Links and Minifeatures 06 18 Sunday

My wife is a genius about household projects. Instead of carping at me to do this or that project, where there is the possibility I might disagree with her as to that project's necessity or utility, she just tells me she's going to do them herself. Now in all fairness, she may be willing to do them herself. We'll probably never know, because thanks to my upbringing, my ability to stand by and allow her to do it all herself is non-existent. So by doing it this way, she gets the project done without debate. And if I ever argue against one on that basis, she can take the point of view that I'm free to just let her do it.



Which is how I spent Father's Day weekend replacing the floor in the kitchen and dining room. And why every muscle below the neckline hurts right now.

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Good News! Eject! Eject! Eject! not only has a wonderful new essay, he's saying he'll probably have another entire book worth of material for us by September.



If you don't make a regular habit of checking him out, you really should. He writes the essays I wish I could. His latest deals with the theme of whether our perceptions are the map or the territory.



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Armies of Liberation notes that the Yemeni regime broke up a meeting of its opposition with water cannons, using the excuse that said opposition didn't have its meeting approved by the state security apparatus.



Can anyone think of any countries that have used these sorts of tactics in the last hundred years? What have those countries all had in common?