Books · Observations · Society · Pop Culture

Barbie and Anna Karenina as two versions of one female dream in different societies

I wanted to write about this rather pointless exhibition in Hollywood titled Barbi to Anna Karenina, arguing that Barbie and Anna Karenina could only ever have met in Hollywood. But then I thought: it is only at first glance that Barbie and Anna Karenina have nothing in common. Anna Karenina

Observations · Society · Humour

Common sense loses to the new reality, with the score at two to nil

We have seen flats seized, corporations swallowed and oilfields taken, foreign territories annexed and even presidents abducted, but to my mind the handing of the Nobel Peace Prize to Trump is the most flagrant raider takeover in history. Common sense loses to the new reality by two goals to nil

Observations · Society

Nobel rules bar transfer of the prize, but laureates may give away the medal and the money

A Nobel Laureate Cannot Officially Transfer the Medal or the Status of Laureate to Another Person. Precisely so: under the official rules of the Nobel Prize and the practice of the Nobel Foundation, a laureate has no right to transfer his or her Nobel medal, or the Prize itself, to

Geography · Maps · Observations · Society

As for the suggestion that Trump's mania for Greenland stems from his ignorance of the Mercator projection, and that he therefore believes Greenland to be even larger than America, as it appears on ordinary maps, it should be noted that, of course…

In fact, Greenland, which on the map looks commensurate with America, has an area 12 times smaller than that of North America and almost 5 times smaller than that of the United States. The habitable parts of Greenland are the narrow coastal strips free of ice, which make up about

Archive · Faith · Monarchies · Paris · People

Marie Antoinette wrote a farewell to her children in her prayer book before her death

15 August, 4.30 in the morning. My God, have mercy on me! My eyes have no more tears with which to weep for you, my poor children; farewell, farewell! Marie Antoinette The Queen of France wrote this line in her prayer book a few hours before her death, knowing

An elderly monk with a long white beard, in a black cassock and cap, stands by an old stone wall.

Faith · Society

Venerable Paisios of Mount Athos on the rule of the Word of God over the world

The world is always governed by the Word of God; neither the Americans nor the Europeans govern it. They may dominate for a short while, God permits it so that they may punish themselves. Saint Paisios of Mount Athos Amen

Architecture · Moscow · Society

Construction of a pedestrian bridge on Bolotnaya Embankment in Moscow may begin this year

A pedestrian bridge is apparently to be built on Bolotnaya Embankment this year. The project has been talked about for a long time, and now it is acquiring some clarity. The bridge will pass beneath the Maly Kamenny Bridge and join the sections of Bolotnaya Embankment divided by Serafimovich Street,

Faith · The East · Society · People

Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service has published a statement calling Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople an "Antichrist in a cassock" and "the devil incarnate", accusing him of schismatic activity aimed at displacing the Russian…

The statement says that Patriarch Bartholomew, guilty of the "dismemberment of Orthodox Ukraine", has now turned his attention to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and is acting jointly with British intelligence services to create religious structures under Constantinople's control. Russian intelligence also claims that the Patriarch'

The East · Society

At one period the USSR exercised considerable influence over Iran, especially after the Second World War, when pro-Soviet entities such as the Republic of Mahabad and the Azerbaijan People's…

But the very first fruit of Soviet-Iranian rapprochement was the Gilan Soviet Socialist Republic, founded in 1920. The Bolsheviks backed a nationalist movement, and the GSSR was proclaimed in the country, lasting only a year. During the Second World War the USSR and Great Britain occupied Iran to prevent

The East · Geography · Maps

A Map of Persia from 1922, a Diagram of the Border with the USSR, and a Map of Present-Day Iran

The shared border between Iran and the USSR ran to 2,500 km of Azerbaijani-Iranian, Armenian-Iranian and Turkmen-Iranian land frontier, together with a maritime boundary across the Caspian Sea

Books · Observations

"A Shroud for Harlots"!!!

"A Shroud for Harlots"!!! Or, thanks to a charming stranger for the tip-off for my book club! You know where to sign up

NB! · Moscow · Humour

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