5.28.2006
Oil Slick!
Last night, Edmonton became the first number 8 seed ever to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. Nice.
5.27.2006
Excitement
Both the NBA and NHL playoffs have been very exciting this season although, I admit, that I just follow the NHL during the playoffs and even then I don't watch any games but read about them and look over the box scores.
But the Oilers of Edmonton, a true Cinderella team, has got the Might Ducks of Anaheim in a precarious position. The Oilers could have closed it out two days ago at home but failed, tonight they will have to try to get the job done on the road. Exciting.
On the other coast you have a lesser Cinderellala, the Sabers of Buffalo, in a tied series against the Hurricane of Carolina.
I admit that what I like is that none of the colossal hockey machines - NJ, Ottawa, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Colorado etc. - have made it into the playoffs and instead you have four small market teams fighting it out.
The NBA is equally exciting to the point that I can't decide who I should support. The Dallas - Phoenix series with its run and gun style of play is very attractive almost like going to a great action movie that doesn't require a lot of thought.
On the other coast, the Miami - Detroit series is equally attractive but more like a thought provoking drama.
June will be a good sports month!
But the Oilers of Edmonton, a true Cinderella team, has got the Might Ducks of Anaheim in a precarious position. The Oilers could have closed it out two days ago at home but failed, tonight they will have to try to get the job done on the road. Exciting.
On the other coast you have a lesser Cinderellala, the Sabers of Buffalo, in a tied series against the Hurricane of Carolina.
I admit that what I like is that none of the colossal hockey machines - NJ, Ottawa, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Colorado etc. - have made it into the playoffs and instead you have four small market teams fighting it out.
The NBA is equally exciting to the point that I can't decide who I should support. The Dallas - Phoenix series with its run and gun style of play is very attractive almost like going to a great action movie that doesn't require a lot of thought.
On the other coast, the Miami - Detroit series is equally attractive but more like a thought provoking drama.
June will be a good sports month!
5.26.2006
8. People and Places by Richard Cobb
It has been a prolific month of reading for me so far but I fear that things will slow down with my next book. Richard Cobb is my favorite author, so much so that my dog bears his last name. This book is a compilation of short biographies of important historians and descriptions of some of his favorite places. It is written in classic Richard Cobb style and is very well worth reading.
5.21.2006
7. JPod by Douglas Coupland
The only book that I have read that is only ever so slightly worse than this one is Confederacy of Dunces which I was forced to put down without reading the whole thing.
This edition of Coupland's Generation X franchise is about a group of people working at a sports game software developer in Vancouver, a thinly veiled reference to Electronic Arts. The reason it is called jPod is that the last name of all five of the employees sitting in this particular pod of desks begins with J.
The main character in the book is Ethan, a nerdy C++ programer, whose father has given up his real job in a futile effort to land a speaking role in a movie, whose mother has a surprisingly high tech and productive home based grow operation and whose brother is a highly paid realtor catering to the Asian community. His four other pod mates are also programers and suffer from similarly unbelievable families. And, coincidentally, all of the jPod-ers families have large grow ops. The story, if you can call it that, is about Ethan's life at work, his interaction with his parents and with an ironically friendly Asian criminal who smuggles people and drugs to and from Hong Kong and China.
Now let me tell you why this book is so bad:
1. The author incorporates himself into the book, at first by strange third person references to himself and then as a character in the book. He begins by inserting a paragraph claiming that the idea for the show Melrsoe Place was stolen from his book Generation X and suggesting that the producers of the show should pay him or that he should sue them. He then inserts a dialog about how Douglas Coupland is so cool and cutting edge. He moves on by inserting himself as a character that Ethan meets on a flight to Shanghai and re-inserts himself by bumping into Ethan in rural Guangxho Province.
2. The book is 500 pages long but could easily be 300 pages long because the author has inserted about 200 pages of useless information into the book. For example, the jPod-ers are discussing Scrabble, one of them comes up with a list of the 900 possible three letter words that one can use in Scrabble and Coupland then spends the next 40 pages listing out the words. Or, the jPod-ers are having a conversation when one of them says that he has found a web site that shows pi to the millionth decimal place. Coupland spends the next 90 pages showing pi to the millionth digit.
