Island Passage

This Christmastide we had as guests my wife's sister and her husband, Jim. As guys do, we sniffed around a couple of topics to see if we were from the same tribe. He mentioned that he liked classic Sci-Fi, and I asked him to name a couple of favorite authors. (Think of that scene in The Commitments : "Who are your influences?" Jim allowed that he used to be a big Piers Anthony fan. I asked him if he liked my favorite Anthony novel, Omnivore . Without a word he rolled up his shirt sleeve to reveal a tattoo of the fungal carnivore. I was completely outgeeked.

ABC News: Shoe Style Linked to Foot Pain

I have known several people in my life who never re-read a book. Once they have closed the cover on the last page, they are onto the next thing--book, task, whatever. I also know of people that have a favorite re-read. My friend Alex would re-read Dune every summer. It kind of defined summer to read it, I guess. My former boss Bill would re-read The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever every couple of years. I am a person that rereads. I do so for several reasons. First of all, I reread for pure pleasure, re-experiencing the best of what I have read. Secondly, I re-read because books don't change, but I have changed since the last time I read a book. Thirdly, I re-read becuase The book was so challenging the first time that I want to get more from it on subsequent readings. I am currently re-reading S.M. Stirling's alternate-history Island in the Sea of Time, which I first read back in the late 1990s. Why? I recently finished Sword of the Lady, the 6th book in his ...

There are a lot of people exercised over the fear of government intervention into the US economy and I am one of them. So why did I support (writing to my congresspeople) the TARP I bailout? Thankfully, Kevin Williamson answers that question for me : There are those conservatives who ask themselves, “What would Jesus do?” There are those who ask, “What would Ronald Reagan do?” There are even a few who ask, “What would Russell Kirk do, other than pour himself a scotch and shake his head sadly before writing another 1,000 pages?” I ask myself, “What would Milton Friedman do?” Milton Friedman would have supported a bank bailout. Or it seems he would have, given that a bank bailout is more or less what he prescribed for the last great financial crisis, the one leading up to the Great Depression, which he dwells upon at some length in his Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. The vulgarized version of Friedman: The Federal Reserve helped turn a routine if severe recession into t...

The Constant Reader may remember that I have problems with the current craze for resolving every ambiguity of physics with the concept of "multiverse." Now, Lee Smolin, a founding member and research physicist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Canada, has challenged other physicists to work out the implications of a single universe: Smolin explains how theories describing a myriad of possible universes, with less or more dimensions and different kinds of particles and forces, have become increasingly popular in the last few years. However, through his work with the Brazilian philosopher Roberto Mangabeira Unger, Smolin believes that, despite there being good reasons for the conclusion that we live in a timeless multiverse, those theories, and the concomitant assumption that time is not a fundamental concept, are "profoundly mistaken". Smolin points out why a timeless multiverse means that our laws of physics are no longer determi...

Lanny Davis : Hey, we'll only have show trials for people with the temerity to fight back! He reminds me of the little boy caught fighting by his mother, "It all started when Timmy hit me back!"

The wonderfully named Scott Galupo writes that conservatives should get over their fascination with Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged . Best line: "Indeed, Miss Rand's writings are catnip for those who seek to deflect any and all blame for the current economic crisis away from the private sector. Like the airtight religious belief system that it essentially is, Randian capitalism can never stumble or fail — it can only be betrayed." Heh. I first read The Fountainhead , then Atlas Shrugged when I was in my late 20s with a wife and two children to support. I found them an odd mix of stilted didactic text mixed with heaving-bosom "woman's fiction." I was entertained by how she walked her characters through their set pieces, but not swept up by thier wooden speechifying. I guess you have to read Rand while in your teens to really be ruined by her books.

Just sent: The Honorable Rick Larsen Sir; I am very troubled about the statements by the House Speaker, the Honorable Nancy Pelosi , about whether or not the CIA mislead her during briefings about enhanced interrogation techniques. The issue is much deeper and more dangerous than any particular interrogation techniques by agents of the CIA, it is a claim that the CIA has slipped from the reigns of congressional oversight, that we have that most frightening of spectres: a rogue secret intelligence agency. These claims must be investigated to clear either the CIA or Speaker Pelosi. Secret agencies are a regrettable necessity, so we allow them to operate only under the oversight of our elected representatives. I ask you to call for an investigation of these claims, and to join with other representatives in calling for this investigation. I will watch in the next few months to see that the American people and their freedoms and safety are guarded.

I can't remember which musician in Nirvana said it, but the quote went  something like: "How do you know that you have made it in the music business? When Al Yankovic writes a parody of one of your songs." So the meta-narrative validates the narrative. The new Star Trek reboot seems to be taking off, but I wonder: how is it going to be handled on Big Bang Theory? Ripe grounds for nerd contraversy!

