1. The Prestige by Christopher Priest
2. The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan

3. Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson - This book is a strange one, with a strange history. Way back in 1955 (before my father was born), Robert Heinlein wrote a partial outline for a juvenile novel and, for whatever reason, opted not to write it. Fast forward a half-century, and Spider Robinson (whose Callahan’s Bar stories are a must-read, by the way), was commissioned to write a novel from said outline. The results are mixed.

Don’t get me wrong–I enjoyed myself through and through. It’s a good, fun, brisk read. But it does have a few annoyances. 1) It chooses to, for no reason I can see, use not Heinlein’s Future History, but rather an offshoot of Heinlein’s Future History. Why? Those who don’t know Heinlein well won’t get it, and those who do know the History will be annoyed by the off-shooting continuity. I know I was. 2) It pulls one of my big pet peeves in science fiction–namely, pop culture references. As though people will be quoting The Simpsons in the 23rd Century. Right. 3) The deus ex machina at the end. I won’t spoil it, but it’s not foreshadowed or possible to pre-conceive at all. It’s a cheat, and it bugged me. Personally, I thought that it was building to an entirely different ending (and my ending rocked, by the way), and so I was annoyed when the rug was pulled out.

However, let me repeat that the above represent mostly annoyances. I think that both Heinlein and Robinson fans will enjoy this one. It’s a fun read. But not much more than a fun read, I’m afraid.

Currently Reading:

4. Make Love!* *The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell

On Deck:

5. The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson
6. Espionage’s Most Wanted by Tom E. Mahl

“Successful leaders are pragmatic. Almost every choice they make is between bad options; the wisest of them, like Lincoln, pick out the least worst, consistently. And that’s about all you can ask of them.”
– Arthur C Clarke & Stephen Baxter

I was hoping that it would be revealed to be a cruel hoax, but it appears that my theocratic idiot of a Senator, Sam Brownback, is in fact running for President. At least, he believes so after some “prayerful consideration.” (Read: Jesus wants him to!) But since he is running, I suppose I should give him the benefit of the doubt and see where he stands on things. In fact, I guess that all Presidential candidates deserve the same. So what follows is the first in a series of fisking sober analysis of every 2008 candidate’s presidential candidacy announcement. Stock up on the whiskey, folks, because here we go:

First off, let’s give Brownback some credit: his announcement makes it very clear where he stands: big government–in the name of the LORD!

I have decided, after much prayerful consideration, to consider a bid for the Republican nomination for the presidency.

I am running to spread hope and ideas. We are a blessed nation at an important crossroads. War, corruption, disintegrating families, and for some, hopelessness, tear at the American Dream. We need hope and ideas.

You have to love cognitive dissidence–we are a “blessed nation” that is beset by “war, corruption” and “disintegrating families.” If this is what being BLESSED means, then what the hell does a CURSED nation look like?

I am running for America…to be of service in a crucial time of trial.

Ours is an exceptional nation. A nation between two oceans made up of people from every nation on earth. A great nation united by our ideals. But we are a great nation because of our goodness. If we ever lose our goodness, we will surely lose our greatness.

Translate “if we ever lose our goodness” to “if we let the godless, secular heathens take over, then we as a nation are lost”, and you’ll have a better idea of what he’s really saying. (See also D’Souza, Dinesh).

We believe in a culture of life—that every human life is a beautiful, sacred, unique child of a loving God.

This is code for: Goodbye, Roe v. Wade!

We believe in justice for all—at all times.

We believe in liberty.

If you think that these sentences will be followed by a “but”, then you’re catching on.

But the central institutions that best transmit these values—the family and the culture—are under withering attack.

I fail to see how “the family” and “the culture” affect liberty and justice. Is my love of Spider-Man somehow eroding liberty? Call me nuts, but my understanding of the situation is that the institutions that preserve liberty and justice are: (a) the rule of law, (b) due process of law, and (c) limited government authority. But I guess I’ve been wrong before.

We must renew our families and rebuild our culture!

Credit where credit is due: this conclusion does, in fact, logically flow from his (flawed) premises. Complete sylogisms are rare in American politics, so he deserves a point.

We need a culture that encourages what is right and discourages what is wrong—and has the wisdom to understand the difference.

A culture that encourages moral thinking: yes. A government that imposes moral thinking regardless of its affect on others: no.

Each generation of Americans is called upon to carry the torch of virtue during its brief season. If one generation lets the torch fall, its light is extinguished for all future generations.

So… I guess that whole enslavement of Africans and genocide of Native Americans thing didn’t drop the torch?

That’s a big responsibility, but we can achieve it if we pick up the torch with courage, generosity, and realism. We must meet and fulfill the job we are called to accomplish in our day. The time to act to insure our future as a nation is now.

Wait a minute–if we pick up the torch of virtue, doesn’t that mean it got dropped? And if it got dropped, doesn’t that mean that it’s light is extinguished? Why are we carrying an unlit torch around? To use as a club or impromptu walking stick or something?

Problems abound. The federal government wastes and spends too much.

Okay, I’m with him so far on this paragraph.

We lack compassionate yet practical programs to help the poor here and around the world.

