Occupation of Independence

Every backcountry traveler or camper has had a nightmarish experience with wet clay roads. But do you know about "anti-clay", that is, a surface that is as miraculous on the positive side as wet clay is on the negative? It is easy to be ignorant of what causes wet clay's amazing properties. It would be so nice to learn about things when they make huge impressions on you -- that is the very time when you are motivated to learn.  There might be a really good source of popular science out there, but I haven't found it yet. (And extra credit to any reader who has any ideas on this.) I am familiar with Wikipedia and "How Things Work". They both help. But the Wikipedia articles on a scientific topic quickly degenerate into the algebraic patois of the specialist, which makes for excruciating reading. What I need to find is popular science, written by an educated layman or generalist, with a minimum of info-mercial intrusions. But let's get back to &qu

Donald Trump is following in the recent tradition of GOP presidents and candidates. Indeed, he has already proven that he is the most qualified candidate: he thinks that re-naming a mountain in Alaska with its traditional Indian name is an insult to Ohio, despite the fact that 'Ohio' itself is derived from the Iroquois word for 'great river'.  Perhaps we should rename the state of Ohio after a congressman from Connecticut. The anti-intellectualism -- or rather, non-intellectualism -- of the modern GOP can be a source of merriment, but actually it is a serious issue for a later post.