THREE TESTED WAYS
There are three tested ways to undermine an autocrat according to Gene Sharp, the author of a playbook for combating dictators and all autocrats. “I …
KILL A WITCH
A new book “How to Kill a Witch” brings a dark period of history back to grisly life – and an official tartan is being …
FUN MEMORIES
I came across the following two groups of what I am calling “Fun Memories”. Both require a certain age to be directly funny, and the …
SOUNDBITE WORLD
We all know that we are in a soundbite world. It doesn’t matter if you spend your life on the phone, just read news feeds, …
A GOOD STATUS REPORT
A good status report: On May 8, political scientists Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and Daniel Ziblatt published an op-ed in the New York Times reminding readers that …
SONGKRAN
For three days every year, Thailand transforms into a wet and wild party, the Songkran Festival. But this ancient festival is far more than just …
AMERICAN ILLITERACY
Forty-eight million adults in the U.S. read at or below the third-grade level, to use the blog’s title here, American illiteracy. Many of these adults struggle …
MELANCHOLY BUT POIGNANT
I could call this blog a melancholy but poignant moment that I should certainly take to heart far more often and, I suspect, many of …
DAVID BROOKS
The following column, written by David Brooks, a conservative in the traditional sense of the word, appeared in the New York Times last week. I …
PARIS
Cars have been banned from more than 100 streets in Paris. Tens of thousands of parking spots have been eliminated. Hundreds of miles of bike …