Conjunctions

The best and most sane blog for keeping informed about American politics is without any doubt Wonkette.  Their snarky take makes even the most unpalatable news digestible.  It is the only place I know of where the news item will contain its own antidote within its presentation.  If you still get depressed by the news you are reading the wrong blog.

Online items that have gripped my attention the last few days:

• At lot of talk on the demise of the dollar following on the report of moves to stop using the dollar for oil trading.  Here is the HuffPo, Yahoo and Washington’s Blog with some background on the issue.  Related:  I don’t usually pay much attention to market analysts blabbing away on TV.  A case of hot air discussing hot air usually. But this clip is something I have not seen before on business TV.
• You know,  there are not that many South Africans I respect and feel proud about.  So attempts to discredit the Goldstone report really pisses me of. Here, here and here are some related posts well worth reading.  Thanx to The Huffington Post (again and again) and Matt Yglesias at ThinkProgress.
• Nick Gillespie of Reason Magazine has this extensive reappraisal of Ayn Rand.  I must admit I have not read it properly yet, but only skimming through it was enough to make me bookmark this for further study.  As much as I vehemently disagree with Rand, no student of 20th century society or Science Fiction can afford not to take note of her. She seems to be the origin of an unfortunately un-endangered species, the crazy conservative.
• And finally, an item about unforeseen consequences that really did put a smile on my face.

Enjoy.

I have always been convinced that a successful childhood should provide one with a set of implicit Rules of Civilization to help form one’s opinions and actions for the rest of your life. There obviously are many such rules, but for now I want to focus on one dealing with literacy.  This rule I believe contributed a lot to my character and personality.  I can formalize it as follows:

It is immoral to physically harm any book, no matter if you agree with it’s content or not.

I have followed this rule all my life, and I am confident that I am a better person for that. 

Lately however I am finding more difficult to stick to it, and my Fahrenheit 451 rule (‘Don’t burn books!’) is being confronted with severe physical constraints. Over the years my shelves have filled up with volumes on deprecated technology (that Oracle 8 Reference Manual for example) and crappy books that have sneaked into my house when I wasn’t paying attention, and now take up shelve space because I can’t throw them away (I’m taking about you Camille Paglia).

I have tried selling them, or just giving them away, but I can’t find second-hand bookshops gullible enough to take them of my hands.  The problem is aggravated by the fact that I’ve had to add more and more shelves over the years, and now have no more wall space for the new shelves I will need to house next year’s Science Fiction purchases. 

So to that Oracle 8 Manual and Ms Paglia’s epitome on gender revisionism, and yes, you too Astrology Handbook, I’m sorry but you’ll have to go.