Are Therapists Just Rent-a-Friends? BY David B. Feldman Ph.D. FROM Psychology Today

Xi Jinping’s Silk Road is under threat from one-way traffic Trade must flow both ways to make the route economically and politically viable BY Jörg Wuttke FROM The Financial Times

Free subscription required by FT (not me!).

Grandparents protest in Venezuela, braving pepper spray BY Agence France-Presse

I always thought the elderly should lead such protests and I believe this is the first time I've actually seen it happen.

Whatever happened to the original tiger mum's children? by Tanith Carey FROM The Guardian

Updating my educational qualifications

The recent news about the cram school sex scandals doesn't focus enough on the other scandal, namely the unfairness of trying to compete with fake degrees. Apparently it is really common to use pseudonyms and lie about cram school teachers' educational qualifications. So to level the playing field, I'm adding some qualifications to my resume under education:

B.A. in Philosophy and Linguistics, Harvard (fake)
B.S. in Mathematics, MIT (fake)
Ph.D. in Physics, Cal Tech (fake)

Are We Evolved for Happiness? BY Glenn Geher Ph.D. Glenn Geher Ph.D. FROM Psychology Today

The Brain's Fixation on the Short Term Is Hurting Politics by David B. Feldman Ph.D. FROM Pshychology Today

Israeli Historian Describes Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine in 1948 by Dr. Ilan Pappé

The Racist History of Minimum Wage Laws BY Chris Calton FROM Mises.org

Inglorious Empire: what the British did to India Book review: Shashi Tharoor’s angry history of British rule in India; REVIEWER: Diarmaid Ferriter

How to Live 7.2 (Happy) Years Longer Blog Entry By Mark Holder, Ph.D. -FROM Psychology Today

Could Fast Radio Bursts Be Powering Alien Probes? FROM Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

A Bitcoin civil war is threatening to tear the digital currency in 2 — here's what you need to know by Oscar Williams-Grut and Rob Price FROM Business Insider

J.D. Vance: America's forgotten working class FROM TED Talk

Another way to frame his questions is to ask how much of the next generation's future should be left up to luck.

Bored in the U.S.A. BY Romeo Vitelli Ph.D. FROM Psychology Today

Alcohol and caffeine created civilization: Column Chelsea Follett FROM USA Today

Trump Immigration Debacle May Cost US Tourism Industry $3 Billion BY Kevin Drum FROM Mother Jones

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma says the US wasted trillions on warfare instead of investing in infrastructure BY Jay Yarow FROM CNBC

What Causes Crime? New Study Links Lack Of Sleep By Teenagers To Criminal Behavior As Adults By Juliana Rose Pignataro FROM IBT

The Clash of Asian Civilizations? By Zack Cooper FROM Cato Unbound