Welcome!

I  am still in the process of building the basic components of this blog with its integral set of web pages. Please read the About for an overview of what I have in mind. And you will find the first pages for the Serendipitous Pracademic and Waterway Cruiser each tell a story – they are background to the eclectic collection of posts you can read by scrolling down below and the sub-pages of the web site listed in the drop down menus above and also accessed below recent posts in the navigation to your right.

Tony in the Pink

Med Mooring

Croatia

Elba

The Gardens of Democracy

The Gardens of Democracy: A New American Story of Citizenship, The Economy and the Role of Government

Authors on Charlie Rose

Honing Your Comparative Advantage

The Creative Monopoly Good thought Brooks but the wrong words for shaping and fostering the concepts appeal

Imagine & How We Decide

Jonah Lehrer

IMAGINE

HOW WE DECIDE

Canada’s Consensus Driven Supreme Court Under McLachlin

Perspective on the Canadian Supreme Court under Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin at a time when Harper has the opportunity to make two new appointments and three more likely in the near future. Also see the lists of related articles.

Sam Spade At Starbucks: Real Insight From Readers’ Comments

Sam Spade At Starbucks by David Brooks

One more example of how the real value of his columns lies in the thoughts stimulated by the comments from his readers. It would interesting to know more about the extent to which the comments are read by the readership, who they are, whether they have any impact etc

Evidence in Science and Religion

Part 1 Citing Chapter and Verse: Which Scripture Is The Right One?

Part 2 Evidence in Science and Religion

Thinking The Twentieth Century

Tony Judt’s Last Act: Sounding The Alarm

The New York Review of Books

Charlie Rose’s Green Room with Tony Judt

The Leaderless Revolution

The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Will Take Power And Change Politics In The 21st Century by Carne Ross

Social Darwinism: Obama, Brooks and The Stone

Obama’s speech

David Brooks critique (The Other Obama) and note the damning comments from readers on this

The Stone responds more deeply

“Without enormous support, access to inspiring teachers and skillful doctors, the backing of self-sacrificing relatives and a broader community, and without a fair bit of luck, the vast majority of people, not only in the United States but throughout the world, would never achieve the things of which they are, in principle, capable. In short, Horatio Alger needs lots of help, and a large thrust of contemporary Republican policy is dedicated to making sure he doesn’t get it.”