Its always about the oil and gas: im not surprised the Poles are going on about Nord Stream II. As i recall, they along with the Ukrainians and the US, were the biggest opponents of a direct link from Russia to Germany. If you want to see how duplicitous the Western governments there are a couple of great examples today. Firstly, according to the Guardian, an Edinburgh court (the Court of Session- the highest civil court in the country), has decided the development process for the oilfields in Shetland was flawed and Starmer may have to get involved. Like some feudal superior exerting his suzerainty but the main point is in August 2014 just before the Scottish vote on secession Unionist press and politicians were dispelling as Nationalist conspiracy theory that a huge oilfield had been discovered off Shetland in the full knowledge that were lying because the huge oilfield was Rosebank. The truth was outed as soon as the votes had been counted. Secondly, I see Starmer supported the closing down of UNRWA because a hostage said she was held in one of their premises! Ultimately, i suspect much of the issue in Palestine and Lebanon is the off shore resource basin, much as Kiev's interest in eastern Ukraine is resource based along with London's interest in Scotland. Last week you mentioned Poltava. There was an interesting article in Brave New Europe a few weeks ago which discussed the Russian defeat of the Swedes at the battle of Poltava. Apparently, after their annihilation the Swedes started the myth of Russia's design on the conquest of western Europe which remains the foundation of western pRussophobia. Again, it was a Scotsman fault- one of the Russian Generals at Poltava was James Bruce, the name sake of the Pale Abyssinian.
I didn't know about the oil field thing but it doesn't surprise me. I heard about resources in the sea off Gaza. Never heard of Bruce by the way - but he sounds like quite an adventurer. Thanks for that.
Trumps foreign policy is focused on items that help the U.S. the U.S. has incentives to outsource manufacturing and Trump is trying to bring it back. Other countries have tariffs and barriers to imports, and Trump is trying to even the playing field. We will see what actually happens.
Trumps major focus is domestic and before he focuses on foreign policy he needs to get key people approved by the senate. The rhetoric on Russia is political cover to avoid being kneecapped as his first administration was. The stoppage of foreign aid, with a few exceptions, is significant. Especially USAID. Trump is starting deportations and the U.S. probably has 40 million illegal immigrants, with 11 million arriving in the Biden Administration. Trumps Dei initiatives are a huge blow to the extreme left. His efforts to reduce the federal government are significant, such as back to the office and an employee buyout (8 months salary).
RFK jr. If he gets approved (one area Europe does right is healthy food), along with Kash Patel (fbi), and Tulsi Gabbard (Intel) should bring lots of positives.
Trumps initiatives are very popular in the U.S., across racial groups, and the Democratic Party is seen at its most negative.
Thanks for that Ray. I understand that Trump's focus must be domestic but many believe he has gone too far with the tariff rhetoric. But let's see what actually happens - as you say. I love his attack on Woke.
We Canadians want our liberty too. While Trump wants secure borders, Trudeau closes parliament, flies off to Europe while its biggest province calls a yearly early election’cuz mandate? Clown gong show of the most inane variety. Oh and the new Liberal leader and next PM will be chosen by Liberals who openly opened their membership to ANYONE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. No vettting NOTHING! How’s that for democracy? 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
Here's a strange one that must have been missed by the censors. I was checking stahlhelm because the helmet worn by the Russian soldiers in the painting at the start of your blog looks a bit like the old German army coal scuttle helmet and i wanted to check the design origins. Anyway, wikipedia has a piece on the history of the stahlhelm. Near the end of the article they actually profile a photograh of a Ukrainian wearing a stahlhelm during Maiden 2014 in Kiev with the SS emblazoned on it, along with a MP42 image and a threat to Putin.
Are your weekly summaries getting better or is it me?
I am going to link yet another substack. It is written by a philologist who during "the pandemic" became a full time blogger and resigned from a tenured position to become a writer. He is German but covers a wide variety of topics and is an independent voice. He is fearless as seen in this recent column title.