3. It is a fundamentally badly researched and poorly put together book. There is no depth to the characters or their lives and what depth there is, is absolutely unbelievable.
All copies of this book should be incinerated and the author should be exiled from Vancouver, he gives the place a bad name.
This edition of Coupland's Generation X franchise is about a group of people working at a sports game software developer in Vancouver, a thinly veiled reference to Electronic Arts. The reason it is called jPod is that the last name of all five of the employees sitting in this particular pod of desks begins with J.
The main character in the book is Ethan, a nerdy C++ programer, whose father has given up his real job in a futile effort to land a speaking role in a movie, whose mother has a surprisingly high tech and productive home based grow operation and whose brother is a highly paid realtor catering to the Asian community. His four other pod mates are also programers and suffer from similarly unbelievable families. And, coincidentally, all of the jPod-ers families have large grow ops. The story, if you can call it that, is about Ethan's life at work, his interaction with his parents and with an ironically friendly Asian criminal who smuggles people and drugs to and from Hong Kong and China.
Now let me tell you why this book is so bad:
1. The author incorporates himself into the book, at first by strange third person references to himself and then as a character in the book. He begins by inserting a paragraph claiming that the idea for the show Melrsoe Place was stolen from his book Generation X and suggesting that the producers of the show should pay him or that he should sue them. He then inserts a dialog about how Douglas Coupland is so cool and cutting edge. He moves on by inserting himself as a character that Ethan meets on a flight to Shanghai and re-inserts himself by bumping into Ethan in rural Guangxho Province.
2. The book is 500 pages long but could easily be 300 pages long because the author has inserted about 200 pages of useless information into the book. For example, the jPod-ers are discussing Scrabble, one of them comes up with a list of the 900 possible three letter words that one can use in Scrabble and Coupland then spends the next 40 pages listing out the words. Or, the jPod-ers are having a conversation when one of them says that he has found a web site that shows pi to the millionth decimal place. Coupland spends the next 90 pages showing pi to the millionth digit.
3. It is a fundamentally badly researched and poorly put together book. There is no depth to the characters or their lives and what depth there is, is absolutely unbelievable.
All copies of this book should be incinerated and the author should be exiled from Vancouver, he gives the place a bad name.
5.15.2006
6. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
I had forgotten how cool Orwell's writing was. This is an excellent book that should be on everyone's must read list.
5. Fleshmarket Close by Ian Rankin
I got to this book because of a book review in the G&M and because of a post on the famous Mount Benson Report.
Ian Rankin tells the story of several race based crimes in Edinburgh through the eyes of DI Rebus and his colleagues. The story begins with four seemingly unrelated crimes whose arcs become intertwined because of the common people working on them and some of the common protagonists in the crimes.
It is a good detective story although I found that it could have been more suspensful.
Ian Rankin tells the story of several race based crimes in Edinburgh through the eyes of DI Rebus and his colleagues. The story begins with four seemingly unrelated crimes whose arcs become intertwined because of the common people working on them and some of the common protagonists in the crimes.
It is a good detective story although I found that it could have been more suspensful.
5.03.2006
4. State and Society in Iran by Homa Katouzian
This book presents a fascinating account of the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 and the coup d'etat of 1921 that brought the Pahlavi dynasty (subsequently deposed in 1979) to power.
The authour begins by making a compelling argument that to date Iranian history, politics and, most importantly, revolutions have been studied using western revolutionary models when in reality none of the models are truly applicable to Iran. He argues that Iranian society has long been based on arbitrary power which is a concept that has not applied to western states for at least two centuries. The author then describes a theory that is more applicable to the particular style of Iranian arbirary power.
The theory forms the basis of the rest of his analysis of the events between 1906 and 1921, although he focuses more on the period from 1991 to 1921. I found it to be a very interesting book but definitely not for the casual reader.
The authour begins by making a compelling argument that to date Iranian history, politics and, most importantly, revolutions have been studied using western revolutionary models when in reality none of the models are truly applicable to Iran. He argues that Iranian society has long been based on arbitrary power which is a concept that has not applied to western states for at least two centuries. The author then describes a theory that is more applicable to the particular style of Iranian arbirary power.
The theory forms the basis of the rest of his analysis of the events between 1906 and 1921, although he focuses more on the period from 1991 to 1921. I found it to be a very interesting book but definitely not for the casual reader.
