United Kingdom

Albeit behind Iran, Israel squeaks onto Walter Russell Mead’s list of the Great Eight Powers of 2017. It’s amazing that only one European country makes it here.

At Den of Geek is Max Williams’ revisit of all 24 James Bond movies.

David Cripps, the London Symphony Orchestra’s horn soloist, on playing the Star Wars music, and particularly “Leia’s Theme”. Seems clear from this and an interview I read on “Rey’s Theme” that John Williams is inspired by charismatic actors.

“The press takes [Trump] literally, but not seriously; his supporters take him seriously, but not literally.’ Salena Zito in this September 23 article in The Atlantic. What a thing.

Also Democrats, Trump, and the Ongoing, Dangerous Refusal to Learn the Lesson of Brexit by Glenn Greenwald in The Intercept.

And What I learned after 100,000 miles on the road talking to Trump supporters by Chris Arnade in The Guardian.

Fascinating research into the five types of UK school heads — philosophers, surgeons, soldiers, architects, accountants — and that the wrong type is being rewarded.

Visiting Poland, George Weigel articulates the current civilizational crisis.

New British prime minister Theresa May’s first major decision was the nuclear plant at Hinckley Point and it seems she took the easy way out.

Brightonians spend more on coffee than Londoners.

Nice piece on poetic military language with examples from the Israeli, American and British experiences.

I was amazed when my own dog Jam found her way home through 5 miles of unknown territory. This sheepdog found its way home 240 miles away.

With Rolls Royce’s convertible new Dawn, the tradition of silence extends to the roof (1-min video).

Max Edwards, a 16-year-old writing in The Guardian. What a dude. [Update 8 days later: the man is already gone.]

From this BBC article: “It’s surprising how often the UK seems to be more like the Scandinavian countries than anywhere else.”

A bit of a fun mindbender. Queen’s Greatest Hits performed by what I guess is a Beatles tribute band using the latter’s idioms. Full album.

Nice piece by E. E. Knight on James Bond as mythic hero.

A romp through the current state of thespian-American affairs with fear and loathing of the English invasion, particular emphasis on Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a conclusory celebration of Jake Gyllenhaal.

By looking the other way and unconditionally supporting and arming Maliki, President Obama has only lengthened and expanded the conflict that President Bush unwisely initiated, argues — nay, explains — a US official who saw it all. A must-read.

Perhaps the most frightening thing about this much-lauded essay on America’s post-WWII hegemony is that it was written at all, that our world order is receding so far so fast that we, or at least Robert Kagan, can see outside it.

Cary Grant’s 1963 op-ed in This Week magazine on dressing well.

Welshman Tom Doran explains why, as a liberal secular humanist, he must stand up for Israel.

Considering how central it is for Londoners, Why is the Tube so underrepresented in stories? The writer suggests that, like sex and prayer, and unlike on the street, any human significance down there is internal.

Gadamer’s Floor by Jacques Herzog, in which the Swiss starchitect relates designing the Tate Modern. Actually, forget it, it gets boring, drifting off to installations within the museum and other projects, as if the job itself wasn’t interesting enough to warrant an entire little article.

All 8 Kraftwerk shows at Tate Modern, £60 per, sold out quicker than the museum’s servers could handle.

The changing face of London. A series of aerial photographs by Jason Hawkes posted as a slideshow in The Telegraph. Exciting.

Andrew C. McCarthy in National Review: The challenge is Sharia.

Finally, a clear-headed review of Skyfall over at FT: “New director Sam Mendes wants to combine a Bourne-like lack of quips and frippery with Christopher Nolan-ish solemnity and gigantism.” Why eschew what you view as your own franchise’s banalities only to take others’?

The Making of The Spy Who Loved Me by the BBC for the Open University, 1977. Episode #1: Cubby Brocolli, Producer. #2: Ken Adam, Production Designer (“not indispensible”, “preferable”, “unique”, “important”). #3, Barbara Bach, Bond Girl.

BBC presenter Ben Fogle’s eulogy of his black labrador. This dog angel helped him win his fame, fortune and hot wife. Commiserations.

“Cheese-surrendering eating-monkeys” — apologies for giving away the most brilliant line, but Mark Steyn is back on form. I’d stopped reading because his doom and gloom about Europe just didn’t jibe with the reality I see living here. But here he expresses my misgivings just brilliantly: Americans are in many important ways less free than Europeans.

Skyfall trailer #1.

In The American Interest, a clearly written explanation of why America’s economy will roar back (well, enough of it). Serve with this, from the London Review of Books, an overview of Karl Marx’s prescience.

List of shame. Among the morally impaired UK luvvies requesting a boycott of Habimah are Jonathan Miller and Alexei Sayle.

The New Yorker on the Daily Mail.

Sober and crisp analysis of Britain’s 2012 budget from an income tax perspective.

Nice review of Scorsese’s documentary on George Harrison, Living in the Material World. “Scorsese is making a film about something that matters, but never quite succeeds in conveying that.” Here’s Variety’s smarter review.

On the enduring appeal of Sherlock Holmes by John Pemble.

Marxist academic Slavoj Žižek on what are not proletarian protests but protests against the threat of being reduced to proletarians.

Video tribute to Brighton shot as a series of stills.

Pico Iyer on travel writing.

Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011.

Scotland’s early industrialisation produced great wealth and great poverty and after two centuries is yet to tackle that fundamental inequity. Lesley Riddoch compares Scotland’s failure and Finland’s success.

An argument that at the euro summit Cameron overplayed his hand.

“European “normality” was based to a large extent on West German “abnormality”. Now that the reunified Germany is becoming more “normal”, it is undermining European “normality.” A sobering analysis of Deutsch affairs by Tony Corn.

Where exactly is Hogwarts?

Remember Alan Partridge’s masterful narration of The Spy Who Loved Me. So far there isn’t anybody who’s performed it quite so well. Actually, probably better this way.

Obama’s well-deserved Mission Accomplished speech on Libya.