"This was the voice of moderation until 13 Sept, 2025"
by wj My eye hit this article, and . . . words fail me. President Trump ordered major changes to U.S. asylum policies in a White House memo released Monday night, including measures that would charge fees to those applying for humanitarian refuge in the United States. How can anyone think that refugees and others … Read more
by Doctor Science There’s a lot of good stuff in The Retreat of the Elephants: An Environmental History of China by Mark Elvin, which I just finished reading, but I want to pull out one especially notable passage: Elvin’s translation of a first-hand description of a dragon. Part of the 1244 C.E. scroll Nine Dragons, … Read more
by liberal japonicus
The title is not a meditation on political systems and my opinions, it is a bit more literal. Where I’m at is South Korea, where I’ll be a for a year. So, below the fold, an open thread-y set of observations and unbridled speculation. For those who find some of this unbelievable, please ask probing questions and for those who have some experience in Korea, please chime in.
by wj Apologies all. I should have gotten this up before the release. But here it is now. (Feel free to repost your comments here.)
by Doctor Science Notre Dame de Paris, one of the greatest artworks and religious monuments of European culture, is in flames as I write. None of my words are adequate. In the first campaign of the web D&D series Critical Role, Percy (a human aristocrat and fighter) is asked by an elf how long he’ll … Read more
by wj There’s something to be said for us not losing track that there are great things happening in the world beyond politics. Like this one: Image of a Black Hole I admit that my first thought was :How can they take a picture of something that absorbs all light and reflects nothing?!?!?” But, of … Read more
by Ugh Poor now former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen quit yesterday (or, rather, was shoved out the door) as it seems that, despite separating thousands of children from their parents at the border and then admitting it might take two years to reunite them all (which, really, if you were 2 when you were separated … Read more