It is a quiet, country road going uphill. I had a beer for breakfast in the train station at the foot of the hill. I’m on the road to Vierzehnheiligen. The professor of European literature from England wanted me to stay on the train with him and go to Coburg, the hometown of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The night … [Read More]

In the 1930s even some of the older and more intellectual Russians, including those who had seen a bit of the world in their youth, believed that the United States was the land of the Yellow Devil, meaning gold. It was said that when one American met another in the street, he greeted him as follows: “Make money?” To which … [Read More]

As we watch Gordon Brown prepare to follow Tony Blair’s path into the sands of Levantine catastrophe, I am led to reflect on Blair’s lasting legacy for Britain. To be sure, there is much rich material to choose from. Memories of his early years in office flood the mind—his demented smile, for instance, which never failed to remind one of a … [Read More]

Over at Townhall.com late last night, Michael Medved slipped in some Thanksgiving Eve—well, “thoughts” would be too strong a word: “The Thanksgiving holiday provides an opportunity to refocus on the motivations of early New England settlers, who crossed the ocean not to escape the Old World, but to change it by the force of their example.” Really?  I’m not a particular … [Read More]

Although I admit to having given my vote last fall to Rick Santorum in his unsuccessful campaign to hold on to his U.S. Senate seat, I have been appalled by his recent harping on the menace of “Islamofascism.” Santorum has lent himself to a largely neoconservative-funded campaign, headed by journalist David Horowitz and Washington lobbyist Frank Gaffney, to make us aware, … [Read More]

Take note of a compelling article in the London Review of Books late last month by Jim Holt entitled “It’s the Oil, Stupid”. I did plan to comment upon it and bring it to the attention of the readership of Taki’s TD, but got sidetracked. Matthew Engel beat me to the punch last weekend in the Financial Times, in its wonderful … [Read More]

Talk about synchronicity. The invitation to John Richardson’s book launch on Picasso arrived the same day as Peter Arnold’s letter concerning the artist. Volume III, 1917 - 1932, was reviewed by William Boyd on November 3, in these here (The Spectator’s) book pages. The novelist loved it and eagerly waits for more. I like John Richardson, in fact I sat next … [Read More]

At long last the ADL has pinpointed Ron Paul’s “extremist” associations. According to ADL’s assistant director of civil rights Steve Freeman, Dr. Paul’s campaign was reckless enough to accept the donation of Don Black, the owner of a white supremacist website, Stormfront. The candidate then refused to return the gift and, in an interview with Reason magazine, he dared to … [Read More]

The U.S. House and Senate just passed the latest example of hate crime legislation, the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. These laws have become very popular over the last decade, and their purpose is to eliminate hate by increasing punishment when a crime—usually an assault on the persons or property of ethnic groups—is motivated by hatred. … [Read More]

We get a lot of press releases at Chronicles, and most of them simply go in the electronic equivalent of the round file.  Once in a while, however, they’re at least good for a laugh.  For instance, is this really supposed to get me interested? A CONSERVATIVE LITERARY BLOG THAT DARES TO DO SOMETHING RADICAL: TELL THE TRUTH—An intellectually engaging site … [Read More]