Blog Heap of Links for the day 5 January 2016

It's common to have communication problems after a severe stroke. But Graham Pawley is an unusual case in that he can understand everything but say virtually nothing back. He has to get by with "yes" and "no".~… It's not strictly true that Graham can only say "yes" and "no". He can say "and", "no" and "mmm", which means yes, and he also makes an "urr" sound. When he says "and urr…" it means he has something else to say and wants you guess what it is.…

…The Romans drastically changed the course of transportation engineering because they built connected systems of sturdy roads. …Over the course of their rule, the Romans laid some 50,000 miles of hard-surfaced roadways.…

Jozias van Aartsen, the mayor of The Hague, has criticized the Dutch government’s proposed ban on Salafist groups in the Netherlands. He says it is not the job of the state to determine which groups might espouse violent ideologies, and besides, the Dutch constitution guarantees both freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

In other news, Michael McFeat, the Scotsman who was arrested in Kyrgyzstan for insulting the national dish (a horsemeat sausage) by likening it to the generative organ of a stallion, has been expelled from the country.…

On this day in 1949 Harry Truman unveiled his proposed "Fair Deal" Program. It was a 21 point program of almost all new socialist programs similar to FDR's new deal. And among these 21 points was a call for "universal healthcare". IOW, Truman really was a continuation of FDR.…