Tag: ian mitchell

Books

She Saved Her Country From Socialists

BY IAN MITCHELL The authorised biography of Margaret Thatcher, single-volume edition Charles Moore was appointed by Margaret Thatcher as her authorised biographer. He published three volumes between 2013 and 2019. Now, timed to coincide with the centenary of his subject’s birth this month, he has condensed those into a single-volume thousand-pager, which I highly recommend for all those interested in the question of how to rescue … Continue reading She Saved Her Country From Socialists

countrysquiremagazine
Slavery

The History of Islamic Slavery Should be Better Known

BY IAN MITCHELL Racism and religious status assertion is worthy of investigation The ultimate in status differentiation is the slave relationship. The slave has no agency, while the slave-owner has full agency for two. Leaving aside the special case of contract slavery, the general point about enslavement is that it reduces human freedom to the point where only death can exceed it in terms of … Continue reading The History of Islamic Slavery Should be Better Known

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
africa, Book Reviews

Rhodesia or Zimbabwe? Whose Land is it Anyway?

BY IAN MITCHELL Cecil Rhodes and the question of who stole Zimbabwe from whom Reading this new biography of the great imperialist, Cecil Rhodes, provokes reflection on landownership rights amongst people who have no general concept of ownership beyond cattle and wives. Rhodes is a controversial figure today, due to his alleged racism and belief in “white supremacy”. The problem is that Rhodes was no … Continue reading Rhodesia or Zimbabwe? Whose Land is it Anyway?

countrysquiremagazine
International Relations

He-Man Xi Unmasked

BY IAN MITCHELL A persuasive analysis of the new Marxist Nationalism of President Xi’s increasingly assertive and intolerant China In 1861, the great jurist and legal anthropologist, Sir Henry Maine, wrote in his classic study, Ancient Law: “the movement of the progressive societies has hitherto been a movement from Status to Contract.” He was referring to the development from primitive patriarchal societies, in which nobody other … Continue reading He-Man Xi Unmasked

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

The Sound of Silence

BY IAN MITCHELL Angus Martin and the Mull of Kintyre For once I shall abstain from thought about the restless-spirited denizens of the dark side who run this country, both nationally and locally, and concentrate instead on a trilogy which celebrates the beauty of life in one of the few parts of Scotland where outdoor life is still largely free of environmental corruption. That part … Continue reading The Sound of Silence

countrysquiremagazine
environment

When the End of the World was Nigh

BY IAN MITCHELL Revealing a climate scientist who believed in a new ice age, and why, despite the fact that he went on to become one of the most celebrated cheerleaders for global warming. Anyone tempted to believe the hysterical warnings of imminent environmental collapse put out by Ed Miliband MP or Gillian Martin MSP would do well to read this book: The Genesis Strategy: Climate … Continue reading When the End of the World was Nigh

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
scotland, US Politics

James David Vance – Who Is He Really?

The next President of the United States is 78, and has already been shot at once while under secret service protection. He happened to turn his head as the bullet flew past him, which almost certainly saved his life. What if the next assassination attempt is successful? The chances are small but, given American history, not that small. Seven of the 46 presidents to date … Continue reading James David Vance – Who Is He Really?

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
Conservation, scotland

Kintyre’s Environmental Vandals

BY IAN MITCHELL Kintyre, a region renowned for its stunning natural landscapes, is facing a significant threat from the expansion of wind farms, some towering as high as an eighth of a mile. This rapid development, perceived by many as environmental vandalism, is being driven by the Scottish government and executed by profit-driven power firms from around the globe. Critics argue that Scotland’s breathtaking beauty … Continue reading Kintyre’s Environmental Vandals

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

“Crisis”

BY HAMISH GOBSON Climate change and the political utility of a “Crisis” Anyone who has followed the development of the windfarm industry in Scotland will have been struck by the effort which the Scottish government puts into further impoverishing both underprivileged city dwellers and all rural ones. The former suffer from artificially high power costs, and the latter from that plus the desecration of their visual environment … Continue reading “Crisis”

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
scotland

How the SNP Dallied with “Participatory Dictatorship”

BY HAMISH GOBSON As the power of the nationalist wreckers in Holyrood declines, so the prospects for a comparable programme of socialist wrecking in Westminster rise. Many’s the Todday teacup whose soggy leaves have compared Keir Starmer’s greed with that of the seagulls outside the Snorvaig chip shop. My own fronds have been even more outspoken, giving “gannet” whenever the words Reeves and Rayner are … Continue reading How the SNP Dallied with “Participatory Dictatorship”

