Saturday, July 19, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Bob Moran – The satirical cartoonist who points to the naked emperor

Published 13 May 2023
– By Editorial Staff
Moran's art is often rebellious and overtly satirical.
4 minute read

Satirical cartoonist Bob Moran has made his artistic journey straight through political correctness like few others. Particularly in the era of corona politics, Moran’s accurate and hilarious portraits of contemporary life have become highly appreciated not only by the British public, but by the world at large.

Artists engaged in satire have always played an important role in society, pointing out truths that others may not have dared to or been able to see. With the rise of political correctness, satire has almost become a dying art form, with some rare exceptions. One such exception is Bob Moran.

In the documentary Brilliantly Difficult Film, we follow Moran’s journey and how his art has pushed the boundaries through a variety of expressions that dress up the contradictory messages and bizarre logic of the establishment.

So Bob is pretty much in a field of his own, doing the things that satirical cartoonists were always supposed to do; which is afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted, says journalist James Delingspole. Where is that satirical spirit today? he also asks.

Satire, Moran says, is important to keep those in power and politicians “in check” and to remind people that they can still be laughed at – no matter how big their egos might get.

It’s about understanding we need people to govern us, we need rules, we need a system, and functioning democracy, but within that there will by hypocracy, there will be contradictions”, he says.

Photo: © Bob Moran

Bob Moran has previously been published in newspapers such as the Morning Star and The Guardian. In recent years he has worked at The Telegraph, where he has been a regular weekly cartoonist. During the coronavirus lockdown policy, Moran fell out with them and went his own way – a way that won the hearts of the British public.

So many of the cartoons that he did just completely have his finger on the pulse of the emotion I was feeling at the time and reminds us that there are other people that feel the way we feel, says TV presenter Tonia Buxton.

Moran and his wife had a daughter a few years earlier who had complications at birth and now lives with cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The restrictions in the UK had a very negative impact on his daughter’s health, as she was barely able to see her various health care contacts, could not go to school with other children, or ride or swim as she loved to do. Moran describes how his daughter became significantly worse both physically and mentally during the lockdowns and that for him it was the “last straw”.

He is being brave for his daughter. Who else is going to speak for her when she didn’t get treatment for two years. No one is speaking for any of those other kids that didn’t get treatment over two years and finally, he snapped, says his friend Bernie Spofforth, a CEO and business investor.

Moran himself emphasizes that his art is not primarily about trying to be funny, but about getting people to see reality for what it is.

– It was about trying to make people understand simple truths that I felt they were forgetting and make them think about what was happening in a different way to how the government wanted them to think of this stuff.

Part of Moran’s criticism of the corona policy was about people’s right to see their loved ones, such as the right of the elderly to decide whether or not they want to see their grandchildren.

Photo: © Bob Moran

His art has illustrated many of the bizarre expressions of hypocrisy and deceit that currently characterize the world. Although he no longer works for a major newspaper, his work is spreading around the world like never before. He also wants to share it with more people, which is why he has partnered with the Democracy Fund to offer his art to magazines for free.

Photo: © Bob Moran

Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, believes that in the future, historians will look back at Moran’s art and gain real insight into the madness of the current era.

Seeing Bobs cartoons will provide historians with a real insight into the futility of lockdowns as a policy. This mass hysteria that seemed to infect the entire population and why things happened as they did, he says.

Moran declares that he will continue to paint the world as he sees it and says that it is also important to record for posterity that there were indeed people at that time who did not share the commonly held views.

I don’t know if any of my pieces have changed somebodys mind, but I’m always trying to communicate where I think we are, how serious i think is is, how afraid I think we should bem how angry I think we should be and record the fact that there where people when this was happening who did not agree with it so that when future generations look back there is an alternative narrative, he says.

The full documentary can be viewed here.

