As the first of potentially multiple follow-ups to a previous post about the book On Tyranny by Yale University history professor Timothy Snyder, here is a link to an excerpted interview with Mr. Snyder you might find illuminating.
Any questions?
Apologies to those expecting a follow-up to the post on Tim Snyder’ book On Tyranny. That post is in the works, but has proven to be more complicated than expected. (As a teaser, Mr. Snyder has predicted a coup in the U.S. within the next year).
While researching the possibility of a coup d’etat in the U.S., we came across a site called Quora. Quora is a question and answer site where questions are “asked, answered, edited and organized by its community of users”. We have not researched this site enough to rate it, however, a brief perusal suggests the questions to be interesting and the answers to be well thought out and thorough–sometimes.
You will have to register through a real account like Google or Facebook. During the registration process, you can focus the article categories as a filter for your personalized topic “menu”. Available topics like politics, health, technology, music, etc.—just as you might expect—are included. These topics become immediately available to you when you complete the sign up process.
The site cannot be characterized as either heavy or light. Backing into the site, so to speak, by following a link to a particularly good article (answer to a question) initially gave the impression of depth and seriousness. However, further exploration for only a short time began to feel pointless. The questions posted vary dramatically. For instance, there are questions which roughly might be characterized as trivia (“Could a current medical doctor have saved Presidents Lincoln and McKinley with our current medical knowledge?”). Some are personal (“When is the loneliest moment of your life?”). Some are political (“Why aren’t jobs coming back to the USA?”, “Have there ever been any countries that have tried to overthrow the US Government?” and “Is a coup d’etat underway in the USA?”). The profundity of the answers are largely determined by the questions. (Incidentally, the articles on the possibility of U.S. coup d’etat are quite interesting.)
Quora will probably never be one of your go-to sites for research. But you might find it an interesting ancillary source of information.
A Little Gratitude
While a follow-up piece around Tim Snyder’s book On Tyranny was planned for this week, given the tragedy unfolding in the Houston area (and the general tragedy occurring in the U.S. in general), perhaps we should pause and give thanks for some instances of Good and the people who initiated them.
This week, on her weekly Action List, under the “Acts of Gratitude” section, Jen Hofmann posted the following entries (appearing here verbatim, but be sure to check out Jen’s list).
Acts of Gratitude
Get out your stamps, postcards, and sparkle markers for some gratitude mail. (more…)
Us Helping Us
I am only one, but still I am one.
I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;
I will not refuse to do the something I can do.
~ Helen Keller
Help! We Need Help!
Who is “We”? We is you, me, all of us. In particular, part of our community living in the Houston, Texas area is in need of assistance, now and in the near future. As of Tuesday, August 29, the hurricane might make land fall again on Wednesday in Louisiana. With heavy rain and possible tornadoes expected, more folks might be in need. Reach out and help create the community many of us want to believe in. Here are some opportunities. (more…)
Seeking Good 