winterspeak.com

I've read half a dozen posts on winterspeak.com, found via link from Asymmetrical Information, and I'm hooked...

A representative sample (on the causes of the U.S. trade deficit):

The key dynamic here seems to be that China, following mercantilist trade policy, is taking money from Chinese consumers and importers and giving it to Chinese exporters, who are in turn tying dollar bills to their exports. The rational thing to do in this circumstance would be to take the money and buy the Chinese exports -- anything else would be foolish! Thus the trade deficit. When the Chinese decide to stop taking from their local peasants and giving to American flat-screen TV buyers, then the trade deficit will go away, but until then American consumers should take the money and run.

Great stuff.

Reading List

Although almost no one actually reads this blog, I'm going to start taking note here of what I've been reading. At least it will give me a chance to take stock of my reading time, of which I never have enough. My reading could best be grouped into two categories: technical papers, articles and books running the gamut of computer science topics, and everything else. The former I typically read during my lunch hour, an old anti-social habit that I don't think I'll ever break, while the latter I try to find time for when I can, typically at night, but also during marathon sessions on vacation at Cape Cod during the summer.

One summer selection was V.S. Naipaul's A Bend in the River. As a (purely hypothetical) regular reader of the blog might deduce, I'm exceedingly fond of Joseph Conrad. If the brooding prose of this book is any indication, Naipaul is the modern equivalent. The story is semi-autobiographical, and has a specific historical context, but like Heart of Darkness, there is just enough of a mist around the edges to allow both tales to dissolve the bonds that tie them to a particular time and place: The name "Africa" appears once in Conrad's story, and only in a list of continents. The name "Congo" appears not at all. Similarly, Naipaul never names the nation whose fate drives the story, nor its nominal leader, the "Big Man".

The resulting meditations on the nature of man thus take on a universality that I find quite appealing. The prose is brooding, as I said before, in the best possible sense: heavy and thoughtful, but only because the subject demands it.

Highly recommended.

On the CS end, I was thrilled to discover the collected notes of Edsger W. Dijkstra. The breadth of his interest in "Computing Science" is matched only by the strength of his opinions, resulting in forceful insights on a broad range of topics. From what I've read so far, I can particularly commend:

"My recollections of operating system design"

and

"Computing Science: Achievements and Challenges"

Battlestar Galactica

I came in a little late, knowing nothing about the original except that it had a reputation of being cheesy, but the new
Battlestar Galactica is easily the best SF show on TV in a long time. That's in no small part due to show-runner Ron Moore, who provided much of the creative energy that made the middle seasons of DS9 so much fun. BSG is a much darker show (figuratively and literally - I never understood why Trek always had to be filmed under kleig lights), and it's the better for it.

The toughest part for the writers and producers, I think, will be exploring the mythos. This is where, say, Babylon 5 fell down for me. The early seasons offered some real mystery, both about the characters and the universe they inhabited. But the "revelations," spread out over 4 years (season 5 doesn't really count), brought to mind the quote from Conrad about sailor's tales fitting within the shell of a nut. Ultimately there wasn't that much to the backstory that couldn't be summarized in a few sentences: Shadows = chaos, Vorlons = order, Sinclair = Valen. The characters were interesting for the most part, but because the story arc was so threadbare, almost every event of consequence had to revolve around them. This might work well for a medical drama, but you're sacrificing what makes good space operas: the sense of scale, of a huge universe you can only meagerly comprehend.

On the other hand, you can go too far the other way, and treat the mythos as an inexahaustible supply of new weirdness. X-Files fell victim to this. I don't think anyone can tell a plausible story that fits everything that was thrown onto the screen.

BSG will hopefully manage to walk the line here. I hope it'll be clear by the end of this season whether, for example, there's anything more than mysticism to the Cylon's God-talk and the President's prophecy talk.

Luckily, even if the mythos sucks, if the production quality shown so far continues, it'll at least be worth watching.

Bring back the Grilled Stuft Chicken Enchilada Burrito

Sign the petition to bring back
the greatest Taco Bell burrito ever.

Why does Taco Bell insist upon rotating in these great new products, and then getting rid of them, never to be seen again?

They are the biggest tease in the fast food industry.

While they're at it, they should bring back the Chicken Stuft Caesar Wrap, which was likewise excellent.

The new guru

George Lakoff is a clown:

"'They found that choice wasn't playing very well,' says Lakoff, who's become an unofficial guru to beleaguered Democrats. He told the groups it was no wonder: 'choice' came from a 'consumerist' vocabulary, while 'life' came from a moral one. In one of his more controversial suggestions, he advised the activists to reclaim the 'life' issue by blaming Republicans for high U.S. infant-mortality rates and mercury pollution that can cause birth defects. 'Basically what I'm saying is that conservatives are killing babies,' he says."

After all the whining those on the left do about George Bush "dividing America", they make this guy's book a bestseller. He certainly seems interested in civil debate, doesn't he?

