What's to read?
I just finished reading a bio of the Sun King, Louis XIV of France. I was inspired to read it after having read The Three Musketeers which actually took place during the reign of 14's father (maybe) Louis XIII and by Stephenson's Baroque Cycle which I actually finished a few years ago. TTM was a surprisingly good read. I didn't understand (maybe detect is a better word) the humor at first. I practically gave up on the book when the musketeers proved to be such bumbling idiots that they almost got themselves and d'Artagnan caught and killed, but once I understood that the character flaws of these most contemptible heroes was actually a large part of the story I began to enjoy the book. The bio was somewhat cursory, but that's what I was looking for anyway (and what should I expect for a dollar?) Louis XIV was an interesting character and held the throne for 72 years; longer than any other European monarch. That he was a despot, a war monger and genocidal (see the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes) was offset by his centralization of power in France, the sophistication and innovation of his court. Interesting stuff. Next is a History of England by Scottish philosopher David Hume and Bank's new non-culture S.F. novel, Transition. What has everyone else been reading? BTW, I can't recommend the Kindle enough. The interface is great, the wireless feature gives you access to all sorts of stuff much of which is free or very reasonably priced, you can download magazines, newspapers and blogs and you can even send personal documents to it via email for a small fee (I paid 15 cents for a 10 or 12 page document). It has a built in dictionary; just move the cursor in front of the word you want defined and the definition appears at the bottom of the screen. You can annotate text and there's a search function and you can change the font size. I bought a flip-over cover (not the one sold by Amazon) that allows me to set the reader down and read hands free. It's much easier to read than a regular book - especially a hardback. The $300 price tag was a bit steep. I wasn't sure I wanted one, especially at that price, but I'm very happy with it now. Doug ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Wife's suggestion!
My wife suggested this. I always go along with her ideas:-) learner Begin forwarded message: Hey! Let’s circulate a request for common courtesy and civility between individuals and groups with opposing ideas. I don’t know about you, but I have become increasingly concerned about the verbiage and rage Americans are expressing to and about one another. Verbal abuse and physical attacks send a damaging message of hostility to our youth and demolish our image to the rest of the world. We can and will disagree, which makes us stronger if we remember that we are all Americans. It’s acceptable to disagree—to not even like one another (including our president). Let’s not confuse freedom of speech with human decency. Just because an action is legal does not make it ethical. Bottom line—We profess to be a Christian nation. It is appropriate to ask, “What would Jesus say and do?” I imagine he disagreed with the actions of those cheating tax collectors and adulterous women he befriended. Yet, we have no record of him calling them names, swearing at them, or making degrading comments. Amazingly, we even have evidence that Jesus loved his enemies. The challenge is to disagree with dignity, intelligence and respect. If you think this is a worthwhile message, please forward it to others. Barbara Frandsen 219 Fleck ba...@stedwards.edu Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance. unknown author ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: What's to read?
On Sep 21, 2009, at 1:48 AM, Doug Pensinger wrote: BTW, I can't recommend the Kindle enough. T I am using the Kindle app on the iphone and just finished a Baxter SciFi/Alternate history book. Best electronic book interface I have seen so far! learner ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Wife's suggestion!
On Sep 21, 2009, at 2:09 PM, Chris Frandsen relayed: Bottom line—We profess to be a Christian nation. It is appropriate to ask, “What would Jesus say and do?” I imagine he disagreed with the actions of those cheating tax collectors and adulterous women he befriended. Yet, we have no record of him calling them names, swearing at them, or making degrading comments. Amazingly, we even have evidence that Jesus loved his enemies. Some think this is a Christian nation, others think it's a secular nation whose majority religion happens to be Christianity, and there is much to debate in terms of what exactly constitutes a Christian. And some believe that Christianity implies morality and ethical behavior, and that its absence is necessarily immoral and unethical .. and some believe otherwise. Some even believe the opposite. That being said, there's a lot to be said for cultivating civility, whether the motivation to be civil is religious or otherwise. And as someone who is as far from church going Christian as it's possible to be and still live on this planet, I have to say that Jesus set a good example, and there's solid reasoning behind his teachings that is far above the petty little sects fighting over miniscule differences in apocryphal doctrine. ;) Can't we all just get along? ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Wife's suggestion!
