Trego's Mountain Ear

A phobia is, by definition, intense, persistent and irrational.  Glancing at the historical record, it’s difficult to claim that a fear of Islam is irrational.  The Rise of Islamic Geography in the Middle Ages provides this description of Islamic expansion: “The Islamic empire began to expand beyond the Arabian Peninsula after the death of the Read more

NOAA has some long-range outlooks that let us look at the upcoming winter – and, as always, that’s a good news/bad news thing.  Here are the maps: Winter may not be dryer and warmer than normal for us – but it looks like that’s the way to bet.  I’ll hedge that bet by filling the Read more

 E. Digby Baltzell wrote decades ago, “History is a graveyard of classes which have preferred caste privileges to leadership.” Rediscovering E. Digby Baltzell’s Sociology of Elites – American Affairs Journal offers a brief description of Baltzell’s work on elites.  He coined the term WASP, and wrote of the nation’s elites and their training schools.  His Read more

In New Mexico, I see the governor issuing an executive order that bans carrying firearms in a single county.  She issued that order because a couple of kids were shot – I’d tend to use the word murdered.  She found a simple solution that doesn’t address the problem, but affects a lot of people and Read more

Medscape ran an article titled “BMI Is a Flawed Measure of Obesity. What Are Alternatives?” The argument ran: “BMI is also inherently limited by being “a proxy for adiposity” and not a direct measure, added Wee, who is also director of the Obesity Research Program of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. As Read more

Hunter Biden has me wondering how many people are prosecuted for lying on Form 4473.  The threat of 5 years in the big house and a $5,000 fine is more than enough to deter me, but Hunter does have a law degree, so he may have had a better idea about the actual risk. Justice Read more