Monthly Archives: August 2026

I‘m not a ‘conspiracy theorist’ – or at least I don’t think I am. But it’s difficult to dismiss the idea that there’s a dark conspiracy underlying the resistance of the US Department of Justice to the full publication of … Continue reading →

Surely he must be certifiable by now – certifiably insane, that is? I don’t think I need to rehearse all his symptoms here; many other commentators, including professional psychiatrists, have already done that. (See, for example,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dangerous_Case_of_Donald_Trump.) Diagnoses vary, but … Continue reading →

If it weren’t for the curvature of the earth I’d probably be able to see the coast of Estonia from here. ‘Here’ is our island in the Stockholm archipelago, looking due east (roughly); and reading Baltic-related literature, after our trip … Continue reading →

When I was a university teacher I always came down very hard on plagiarism, which I regarded – and still do – as the ultimate academic sin. That’s if I was able to spot it. I couldn’t always: when for … Continue reading →

That is, as opposed – if it is opposed – to security, comfort, a home, entertainment, and a host of other ‘goods’ that don’t necessarily depend on it. Sigmund Freud thought not: https://www.socratic-method.com/quote-meanings-and-interpretations/sigmund-freud-most-people-do-not-really-want-freedom-because-freedom-involves-responsibility-and-most-people-are-frightened-of-responsibility. (His argument is summarised in that link.). … Continue reading →

The evidence of Trump’s ignorance, stupidity, lying, narcissism, greed, corruption and cruelty is so ubiquitous just now, that there seems scarcely any point in adding to it. So I’m not going to; even after just having finished reading Mary L … Continue reading →

I have an addiction. Kajsa thinks it’s to my cellphone, which she sees me hooked on to longer than is healthy for me, or for our relationship. I recognise that this could be the sign of a psychological addiction, of … Continue reading →

The radical reform that Gianni Infantino is proposing for the football World Cup – to ‘privatise’ it (to an extent) by selling shares in it to private investors – is yet another symptom of the seemingly inexorable advance of untamed … Continue reading →