Kurdistan’s Rough Road to Freedom By David DeVoss Kurds in northern Iraq control their own land, maintain their own military, and share a common culture and language. They also have an overwhelming desire to separate from Iraq and become an independent state. But can a de facto nation become a real country if it isn’t…
LA’s New Landlords Is Los Angeles the Next Shanghai? By David DeVoss There are more than 225,000 Koreans living in and around Los Angeles and this week they have a new symbol of accomplishment, a glass-sheathed hotel, office and retail tower topped by an enormous, sail-shaped LED screen that nightly beams the Korean Airlines logo…
California Declares War By David DeVoss To hear governor Jerry Brown tell it, California is all that stands between the United States and the ruin of the nation. In his recent “State of the State” address, Brown promised to defy Donald Trump, fashioning it as a great patriotic quest: “When we defend California,” Brown said,…
Secrets of the Solomon Islands By Julie L. Kessler For World War II history buffs, the far away and often forgotten Solomon Islands are awe-inspiring. They are the place where U.S. marines fought and died on Guadalcanal. It is where young Navy Lieutenant John F. Kennedy saved his crew after their PT boat was cut…
Architectural Detailing Review by Thomas DeVoss Architectural Detailing provides an introduction to the basics of drawing details (the places where materials intersect) for standard construction. While it may not have as many diagrams as Ching’s Building Construction Illustrated, or have the depth of Architectural Graphic Standards, it does an especially good job of explaining the purpose of each construction…
Hard Work U By David DeVoss Both Democratic presidential candidates believe higher education in America should be free at public colleges and universities. Neither is forthcoming, unfortunately, on how to pay for this massive entitlement. Nor have they hinted that students should work campus jobs or give a year of community service in return for…