Chaos Manor Home Page> Mail Home Page  > View Home Page > Current View > Chaos Manor Reviews Home Page

CHAOS MANOR MAIL

Mail 504 February 6 - 10, 2008

For CHAOS MANOR REVIEWS click here

HOME

VIEW

MAIL

Columns

BOOK Reviews

Chaos Manor Reviews

CLICK ON THE BLIMP TO SEND MAIL TO ME. Mail sent to me may be published.

LAST WEEK                                  NEXT WEEK

FOR THE CURRENT VIEW PAGE CLICK HERE

Atom FEED from Chaos Manor

Highlights this week:

• Colonel Couvillon Diatribe
• Harry Erwin's Letter from England
•  
•  

  If you send mail, it may be published. See below. For boiler plate, instructions, and how to pay for this place, see below.

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

Military in Airports

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
article?AID=/20080131/NATION/981079835/1002/NATION   

"The Oakland International Airport did not break any laws or regulations when it denied 200 Marines and soldiers access to the passenger terminal during a layover last year from Iraq to the troops' home base in Hawaii, the Transportation Department says."

No, they just showed profound discourtesy if not disrespect. This is just so much BS not to respect the professionalism of the servicemen (Marines at that!).

"Airport officials were concerned that the flight's ground staff could not provide "an adequate level of escort and control of such a large group of military personnel in or around the terminal area," the inspector's report said."

OH MY GOD the animals are loose! We can't have servicemen running freely about the terminal!

"The review also found "miscommunication about the proper storage and safeguarding of weapons carried on board aircraft during the layover" and that the airport "could not confirm that weapons [on the plane] would be secured and safeguarded in accordance with Department of Defense regulations and that the Marines and soldiers would leave their weapons on board."

PULEASE! How about asking them?

"The inspector general recommended the establishment of a task force with representatives from the Homeland, Defense and Transportation departments, along with representatives from the airlines and airports, to develop a uniform process for handling service members on all military chartered flights at U.S. commercial-service airports."

Let me save them a LOT of money. Follows is Policy and Process for military charters landing at ANY U.S. Airport:

1. Plane arrives at identified terminal gate or pad location.

2. Representative of airport Security, local police, and/or Homeland Security boards plane and locates senior officer and/or Staff NCO. a. Confirm that weapons are aboard aircraft and will remain in aircraft, except for those carried by designated guards. Obtain weapons count. b. Confirm that armed guards are posted within/without aircraft as guards. (This is currently DOD specific regulation). c. Instruct senior officer and/or SNCO of parameters of freedom in terminal (ex. Only in Terminal B. Return to gate by 1445 to depart on time). d. Provide senior officer and/or SNCO communications means to contact Airport Security.

3. Representative of airport Security returns to terminal or Security office to attend to duties.

4. Senior officer and/or SNCO organizes, supervises, and controls military personnel who have de-planed.

5. Upon aircraft departure time, Airport Security Representatives confirm from senior officer that all personnel are aboard and obtain weapons count matches that give upon arrival. If any discrepancy in weapons count from original, conduct immediate search and investigation - follow all other airport rules, regulations for identified threat of weapon in airport.

I am continually [angered] at the lack of respect for the trustworthiness, leadership and professionalism of US military personnel in this country.

Couv

My view is that we ought to have a Federal law requiring all combat qualified active duty officers to carry their sidearms at all times on and off duty, specifically including in airports and aboard airplanes. It would cut the crime rate by a lot.

If I can trust you with my kids I sure ought to be able to trust you to carry a weapon.

============

Harry Erwin's Letter from England

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

Muslim husbands with more than one wife to get extra benefits as ministers recognise polygamy, 

Jerry

This settles it - soon there will no longer be an England:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/
news/news.html?in_article_id=512043&in_page_id=1770&ct=5  

The Labor party highlights the follies of liberalism and political correctness taken to their logical ends. Perhaps we should offer political asylum to non-Moslems who are fleeing the UK . . .

Ed

Is comment needed?

==

Churchill was a myth? 

But Sherlock Holmes was real! This is what many people in the UK believe.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080204/od_afp/britainpeoplehistoryoffbeat 

Thanks for all you do!

Stan Field

Churchill Sahib...

