Lidojošā Varde (The Flying Frog) is my secret headquarters in Riga. When I die a brass plaque will be screwed to the wall inscribed: "An old anarchist who loved Latvia schemed schemes here." Ja jūs to redzat, paceliet glāzi, laipnie biedri. Photos: 2008, 2019, 2025

Oh dear, Peter Mandelson has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office - and on #PinocchioDay too! 🧐

"The little Baltic nations", as seen in the USA in 1939, on the eve of the first Soviet occupation.

When I came into the anarchist movement in 1972 (no computers then, kids!), Avrich was THE ONLY source of information about Russian Anarchism. Not much has changed since then. Hats off! freedomnews.org.uk/2026/02/16/r... @freedompress.bsky.social

Baltics, Nordics, Poland and Ukraine are 'Europe's shield' eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...

#OtD 9 Feb 2007 Alejandro Finisterre, anarchist poet and inventor of the Spanish table football (foosball) died in Zamora, Spain. He invented the game following injury during the Spanish Civil War so injured children could still play football workingclasshistory.com/2018/07/29/s...

"The Queens", Crouch End Broadway, London N8 - I often used to have a liquid lunch there during the 1970s (I worked around the corner); also a popular watering hole of Stuart Christie and Albert Meltzer (photo, 1968).

Hitler's pet Otto Skorzeny always kept an ace up his sleeve - The Strange Case of a Nazi Who Became an Israeli Hitman www.motl.org/the-strange-...

So, Fiadh - what is it like to be three years old today? Fiadh: Well, as Dolly Parton teaches us, "It's hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.” But I'm doing my best! 🥳

Sometimes even the weather has a sense of humour. The 1953 North Sea flood. 🌧️

Latvian skiffle group, 1925. I'm digging the drum in a suitcase gizmo! 🧐 #Latvia #Baltics

Still searching for the lost chord.

Ferdinand Porsche presents Adolf Hitler with a Volkswagen convertible for his 50th birthday. All Adolf really wanted was the Nobel Peace Prize. 🧐

Who set fire to the Cat House? And how was the murder of a Latvian anarchist connected to a dark secret that stretches back to the Kremlin? Fact and fiction collide in my next book, The Cat House - nothing is real and everything is possible. eng.lsm.lv/article/soci...

So, pitched the idea of Fish n' Chip flavoured chocolates to business adviser Fiadh, but she reckoned it was too much of a niche market. Ah well, back to the drawing board! 🧐

I loved Andy Pandy and his pals, Teddy and Looby Loo, when I was a kid in the 1950s. The 13 episodes for "Watch With Mother" on the BBC opened the door to a raft of shows: The Flowerpot Men, The Woodentops and Rag, Tag and Bobtail. The greatest puppet shows ever! www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEfn...

New header photo: Jāņu svinēšana, 1910.gadā Celebrating the midsummer solstice in traditional pagan style, 1910. #Latvia #Baltics

I've always treated the 1980s as a sort of "what did the Romans ever do for us" era. But I'm revising my opinion that 80s music is rubbish. "Situation" by Yazoo (Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet, 1982), live in Berlin, February 2015, is now my favourite tune of the week. www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEBJ...

Laying flowers at the Lenin monument, Riga, 1960. (Lenin was taken away in 1991).

Divas mazas meitenes ziedošā dārzā (1902.gads). Fotogrāfs Fricis Cielavs. #Latvia #Baltics 🌼🥀

John, I'm only dancing". Elizabeth Taylor and David Bowie (Terry O’Neill, 1974).

Latvia's finest cartoonist @karikaturalv.bsky.social

"Looks like rain, dear" Growing Arctic military presence worries Finland's reindeer herders www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/05...

Ukrainian anarchist Lana "Sati" Chornogorska (25) died fighting against Russian occupiers on 1 January, 2026. A former journalist on "Luk" magazine, "Sati" volunteered for the army in 2004 and served in the "Udashniki" unit as a drone operator. #StandWithUkraine 🏴RIP

Happy birthday to my dear amigo, Albert Meltzer. Born on this day in 1920 - champion of class struggle anarchism, fondly remembered by all those whose lives he touched. 🏴

Ļoti interesanta grāmata (Riga, 2017) - iesaku.

Russia moans because Latvia didn't let its 'neutral' luge team in eng.lsm.lv/article/cult... #Sigulda #Latvia #Baltics 🐧

Start the year as you mean to go on... 🥂

Cobblers on Torņa ielā, Riga 1927. #Latvia #Baltics

3 January, 1911: wanted Latvian anarchist Fricis Svars and William Sokolov died resisting arrest in the Siege of Sidney Street, directed by Liberal Home Secretary Winston Churchill. He dismissed his critics as "Sour grapes - they only wish they had been there to see the fun!"

Daudz laimes jaunā gadā! Wishing you all happiness in 2026!🍀

Daudz laimes jaunā gadā! Happy New Year! 🍀

Estonia's spy chief: Russia not planning to attack a Baltic country at this time news.err.ee/1609896976/e... #Estonia #Baltics

Life is short and unpredictable. And so I raise a toast to "Absent Friends"! 🥂 Aija Uzulēna, actress, translator and all-round wonderful person, (1965-2021). Pauls Bankovskis, writer and journalist (1973-2020). Alberts Bels, circus performer and writer (1938-2024).

Priecīgus Ziemassvētkus! Merry Christmas! 🎅

Economics Christmas! 🎁 🎄

Happy winter solstice, folks! 🥂

Priecigus Ziemas svetkus! Merry Christmas from Latvia, 1920 and 1930. #Latvia #Baltics ☃️

The Houndsditch shooter, "Puika" Hartmanis, wounded in the affray and found dead in the EasEnd flat of Peter the Painter. www.breviarystuff.org.uk/philip-ruff-... @breviarystuff.bsky.social

The recent heads of MI6 - Richard Dearlove, Blaise Metreweli (first female chief) - all seem to have names lifted out of a James Bond yarn! 👀

BREAKING NEWS: Five policemen shot in the City of London by "alien burglars" last night (in 1910). A reward of £500 offered in the search for two Latvians, Fricis Svars and Peter the Painter. Much cheaper to just buy my book! www.breviarystuff.org.uk/philip-ruff-... @breviarystuff.bsky.social

How to waste £47m without really trying. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Did you pack your bag yourself, sir?

"We know you can fire three rounds a minute, but can you stand?" Richard Sharpe

Brīvības pieminekli uzcēla par tautas ziedojumiem. - arī 18.11.1935 bija saulaina diena! #Riga #Latvia #Baltics 🇱🇻

Gottle o' geer!

Rīgas skats. Ansis Cīrulis, 1922. gads #Latvia #Baltics

Interlude concluded. 🐍 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn87...

Interlude 🐍