Category Archives: Uncategorized

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 →

The Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – ought to be considered parts of Scandinavia, but rarely are, because of the way history has impacted on them. By ‘history’, of course, I mean Russia, especially in recent years when … Continue reading →

Here’s Trump’s pre-Independence Day speech yesterday, in front of the huge iconic carvings of four of his presidential predecessors on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pfGOBUsHwU. (Sorry about the adverts; but you should be able to be able to skip … Continue reading →

Can it be that Trump is already on his way down? I don’t mean all the way to Hell, necessarily; although I imagine they’re waiting eagerly for him there. But his ‘approval ratings’ in the latest polls seem to be … Continue reading →

I welcomed Keir Starmer as Labour’s leader, and now Prime Minister (if only for a few more weeks). I didn’t agree with all his policies; but he seemed solid, rational and decent, in contrast to all the Prime Ministerial crap … Continue reading →