==

'In a survey of Berlin high school students, only half agreed that the GDR was a dictatorship. Two-thirds didn't know who built the Berlin Wall.'

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/
magazine/16-02/ff_stasi?currentPage=all

- Roland Dobbins

We cannot escape history, said Lincoln. Little did he know what we can accomplish with modern progressive education.

=============

Subject:  math education

Hi Jerry,

I have been tutoring a few elementary school kids in math for a couple of years now, so the math problems mentioned are very much of interest to me. Up front: I have mostly been tutoring kids "good" in math - I am attempting to keep them "turned on" to math despite their teachers' unwillingness to give them interesting work.

>Grandma has 3 kids with gloves with holes in the fingers. If she has to fix every finger, how many fingers does she have to fix.

The biggest problem here is the word "finger". I would bet that half of my kids would say there are five fingers on each glove, and the other half would say there are four fingers and a thumb. Straight off you have two different - and entirely correct - ways of viewing the problem.

A few other comments: Arthur indicates that second graders can't necessarily count to 30. Ouch! Granted, I am working with a selected group of kids, but I would have thought any first grader could count to 100, and any second grader should be able to count as high as they know the words - certainly into the thousands and probably into the millions.

That said, I don't think your typical second grader can reliably solve a word problem required three numbers to be multiplied. Kids good at math, sure, but on average probably not...

In any case, this "digit orientation" is a huge problem in elementary school math. I am of the opinion that any child who can count to 20 can count arbitrarily high. But teachers show how to work with numbers of one digit. Then 2 digits. Then three digits. Then four digits. Each time as though it is a whole new world. But once the kids can deal with more than a single digit, there is no difference!

In first grade I had kids adding simple numbers (no carries) in the thousands and tens of thousands. In second grade, they could add and subtract arbitrarily large numbers - with borrows and carries. I remember working with 10 and 20 digit numbers: the kids were impressed with themselves, and a couple of adults fell off their chairs. But really - explained correctly, what's the problem?

As I see it, one of the fundamental problems even in good primary schools is the fact that one teacher is expected to do everything: they are the kids' at-school parent, they must be able to teach language, math, history, science, music, etc, etc. No one person can possibly do all of these things well - and their likes and dislikes are inevitably transmitted to the kids. The model is simply wrong: there ought to be specialty teachers (math teacher, history teacher, etc.) from the first grade onwards. And the first requirement should be a love of their subject.

Of course, it's a much more fundamental problem when the teachers are innumerate. Anyone who thinks the answer to the first question is "20 - 7 = 13" has no business anywhere near children learning math.

Cheers,

Brad

=========

 Subj: Trade, fertility and education

http://rodrik.typepad.com/dani_rodriks_weblog/2008/01/trade-and-the-g.html 

>>It's not that there are no gains from trade for both sides. But rich countries take the gains in the form of larger income per capita, while the poor take it in the form of larger population (higher fertility).<<

Rod Montgomery==monty@starfief.com

And in increased immigration?

=========

Subject: Thailand recreates our early militias, 

Jerry

In this story form Thailand - Coup Collapses, Terrorists Stumble:

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/thai/articles/20080203.aspx 

I noticed this:

"There are many Moslems in the south who oppose the Islamic radicals, and to encourage this, the government is increasing the number of men it arms in each village."

Hmm. In Iraq, armed locals in Anbar Province kicked out al Qaeda.

Hmmm. I read somewhere, years ago, that Russia was a very heavily armed country - many people had black market AK's at home. Then, when the Soviet Union collapsed and the generals wanted to squash Yeltsin and retake control, they backed down. I always suspected that this was due to their populace being heavily armed.

Perhaps the Second Amendment has some utility after all.

Ed

It is a matter of who should fear whom: should the government fear the people, or the people fear the government?

The Solution

Bertolt Brecht

After the uprising of the 17th June
The Secretary of the Writers Union
Had leaflets distributed in the Stalinallee
Stating that the people
Had forfeited the confidence of the government
And could win it back only
By redoubled efforts. Would it not be easier
In that case for the government
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

========

Subject: Better Than Free, 

Jerry

Here is an interesting item on how one can sell copies of things in a world where the copies are available for free:

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php\

I think he does a nice job of summarizing the various themes on that topic.

