Contemporary visitors bring tributes of pens and notebooks in tribute to Henry Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott Looking for Tomorrow’s Thoreau SB Stephen Morris My wife and I recently spent a holiday weekend in the environs of Concord, MA. We’re amateur history buffs, and neither of us had been to “the rude bridge that arched... Continue Reading →
Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States as a protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality. The Unitarian church, Harvard Divinity School, Concord, Massachusetts, and Ralph Waldo Emerson were at its epicenter. A core belief of transcendentalism is in the inherent goodness of people and nature. Society... Continue Reading →
Today's selection -- from Imperial China by DK. Marco Polo’s book, "Description of the World," awakened Europe to the wider world:"Marco Polo was born around 1254 into a prosperous merchant family in the Italian city-state of Venice. When he was six years old, his father, Niccolo, and his uncle, Maffeo, left Venice on a trading mission, passing through... Continue Reading →
by Stephen Morris The World as We Never Knew It “Fake News” is a term we are hearing a lot these days. Unfortunately, one person’s “fake news” is another person’s bedrock reality. It’s a practice, unfortunately, that has been going on long before it had a name. We also have “Fake History.” We celebrate Columbus... Continue Reading →
[Occasionally you read something that causes you to say “Why didn’t I think of that?” Friend, author, and fellow Vermonter, Bill Schubart suggests in this piece that we might consolidate some of our state colleges, already experiencing enrollment declines, and repurpose the campuses as prisons. It's an idea that makes so much sense that I'm... Continue Reading →
[Silverback Kent (Sintra Silverbacks) is our go-to guy for crypto-currency. He published this several weeks ago, and I thought it might have relevance especially for those Jungle dwellers who are living on a fixed supply of bananas. You can keep yourself up-to-date on the financial world by subscribing to his newsletter, Kent's Corner available on... Continue Reading →
Ray Magliozzi [Ray Magliozzi is the inheritor of Car Talk mantle on National Public Radio. This article was suggested by SB Jerry (Quaker SBs). And what does he drive? "For transportation I drive a 2014 Ford Explorer, only 80,000 miles so good for another 7 years maybe. That is our road trip car, lots of... Continue Reading →
[This is my attempt to explain my decidedly ambivalent feelings towards the Dollar Store. SB SM] by Stephen Morris My eye was caught by a massive, antique steamer chest at the yard sale. It had a sign $15, marked down to $10, marked down to $5. This was a masterpiece with a gracefully arched top... Continue Reading →
[There are no Dollar Stores in The Jungle, and we intend to keep it that way. But still, there is something fascinating about the ongoing American quest for cheap shit. Tomorrow you'll get my personal take on The Dollar Store. This pictorial is from the website for The Hustle. SB SM] The economics of dollar... Continue Reading →
A Gypsy Moth InvasionBy Declan McCabeOccasionally I get an email from a camp, school, or even my local Rotary asking if I can present an insect program. So it was not unusual last week for me to be handing insect nets to excited Cub Scouts. I led them toward some ash trees and made sure... Continue Reading →
