Author Archives: bernardporter2013

For those of us lucky enough not to live in the USA, the past week has been rather enjoyable. I know I’m atypical in being a bit of an American politics nerd: actually knowing about their Constitution and ‘impeachment’ and the 25thAmendment … Continue reading →

I’ve always resisted simple answers to historical questions, and indeed specifically warned readers against them in my books. History is complicated, muddled. Imperialism – for example – was not only a matter of capitalist exploitation, or racist arrogance, or misplaced humanitarianism; or … Continue reading →

In Victorian times the propertied classes in Britain and across Europe had an inordinate fear of ‘the mob’. That’s why they denied the vote to anyone who didn’t have a material ‘stake’ in their countries, and so could be marshalled … Continue reading →

There’s a super documentary series on Swedish TV just now about ‘Stockholms Blodbad’, when 80-odd prominent Swedish nobles and bishops were beheaded and hanged in Stortorget, in the old town, in November 1520, on the orders of the Danish king … Continue reading →

How can old people remain so cheerful, when they know that death will be upon them soon? I used to wonder that when I was young. Now I think I know. For most of us – even if, like me, … Continue reading →

Gott nytt år! – Or maybe not if you’re a Remainer.  And perhaps if your eye caught this report in some of the British papers this morning: https://www.universalpersonality.com/eu-faces-swexit-threat-after-sweden-warned-if-brexit-happens-we-want-to-leave/. ‘Swexit’ would be a tragedy, I believe, for Sweden, Europe and the world. And … Continue reading →

Amazon.se is up and running, rather to my surprise – I hope its employment practices meet Swedish trade union standards – and is the only supplier I can find here that can provide me with a particular item I want: … Continue reading →

I thought we could do with some cheerful thoughts, as we approach the end of this dreadful year. So here goes. In about 7.5 billion years’ time our earth – or the shrivelled, scorched remnant of it – will fall … Continue reading →

So, Boris has outwitted Johnny Foreigner to bring us – just in time for Christmas – a terrific new ‘deal’ with the EU.  Just as I predicted: https://bernardjporter.com/2020/12/06/a-prediction/; and with the Tory press puffing it up in the way I predicted, too.  What … Continue reading →

‘Ah yes, but wouldn’t Corbyn have been worse?’ This from people who have begun to acknowledge the incompetence, corruption and sheer malevolence (viz. Rees-Mogg – attacking Unicef for feeding starving children!) of the present government’s record with respect to both … Continue reading →