Naimisha Forest
Scenes from two weddings
England and India
The first wedding was in England, at an 18th-century country house, set in an estate of some hundreds of acres of parkland and farms. No, I hadn’t been invited there by that dignified nobleman the Duke of Omnium. Many such places now run from a spreadsheet, restored and rented out by the day for middle-class weddings, anniversary . . .
Posted in: britaincasteethnicityeuropegeneticsidentity politicsimmigrationindiamarriagemulticulturalismnationruralurban
New York Times unsure about democracy
The New York Times editorializes on the Italian election: “Demagogues win as Europe’s populist tide sweeps Italy.”
Demagogues? In its modern pejorative sense, a demagogue is one who seeks power by exploiting the prejudices of the mob. But in the original 5th century BCE Greek usage a demagogue could also be simply . . .
Posted in: democracyeuropeimmigration
Why Trump?
I try to stay away from overtly partisan political blogging. One more article on why we should loathe or love Donald Trump? Please. Still, it’s hard to resist the odd political observation. There was abundant commentary in late January on the first anniversary of the Trump presidency. The President’s supporters celebrated his . . .
Posted in: clintonsethnicityfree speechidentity politicsimmigrationnationobamapolitical correctnesspoliticsreligiontrumpusa
Truthtelling from the sh—hole, or ‘Make Africa Great Again.’
Some of the racket about President Trump’s alleged politically incorrect reference to ‘shithole countries’ was that it would likely offend African elites. Which it did; the African Union issued an angry protest, for example. But it’s less plausible that 
the alleged comment would offend ordinary Africans, who endure all . . .
Posted in: africadevelopmentimmigrationtrump
Remarkable poll numbers on immigration: why Democrats folded on the government shutdown
Little wonder Chuck Schumer and the Democrats folded on the government shutdown. Look no further than this Harvard-Harris poll released yesterday: the public supports 
the sort of immigration deal President Trump wants by a margin of around 2 to 1.
Specifically: “Would you favor or oppose a congressional deal that . . .
Posted in: democracyimmigrationnation state
Two angles on why we need the nation state
The two angles are from the English conservative writer and philosopher Roger Scruton, and from the economist Dani Rodrik, who, outside his technical economic writings, appears to be a conventional American liberal – horrified by Trump and so forth. Yet both, in sometimes overlapping, sometimes complementary ways, make a persuasive case . . .
I want to be Swiss in my next life
It’s too late for this lifetime, but in the next I’ll start early on the project of migrating to Switzerland.
Not that the Swiss will make it easy for me. In a 2014 referendum they exercised their national sovereignty by voting to introduce quotas on immigration, a move at odds with an earlier agreement with the European . . .
Posted in: alt-rightdemocracyeuropegunsidentity politicsimmigrationmilitarynationraceregressive leftswitzerland
Cover image credit: http://Pinterest
