Taki's Daily Blog
My last article “The Sack of Annapolis” generated a minor firestorm from respondents. In some instances, the comments--by now over 70--were more interesting and informative than the article itself. Certain comments I agreed with; others I didn’t. Some I understood; others were beyond my comprehension. Please understand, I am not engaged in a crusade to change anybody’s mind. I am simply … [Read More]
We all let old newspapers pile up, don’t we? For my peace of mind, I hope so. At what point does this activity become compulsive behavior? A few days ago, on the last day of 2007, I found myself rearranging stacks of unread national editions of the New York Times along with some weekend editions of the Financial Times thrown in. … [Read More]
The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 mark a very significant turning point in American history. The attacks took place near the beginning of a new American presidency, and the repercussions have defined that presidency, even self-defined it, one could say. I tried in The Unauthorized World Situation Report to come to grips with what happened on 9/11 and why it … [Read More]
For the Cheney-Bush White House, the recent NIE concerning Iran’s nuclear capability was a bombshell. Its significance was recognized immediately by all interested parties. No doubt this is the reason Dick Cheney had it bottled up for a year. Putting aside articles by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker, we first learned about this new National Intelligence Estimate from White House … [Read More]
It must have been via one of Charles Bukowski’s many interviews that I got a lead to Robinson Jeffers of Carmel-Big Sur, California. Jeffers was not a figure I had encountered at prep school or at college. I am delighted to bring him up now, prompted by Justin Raimondo’s informative article in the December 17th print edition of The American Conservative, … [Read More]
“Nothing can come of nothing” Shakespeare’s King Lear said, and it would appear that this truism has finally been recognized by the individuals who put together the current “National Intelligence Estimate” for the White House and Capital Hill. Supposedly, the output (the NIE) is the input from the 16--count ‘em, 16!--spy agencies of your federal government which evaluate the danger to … [Read More]
Everybody is going through the motions again as part of the ongoing charade known as the Middle East ”peace process”, now in its latest incarnation at the Annapolis conference. At this stage, what it all boils down to is how to get the Palestinians, or rather their leadership, to accept their status as a conquered people, to do it officially and … [Read More]
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]
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]
Greece was not green like I had expected from Renaissance poetry about Arcadia. Delphi and Athens were a bust. Stones and tourists in the searing summer heat. So it was off to the islands. I met Count de Stefano on the flight over to Mykonos. He was from Venice, born in a palazzo on the Grand Canal. Charged, fantee, and girl … [Read More]