Reading A Thousand Years of Jihad took me back more than 55 years to my freshman year in college.  I had become a rather indifferent student by the time I graduated from high school and went to college only to play football.  However, an outstanding history professor renewed my interest in scholarly pursuits with lectures that not only told great stories but also revealed great truths.  Thomas J. Fleming and Frank Brownlow do the same in this volume, and convey an impression of intimacy as if one is sitting in their classroom.  This is learning at its best.

A FB friend I wish I knew personally reposted my observations on masks. I thought about responding to the rather shrill responses, but it would be bad taste to insert myself into his discussion, so… I don’t wish to stick my oar into Bob Alpert’s discussion, but I did include a proviso for medical necessity, which I meant also to cover, obviously, people in regular contact with decrepit old people like me. Our son, in his late 30’s, was talking to me on FaceTime, from Chapel Hill, when someone across the street–about 30 feet away, tried to shame him for...