Coincidence? Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch; Riverhead 400 pp., $26.95 To understand the conspiratorial mindset, it helps to be the subject of one. I had that experience in early 2008, after publishing an article exposing newsletters published by the Texas congressman and gadfly presidential candidate Ron Paul in...
Fleurs du Mal North Korea’s ghastly art, on display in Vienna. Vienna If the painting Kim Jong Il, the supreme commander of the Korean People’s Army, deeply concerned over the soldiers’ diet were all one had to go on, one would assume that Kim Jong Il is indeed deeply concerned about the soldiers’ diets. Inspecting a humongous piece of fish,...
They Backed Boris On the hustings with Boris Johnson, London’s unlikely mayor. London “They want a shot of me with the carcasses,” Boris Johnson says, visibly annoyed with the cameramen and reporters surrounding him like a rugby scrum. We’re standing in the middle of Smithfield’s, a giant meat market in northwest London. One of the photographers asks the...
How Tyranny Came to Zimbabwe Jimmy Carter still has a lot to answer for. In April 1979, 64 percent of the black citizens of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) lined up at the polls to vote in the first democratic election in the history of that southern African nation. Two-thirds of them supported Abel Muzorewa, a bishop in the United Methodist Church....
Meet Mugabe’s Victims Thousands have been killed or tortured by the Zimbabwean dictator. Here are the stories of three. For 17 years, Holly Moyo was one of the many loyal foot soldiers who helped keep the government of Robert Mugabe running. Like his father before him, he served in the Zimbabwean Republic Police, in the southern city of...