Over at CNN , John Feehery lists five reasons that the GOP will rebound. Numbers one and two of these reasons have been pretty well discussed, but three through five are (to me) fresher: The party in power tends to overreach. People want checks on power. Crisis breeds renewal. Talent senses opportunity. The Republican Party is now the de facto Libertarian Party. I think a lot of people on the left don't get number five and don't see how it is linked to number one.

Todd posted this: see more Funny Graphs This makes me rant a bit about remembering when the A&E channel stood for "Arts & Entertainment." I remember getting basic cable and really enjoying a presentation of The Mikado in which the Lord High Executioner's song had an encore wherein he listed all of the modern annoyances that would call for his sword's work (people that talked loudly on cell phones in public places, etc..). Or when MTV was about music...or when Discovery was about science...or... Back in the 1990s, one of the big arguments against funding of PBS was that these new cable channels would provide diversity of programming and fill the econiche of public TV. How I wish it were true. The only channel that has kept true to that kind of charter is CSPAN.

A year after I was prodded by one of my sons-in-law , I signed up on Twitter. O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world! That has such people in't!

It's not quite that bad. Not quite. Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

President Obama has stated in his inaugural address, " We will restore science to its rightful place ." I guess that I am less that sure about where that place is. What is science's place? If it has been displaced, what has usurped it? I am sure to those (such as myself) who still hold a Modernist viewpoint, science is pretty much authoritative. And for questions that it was created to answer, science does pretty well. I am a big advocate of Western allopathic medicine, physics, information theory, and most of the rest of the Dead European White Man package. Given the choice between antibiotics and accupuncture and herbal cures, I say, "Pass the pills, please." But physical science was created to answer one category of questions, not every category. One of the big lessons of the 20th century is that while science is good at answering questions of "how," (as in, "How do I build a bridge that spans the Golden Gate?"), it pretty much fails when ...

An admirable article at Slate about the significance of Jesus' crucifixion in the first century: A central statement in traditional Christian creeds is that Jesus was crucified "under Pontius Pilate." But the majority of Christians have only the vaguest sense what the phrase represents, and most non-Christians probably can't imagine why it's such an integral part of Christian faith. "Crucified under Pontius Pilate" provides the Jesus story with its most obvious link to larger human history. Pilate was a historical figure, the Roman procurator of Judea; he was referred to in other sources of the time and even mentioned in an inscription found at the site of ancient Caesarea in Israel. Linking Jesus' death with Pilate represents the insistence that Jesus was a real person, not merely a figure of myth or legend. More than this, the phrase also communicates concisely some pretty important specifics of that historical event... ...It's rather clear ...

You walked to school in the snow? Well, not so much... My 4 GB SanDisk MP3 player took a high-dive from my shirt pocket to swim in the toilet last week. So, I am back to my 256 MB Creative MuVo. Kinda sad, but with the economy the way it is, I don't think I'll be upgrading for a while. These are the stories that I'll tell my great-grandkids when they ask how hard things were in the Great Crash of 2009.

Which phrase sounds slightly pretentious. It's not that I have so many words bubbling up inside me that I need two blogs to capture them all. It's that I wanted a blog dedicated to the technical writing business that I can frankly use to promote myself. So occasional politics- and social commentary-free postings can be found on:   http://berylwrites.blogspot.com/

"hypovehiculation" From the political phrase that describes abandoning a former ally as, "throwing them under a bus." First cite: Best of the Web for March 17, 2009

Charles Krauthammer zeroes in to what is so troubling (to me) about the Obama Administration. Not that I disagree with Obama's conclusions (which I do), but that he pretends that his conclusions are neutral and without agenda . All the while condemning the Bush administration for its "lack of integrity." He says that his decisions are grounded in "science." But "science" can only tell us what we can do, not what we ought to do. He is outsourcing his moral judgements to a method that by definition precludes moral judgements. All this posturing was foreshadowed during the " Saddleback Debate" when Rick Warren asked the carefully worded question: "...Forty million abortions, at what point does a baby get human rights, in your view?" Obama's reply: "Well, you know, I think that whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is...

I recently participated in a survey of independent Technical Writers. The survey was for an article (to be published in the STC organ ) focusing on responses to the recent economic downturn. The author, Elizabeth (Bette) Frick, Ph.D. , was kind enough to send along a draft copy of the article from which I will now shamelessly copy (emphasis mine): I have two quotes over my desk: 1) “The best way to predict the future is to invent it .” (Alan Kay) 2) “Try again. Fail again. Fail better. ” (Samuel Beckett) ...An anonymous responder summed up this discussion: “The essential law of economics as well as nature is that we must adapt to conditions as opposed to standing still and hoping that conditions change to make our present situation relevant....”