Ed

=========

Some interesting new thinking. Sadly, the Republicans are in the process of nominating Bush-redux. The irony being that anti-Bush primary voters are responsible. Do any of them get it? I don't think so.

Thank you

Peter Schaeffer

Export Security, Not Democracy

By Jonathan Rauch <mailto:jrauch@nationaljournal.com>  , National Journal © National Journal Group Inc. Friday, Feb. 1, 2008

Freedom is on the march. Backward. "Global Freedom in Retreat," headlines a recent press release from Freedom House. In 2007, for the second consecutive year, the group's annual survey of democracy <http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=395>  finds a global decline in political rights and civil liberties. In the Middle East, modest gains have halted. Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria are backsliding.

=========

Subject: Censorship death sentence in Afghanistan 

Dr. Pournelle,

Islam continues to be the religion of peace in Afghanistan, this time peacefully sentencing someone to death for downloading a report on women’s rights.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/
sentenced-to-death-afghan-
who-dared-to-read-about-womens-rights-775972.html

From the article:

‘Demonstrations, organised by clerics, against the alleged foreign interference have been held in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where Mr Kambaksh was arrested. Aminuddin Muzafari, the first secretary of the houses of parliament, said: "People should realise that as we are representatives of an Islamic country therefore we can never tolerate insults to reverences of Islamic religion."

At a gathering in Takhar province, Maulavi Ghulam Rabbani Rahmani, the heads of the Ulema council, said: "We want the government and the courts to execute the court verdict on Kambaksh as soon as possible." In Parwan province, another senior cleric, Maulavi Muhammad Asif, said: "This decision is for disrespecting the holy Koran and the government should enforce the decision before it came under more pressure from foreigners."’

There is most likely more to the story, for example this person may have actually talked to someone about the report. Still, the Afghan senate passing a motion confirming the death sentence further reinforces the ludicrous and murderous nature of the prevailing nature of “true” Islam in that region even after the relatively radical Taliban have been ousted in favor of an apparently not so much different “moderate” version of Islamic law.

Although I feel bad that this guy is going to die because his religion kills anyone who attempts to exercise the freedom of expression that the US is based on, I find myself even more appalled that even one cent of our tax dollars or one drop of American blood is expended to further the existence of any culture that thinks this is a good thing to do. It speaks well for the quality of our military that our military personnel have not already refused to work with certain elements of the Afghan government, because it seems unlikely that there are any US servicemen/women who are not disgusted or horrified by this sort of thing. This is not a terrorist or Taliban act, this is the act of the “legitimate” Afghan government that we have installed and support. That means this is enabled and approved by our own government, military, and taxpayers.

Surely the Afghan senate thanks you for your contribution to their ability to enforce Sharia law. Or maybe they are doing this to show that even though they take our money and the blood of our service members, they still utterly and violently reject everything we value. Sleep well tonight America, your continuing contributions to supporting Islamic law appear to be appreciated by the Sharia courts.

Sean

Spreading democracy across the land. Of course Iraq had a secular government. We hanged its leaders, and are now building stability for sharia. Ain't Jacobinism great?

=========

The High Cost of Empire

Does one American in a thousand know that the Federal government is buying 23 VIP helicopters, each one of which will cost more than the extravagantly expensive F-22 fighter aircraft? A half-billion dollar helicopter—a half billion dollars each! — to ferry political hacks to their campaign events?

If the reader was unaware of that fact, we welcome him to Washington. The helicopter in question, the VH-71, is the government’s planned replacement for its current allegedly deficient presidential helicopter fleet. [1]

[1] One might well ask why even an elected monarch like the U.S. president needs twenty-three helicopters. At most, he might require one helicopter, a backup or two, a couple of training machines, and a pair to act as operational decoys. Rational math cannot count beyond 6 or 7, but the president’s vast retinue of hangers-on, coat holders, and post-pubescent appointees (the U.S. attorney scandal revealed what a sorry lot of inferior religious seminary graduates they typically are) is always raptured, so to speak, by the experience of getting VIP treatment several cuts above that experienced by the common herd of U.S. taxpayers on a Carnival cruise. Thus we are stuck with 23 flying palaces to transport the courtiers of the American emperor.

http://www.takimag.com/site/article/ozymandias_airlines/ 

TOP

CURRENT VIEW    Tuesday

This week:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

Subject: Now they want to ban mums and dads,

Jerry

There will never be an England, Mark II:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/
columnists/dailymail.html?in_article_id=512315&in_page_id=1790

And the name of the Children's Minister simply could not have been made up by anyone writing fiction or satire.

