John Brown's Notes and Essays

  Image from article:   A general view shows a gate of Penal Colony No. 2, where opposition leader Alexei Navalny is serving jail term in the town of Pokrov, Russia, on Feb. 28, 2021. (Tatyana Makeyeva/Reuters) By Robyn Dixon , The Washington Post , March 26, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. EDT [original article contains links.]  MOSCOW — At first, jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny's impressions of Russia's prison system took the form of a dark-humor travelogue. But it wasn't long before social media posts — sent on his behalf by anonymous members of his team — cast a cruel light on his conditions, including claims that he has been denied proper medical care for severe back pain and never allowed a full night's rest. Through a trickle of posts from Navalny's allies and his wife, Yulia, on Instagram, Twitter and other sites — as well as statements from his lawyer — a portrait has emerged of his prison life, ranging from strict exercise yard rules to being awakened every hour...

    China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, center, and foreign minister, Wang Yi, second from left, speak at the opening session of U.S.-China talks in Anchorage, Alaska, March 18, 2021 (pool photo by Frederic J. Brown via AP Images). More ‘Wolf Warrior’ Diplomacy, Please Judah Grunstein , World Politics Review ,  Wednesday, March 24, 2021 If anyone was still holding out any hopes that the change of administrations in Washington would cool down tensions with China, last week’s first meeting between the Biden administration’s two top foreign policy officials and their Chinese counterparts should put them to rest. In a  no-holds-barred exchange of remarks in front of reporters  before the private discussions began, both sides lambasted each other with a litany of grievances, perceived slights and criticisms. The Chinese delegation’s willingness to forcefully challenge the American side in such a public forum serves as further confirmation, if any were still needed, th...

image from article Book Review by Dwight Garner [jb: see ] , The New York Times , Published March 22, 2021; Updated March 25, 2021 [article contains an additional illustration.] The subtitle of Timothy Brennan [jb:  see ] ’s new book, “Places of Mind: A Life of Edward Said,” is somewhat misleading. “A Life” implies an honest attempt at portraiture — a stab at wrestling a blood presence onto the page. In other words, a proper biography. In his preface, Brennan refers instead to his book as an “intellectual biography,” which is a subtly different animal. In this case, the result is a dry, dispiriting volume, one that frequently reads like a doctoral dissertation. It’s an uninspired parsing of academic texts and agendas. What the large print giveth, the small print hath taketh away. It hardly seems fair to fault an author for not writing a book he didn’t intend to write. Yet a sense of missed opportunity lingers over “Places of Mind.” Said (1935-2003) was an especially complicated a...

  Leggings With Pockets Curves N Combatboots  [from an ad ] Leggings With Pockets Squat-Proof & High-Waisted Leggings. Color Fade Resistant. *** [from Wikipedia] Audrey Hepburn Hepburn in 1956 Born Audrey Kathleen Ruston 4 May 1929 Ixelles , Brussels, Belgium Died 20 January 1993 (aged 63) Tolochenaz ,  Vaud , Switzerland Resting place Tolochenaz Cemetery, Tolochenaz, Vaud Nationality British Occupation Actress (1948–1989) Humanitarian (1954–1992) Notable work Full list Spouse(s) Mel Ferrer ​ ​ ( m.  1954;  div.  1968) ​ Andrea Dotti ​ ​ ( m.  1969;  div.  1982) ​ Partner(s) Robert Wolders (1980–1993; her death) Children Sean Hepburn Ferrer Luca Dotti Parent(s) Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston or Hepburn-Ruston Baroness Ella van Heemstra Relatives Baron Aarnoud van Heemstra (maternal grandfather) Emma Ferrer (granddaughter) Awards Full list Signature Katharine Hepburn MGM studio publicity photograph,  c.  1941 Born Katharine Ho...

Flying Solo  (from The Wall Street Journal) The share of U.S. adults living alone has risen 15 percentage points since 1960 and now stands at 28% of all households. Total one-person households 40million 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1960 '70 '80 '90 2000 '10 '20 Percentage of households with one person 30.0% 27.5 25.0 22.5 20.0 17.5 15.0 12.5 10.0 1960 '70 '80 '90 2000 '10 '20 Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Most Americans are too young to remember the fear and dread of an atom bomb or nuclear crisis.   The Wall Street Journal , March 23, 2021 6:18 pm ET  [original article contains links] (Editor’s note: This article is signed by William J. Perry, Henry A. Kissinger and Sam Nunn.)  Gary Cameron/Reuters photo of Shutlz from article:   Former Secretary of State George Shultz testifies on Capitol Hill, Jan. 29, 2015 For the past 15 years, the three of us and a distinguished group of American and international former officials and experts have been deftly and passionately led by our late friend and colleague, George Shultz. Our mission: reversing the world’s reliance on nuclear weapons, to prevent their proliferation into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately ending them as a threat to the world. Without a bold vision, practical actions toward that goal won’t be perceived as fair or urgent. Without action, the vision won’t be perceived as realistic or possible. ...

"Starting in the 1920s Einstein collaborated on building several different models of refrigerators, which seems like a bizarre aberration. Didn’t he have better things to do? But Einstein adored thermodynamics, so the project was a natural fit for him. Much of Einstein’s work, in fact, was built on 19th-century thermodynamics. Even E=mc2, in showing the equivalence of mass and energy, simply extended the idea of energy conservation."  image from article From: ‘Einstein’s Fridge’ Review: Heated Arguments It’s arguably the most successful scientific theory in history, sweeping and precise and revolutionary. Yet virtually no one cares."  Book Review by Sam Kean, The Wall Street Journal , March 23, 2021 6:16 pm ET