Observations · Society · Nature · Ethnography

Cacique Raoni awaits help from French presidents in creating a park in Amazonia

Macron embraces Chief Raoni, founder of the movement to save the Amazon. Thanks to Raoni, 12 foundations for the rescue of the rainforests have been created. One of his main goals is the creation of a national park in Amazonia covering some 180,000 square kilometres, for which he has

Art · Monarchies · Society · People

Napoleon's Height in English Caricature and in Data on the French of His Time

Napoleon thought highly of his own portrait by Jacques-Louis David, which commemorates his Alpine victory at the Battle of Marengo, and ordered three copies of the canvas. What could better serve to strengthen Bonaparte's reputation than the image of a dashing horseman, his hair streaming in the

NB! · Architecture · Monarchies · Observations · Heritage · Society

The Lenin Monument in Kostroma, Erected on the Pedestal of the Monument to the 300th Anniversary of the House of Romanov

The Lenin monument in Kostroma, erected on the pedestal of the monument to the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov. One might say that this monument reflects three milestones of Russian history: the Tsarist, the Soviet and the present day, to which the monument owes the gaping holes in

Faith · Heritage · Society

Cages of the executed leaders of the Münster Rebellion on the tower of St Lambert’s Church

For almost 500 years now, three iron cages, each weighing two hundred kilograms, have hung from the bell tower of St Lambert's Church in Germany. In them the bodies of the executed leaders of the Münster Rebellion of 1534-1535 were put on public display. The Anabaptist uprising,

Monarchies · Observations · New York · Society · Humour

Delighted by the witty reply of a photographer accused of a life-threatening pursuit of Markle and Prince Harry, who have been likened to Princess Diana, cruelly hounded by the royal family

Delighted by the witty reply of a photographer accused of a life-threatening pursuit of Markle and Prince Harry, who have been likened to Princess Diana, cruelly hounded by the royal family. It very soon emerged, however, that what the attention-deficit couple had presented as a high-speed chase

Interviews · Observations · Society · Pop Culture

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons on censorship and political correctness in a 2016 interview

I did not bother to look into why Miuccia Prada, one of the foremost designers of our time, is being cancelled just now, but I found a 2016 interview in which she anticipated her own vulnerable position. Jonathan Wingfield sent the young Tavi Gevinson, the stylist Katie Grand and the

Science · Education · Society · People

Academician Sakharov in his Nobel lecture on progress and intellectual freedom

Progress is possible and safe only under the control of Reason. Only in an atmosphere of intellectual freedom is an effective system of education and of creative continuity between generations possible. Academician A.D. Sakharov, Nobel Lecture

Books · Society · Humour

Russian poet Andrey Voznesensky in 1977

The idiots should be cleared away twice over: in your country and in mine. Andrei Voznesensky, 1977

Observations · Society · Humour

Rumours that Justin Trudeau is Fidel Castro's son and his likeness to Pierre Trudeau

I recall how Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had to deny that he is Fidel Castro's secret son. And "No, Fidel Castro is not my dad" sounded none too convincing against the backdrop not only of their incredible portrait likeness, but also of the biography of

NB! · Archive · Mores · Society

In 1671, rafts of hanged men were floated down the Volga as a lesson to sympathisers of Stepan Razin and supporters of the Cossack freedom; the dreadful sight, reported by travellers who saw the hanged drifting past, entered the world history of execution

NB! · Society · People

The story of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitry Ovcharenko (1919-1945), who single-handedly took on 50 German soldiers and officers and, with the help of grenades and an axe, killed 21 soldiers and 2 officers: some he simply beheaded

NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations · Society

There is much talk of the communist damage done to East Germany, which still cannot climb out of its economic hole

There is much talk of the communist damage done to East Germany, which still cannot climb out of its economic hole. Meanwhile, on this map the countries of Europe with a GDP per capita lower than that of present-day East Germany are marked in red