Ed

=========

House Passes Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007 <http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1005> 

December 18th, 2007 by Jesse Lee

The House has just passed the Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act of 2007 <http://www.speaker.gov/legislation?id=0141>  , which will ensure that members of the armed services who are discharged as a result of combat-related wounds receive the full compensation to which they are entitled by the Department of Defense. According to Department of Defense rules, enlistees cannot receive their full enlistment bonus unless they fulfill their entire military obligation. Unfortunately, members of the armed services who are wounded while on active duty are not receiving their full bonuses because their service was prematurely cut short. The Veterans Guaranteed Bonus Act, H.R. 3793 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.3793:>  , will correct this problem by requiring the Department of Defense to provide veterans who have been discharged due to combat-related wounds with full payment of remaining bonuses within 30 days of discharge. Rep. Jason Altmire (PA-04), primary sponsor of the bill, spoke on the bill this morning:

Hurrah. Someone finally shows a sense of decency. But it isn't law yet.

===========

Subject: I must be a sheltered innocent

I had not quite realized the depths to which too much of the human race descends on a routine basis.

Obviously pseudonymous "Kafir Alalazoo" has prepared a video documenting the discrimination against Jews. It is an honest report showing how the media is biased, ignores evil done to Jews and manufacturing evil that was supposedly perpetrated by Jews. This is how Holocausts are born. By all appearances a massive Holocaust against Jews is on its way. Then they come for the Christians....

New Video - "The Path To The Final Solution" http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/191066.php 

Watch the video. Then walk down the captured comments that were made to the video on LiveLeak.com.

Is the human race redeemable? Is it worth saving?

I'm just in shock and tears. People call me a racist over my views. What are THESE people who made the comments?

{o.o} [Joanne Dow]

========

Thomas Jefferson’s Library.

<http://purplemotes.net/2008/02/03/thomas-jeffersons-library/>

- Roland Dobbins

========

Jerry,

"The inspector general recommended the establishment of a task force with representatives from the Homeland, Defense and Transportation departments, along with representatives from the airlines and airports, to develop a uniform process for handling service members on all military chartered flights at U.S. commercial-service airports."

Am I the only one who is reminded of the "Bank of Scotland" commercial, in which some poor sap is drowning in quicksand, while his cow-orkers (on some sort of "wilderness leadership" junket) proceed to invoke Robert's Rules of Order to shape up a rescue analysis committee (or something like that).

So, where's the "strong, silent" type from the Bank of Scotland who pulls the poor guy out of the mire?

Oh, right -- detained at customs. His facial characteristics, combined with "gait analysis," triggered the profiling system at the airport.

In an alternate universe, the Marx Brothers are still alive. Chico is pushing a cart through the airport, calling out "Forks, forks, forks, getcha red hot forks! Getcha tootsie-frootsie forks! Forks, forks, forks, getcha..."

We certainly do seem to be "done" (although my more clinical side is saying, "Oh, don't worry, it'll get a *lot* worse before it gets better.")

Ron

TOP

CURRENT VIEW    Wednesday

This week:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

Subject: The Last

http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2008/02/last-doughboy.html 

"Only two months ago, there were three surviving U.S. veterans of World War I: Buckles, Landis and J. Russell Coffey. But Mr. Coffey passed away in December, and with Landis' death earlier this week, America has, in the words of historian Richard Rubin, reached "the last of the last" among its soldiers from that conflict."

It is always worth taking time to remember those who came before.

Graves

=========

"http://www.thomaspalley.com/?p=94"The Subprime - Trade Deficit Connection

In recent months the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis has been rippling outward affecting other countries. British banks have made large loan loss provisions and there has been a run on the Northern Rock bank. German banks have incurred similar losses and Germany has suffered two large bank failures. European banks have also become leery about lending to each other, forcing the European Central bank to infuse emergency liquidity. Now, Japan’s banks are feeling the heat.

