Tag: 2004

Mike Bassett England Manager

UK: When I Watched “Mike Bassett England Manager” with my Dad! (7.7.2026)

My family would travel to my parent’s home in Torquay at various times of the year – and me and my father sat in the darkened front-room of 2 Torbay Road – and howled with laughter at this remarkable English film! My Dad wanted me to see how ordinary people experience life – including pitfalls and disasters – and how they a) deal with it, and b) over-come those problems. The English way also includes a sense of humour. Anyway, my life sorted itself out and afterwards more great things were experienced and achieved. Today, for no reason at all, this film came up on YouTube – perhaps because it has a fictional match between England and Mexico. Today, the England Team is routinely reaching semi-finals and finals – but you never can tell if a return to the old form is on the cards!

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During National Service, he became a piper in the Cameron Highlanders.

Scotland: Tribute to Working-Class Hero – Mr Andy Anderson [1938-2026] – Former Cameron Highlander Piper! (2.7.2026)

In his book about the battle, he wrote: “We were not, as we first thought, just opposing a government. We were in fact opposing the whole mindset, which was itself a captive of international companies who were determined to use the Skye Bridge project as an experiment.”

Andy would become a key independence campaigner in the years that followed. After the referendum loss, he helped found the Scottish Currency Group, which continues to this day.

Three years ago, he founded the grassroots campaign Respect Scottish Sovereignty, which calls for decentralised direct democracy, allowing ordinary people to stand up for their rights against government authority.

Andy and Doreen moved to Saltcoats around a decade ago, before moving to their home next to Ardrossan Cemetery three years ago.

His daughter, Theresa Derbyshire, said: “He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a year ago and he survived a lot longer than anyone expected. My brother and his wife stay with them in house and the whole family looked after him.

“We are expecting a lot of people to come from all over to pay their respects at his funeral later this month. ”

Andy’s funeral service will be held at 2.30pm on July 27 at the Holmsford Bridge Crematorium in Dreghorn.

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Panama - Chinese Workers Suffered Under Terrible Conditions!

China: Paying Homage – Monument of the Chinese Workers – Putting An End to a Hundred Years of Being Alone! (30.12.2025)

Most of the overseas Chinese in Panama today come from Chinese workers who came to the Americas in the late Qing Dynasty. Contrary to the friendly attitude of the Panamanian government towards China today, from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China (1911), there have been many anti-China trends in the Americas, and Panama has also been involved in such turmoil. The main reason for this is that diligent and thrifty Chinese workers were more likely to accumulate wealth, and become the target of persecution – because they possessed no political status (such as citizenship). There was a time when Panama even legislated to deprive overseas Chinese of their property. In order to avoid the plundering of their hard-earned savings, Chinese workers in Panama (at that time) had to try to find women of other races to inter-marry with in order to transfer their property to their wives or children. This experience of racism has greatly changed the Chinese faces of Panama from that of their ancestors. Today, many look entirely “Panamanian” with only their surnames carrying a connection to the Chinese motherland and hometown.

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Memorial Stone for the Crew of the CSS HL Hunley!

CSA: Remembering the CSS HL Hunley – Confederate Submarine Recovered in 2000! (8.4.2025)

These were the last Confederate soldiers to be laid to rest in the US. They were buried in 2004 in Charleston – with over ten thousand people attending – many carrying Confederate flags. The official US government stance was one of indifference and perhaps embarrassment (the US was busy illegally invading Iraq and Afghanistan – falsely blaming both countries for the September 11th World Trade Centre Attacks). One of the submarine crew – “C Lumpkin” – was British (images of what the crew looked like have been created), whilst two others (of the eight-man crew) were also non-American (“Corporal Johan Frederik Carlsen” was Danish – whilst “Arnold Becker” was Germany). In other words, three of the eight were foreign – and I know that people came from Ireland (which was then under British control) and from Mainland Britain to join the Confederate Cause.

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Battersea Park: The Central Bandstand! (27.5.2023)

The River Wandle flows for around 9 miles – and originates in the Waddon Ponds and Carshalton Ponds area – a boundary area spanning East Surrey and Southwest Greater London (the London Borough of Sutton and Cheam). The River Wandle enters the right-bank of the River Thames in the vicinity now called ‘Wandsworth’. Both the river (and the place) are probably named after a mighty Saxon Warlord named ‘Waendel’ whose clan dominated a large swathe of Southern and Eastern England! Indeed, so powerful was this man’s reputation that his name came to dominate an entire British river! 

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