No, this is not a joke, as one of my friends surmised. A banker in England realized the best way to fight terrorism is to identify likely terror suspects before they can strike. He began to identify all the characteristics and behaviors of a terrorist from his bank’s database, like they tended to make one
“Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door.” If you’ve ever heard of this saying, forget it. It just isn’t true. Everything depends on marketing and promotion… and luck. I was reminded of this recently when I heard a radio interview with Derek Thompson, a senior editor at Atlantic
Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA by Tim Weiner, Doubleday, 2007 This was a very depressing book to read. According to Weiner’s account, all the horror stories you’ve heard about the CIA are true, and then some. Apparently the Agency has never been good at what I thought its main mission was —
They don’t call economics “the dismal science” for nothing. Yet it’s such a critical part of our lives. And it’s such an important part of history. As a history nerd, I’ve found books that provide a historical perspective in many different ways — wars, natural disasters, disease, pests, and even sex. (How would English history
If you’re a Disney fan (like I am), I’d recommend The Vault of Walt book series by my good friend Jim Korkis. I’ve just finished Volume 2, but I’ve discovered Jim is way ahead of me — he’s up to Volume 5! As a history nerd in general, I realized a long time ago that
This piece is for my fellow Disney fanatics. I have been reading the book Cleaning the Kingdom: Insider Tales of Keeping Walt’s Dream Spotless by Ken Pellman & Lynn Barron (Synergy Books, 2015). I’m only about two thirds of the way through (it’s 439 pages of narrative plus supporting material), but it’s the best book
Every so often I see a questions that brings me up short. For example, we need words to talk, but why do we need words to think? Durham University psychologist Charles Fernyhough has been studying this. Fernyhough thinks approximately 20 to 25 percent of our waking time is spent with language directed at ourselves. Why?
What is it like to be caught between two cultures, not completely identifying with either and not completely being accepted by either? I’ve met people who are the offspring of mixed-race marriages, but two distinct cultures? If you’re wondering, too, one insight into a European-Middle Eastern dichotomy is a published series of comic strips entitled
During this political silly season, it’s easy to think this country is in serious trouble, that we’re not great anymore, that we have serious problems, especially with crime and race relations. Well, I lived through the 1960s and 1970s, which means I saw firsthand the civil rights struggles and the Vietnam protests, and anecdotally I
From the “Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover” department — Awhile back I received an email from a conservative friend with a picture of President Obama getting off Air Force One with a book under his arm. You could just read the title: The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. Apparently my friend was offended