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The viking who discovered America

Published 17 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Leif Eriksson lands in America.
3 minute read

According to sources, Leif Eriksson was born in Iceland around the year 970, the son of Erik the Red, a Norwegian explorer who founded the first Norse settlement in Greenland. During Leif’s childhood and youth, large parts of the world were still mysterious and unexplored, but according to the Greenlandic saga, the Icelander Bjarni Herjolfsson had already encountered fog in 986 and drifted off course while sailing from Iceland to his father in Greenland. According to legend, he sighted three unknown lands, which he named Helluland, Markland, and Vinland – which were later identified as parts of eastern Canada. He never landed, however, but continued his journey to Greenland, where he is said to have spoken of his discoveries.


The article was originally published in The Nordic Times on June 9, 2024.


According to the saga, 15 years later Bjarni sold his ship to Leif Eriksson, who set out with 35 men to find the land described by the Icelander. Eriksson followed the route described and eventually reached North America – probably first the island now known as Baffin Island or the northern parts of Labrador.

Eriksson continued to explore the new continent and set up a winter camp in a milder climate while sending his men to explore the surrounding area. According to legend, they discovered that vines and grapes grew there – hence the name Vinland. Eriksson and his crew built a small settlement there, Leifsbudir, which was later used by other vikings who followed in his footsteps.

Eriksson himself returned to Greenland after the winter, according to the sources with a cargo of timber and grapes. On his way home he also rescued a shipwrecked Icelandic crew – which may have been the reason for his nickname “Leif the Lucky”.

Statue of Leif Eriksson in Minnesota. Photo: Mulad

Eriksson never returned to the newly discovered continent, but died as a chieftain in Greenland sometime between 1018 and 1025. His discoveries, however, became very significant, and other Norsemen soon decided to seek out the lands he and his crew had described. For example, Leif Eriksson’s brother Thorvald is said to have later sailed to the newly discovered land, but soon came into conflict and was killed by what were then called “skraelings” – meaning Native Americans or Inuit. According to the saga of Erik the Red, Thorfinn Karlsefni also sailed with 160 men and women, livestock and supplies, and set up camp at Leifsbudir and tried to build a community there. However, after accidents and conflicts (both internal and with the natives), plans for a permanent Norse settlement in North America were eventually abandoned.

How much truth there is in the sagas is difficult to say for sure today. What is certain, however, is that the Norse settled in North America sometime between 990 and 1050. At L’Anse aux Meadows, in the northern parts of Canadian Newfoundland, the remains of a viking settlement were discovered in the 1960s, including at least eight house foundations, tools, metal remains, sewing needles, and the remains of a forge. It was also estimated that the settlement was only used for a few years before it was abandoned – which fits well with Norse sagas.

Reconstruction of the viking settlement at L’Anse aux Meadows. Photo: Dylan Kereluk/CC BY 2.0

When the French colonized North America in the 17th century, they also heard of an Indian legend that told of a kingdom far to the north, where blond men sat on vast riches of gold and furs – but that it was almost certainly doomed to be reached. It has at least been hypothesized that the stories originated from real encounters with Norsemen hundreds of years earlier.

While Leif Eriksson and the Norse explorers may not have made any major long-term changes to the North American continent, they certainly contributed to our understanding of world exploration. The adventurous spirit and nautical skills of the vikings were extraordinary, and their voyages expanded the world view in Europe long before the explorations of the Renaissance.

Leif Eriksson’s discovery of America. Painting by Christian Krohg (1893)

The date of Leif Eriksson’s landing in the New World, October 9th, is now celebrated in parts of the USA as Leif Eriksson Day, as a tribute to the achievements of the vikings and the Nordic contributions to world history. The celebration is not only a recognition of Eriksson’s achievements, but also of the exchange and meeting of two worlds.

Although there are still many unanswered questions about Eriksson’s time in Vinland, his legacy has lived on in many ways. Interest in viking voyages and culture has become an area of academic research, as well as popular fascination with Leif Eriksson’s adventurous spirit, which drove him and his crew across the world.

