Friday morning roundup

A book club in Jiddah discusses Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink", of all things.

VP Biden lets loose on Russia's legal system.

I think David Brooks is missing a lot--the huge rise in volunteerism, for example. Perhaps we can be worried about the national decline in humility, but he takes some liberties in projecting an associated rise in national selfishness.

DC is definitely partaking in the ethnoburb phenomenon. You've heard me rant about how I work in Chinatown but have to drive to suburban Alexandria (as opposed to Alexandria city, where I live, and have to drive nowhere) for Asian ingredients? And for injera. I couldn't actually tell you where I'd need to go for decent Russian ingredients (perhaps the nearest place is Philadelphia).