My country, always wrong
There is a strong cultural divide between the east and the west of Europe: You can reasonably assume that countries not polled in the east would mostly be in the …
Read MoreTag: europe
Fictional Ruthenia & Galicia – and real Ukraine
Twelve years ago I wrote my second novel. The action took place in an Eastern European magic kingdom, superimposed in another dimension over what is, in this world, western Ukraine, …
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The friend of my enemy is not my enemy
I remember fondly the times when the small states of Eastern and Central Europe enjoyed a near universal support among the American right in their aspirations for independence and freedom, …
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Ukraine 3 (updated)
Coverage continues. Top illustration: the Polish convoy with military supplies for Ukraine. 2:53PM: Amid many speculations, multiple sources say the decision has been made — and as soon as on …
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Ukraine 2 (updated)
More rolling coverage and snippets from social media (graphic by Imogene Salva) 2:15PM: Poland is supplying Ukraine with military supplies free of charge, including a Polish equivalent of “Stinger” missiles. …
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Ukraine (updated)
Disjointed thoughts at a tragic time, progressively updated: Putin is invading Ukraine – not just sending “peacekeepers” into the breakaway pro-Russia regions in the east of the country – in …
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20 + 1 Best Books I’ve Read in 2021
This is the last time I’m ever doing New Year’s resolutions. My resolution for 2021 was to read less – not because I hate reading but to have more diverse …
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Reparate my ass
The other day I have been called a “toff”, “tax dodger”, “ass”, “whataboutery wanker”, “sociopath”, “revisionist”, “bigot”, “sordid”, “tendentious”, “arguer for wrong”, and a genocide apologist who deserves it happening …
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They were for it before they were against it
Another anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe came and went with the now usual disgruntlement bubbling between Russia and all the other participants. This year …
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COVID is no plague
So many questions have arisen about how to deal with Covid19. A lot of us have been asking who did it best? The lockdowns, the border closures… the list goes …
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Happy 1055th birthday Poland!
You might have had some rough times recently, but you don’t look a day older than a millennium. On the Holy Saturday, 14 April 966, Poland had officially entered the …
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Hills are alive with the sound of white supremacy
The story of the present times is the never-ending race to out-idiot each other on the way to the bottom: The University of Oxford is considering scrapping sheet music for …
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On being transethnic
One of the circles to be yet squared by the transgender theory and practice is that if gender is, as we are told, a social construct, then being transgender means …
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Weight of the world is killing us
While modern science and medicine offer us more opportunities to live longer and healthier lives, modern lifestyle – our diet (both quality and quantity), lack of exercise, stress and other …
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Something is rotten in the state of Scotland, or Scottish Fish Fight
Blood will have blood. Macbeth 3.4 Most readers of this blog may not pay terribly much attention to the intrigues of Scottish politics, but what is currently unfolding in Holyrood …
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25 Best Books I’ve Read in 2020
As always with these annual roundups, please note that these are the best books I’ve read last year, not the best book published last year, as I never buy new …
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On discovering a scandal in family history
One of my great regrets in life is not having interrogated my loved ones about their past and their family histories while they were still alive. Now the generation of …
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America’s mythical allies – and the real ones
Sam Vinograd, an Obama administration nat sec alumnus – and now, needless to say, a CNN nat sec analyst – is hearing sounds: It's like I can almost hear our …
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Against the Great Satan
Back in 1996, I and three friends had the privilege (having handsomely won the election) of editing the University of Queensland student newspaper “Semper Floreat”. The Latin name means “always …
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