The novel Infinite Jest is brilliant and hilarious, a true classic, and well worth the time spent reading its 1000 pages.
History of Ideas
A Tiny Jot on the Horizon
Aside from being a huge fan of the Alien franchise, over the last months I have started stargazing. Despite the endless rain we have in Kerry in South of Ireland, the night sky down here is mainly free of light pollution, that is when those clouds finally clear. Given a fairly clear night, an … Continue reading A Tiny Jot on the Horizon
Robert Oppenheimer’s Game of Thrones
Or War and Other Zero Sum Games George’s Vision There is little doubt that George R. R. Martin is a superb writer of fiction. His characters are deeply human and deeply flawed. They are engaging, sympathetic, well rounded, with complex pasts and contradictory aspirations, as well as being very well-written. To say his novels are … Continue reading Robert Oppenheimer’s Game of Thrones
A Miscavige of Justice
Or What in Heavens Name Happened to Louis Theroux's "My Scientology Movie"? As a decades long fan of just about everything Louis Theroux has ever put out on the BBC, I was completely thrilled to hear he was going to embark upon a documentary about a subject that had long fascinated and intrigued me: Scientology. … Continue reading A Miscavige of Justice
No Belief Systems Remain Unharmed by These Blogs
I believe in blogging. I am often shocked what other bloggers endure in order to keep on blogging, in a forum wherein one supposedly can engage in some kind of free expression. The most obvious one is that of the Saudi Blogger Raif Badawi who was recently sentenced to 1000 lashes in Saudi Arabia for ‘cybercrime’ … Continue reading No Belief Systems Remain Unharmed by These Blogs
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH ( I Mean Really )
EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE HEARD OF ALEXANDER GERSHENKRON ALEXANDER GERSHENKRON (1904-1978) was a Harvard Professor of Economics from the late 1940's to the 1970's. He was known particularly as a historian of economics and among other things postulated the 'Backwardness Theory'. His paper Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective (1962) was and is to the best of my knowledge, … Continue reading THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH ( I Mean Really )
Overcriminalization
Its probably due to just how complex and increasing complex a society it is, but very year in the United States, thousands of new laws are added to the statute books. There are so many of then no one could really know them all. Actually it would require such an exotically savant- like level … Continue reading Overcriminalization
Notes Scribbled in Dejection in JC’s Cake & Cafe Shop Newtownmountkennedy
When you are stuck in a Cafe in Newtownmountkennedy an hour or two before an appointment, one can become intolerably bored. Being a bit of a bore myself, I start talking to complete strangers, who for the most part have come in for a quiet time by themselves and don’t want a strange hairy talkative … Continue reading Notes Scribbled in Dejection in JC’s Cake & Cafe Shop Newtownmountkennedy
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