These global spillovers have their origin in the huge U.S. trade deficits of the last several years. Those deficits played a critical role generating the distorted interest rate environment that created the sub-prime bubble, and they also explain how subprime loans have wound up in Tokyo portfolios. For policymakers everywhere there are lessons about the dangers of large trade deficits.

Over the last several years, the U.S. trade deficit has persistently drained spending from the U.S. economy. As a result, much of manufacturing failed to recover after the recession of 2001, making for a weaker than usual recovery. This weakness prompted the Federal Reserve to push interest rates to historic lows in 2003, keep them there for an extended period, and then only raise rates gradually for fear of undermining the economy.

The Fed’s “easy money” policy succeeded in avoiding a relapse into recession, but it came at the price of a housing bubble and a twisted expansion. The hallmarks of this twisted expansion were house price inflation, a construction boom, explosive growth of non-traditional subprime mortgages, a debt-financed consumer spending binge, and yet larger trade deficits.

The counter-part of these deficits was trade surpluses in the rest of the world, which provided the conduit for distributing sub-prime holdings globally. Moreover, these trade surpluses persisted because many countries actively pursue export-led growth, and they therefore blocked appreciation of their currencies against the dollar to maintain competitiveness in U.S. markets.

These large surpluses in turn sought an investment home, which helps explain why long-term interest rates did not rise as predicted when the Fed eventually raised short-term interest rates after 2004. More importantly, artificially low short-term interest rates promoted a “chase for yield” among investors, who started lending at diminished risk premiums.

This chase affected both American and foreign lenders. In Japan, interest rates have been close to zero for a decade, while European interest rates have been below US rates since the end of 2004. Japanese and European investors therefore willingly bought subprime mortgage loans, which spread holdings around the world and also elicited additional supply.

Ironically, owing to bureaucratic inertia, China is the one country that did not get caught up in the frenzy. Instead, it has invested in Treasuries, while capital controls have limited individual Chinese investor access and exposure to U.S. financial markets.

The vast scale of foreign accumulation of dollar assets means that other countries are now vulnerable to U.S. credit market losses. Paradoxically, that may support the dollar. However, other countries are better placed in terms of economic fundamentals. Though they will bear financial losses, their households are in better financial shape - except in countries that have also had house price bubbles. Contrastingly, U.S. households are burdened with debt, and there is a massive over-hang of house supply that promises to drive down house prices, further erode financial wealth, and further undermine economic activity.

The sting in the tail is that a troubled U.S. economy will likely come back to haunt other economies because of their reliance on export-led growth and investments aimed at supplying US consumers. And that sting may hurt China most owing to its heavy reliance on export-led growth and foreign direct investment.

From a policy perspective there are several big lessons. First, failure to address problems in one area (trade deficits) can trigger policy responses elsewhere (monetary policy) that ultimately create even bigger problems. Second, large trade deficits cause real distortions, the consequences of which are costly, albeit slow to emerge.

The consequences of the distortions caused by the U.S. trade deficit will be worst for the U.S., but they will also affect surplus countries that have accepted dollar-denominated financial assets in payment. Moreover, many countries are vulnerable to the extent that they depend on the U.S. market. That points to the urgency of global policy mechanisms preventing repeats of such trade imbalances, and for countries to shift from export-led growth to domestic demand-led growth.

TOP

CURRENT VIEW    Thursday

This week:

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

Buying a Reduction in CO2???

Jerry,

I have read several places that I can send someone money and they will do something that reduces my CO2 emissions. The US Congress did this recently by giving an organization $70K or $80K or $90K.

Does anyone understand how giving money to someone else reduces my carbon footprint? It sounds like a scam to me, but from what I read some people (like the US Congress) take is seriously enough to spend taxpayers' dollars on it.

Perhaps someone can explain the scam. I would be happy to do nothing for you if you sent me money.

-- Dwayne Phillips

Certainly a scam in my estimation. Al Gore is getting very wealthy accepting money to alleviate your guilt feelings about carbon. Kerry has a mile long driveway of white oyster shells; the increase in albedo is about enough to offset the greenhouse effect of the CO2 from his SUV.  If you really worry about global warming, paint your roof white and get your neighbors to do so. And paint the streets white.

