Yesterday I wrote a post titled “A modern slave” about an article in the Atlantic. I had two articles on the subject open on my browser at the same time; not only were on the same subject, but they looked … Continue reading →
This morning commenter “Yankee” wrote: “Mr. Trump is both smarter and more honest than his critics think he is.” And commenter “Bill” responded: More honest? He’s one of the most transparently dishonest politicians I’ve ever been exposed to. It doesn’t … Continue reading →
The world seems to be abuzz about
Continue reading →Last month I got William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich out of the library. I had actually read it many moons ago, when I was a teenager. But “read” is a bit of a euphemism. It … Continue reading →
I try to follow the general outlines of the current theories of theoretical physics, but it goes without saying that I don’t understand the math, and that I miss a lot of the details. So although I’d never even heard … Continue reading →
Did you ever have to try to reform or redesign a real-world program? When I was in law school, I took a course that focused on the welfare system. We were assigned to read reams of papers detailing all the … Continue reading →
Actress Cate Blanchett wants us to know something about her: When talking about her upcoming Broadway debut with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, Blanchett discussed how the play is relevant for audiences today. “It’s all about as you move forward … Continue reading →
I found the following quote from Thomas Hobbes in a Powerline post discussing the curious fact that so many renowned philosophers over the years have gotten entranced with tyrannical forms of government. It’s worth reading the whole thing, but here’s … Continue reading →
Obsession may be a necessary but not sufficient requirement for success in the arts (and perhaps even elsewhere). I know quite a few people who later became famous—some a little famous, some more famous. Having known these people in childhood … Continue reading →
In the recent thread about the called-off search for Flight MH370, commenter “Lurch” asked this question: I really do not understand this fetish about finding a bunch of dead bodies. A dead body is an artifact. It is not the … Continue reading →
…about this choice for “Person of the Year” by Time: For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class; for those who see it as for … Continue reading →
I saw this at Ace’s a long time ago: I admire just about everything Thomas Sowell has ever written, and when first saw this I thought “Bingo, touche!” But then I started thinking about it and realized it’s not as … Continue reading →