"Why racism is a stupid and incoherent concept that you should not worry about and that Western society must sooner or later discard
This post is behind a paywall but it is worth it to subscribe. He points out that the fear of going back to Hitler has made Hitler the ongoing center of German politics. What you are against determines who you are.
He continues to point out the global failure of liberalism. One of his columns used a made up term for "democracy" because once that term is used, it overpowers the ability to consider what it means. He ended with the platform of AfD which fits the definition of democracy. Surprise.
Here are the first few paragraphs and then he suggests subscribing.
"I have been planning to write this post for a while.
Running a modest contrarian blog means that one is often accused of various political improprieties and social sins. From the beginning, many have been wont to call me a racist. After the war in Gaza broke out, I enjoyed a brief respite from this; other critics decided that the main problem with me was rather that I was a crypto-Zionist. Now that that hysteria has passed, the days of eugyppius-is-a-racist have returned. I’ve addressed these accusations here and there, in comments and even in the occasional dedicated post, but it is time to address them again, far more comprehensively than I ever have before.
The topic is much bigger than me of course. Anybody who speaks directly and honestly about the detriments of mass migration will sooner or later attract the racism police. In the eyes of these discourse minders, it is illicit to notice that all human populations do not behave in the same ways, that not all human populations should be intermingled with each other and that diversity is not a strength and often in fact a great problem. Talking like this is bigoted, xenophobic, prejudiced and above all it is racist, and that is very bad because racism caused National Socialism and slavery and Jim Crow and Apartheid and the only way to avoid these evils in the future is to insist that there is only one race, namely the human race, regardless of inconvenient hate facts like crime statistics and social science data and all of the naughty things that the psychometricians have dredged up.
Before I can explain why these attitudes are stupid, counterproductive and inimical to rational thought, I must draw the curtain of the paywall. The reality and imminent danger of racism are central doctrines of the German civic religion, and these are inauspicious times to propagate even mild heresy on the open internet. If you wish to read further – if, for example, you are a constitutional protector eager to catalogue my political sins – I invite you to subscribe. I promise a measure of wrongthink below the fold for your files.
I have pondered the same thought myself. My general presentation is much better than a year ago but there has also been an improvement in my writing: I think I am using language better. Until July or August 2022 I had never attempted journalistic writing so there was plenty of room for improvement. So - yes - the Update is getting better - I think. I agree with everything eugyppius is saying but I am much less popular than him so don't get much of the nasty stuff. I also believe that racism is a problematic concept and may write about it from a philosophical perspective. If I get around to doing it I will probably attract some criticism. In the Woke era the term has been widely misused just like the term 'fascist'. When I started studying philosophy and sociology 35 years ago racism was understood as acting on a belief that some races are inferior to others. At that time, disliking black people did not count as racism but that is no longer the case. My Mum is 98 years old and doesn't like black carers because they are different yet she does not consider them to be inferior - therefore she is not being racist. Cheers.
Thanks Rob for another great update. Your efforts are really appreciated down here. As someone who considers themselves to be of the left, I can't identify with what passes for the left in modern western politics. I don't think that I could vote for any of them except Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany. The rest have lost the plot given the right a free pass. It's bizarre.
Thanks for the updates, although we don't have near the amount of Illegals you've suggested. I have a 2-part blog post on Crimea 's rejoining Russia that might pique your interest. I put a lot of research into attempting to understand the situation, curious to know what you think.
I am not sure what you are referring to with regard to illegals. I can't find any reference to it on the Update so can you help me locate it please. I will not have suggested any amount of illegals but I would have been quoting someone else's figure. If this is incorrect maybe I should change it or at least say that some people doubt this figure. Cheers.
I didn't have time to read every word but both articles are well presented, well researched and well written. I am not able to go into such depth because I am trying to cover too much ground - so it's sometimes good to get the detail you provide. You may be new but I reckon you know how to use substack better than I. In fact, I may seek your advice on presentation. Cheers.