==========

Shock! Horror! Biofuels Less Green!

"Alex Kaat, a spokesman for the group, said: "If the whole point of biofuels directives was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we've found out that most biofuels are not really better than conventional fuels at that."

From:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/07/healthscience/biofuel.php?page=2 

If you had a nickel for every time you'd said this for the last 35 years...

Corn-ethanol is a false economy due to energy density and the energy needed to process it. Biodiesel is marginally better, but still a false economy due to displacing food crops for humans for food crops for cars.

Put up Solar Power Satellites? Small nuclear plants, like the ones the Koreans are trying to sell us? No, no, those are EEEEVIL!

==============

I sincerely hope this is satire

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=85989 

"Wong says teachers are planning to address the student by name instead of using he or she. The child will not use the regular boys or girls bathroom. Instead, two unisex bathrooms in the building will be made available. The school is handing out packets to parents who have questions. The packets contain information about people who are transgender.

"I think it is unusual," said Wong. "It's something we haven't had discussions about before. It's something that we haven't maybe really had to think about before, but now we will.""

I'm continually impressed by the perspicacity of Robert Heinlein. Crazy Years.

Graves

Why would it be satire?

=========

On McCain

Ralph Reed was in business with Jack Abramoff and his casino clients. McCain busted Reed & Grover Norquist laundering money for Abramoff. Now Reed wants McCain to eat crow:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8394_Page2.html  Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition director who actively worked against McCain in 2000, said the maverick "did himself some good today," but said it was only "the first step in a long and at times tortured journey for both Sen. McCain and the party."

Rather than focus on the hit job being done by members of his own party what about McCain's record. His opposition to the prescription drug benefit is reason enough alone for any fiscal conservative to back him. In his speech to CPAC he pointed out his record:

"I campaigned in Iowa in opposition to agriculture subsidies. I campaigned in New Hampshire against big government mandated health care and for a free market solution to the problem of unavailable and unaffordable health care. I campaigned in Michigan for the tax incentives and trade policies that will create new and better jobs in that economically troubled state. I campaigned in Florida against the national catastrophic insurance fund bill that passed the House of Representatives and defended my opposition to the prescription drug benefit bill that saddled Americans with yet another hugely expensive entitlement program."

Name witheld

It's February. The election is in November.

==

Subject: The War Hero

Dr. Pournelle, You would think that I would have learned by now. Never formulate an opinion until I have read what you have to say. I'm not saying that I formulate my opinions to line up with yours. What I am saying is that you always make me think, and bring me to conclusions I didn't know existed.

Until, I read today's View, I was depressed about McCain's apparent win. I felt myself in the water, circling the bowl, as it were. Then I read your words of wisdom for today. I proceeded to take the barrel out of my mouth and think. I was all set to just go ahead and vote for one of the Democrat nightmare's, just so I didn't have to see the United States go down the tubes under a Republican.

As you said, I will wait and see. If things begin to look bad, I can always buy a bunker in Idaho and go slowly nuts, hugging my much-worn copy of "West of Honor."

A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi,

Douglas Knapp

PS. Is the Legion done? I miss them.

This is February. The election is in November.

And yes, there is at least one more Legion story. After I do Mamelukes.

==

Chaos Manor on McCain

Jerry

I appreciated your View essay today on McCain. It probably won't surprise you to learn that none (zero) of the other news sources I read were able to coherently explain why conservatives find McCain so distasteful, but if I understand you correctly it's not about particular policies so much as a skepticism about competence and understanding of principles. Thanks!

-Max Extreme Optimist

This is February. The election is in November.

========

And a note from a new subscriber:

Reading:

I've been enjoying reading the subscriber-only excerpts from Mamelukes and Inferno II. Looking forward to the rest. I wonder - there are those of us (like me) who don't mind reading things online. Would you consider making them available in their entirety, when they're ready, for an additional PayPal charge? Or is that a lot of extra trouble? Or would it violate your agreement with your publisher? Heck, give him a percentage! I'm disappointed in Ganton's behavior so far. I liked that bright, eager, brave, puppy king; I'm sorry he seems to be growing up into a jerk. But I guess everyone has free will (I have to think about that some more. Is there an implicit contract between an author and his readers to keep sympathetic characters sympathetic in a sequel?)

