QotD: Lies about the past
It has long been said that the truth will set you free. This is often true, even when that freedom is the bleak and dry eyed horror of knowing how wrong things can go. (As in, say, studying...
View ArticleHow Does Glue Work? (feat. VSauce) – James May’s Q&A (Ep 9) – Head Squeeze
Published on 28 Feb 2013 Michael Stevens from Vsauce makes a guest appearance with James May to discuss how glue actually works. James May’s Q&A: With his own unique spin, James May asks and...
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Teddy Bridgewater returns to Vikings OTAs, sparking more questions
To the surprise and delight of many Vikings fans, the team posted a short video to their social media accounts on Tuesday afternoon, showing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater taking part in some passing...
View ArticleDangerous railway practices of the past
On Facebook, the New England, Berkshire & Western (“an HO scale layout created by the Rensselaer Model Railroad Society, which is a student club on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in...
View ArticleWords & Numbers: Government Can’t Stop Creative Destruction
Published on 24 May 2017 Technology doesn’t just change things, it utterly destroys things. And that’s just fine. It happens so often that people barely even notice when it does. Think about all the...
View ArticleQotD: The coming of the sexbots
Recently I saw online a documentary on sex robots. The reporteress, a short-haired woman seething with quiet indignation, Viewed With Alarm the very idea. Progress is rapid on these love assistants,...
View ArticlePuzzle of Growth: Rich Countries and Poor Countries
Published on 16 Feb 2016 Throughout this section of the course, we’ve been trying to solve a complicated economic puzzle — why are some countries rich and others poor? There are various factors at...
View ArticleA noteworthy historical “Oh, shit!” moment
At Catallaxy Files, a guest post on a most butt-puckering “Oh, shit!” from long ago: My favourite Oh Shit moment of all time occurred a while ago. On the 4th of September 401 BC to be exact. At dawn....
View ArticleToronto-London high speed train plan –“many Ontarians wouldn’t trust the...
Chris Selley discusses the weak-but-barely-plausible high speed train plans announced by the Ontario government the other day: High-speed rail is expensive — to build, certainly, and more on that...
View ArticleGerman Bombers Over Britain – Arab Revolt On The Advance I THE GREAT WAR Week...
Published on 25 May 2017 This week 100 years ago, Germany is flying concentrated bomber attacks with multiple Gotha bombers on British cities – causing more damage than any Zeppelin raid before. In...
View ArticleA Brief History of Politicians Body-Slamming Journalists
Published on 25 May 2017 In the twilight hours of a special election to replace Montana’s lone congressman, Republican hopeful Greg Gianforte reportedly “body slammed” and punched a Guardian reporter...
View ArticleQotD: When international sport replaced war between the Great Powers
I do not know if there was a meeting, in about 1961, of a subcommittee of the Bilderberg Commission (itself a characteristic consequence of the Great Change) at which it was resolved that, what with...
View ArticleMary Anning – Princess of Paleontology – Extra History
Published on 22 Apr 2017 “She sells seashells by the seashore.” Many have heard this old English rhyme, but few know the true story of the woman who inspired it. Her name was Mary Anning, and she did...
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Canada’s hollow army
Thanks to a post at Army.ca, here is the rough outline of the NATO battle group that Canada will be leading in Latvia later this summer (oddly lacking in attached artillery support): … the Canadian-led...
View ArticleTerry Teachout – Building the Wall “is a piece of pornography written in...
Sir Humphrey Appleby reminds us that “plays attacking the government make the second most boring theatrical evenings ever invented. The most boring are plays praising the government”. After attending a...
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Currently reading
You could say that I don’t follow a particularly chronological pattern to my reading list. Pax Romana, Adrian GoldsworthyAD69: Emperors, Armies & Anarchy, Nic FieldsAll Propaganda is Lies:...
View ArticleQotD: Nostalgia
Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety. It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re...
View ArticleHow to make a Half-lap Dovetail | Paul Sellers
Published on 18 May 2017 The half-lap dovetail is possibly the most common of all the dovetails used today. It is used for the front corners of drawers, and anywhere where you want to use a dovetail...
View ArticleThe Handmaid’s Tale, is indeed timely, but not the way they mean
In the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, Charlotte Allen discusses the “timeliness” of Hulu’s TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale: I’ve lost count of the articles I’ve read...
View ArticleIndochina – Cyprus – Puerto Rico I OUT OF THE TRENCHES
Published on 27 May 2017 What do Indochina, Cyprus and Puerto Rico have in common? They are all featured in our newest episode of Out of The Trenches where Indy answers all your questions about World...
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