Note: I found these videos here on The Busker so this is just a follow up to this site. Only after I posted this did I remember that I saw Part I because of the link. Memory fading as I age....
I am an American and while better informed about the situation in Europe than the vast majority of Americans I was shocked by the following videos. I had no idea how bad economic conditions were in Austria.
The independent voice of Survivor Lilly is heard in two podcasts on the economic conditions in Europe. She is an Austrian living in the forests of Germany. She holds up her cell phone showing the sources of her comments. I have been aware of the economic collapse of Europe, but at least for me, this singular voice points out how bad it is now and existing policies are going to make things worse. The political upheaval is out in the open as the old guard is increasingly irrelevant.
The videos are Situation in Europe Part I and Part II. Part I was posted 2 weeks ago and has had 100,000 views and Part II was posted 3 days ago and has had 69K views.
Here in America there are advertisements that pop up in YouTube videos. Wait a few seconds and cancel them by the link provided on the right side of the screen.
I have been following survival Lily for years. I think she gets over 1 million views. It is almost as bad here in the UK as it is in Germany/Austria. The health service and the police force, for example are not functioning properly. People have to wait a month to see a Doctor and have to wait years for much needed operations. Winter fuel payments which have been given to pensioners for years, have been stopped - even though it is known that many will die because of this. We have a Prime Minister (a Deep State Puppet) who is one of the most unpopular in history and who has just agreed to give Ukraine £3 billion a year for the next 100 years. Net Zero policies have sent fuel costs spiraling. I could go on and on but you get my drift. Thanks for sharing the vids.
The island of Britain was not called "Great" because of its imperial might: it acquired that
The term "Great Britain" came from the French "Grande Bretagne" so as to distinguish Britain from "Bretagne" — "Brittany" in English — which territory of modern France is much smaller than that of the island of Britain.
The political entity known as "The United Kingdom" consists of the kingdoms of Scotland and England, which are situated on that big island known as "Britain" and not in that other "Britain" which is in mainland Europe.
In Britain there is also the country of Wales, but Wales does not get a mention because it is not a kingdom but a principality.
Before most of Ireland became independent, the title of what is now the UK was The United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland. In 1922, most of Ireland became a British Dominion and in 1947, Ireland officially became a republic.
Six counties in Ireland remained as part of Great Britain, as a province of Britain, so the full title of the UK now, as printed on British passports, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I know that Britain acquired the term Great for the reasons Moscow Exile has provided. But many Britons came to associate the term with the greatness of Empire. I've looked back at the way I have expressed this and it is confusing. I have therefore edited it out altogether.
I should imagine that nobody in their right mind now in the UK thinks that "Great Britain" is "great" because of its wondrous might, as British imperialists once believed when singing the words of what some once considered as the "unofficial" national anthem of Great Britain, "Land of Hope and Glory", namely: "God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet", though doubtless there are still many idiots around who certainly think that although Britain is not so "great" now as it once allegedly was, then it certainly should be.
I am saying that although the term 'great' arose in the way you describe it has come to be associated by the British with the might of Empire. I am half Scottish and half Welsh and when I was young this is how we understood the term 'great'. But you are correct: no one believes Britain is great in this sense any more. It's a bloody shambles.
I think James VI actually politicised the meaning of Great Britain to reflect his wish for a unitary incorporating union of crowns after he succeeded to the throne of England in 1603. He gave up trying to create a single entity of his Scottish and English kingdoms but his son Charles without his fathers wisdom tried to impose himself on the Scots with the introduction of the English bible on the Presbyterian Scots and set in train his trip to the block. I never could quiet understand why it was ever called the English civil war given the involvement of all of the British Isles.
True, the Covenanters played a big part. If memory serves me well, James VI was responsible for a sort of genocide here in the borders when most of the Reiver Armstrongs in Liddesdale were hanged. Our landlord's family - the Kerrs - were also Reivers but swapped sides from outlaw to policeman. They were rewarded with funds and a castle (Roxburgh) which can still be seen in Kelso underneath the grass. But they built a new castle called 'Floors' which is where we signed our tenancy agreement.
