The Washington Post ran a contest long ago for the most boring headline of the year. The winner was “Canadian initiative launched.” The word that won it for us was “Canadian” because what could be duller or less newsworthy in Washington than anything Canadian? Even “Belgian,” or “Aussie” felt more exotic. So I was surprised on […]
The world’s best con man, Bernie Madoff, died last week in a North Carolina prison, where he was 11 years into his 150-year sentence for bilking thousands of investors out of $65 billion in the most devastating Ponzi scheme in history. In February of 2020, he asked for early release because he was in the […]
People are either foxes, who know many things, or hedgehogs, who know one big thing. That 2,700 year-old idea comes from the Greek poet Archilochus. He’s wrong. People are foxes and hedgehogs, especially on the weekend when our foxes emerge and when the Ramsay Writes blog isn’t about one thing, but a lot of them. […]
My favourite cartoon shows two European intellectuals (berets, cigarettes) at a sidewalk café. One says to the other: “Do you not be happy with me as the translator of the books of you?” The joke, of course, is that no one would ever hire this man to translate their book. But the tragic joke is […]
What’s the one thing we all remember about the 94-page bill passed by the State of Georgia last week to “comprehensively revise elections and voting?” Exactly: It’s now illegal to give someone food and water when they’re standing in line to vote. As Line 1813 of the Act says: “nor shall any person give, offer […]
Want to listen to today’s blog post? Hear it here. Heinrich Heine said that when fees to attend Harvard in the mid-1800s were $250 and not the $48,000 they are today. He didn’t mean that kind of school, of course, though in America the cost of getting educated is as high as the cost of getting […]
Want to listen to today’s blog post? Hear it here. The Globe and Mail is not where I’m used to seeing “snakes in your bed” headlines. But this one came close last month: “Catalyst offered up to $11-million to Israeli firm that launched sting on Ontario judge.” Catalyst Capital is a Toronto private equity company that sued one […]
Want to listen to today’s blog post? Hear it here. In 1966, Harvard researcher Timothy Leary would spend weekends with his students at a mansion in Dutchess County, New York where they’d smoke dope and drop acid. Now Dutchess county was and is one of the most right-wing counties in America, and the good burghers […]
Want to listen to today’s blog post? Hear it here. Today’s blog is to brain food what eggs benedict is to weekends: great-tasting, highly socializing and not great for your arteries. But hey, try these tidbits and see how they fill you up. 1.You can train to be an astronaut. You no longer need The […]
Want to listen to today’s blog post? Hear it here. What are high-performers going to do now that addictive overwork is losing its allure? Not overwork as in 10 hours a day and the odd Sunday at the office. Or consecutive Zoom meetings, with you feeling a bit tiredy-wiredy at the end of the day. […]
