The World At My Birth
I was born March 1, 1965, so let's see what made the New York Times the following day, March 2, 1965: Australia Punishes Dawn Fraser For Capers as Olympic Swimmer…
Random Learnings #69
Growing up in Iowa, all I knew of Kossuth County was its unusual size: essentially double the size of other counties in the state, it's the reason Iowa has 99…
Unique Hotel
My wife and I visited Iowa City, Iowa last week to attend a University of Iowa women's basketball game, a rather bad loss to Minnesota. Our hotel was Graduate by…
Random Learnings #67
If we know anything about National Socialism, it's that for the first time in German politics human stupidity has been successfully and completely mobilized. -Kurt Schumacher, SPD member of Weimar…
Abolish ICE!
As seen on TNT during Unrivaled, someone sitting immediately behind the announcers wearing a very political t-shirt. Absolutely kick-ass. Presuming that TNT wanted to avoid this political maelstrom, I originally…
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…
Marching Band Nostalgia
The peaked in high school meme describes those whose personal popularity and successes post-high school pale in comparison to the best four years of my life. BMOC, stud athletes, cheerleaders…
Random Learnings #66
From an article in the Guardian: Seems perfectly reasonable that anyone booking a “Superior Room with Pitch View” at the Blackpool Football Club Stadium hotel, located inside the Bloomfield Road Stadium, would…
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…
Visiting the Palace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, the seat of British Government since the creation of the Model Parliament in 1295, is easily recognizable, if for no other reason than the Elizabeth Tower…