3.26.2006
3. Endgame by Jennifer Siegel
Many historians contend that the Great Game ended in 1907 with the signing of the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 which settled the posturing between the Russians and English in Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet – the three important Great Game countries. Historians have given different reasons for why the Russians and English entered into this agreement. Some of have said that it was because both countries needed to focus on European issues and could not afford to be distracted by Central Asian issues. Others have suggested that the British finally realized that they were no match for Russia’s overwhelming military might.
This book is a detailed examination of these theories. The author contends that the Great Game did not end with the signing of this agreement, it simply took a different form. Furthermore, she argues against those historians who argue that the genesis of this agreement was a need to focus on European issues. For the most part her analysis is thorough and convincing.
For those of you interested in the Great Game I would highly recommend this book.
This book is a detailed examination of these theories. The author contends that the Great Game did not end with the signing of this agreement, it simply took a different form. Furthermore, she argues against those historians who argue that the genesis of this agreement was a need to focus on European issues. For the most part her analysis is thorough and convincing.
For those of you interested in the Great Game I would highly recommend this book.
3.14.2006
The Reprehensibles Part VIII
My first award of 2006 cuts across both parties and both houses of Congress. Chuck Schumer, Democrat, New York, is the nominal recipient but the award has to be shared with Hillary Clinton, Peter King, Bill Frist, all of the members of the House Foreign intelligence Committee, Lou Dobbs and the mass media. They are recipients of this prestigious award for the work that they did to kill the Dubai Ports World deal.
Dubai Ports World, one of the largest operators of ports worldwide, acquired the British company, P&O, in a transaction valued at about $6B. P&O also operates ports throughout the world including 5 high profile ports in the US: New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. Dubai Ports World is owned by the Government of the United Arab Emirates. Soon after the acquisition was announced Lou Dobbs, the CNN anchor, reported in his usual biased way that a UAE company will be in charge of operating five important US ports and he went on to report that two of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of the UAE. He left his viewers to make the connection: UAE = 9/11 hijacker or selling these ports to Dubai Ports World = more 9/11 like events.
Step in Chuck Schumer the loudmouth senator from New York. For two weeks Schumer and his band of liars, trashed the deal between Dubai Ports World and P&O, the President's approval of the deal and anyone who stepped up in favor of the deal. They relentlessly argued that Dubai is unsafe, the home of terrorists and a deal with them will mean that terrorists will be able to get into the US and do more damage. They pointed the finger at Bush claiming that he is soft on terrorists, he doesn't have a plan and that he mishandled the approval of the deal. They so dominated the news cycle with their message that nobody was able to argue the other side.
Not once did they mention that the deal was approved by the non-partisan body which approves all major foreign investments in the US. Not once did they mention that Dubai Ports World is not taking over the coast guard or the INS - the bureaucracies that are responsible for the safety of our ports. Not once did they think about the damage that this could do to foreign investment in the United States. Not once did they consider that the US economy is surviving in large part because of investments in the US' debt by China, Japan and the Middle East and that the US would quickly slip into a recession without this foreign financing. Not once did they think that they were behaving just like the French who they so love to pillory. Not cone did they think that they were being racist.
This was the worst case of election year posturing and lies that I have seen in a long time. Absolutely reprehensible.
Dubai Ports World, one of the largest operators of ports worldwide, acquired the British company, P&O, in a transaction valued at about $6B. P&O also operates ports throughout the world including 5 high profile ports in the US: New York/New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. Dubai Ports World is owned by the Government of the United Arab Emirates. Soon after the acquisition was announced Lou Dobbs, the CNN anchor, reported in his usual biased way that a UAE company will be in charge of operating five important US ports and he went on to report that two of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens of the UAE. He left his viewers to make the connection: UAE = 9/11 hijacker or selling these ports to Dubai Ports World = more 9/11 like events.
Step in Chuck Schumer the loudmouth senator from New York. For two weeks Schumer and his band of liars, trashed the deal between Dubai Ports World and P&O, the President's approval of the deal and anyone who stepped up in favor of the deal. They relentlessly argued that Dubai is unsafe, the home of terrorists and a deal with them will mean that terrorists will be able to get into the US and do more damage. They pointed the finger at Bush claiming that he is soft on terrorists, he doesn't have a plan and that he mishandled the approval of the deal. They so dominated the news cycle with their message that nobody was able to argue the other side.
