Miscellaneous

BYCU A long-time TDE reader sends along this great anecdote about fin de siècle medicine [http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/2013/09/walthers-peptonized-port-sold-in.html] . "Peptonized Port was helpful for 'people who are nervous, cannot stand noise, start at the least unusual sound” and “get that fly-to-pieces feeling often.

Seen at Reddit:

Pope Francis suspended a bishop for spending too much on home renovations. The Pope caught the bishop filming an episode of "Flip This Church." A new study says that due to debt, 20-somethings will retire 12 years later than their parents do. When they heard this, 20-somethings said,

H.I.F. Hallelujah. Nearly forty years of cleansing the hierarchy of leftists is showing strong fruit: "The head of Springfield's Roman Catholic diocese moved Tuesday to scuttle a silent protest by same-sex marriage advocates planned at the capital city's largest Catholic church, calling their

There's a lot of talk about how global warming will be a disaster for future generations. When you think about it, it's hard to care. What have these future generations ever done for us?

H.I.F. "Gentry liberalism”: increased spending on amenities and subsidies targeted at the elite, accompanied by painful cuts in basic public services for the poor and middle class. Link [http://www.city-journal.org/2013/eon1016ar.html]. Although "gentry liberalism" as used in the article is a

Big business pushes for vast regulations. They have the resources to comply with the requirements, whereas their smaller competitors suffocate under the red tape. Small farms are apparently in the scopes next. From the Growing for Market newsletter [http://www.growingformarket.com/articles/Food-safety-alert]: "The deadline is fast approaching

Here in California over the weekend, a woman gave birth in a Barnes & Noble bookstore. Apparently she did this in the New Releases section.

The term phrase "accidental racism" is the Internet rage these days. A couple of times a month, one of my children show me a picture of things that are terribly racist, but not intentionally so. They're pretty funny. I can't vouch for their authenticity,

Random thought: Perhaps the most invidious piece of furniture in the American mental room is the idea that the federal government is "our government." It's a bogus piece of furniture, of course. It has a semblance of truth: we elect the people that, in theory, control