Jonah Goldberg voices our mutual impatience with the current Democratic bashing of Rush Limbaugh. Regardless, the war on Limbaugh from the left is a tired rehash. In 1995, Bill Clinton tried to blame the Oklahoma City bombing on Rush. In 2002, then-senator Tom Daschle, the leader of the Democratic opposition, claimed that Limbaugh’s listeners weren’t “satisfied just to listen.” They were a violent threat to decent public servants like him. In just the last month, Obama suggested that Republicans were in thrall to Rush. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has anointed him the GOP’s leader. Rep. Barney Frank complained that Republicans didn’t give Obama enough standing ovations during his address to Congress because they are afraid of Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Does anyone think that Republicans, absent fear of Limbaugh’s lash, would be throwing flower petals at Obama’s feet as he sells the Great Society II? If that’s true, I say thank goodness for Limbaugh’s lash. More than just com...

Here was news to send a shiver up my spine :  Columbia Pictures has entered into an agreement with CBS Films to create a new motion picture of the Lerner and Loewe classic musical "My Fair Lady," to be produced by Duncan Kenworthy and Cameron Mackintosh, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. CBS Films will be actively involved in the development of the new film. Keira Knightley is reportedly in talks to star. I really enjoy My Fair Lady . So what will distinguish this remake. (In other words, "For the love of God, WHY?") The new film will use the original songs of the much-loved Broadway show, and will not alter its 1912 setting, but Kenworthy and Mackintosh intend where possible to shoot the film on location in the original London settings of Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street, and Ascot racecourse. The filmmaking team will also look to adapt Alan Jay Lerner's book more fully for t...

Britons are on the verge of redicovering some old wisdom: Caning pupils 'can be effective behaviour control' Government research showed some mothers and fathers believed corporal punishment was an "effective method of control" when they were at school. They said the decision to outlaw physical chastisement contributed to a decline in discipline. The comments - in a study backed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families - come just months after a fifth of teachers called for the cane to be reintroduced to restore order in the classroom... A survey of more than 6,000 teachers last year found more than a fifth believed the cane should be brought back. One supply teacher told researchers: "Children's behaviour is now absolutely outrageous in the majority of schools. I am a supply teacher, so I see very many schools and there are no sanctions. There are too many anger management people and their ilk who give children the idea that it is their right to f...

Tony Woodlief comments on Sunday's Inaugural concert : Sunday's inauguration concert was designed to evoke strong emotion. It was certainly held in a dramatic setting, cast at the feet of Lincoln, in the place where Reverend King gave his nation-changing speech. The danger of standing where giants have tread, of course, is that doing so invites comparison. There was certainly little to be compared, this day, between the transformative words of these great men and the canned lines of the very small playactors selected to give speeches between the concert's musical acts... ...It was revealing that one of the speeches most worthy of note, from the incomparable Forest Whitaker , was essentially a selection from William Faulkner's Nobel acceptance speech , an uplifting affirmation of art and truth that is at the same time a denunciation of the worst of post-modernism and relativism. What we have forgotten, as unwittingly attested by the voices at this concert (excepting Mr....

Ace offers three haiku for the inauguration: Po-TUS Obama America the best Bush goes to jail now Trust in Obama All your worries gone forever Bush goes to jail now Barack is dreamy Sorry Iraq we leave soon Bush goes to jail now I'm going to have to think to meet that challenge.

In Inaugural News, Bishop T.D. Jakes, senior pastor from Windsor Village United Methodist Church in Houston, spoke at an inaugural morning service. Bishop Jakes taught from the book of Daniel and shared this thought: “The problems are mighty and the solutions are not simple,” Jakes said, “and everywhere you turn there will be a critic waiting to attack every decision that you make. But you are all fired up, Sir, and you are ready to go. And this nation goes with you. God goes with you. “I say to you as my son who is here today, my 14-year-old son – he probably would not quote scripture. He probably would use Star Trek instead, and so I say, ‘May the force be with you.” Ahem. It's not enough that the good bishop uses some sketchy, Hollywood, faux-Tao saying, but he can't get the series attribution right. Ah, well. As Admiral Adama used to say: "Beam me outta here!"

I spent some of the last two weeks snowed in, going through stuff in boxes in the basement. One of the things I found was an old memoranda book with just a few pages filled with notes. I offer two of these entries without comment: "Forgiveness sounds like a lovely idea--until we have something to forgive." And "Some people reject Einstein's Special and General Relativity on an emotional basis, saying that those theories remove fixed standards, which leads to complete relativism. In fact, what Einstein did was to move absolutes from frames of reference to the laws that describe the relationships between frames of reference." That's all.