Renaissance Pundit's Posterous

Confronting The Beautiful Mess of Adult Life

In Defense of Naïve Reading - NYTimes.com

Valuable discussion of the current state of literary criticism and why, even (perhaps especially) with the aid of the social sciences, it fails to present a valid teaching method to students at all levels. Sometimes, reading a novel for it's story and characters is greatly more valuable than generating a meta-critical chain which leads to complex abstractions entirely out of context. As fat as i'm concerned, belletristics is alive and well, even if it dares not whisper its name in academic circles.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/10/in-defense-of-naive-reading/

NYTimes.com: Structure of Excuses

I'd have to agree with Krugman (absolutely no relation) on this one. The evidence is pretty clear that this isn't a structural problem, but one of political will to address long-term problems with stimulating small business, which would stimulate hiring and re-entry into the workforce. Incentivizing banks to lend to businesses to expand (no small task, given the free money available to banks, given the super low borrowing rates) would also go a long way. Alas, not much strategic thinking happening in Washington these days.

The New York Times

OPINION   | September 27, 2010
Op-Ed Columnist:  Structure of Excuses
By PAUL KRUGMAN
"Structural" unemployment is a fake problem, which mainly serves as an excuse for not pursuing real solutions.

 

NYTimes.com: Dot Earth: 'Gathering Storm' Approaching Category 5

I wouldn't call this "sobering," but rather "frightening" and "enraging" and " EPIC FAIL." When will the navel-gazing, power-obsessed idiots in Congress, to say nothing of those in the Executive branch, start thinking strategically, for the medium and long-term future of this country? Where is the systemic spending on math an science education? Where is the education reform we kept hearing about, the incentive pay and the broken teachers' unions we were promised? Yeah, sure - Alas, poor Yorik.    

OPINION   | September 27, 2010
Dot Earth: 'Gathering Storm' Approaching Category 5
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
The country's intellectual infrastructure is still eroding, a new report finds.


Bill Clinton claims Russian immigrants obstacle to peace

All right, Slick Willy. Now, you're going after my people. That's a no- no. Worse, you shot your wife's diplomacy in the foot, defamed an entire group, unprovoked, and made crazy generalizations meant to be divisive. Blame the Russians, as always! Of course Russians want peace for their children, as much or more than any other Israeli Jews. Peace doesn't mean "piece-by-piece," Mr. President. That's all.

That said, thanks for recognizing the strong and united voice and disproportionate impact of Russians on Israeli society ;)

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=188958

Stuxnet malware is 'weapon' out to destroy ... Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant? - CSMonitor.com

A positively terrifying prospect come to life - a cyber weapon of mass destruction that's already gone live and has likely struck its target. Fortunately for us (but only just for now), Stuxnet, as this dangerous device is called, was apparently targeting Bushehr, Iran's main nuclear reactor. That said, on the black market, this is a runaway disaster, able to be deployed with the right amount of money to wreak havoc on industrial control systems, power grids, computer systems and just about anything else used to run electronic and actual physical infrastructure in any country. Stuxnet was clearly made by some of the top programming talent in the world, most likely in the US (although who really knows). Reminds me of the last Die Hard movie, "Live Free or Die," where precisely this scenario playa out with great fireworks. I always knew Bruce Willis was a prophet (LOL).

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0921/Stuxnet-malware-is-weapon-out-to-destr...

NYTimes.com: Sizing Up Consciousness by Its Bits

I share the skeptical optimism of observers of this theory ofconsciousness attained through information theory. It's a great start to a much more complex theory of consciousness in humans and lower animals. Fascinating, all the same.

  

SCIENCE   | September 21, 2010
Sizing Up Consciousness by Its Bits
By CARL ZIMMER
Researchers want to build a meter that can measure consciousness as easily as body temperature. 

The New Inquiry

The saddest consequence of the Internet's eternally watchful eye and inifinite hippocampus (if you will) is the chilling effect it's had on intellectual discourse and the resultant self-censorship that is all too Orwellian. I've been trying for years to start a salon, but another side effect of the internet's pervasiveness - constant distraction - has proven this endeavor sadly futile. Maybe adulthood will mean Luddite impulses harnessed to this means, one day...

http://thenewinquiry.com/post/1138617930/resisting-the-chilling-effect

NPR.org » Meet The Man Who Sneaked Into Auschwitz

A story so remarkable as to be truly unbelievable. A Polish army captain named Pilecki left behind a beautiful wife and their child, VOLUNTEERED to be captured by the Germans in order to be taken to Auschwitz to know the extent of German depravity there. Despite his intelligence reports from there which reached the Brits and Americans, neither lifted a finger to put an end to the death of many hundreds of thousands of Jews, Poles and others from all over Europe. Please read this story of a truly immeasurable hero and pass it on!

http://m.npr.org/story/129956107