More links

Brian’s Links Page 2, continued from (you guessed it) Links Page 1

This is more personal stuff.

I was born on 20 June. You can see which year that was, and what else has happened over the years on 20 June, by clicking here.

The links on page 1 show where I toiled away for 30 years drinking too much and (especially) eating too much, for my country: the UN in New York, Moscow in its Soviet days, Australia before and after the famous coup d’état in 1975, then again when the political fortunes of the parties had been reversed.

(Have a look at Australia and the Australian Labor [sic] Party)_.

There was a year in Canada at the National Defence College (no link, not least because it was subsequently closed down!).

However, it’s interesting to read about some famous Canadians, — and about no less famous Canada.

Later it was Ethiopia at the time of the Great Famine in1984-86 and Poland just before the Wall came down (thanks in large part to the efforts of the gallant Poles themselves).

Then to Nigeria when a return to civilian rule seemed genuinely on the cards, and back to Australia. After that, uhuru! liberation!  retirement!

Time to surf the net and construct a home page, swap e-mails with friends all over the globe, potter around Wandsworth, London, on the trusty bike, and enjoy the passing scene.

I recommend it.

I was glad to join the Advisory Board of the Centre for Diplomatic and International Studies (CeDIS) at the University of Leicester, an admirable institution whose web-site contains some useful links. I have now been appointed an Honorary Visiting Fellow of the Centre.

There are at least two other Barder web sites besides this one: my son Owen’s, many of whose recent posts were written in California where he has just spent a couple of years on (unpaid) leave from the British civil service; and  Oliver Barder’s, reflecting his considerable expertise on the arcane subject of computer and video gaming.  Oliver is on the same tier of the family tree as my grandchildren (although he’s a good deal older than Lily and Florence).  Despite the difference in our generations, he and I share an enthusiasm for Richard Strauss (among other things).  Some of Ollie’s writings about computer games are here.   Owen used to run a valuable blog about his current work on vaccines for developing countries, an important issue and a good cause.

Want to go back to the Diana funeral poem?

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