Jun Fujita, “National Guardsmen Questioning African American, 1919,” 1919, Photograph, Chicago Historical Society Archives. Chicago. Image Source. A week or so ago I came across a short Pacific Standard column by Jim Russel on Twitter. The article highlights a new paper by economists Dan Black, Seth Sanders, Evan Taylor, and Lowell Taylor on the early twentieth century “Great Migration” of African Americans away […]
Early last month Peter Turchin published a couple of posts on whether or not the “Great Divergence” (sometimes called the ‘Rise of the West’ or ‘the European Miracle’) can be approached scientifically. Both posts were excellent, and as is usual at Professor Turchin’s place, the comment thread that followed the posts was of exceptional quality. […]
A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. This collection is a large one. TOP BILLING Our Internet Surveillance StateBruce Schneier. Schneier on Security. 25 March 2013. The Internet is a surveillance state. Whether we admit it to ourselves or not, and whether we like it or not, we’re being tracked all the […]
A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit.TOP BILLINGRue the IdesBurt Likko. League of Ordinary Gentleman. 15 March 2013.This is one of the best treatments of Caesar and his times yet published on the blogosphere. A few money quotes: After all nearly two centuries of history that preceded Caesar’s rise to power demonstrated […]
In a recent post discussing what we know about energy consumption and economic growth in post-recession America, I wrote something that is not true: “History has shown that increases in energy efficiency lead to more energy consumption, not less.” [1] I will repeat: I made a mistake. I will take this opportunity to explain both […]
A collection of articles, essays, and blog post of merit. THE REPUBLIC Taxes and Presidential Math Veronique de Rugy. The American. 5 October 2010. Mr. de Rugy presents the best graphic of the month: Tip of the Hat to John Kranz of ThreeSources. Social Cohesion and the Bohemian Grove: the Power Elite at Summer Camp […]
The following series is an attempt to make some sense of that most peculiar of subjects: human civilization. My interest lies in the dynamics of civilized societies: their material needs and limitations, the recurring patterns of geography, social organization, and cultural complexity upon which they are built, and the type of interactions that define their […]
Peak oil is a divisive topic. Bitter battles over its timing and consequences plague the blogosphere. I rarely comment on these debates. My experience with the subject is limited, and thus the insight I can bring to any discussion on the matter is even more so. My attention is spent simply trying to catch up. […]
Earlier this month many of us laughed when Forbes Online published their satirical photo essay, “Would BP’s CEO Have Been Executed In China?” It seems that the jest has presaged reality. China now has their own oil spill. Let us see if they can handle it any better than we did.
…has already been said: (H/T NewsHoggers). Adds Fabius Maximus: Obama’s press conference says much about him – and us.“Fabius Maximus.” Fabius Maximus. 30 May 2010. This is sad, that the President of the world’s most powerful nation must perform such acrobatics. Pretend to hands-on management of things beyond his competence. Pretend to take responsibility for […]
