Author Archives: bernardporter2013

What gets my goat about many public Christians, and Christian churches and denominations, is how un-Christian they appear – to me. This may have something to do with the sort of Christian environment I was brought up in, by my … Continue reading →

Whenever Trump mentions one of America’s states, it’s always a ‘great’ State:  ‘Senator X from the great State of Minnesota’, for example. Why? Are Minnesotans flattered by this? What is it in particular that makes Minnesota great? Its northerliness? All … Continue reading →

On the question of the US’s recent ‘deep’ bombing of Iran, I’m torn between, firstly, my old 1960s CND views – nuclear weapons were one of the two main targets of my political activism then (the other was South African … Continue reading →

So far as I’m aware, The Russia Report has still not been published in full. It comprised the findings of an inquiry by a British Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee , set up in November 2017, into allegations of Russian … Continue reading →

… at last; as a straightforward overnight ankle operation turned into a fortnight of other late-discovered maladies. But I seem to be OK now; back at my (Swedish) home with help from Kajsa and from the amazing social services that … Continue reading →

Obviously I’m ‘against’ Trump as a European, an ‘intellectual’, a liberal and a socialist. But it’s my identity as a historian that raises my hackles against him most. Trump obviously values history (as he understands it) as a means of … Continue reading →

There’s a bit of a debate going on in Sweden just now – although not as widespread or rancid as in Britain or the USA – about immigration; with the usual suspects – the rising right-wing  Sverigedemokraterna party – leading … Continue reading →

Still in hospital, I’m afraid. Had the op last Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?), but the damage to my ankle was greater than they had anticipated, so they had to work on it for several hours. Apparently it all turned … Continue reading →

I remember years ago – it must have been in the ’70s – Margaret Thatcher’s appointing a businessman to her cabinet, after making him a Lord, in the belief that men (only men) who had succeeded in the ‘real world’ … Continue reading →

Talk of impending civil wars – in the USA, Britain and elsewhere – is becoming disturbingly common just now. Here’s one of a number of serious academic discussions of the likelihood of one breaking out in present circumstances: https://www.militarystrategymagazine.com/article/civil-war-comes-to-the-west/. I … Continue reading →