Sometimes language expresses concepts, and since different cultures develop in different circumstances, other languages have words that English-speakers have no need for. For example, I have always heard that Eskimo have many words for snow*. I’ve found an article that highlights more of these examples, like malu, an Indonesian word for “the sudden experience
As a history nerd, I’ve learned that a consistent mistake generals have made throughout the centuries is preparing to fight the last war instead of looking ahead to how the world has changed. Is Donald Trump doing the same thing? His campaign rhetoric made it sound like he wants to return to an earlier era,
Sometimes we assume holidays have always been the way we experience them, but Thanksgiving is a good example of how you can’t view historical events through a contemporary lens. I took time out from eating and football-watching to check my email, and I found details about that first celebration on today’s Time magazine News Brief.
In December, 1952, a dense fog descended over London, England, and suddenly people began dying. Over the course of five days, at least 4,000 people, and as many of 12,000, succumbed to breathing problems and approximately 150,000 were hospitalized. Thousands of animals also died. This disaster led to the Clean Air Act of 1956, but
When I was living in California in 1982, I could not help but follow that year’s governor’s race between Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and George Deukmejian. By election day, most polls showed Bradley with a significant lead, but after all the votes had been counted, Deukmejian had emerged the winner. Why were the polls
With all the talk about immigration concerns in this country, I ran across an interesting article on The Christian Science Monitor website entitled “Could Embracing Migrants Help Solve Italian Villages’ Aging Problem?” (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2016/1030/Could-embracing-migrants-help-solve-Italian-villages-aging-problem) In Italy, the birth rate is not high enough to prevent a shrinking population. This is especially true in Southern Italy’s villages,
Earlier I had written about a Freakonomics podcast dealing with the power of the presidency. I’ve always thought that the Founders put so many checks and balances in our system, the president is actually pretty effectively constrained. This podcast, entitled “How Much Does the U.S. Presidency Really Matter?”, supported that view. ( http://freakonomics.com/podcast/much-president-really-matter-rebroadcast/ ) Now there
As a Disneyana fan, having songs stuck in my head comes with the territory (it’s what kind of world after all?). I’ve always accepted it as part of my life. But now, thanks to some new research, there may be a scientific explanation. In a study published in the academic journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity
I’ve recently heard a radical idea: we should become a cashless society. The technology is pretty much here, with credit and debit cards, PayPal, and even Bitcoins. Other countries are moving in that direction. South Korea has established a goal of becoming a cashless society by 2020 (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2016/03/488_199146.html). India and the Scandinavian countries are also
What makes a good novel? You need a hero, a villain, and a compelling story. And for the story to be really memorable, your hero needs some flaws. That’s why there is kryptonite in the Superman sagas; invincibility makes for a very boring read. Now translate that into the very real world of politics. As