I was watching a biopic of The Beatles the other day. In 1964 young girls were shown screaming with adoration, collapsing in ecstasy and being carried off by smiling, paternal police. In 1967 young girls were shown fighting the police to get near their idols with grim policemen fighting back. …
Read More »Sophistation tastes or just snobbery and ignorance
Why do people make judgements based on age, likes, behaviour and opinions? You have a sophisticated palette if you like oysters (and know how to eat them) and foie gras. You are intellectual if you like classical music, read certain books and vote in a certain way. You won’t like …
Read More »The Establishment & The EU Directive on Biscuit Taking
I do hope this doesn’t come across as a rant. Because it isn’t supposed to be. It’s just an honest statement: I find the EU’s actions to be taking the biscuit now. They’re going too far with their shenanigans, punishment beatings and strategies. They are behaving like a Commandant in …
Read More »Who Is Truly Marginalised? – Part 2
Champions of intersectional identity politics in academia, culture and government have accrued near-hegemonic societal power for themselves by exploiting both the real and imagined oppression of certain groups on whose behalf they boldly presume to speak Last month, I wrote a short reflection on who is and is not effectively marginalized …
Read More »No, Jesus Would Not Demand Open Borders
Those who make a Christian case for open borders and uncontrolled mass immigration do not apply the same altruism they demand of society to their own personal lives, and neither would tearing down national borders improve the common good. Those who use their faith (or even more cynically, the faith …
Read More »Who Is Truly Marginalised?
The marginalization of people and the marginalization of supposedly harmful ideas are very different phenomena, and the continued existence of the former neither requires nor excuses the latter Rod Dreher has a great reflection on his blog about who and what viewpoints in our present society are truly marginalised. Unsurprisingly, he …
Read More »Three Little SJWs From School
I must admit that I have been waiting for this one. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the social justice censors came for The Mikado, that beloved Gilbert & Sullivan operetta set in a highly fictionalized version of Japan, and here we are. (My other long-standing …
Read More »After The Parkland School Shooting We Need To Rethink The Trade-off Between Liberty And Public Safety
American conservatives and gun rights activists don’t like to talk about it, but at the heart of their opposition to increased gun control is an unspoken trade-off between defending against possible future tyranny and trying to reduce or prevent otherwise inevitable future deadly mass shootings. In the wake of the …
Read More »Rolling With Blades
On January the 1st, the headlines on BBC news reported that 4 people were stabbed on New Years Day. With this grim statistic, the annual crime records were reset and the slow degeneration of London and a number of other UK cities continued. The Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police, Cressida …
Read More »The Age Of Perpetual Crisis
When every single issue is falsely portrayed as a burning crisis, none of our national challenges will receive the considered attention they deserve “We would rather be ruined than changed We would rather die in our dread Than climb the cross of the moment And let our illusions die.” ― …
Read More »The Story Of Hamilton Is Also The Story Of #Brexit
What do the latest imported smash hit musical from America and Britain’s historic vote for Brexit have in common? The answer, it turns out, is nearly everything. It has been frequently remarked, that it seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and example, …
Read More »The Two Brexits
Not everything of value can be measured or counted, and Remainers opposing Brexit purely on economic or materialistic terms are doomed to forever misunderstand half the country when they refuse to view Brexit through any other prism If we are to have any hope of knitting Britain back together after …
Read More »Can Dual Citizens Be Good Citizens?
What does it mean to be a dual citizen in the Age of Brexit? Following my recent blog post lamenting our society’s devalued and transactional concept of citizenship in the Age of Brexit, I was asked by a reader to write a companion piece on the topic of dual citizenship, a …
Read More »Feast your eyes and your appetite: Toronto
Anticipation is an emotion I have always associated with traveling. My imagination runs wild when I begin to fantasize of adventures that may come about while exploring new city streets. My appetite grows when I wonder how other communities offer and enjoy hospitality. After all, good food, good wine and …
Read More »Like, Why Can’t British Politicians Talk Fancy No More?
Great political speeches are only possible when there are great ideas to be expressed, and great leaders to express them After watching the semi-famous video of former Labour minister Peter Shore arguing passionately against Britain’s membership of the EEC during a 1970s Oxford Union debate, Mark Wallace of Conservative Home …
Read More »Green and Pleasant Land: Requiem For a Forgotten Britain
Imagine the quintessential English countryside. It is a beautifully sunny day. Birds flit along the hedgerows. A farmer, in shirt and flat cap, steers a plough pulled by a sturdy Shire horse. He stops and wipes his brow with the back of his hand. Church bells quietly peal in the …
Read More »What European Identity? Part 2 – Classical Music Edition
How can we possibly continue to enjoy Beethoven or watch touring European orchestras perform in evil, isolationist Brexit Britain? A recent Peak Guardian article has an account of an interview recently given by the legendary pianist/conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy to the Observer newspaper, in which Ashkenazy urges classical musicians to “keep up British links with …
Read More »What European Identity?
No, watching an arthouse movie twice a year doesn’t count Pete North puts into rather forceful words a sentiment which inchoately bubbles up within me every time I see a tearful Remainer painting the EU flag on their face and weeping into an eagerly waiting television camera about how the …
Read More »Ann Arbor
I recently embarked on a week long trip to Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA to pay a visit to a friend who is studying there. I was pleasantly surprised by what this quaint city has to offer in the realm of entertainment, food, coffee, and culture. Along with being a welcome …
Read More »Savouring Traditions: Sardinia
Tucked between Spain and Tunisia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean. An individualistic region of the Italian Republic, Sardinia is home to spectacular beauty, ancient history, and of course, mouth watering sips and savors. The Sardinians have defended themselves from the Phoenicians, Romans, Egyptians, and the Byzantine Empire. …
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