Friday, December 6, 2024

Woodrow Wilson

Disease X is a mysterious illness circulating in a remote part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Current figures: almost 400 cases and 79 deaths.
Astonishing quote: "Situations like this occur probably several times a year around the world."--Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, who has been tracking the DRC outbreak.

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Fortune tellers licensing in Massachusetts: issued by cities and towns. Requires 1-year residence in the city or town where the license is granted.

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Most common baby names in Great Britain: Muhammad was the top name for baby boys, with Noah dropping to second place after coming in first in 2021 and 2022, followed by Oliver. Olivia was the most popular baby girl's name for the eighth straight year.

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'Black Doves' is the new streaming spy thriller, compared by critics to 'Slow Horses.' While I always like Knightley, the first two installments have been a serious disappointment.  

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Woodrow Wilson

In recent years, biographies by nonacademics have rescued some presidents from progressive academia’s indifference or condescension: John Adams (rescued by David McCullough), Ulysses S. Grant (by Ron Chernow), Calvin Coolidge (by Amity Shlaes). The rehabilitations of those presidents’ reputations have been acts of justice, as is Christopher Cox’s destruction of Woodrow Wilson’s place in progressivism’s pantheon.

In “Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn,” Cox, former congressman and former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, demonstrates that the 28th president was the nation’s nastiest. Without belaboring the point, Cox presents an Everest of evidence that Wilson’s progressivism smoothly melded with his authoritarianism and oceanic capacity for contempt.

His books featured ostentatious initials: “Woodrow Wilson Ph.D., LL.D.” But he wrote no doctoral dissertation for his 18-month PhD. He dropped out of law school; his doctorate of law was honorary. But because of those initials, and because he vaulted in three years from Princeton University’s presidency to New Jersey’s governorship to the U.S. presidency, and because he authored books, he is remembered as a scholar in politics. Actually, he was an intellectual manqué using academia as a springboard into politics.--Will

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