I just learned that my old friend, Sun colleague, and fellow SecularLiberalGeek Gene Saunders died last week. (I just got off the phone from speaking with his friend Judy.) I’m going to miss his constant emails on politics, technology, godlessness, and Texas. More anon. UPDATE: Links to Gene’s blog and his photos, courtesy Alec. UPDATE:…
Read More Gene Saunders, RIPSpaceX did it! Fantastic work.
Read More Orbit!I left my Kindle at the office this weekend, and I just finished a couple of work-related books (one tedious, one great), and so I’m looking for reading material this evening. I have two new books on the same subject, and I’m trying to decide which to crack first: Godless, by Dan Barker Why I…
Read More One subject, two books…Felipe Massa should have won today’s Singapore Grand Prix. He was the fastest driver, in the fastest car, using tyres which worked better on his car than the competition. Instead, he finished next-to-last, out of the points, and saw Hamilton extend his lead in the Championship. And the cause of his failure was a classic…
Read More OverengineeringKathleen Parker at National Review Online, one of Sarah Palin’s most enthusiastic supporters, throws in the towel. McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden. Only…
Read More "Fall on your sword, Sarah"Enter the (incompetent) drama queen: McCain makes it worse: And so, a bailout proposal that once seemed likely to pass now is back to negotiations. In the process, Secretary Paulson was reduced to getting on his knees to beg House Speaker Nancy Pelosi not to have her party members bail on the proposal; President Bush…
Read More "[Bush is] Cardinal freaking Richelieu compared to McCain"Quote of the day: Letterman said McCain taking Palin to meet world leaders at the United Nations was like “take-your-daughter-to-work day.” (Via Huffpo.)
Read More "Take-your-daughter-to-work day"TPM on the bizarre handling of Sarah Palin: What’s really sobering is that the McCain campaign continues to block Palin from answering questions even though it’s now resulting in reams and reams of bad press for the McCain-Palin ticket. That suggests McCain advisers know that letting her answer even the most elementary questions in an…
Read More The caging of Sarah PalinIf it seems as if I’ve posted fewer book-related items recently, there is a simple explanation. I’m reading Neal Stephenson’s latest, “Anathem”, and it’s going to take a while. The good news: I’m reading it on the Kindle, which reduces the weight (and the price!). The bad: it’s still going to take some time: I…
Read More AnathemAndrew Sullivan becomes understandably apoplectic at this nonsense: At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also…
Read More "Sarah has a tummy ache"