As we learn more about COVID-19, I think there are political concerns to be considered. The New York Times, Washington Post, and National Interest have pointed out that dictators — and those who would like to be — are in […]
Miscellaneous
A Croatia Travelogue
Or more properly, a Dalmatia and Istria travelogue. We arrived in Dubrovnik on August 19 and crossed into Italy on August 28. It was a whirlwind, because it was compressed between an event in Edinburgh, Scotland, that we had to […]
Conferences on Urbanism
A Home in California: Are Our Communities Sustainable? Event Details:Tuesday, March 26, 20199 AM – 5 PMPepperdine School of Public PolicyWilburn AuditoriumMalibu, CAFor details and registration, click here In this conference Pepperdine’s School of Public Policy bring together a unique mix […]
What Umlaut Really Is, And How English Has It
Most people think an umlaut is the two dots over a letter that you often see in German and some other languages. A number of Anglophone rock bands have decorated their names with ‘metal umlauts’, not affecting the pronunciation, in […]
A Hipper and Cooler Name for ‘Czechia’
Since Czechoslovakia divided into two countries in 1992, the western part has internationally been called the Czech Republic. More recently it has tried to call itself Czechia. I can think of a better alternative. For one thing, Czechia is hard […]
Welcome to My New Website!
Those of you who have tried to open Blue Kennel have just been greeted with a surprise. Yes, my newly redesigned website is now here HowardAhmansonJr.com. We chose that domain so that way people who are curious about me (and […]
The Anthropocene is 50,000 Year Old
Here is a story about how there is supposedly a new bio-geological age now replacing the so called Holocene. But if ‘Anthropocene‘ means a period when human activity has drastically altered nature, it began 50,000 years ago, when the first humans […]
Polynesian Paralysis, or the Vetocracy at Work
Among its other oddities, Hawaii has no water level travel between its islands. If the inhabitants of four out of the five counties should wish to travel to Honolulu, they have to fly in a small plane and rent another […]
Rich Kid at Work – Interview: Howard Ahmanson, Jr.
Interview from July / August 2002 issue of Philanthropy magazine Howard Ahmanson Sr. was a pioneer in California’s postwar savings and loan industry, financing much of the state’s housing boom in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. He left his estate split between the Ahmanson Foundation […]
Some General Observations about China: Languages, Romanizations, Air Quality, General Appearance
I am late getting out this post, which should be my last about China. China does not feel like Europe. It feels like America in some parallel universe. I had always hated the science fiction tales on TV that had […]