Newmark's Door

If you laid down money in 1985 on “All eight of these people will still be alive in the year 2020” you can cash that ticket in now for one jillion dollars."

This is a nice story. I wish more of the folks who want to Do Good and change the world would take a lesson from it. Try to change your neighborhood first.

Until I had seen it with one of the webcams, I would never have believed how easy it is for toddlers to get out of a crib.

Awww . . . . 

I linked to this once before, but I'm linking to it again. Just because. Just because it is gorgeously expressed. Just because as I get older I appreciate it ever more.

And just because it still startles me that the former campaign manager for Michael Dukakis's presidential campaign could write something so beautiful and moving and true.

Growing old is learning how to lose things. People. Skills and abilities. Memories. And cherishing like crazy what you're permitted to keep.

A nice story. (Mr. Wallace is the coiner of the fabulous phrase, "Ball don't lie.")

For my money some of the absolute greatest lines in poetry.

Theodore Dalrymple:

With the inexorable rise of tertiary education, we have more intellectuals than ever before, and yet final enlightenment seems as elusive as ever. Man remains a problem-creating animal.

I second the motion.

Long--suitable for the weekend--but fascinating read.