showing his anger and the comment is: â€...
Letters - 13 May 2011
The coalition, the cuts and the cost Like Tom Jackson (15 April), I was born before 1939 and remember the days before the welfare state. Four times a year I used to enjoy sticking penny stamps onto hundreds of brown envelopes, bills that my parents, who were general practitioners, sent out to...