Category Archives: Uncategorized
Ketchup, jumbo prawns and a scoop at Donald Trump’s golf club
It had already been a pretty rum week for Donald Trump. Imagine leaving Washington under a cloud, with your VP attending your successor’s inauguration rather than your leaving do. And now there was a Brit standing at his lunch table … Continue reading
Which normal do you want?
If the last American election was about anger – anger at the disappearing American dream and the lies of a generation of politicians – this one is surely about fear. Fear of a pandemic that has claimed 100,000 lives; fear … Continue reading
Back on the road: Where’s the bacon?
“Crilly,” I barked at the receptionist. “Do you mind if I eat my cold miserable dinner first and then check in second?” “Sure, honey,” she said in the sort of voice that suggested she had seen it all on the … Continue reading
Texas toast in El Paso
It’s not so much the flowers, those bundles of white roses wilting in the Texas sun. Nor the cards with the handwritten messages riddled with a faith that is blind to the futility of it all. “Through the darkness light … Continue reading
Live and local in Atlantic City
The whole point of being in Atlantic City was to write about the opening of the Hard Rock casino and resort. You know the places, right? Too-loud music and burgers. Guitars on the wall and burgers. Elvis’s roller and burgers. … Continue reading
Bakers and burgers in Trump country
Sit down at the table under the television at the far end of the Bakehouse Bakery and Café and you know immediately where you are. Not just Kingston, Pennsylvania, but Trump country. “I’m pro-America, pro-gun, pro-God,” is how John … Continue reading
On the Road
There’s nothing better as a journalist than getting out on the road. Except perhaps for getting out on the road in America, a land of big cars, wide roads and wider skies. And as many cliches as you can … Continue reading
You don’t need Islam to explain the Chattanooga shootings
Chattanooga is not Murfreesboro, where plans to expand a mosque sparked protests and ill-feeling. Instead, the doctors who made up the board of the Islamic Society of Greater Chattangooga invited Bassam Issa, a real estate developer, to join them in order to … Continue reading
The seat facing the door
To be honest, I didn’t really think about it, just plonking myself down in the chair facing the door. Reda Hassaine hesitated, unsure of quite what to do. Then he face broke into a broad grin and and sat down. “For … Continue reading
America with Relish 