Oh well. I hope they keep listening to him instead of finding leaders who call this kind of talk absurd. Then they'll keep losing elections, and I'll keep getting cheaper goods through free trade, a growing economy through lower tax rates and less regulation, and a foreign policy driven by American ideals.

The Downing Street Memo

Tim Cavanaugh joins the growing chorus of Iraq war skeptics acknowledging that there's no 'there' there in the Downing Street Memo.

Of course, all but the most wild-eyed Bush haters never thought the "revelations" in this memo would be a major scandal. After all, most of it was conventional wisdom when the memo was released: the Bush administration thought Saddam Hussein had WMDs and were unenthusiastic about the changes of a UN-mediated outcome.

The real reason the Left loves playing up this memo is the fortuitous use of the phrase "intelligence and facts were being being fixed around the policy", which in the context of the memo almost certainly means that facts and intelligence supporting the case for the policy were being found (as in "to fix upon") and emphasized, which is exactly what happened.

However, through the lazy anti-Bush (and I suppose even more pro-scandal) filter of the media, this phrase gets summarized (as I heard it this morning on WBZ) as "allegations that the Bush administration 'fixed' intelligence to justify the Iraq war". Who cares if this is a rude mis-translation? The meme is out the door, and soon the scare quotes around 'fixed' will disappear.

Fred Kaplan, Broken Record

As anyone (yes all two of you) who read this blog regularly know, I'm a big fan of Slate. They provide a great mix of politics, pop culture, and the sort of uncategorizable stuff you don't find anywhere else. Where else can you find a lighthearted regular column on Supreme Court arguments? Left, right and center, Slate's stable of writers sets a high standard, and it's one that Fred Kaplan hasn't lived up to for a while. Take today's predictable assault on John Bolton. Is there a single insight here that I couldn't get from wire service reports and Democratic talking points?

...his intimidation of intelligence analysts who dared disagree with him, the dismal signal his appointment will send to the world...

...It takes enormous self-deception to believe that John Bolton is truly qualified...

...As an undersecretary of state in Bush's first term, he repeatedly sought the removal of intelligence analysts who dared to disagree with him...

Wow, that last talking point was so thrilling it got in there twice. Did he intimidate, then remove those brave State Department analysts? By remove he can't mean fired. Has anyone in the State Department actually alleged that their careers were hurt by their disputes with Bolton? Shouldn't spirited disputes over policy, which many of these were, be welcomed rather than seen as disqualifying? Doesn't the run up to the Iraq war demonstrate that policy makers should question intelligence analysts more and not less?

Kaplan's columns have been like this for a while. There's nothing wrong with disagreeing with the administration or being contrarian, but he should at least acknowledge the other side of the argument, if only to dismiss it.

When I know everything I'm going to read in a Fred Kaplan column from the title, why should I even bother?

Finally, I'd be willing to wager that John Bolton will turn out to be at least a competent UN ambassador, thus putting the lie to Kaplan's claim that he's obviously not "truly qualified". Though if he does, will Kaplan acknowledge that perhaps his distrust of the Bush administration led to his own "enormous self-deception"? I'm not going to hold my breath.

If I had the time...

John Tierney's smart column would almost be enough to get me to subscribe to the New York Times.

I love temporal mechanics

The Time Traveler Convention - May 7, 2005

It's things like this that make MIT the uhh... coolest place on earth... yeah that's it... cool...

The deep thoughts of a galactic tyrant

Via Slashdot, this blog is one one of those results of deeply disturbing geek obsession that makes you (well, at least me!) glad there are deeply disturbed geek obsessions with which to waste time.

Why I am not a Libertarian

I'm only 2/3 of the way through this excellent Jane Galt post, but I can already say it articulates precisely why I'm pragmatically drawn to conservatism over more liberal (really libertarian) thinking. It's ostensibly about gay marriage, but you could, as Jane Galt suggests, apply her argument to many policy changes that claim to eschew social engineering, but end up doing dramatic "unintentional engineering" (oxymoron alert!) in the long term.

I've been reading AA posts occasionally for years (back when it was "Live from the WTC" if I recall), but it's to the blogroll with her now.

Back from the Big Apple

I had a fun, tiring weekend in Manhattan. Went to a few places that were definitely worth the hype:

• Hotel QT - Still "under construction," but what's there so far is way cool. The rooms are "cozy" but stylish with lusciously soft beds. The staff is friendly and helpful. The pool would be a gem even without the swim-up bar.
• The new MoMA - At least a full day's activity. Obviously designed by people who love design, from the airy, sunlit interior to the ruthlessly efficient, yet delicious and relaxing Cafe 2.
  
• Una Pizza Napoletana - Perfect pizza. Well worth the wait and the price.
• Papaya King - They can't franchise fast enough for me.
  

"The Crackers"

Via Crooked Timber, this art hits the spot for me, and almost makes up for traveling to NYC a few weeks late to see "The Gates" (pro: also orange!, con: less snackable!)