This odd notion in Tom Rachman’s delightful  The Imperfectionists appealed to my fondness for the absurd. The novel revolves around char...

Of all the superlative adjectives (wonderful, genius, heartfelt, etc..)  I could use for Ryan Adams music, I think that tonight I'll use...

I have little doubt that the Facebook team's software could be duplicated or even improved on. I have serious doubts that your network o...

Politicians embody the inherent contradiction in voters' minds, a contradiction which they would prefer to ignore. For this politicians ...

Van Gogh reportedly sold only one painting in his life. Since then, his paintings have sold for tens of millions, sums that would have surel...

The Atlantic reports that  For the 1st Time Ever, a Majority of the Unemployed Have Attended College This might mean universities a...

News : The state of  Hawaii  has verified  President Barack Obama 's  birth records  to Arizona 's elections chief after a nearly...

There is a certain force of will required to sustain a unique identity in the midst of a foreign culture. This might just save the students ...

Recently, the US Postal Service cancelled plans to cancel service to hundreds of rural areas throughout the US. The problem remains, though....

I saw the most curious thing on a flight today. Mothers everywhere do what they can to calm fussy babies whose crying can raise the stress l...

London Our hotel was at the base of the London Eye, across the river from Big Ben and Parliament. We watched Andrew Marr interview Prime...

The market continues to be incredibly volatile. Within weeks we get as much movement up or down as some generations saw in a typical ye...

Today, the French choose who will be their president for the next five years. The polls suggest that the Socialist Hollande is a narrow favo...

A few thoughts prompted by a visit to the Louvre today. I'm pretty sure that some are - with proper twists - actually metaphors for the ...

The first civilizations we know of emerged in the Middle East. It's easy to see how the fact of being at the intersection of Asia and Eu...

Yesterday as I wandered through the British Museum, marveling at the scale of the creations from civilizations past, I was struck by a coupl...

"T here is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families." - Margaret Thatcher, former Bri...

People don't ride the subway to watch the scenery. They are trying to get somewhere. We'd find it odd if someone got onto the subway...

Charles Murray’s new book, Coming Apart , highlights a dramatic and important divergence between America’s elites and working class during ...

Anyone who reads my blog with any regularity knows that I think social invention is as important as technological invention. It's true t...