The modern world has suffered in the past century, and into the present one, from the tyranny of monomaniacs, from murdering monsters of depravity like Hitler, Stalin, and Chairman Mao, to cultural purists infected with the arrogance of privilege, like Trump and...

If you haven’t seen it yet, Happy Valley is a television series you should see. The last of the series just ended so I want to promote it before it disappears under another surfeit of maudlin Disney rehashes which seem to never stop. You really do want to stay up another hour to see the next episode.

Children like to play in mud. It is (or was, for us ‘oldies’), a relatively rare treat to be able to play in the mud.  It is slippery, fun, sticky, squishable, slimy, and well, just fun to mess around with wet dirt. You will see kids playing in mud all the time. For a kid, what is more enjoyable?