Saturday, March 27, 2010
Palin's target practise
If Sarah Palin is really only using rifle scopes and phrases like "reload" as metaphors for fighting back with votes against Democrats, can we all agree that the 2nd Amendment refers only to the right to "metaphorical" guns as well?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Classic non-fiction
I've just read two history books relevant to current events:
THE WAR THAT KILLED ACHILLES by Caroline Alexander
You'll want to reread Homer after reading this, but you'll also probably find yourself reading first-hand accounts of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan too because of the author's analysis of the anti-heroic and anti-war aspects of this epic.
BATTLE OF WITS: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II
by Stephen Budiansky
Ever since I worked on William Stephenson's book about the secret history of Enigma and Ultra in WWII, I have been fascinated by books on the subject. Every decade brings new revelations, and this book (unfortunately out of print but available used) is a marvelous overview of both American and British, Japanese and German codebreaking.
Don't worry tha the math is complex and detailed. Frankly, I skim these parts, since I only understand how hard the problem is, not how it is solved. The individuals profiled are even more interesting, and the section about the pre-war efforts of Poles to break Nazi codes and Enigma machines is far more heroic -- and vital to winning the war -- as told here than any I have read before.
The complete story of events on both sides of the Atlantic is simply amazing. It required an extraordinary combination of ingenuity, courage, innovation, physical and mental endurance, patriotism, and sheer luck in the face of a formidable military enemy and the usual bureacratic resistance to change.
THE WAR THAT KILLED ACHILLES by Caroline Alexander
You'll want to reread Homer after reading this, but you'll also probably find yourself reading first-hand accounts of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan too because of the author's analysis of the anti-heroic and anti-war aspects of this epic.
BATTLE OF WITS: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II
by Stephen Budiansky
Ever since I worked on William Stephenson's book about the secret history of Enigma and Ultra in WWII, I have been fascinated by books on the subject. Every decade brings new revelations, and this book (unfortunately out of print but available used) is a marvelous overview of both American and British, Japanese and German codebreaking.
Don't worry tha the math is complex and detailed. Frankly, I skim these parts, since I only understand how hard the problem is, not how it is solved. The individuals profiled are even more interesting, and the section about the pre-war efforts of Poles to break Nazi codes and Enigma machines is far more heroic -- and vital to winning the war -- as told here than any I have read before.
The complete story of events on both sides of the Atlantic is simply amazing. It required an extraordinary combination of ingenuity, courage, innovation, physical and mental endurance, patriotism, and sheer luck in the face of a formidable military enemy and the usual bureacratic resistance to change.
Health insurance
For obvious reasons that Healthcare and Health insurance reform is not optional,
See Google News today:
About 1 in 4 in California lack health insurance, a UCLA study finds
Los Angeles Times - 21 hours ago
The jump in 2009 to 8.2 million adults and children from 6.4 million in 2007 stems largely from job cuts and the loss of employer-sponsored coverage amid the recession.
Workers paying more toward insurance premiums San Francisco Chronicle
See Google News today:
About 1 in 4 in California lack health insurance, a UCLA study finds
Los Angeles Times - 21 hours ago
The jump in 2009 to 8.2 million adults and children from 6.4 million in 2007 stems largely from job cuts and the loss of employer-sponsored coverage amid the recession.
Workers paying more toward insurance premiums San Francisco Chronicle
Saturday, March 13, 2010
You say potato-e
David Brooks had an column about Obama yesterday in the NYT comparing hippie protesters from the sixties with Tea Baggers as equally bad for democracy.
I agree with him, but I give less credit (for benefit over harm) to conservative foot-draggers and more to liberal anarchists:
Democrats believe all human beings are intrinsically “good,” and that government can enhance that “goodness,” by protecting individuals from the suffering can make them do evil things. Free markets are more likely to reward bad behavior and increase suffering without good (possibly but not necessarily large) government at local, state, and federal levels.
Republicans believe all humans are flawed, if not outright sinners, and that individual suffering is necessary to bring about good from evil. Suffering under Free Markets is good for the soul. Paying taxes never is, unless -- and only as long as -- you have an expensive house and kids in a good school system.
I agree with him, but I give less credit (for benefit over harm) to conservative foot-draggers and more to liberal anarchists:
Democrats believe all human beings are intrinsically “good,” and that government can enhance that “goodness,” by protecting individuals from the suffering can make them do evil things. Free markets are more likely to reward bad behavior and increase suffering without good (possibly but not necessarily large) government at local, state, and federal levels.
Republicans believe all humans are flawed, if not outright sinners, and that individual suffering is necessary to bring about good from evil. Suffering under Free Markets is good for the soul. Paying taxes never is, unless -- and only as long as -- you have an expensive house and kids in a good school system.
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