Gerard DeGroot

No. Sadly not.

Happy birthday Joe.

Just checking. Is anyone still on Bluesky?

Well, in my view they already do.

Maybe screwing up really badly in Alaska was just a cunning plan to distract attention from the Epstein files.

It's a relief to have Humphrey feeling better, but the special food the vet prescribed for wiggly tummies makes him fart. So I'm sitting here, reading a book, with a nice glass of white Rioja. The boys are at my feet and Humphrey is farting -- loudly and noxiously. Bliss.

Eighty Years Ago Today The moral anguish of the Manhattan Project scientists

Today is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Most of the physicists who built the atomic bomb opposed its use in war. Yet they also derived immense joy from building it. Today I’ve written about their moral anguish and their efforts to stop this terrible weapon from being used.

A Brief Encounter with Sex Traffickers How I came to be banned from Rwanda

In 2008, I visited Rwanda for the UN. There I met an aid worker who ran a charity for sex abuse victims. I wrote an article exposing the problem. Then the bad guys took over. The aid worker was deported and I was banned from entering the country. Because apparently there's no sex slavery in Rwanda.

Did I really say that? How wise of me.

Thanks Michael

Thanks for sending this. I'll read it when my day quietens a bit. Writing for yourself is quite a good reason.

Thanks so much. Love to you and your lovely family.

Aw thanks.

Aw thanks. That's so kind.

Threescore and Ten Embracing life on turning seventy

Today's my 70th birthday. Contrary to my own expectations, I'm celebrating this milestone. I've written something quite personal about my determination to embrace life and discard the restraints I've imposed. Let the fun begin.

For once it didn't. Do I detect a green shoot of progress?

For the Love of Country Nowadays, patriotism carries dubious overtones

Today’s piece is about patriotism — the understated British kind. I was planning to ignore yesterday’s grotesque parade in Washington, but in the end I found I couldn’t do that. Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, by the way.

#nokings St Andrews, Scotland

Sports Day Against my better judgement, I've always entered the Parents' Race

Yesterday I looked out my kitchen window toward the school playing field and saw that it was Sports Day. Yes, it’s that time of year. For me, the years seemed to roll back like a film projector in reverse and I saw my younger self running in the Parents’ Race. It was a bittersweet memory ...

Trump's Willing Executioners A lesson in the cultivation of evil

Where did all this evil come from, all these people willing to implement Trump's warped vision of America? My latest piece addresses this conundrum. I’m still a bit confused, but I think I now understand how a society can turn towards evil. As Goya said, 'the sleep of reason produces monsters'.

Is that beef AND fish? I suppose it saves having to make a choice.

Kinda sad that the examples from the Tudor age are relevant today.

The power I wield! One of my Substack subscribers bought your book this morning on my recommendation. She's now on chapter 3 and can't put it down. Plus: she's moved by the quote from William Warham in Chapter 2, which is understandable given that she's a suffering American.

I'm feeling nostalgic about the Biden administration. So here's a photo of Joseph Robinette Bidog, a.k.a. Joe, at nine weeks, in 2021.

Writing 8647 on a beach with shells is dumb, but harmless. Comey's tweet of it was really dumb. The administration's reaction is monumentally dumb. The whole thing reminds me of elementary school. Petty arguments, tattle tales running to the teacher. America needs to grow up. It's embarrassing.

Yes, I know! I got an advance copy. Congratulations.

A Tudor Crime Family The Dudleys were the shakedown artists of King Henry's court

On Saturdays, I like to resurrect a review I once wrote of a book that delighted me. Since corruption, greed and larceny were in the news this week, I've decided to feature House of Dudley by @drjoannepaul.bsky.social It’s a fresh look at Tudor times - opulent, lively, quirky and enormously clever.

A Genius, Thwarted The case of Kseniia Petrova exposes a dangerous epidemic of anti-intellectualism

Kseniia Petrova is a brilliant researcher doing cutting edge work on Alzheimer’s and cancer. She’s currently being held in a ICE detention centre in Louisiana, charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States. Who benefits from this idiocy? Please spread this story widely.

If Life is Hard, Blame a Witch Absurdity is sometimes a safe harbour

It’s the weekend, when I dig through my archive of reviews and look again at a book that deserves attention. This week I’m shining a light on The Ruin of All Witches by @malcolmgaskill.bsky.social. It's a riveting story of a witch scare in colonial New England, that maybe offers a lesson for today.