The Vikings hunted walrus in the North American Arctic

Published 12 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
The researchers tested routes by sailing in traditionally-built Viking ships.
2 minute read

New research suggests that Vikings hunted walrus far north in Arctic North America, much further than previously thought. This suggests that the Vikings encountered indigenous peoples long before Columbus “discovered” North America.

During the Viking Age, demand for walrus tusks was high in Europe. The Vikings played a major role in the trade of walrus ivory and it is known that walruses were hunted in Iceland and around Greenland.


This article was originally published on November 9, 2024.


In a new study, published in Science Advances, researchers from Lund University and the University of Copenhagen, among others, have examined several ivory finds using DNA. The researchers used a so-called genetic “fingerprint” to reconstruct exactly where the walrus trade items came from.

– We extracted ancient DNA from walruses collected in a variety of locations in the North Atlantic Arctic. With this information in place, we were then able to match the genetic profiles of walrus items traded by Greenland Norwegians to Europe back to very specific Arctic hunting grounds, said Morten Tange Olsen, associate professor at the Globe Institute in Copenhagen in a press release.

“Remote hunting grounds”

The findings show that between 950 and 1250, the Vikings hunted walrus much further up around the North American Arctic than previously thought. The ivory tested comes from stocks in the sea between Greenland and Canada, and possibly from the interior of the Canadian Arctic. The results surprised the researchers, as it was previously thought that the Vikings hunted around their settlements in southwest Greenland.

– What really surprised us was that much of the walrus ivory exported back to Europe came from very remote hunting grounds deep in the High Arctic, that is, north of where the tundra ends, says Peter Jordan, professor of archaeology at Lund University.

Sailing that far required great seafaring skills, so researchers wondered if it was possible that the Vikings may have had this type of seafaring knowledge. To find answers, they used reconstructed sailing routes, and the researchers also made experimental voyages in traditional clinker-built Norwegian boats. According to the researchers, the Vikings had sufficient resources and knowledge to make these voyages.

Encountering indigenous people centuries before Columbus

At this time, the hunting grounds of the High Arctic were inhabited by the so-called Thule Inuit and possibly other Arctic indigenous peoples. They also hunted walrus. The study strengthens the theory that the Vikings had contact with North American peoples centuries before Christopher Columbus “discovered” North America.

We will never know exactly, but on a more human level, these encounters in the vast and frightening landscapes should have aroused both curiosity and fascination, says Jordan:

– We need to do much more research to understand these interactions and motivations, especially from an indigenous perspective as well as a more “Eurocentric” Nordic perspective.

It should be noted that encounters – and conflicts – between Norse and North American Indians or Inuit are already mentioned in the old Icelandic sagas, although it is not always easy to determine the veracity of the stories.

The TV president who became real

Published 6 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
Zelensky at the World Economic Forum with NATO's then Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
6 minute read

In recent years, hardly any other political leader has been highlighted by the media and political establishment and praised so unanimously as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who in the current narrative has come to characterize the epitome of a modern patriotic folk hero.

Who is he and why is he so immensely popular with the Western power elite?

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Western establishment media have effectively acted as megaphones for Volodymyr Zelensky’s statements and pronouncements to a global audience.

Among the wave of photographs of Ukraine’s president, images of him in military garb have become among the most iconic – with the narrative that this is a leader who personally stands up for the Ukrainian people against Russia, who cares about his soldiers and who is not afraid to face the enemy.


The article was originally published in The Nordic Times on February 8, 2025.


Born in 1978 to a Jewish family in Kryvoj Rog, Ukraine, the father was a scientist and professor of computer engineering and the mother was an engineer. Volodymyr Zelensky’s grandfather Simon was also an infantryman and later a colonel in the Red Army.

The Ukrainian President himself says that his Jewish family, like most in the Soviet Union, was not particularly religious, but that he got his “moral compass” from the Jewish tradition and that one of the traits he says he has inherited is that he does not tolerate any lies.

