Um, one hardly knows how to respond to Scott’s blog, which touts me—in the spirit of jest, one hopes—as one of the Premier Attractions of the upcoming meeting of the John Randolph Club, in Washington, D.C. There will be many more learned and interesting speakers and special guests, not least among them Tom Fleming, editor of Chronicles magazine, among the most educated men I know. In any case, Scott is too kind. I should say, though, that traveling and blogging don’t always mesh: in spite of wireless technology, it’s difficult—for me, at any rate—to write “on the road,” so to speak. Writing is necessarily a stationary, not a nomadic, profession. So I probably won’t be blogging much while I’m at the JRC. To make up for it, however, I offer for your delectation a sampling of my favorite web sites, where the reader, bereft of new blog entries at Taki’s Top Drawer, can turn:

Mondo Weiss —This is the weblog of Philip Weiss, writer and longtime columnist for the New York Observer, who was bounced from his position due to his pointed critique of Israeli government policies. His incisive analysis of the activities of the pro-Israel Lobby is acerbic, informative and refreshing: this is worth a daily visit.

War and Piece—This is the blog of Laura Rozen, an independent foreign policy maven with a special emphasis on inside-the-Beltway tidbits, the Middle East, covert operations, and the doings of the neocons. Very informative. Also worth a daily visit.

Matt Yglesias —Matt is a common sense liberal with a decidedly non-interventionist orientation. Forget his economic views, which are conventional-liberal: in the realm of foreign policy analysis, however, he has few peers. He writes with an easy familarity, and intersperses sober blog entries on the mess in Iraq with posts on the latest in basketball. Worth a couple of visits a day.

Juan Cole—The distinguished professor of Middle Eastern studies has a blog that is the place to go for constantly updated news and analysis of the situation on the ground in Iraq, as well as informative posts on the entire region. This is a required daily visit.

The Washington Note —Foreign policy commentary, news, and analysis by Steve Clemons, a Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. Always informed, and lively, Clemons is very friendly to the anti-interventionist position, and his blog often has news of interest.

This is not to mention the obvious choices, which you undoubtedly already know about: LewRockwell.com, and, of course, Antiwar.com. So, happy reading, and, until next time …