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

The Scottish Origins of the United Kingdom

BY HAMISH GOBSON Ever since Nicola Sturgeon crashed and burned, and Humza Yousaf promised to emigrate, the question of the Union has gone off the boil in Scotland. The Westminster election earlier this year demonstrated that conclusively. But there are still lunatics in the Holyrood asylum so a study of the Scottish source of the Union idea is welcome. Parochial nationalism gives many people who do not … Continue reading The Scottish Origins of the United Kingdom

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

Does Humza Yousaf know his Islamic History?

BY HAMISH GOBSON Anyone curious about what our failed Scottish First Minister of recent memory, Humza Yousaf, is likely to experience when he leaves Britain for Islamic pastures new would be well advised to read a wonderful book recently published by Princeton University Press called A History of the Muslim World: From its origins to the dawn of modernity. The author is Michael Cook, a British … Continue reading Does Humza Yousaf know his Islamic History?

countrysquiremagazine
Opinion

Reparations Now! Induced Guilt is Theft

BY HAMISH GOBSON The problem which this past election has revealed is that no party advocates the rule of law as a specific social virtue, even though it underpins almost everything legal that happens in a free society. Without coherent court, police and legal systems, you either have anarchy or tyranny. There is no third way. I mention this also in the context of the … Continue reading Reparations Now! Induced Guilt is Theft

countrysquiremagazine1 Comment
Opinion

Paula Vennells & the SNP – Beware the Sordid Parallels

BY HAMISH GOBSON Is Paula Vennells the new Nicola Sturgeon? She is undoubtedly one of the most arrogant, untrustworthy, incompetent and conceited women to have flitted across the nation’s consciousness in recent years. Despite that, I think it would be hard to elevate her to the Sturgeon category, for one main reason. Nobody made any money out of the Post Office scandal. All the sub-postmasters’ … Continue reading Paula Vennells & the SNP – Beware the Sordid Parallels

countrysquiremagazine
Books, scotland

The Destruction of the Scottish Mind

BY IAN MITCHELL Ian Mitchell’s Book Recommendations Radical by Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace – by James T. Costa Princeton University Press, 552 pages, Hardback 2023, ISBN 978 0691 233796 THE BEAUTY of life in the Scottish Highlands and islands becomes more evident than normal immediately after the Festive season. Quiet descends once the drunken hordes of the lost and lonely have … Continue reading The Destruction of the Scottish Mind

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

The Bryson Affair

BY IAN MITCHELL Who’s to blame for making it possible for rapists to be incarcerated in women’s prisons in Scotland? Those of us who retained the will to live after the media storm over “the rapist”, Isla Bryson, being sent to a women’s prison while still physically equipped for further raping, will want to know what caused the unexpected eruption of anger with the transgender … Continue reading The Bryson Affair

countrysquiremagazine
scotland

Gender Recognition Stooshie

BY IAN MITCHELL Readers wondering in amazement that Nicola Sturgeon has again put forward a measure which she must have known was going to be knocked back by the United Kingdom government need to understand her background and political personality. Her tactics with the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill, which was vetoed on Monday night by the British government, have caused surprise. To me, as … Continue reading Gender Recognition Stooshie

countrysquiremagazine
Books, scotland

A New Book about Nicola Sturgeon

BY JAMIE FOSTER Surprisingly, this is only the second biography of Nicola Sturgeon ever published. The last one came out in 2015, and so has been overtaken by events. More importantly, this book is founded almost exclusively on what the First Minister said in parliament. It is not a collection of media stories, nor a bloodless academic “assessment”. It is the unarguable truth of what … Continue reading A New Book about Nicola Sturgeon

countrysquiremagazine
Thoughts

Vladimir Putin as a ‘Real Russian Man’

BY IAN MITCHELL Some years ago when I lived in Moscow, I remember being startled by a comment a friend of mine made about Russian chauvinism. I was—and still am—good friends with a youngish, smart and very self-possessed Russian lady, who had spent a long time in the United States and understood both Russian and Western ways of managing interpersonal relationships. I was sitting one … Continue reading Vladimir Putin as a ‘Real Russian Man’

countrysquiremagazine