Volodymyr Zelensky graduated from the Kiev National Economic University in 2002 with a law degree but has never worked as a lawyer, choosing instead to focus on a career as a comedian and actor, including with the production team Kvartal 95, which has produced and starred in a wide range of TV programs, shows and films since the mid-90s. These have included the group’s homoerotic portrayal of the traditional Cossacks, an East Slavic ethnic group with strong ties to both Ukraine and Russia that have become symbolic in both countries of national history and spirit.

 

 

From TV president to real life

In 2015 – four years before Zelensky became president in real life – he starred for three seasons in the TV series “Servant of the People”, in which he plays a history teacher who, by chance, becomes president of Ukraine with the mission of fighting oligarchs and corruption. During the war in Ukraine, a large number of TV channels around the world – including Sweden’s SVT – bought the series.

In March 2018, members of Zelensky’s production team Kvartal 95 announced the registration of a political party called “Servants of the People” – the same party name under which Zelensky’s character came to power in the TV series. On December 31, Zelenskyj also announced on live television that he is running for president with the hope of defeating incumbent Petro Poroshenko.

At the same time, many have pointed out that it was not Zelensky’s own idea to run for office, but that his political career was driven by the Jewish-Ukrainian multi-billionaire and former governor Ihor Kolomojskyj, who wanted to remove the incumbent president Petro Poroshenko. This was partly because he wanted to nationalize PrivatBank, Ukraine’s largest bank – which is also owned by Kolomojskyj.

According to academic analyst Andrew Joyce, Kolomojskyj used his extensive assets and media companies to create “Servant of the People” with the aim of creating a TV series so close to reality that viewers would associate Zelensky as a person and not just his character as the one to fight the widespread corruption in Ukraine – and thus make him the favorite to win the election.

And so it was, Zelensky won the presidential election after an almost entirely virtual campaign and without a detailed ideological platform. Ihor Kolomoyskyi was also rewarded for his efforts when the newly elected president cancelled the nationalization of the big bank and returned it to the notorious oligarch, who has also been accused of financing the far-right Azov Battalion.

Photo: manhai/CC BY 2.0

 

Criminal oligarchs

Ukrainian media have also reported how Zelensky and his partners may have received up to $40 million from various offshore companies linked to Kolomojskyj.

One consequence of the oligarch’s shady dealings coming to light is that he and his family are no longer allowed to enter the United States, as Kolomojskyj is believed to be involved in widespread fraud and money laundering. However, the links do not appear to have had any major consequences for Zelensky and the president has consistently denied that he is or has been involved in any illegalities, despite repeated accusations.

Viktor Pinchuck, another Jewish oligarch and Ukraine’s second richest man who also aims to liberalize Ukraine and bring the country closer to NATO, the US and the EU, has, according to analysts, put a lot of energy into trying to influence Zelensky and his policies.

Zelensky also has good relations with other oligarchs, such as the Russian-Jewish Roman Abramovich, against whom the West has wanted to impose a series of sanctions because of the war, with Zelensky appealing to US President Joe Biden to stop sanctions against Abramovich.

The fact that Zelensky is praised by US and EU leaders is not difficult to understand in light of the foreign policy he advocates. Among other things, the president wants Ukraine to distance itself from Russia and join the EU and NATO – memberships he says the Ukrainian people have shown they support. An application for EU membership was also submitted in February 2022.

At the same time, the president has shown more totalitarian tendencies – not least in connection with the war in Ukraine, when he suddenly decided to ban large parts of the political opposition in the country, using the country’s martial law.

Earlier in March, 11 Ukrainian political parties were banned on the grounds that they were linked to Russia. These included the Opposition Bloc, the largest opposition party in the Ukrainian parliament and by far the most popular party among the Russian minority in the country. Several Ukrainian media channels with alleged links to Russia were banned at the same time.

