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Category Archives: Monk’s Ramblings

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D-Day Reflections

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 6, 2014

70 years ago today, at about the young 9.00 am on June 6th 1944, the young man with a “Tommy” gun on the right of the photograph above was feeling sea sick and

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A Matter of F.A.C.T – Witch Hunts Old and New Part 2

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 1, 2014

In my last piece I tried to set out something of the origins and psychology of the original “witch hunt” in early modern Europe, and tried to identify the aspects of the psychology. May I thank the

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The Old Curiosity Shop.

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on May 18, 2014

On a cold and rather miserable spring day just over two years ago I was sitting in a coffee shop in a rather pretty village in the Pennines. I was tired and rather low. I had

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Ragnarok cometh…

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on February 18, 2014

End of the world predictions are always fun – especially the day after. Who can forget the ‘Rapture’ predicted by Harold Camping in 2011? The rapture appeared mostly on Camping’s face as he contemplated the

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Overlords

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on November 3, 2013

Some time ago I wrote a little piece about the battered, somewhat feral cat that turned up in the back garden.

The Cat with No Name was a battered, worn out

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Azincourt – La malheureuse journée

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on October 27, 2013

One of the very few days in many years now that I have felt any great peace of mind was the day when I stepped off the plane at a certain French provincial airport, clad in

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Syria:Humanitarian Intervention, International Law, and the Blair legacy.

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on August 30, 2013

Last night I listened via my radio to Parliament debating late into the evening as to what, if anything, might be done about becoming involved in military action in Syria.

I was surprised at the

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A Sunday Ramble

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on August 11, 2013

All bound for Bongo Bongo Land

This week I went for a short break in the sun, and I found myself sipping a large gin and quinine whilst looking out from the Bongo

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The Real White Queen – The Three Widows

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on August 4, 2013

A little while ago archeologists discovered what turned out to be the body of the last English King to die in battle. Richard III died in battle at Bosworth Field on 22nd August 1485 defending his

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James Alexander Gordon sadly retires

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on July 28, 2013

The most poignant news of the week for me was that of the retirement of James Alexander Gordon. Many Raccoonistas have something of an aversion to sport, but Gordon was a man who rose far above mere sport,

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Wonga Conga.

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on July 28, 2013

It has been quite a good week for the Justin Welby, the 106th  Archbishop of Canterbury. Quite unexpectedly and out of the blue, he launched his attack on so called “pay day loan” companies, such as

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Labour Day! Royal Baby Special! Name Games!

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on July 22, 2013

It is on its way! And by the time of posting may well be with us, in what the occasionally (only very occasionally) waggish Piers Morgan called on twitter “an Ashes birth”  – over by tea

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Tractor Stats and the NHS

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on July 16, 2013

Lately I have been frothing a lot and jiggling about in a most agitated manner. Some have put this down to the hot weather – most unexpected in a summer – coupled with too much excitement

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Help me find my G-Spot!

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Sister Eva Longoria on July 7, 2013

Dear People of the Internet and Raccoon Readers,

I am writing to you in search of help and advice and consolation, because it seems that I have lost, or rather been locked out of what

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Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? – Part 2

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 30, 2013

A few weeks ago I commenced my quest to search for the truth behind the legend of the Man in the Iron Mask. Having tried to bring as much salacious gossip to the fore as

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Hammurabi’s Code: Why bankers should not be jailed, how to fix the system

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 23, 2013

This week saw a report published by the Parliamentary Commission on public standards which advocated, amongst other matters, that bankers should face jail for the commission of a newly defined offence, “reckless misconduct in

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D Day Reflection

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 6, 2013

69 years ago today, at about the young 9.00 am on June 6th 1944, the young man with a “Tommy” gun on the right of the photograph above was feeling sea sick and very scared.  He

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The Redemption of Brooksie

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on June 2, 2013

I wonder who remembers Moonlighting? It was all the rage back in the 80’s and featured Cybil Shepherd and a young Bruce Willis as the wisecracking private detective. Being of a romantic nature there

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Who was the Man in the Iron Mask?

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on May 26, 2013

Some months ago, my dear French friend Dr. Firenza Pesta set me a challenge which has given rise to a certain degree of obsession amongst some historians and academics, particularly in France: who was the Man

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Cinema Paradiso

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on May 5, 2013

It is a bank holiday weekend, and it is fitting that a certain amount of sitting about doing nothing should take place. I feel very strongly that a certain amount of disciplined, applied laziness is a

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Wealth, Sex, Sin and Hell – what is Wrong with the Catholic Church?

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on March 17, 2013

As a Roman Catholic, I mentioned to our learned editor Anna that it might be a good idea for me to make some observation on the appointment of the new Pope. She kindly agreed. I had,

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Top 10 most informative documentaries on Youtube.

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on March 10, 2013

When I was a lad, the “interweb” did not, of course, exist. Now, huge amounts of information are accessible at the click of a mouse. This allows your humble scribe to indulge his interest in history, human and

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“Come back my love” – Part 2 – “Nova Sparta”

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on February 17, 2013

This photograph was taken on a Wednesday afternoon in late February or early March 1985 on the river Cam in Cambridge. It is Downing College Men’s 1st VIII going at full tilt, trying to defend their

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Matters of No Consequence

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on February 10, 2013

One of the most brilliant and rational minds on the planet is former futures and derivates trader, self made multi millionaire, polymath and now academic and philosopher Nassim Nicholas Taleb, of whom Continue reading →

“Kill them all – God will know his own”

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on February 3, 2013

The words above are attributed to Arnold Amaury, a Cistercian Monk as he sanctioned the massacre of anywhere up to 20,000 largely innocent men, women and children in the provincial French town of Béziers on 22nd

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Just how good is “The Glums?”

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on January 27, 2013

In the dim recesses of my memory, quite possibly falsely, I seem to recollect watching an interview with the late and great actor Sir Laurence Olivier in which he made certain observations about playing the role

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A Cyclo-Path crashes and burns…

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on January 19, 2013

Quite some years ago, a friend recommended that I should read Lance Armstrong’s autobiography, “It’s Not About The Bike.”

For many, including me at the time, it was an inspiring book. It chronicled Armstrong’s childhood,

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The End is Nigh!

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on January 13, 2013

So, at last, the end is nigh. I have reached the end of my Odyssey through the merciless killer that was the Black Death. A killer, and, if I am correct, one which was both more

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Danse Macabre: The Black Death, Part 2

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on December 16, 2012

In mid September 1597 a wandering beggar called Andrew Hodgson came to the Cumbrian town of Penrith. As an itinerant of that time we can imagine him as an undernourished, crushed looking individual. On about the

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Danse Macabre: The Black Death, Part I

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Gildas the Monk on December 9, 2012

Consider a world in which over the next three months, between 30-50% of the people around you have died of a horrible disease, full of fever and boils, often vomiting blood. What would that be like?

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