Albania, former Stalinist/Maoist/Hoxhaist dictatorship is, much to my surprise, a NATO member. (View Post)

Then there's the Portuguese approach... our Portuguese cleaner at work was quite surprised when I explained that British people, in general, only have one surname. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portu… (View Post)

No. The Ukrainians have been recognised by the Ecumenical Patriarch as independent, and as a result the Russians are no longer in full communion, and have cut off ties with Athens and Alexandria who … (View Post)

The mercantile class were the wealth-creators. Countries that preserved the aristocratic order, stagnated. I have always thought Thatcher was more Whig than Rory. (View Post)

The Russian Orthodox Church has I believe been excommunicated by the Ecumenical Patriarch for refusing to recognise the autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. Or something like that. (View Post)