Going back to an earlier comment: The US was involved in WW II in the Atlantic in a low-level way, before Pearl Harbor, because we were escorting convoys. We even lost a destroyer, the Reuben James. … (View Post)

A little more on that communtation: "Just before Christmas in 1921, [President Warren G.] Harding, a conservative and mild-mannered Republican, commuted the 10-year sentence of the Socialist [Eu… (View Post)

Off topic: Since SSI2 is here, I'll repeat my request that he give us an account of the recent Seattle elections. (I think the results are instructive, and provide hope for democracy, even in pl… (View Post)

Off topic, but important to anyone who likes elections: "For more than a decade and a half, autocracy has been steadily advancing around the globe. Dictators routinely arrest their foes, includi… (View Post)

Some years ago, I recall reading of an analysis that claimed that birth rates began to decline in Europe, as nations introduced state pensions. Seemed possible, perhaps even plausible, but I didn… (View Post)