Scary Times, Predicted
I'm still working my way through Fateful Hours: The Collapse of the Weimar Republic by Volker Ullrich, in which he gives a riveting account of Germany's inter-war history, from World…
Book Review #3
In the translated book Planning in the USSR by I.A. Yevenko, the communist hyperbole and delusion begins immediately with the Author's Notes on page 5: The system of socialist planned…
Book Review #2
A Brief History of Freemasons: the true story of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society: From the back cover: An illuminating and unbiased history of this most enigmatic secret society.…
Random Learnings #65
Reading the otherwise underwhelming The Freemasons: The True Story of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society by Jasper Ridley, the author uses the folk tale Cinderella when discussing the French…
New York City Love Letter
Sunday, my wife and I introduced a Connecticut friend to the main branch of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. Of course, one must see the Rose Main…
Book Review #1
The cover description of Retreat From Glory by R. H. Bruce Lockhart in tantalizing: By the author of British Agent. Mr Bruce Lockhart continues the fascinating story of his career.…
Goodbye, Old Friend
Music, music, MUSIC After "graduating" from elementary school and entering middle school, sixth graders took a class on good study habits: creating a personal "study area" in your house, ideally…
The New Penny Normal
For decades, amusement parks, gardens, museums, zoos, boardwalks, and anywhere else offer - for a price - to commemorate your visit by embossing their logo or image onto a penny,…
Digital Dependency
On our train from Zermatt to Zurich: many air travelers board at Zurich Hauptbanhof for the quick journey to Zurich Airport, not wasting the effort to find seats, passing the…
Their Country Loves Them
I'm in Antwerp for Devoxx Belgium and spent the late afternoon walking: partly to get a sense of Antwerp, partly to avoid going to sleep to early after an overnight…