Disappointed with Israel

Zelensky’s relationship with Israel appears to be somewhat complex. The president has previously declared that Israel and the Jewish people are “a unique people” and that “the Jews managed to build a country, to elevate it, without anything except people and brains”. He has also praised Israel’s military capabilities and ability to fight its enemies and external threats.

At the same time, he is highly critical of not receiving the support he wants from Israel during the war and is upset that Israel will not share its missile systems with Ukraine.

– Ukraine made the choice to save Jews 80 years ago. Now it’s Israel’s turn to make its choice… Everybody knows that your missile systems are the best… and that you can really help save our people, save the lives of Ukrainians, of Ukrainian Jews.

The Ukrainian president has also expressed anger that Israel has not yet chosen to impose strong enough sanctions on Russia or put pressure on Russian companies, saying that what is happening now in Ukraine is comparable to the Holocaust during the Second World War and that Israel thus has a moral obligation to intervene.

– Our people are now wandering the world, searching for a place, just as you once wandered, he said in his address to the Knesset.

 

 

Zelensky has also attended the infamous globalist think tank World Economic Forum‘s Davos meeting and also the EU Parliament where he has argued that Ukraine should become the obvious “leader” of Eastern and Central Europe. The EU leadership’s support for Zelensky was also evident after his speech to the EU Parliament when he was greeted with a standing ovation.

It is clear that the tributes to Zelensky paradoxically emphasized the national patriotic struggle in a way that is unique in the dominant narrative of the mainstream media over the past 20 years. How the saga of the West’s new folk hero ends remains to be seen.

Confirmed: Denis Villeneuve to direct “Bond 26”

Published 26 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
"'Bond 26' - coming soon to a theater near you...
3 minute read

On Wednesday, it was officially confirmed that acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve will take the helm of the upcoming James Bond film – “Bond 26”. The news has quickly created a stir in the film world and among Bond fans globally, who are now looking forward to a new era for the iconic spy series.

Denis Villeneuve, known for his visually striking and narratively deep films such as Blade Runner 2049, Arrival, and Dune, is considered an unexpected but exciting choice for the Bond franchise.

His style, often characterized by a combination of grand aesthetics and complex character studies, is expected to bring a new dimension to the British agent.

Villeneuve has previously demonstrated his ability to create intense and engaging films, raising hopes that Bond 26 will be both a critical and commercial success.

The producers have been searching for a director who can move the series forward while maintaining its classic core. With Denis Villeneuve at the helm, one can expect a balance between tradition and innovation.

In an official statement, Villeneuve says that he is honored to work with one of cinema history’s most beloved characters and looks forward to exploring new stories within the Bond universe.

Some of my earliest movie-going memories are connected to 007. I grew up watching James Bond films with my father, ever since Dr. No with Sean Connery. I’m a die-hard Bond fan. To me, he’s sacred territory. I intend to honor the tradition and open the path for many new missions to come. This is a massive responsibility, but also, incredibly exciting for me and a huge honor. Amy, David, and I are absolutely thrilled to bring him back to the screen. Thank you to Amazon MGM Studios for their trust.

Who will get the role?

Details about the plot and cast are not yet officially confirmed, but there is broad agreement that Daniel Craig will not return as 007.

Instead, several names are circulating as potential successors, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Henry Cavill, and Theo James among the top favorites.

Taylor-Johnson has received particular attention after signing an ambassador deal with Omega (the iconic watch brand long associated with Bond), which many interpret as a strong indication that he is being considered for the role.

Discussions about the new Bond actor are still ongoing, with the choice expected to be announced closer to the start of production.

With Villeneuve as director, Bond 26 could become one of the most visually impressive and narratively ambitious films in the series. How this new interpretation will be received remains to be seen, but expectations are high.

The Bond universe is facing an exciting future, and with this confirmation, it’s clear that the franchise continues to evolve and reinvent itself – something both old and new fans can celebrate.

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