(p. A10) NUSEIRAT CAMP, Gaza Strip–It was just after sunset when the power went out in this Palestinian refugee camp. Within seconds, Ali al-Majdalawi flipped a switch on a blue generator in his backyard and the lights in 500 homes flickered back on again. The 64-year-old patriarch runs what he calls the A. Majdalawi Electricity … Continue reading “Private Power Lights the Darkness”
Source of book image: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204644504576653083743832432.html?KEYWORDS=Catherine+Great (p. C3) Bereft of husband and child, a lonely Catherine began to read the histories, philosophy and literature of Greece and Rome and of the Enlightenment. Montesquieu’s “The Spirit of Laws,” which analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of despotic rule, had a powerful impact on her. She was particularly interested … Continue reading “Catherine the Great as Benevolent Despot”
Kevin Costner as the patriarch of the Hatfield clan on the HBO miniseries. Source of photo: http://www.cowboysindians.com/Blog/May-2012/Blasts-From-Our-Past-With-Kevin-Costner/costner-hatfield.jpg Kevin Costner plausibly suggests that when the productive activities of capitalism and entrepreneurship are not available or sought, people are more likely to let annoyances lead to violence: (p. 15) Q. What was the root of the feud? … Continue reading “Hatfields and McCoys Show that Idleness Begets Violence”
“A customer in a Beijing cafe not yet affected by new regulations surfed the Web on Monday.” Source of caption and photo: online version of the NYT article quoted and cited below. (p. A4) BEIJING — New regulations that require bars, restaurants, hotels and bookstores to install costly Web monitoring software are prompting many businesses … Continue reading “China’s “Orwellian Surveillance System””
Source of book image: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2575/4095461227_09463c5680.jpg (p. C1) The plethora of dictators, despots and revolutionaries-turned-authoritarians south of the border has spawned a genre of literature that might be called the Latin American Strongman Novel — a genre that includes harrowing novels based on real historical figures, like Mario Vargas Llosa’s dazzling “Feast of the Goat” (which … Continue reading “Castro’s “Absolute Personal Dictatorship” Denounced By Former Member of Cuban Inner Circle”
Dyson says that the “climate-studies people” have “. . . come to believe models are real and forget they are only models.” Source of photo and caption: online version of the NYT article quoted and cited below. (The caption used here is adapted from the body of the article, and is not the caption used … Continue reading ““Infinitely Smart” Physicist and Futurist Expresses Global Warming Doubts”
The officers’ banquet of the annual convention of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Source of the photo: online version of the NYT article quoted and cited below. Before the New Deal and the Great Society, voluntary mutual assistance organizations provided insurance and help in the face of … Continue reading “Fraternal Odd Fellows Helped Each Other Without Depending on the Government”