Not once did they mention that the deal was approved by the non-partisan body which approves all major foreign investments in the US. Not once did they mention that Dubai Ports World is not taking over the coast guard or the INS - the bureaucracies that are responsible for the safety of our ports. Not once did they think about the damage that this could do to foreign investment in the United States. Not once did they consider that the US economy is surviving in large part because of investments in the US' debt by China, Japan and the Middle East and that the US would quickly slip into a recession without this foreign financing. Not once did they think that they were behaving just like the French who they so love to pillory. Not cone did they think that they were being racist.
This was the worst case of election year posturing and lies that I have seen in a long time. Absolutely reprehensible.
3.13.2006
2. Curzon Imperial Statesman by David Gilmour
Curzon was an accomplished imperialist. He had a short tenure as an MP, a few years as undersecretary to the India Office, seven years as the Viceroy to India, a number of years as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet and four years as the Foreign Minister.
He became familiar with the near and middle east as well as the Indian subcontinent by taking regular six month voyages traveling to Egypt, the Sudan, the Arabian Peninsula, Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey and India.
He was a consummate imperialist and a great believer in the Great Game - the decades long cold war between Russia and Britain to control the land passage to India and the Caucuses. It was this Imperialist philosophy that blinded him to the realities of the post world war one world: he continued to believe that it was important to try to restrain Russia even though England was under huge economic pressure to cut its expenditures on the empire and the Russian revolution had significantly reduced the military might of the Tsarist empire.
For me this book answered a lot of questions. For those of you interested in great imperialists and/or the Great Game this is a worthwhile read.
2.21.2006
1. A Peace to End All Peace by David Fromkin
Finally I am on the board, it took me a while to slog my way through this book. Not because it was uninteresting but because I was in a bit of a reading funk. Fromkin's book is a detailed account of the political and military campaigns in the Middle East during WWI that led to the partition of the Middle East along the geo-political lines that we see today. It is an interesting and informative read and sheds new light on the causes of the Middle Eastern mess that we have today.
For example, I was surprised to learn that the pan-arab nationalist movements that caused a lot of turmoil in the Middle East in the mid-twentieth century were actually orginiall advocated by the British.
For example, I was surprised to learn that the pan-arab nationalist movements that caused a lot of turmoil in the Middle East in the mid-twentieth century were actually orginiall advocated by the British.
12.31.2005
24. America, Russia and the Cold War by Walter Lafeber
The similarity between the tactics used by Truman (democrat) and Bush (republican) to get what they wanted is quite stunning.
I highly recommend that you read this. Not only is it an excellent history but it provides an excellent context for today's mess.
12.26.2005
23. Hardball by George Stalk et al.
It is short and sweet and I would recommend it.
22. The Lights that Failed by Zara Steiner
I read this 800 page beast in one week - I love holidays! Zara Steiner does an admirable job at describing European international history between 1919 and 1933.
Ideologically she is neither in AJP Taylor's camp (who believe that the the Treaty of Versailles caused the rise of Hitler and WWII) or Hugh Trevor-Roper's camp (who believe that the two events cannot be related). Instead she falls squarely in between them. She acknowledges that Versailles did have some impact on the rise of Hitler then she cautions that the period is far too complicated to tie the two together as simply as the Taylorites do.
If you have the time, this is a very good history of the period and I would recommend it.
Ideologically she is neither in AJP Taylor's camp (who believe that the the Treaty of Versailles caused the rise of Hitler and WWII) or Hugh Trevor-Roper's camp (who believe that the two events cannot be related). Instead she falls squarely in between them. She acknowledges that Versailles did have some impact on the rise of Hitler then she cautions that the period is far too complicated to tie the two together as simply as the Taylorites do.
If you have the time, this is a very good history of the period and I would recommend it.
12.20.2005
Honestly, we don't all listen to this stuff!
Western Music Is Banned
TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (AP) - President Ahmadinejad has banned Western music from Iran's radio and television stations, reviving a cultural decree from the early days of the 1979 revolution.
Songs like George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by the saxophonist Kenny G.
