Having done the deed, I can appreciate Morgan Meis's advice on the subject : Early readers of the novel can be forgiven for not immediately liking Swann’s Way . In a recent article for The New York Times , Edward Rothstein quotes an evaluation of Swann’s Way from the publishers who first rejected the book. The evaluator complains, “I cannot understand how a man can take 30 pages to describe how he turns round in his bed before he finally falls asleep.” Many readers of Proust have…
I enjoyed reading this book review of Paul Johnson's Darwin: Portrait of a Genius , by the great and good Paul Johnson. The following passage was particularly arresting: . . . Darwin was born into a highly literate and distinguished family, some members of which are the focus of biographical studies in their own right. He was the grandson of Erasmus Darwin on his father’s side, and of Josiah Wedgwood on his mother’s. It was a splendid inheritance. A successful medical doctor, Erasmus…
This Is Also My Brain in Heaven
Want to live forever? Drink coffee : For hundreds of years, coffee has been one of the two or three most popular beverages on earth. But it’s only recently that scientists are figuring out that the drink has notable health benefits. In one large-scale epidemiological study from last year, researchers primarily at the National Cancer Institute parsed health information from more than 400,000 volunteers, ages 50 to 71, who were free of major diseases at the study’s start in 1995. By 2008, more than…
Note to Self (Looking a Gift Horse in the Mouth Edition)
Dear Self: If you are ever offered free food because of your physical attractiveness, run the other way . After all, you don't want to be made into a product , especially given that you won't get any share of the proceeds from the use of the product. Fondly, Pejman
Lame Excuses for the IRS Scandal Get Lamer and Bite More Dust
Recall that from the outset, after it was revealed that the IRS was targeting conservatives and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status, IRS-apologists came out with the claim that the unwarranted scrutiny was the result of staffers in Ohio offices who went rogue. As such, according to the apologists, we were not supposed to think that the agency as a whole was rotten to the core; just that there were a few isolated bad apples who in no way, shape, or form were representative of the IRS as a…
This Post Is Dedicated to Readers Who Are Politicians
I don't ever want to hear or read about how you supposedly have it rough because of attacks on you from 24/7 cable TV shows, or because of criticism from the blogosphere. I can guarantee you that one particular politician who arrived on the scene long before you did had it far rougher than you ever will in terms of having to deal with criticism and carping: B y nearly any measure —personal, political, even literary—Abraham Lincoln set a standard of success that few in history can match. But how…
Brilliant .
The Economy Is a Disaster Case
So sayeth the UCLA Anderson Forecast . It is hard to disagree with its findings, which are written in admirably candid fashion: The expected U.S. "Great Recovery" hasn't materialized and the economy has fallen short of even normal growth, according to a forecast released Wednesday. The second-quarter UCLA Anderson Forecast said the growth of real gross domestic product - meaning the inflation-adjusted value of goods and services produced - is too small to help the nation climb out of its…
Well, this was something of a disaster, now wasn't it? Former CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed the name of the Navy SEAL unit that carried out the Osama bin Laden raid and named the unit’s ground commander at a 2011 ceremony attended by “Zero Dark Thirty” filmmaker Mark Boal. Panetta also discussed classified information designated as “top secret” and “secret” during his presentation at the awards ceremony, according to a draft Pentagon inspector general’s report published…
Another Blow Against Government Transparency
I can understand rather easily the problems that come with an overwhelmed e-mail account--you should take a look at what my Gmail inbox has become--but secret government e-mail accounts for "top Obama administration appointees" is a bad idea. One cannot issue a comprehensive FOIA request if one does not know which e-mail accounts those FOIA requests are supposed to cover, after all, and while it may never have been the intention of the Obama administration to frustrate FOIA requests, that is…
What the Chinese People (Shockingly) Don't Know
June 4th was the 24th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre. NPR reports that thanks to Chinese government censorship, a lot of people know very little about the history of the massacre: . . . it's important to remember that a lot of people here have some familiarity with what happened 24 years ago, but a lot of people aren't that clear on it. For instance, I'll just give you an example. Back in 1997 when I first came to Beijing, I met a number of young women - they were in their…
The Sun Still Hasn't Set on the British Empire
And here is the reason why. (Via Jacob Levy, via social media.)
Accountability Has Become Such an Antiquated Concept
Gene Healy on the president who is never there: "Hey, don't look at me -- I'm just the president!" That's the common thread in President Obama's response to his recent scandal eruptions, from IRS harassment of Tea Partiers to his Justice Department's spying on AP reporters. Like everybody else, Obama learns about these things via cable news, according to press secretary Jay Carney. Obama's flight from responsibility punctured the stratosphere in his recent speech on…
So sayeth Josh Barro . He is quite right: Whatever the merits of Manning's discontent with the U.S. Army, the actions he is accused of taking as a result -- leaking reams of secret diplomatic cables mostly unrelated to the Iraq War -- were not whistleblowing. They were detrimental to American security and to the cause of peace in the world. Diplomacy requires discretion, and when the ability of American diplomats to communicate discreetly is undermined, tensions rise. It's nice to see that someone…
A man’s maturity: that is to have rediscovered the seriousness he possessed as a child at play. --Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil.
Heads: Iranian Hardliners Win. Tails: Iranian Reformists Lose.
It's not enough for the Islamic regime in Iran to disqualify certain reformist candidates for the presidency; it must also punish people who attend campaign meetings for reformist candidates who are actually allowed to run for president. Stories like this one are why I have an objection to calling the regime a "theocracy." In fact, it is best to describe Iran's system of government as a theocratic mafiocracy. The regime is as corrupt as it is brutal, and its hardline faction has no…
Benjamin Wittes discusses the reasons why we should be glad that James Comey was nominated to be the next FBI director--reasons I am fully in agreement with: Here’s the easy part: A qualified director of the FBI needs to have significant managerial experience in law enforcement. These days, you particularly want someone with a real intimacy with national security investigations and counterterrorism cases. You want someone who knows the bureau and can command the respect of its famously insular culture.…
Weekly Digest: May 26, 2013-June 1, 2013
How the Creative Class Created Quite fascinating : Nikola Tesla typically worked from noon until midnight, breaking at 8:00 p.m. for dinner every night at the Waldorf-Astoria. Among the many peculiarities of this ritualized repast was his practice of not starting the meal until he had computed his dinner's cubic volume, "a compulsion he had developed in his childhood." Truman Capote, who wrote lying down in bed or on a couch, refused to let more than two cigarette butts pile up in an ashtray…
How the Creative Class Created
Quite fascinating : Nikola Tesla typically worked from noon until midnight, breaking at 8:00 p.m. for dinner every night at the Waldorf-Astoria. Among the many peculiarities of this ritualized repast was his practice of not starting the meal until he had computed his dinner's cubic volume, "a compulsion he had developed in his childhood." Truman Capote, who wrote lying down in bed or on a couch, refused to let more than two cigarette butts pile up in an ashtray and "couldn't begin or…