To govern does not equal to change
In 2016 following the vote on Brexit, an American political journalist wrote: “But what if progressivism…
Frankenstein’s children
In 1815 Mount Tambora, on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Sumbawa, erupted in…
The Crisis in Australian Politics 2010-2013 (reposted)
As described in the previous post, Free speech for public servants and Osip Mandelstam, I am…
My descriptions of the Northern Peoples – travel in Stockholm and Uppsala
I am returning today to my notes on my travels, and piecing together the literary and…
On the virtue of not knowing (WordPress anniversary repost)
Today I am posting the last (for now) of my reposts from earlier, retired blogs. This…
Poem: The State Historical Museum, Moscow
On my trip to Moscow I visited the State Historical Museum in Moscow, housed in the…
Berlin, Vergangenheitsbewältigung and finding freedom in the past
After Prague we travelled by train to Berlin. There were no preeminent icons of literature –…
Do we repair our republics with big ideas or ordinary virtues?
My old boss and sometime mentor, Terry Moran, has given an oration in which he sets…
On the rescue of society
Writing in the New York Times (Jan 10 2019), David Brooks proposes the “remoralization of the market” as the…
Reflections on 2018… a year of history
Looking over my posts for the year I am struck by the recurrence of history in…