Thinking Citizen Blog — Monday is Foreign Policy Day
Today’s Topic: Is China Taking Over Bhutan? Who Cares? Who Should?
What is going on in the Himalayas? Should this be on anyone’s radar screen? Is it time to “sound the alarm”? So argues Robert Barnett of the University of London’s School of African and Oriental Studies in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post. Today, a summary of his argument. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
“FULL SCALE SETTLEMENT IN ANOTHER COUNTRY’S TERRITORY”
1. “That country is Bhutan, which lies directly between China and India, close to areas…
Liberal Arts Blog — Monday is the Joy of Math, Statistics, Shapes, and Numbers Day
Today’s topic — Blaise Pascal (1623–1662): Quotes to Remember
Pascal was a child prodigy who made extraordinary contributions to math and science before he died at age 39. Among these was his work in probability theory. Indeed, he is perhaps most famous for “Pascal’s wager” namely that it is rational to believe in God and act accordingly because to do so can bring an infinite reward (heaven), whereas not doing so risks infinite pain (hell) with the possibility of only finite reward. Today, my candidates…
Thinking Citizen Blog — Sunday is Political Process, Campaign Strategy, and Candidate Selection Day
Today’s Topic: The California Gubernatorial Recall Election of September 14, 2021: Good Thing, Bad Thing?
Is it true that the more checks and balances the better? That that government governs best that governs least? Is California in a dire state in desperate need of radical change? or is the recall election a travesty? is Governor Newsom a popular governor who has done a reasonable job? Today, a few notes on the upcoming recall election. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
NATIONAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXT…
Liberal Arts Blog — Sunday is the Joy of Humor, Food, Travel, Practical Life Tips, and Miscellaneous Day
Today’s Topic: Rodney Dangerfield (1921–2004) and the Art of Self-Deprecation
Self-deprecation is in general more of a British thing than an American thing. Americans tend to celebrate self-confidence and braggadocio. But there is a strong self deprecatory streak in Jewish humor — with Woody Allen and Joan Rivers being notable exemplars. But, in this genre, Rodney Dangerfield was king. Today, a few notes on the man who got “no respect.” Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE RADIO, THE TOASTER…
Thinking Citizen Blog — Saturday is Justice, Freedom, Law, and Values Day
Today’s Topic: Homelessness: Skid Row, Venice Beach, the HUD report
Is housing a right or a privilege? Or is this a false dichotomy? Where do you draw the line between individual and collective responsibility? What is the magnitude of each? Is doing the math an ethical responsibility? Who is qualified to do the math? Today, a few notes after a trip to LA, which you might call “Ground Zero” of the homelessness crisis. Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
SKID ROW, LA: “THE HOMELESS CAPITAL OF…
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is the Joy of Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic — The Olympics: A Mixed Bag
The Olympics are awesome, right? A great celebration of our common humanity, the pursuit of excellence, and the importance of sports and fitness? With a little dollop of national pride? Well, not to all analysts. Notably David Goldblatt, the author of “The Games: a Global History of the Olympics” who is calling for the abolition of the Olympics after the Tokyo Games. In a nutshell “The traveling circus shows the underside of sports — displacing…
Thinking Citizen Blog — Friday is Education and Education Policy Day
Today’s Topic — Bob Moses (1935- 2021) — The Five Step Method
Thank you to Vali Tamm for bringing the work of Bob Moses to my attention. Moses was both a civil rights leader and a math education crusader. “I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mississippi was in 1961,” he wrote in 2001 in his book “Radical Equations.” Unfortunately, I do not think that the situation…
Liberal Arts Blog — Friday is the Joy of Art, Architecture, Design, Film, and All Things Visual Day
Today’s Topic: Three Color Triads — Notes for a Sonnet
Gerald Manley Hopkins wrote a beautiful sonnet titled “Pied Beauty” in which he thanks God for the magic of “dappled things” such as “skies of couple-color like a brinded cow.” The juxtaposition of two colors can be an inspiration — whether on a finch’s wing or a freckled face. Inspired by Hopkins, I would like to write a sonnet about perfect color triads. Today, a few notes on three favorites. Experts —…
Thinking Citizen Blog — Thursday is Health, Health Care, Health Insurance and Global Health Policy Day
Today’s Topic: The Delta Variant: Origins, Characteristics, Consequences
The Delta Variant is spreading. And children under 12 are not eligible for vaccination. While children are at relatively low risk, “more than 16,000 children in the U.S. have been hospitalized and more than 300 have died.” In the words of Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics committee on infectious diseases,” If you told anybody before Covid that 300 to 600 children were dying of a preventable disease, they would all say…
Liberal Arts Blog — Thursday is the Joy of Music Day
Today’s Topic: Next up: Indonesia, “Bengawan Solo,” Philippines, “Dahil Sa Iyo,” Turkey, “Ali Baba ‘nin Ciftligi”
Whenever I meet a student at Harvard or a tourist at the North Bridge in Concord (or anywhere else for that matter) from a country whose language I don’t know, I ask: what is your most beloved song? My goal is to learn three new songs per year until I croak. I’m up to roughly 40 (7 Asian, 4 Middle Eastern, 5 African, and the rest European). Next up: Indonesian, Tagalog, and Turkish…