Chris Frandsen wrote: My wife suggested this. I always go along with her ideas:-) learner Begin forwarded message: Hey! Let’s circulate a request for common courtesy and civility between individuals and groups with opposing ideas. I don’t know about you, but I have become increasingly concerned about the verbiage and rage Americans are expressing to and about one another. Verbal abuse and physical attacks send a damaging message of hostility to our youth and demolish our image to the rest of the world. We can and will disagree, which makes us stronger if we remember that we are all Americans. It’s acceptable to disagree—to not even like one another (including our president). Let’s not confuse freedom of speech with human decency. Just because an action is legal does not make it ethical. Bottom line—We profess to be a Christian nation. It is appropriate to ask, “What would Jesus say and do?” I imagine he disagreed with the actions of those cheating tax collectors and adulterous women he befriended. Yet, we have no record of him calling them names, swearing at them, or making degrading comments. Amazingly, we even have evidence that Jesus loved his enemies. The challenge is to disagree with dignity, intelligence and respect. If you think this is a worthwhile message, please forward it to others. I respectfully disagree. Not in appealing to people to be respectful in disagreements, but in appealing to the religious What would Jesus do? to do so. Rationality promotes calm debate. Sadly, religion is not conducive to rationality. Rather religion and religious belief promotes the irrational and rejection of the rational (IE: Creationism/Intelligent Design vs Evolution). No, appealing to ones irrational beliefs doesn't promote rational debate. Oh, as for an example of Jesus not respectfully disagreeing, call to your recollection what Jesus did to the vendors in the temple. I believe it had something to do with shouting, throwing over tables, smashing merchandise and even wielding a whip. It's been a while though, so I may be a little cloudy on the details. ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: What's to read?
I have a Sony 505. The books on my reader are on my reader and on my desktop, not on my account on someone else's server. If anyone wants to delete them [think 1984] or whatever, they have to physically steal my reader and then delete the book. I own them outright. Nobody else has any rights in the copies I own except, in this state, if I had a legally married spouse. (Community property state). No one gonna take my 505 away http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/ Subject: Re: What's to read? From: lear...@mac.com Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:12:46 -0500 To: brin-l@mccmedia.com On Sep 21, 2009, at 1:48 AM, Doug Pensinger wrote: BTW, I can't recommend the Kindle enough. T I am using the Kindle app on the iphone and just finished a Baxter SciFi/Alternate history book. Best electronic book interface I have seen so far! learner ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Wife's suggestion!
Amen. I second, third, or thousandth the motion. Pat http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/ From: lear...@mac.com Subject: Wife's suggestion! Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:09:36 -0500 To: brin-l@mccmedia.com My wife suggested this. I always go along with her ideas:-) learner Begin forwarded message:Hey! Let’s circulate a request for common courtesy and civility between individuals and groups with opposing ideas. I don’t know about you, but I have become increasingly concerned about the verbiage and rage Americans are expressing to and about one another. Verbal abuse and physical attacks send a damaging message of hostility to our youth and demolish our image to the rest of the world. We can and will disagree, which makes us stronger if we remember that we are all Americans. It’s acceptable to disagree—to not even like one another (including our president). Let’s not confuse freedom of speech with human decency. Just because an action is legal does not make it ethical. Bottom line—We profess to be a Christian nation. It is appropriate to ask, “What would Jesus say and do?” I imagine he disagreed with the actions of those cheating tax collectors and adulterous women he befriended. Yet, we have no record of him calling them names, swearing at them, or making degrading comments. Amazingly, we even have evidence that Jesus loved his enemies. The challenge is to disagree with dignity, intelligence and respect. If you think this is a worthwhile message, please forward it to others.Barbara Frandsen219 fleckba...@stedwards.edu Life is short, Break the rules, Forgive quickly, Kiss slowly, Love truly, Laugh uncontrollably, And never regret anything that made you smile. Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance. unknown author ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: What's to read?
On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:30 PM, Pat Mathews mathew...@msn.com wrote: I have a Sony 505. The books on my reader are on my reader and on my desktop, not on my account on someone else's server. If anyone wants to delete them [think 1984] or whatever, they have to physically steal my reader and then delete the book. That Kindle book deletion thing was a debacle, but Amazon has promised not to do it again, and I tend to believe them, since it caused such an outcry and they don't want that kind of bad press again. For the cautious, Kindle content can be backed up to a computer. I'm not sure what would have happened if someone had 1984 backed up, and then copied it back to their Kindle, with the wireless on, a few days after the original deletion order came through. Of course, you can turn the wireless off and then restore the backup, and it is impossible for Amazon to do anything until you turn wireless back on. But hopefully none of that is necessary in the future. I just want to see the book selection increase. It still boggles my mind why so few books released before the Kindle, but in the last 30 years or so, have come out in Kindle or other e-book formats. Someone must have a digital copy of the book text somewhere, and it is trivial to convert it to the Kindle or ebook formats. It seems like free money for someone. By the way, have you investigated how the book selection compares for Kindle vs. your Sony 505? Particularly with science fiction titles? I'm still waiting for Brin to release the various Startide books on Kindle. ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Wife's suggestion!