Thank you for reminding me of Oath of Fealty; I enjoyed it immensely when it first came out. I wonder: Did you consider having any Loyalists living in Todos Santos? (Maybe you did and I forgot?) You know, I love it here very much, but it's just not right to disobey the authority of the city we live in... It would have been fascinating to see how they would fare with their increasingly hostile neighbors as the building mobilized for war.

Best wishes,

 Michoel Reach

Most of my publishers now have eBook arrangements. I'll certainly see that they all do. Oath of Fealty is available as an eBook from Baen.

And I am about to go work on Mamelukes now. The Mac trash emptying ate a couple of hours of fiction, alas, but I'll get back to work.

==========

HELL FREEZES OVER

LITERALLY

It often does in February, , but his time it may be in response to a Paleocon journal running a Realist piece on climate science, and a London Times website liking the idea

http://adamant.typepad.com/seitz/2008/02/hell-freezes-ov.html 

Russell Seitz

TOP

CURRENT VIEW     Friday

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

“For our athletes to be told that they may not make any comment makes a mockery of our own country's belief in free speech.”

<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/
news.html?in_article_id=513362&in_page_id=1770&ct=5 >

-- Roland Dobbins

=========

How did Ameenah Franks defeat the post-9/11 security apparatus?

<http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34552>

- Roland Dobbins

We never sleep...

=========

Subject: On SSPS

Dear Dr. Pournelle:

I hope this message finds you well. Good luck with your health issues. While net-surfing today I found this link to an article on SSPS. Knowing your interest in the topic I decided to send it to you. If you already knew about it, I apologize for bothering you.

http://www.pinktentacle.com/2008/02/
jaxa-testing-space-solar-power-system/   

Regards, Tim Scott

Even more interesting are some of the silly comments. Apparently people who comment on this sort of thing have never actually read anything about it, or how power is to be beamed down, or what measures are used to make it safe, or energy densities, or indeed anything at all other than their own speculations.

==================

w

f

g

TOP

CURRENT VIEW     Saturday

Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

TOP

  TOP

CURRENT VIEW     Sunday

The current page will always have the name currentmail.html and may be bookmarked. For previous weeks, go to the MAIL HOME PAGE.

FOR THE CURRENT VIEW PAGE CLICK HERE

If you are not paying for this place, click here...

IF YOU SEND MAIL it may be published; if you want it private SAY SO AT THE TOP of the mail. I try to respect confidences, but there is only me, and this is Chaos Manor. If you want a mail address other than the one from which you sent the mail to appear, PUT THAT AT THE END OF THE LETTER as a signature. In general, put the name you want at the end of the letter: if you put no address there none will be posted, but I do want some kind of name, or explicitly to say (name withheld).

Note that if you don't put a name in the bottom of the letter I have to get one from the header. This takes time I don't have, and may end up with a name and address you didn't want on the letter. Do us both a favor: sign your letters to me with the name and address (or no address) as you want them posted. Also, repeat the subject as the first line of the mail. That also saves me time.

I try to answer mail, but mostly I can't get to all of it. I read it all, although not always the instant it comes in. I do have books to write too...  I am reminded of H. P. Lovecraft who slowly starved to death while answering fan mail. 

Day-by-day...

Monday -- Tuesday -- Wednesday -- Thursday -- Friday -- Saturday -- Sunday

 

 

 Search engine:

 

or the freefind search

 

Search this site or the web        powered by FreeFind     Site search Web search

Boiler Plate:

If you want to PAY FOR THIS PLACE I keep the latest information HERE.  MY THANKS to all of you who sent money.  Some of you went to a lot of trouble to send money from overseas. Thank you! There are also some new payment methods. I am preparing a special (electronic) mailing to all those who paid: there will be a couple of these. I have thought about a subscriber section of the page. LET ME KNOW your thoughts.
.

If you subscribed:

CLICK HERE for a Special Request.

If you didn't and haven't, why not?

If this seems a lot about paying think of it as the Subscription Drive Nag. You'll see more.

 

FOR THE CURRENT VIEW PAGE CLICK HERE

Search: type in string and press return.

Strategy of Technology in pdf format:

Entire Site Copyright, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 by Jerry E. Pournelle. All rights reserved.