Trump’s war on Europe should not surprise anyone
Has there been a more cataclysmic year than 2025 for US-Europe relations? It started with US Vice President J.D. Vance’s…
Victoria’s anti-free speech agenda shelved – for now
Those who value freedom of speech will be relieved that the Victorian government’s attempt to pass its anti-vilification legislation has…
Is the US steel tariff ‘entirely’ unjustified?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese characterised the US steel tariff to be imposed on Australia as ‘entirely unjustified’. That might be…
Trumpet of Patriots announces a Liberal election platform
From the National Press Club: Clive Palmer’s address on March 13 delivered the first tranche of the Trumpet of Patriot’s…
The federal-state collisions looming over New York
For New York liberals of a certain age, the term “states’ rights” has long been synonymous with segregation in the…
The Versaces have left Versace
Donatella Versace was never supposed to be a fashion designer. She had no formal fashion education and was happy working…
Does Meghan Markle need another podcast?
‘Success’, Winston Churchill supposedly once remarked, ‘is the ability to go from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.’ If…
Is Putin really open to a ceasefire with Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin is apparently open to a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine. But is he really? Just like that,…
Trump’s security, dress codes and airport romance in Palm Beach
With President Trump spending so much time away from Washington at his home and club, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, there…
Asteroid 2024 YR4 and the geekoisie
“Giant Asteroid” has been a popular also-ran in the last three presidential elections, at least judging from bumper stickers, and…
Why I won’t date younger women
I recently got some good news I’d like to share: I’m thirty-six years old. Yes, I know I’m chronologically seventy…
Taking the fast train back to imperialism
I’m on a high-speed train. Forty years ago, such a statement would have been notable and specific: essentially, it meant…
Breakfasts, massages and reinvigorating Swiss thermal waters
Last January, one of the first things my son-in-law wanted to know was if I’d found a “boy toy” after…
The Karoo has seen so much, but changed so little
It’s an incongruous name for a wilderness, “the Karoo.” The nursery-like sound belies the harshness of a vast, arid hinterland…
What Vladimir Putin really wants from Ukraine
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have very different negotiating styles. Trump lines up his offer in advance, browbeating all the…
Baseball may be trapped in a two-party system
Hope springs eternal. With Opening Day 2025 under our belts, however, you cannot shake the feeling that America’s pastime, like…
Why John Lewis’s profits have soared
Growth has ground to a halt, manufacturing is collapsing, and the government is desperately scratching around for ways to save…
The Tories should have scrapped NHS England
Listening to Keir Starmer announce this morning that he is going to abolish NHS England can only make the Conservatives…
The small town in Ontario with a world-class chocolatier
I’m sipping Madagascan hot chocolate out of white-and-gold Haviland Limoges, and nibbling on Venezuelan milk-chocolate bonbons, under an oil painting…
What is the point of abolishing NHS England?
What does Wes Streeting think the government will achieve by abolishing NHS England? The Health Secretary gave a statement to…
Why German-origin Americans keep quiet about their culinary contributions
Irish Americans are arguably the most ostentatious in their national celebrations. It is hard to imagine any other group getting…
The trouble with Starmer’s plan for change
At his speech at a Hull business campus this morning, Keir Starmer was introduced by a man who proudly noted…
Starmer scraps NHS England
It was widely briefed that the main focus of Sir Keir Starmer’s speech in Yorkshire today was his plan to…
The excellent wine of Mount Ventoux
On April 26, 1336, the poet Petrarch, accompanied by his younger brother, climbed up the windy slopes of Mount Ventoux…
