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[HorsCat]

Mohammed bin Zayed’s Dark Vision of the Middle East’s Future - The New York Times

[ericpmoss]

Can we not do better than this?

[kytyree]

Popped in here to add that one myself, it was an interesting read. NYT also had another one about some of the recent changes in Saudi Arabia that was interesting.

edit: oops, I was referring to the article on MBZ from the Times.

[guido]

Five myths about bipartisanship. No, it wasn’t the norm throughout U.S. history. | Washington Post

[guido]

My Journey to Scotland's Most Remote Pub | Outside Online

[BBB]

My Journey to Scotland's Most Remote Pub | Outside Online

Thanks. That was a great little read.

[guido]

The New Generation of Self-Created Utopias - The New York Times

[guido]

Marching around with guns on your chest? That’s all about fear. | Washington Post

[Matthew Strongin]

Marching around with guns on your chest? That’s all about fear. | Washington Post

Thanks for the post. I'm happy to see Virginia, my former place of residence of 10 years and a state I still consider home, take some positive steps. The note in the article about red-flag laws is telling. There's so much fear about anything that tests the 2nd Amendment that the assumption is that it's as easy as telling the cops someone should have their guns taken away and poof they're gone. But the reality is that it's a legal process involving the courts that gives families who need to protect a love one from himself a legal avenue to do so. That's far from some leftist, radical plot to strip the guns from responsible owners for no reason.

[ides1056]

Guns Are No Mere Symbol - The Atlantic

"One group’s politics canceled those of others, in other words. Self-government in a democratic society is supposed to follow a model of openness—different ideas and points of view compete in a “marketplace of ideas” for the support of the people and their representatives. That model doesn’t work when one side kills the other, or even threatens to."

[guido]

Thanks for that link ides1056, the line that got me was:

As the historian Jill Lepore wrote in The New Yorker in 2012, “When carrying a concealed weapon for self-defense is understood not as a failure of civil society, to be mourned, but as an act of citizenship, to be vaunted, there is little civilian life left.”

[davids]

This basic shit has and will not help with the divide of this country.....Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories. - The New York Times

Fascinating and depressing. It's too bad that politics/power has such an impact on what's taught. But as a colleague has often said, "History is written by the victors."

I'm sure my perspective on history is the product of my education, for better and for worse.

I had a really interesting experience recently, vacationing in New Orleans, Austin and Santa Fe. I found myself fascinated by the cultures and histories of this part of the US, and ended up visiting history museums in each of these cities to learn more about Cajun culture; Creole culture; the history of French colonialism in the New World; the history of Spanish colonialism in the New World; the foundations of the Republic of Mexico, Anglo settlement and the Republic of Texas; and the deep and varied pre-Columbian cultures of the Southwest. Growing up in Ohio and living in New England my education and perspective was (I was surprised to realize) very colloquial.

Next book I'm planning to read is "1491". And then I'll see where that takes me.

[mzilliox]

Five myths about bipartisanship. No, it wasn’t the norm throughout U.S. history. | Washington Post

i like this one, very sociology based look at party and voter dynamics.

[mzilliox]

single issue 2nd voters are a real thing. too many of my fisherman and outdoors friends made a mistake that they will not make again last vote. Many have regrets after the environmental regulations began getting dismantled. at least these guys i can spend a day with in the boat and convince them that Trump is ruining what they actually hold dear, the outdoors, and you can show them in real life that catching a wild steelhead and passing that legacy onto our children is better than carrying around a pew pew. and that people like me have no desire (in reality, id love it in utopia) to take away all the guns. this fear is just fear, spun up now by the president to solidify a base of anger. this toughest leader ever in the history of leaders likes to lead via stoked anger. awesome. these guys are super tough too, because they carry guns.

we live in the safest, calmest, coolest place around, why you gotta arm up? Nobodies gonna step to you snoop dawg. the only ones to be worried about are the ones just like you, the other guys who get off on guns just a bit too much.

haha, the one article finished off in a similar fashion:
"Think about it, guys. The biggest thing you have to fear, when it comes to guns, is yourselves, actually.

It would be pretty brave to talk about that."

[sonicw]

Here's a nice piece on why college for all won't do much to fix the social divide. Bias alert–The New Republic is a liberal progressive-leaning publication
Educated Fools | Democratic Leaders Still Don't Understand the Politics of Social Class

[guido]

How to Debunk Trump’s False Claims About the Economy | The New Yorker

[guido]

Susan Collins Takes Hours to Decide on Lunch Before Ordering Exactly What Mitch McConnell Is Having | The New Yorker

[guido]

Ben Moon of 'Denali' Knows What Makes a Good Dog Story | Outside Online

[guido]

How Maryland’s unique global hospital budget system works - Vox

[JJohnson]

My Journey to Scotland's Most Remote Pub | Outside Online

Great, now I'm looking at flights to the UK for this summer.