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Rule of Desk

May 30, 2008 | Chronicles

Or A Brief (But Memorable) Excursion into the Hinterland of Bureaucracy   Switzerland may not have much seashore, but there are times it does feel like an island (actually, look at any map of the E.U., it is marooned farther and farther inside Europe as the...

Samizdat Palimpsest

May 16, 2008 | Chronicles

Or Where I Learn Something About History. (Maybe.) I’ve been reading a lot of history books lately, initially for research, but in the end because bibliographies are full of tempting titles and the detours signposted thus are obviously more inviting than the trip at...

Coyote

May 1, 2008 | Chronicles

Or Why It All Depends on How You Look at Things Last week, I was going to pursue that Flat Earth theme, but got distracted (again). I had a visit from a friend. My high-school buddy Harold stopped over on a trek through Europe, hot on the trail of Goethe. He told me a...