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
Continue reading →D-Day Reflections
A Matter of F.A.C.T – Witch Hunts Old and New Part 2
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
Continue reading →The Old Curiosity Shop.
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
Continue reading →Ragnarok cometh…
Overlords
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
Continue reading →Azincourt – La malheureuse journée
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
Continue reading →Syria:Humanitarian Intervention, International Law, and the Blair legacy.
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
Continue reading →A Sunday Ramble
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
Continue reading →The Real White Queen – The Three Widows
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
Continue reading →Wonga Conga.
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
Continue reading →James Alexander Gordon sadly retires
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,
Continue reading →Labour Day! Royal Baby Special! Name Games!
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
Continue reading →Tractor Stats and the NHS
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
Continue reading →Help me find my G-Spot!
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
Continue reading →Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? – Part 2
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
Continue reading →Hammurabi’s Code: Why bankers should not be jailed, how to fix the system
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
Continue reading →D Day Reflection
The Redemption of Brooksie
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
Continue reading →Who was the Man in the Iron Mask?
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
Continue reading →Cinema Paradiso
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
Continue reading →Wealth, Sex, Sin and Hell – what is Wrong with the Catholic Church?
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,
Continue reading →Top 10 most informative documentaries on Youtube.
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
Continue reading →“Come back my love” – Part 2 – “Nova Sparta”
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
Continue reading →Matters of No Consequence
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 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
Continue reading →Just how good is “The Glums?”
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
Continue reading →A Cyclo-Path crashes and burns…
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,
Continue reading →The End is Nigh!
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
Continue reading →Danse Macabre: The Black Death, Part 2
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
Continue reading →Danse Macabre: The Black Death, Part I
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?