The English have a fine word for the political mess it finds itself in at the moment–kerfuffle, which is defined as “a commotion or fuss, especially one caused by conflicting views.” Boy, […]
The UK election: Another fine mess you’ve got us into
wufnik
What does it mean to be a “good ancestor”?
What is a good parent? What is a good grandparent? These terms don’t mean what they used to. I heard a comment a few weeks ago about someone who wanted to be […]
Unsolicited Museum Review—American Painting in the 1930s at the Royal Academy, and Paul Nash at the Tate.
As it turns out, lots of pictures does not a great, or even a good, show make. What is one to do when you leave an art show that leaves you not […]
Wendell Berry goes global, sort of
Paul Kingsnorth is a British writer, of both fiction and non-fiction. His fiction includes The Wake, nominated for the Booker a few years ago, which involved him creating a variant of Old […]
Was Donald Trump a Boy Scout?
To be frank, I can’t find any evidence that he was, or he wasn’t. But if I had to guess, no, Donald Trump was not a Boy Scout. Growing up in the […]
Donald Trump’s very odd cabinet choices
Well, so far it’s been a race to the bottom of a barrel with an ever-receding bottom. This is not completely unexpected–Trump had been pretty clear throughout the campaign about certain things […]
Keeping up with the Presidential kids
Some presidential offspring are okay. Some less so. But if Trump wins, god help us. Watching Chelsea Clinton make a fool of herself every time she makes a campaign appearance—well, probably not […]
What would “winning” the Climate Wars look like?
If our climate challenge is a world war, it’s one without an ending—or one where the ending won’t be clear for a century or two. Bill McKibben, who, as Vox points out, is […]
How to prepare for a Donald Trump presidency without inducing apoplexy
There are lots of reasons to bemoan the choices in this year’s Presidential elections. The weaknesses of both candidates are manifest and telling, and have resulted in the largest collective moan from […]
Chilcot is out, and it’s devastating
So, after seven years and lots of pounds, the Chilcot report on “lessons to be learned” from Iraq has finally been published. It tells us nothing we didn’t already know, frankly, and […]