I didn't know that thanks. I know he tricked the Highland chiefs into a meeting on a ship and kidnapped them and made them sign an agreement with him and he outlawed the McGregors as an example. So it looks like he used the same approach in the Southern Uplands and used the Armstrong's possibly as the example. That's probably why a lot of the settlers in Northern Ireland are from the borders: James VI killed two birds with one stone. I think the whole of Roxburgh was destroyed by Henry VIII during the ruff wooing . Although im not sure. That castle is impressive. Looks a bit like Taymouth, Kenmore.
Many Borders people went to the North of Ireland, then on to the Appalachians in the US where they created bluegrass with the help of black banjo players. These people also played a big part in the revolution against the English. Yes, Henry 8th caused some damage in the borders. Cheers.
I am really enjoying the French Sergeant's book. It's a long time since I read a book on war from that personal perspective - and he is so good at narrative. Amazing
Its always about the oil and gas: im not surprised the Poles are going on about Nord Stream II. As i recall, they along with the Ukrainians and the US, were the biggest opponents of a direct link from Russia to Germany. If you want to see how duplicitous the Western governments there are a couple of great examples today. Firstly, according to the Guardian, an Edinburgh court (the Court of Session- the highest civil court in the country), has decided the development process for the oilfields in Shetland was flawed and Starmer may have to get involved. Like some feudal superior exerting his suzerainty but the main point is in August 2014 just before the Scottish vote on secession Unionist press and politicians were dispelling as Nationalist conspiracy theory that a huge oilfield had been discovered off Shetland in the full knowledge that were lying because the huge oilfield was Rosebank. The truth was outed as soon as the votes had been counted. Secondly, I see Starmer supported the closing down of UNRWA because a hostage said she was held in one of their premises! Ultimately, i suspect much of the issue in Palestine and Lebanon is the off shore resource basin, much as Kiev's interest in eastern Ukraine is resource based along with London's interest in Scotland. Last week you mentioned Poltava. There was an interesting article in Brave New Europe a few weeks ago which discussed the Russian defeat of the Swedes at the battle of Poltava. Apparently, after their annihilation the Swedes started the myth of Russia's design on the conquest of western Europe which remains the foundation of western pRussophobia. Again, it was a Scotsman fault- one of the Russian Generals at Poltava was James Bruce, the name sake of the Pale Abyssinian.
I didn't know about the oil field thing but it doesn't surprise me. I heard about resources in the sea off Gaza. Never heard of Bruce by the way - but he sounds like quite an adventurer. Thanks for that.
Yes Michael the so far untapped Yuzivska gas field springs to mind.
Sicko. Lindsey Graham pretty much let the cat out of the bag in this video, from last year
https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2024/06/13/ukraine-12-trillion-minerals-west-china-russia/
Trumps foreign policy is focused on items that help the U.S. the U.S. has incentives to outsource manufacturing and Trump is trying to bring it back. Other countries have tariffs and barriers to imports, and Trump is trying to even the playing field. We will see what actually happens.
Trumps major focus is domestic and before he focuses on foreign policy he needs to get key people approved by the senate. The rhetoric on Russia is political cover to avoid being kneecapped as his first administration was. The stoppage of foreign aid, with a few exceptions, is significant. Especially USAID. Trump is starting deportations and the U.S. probably has 40 million illegal immigrants, with 11 million arriving in the Biden Administration. Trumps Dei initiatives are a huge blow to the extreme left. His efforts to reduce the federal government are significant, such as back to the office and an employee buyout (8 months salary).
RFK jr. If he gets approved (one area Europe does right is healthy food), along with Kash Patel (fbi), and Tulsi Gabbard (Intel) should bring lots of positives.
Trumps initiatives are very popular in the U.S., across racial groups, and the Democratic Party is seen at its most negative.
Thanks for that Ray. I understand that Trump's focus must be domestic but many believe he has gone too far with the tariff rhetoric. But let's see what actually happens - as you say. I love his attack on Woke.
