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Interesting. At the time (late summer 1945 and the 15-20 years after), conservatives were appalled at the use of the Bomb. Was it out of revulsion over the Bomb itself or that they weren’t the ruling party at the time?
Category: quote of the day
meanwhile, back in the America of the Founders
Let him say what the government is, if it be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have conferred on our President, and the President of our choice has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangers to whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws have pledged hospitality and protection: that the men of our choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the President, than the solid right of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and justice. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
Let him say what the government is, if it be not a tyranny, which the men of our choice have conferred on our President, and the President of our choice has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangers to whom the mild spirit of our country and its laws have pledged hospitality and protection: that the men of our choice have more respected the bare suspicions of the President, than the solid right of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacred force of truth, and the forms and substance of law and justice. In questions of power, then, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.
— Thomas Jefferson, The Kentucky Resolutions, art. 8, Oct., 1798. [From “Jefferson on the Tyrannical President” (Harper’s Magazine) ]
subscribing would be less work
Hmm, look who stopped by today:
nat120.classmates.com – – [07/Dec/2007:14:21:46 -0800] “GET /wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/12/06/froth/ HTTP/1.1” 200 9596 “http://paulbeard.org/wordpress/index.php” “Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071127 Firefox/2.0.0.11” Not that I mind, of course, but RSS works just as well.
Hmm, look who stopped by today:
nat120.classmates.com - - [07/Dec/2007:14:21:46 -0800] "GET /wordpress/index.php/archives/2007/12/06/froth/ HTTP/1.1" 200 9596 "http://paulbeard.org/wordpress/index.php" "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.11) Gecko/20071127 Firefox/2.0.0.11"
Not that I mind, of course, but RSS works just as well.
Stross, Charles: 1, Bezos, Jeff: 0
If Amazon had designed their hardware a little bit differently, then stitched up a deal with Elsevier and the other big publishers of peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, they could have rented pre-loaded Kindles out to students for $1000 a year and shifted container ships full of the things on day 1.
But instead of designing a device that will allow college students to carry all their (expensive) textbooks around in a single notebook-sized package, Amazon seem to be going after the consumers of (cheap) popular literature and fiction.
This is exactly right. $400 is a lot of sub-$10 paperbacks that you can’t loan to friends or give away. This kind of permanence and ease of transport lends itself to some segments and not to others.
The ideal launch market for an ebook reader exists; it’s college students and academics. They’re used to paying over $1000 a year for textbooks and often up to $100 for a single book. The books are big and heavy and they need to carry them around. The books go out of date — an ebook reader with an online subscription service for correcting errata and adding supplementary material would be perfect. If Amazon had designed their hardware a little bit differently, then stitched up a deal with Elsevier and the other big publishers of peer-reviewed journals and textbooks, they could have rented pre-loaded Kindles out to students for $1000 a year and shifted container ships full of the things on day 1.
But instead of designing a device that will allow college students to carry all their (expensive) textbooks around in a single notebook-sized package, Amazon seem to be going after the consumers of (cheap) popular literature and fiction. Readers who are unwilling to spend much more than US $7 on a mass-market novel in the first place, and very unlikely to read more than 100 titles per year. And then they’re expected to put up with intrusive DRM that devalues their purchases, intrusive privacy-invading monitoring, and (to add insult to injury) a $400 entry price before they can join the party. [From Why I don’t like Amazon’s Kindle]
quote of the day
We’ve got some bad-looking trend lines; all the indicators point toward a system that is more complex, less well-understood and more interdependent. With infrastructure like that, who needs enemies?
We’ve got some bad-looking trend lines; all the indicators point toward a system that is more complex, less well-understood and more interdependent. With infrastructure like that, who needs enemies? [From Security in Ten Years]
who do you support?
[From Glassbooth – Quiz to help you choose best 2008 presidential candidate ]
Check it out: it takes a different approach, where you assign weights to issues, and then you answer questions on the issues you care most about.
[From Glassbooth – Quiz to help you choose best 2008 presidential candidate]
Check it out: it takes a different approach, where you assign weights to issues, and then you answer questions on the issues you care most about.
