Article 10
On 21 January 2016, the day of publication of the findings of Sir Robert Owen’s Public Inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, BBC2’s Newsnight featured a report in which correspondent...
View ArticleArticle 9
The following text is from ‘The Fugitive’ – Part 1 of a BBC documentary series ‘Russian Godfathers’, directed by Patrick Forbes and narrated by Ian Holm, first broadcast in the autumn of 2005.[1]“Boris...
View ArticleAll Berezovsky got was this lousy T-shirt
“Polonium 210 -CSKA- London, Hamburg, To Be ContinuedCSKA Moscow Nuclear Death is Knocking Your Door”This ‘fashion statement’ is imprinted on a T-shirt which, in July 2010, was purportedly sent to...
View ArticleRussia's bad rap
Праведник спасается от беды, а вместо него попадает в нее нечестивый (Притчи 11:8)[1]‘Susannah’ was the codename given to an ill-fated ‘false flag’ intelligence operation which took place in Egypt in...
View ArticleBlowback on the Back Burner
"…the analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms, that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.”President Barack Obama’s well-known use of this...
View ArticleThe Welshman who Stood in a Valley but Came Down a Hill
Scholars agree that St David was a genuine historical figure, whose ministries as Abbot and Bishop impacted not only Wales but also much of what is now south west England and Brittany on the continent,...
View ArticleSerena Shim Identifies Her Killers
In late December 2012, Lebanese American journalist Serena Shim filed a report for Iran’s Press TV, ‘Turkey’s Pivotal Role in Syria’s Insurgency’. However by that time, US complicity in channelling...
View ArticlePilgrimage on the Coast
St Columba with St Martin's Cross (not to scale)Depicted in an icon of St Columba by Maria Elchaninova-Struve, St Martin’s Cross was installed in its present location on Iona in about the year 800 AD....
View ArticleThe Gaslighting Initiative
Originating in the title of a 1938 play by English dramatist Patrick Hamilton, the term ‘gaslighting’ is more familiar to North Americans than to Brits. In the second of two wartime silver screen...
View ArticleTop Marks
Martyred ca. 303AD during the same Diocletianic persecution in which SS George and Vitus also died, St Philoterius was a Roman of noble birth from Nicomedia (Izmit). Besides being his feast-day, 19 May...
View ArticleThe "cavorting charlatan" whose record has been ignored
One important difference between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson is that Trump was a political outsider, who made a great play of his promise to ‘drain the swamp’. By contrast, Johnson is very much a...
View ArticleArticle 12
On Palm Sunday morning in Kraljevo I was glad at least to visit an Orthodox Church. I then spent a fascinating hour or so in its National Museum, where a lady with excellent English showed me...
View ArticleArticle 11
Yet even here, the implications of a direct link between CIA involvement and Račak are somewhat underplayed. Western media coverage in the first three months of 1999 amounted to nothing less than a...
View ArticleArticle 10
Clever manipulation of the way news is presented and wily methods of orchestrating its release into the public domain are among techniques known as ‘spin’. Clearly, some kind of deal was struck...
View ArticleArticle 9
VII Serbia: Birder on the Orient Express The border guards at the Serb frontier were the friendliest and most courteous I encountered anywhere, and I spent the night in a comfortable but affordable...
View ArticleArticle 8
From the café I continued eastwards along Ferhadija[1]to the Baščaršija, the old bazaar and focal point for Islam in the city since the 15th century. I then spent the afternoon and early evening...
View ArticleArticle 7
VI Bosnia and Hercegovina: It’s a Long Way to Medjugorje On the morning of Friday 12th March, dedicated to Bl. Joseph Tshang-ta-Pong[1], the official on the Croatian side of the Bosnia-Hercegovina...
View ArticleBest Practice
“In the East and in Crimea, people want to speak Russian. Leave them alone, just leave them alone. Give them the legal right to speak Russian. Language should never divide our country. I’m of Jewish...
View ArticleThem’s the Brex
On Thursday 07 July, BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme was specially extended as the surge of government resignations went into full spate and everyone realised Johnson was headed for No.10’s...
View ArticleWinning Run of the Rovers
What is the chemical formula of the gas, nitric oxide, understood to help brain cells transmit messages to each other? And is this related to the term ‘gashead’, applied to Bristol Rovers fans? The...
View ArticleThe Amber Dog
Tsar Nicholas II’s uncle by marriage, King Edward VII (d. 1910) was the first British monarch to decree that since his birthday was in wet and grey November, its ‘official’ celebration should be moved...
View ArticleArticle 22
Watson: “The 1st November 2006.”For a significant number of people in both the UK and Russia, the easiest way to bring this day to mind is to recall the Champions League game which took place that...
View ArticleBear-baiting: NATO’s scurvy reboot of a long-reviled blood sport
In the midst of last month’s soaring temperatures, BBC Radio 4’s early evening news programme carried a salutary reminiscence from Allan Little. He was in France during the long hot summer of 2003.“The...
View ArticleStella Maris Meals
“St Mary-on-the-Quay is central to the history of the Catholic Church in Bristol.” Mervyn Alexander, Bishop of Clifton 1974-2001 (✝2010)Fr Michael Cleary moved into St Mary’s presbytery on the feast of...
View Article
More Pages to Explore .....