ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

These three little stories share quite a lot: First , an Alt Right activist plastered pictures of Meryl Streep in Los Angeles, with ...

1.  I have written a book review ("Neither Fish, nor Peacocks, nor Elephant Seals" ) on Cordelia Fine's Testosterone Rex: My...

The news about the death of cardinal Bernard Law made me re-read the Boston Globe material from 2002 and watch the movie Spotlight (about...

Do you want to learn how the courtiers of olden times had to act in the courts of vicious dictators?  Mike Pence demonstrates the proper be...

Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol tells the conversion story of one Ebenezer Scrooge, a tightwad curmudgeon who exploits his workers, n...

When I saw this tweet by Joe Walsh (we all love Joe, right?), I was reminded of the way later generations evaluated the reign of the only...

These are the words we must not say: The Trump administration is prohibiting officials at the nation’s top public health agency from u...

1.  Languages are wonderful.  An example : The sneaky trick behind making the same sentence have so many different interpretations ...

1.  So Doug Jones pulled it off in Alabama.  I had trained myself not to expect anything of that sort, and still can't quite adjust to...

The Alabama elections get ever more hilarious : Alabama is allowed to destroy digital voting records created at the polls during today...

Imagine that you have hibernated for five years, say, and wake up this morning to read a tweet from the new president of the United States...

This is a rant about American politics in 2017 and my place in it.  Let me begin by noting that I have never liked politics as a horse race...

 Here's a flag for you: The next picture is just because the gentleman in the picture is a Finnish cat, enjoying the scarce an...

You may have come across this recent tweet exchange: Dr. James Kent's argument is common in the manosphere, almost part of its...

Remember the estate tax demolition plan*?  It's in the House tax "reform" bill, but not in the Senate tax "reform"...

Tonight's Senate vote (51-49 for passing) on the tax plan is the most hilarious thing ever.  It is also one of the most cruel, heartle...

Mick Mulvaney is now the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  This is what he said about his plans when it...

The planned series of post about the blogiversary has been delayed by my exhaustion and existential ennui.  A year of Trump is exhausting,...

1.  I still can't fathom if the Republicans truly see what their tax plans are going to do to this country.  Income and wealth is alre...

The Gray Lady, New York Times , had one of those close-up-and-personal (remember Olympics coverage?) articles about, Tony Hovater,  a whit...