“Shorts” is an annual feature found here on my Home page. Admittedly, I didn’t make much use of it last year. Maybe this year I’ll have more time for it. This page is set aside for sharing (sans commentary) brief excerpts — probably, just a sentence or two — from things I’ve read recently, or in the past. Check back, periodically, for new material. It’s that simple.
(7) “Bill Maher Issues Blunt Response to Gavin Newsom ‘Trolling’ Donald Trump” (TV Insider, August 23, 2025)
“I feel like Gavin has grasped the essential thing about American culture in this day and age. Don’t try to outsmart people. You have to outstupid them.” — Bill Maher
(6) “In Smithsonian Role, John Roberts Encounters History, Pandas and Trump” (New York Times, July 27, 2025)
“In speeches, the chief justice often tells an anecdote about how he had wanted to become a historian, but changed his mind after a taxi driver told him that he, too, had been a history major at Harvard.”
(5) “Flesh by David Szalay review — brilliantly spare portrait of a man” (The Guardian, Mar. 6, 2025)
“In Flesh, Szalay has written a novel about the Big Question: about the numbing strangeness of being alive; about what, if anything, it means to amble through time in a machine made of meat.”
(4) “Manta man: film profiles unlikely bond between diver and giant sea creature” (The Guardian, June 8, 2025)
“. . . mantas can recognize themselves in a mirror, demonstrating a rare sign of self-awareness.”
(3) “The pet I’ll never forget: Stevie, the chicken who joined my dog pack” (The Guardian, Feb., 23, 2026)
“I still visit her from time to time, she remembers me just like a puppy would.”
(2) “Florida teacher loses job for calling student by preferred name” (Washington Post, Apr. 10, 2025)
“Not only is this a direct attack on educators who support trans students, but it also is an indicator of the bureaucratic overreach of antitransgender policy. A teacher could potentially be fired for calling a student Tim instead of Timothy.”
(1) “White Rural Rage review: Clinton’s ‘deplorables’ jibe at book length” (The Guardian, Apr. 7, 2024)
“By 2040, 70% of Americans will reside in the 15 most populous states and choose 30 of the 100 US senators, …“