Oh, so his problem isn’t government overstepping it’s bounds–it’s just that it’s not very good at it. Gotcha.

We need energy independence and alternative, clean-burning, domestic-grown fuels.

Sounds good, but it might be more believable if oil and gas companies weren’t among his top ten donors.

The scourge of cancer has killed too many and must be stopped.

Umm…. yes, I suppose that’s true. But how’s he going to solve that by being President? Shouldn’t he go back to school and pursue a med school degree in research oncology? Oh wait–that would probably involve admitting the truth of evolution. Never mind.

We need term limits for judges and members of Congress like we have for the President.

Finally, a good idea!

We need a flat tax instead of the dreadful, incomprehensible tax code we now have.

Wait a minute—how does that logically flow from protecting families and the culture? Oh wait, I remember–by assuming that Americans are incompetent morons who can’t fill out a tax form. (Honestly, I’ve never had any difficulty with doing my taxes. I mean, it gets complicated on the business side, but on the individual level? Hardly.)

And we need humility.

Which I guess is why he’s saying that, out of 300 million people, only HE is best qualified to serve the highest office in the land. Or do I have my definition of “humility” confused?

While I am proud to be an American, when I consider my citizenship and the responsibilities it carries today in the light of eternity, I am more humbled by it. We have been given much and will be held to account for what we have been given.

In other words, be a slave to the state! It’s how you give back, y’know.

I ask mostly for your prayers. Pray for America, that our division as a people might end and that our land be healed.

If you want to end division, why would you enter a contest that is, by it’s very nature, divisive, competitive, and polarizing?

Thank you for your interest and support. Thank you for your prayers. Please join our campaign of national renewal and hope for the future!

I think I’ll pass, thanks.

Next up: Hillary!

“There is now a new law outlawing melting down pennies and nickels for profit. Based on current metal prices, both pennies and nickels are worth more melted down. Leave it to the government to figure out a way to lose money while making money.”
– Jay Leno

So after my previous diatribe against Sony’s mismanagement of the PS3 development and launch, I received an Xbox 360 for Christmas. I purchased Gears of War, Fight Night Round 3, and Dead Rising for the system and have to say that I am very pleased with it so far. The graphics are incredible (even on my standard-definition TV), games run smoothly and fast, and everything is very well-designed, from the comfortable controllers to Xbox Live and how it easily allows you to play multiplayer through it.

The only trouble I ran into was playing co-op on Gears of War with a specific friend, but it turned out that my wireless router needed a firmware update to be supported by the 360. Once I took care of that, we played and there were no more issues.

Every day, more and more games are being announced for the Xbox, and at the very minimum they are cross-platform with the PS3 instead of PS3 exclusive. I can’t see how Sony can completely come back from this, especially when it seems as the hype for the Wii has not died down, though the PS3’s luster quickly wore off after the holidays. Now thre have been rumors that Sony is prohibiting adult videos from being put on Blu-Ray discs, which is one of the reasons that Betamax failed, for those of you keeping track at home. What will 2007 bring?

1. The Prestige by Christopher Priest

2. The Conservative Soul by Andrew Sullivan - Without question, Andrew Sullivan is one of my favorite writers. Even when I do not agree with his analysis of a situation, be it political or philosophical, I find him to be interesting, thoughtful, and passionate. And when it comes to the Bush Administration and the handling of Iraq and other facets of the conflict with Islamic terrorists, I have to say that a good deal of his attitude (though not, I think, development of ideas) has mirrored my own over the course of the past several years. So I was very much looking forward to reading his most recent book, The Conservative Soul. I am also disheartened to say that I was tremendously disappointed. Although there are some interesting nuggets of good ideas buried in the book, I find that on the whole it was sloppy, muddled, disorganized and — I’m sorry to say — not very well written. Although I would highly recommend that everyone read Sullivan’s blog and essays, I would not recommend this book.

Currently Reading

3. Variable Star by Robert Heinlein and Spider Robinson

On Deck

4. Make Love!* *The Bruce Campbell Way by Bruce Campbell
5. The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

“It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.”
– Bertrand Russell

Somehow, the comments database for HI has completely crashed, and so we haven’t been posting in awhile. I’d hoped that the problem would be fixed by now but I can’t make heads or tails of it and so I’ve turned to my hosting company. I will keep you posted. Thanks!

Via Matthew Yglesias, I have learned that yesterday marked Woodrow Wilson’s 150th Birthday. To celebrate, I thought I’d dredge up this old post, in which I named Woodrow Wilson one of the worst figures in American history:

Woodrow Wilson was the only President of the United States to have had a Ph.D., which goes to show that intellectual advancement does not necessarily include moral advancement. Steeped in the white supremacist values of the South, Wilson devoted a great deal of time to apology for Southern racial policies. He opposed integration and wrote extensively on the subject that slavery was a positive good.

As President, despite his pledge to W.E.B. DuBois and other black leaders, Wilson positively reversed the Federal policy of integration and allowed segregation in the Capital. In addition, like many other Progressives of the time, he was an advocate of eugenics and immigration policies that favored white Europeans over other immigrants.

Read the whole thing.

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
– Hunter S. Thompson

(h/t John Varley)