Commentary on the rise of the germ, the need for big change in America, the diamond game, the decline of public education, how an American family living in Paris advanced art, and Rex waxes Murphy on Mulcair.

Nasty germs. Thanks to David of London.

Telegraph -- Life won't be the same without antibiotics
The over-prescription of these drugs to humans and animals spells the end of modern medicine as we know it.

People, restart the engine.

New York Times – Big Bang
In 1990, Japan was at the peak of its prosperity. It seemed an unstoppable force.

 

Diamonds were a girl’s best friend.

The Atlantic -- The Strange (and Formerly Sexist) Economics of Engagement Rings
Diamonds are forever, but the meaning of the diamond engagement ring has changed dramatically in the last century. Today's symbol of love was once something more like virginity insurance.

The destruction of public education.

RSN -- The Assault on Public Education
One of America’s greatest achievements is being defunded and degraded by the dictates of the marketplace.

Related.

Failure by Design
In Failure by Design, the Economic Policy Institute’s Josh Bivens takes a step back from the acclaimed State of Working America series, building on its wealth of data to relate a compelling narrative of the U.S. economy’s struggle to emerge from the Great Recession of 2008. Bivens explains the causes and impact on working Americans of the most catastrophic economic policy failure since the 1920s.

Helpers.

New York Review of Books – Missionaries
Gertrude Stein endures.

 

Rex Murphy on Thomas Mulcair.

National Post -- This is Mulcair’s moment
Those vastly premature and gluttonously unnecessary TV ads the always aggressive Tories have run against Bob Rae were wrong in so many different ways that they deserve some kind of inverted prize.