One important point that a doctor makes in Dreamland is that if Oxy / heroin did not exist, all of the people who got addicted would still end up being addicts. 

Their addiction would likely be to alcohol and it would develop later in life because alcohol takes much longer than heroin to wipe out an individual, but the addiction would still happen.

The issues that pushed these people to addiction would still be there, irrespective of whether Oxy / heroin ever crossed their path.

Ever wonder where all the Internet trolls were before the Internet? Right here. 

Ever wonder why everybody despises the EU Parliament? This is why. 

Ever wonder why Clinton keeps meeting with all those nobodies? Here’s why. 

Ever wonder if it’s possible to write a good report about a Trump rally? Here is proof that it definitely is. 

Ever wonder if it’s better for students to borrow or work? Here is the wrong answer to the question. 

Ever wonder if it’s true that the Bering Strait theory of human migration has been debunked? Here is the right answer. 

Ever wonder about the political dimension of name transcription? You should. By the way, did I ever tell the story of how political ramifications of name transcription made me end up with a different last name than my mother and sister?

A huge scandal has erupted in an elite high school in Moscow where a crowd of Jewish teachers was sexually abusing students of all genders. 

“Are you sure it’s not a provocation?” N asks. All these pedophile teachers can’t just accidentally turn out to be Jews.”

“I think it’s all true,” I say. “A Jew has to have something very off about him to still stick around in Russia.”

When this photo of Putin’s meeting with the students of a prestigious British public school surfaced, Putin flipped and started demanding that the photo be taken down. There was nothing secret about the meeting but it’s clear from the photo that Putin is not tall. And the poor fellow can’t tolerate any public reminders of his height. 

The idiot has no idea that the only person making a big deal out of his height is himself. Nobody in the world would have noticed this photo had Putin himself not made a huge scandal about it. 

I hope Hillary’s mental health plan is put into practice asap because the practice of turning small children into neurotics for the benefit of the chewing masses in need of entertainment is gaining popularity. And since there is no Child Protective Services to speak of, psychiatrists will be in increasing demand. 

“My culture is a dominant culture, and it’s imposing and it’s causing problems,” Marco Gutierrez said in an interview on MSNBC. “If you don’t do something about it, you’re gonna have taco trucks [on] every corner.”

I understand why he wants to believe that: it’s very flattering and must make him feel tall and imposing. But it couldn’t be further from the truth. Hispanic immigrants adapt to host cultures better than anybody and their children never speak a word of Spanish even with fully monolingual parents. 

This is great in some ways and bad in others. 

I propose that the New York Times gets renamed “Trump News” once and for all. 

Just when you think there’s nothing else for the author of Dreamland to deliver, he comes out with something new and shocking. Turns out, for instance, that school and college athletics played an enormous role in the opioid addiction epidemic. 

Coaches would hand out painkillers by the handful before a game, eventually getting entire teams addicted to heroin. Scary shit. 

A drug abuse counselor, of all people, says in Dreamland:

You only develop self-esteem one way, and that’s through accomplishment. 

With abuse counselors of such abysmal quality, I don’t even know what addicts can hope for. 

I have no doubt that a great number of super accomplished people with diplomas from prestigious schools, prizes, accolades, skills, money, achievements, etc are reading these words who know very well how little all these accomplishments protect them from self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, inferiority, etc. 

Because self-esteem is formed long before even the most precocious among us can spell the word “accomplishment.” And if a drug counselor doesn’t know that, he won’t be able to help people with a problem for which they are set up at the same time as for low self-esteem.

. . . in this town, is an adventure and a  half. Twice this summer I managed to find the right  (“Soviet”) type of cucumbers and hauled several pounds of them home. But then I couldn’t find any dill flowers, and I can’t pickle without them. 

Yesterday, I finally bought two huge bunches of dill flowers. But guess what? There are no Soviet cucumbers anywhere. 

So I put Klara in her pram and set on a cucumber-seeking adventure. I did an insane amount of work in the past 2 weeks, and now I don’t have to be anywhere and do anything until next Wednesday. The heat has subsided and I’m looking forward to long, happy walks with my little pupiki.

We have a painful anniversary coming up next week and I want to arm myself against it with good experiences.