Sunday evening roundup

Chavez is going to try to be helpful, i.e., serve as a force for peace in Colombia.

William J. Dobson's new book on oppression and resistance.

Are Czech communists really back, and are they a threat?

And is free speech truly at risk in the West? I see his point on some matters but I'd disagree that encouraging people to be respectful comes at the expense of free speech.

Then again, some people read or hear vitriol just by virtue of someone expressing opinions.

Do American businesses have to deal with China? Can the dealing be mutually beneficial?

India is in the market for strategic partnerships, but playing hard-to-get.

New Delhi's metro system is contending with suicides-by-train.

Can Spain keep it(self) together?

Fascinating new stories about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Foreign Policy has more. My favorite line:

Castro had a suggestion: "So you have a law that prohibits transfer of tactical nuclear weapons to other countries? It's a pity. And when are you going to repeal that law?"

How do you execute foreign policy in a f*ed up world. 

Stephen Pearlstein explains it all (wrt regulations).


Felix Baumgartner did it!

The Post's Travel section offers a nasty-illness-101.


Arena finds that producing new plays is more fraught than it would appear.

The days when GenOn covered north Old Town with dust (and tried to pretend it was normal) are gone.


Quote worth sharing! From Harold S. Kushner's "The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person":

“I find God in the miracle of human resilience in the face of the world’s imperfections, even the world’s cruelty,” he writes. “What enabled our fourteen-year-old son, so stricken with congestive heart failure that he had to sleep standing up, to look forward to every day he had to share with his friends, his family, and his dog?”

I love it when drivers are polite to cyclists (and the other way around), but when it's your right of way, you may as well make your move.

Oh, one thing I will say for the Birchmere is that they have nice wine, in nice wine glasses. What I can't say for them is that they have a single vegan item on their menu. I mean, if you're gonna host artists like Dar Williams, you're likely to get a vegan or two. Just sayin'.

Speaking of wine, Carmaniere is taking third place among my favorite wine types.