DEMOCRACIES—MEASURING RISK
“WHY DEMOCRACIES DIE AND WHAT TO DO NEXT” is the thought-provoking title of Rachel Beatty Riedl’s review in AAAS Science, September 25, 2025, of Susan C. Stokes’ book The Backsliders. … Continue reading
CELEBRATING BRUCE MCCALL
I THANK ANDY BOROWITZ FOR “Another Reason to Love Canada,” The Borowitz Report, October 8, 2025: “Let’s celebrate a Canadian who, fortunately for us, decided to move here. Bruce McCall … Continue reading
ON TEACHING
STEPHANIE FRIEDMAN OFFERS A TANTALIZING TITLE “ ‘Born to Make a Difference’: The Best Teachers Share These 4 Traits,” Nice News, October 4, 2025. She begins her tale, “Dig deep … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR M.I.T.—AND ITS PRESIDENT’S WORD COUNT! PART 2
WHEN I BEGAN THIS ANALYSIS OF TRUMP’S LATEST SHAKEDOWN of higher education, I didn’t realize how it would be a battle of word counts (or that it would evolve into … Continue reading
HURRAH FOR M.I.T.—AND ITS PRESIDENT’S WORD COUNT! PART 1
VIMAL PATEL WRITES, “M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment,” The New York Times, October 10, 2025. Patel describes, “The proposal, called the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence … Continue reading
THREE VIGNETTES SHOW THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE SHARED EXTREMELY DISTURBING VIEWS of our government’s Department of Homeland Services ICE raid in Chicago, both the DHS propaganda as well as bravely recorded videos of Chicagoans. Today … Continue reading
THREE VIGNETTES SHOW THE LAMENTABLE STATE OF OUR COUNTRY PART 1
PRONOUNCEMENTS FROM THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION continue to emphasize its dedicated march to autocracy. Just so there’s no BS about its meaning (like the phony “antifa/terrorism”), Merriam-Webster defines “autocracy” as “1. … Continue reading
BANKSY LIMITLESS, SORTA
BANKSY, WIKIPEDIA DESCRIBES, “is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist, and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, … Continue reading
CIVICS TRUMP 2.0 PART 2
YESTERDAY WAS PROMPTED BY TRUMP’S digging out Civics 2020, his first administration’s revamping of Civics 2008, the latter having served admirably for 17 years helping people becoming U.S. citizens. Needless to … Continue reading
CIVICS TRUMP 2.0 PART 1
ON OCTOBER 20, 2025, THERE’S A NEW CIVICS TEST of naturalization. Well, sorta new. With careful reading, it’s more like “A New Trump Administration Low,” as described here back on … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 