Tag Archives: americana

I thought Pakistan to be the most impressive example of a make-up name for a polity http://geography.about.com/library/misc/blpakname.htm but there is another one that’s closer to home: …The name IDAHO was suggested by the eccentric lobbyist George M. Willing, who claimed … Continue reading →

(Pseudo-)Italian food is so popular in America that we take it for granted. Why are there Italian-American restaurants on every corner, while German restaurants are so few and far between? There were three (!) times more German immigrants than Italian … Continue reading →

I have a friend, Bob; he is in his nineties. During the war, Bob was servicing planes in the South Pacific. War was great tedium for him, he spent most of his time playing poker and listening to the radio. … Continue reading →

I’ve always found the arguments for “enfranchisement” of this or that group (e.g., women) somewhat dubious. It sounds great, but it tacitly assumes that the voting patterns would not change, whereas the opposite is true. …By 1840, voter participation levels … Continue reading →

The story of woman’s suffrage in ten words: Disenfranchized women have organized and undone the centuries of injustice. They’ve got their right to vote! Amen. But there is a bit more to this story. Having the right to vote and … Continue reading →

I’ve been discussing healthcare reforms and remembered my favorite story of American-style government cretinism, with its usual ingredients: a liberal statesman with the bright idea how to make everyone’s life better, public-minded technocrats eagerly delivering on this idea using state-of-the-art … Continue reading →

…I saw coming towards us a Ghost who carried something on his shoulder. Like all the Ghosts, he was unsubstantial, but they differed from one another as smokes differ… What sat on his shoulder was a little red lizard, and … Continue reading →

I’ve read a book by Professor X, http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/Book-Reviews/2011/0324/In-the-Basement-of-the-Ivory-Tower It is expanded essay published in the Atlantic three years ago http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/06/in-the-basement-of-the-ivory-tower/6810/ Professor X believes that the next bubble to burst will be in the higher education. He is far from being … Continue reading →

…If you get sick at older ages, you will die sooner in England than in the United States. It appears that at least in terms of survival at older ages with chronic disease, the medical system in the United States … Continue reading →

Cont. from http://shkrobius.livejournal.com/102438.html In the previous essay of the series, the story was how the dismantling of the class system, with its rigid hierarchy and guild ethics, resulted in ballooning of professional’s incomes eventually resulting in meritocratic inequality fully replacing … Continue reading →