When good people trust bad info — Alarmed that the Biden Administration has been clawing back a trivial fraction of the previous administration’s tax cuts, and softening a few austerity measures with last year’s stimulus package, poor and working-class Republicans have begun seeking ways to boost corporate welfare back to Trumpian heights. There is a call to…

It’s in Our Genes — There’s been a major breakthrough in coffee science. If you’ve ever wondered why espresso is such a popular drink, you’re not alone. Researchers in Germany have been puzzling over that question lately, and they think the answer might be in our DNA. So I traveled to Berlin, to a new…

Family values up the wazoo — United States Representative Matt Gaetz (R, Florida) has adopted freelance medic and perfectly innocent gunman Kyle Rittenhouse, whose blood parents recently changed the locks and banned him from their house in Antioch, Illinois, effectively orphaning him. Rittenhouse and his new dad held a press conference outside the Gaetz family residence…

They all look alike, part #673,894 — Shared false memories plague us routinely. It’s not unknown for some Americans to recall the Hamilton Administration, for example, because five out of seven US banknotes feature presidential portraits. Hamilton appears on the tenner, which makes him familiar enough to support the mistaken belief that he once served as president…

A Technique for Real Espresso Flavor — The Moka pot is implicated in more crimes against coffee than any device except the automatic percolator. Still, it can brew a splendid cup if you summon the right voodoo. Unfortunately, the internet is flooded with rubbish advice. Even the experts get it wrong. …

Son of Billy — Previously: Chapter One: A Kremlin miracle Chapter Two: The louche messiah Chapter Three: Hoping for the best _______________ America’s religious leaders were bewildered and discouraged. God had clearly chosen Donald Trump to become the US president, yet folly and failure clung to him. The Coronavirus pandemic should have been his moment…

Hoping for the best — Previously: Chapter One: A Kremlin miracle Chapter Two: The louche messiah _______________ Members of America’s Religious Right prayed strenuously for guidance, insight, and understanding, but God remained silent. He spoke to no one. He explained nothing. “Lord, we beseech you in the name of the United States, your most holy and…

The louche messiah — Previously: Chapter One: A Kremlin miracle _______________ As the Spring of 2016 approached, it became clear that the New Yorker Donald Trump would be the Republican nominee. Many struggled to explain this stunning development in rational terms. …

A Kremlin miracle — In the primary season of the 58th quadrennial US election, the Lord summoned Vladimir Putin to the Cathedral of the Dormition, to a secret chamber known but to a handful of holy men, and spoke to him, saying: Address the people of the United States and say to them, truly…