This proposal investigates zenkha, a culturally defined olfactory and gustatory experience common in Arabic-speaking regions, characterized by a pungent, aldehyde-like sensation arising from specific animal proteins under environmental exposure. The phenomenon is consistently reported in poultry, game birds, lamb, camel, and eggs, but absent in beef, pork, and fish. Unlike spoilage, zenkha appears immediately upon… Continue reading Species-Specific Environmental Protein Reactivity in Poultry and Select Mammals: Biochemical Basis of the Zenkha Phenomenon
Category: Culture & Society
Essays and reflections on culture, society, modernity, and what it means to live in the contemporary world.
The War Correspondent on Holiday
Imran Khan sent us a thousand words from his holiday in Greece. They describe a man camouflaged in a pale pink suit and white polo that dissolve into the golden hour’s lavender-tipped amber light washing over the Aegean, the whitewashed walls, even the tablecloths of the repurposed fortification where he stands. For someone who has… Continue reading The War Correspondent on Holiday
Burn the Pageant
MAGA is not a party. It’s a court of self-abasement. The way to beat it is to plant an arsonist inside its walls. Nancy Mace is back in the headlines—not for policy, but for drama. Her ex-boyfriend is counterclaiming that she threatened to expose private details of his sex life, which she illegally obtained, unless… Continue reading Burn the Pageant
By the People v. United States
No. 24–1209 SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES October Term, 2024 By the People v. United States No. 24–1209 Opinion of the Court Justice H. S. Shaaban delivered the opinion of the Court. Petitioners, self-styled as representatives of a philosophical movement rooted in individual sovereignty, seek to establish that broad swaths of the modern administrative… Continue reading By the People v. United States
Bobos in Babel
How to Know a Person by David Brooks succeeded my own effort written years earlier. That essay made a simple claim: that becoming acquainted with someone is an art. And that art, like so many others, is vanishing. I cannot say if Brooks took something from me — intellectual property infringement requires a showing that… Continue reading Bobos in Babel
Let’s Not “Do The Needful”
Not because what is necessary shouldn’t be done - of course it should. But when it is, it is not needful, it is required. This morning my assistant put me in mind of these aberrant constructs when she messaged me: Good Morning SirReminder for your PWA Amicable Settlement Teams Meeting.Please note it has been preponed… Continue reading Let’s Not “Do The Needful”
Boards, Brands, and the Blind Spot for the Broader Context
Why every organization needs a resident historian—not just a marketing department I’ve been thinking a lot about organizational effectiveness lately. I’m working on a primer for innocent bystanders thrust into high-stakes managerial roles, as a prelude to something even more ambitious—one that concerns a titan of industry—and since then, everything around me seems to be… Continue reading Boards, Brands, and the Blind Spot for the Broader Context
MLGA
Dear Massad Boulos, As you know, Lebanon elected a new President earlier this year after a two-year interregnum that saw the country sink even deeper into failed statehood. No sign so far that it will be surfacing any time soon under the new Aoun. Echoing the national despair, one MP cast a throwaway vote for… Continue reading MLGA
A New Deal with London
I never took an interest in London. Soaked in drizzle and beer for openers, boiled beef as an entrée, and constipation for dessert. Why bother? London, I figured, is what happens when an empire is forced into retirement and has to downsize - a damp city of souvenirs, visible only in the dim light reflected… Continue reading A New Deal with London
Please stop.
With the guardrails down and the bus dangerously tilting into the ravine on the turns, the talking heads upfront joined together to repeat the refrain "Shalom, he should just go home" on the daily news as the First Amendment was turned into an irrelevant detail. This post was supposed to be a follow-up to My… Continue reading Please stop.
SEÑOR - The Blog 