Jeremy Cherfas

Yes:

Does anyone know what is happening with vanilla prices? I see reports of steep rises, precipitous falls and boring plateaux, and I am not equipped to sift out any kind of overview.

History is not destiny, and yet a little understand of history can help to make sense of things. I am grateful to Alan Jacobs for surfacing this enlightening account of the history of an area called Palestine. And if I remember correctly, in 1948 Jordan could have accepted Arabs from Western Palestine who wanted to resettle, but feared that their presence would upset the Hashemite  kingdom.

I am really grateful that I can follow people who post calm and reflective pieces despite being in the middle of frantic turmoil.