Moving to Blogspot

In honor of the new decade, I'm moving this blog to

http://juliansjabbererings.blogspot.com/

That means I can finally stop wasting money on Mindspring monthly fees.

Maybe I'll resume blogging, but that remains to be seen.

What the heck is e-mail?

Here's a funny 1977 ad that explains the strange new concept of email (from reddit).

Brief reviews, part 1

I have a massive piles of books to review, going back a year. Short reviews are the only way I’ll get through them (with +, 0, and – indicating position, neutral, or negative overall opinions.)

The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell (+)
Gladwell considers the subtle reasons why certain products, ideas, and behaviors spread across society. Among other things, he discusses the factors behind the propogation of Hush Puppies, Sesame Street, New York crime, and teenage smoking. It’s a pleasure to read, and both the general concepts and specific examples are interesting.

I, Claudius, by Robert Graves (+)
This fictional autobiography of the Roman emperor Claudius is awesome. Graves paints a vivid picture of life in ancient Rome, breathing life into historical personas such as Claudius, Augustus, and Caligula. In addition to the exceptional writing, the intrigue, corruption, and immorality of the Roman aristocracy makes for a great story.

Self-Made Man, by Norah Vincent (0)
Vincent spent a year-and-a-half impersonating a guy, to learn about how men experience life. She involved herself in the most masculine parts of society: a bowling league, strip clubs, dating, a monastery, aggressive sales, and the men’s movement. Though she sheds some light on the male condition, it’s clear that she’s a somewhat unbalanced person. Susan Faludi’s Stiffed is much better.

Breaking the Spell, by Daniel Dennett (0)
Dennett, an atheist philosopher, considers religion from the perspective of evolutionary biology. There are some worthwhile ideas scattered throughout the book, but not enough to justify reading it.

Java Concurrency in Practice, by Brian Goetz (+)
For anyone who writes multithreaded Java code, this is a fantastic book full of valuable concepts.

Journey of the Jihadist, by Fawaz Gerges (0)
The author, an American scholar who grew up in Lebanon, spoke with several Islamists about who’s involved in the Islamic Jihad, their views and motivations. This book had such potential, but its organization was too incoherent to be that revealing. However, the portion of the book dealing with the current Iraq War and the perspective of the insurgents is well worth reading.

The Soul of a Doctor, multiple authors (0)
This book is a collection of essays by Harvard medical students, describing their initial exposure to patients and the practice of medicine. Times of transition, such as becoming a doctor, are of general interest. However, the writing and insights don’t measure up to Atul Gawande’s Complications.

The Double Helix, by James Watson (+)
This is Watson’s classic account of his research that revealed the structure of DNA. It’s a light, readable story of scientific discovery. Like any autobiography, it’s probably a biased perspective, but it conveys how a major participant felt at the time.

The Pro-Growth Progressive

Gene Sperling, author of The Pro-Growth Progressive, was one of Bill Clinton’s top economic advisors. He advocates policies that he believes will increase the size of the economy (pro-growth) and will assist working and middle-class Americans (progressive). Naturally enough, these are the centrist economic policies pursued by the Clinton administration.

He convincingly argues that policies benefiting average Americans - progressive taxation, the EITC, family leave laws, increased education spending, etc. – also stengthen the economy. While I’ve long believed that social programs, by investing the nation’s human capital, leads to economic gains, it’s reassuring to hear an economist agree with those views. Sperling also slams Bush’s right-wing policies, in areas such as tax cuts and Social Security changes, as having a negative economic impact at enormous cost.

Sperling’s support of free-trade agreements and balanced budgets was less persuasive. While his claims have some merit, I’m not sure about the overall effect of trade agreements or whether reducing the deficit outweighs the moral benefits of increased social spending. As Clinton did in his autobiography, Sperling highlights second-tier economic programs that most people haven’t heard of, but which are the kind of thing you want White House staffers to spend time on (and are another reason to elect Democrats to public office).

Economic books are generally kind of dry, but this book is better than most. At least Sperling avoids abstractions and focuses on real-world issues that people face and the policies to address them. It’s a decent read for policy wonks, though of course Sperling tries to play up the economic accomplishments of the Clinton years and positions himself for a role in a future Democratic administration.

The Great War for Civilisation

Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East is an extended account of the last few decades of Middle East history. Fisk focuses on the events he covered as a journalist, including some elements of a memoir as he describes, for example, what it was like to cover the Afghan rebellion against Russian control. He portrays other historical incidents, such as the Turkish genocide of the Armenians, which he sees as particularly important.

Fisk emphasizes the suffering of the Middle East inhabitants, whether caused by war, tyranny, or sanction-induced poverty. While the accounts of war, torture, cancers arising from depleted uranium exposure, etc. can be overwhelming, they serve as a counterpoint to way most histories downplay the human suffering aspect. Fisk is very critical of most government actions, and his writings will piss off anyone who holds a high opinion of any country’s behavior in the Middle East: US, Britain, Israel, Iran, or any Arab nation.

While I found the book quite worthwhile, it’s not for everyone. Only read it if you have liberal/pacifist views and you’ve already read multiple books on the Middle East. While the book started and ended with gripping topics – Fisk’s interviews with Osama bin Laden and the current war in Iraq – it dragged at times in between. William Cleveland’s A History of the Modern Middle East and Anthony Shadid’s Night Draws Near: Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War are better books to read first, after which you can read Fisk’s 1000-page book for more details.

Bait and Switch

Barbara Ehrenreich intended Bait and Switch to be a follow-up to her Nickel and Dimed, except that she’d try out a mid-level corporate career instead of menial labor. However, despite being intelligent and educated, she didn’t receive an offer, or even an interview for a salaried position. Instead, she wrote about her unsuccessful efforts, along with the harrowing job market that people without specialized skills face.

Ehrenreich was very naive at first, being surprised, for example, at the detrimental impact of having gaps in your resume. However, her depiction highlights how difficult it can be for many people to find employment, since none of the fellow job seekers managed to find decent careers. Bait and Switch was less compelling than Nickel and Dimed, partially because a stymied job search isn’t exciting and partially because I’ve known several people who’ve struggled with periods of unemployment. Still, it’s a quick and easy read that emphasizes how tough the American economic system is for large segments of society.

Medicare phrasing

The San Jose Mercury News has a Medicare story that begins,

Medicare's long-term financial woes deepened over the last year as the program's main funding source for hospital care is projected to go broke in 2018 - two years sooner than predicted last year, according to an annual report by the program's trustees.

However, when you read further, it turns out that the 2018 is the first year in which Social Security benefits exceed revenue. In reality,

The program will no longer be able to pay benefits at promised levels in 2040, one year earlier than predicted last year.

That's like saying that someone is broke the day after they retire, since their expenses exceed their income. Unfortunately, most people will take the newspaper headline Study: Medicare to go broke in 2018 (which doesn't appear in the online version) at face value.