But the official daily Iran reported Monday that Mr. Ahmadinejad, as the leader of the Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enforcement of a ruling by the council in October to ban Western music.
Music was outlawed as un-Islamic by Ayatollah Khomeini soon after the revolution. But as the fervor of the revolution started to fade, light classical music was allowed on radio and television. Some public concerts reappeared in the late 1980's.
12.16.2005
21. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris
Not recomended.
12.14.2005
The Reprehensibles Part VII
You might have read that on Monday the Supreme Court agreed to hear four law suits brought by various organizations regarding the mid-census redistricting that went on in Texas.
The story is that Tom Delay and his cronies engineered a redistricting of the Texas congressional districts in 2003. They relied on 2000 census data even though Texas' population had been increasing by about 1.5M people per year. They gerrymandered the districts in such a way that the Democrats ended up losing 5 congressional seats.
The controversy was fueled last week when the DOJ leaked a memo written by its bureaucrats unanimously condemning the attempted redistricting. Any time there is an attempted redistricting a team 4 lawyers and 2 statisticians - all DOJ bureaucrats - review the submission. In this case they all said that this was unconstitutional. This is the memo that has been leaked.
What the Republicans are doing is simply bad for democracy in addition to being dishonest.
The story is that Tom Delay and his cronies engineered a redistricting of the Texas congressional districts in 2003. They relied on 2000 census data even though Texas' population had been increasing by about 1.5M people per year. They gerrymandered the districts in such a way that the Democrats ended up losing 5 congressional seats.
The controversy was fueled last week when the DOJ leaked a memo written by its bureaucrats unanimously condemning the attempted redistricting. Any time there is an attempted redistricting a team 4 lawyers and 2 statisticians - all DOJ bureaucrats - review the submission. In this case they all said that this was unconstitutional. This is the memo that has been leaked.
What the Republicans are doing is simply bad for democracy in addition to being dishonest.
12.05.2005
The Reprehensibles Part VI
This practice and by association this government goes against everything that was good about America and everything that America was founded upon.
All Americans should hang their heads in shame and in sorrow for this is the darkest day of US government in living memory.
11.29.2005
20. Post War by Tony Judt
This is a beast of a book at about 900 pages but I am proud to have made it through.
The relationships drawn by the author between the psychological impact of the war on European people, the subsequent birth of social democracy (as opposed to comunism or conservatism) and the resulting differencs between European political thought and American political thought is quite enlightening. As are the authors descriptions of the period between 1945 and 1955 when cold war communism was being born, the cold war battle lines were being drawn and there was still widespread persecution of Jews and other minorities.
It is a challenging book to make it through becuase it is so filled with facts, figures and arguments but it is rewarding to have read a book like this. I would recommend it.
The relationships drawn by the author between the psychological impact of the war on European people, the subsequent birth of social democracy (as opposed to comunism or conservatism) and the resulting differencs between European political thought and American political thought is quite enlightening. As are the authors descriptions of the period between 1945 and 1955 when cold war communism was being born, the cold war battle lines were being drawn and there was still widespread persecution of Jews and other minorities.
It is a challenging book to make it through becuase it is so filled with facts, figures and arguments but it is rewarding to have read a book like this. I would recommend it.
11.10.2005
The Fallacy of American Democracy
Federal congressional redistricting and State sanctioned redistricting has gotten so out of hand that even though, based on Tuesday's elections, many voters appear to want to oust their republican incumbent congressmen in the 2006 mid-term elections they will not be able to do so because, as the Wall Street Journal says:
"Even in their improved position, Democrats will have limited numbers of targets. Because congressional boundary lines place most lawmakers in districts clearly favoring one party or the other, fewer than 10% of House seats held by Republicans currently are considered at risk. Most Senate Republican incumbents facing re-election next year remain favored to win."
Between the Electoral College and overt partisan redistricting, how can we really say that there is a great American democracy?
"Even in their improved position, Democrats will have limited numbers of targets. Because congressional boundary lines place most lawmakers in districts clearly favoring one party or the other, fewer than 10% of House seats held by Republicans currently are considered at risk. Most Senate Republican incumbents facing re-election next year remain favored to win."
Between the Electoral College and overt partisan redistricting, how can we really say that there is a great American democracy?
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