On Sep 21, 2009, at 3:20 PM, Michael Harney wrote: I respectfully disagree. Not in appealing to people to be respectful in disagreements, but in appealing to the religious What would Jesus do? to do so. Rationality promotes calm debate. Sadly, religion is not conducive to rationality. Rather religion and religious belief promotes the irrational and rejection of the rational (IE: Creationism/Intelligent Design vs Evolution). No, appealing to ones irrational beliefs doesn't promote rational debate. Oh, as for an example of Jesus not respectfully disagreeing, call to your recollection what Jesus did to the vendors in the temple. I believe it had something to do with shouting, throwing over tables, smashing merchandise and even wielding a whip. It's been a while though, so I may be a little cloudy on the details. On Sep 21, 2009, at 2:40 PM, Bruce Bostwick wrote: Some think this is a Christian nation, others think it's a secular nation whose majority religion happens to be Christianity, and there is much to debate in terms of what exactly constitutes a Christian. And some believe that Christianity implies morality and ethical behavior, and that its absence is necessarily immoral and unethical .. and some believe otherwise. Some even believe the opposite. That being said, there's a lot to be said for cultivating civility, whether the motivation to be civil is religious or otherwise. And as someone who is as far from church going Christian as it's possible to be and still live on this planet, I have to say that Jesus set a good example, and there's solid reasoning behind his teachings that is far above the petty little sects fighting over miniscule differences in apocryphal doctrine. ;) Can't we all just get along? A referral to Religion without being specific often sparks a response on this list. My wife is not a follower so she did not write this with this illustrious group in mind. Guys, I suggest taking her to task on this is part of the problem. There are many out there with religious beliefs be they Christian or otherwise. Being civil means respecting their beliefs though not necessarily accepting them. I agree with Bruce that in general lessons ascribed to Jesus are about love and acceptance of the other. I ascribe to them. As for the temple I believe that was more about the failings of organized religion but of course that is my interpretation I also am a bit cloudy. learner ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Wife's suggestion!
On Sep 21, 2009, at 2:57 PM, Chris Frandsen wrote: A referral to Religion without being specific often sparks a response on this list. My wife is not a follower so she did not write this with this illustrious group in mind. Guys, I suggest taking her to task on this is part of the problem. There are many out there with religious beliefs be they Christian or otherwise. Being civil means respecting their beliefs though not necessarily accepting them. Amen, brother! I think that the harsh immune response from some quarters to the merest mention of religion is a symptom of our general inability to be generous, kind, civil, open and _listening_. Most of us who hold that some religious practices and ideas have a valuable place in our society don't even find it necessary to go into an allergic reaction when our very beliefs -- which we introduce to the conversation in good faith (the secular meaning of that phrase) -- are attacked. It is not necessary to compare George Bush or Barack Obama to Hitler in order to say that we disagree with their policies. It is not necessary to call people with religious beliefs addled or deluded in order to say that we choose not to believe as they do. I agree with Bruce that in general lessons ascribed to Jesus are about love and acceptance of the other. I ascribe to them. As for the temple I believe that was more about the failings of organized religion but of course that is my interpretation I also am a bit cloudy. You seem to remember and understand the teachings and stories of Jesus better than you think. Jesus' main complaint was about the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership: making a big show of their faithfulness while ignoring their own God's commands to be generous to the poor, to take care of the strangers in their midst, etc. Thank you for introducing this thread, and please tell your wife (for me, anyway) that she's welcome to couch her hopes for a gentler dialog in religious or rational terms as she feels fit. Blessings, Dave ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: What would Jesus say and do
I suspect he would be looking deeply into evolutionary psychology to understand what drives strife. It is fairly clear what causes the problems. It is fairly clear what we need to do about them. But it is really unlikely that people will. Keith ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
