Lockdown provides time to think, and to reminisce. A South African friend, trapped in Amsterdam, phoned the other day. Had I written about the David and Nadia wines from Swartland we had tasted at the end of last year? Not yet: I was awaiting further particulars, which may have been remiss of me. Justerini and Brooks is a major stockist and they are some of the best wines coming out of South Africa, which is saying a lot.
Wines have been produced in South Africa since the Huguenots settled in vine-friendly lands not far from Cape Town. Stellenbosch, Paarl and the aptly named Franschhoek are well known. Swartland is catching up. The names take me back to so many evenings in the 1980s, drinking wine in Stellenbosch and discussing the future. My Afrikaner friends knew that fundamental change was inevitable. That, at least, was their intellectual judgment, even if some of their hearts were still lagging behind. But there was a lot of interest in some fancy constitutional arrangement tha
Blagden: a flair for technical challenges
Brigadier Paddy Blagden, who has died aged 85, had a sound claim to have been the most important figure in humanitarian mine clearance since its inception.
Blagden drafted the national plans for mine-clearing for eight countries and played a major role in almost a dozen others. He was responsible for setting up the UN’s de-mining department and the world’s only civil de-mining school, of which he became the first technical director.
Patrick Martin Blagden, the son of Brigadier William Blagden, was born at Chatham, Kent, on March 15 1935 and educated at Charterhouse. He joined the Army as a National Serviceman in 1953 and, after attending Sandhurst, in 1955 he was commissioned (like his father) into the Royal Engineers.
from the latest Radio Derb, now available exclusively on VDARE.com.]
The two big stories this week: fake news and Russia s alleged manipulation of our election. Actually, in my opinion, they’re non-stories.
In regard to fake news, I have a confession to make. First, some preface.
To put my podcasts together I trawl through news websites on the internet for stories of interest.
The big American broadsheet newspaper websites have mostly disappeared behind paywalls. I can t afford more than one of those, so I subscribe to the
New York Times online version not because I like the damn thing, but because of its influence, which I need to track.
Major Narindar Saroop, cavalry officer, clubman and Tory candidate of traditional views – obituary
He wrote letters to The Telegraph on race relations, and in a memoir wrote that he strove to keep ‘fools, boredom and socialism at bay’
Saroop: touched by the spirit of Wodehouse
Credit: Lucy Young/Evening Standard/eyevine
Major Narindar Saroop, who has died aged 91, was the first person of Asian background to be chosen as a Conservative parliamentary candidate in the 20th century, when he ran a dashing though unsuccessful campaign in Greenwich during the 1979 general election.
At a time when most aspiring politicians were increasingly trying to prove their oneness with ordinary electors, and many immigrants were concerned with quietly getting on with their jobs, Saroop was an unashamedly elitist addition to the party list.