We Canadians want our liberty too. While Trump wants secure borders, Trudeau closes parliament, flies off to Europe while its biggest province calls a yearly early election’cuz mandate? Clown gong show of the most inane variety. Oh and the new Liberal leader and next PM will be chosen by Liberals who openly opened their membership to ANYONE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. No vettting NOTHING! How’s that for democracy? 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪
Here's a strange one that must have been missed by the censors. I was checking stahlhelm because the helmet worn by the Russian soldiers in the painting at the start of your blog looks a bit like the old German army coal scuttle helmet and i wanted to check the design origins. Anyway, wikipedia has a piece on the history of the stahlhelm. Near the end of the article they actually profile a photograh of a Ukrainian wearing a stahlhelm during Maiden 2014 in Kiev with the SS emblazoned on it, along with a MP42 image and a threat to Putin.
Forgot to say that the Sergeant Bourgogne book has arrived - hardback and in good nick. I'm too busy to start it though.
Thanks for that - I thought they looked more like Americans than Russians.
Ha ha i thought so too but didn't want to say. Thats why i checked the design. The US helmet design is based on the stahlhelm.
Are your weekly summaries getting better or is it me?
I am going to link yet another substack. It is written by a philologist who during "the pandemic" became a full time blogger and resigned from a tenured position to become a writer. He is German but covers a wide variety of topics and is an independent voice. He is fearless as seen in this recent column title.
"Why racism is a stupid and incoherent concept that you should not worry about and that Western society must sooner or later discard
OOGA BOOGA RACISM POST
eugyppius Feb 02, 2025 ∙ Paid"
https://www.eugyppius.com/p/why-racism-is-a-stupid-and-incoherent
This post is behind a paywall but it is worth it to subscribe. He points out that the fear of going back to Hitler has made Hitler the ongoing center of German politics. What you are against determines who you are.
He continues to point out the global failure of liberalism. One of his columns used a made up term for "democracy" because once that term is used, it overpowers the ability to consider what it means. He ended with the platform of AfD which fits the definition of democracy. Surprise.
Here are the first few paragraphs and then he suggests subscribing.
"I have been planning to write this post for a while.
Running a modest contrarian blog means that one is often accused of various political improprieties and social sins. From the beginning, many have been wont to call me a racist. After the war in Gaza broke out, I enjoyed a brief respite from this; other critics decided that the main problem with me was rather that I was a crypto-Zionist. Now that that hysteria has passed, the days of eugyppius-is-a-racist have returned. I’ve addressed these accusations here and there, in comments and even in the occasional dedicated post, but it is time to address them again, far more comprehensively than I ever have before.
The topic is much bigger than me of course. Anybody who speaks directly and honestly about the detriments of mass migration will sooner or later attract the racism police. In the eyes of these discourse minders, it is illicit to notice that all human populations do not behave in the same ways, that not all human populations should be intermingled with each other and that diversity is not a strength and often in fact a great problem. Talking like this is bigoted, xenophobic, prejudiced and above all it is racist, and that is very bad because racism caused National Socialism and slavery and Jim Crow and Apartheid and the only way to avoid these evils in the future is to insist that there is only one race, namely the human race, regardless of inconvenient hate facts like crime statistics and social science data and all of the naughty things that the psychometricians have dredged up.
Before I can explain why these attitudes are stupid, counterproductive and inimical to rational thought, I must draw the curtain of the paywall. The reality and imminent danger of racism are central doctrines of the German civic religion, and these are inauspicious times to propagate even mild heresy on the open internet. If you wish to read further – if, for example, you are a constitutional protector eager to catalogue my political sins – I invite you to subscribe. I promise a measure of wrongthink below the fold for your files.
