There has been a lot of news about Iran recently. Several readers have asked some version of “what is going on with Iran?” With that in mind here is some context and history which may be helpful and/or informative. Three major topics which relate to each other help provide this context. The first is a broad history of Iranian leadership. The second is how Iran is viewed from the perspective of the ‘west’. The third are broad geopolitical realities that relate to topic one and

An interested reader asked for my opinion on the ‘Bibby Barge’, happy to oblige. For context, the Bibby Barge refers to the Bibby Stockholm barge. A barge is an engineless ship. Barges like this one are used for a variety of things, this one in particular has been used for high density housing. This barge has been used in multiple locations around the world, often as part of a housing solution for refugees. It has been the case that when discussing issues around housing, peop