You have 20 points to allocate to 14 issues. What do you think matters most? Let me know what you think of it.
Here’s how the rest of them stack up: 
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Friday Random 10 + 1
Into You Like a Train / The Psychedelic Furs / Talk Talk TalkRecoil / Magazine / Real LifeWaitin’ For A Superman / The Flaming Lips / The Soft BulletinPart Past Part Fiction / The Chills / Submarine BellsThe Mess We’re In / PJ Harvey / Stories From The City, Stories From The SeaLipstick Vogue / Elvis Costello / The Very Best Of Elvis Costello (Disc 2)In The Lap Of The Gods …. Revisited / Queen / Sheer Heart AttackAin’t That Nothin’ (Single Version) / Television / AdventureLife In Prison / The Byrds / Sweetheart Of The RodeoSleep Angel / Jerry Harrison : Casual Gods / Walk on WaterEpisode Of Blonde / Elvis Costello / When I Was Cruel
Into You Like a Train / The Psychedelic Furs / Talk Talk Talk
Recoil / Magazine / Real Life
Waitin’ For A Superman / The Flaming Lips / The Soft Bulletin
Part Past Part Fiction / The Chills / Submarine Bells
The Mess We’re In / PJ Harvey / Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
Lipstick Vogue / Elvis Costello / The Very Best Of Elvis Costello (Disc 2)
In The Lap Of The Gods . . . Revisited / Queen / Sheer Heart Attack
Ain’t That Nothin’ (Single Version) / Television / Adventure
Life In Prison / The Byrds / Sweetheart Of The Rodeo
Sleep Angel / Jerry Harrison : Casual Gods / Walk on Water
Episode Of Blonde / Elvis Costello / When I Was Cruel
What’s on your playlist?
1 out of 14
This is the only one of their principles I can endorse without reservation, though there are some weasel words in there (who decides what’s a “truly endangered species”?).
…Do they really want to stand in judgment and answer questions about who polluted the streams and lakes, who blew up the mountains, who wiped out the fish, birds, and other animals for sport or by destroying their homes?
This is the only one of their principles I can endorse without reservation, though there are some weasel words in there (who decides what’s a “truly endangered species”?).
(14) Protection of the Environment and Natural Heritage. We believe that the natural environment and resources of a nation are among its most precious, valuable, and irreplaceable treasures. We believe in the protection of the environment from reckless greed as well as from irresponsible government. We support the protection of truly endangered species of wildlife and areas of natural beauty. [From Statement of Principles | Council of Conservative Citizens]
It has always puzzled me that religious zealots who put so much stock in a Creator and a hand-made planet care so little about its well-being. Do they really want to stand in judgment and answer questions about who polluted the streams and lakes, who blew up the mountains, who wiped out the fish, birds, and other animals for sport or by destroying their homes? If you believe that Man was granted dominion, with that should come responsibility.
bonus quote of the day
Pakistan’s military dictator will re sign his position as army commander , thus becoming a civilian dictator. [From Musharraf to Relinquish Military Role » Outside The Beltway | OTB ]
Pakistan’s military dictator will resign his position as army commander, thus becoming a civilian dictator. [From Musharraf to Relinquish Military Role » Outside The Beltway | OTB]
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time to fill the tank?
The weakness of the dollar is one reason why oil prices are so high, as cartel members seek to compensate for their lower earnings. This means a further drop in the dollar is likely to be accompanied by a rise in oil prices.
Stop sniggering, you car-free types . . .
The weakness of the dollar is one reason why oil prices are so high, as cartel members seek to compensate for their lower earnings. This means a further drop in the dollar is likely to be accompanied by a rise in oil prices. [From Oil leaders’ private debate televised by mistake | World | The Observer]
Is there ever an upside to dealing with a cartel for a necessity like your prime source of energy? Aren’t you glad the grown-up Daddy party has been in charge for the past 6 years?
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[update Nov 19] I did fill up this afternoon and the customer before me dropped US$98 on a fillup. Mine are over US$40 (only a 14 gallon tank). I can’t imagine spending US$100 on a tank of gas.