Naimisha Forest
"My folks sell me and yo' folks buy me." (Shorter version)
Some History of African Slavery
Here is an earlier post on the history of African slavery, but leaving out a long preface about the rapper Kanye West that seemed compelling at the time, but quite forgettable now. The subject is the role of African elites in the management of the
global slave trade. Most African slaves were sold into slavery by other Africans, by African . . .
Lock Down Links
April 2020
PlagueLit Anyone?
My Facebook literary group is keen to read about plagues. Albert Camus’ “The Plague” is popular. I like a more indirect approach to PlagueLit, though.
The classic Chinese novel “Outlaws of the Marsh” is hardly at all about plagues, but the action does get kickstarted by one, as I . . .
Two Epidemics in Three Chinas
Emperor Renzong, Xi Jinping’s ‘Party-State,’ and democratic Taiwan
As the coronavirus pandemic that began in China makes its way among us, with a modest cough and a friendly handshake, it brings to my bookish mind another epidemic in that 
country, the one that sets in motion the classic Chinese novel “The Outlaws of the Marsh.” That was in the reign of Emperor Renzong (AD 1022-1063), the . . .
Freeman Dyson: Great Minds Around the Billiard Table
"In the end I won the game"
The Guardian’s obituary for the British-born mathematician, physicist, and general genius Freeman Dyson, who died on February 28, aged 96, says that:
“his happiest ever school holiday – from Winchester college – was spent working his way, from 6 am to 10 pm, through 700 problems in Piaggio’s Differential . . .
Posted in: britainjames joycemathematicssciencesports
What’s Different About This Impeachment?
In the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof offers to explain “What’s Different About This Impeachment” compared to Watergate:
“The essential difference between Nixon and Trump lies not in their misconduct or in their unsuitability for office, but in the grim refusal of today’s Republican Party to notice . . .
“Along Hurricane Dorian’s Tortured Path”
Disaster Journalism High and Low
The New York Times has a human interest story, “Along Hurricane Dorian’s Tortured Path, Millions are United in Fear,” a fine example of quality upper-crust American journalism, against which it is interesting to contrast “’Waffle House Index’ is a real thing during disasters. How does the restaurant . . .
Twitter Suggests...
No political bias here, you think?
The other day I at last forced back my terror and signed up for Twitter. I reckon if I stay quiet, lie low, and wag my tail submissively I won't be "doxxed," humiliated, have my life destroyed; get hunted down, disemboweled and eaten on the hot, asphalt pavement by a pack of mad dog SJWs.
To help me on my way, Twitter kindly offered . . .
Cover image credit: http://Pinterest