I have pondered the same thought myself. My general presentation is much better than a year ago but there has also been an improvement in my writing: I think I am using language better. Until July or August 2022 I had never attempted journalistic writing so there was plenty of room for improvement. So - yes - the Update is getting better - I think. I agree with everything eugyppius is saying but I am much less popular than him so don't get much of the nasty stuff. I also believe that racism is a problematic concept and may write about it from a philosophical perspective. If I get around to doing it I will probably attract some criticism. In the Woke era the term has been widely misused just like the term 'fascist'. When I started studying philosophy and sociology 35 years ago racism was understood as acting on a belief that some races are inferior to others. At that time, disliking black people did not count as racism but that is no longer the case. My Mum is 98 years old and doesn't like black carers because they are different yet she does not consider them to be inferior - therefore she is not being racist. Cheers.
Thanks Rob for another great update. Your efforts are really appreciated down here. As someone who considers themselves to be of the left, I can't identify with what passes for the left in modern western politics. I don't think that I could vote for any of them except Sahra Wagenknecht in Germany. The rest have lost the plot given the right a free pass. It's bizarre.
Cheers Chris - where do you live?
I'm in Australia Rob.
Thought so - thanks.
Thanks for the weekly summary Rob. Some interesting stuff there as usual.
The Konstanipol pocket looks likely to be the next one on the list for the RF.
I wonder how many units will be given no retreat orders by the Ukronazis in that one?
There are rumours online that the UA is making a build-up around Chernihiv as well so I wonder if something will happen there.
It is good to see the Gaza ceasefire holding up. But for how long?
Although it looks like the zionists have just gone in more forceful in the West Bank!
Thanks for that Anthony. It will be interesting to see what happens next.
Thanks for the updates, although we don't have near the amount of Illegals you've suggested. I have a 2-part blog post on Crimea 's rejoining Russia that might pique your interest. I put a lot of research into attempting to understand the situation, curious to know what you think.
I am not sure what you are referring to with regard to illegals. I can't find any reference to it on the Update so can you help me locate it please. I will not have suggested any amount of illegals but I would have been quoting someone else's figure. If this is incorrect maybe I should change it or at least say that some people doubt this figure. Cheers.
Sorry for the confusion! You didn't say that. another commented did. Anyway, hope you like what I've written.
Can you send me links please and I'll give it a read.
I'm most happy to. Sry, still kinda new 'round these here parts :D
https://notagoodchristian.substack.com/p/crimea-attempted-to-leave-ukraine
https://notagoodchristian.substack.com/p/crimean-russians-worked-to-rejoin
I didn't have time to read every word but both articles are well presented, well researched and well written. I am not able to go into such depth because I am trying to cover too much ground - so it's sometimes good to get the detail you provide. You may be new but I reckon you know how to use substack better than I. In fact, I may seek your advice on presentation. Cheers.
Note: I found these videos here on The Busker so this is just a follow up to this site. Only after I posted this did I remember that I saw Part I because of the link. Memory fading as I age....
I am an American and while better informed about the situation in Europe than the vast majority of Americans I was shocked by the following videos. I had no idea how bad economic conditions were in Austria.
The independent voice of Survivor Lilly is heard in two podcasts on the economic conditions in Europe. She is an Austrian living in the forests of Germany. She holds up her cell phone showing the sources of her comments. I have been aware of the economic collapse of Europe, but at least for me, this singular voice points out how bad it is now and existing policies are going to make things worse. The political upheaval is out in the open as the old guard is increasingly irrelevant.
The videos are Situation in Europe Part I and Part II. Part I was posted 2 weeks ago and has had 100,000 views and Part II was posted 3 days ago and has had 69K views.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uuzAjw6Mzk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYXyeVf_G3Q
Here in America there are advertisements that pop up in YouTube videos. Wait a few seconds and cancel them by the link provided on the right side of the screen.
I have been following survival Lily for years. I think she gets over 1 million views. It is almost as bad here in the UK as it is in Germany/Austria. The health service and the police force, for example are not functioning properly. People have to wait a month to see a Doctor and have to wait years for much needed operations. Winter fuel payments which have been given to pensioners for years, have been stopped - even though it is known that many will die because of this. We have a Prime Minister (a Deep State Puppet) who is one of the most unpopular in history and who has just agreed to give Ukraine £3 billion a year for the next 100 years. Net Zero policies have sent fuel costs spiraling. I could go on and on but you get my drift. Thanks for sharing the vids.
