There was a gypsy family always roaming between Windsor and London. The first words taught to their youngest child were “Romany rye!” and these it was trained to address to me. The little tot came up to me, a little brown-faced, black-eyed thing, and said, “How-do, Omany ’eye?” Great was the triumph, rejoicing and laughter of the mother and father, and all the little tribe. (More…)
It’s been a year since the Rotherham child abuse case broke. It was one of many similar cases. The media had a framework ready-made: the victims were mostly white, the abusers were mostly Asian men. Multiculturalism is to blame. An estimated 1,400 underage girls had been abused. The tale resembles the lowest fantasies of fascists: dark-skinned men stalking pristine caucasian girls. It’s a familiar story. (More…)
Several years ago, I spent the night carousing in Prenzlauer Berg. As things broke up after two, I realized that I had stayed out too late – which meant until after the north-south U-Bahn lines had stopped running. In those days, I was living in Neukölln which, for those unfamiliar with Berlin, is a considerable distance. (More…)
“Naturally, the peasants want Haiti for the Haitians,” concluded the Senate Select Committee on Haiti of the 67th United States Congress in 1922. And naturally, that was not going to happen until they were ready, in the judgment of the US government. (More…)
How do people cope with the sheer amount of information that bombards them every day? So much of the world seems to be in grave peril. Many are depressed to the point of paralysis. How, then, can we still “speak for hope, as long as it doesn’t mean suppressing the nature of the danger? Social media provide some important clues. (More…)
It was commonly said at the beginning of this war that, whatever Germany’s military resources might be, she was hopelessly and childishly lacking in diplomatic ability and in knowledge of psychology, from which all success in diplomacy is distilled. (More…)
British newspapers are overwhelmed with stories about paedophilia scandals. The latest name on the growing list of accused public figures is the late Ted Heath, who served as premier between 1970 and 1974. With over 40 politicians currently under investigation, what began with the BBC’s Jimmy Savile in 2012, now seems to be engulfing the entire political class. (More…)
For nearly four decades, punk was America’s counterculture. The scene was remarkably resilient, replicating itself hundreds of times over, in nearly every part of the country. Punk had a sense of timelessness to it, which made it seem independent of its partnership with pop culture. (More…)
Congress Party lawmaker Shashi Tharoor has gone viral with an Oxford Union speech in which he outlines a case for British reparations to India (and, implicitly, other South Asian countries.) Commentators have gleefully reproduced the Tharoor’s finest moments, including flamboyant insults against his opposition. (More…)
From the moment Barack Obama moved into the White House, conservatives have been turning to him for sustenance. They know they can rely on him to recharge their ideological batteries. In the suburban and rural enclaves where the right is strongest, particularly in the South and Southwest, trying not to find public expressions of hated towards the President is almost impossible. (More…)
I spend a lot of my time thinking about and writing about Jews. Much of my work takes place within the confines of the Jewish community, but I also try and engage the wider world with Jewish issues. That often leads me to publishing think pieces and reviews in a range of ‘non-Jewish’ publications such as the The Guardian, The Independent and more. (More…)
At first, Britain’s Labour leadership contest was just about remixing Tory clichés. Andy Burnham issued bromides of ‘aspiration’ with a Northern accent. Yvette Cooper criticised Ed Miliband’s pledge to ban EU migrants from benefits for two years, on the grounds that it should be four years. Unable to add anything new, Liz Kendall gave up, and accepted almost every Conservative policy. (More…)