littleworkpage

In April this year the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) announced that they have in their possession a database of offshore firms.  I had blogged about this back then.  http://article14.blogspot.sg/2013/04/icijs-offshore-files-singapore-link.html?showComment=1365318770280  A Singapore entity (Portcullis Trustnet) setting up trust companies was thrown up as a link by the ICIJ.  Portcullis has officially taken the position that its operations are perfectly legitimate and that no laws have been infringed.  To be fair there are legitimate usages for offshore companies and one has to proceed carefully to avoid jumping to conclusions.  In June this year, ICIJ released their database and made it available in a searchable format online.  http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/06/14/12833/icij-releases-offshore-leaks-database-revealing-names-behind-secret-companies The link for the database is here: http://offshoreleaks.icij.org/ Before...

Diana Brodie's been publishing poems for nine years. I know her because we attend the same local poetry group at her house. Hearing a poem of hers most months, I'm not surprised that she now has a book out. "Giotto's Circle", has been published by Poetry Salzburg. It's available from the Poetry Salzburg site. This interview was conducted via e-mail in mid-2013. 1. When did you start writing poetry? Has your writing gone through recognisable phases? Can you identify any breakthrough moments? I think that when I was very young I had the idea of becoming a poet. I read a lot, learned poems by heart and sat pensively by the window with an open book. My parents had firm plans for me – a job in my father’s office, starting as near as possible to my fifteenth birthday. When I was about eight, I had a schoolteacher who was especially good at teaching creative subjects and I so much enjoyed my first lesson in how to write a poem that when I arrived home from school, I...