The early years of the last century saw something of a golden age for the political press in England, with half a dozen serious daily papers published in London, another half dozen provincial morning papers as good if not better, as well as a clutch of evening papers with small circulations read intently by the West End equivalent of Beltway folk. But there were also the weeklies, with a mixture of politics and literature. READ MORE >>
"Where there is discord, may we bring harmony.” Have more absurdly misleading words ever been uttered by any politician? Margaret Thatcher was standing on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in May 1979, after winning the first of her three general elections. She or (more likely) some aide had found an eirenic prayer by St. Francis to recite. And yet nothing could have less accurately described the spirit in which she governed the country for the next eleven years—or the way she is today remembered. READ MORE >>
The Geopolitics of Cheating
Soccer's fixing epidemic is a symptom of a much bigger problem.
Even those who don’t follow or understand soccer (and that includes most Americans even now) should have found something moving about the final of the latest Africa Cup of Nations in Johannesburg. As expected, Nigeria won, though only by 1-0. But the heroes of the tournament were surely the team they beat, Burkina Faso. READ MORE >>
It's Not You, It's Me: Britain's Nasty Break-Up With Europe
The Battle that Birthed the Middle East
Cycles of Life
Now to the Fiesta
It’s over, and very fine it was, not to say awe-inspiring. I doubt whether Vicente del Bosque quite felt like like Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United annihilated Arsenal 8-2 the start of last season, “You don’t want to score any more,” but neither he or any of us can have guessed how one-sided the final would be. So formidable against Germany, Italy crumpled in the face of—what? if not the best team ever, then one of the three or four best there have ever been. READ MORE >>
Now to the Fiesta
It’s over, and very fine it was, not to say awe-inspiring. I doubt whether Vicente del Bosque quite felt like like Sir Alex Ferguson after Manchester United annihilated Arsenal 8-2 the start of last season, “You don’t want to score any more,” but neither he or any of us can have guessed how one-sided the final would be. So formidable against Germany, Italy crumpled in the face of—what? if not the best team ever, then one of the three or four best there have ever been. READ MORE >>