The island of Britain was not called "Great" because of its imperial might: it acquired that
The term "Great Britain" came from the French "Grande Bretagne" so as to distinguish Britain from "Bretagne" — "Brittany" in English — which territory of modern France is much smaller than that of the island of Britain.
The political entity known as "The United Kingdom" consists of the kingdoms of Scotland and England, which are situated on that big island known as "Britain" and not in that other "Britain" which is in mainland Europe.
In Britain there is also the country of Wales, but Wales does not get a mention because it is not a kingdom but a principality.
Before most of Ireland became independent, the title of what is now the UK was The United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland. In 1922, most of Ireland became a British Dominion and in 1947, Ireland officially became a republic.
Six counties in Ireland remained as part of Great Britain, as a province of Britain, so the full title of the UK now, as printed on British passports, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Correct. Great just means big. GB is the largest island in the archipelago. It's nothing to do with imperialism.
I know that Britain acquired the term Great for the reasons Moscow Exile has provided. But many Britons came to associate the term with the greatness of Empire. I've looked back at the way I have expressed this and it is confusing. I have therefore edited it out altogether.
I should imagine that nobody in their right mind now in the UK thinks that "Great Britain" is "great" because of its wondrous might, as British imperialists once believed when singing the words of what some once considered as the "unofficial" national anthem of Great Britain, "Land of Hope and Glory", namely: "God who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet", though doubtless there are still many idiots around who certainly think that although Britain is not so "great" now as it once allegedly was, then it certainly should be.
See my reply to Robert Smith.
I am saying that although the term 'great' arose in the way you describe it has come to be associated by the British with the might of Empire. I am half Scottish and half Welsh and when I was young this is how we understood the term 'great'. But you are correct: no one believes Britain is great in this sense any more. It's a bloody shambles.
I think James VI actually politicised the meaning of Great Britain to reflect his wish for a unitary incorporating union of crowns after he succeeded to the throne of England in 1603. He gave up trying to create a single entity of his Scottish and English kingdoms but his son Charles without his fathers wisdom tried to impose himself on the Scots with the introduction of the English bible on the Presbyterian Scots and set in train his trip to the block. I never could quiet understand why it was ever called the English civil war given the involvement of all of the British Isles.
True, the Covenanters played a big part. If memory serves me well, James VI was responsible for a sort of genocide here in the borders when most of the Reiver Armstrongs in Liddesdale were hanged. Our landlord's family - the Kerrs - were also Reivers but swapped sides from outlaw to policeman. They were rewarded with funds and a castle (Roxburgh) which can still be seen in Kelso underneath the grass. But they built a new castle called 'Floors' which is where we signed our tenancy agreement.
I didn't know that thanks. I know he tricked the Highland chiefs into a meeting on a ship and kidnapped them and made them sign an agreement with him and he outlawed the McGregors as an example. So it looks like he used the same approach in the Southern Uplands and used the Armstrong's possibly as the example. That's probably why a lot of the settlers in Northern Ireland are from the borders: James VI killed two birds with one stone. I think the whole of Roxburgh was destroyed by Henry VIII during the ruff wooing . Although im not sure. That castle is impressive. Looks a bit like Taymouth, Kenmore.
Many Borders people went to the North of Ireland, then on to the Appalachians in the US where they created bluegrass with the help of black banjo players. These people also played a big part in the revolution against the English. Yes, Henry 8th caused some damage in the borders. Cheers.
I am really enjoying the French Sergeant's book. It's a long time since I read a book on war from that personal perspective - and he is so good at narrative. Amazing
What an update, Rob. Thanks so much for compiling.
Interesting times, indeed.
Ha ha i thought so too but didn't want to say. Thats why i checked the design. The US helmet design is based on the stahlhelm.