“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” — Benjamin Franklin
So I saw Jonah Goldberg on the Daily Show tonight to promote his book, Liberal Fascism. Apparently the interview went so long that it had to be edited for time (as you can tell as you watch the interview). I was following Jonah for a little bit, but at a certain point I realize that he’s either completely nuts, or just an asshole (or perhaps a little from column ‘a’ and a little from column ‘b’).
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Television personality and ex-CIA interrogator Mo Rocca has begun a media blitz about waterboarding the likes of which haven’t been seen since his book All the Presidents’ Pets was released (readings from which, I hear, is also part of the CIA’s ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’).
BTW, looks like Mo’s been hittin’ the gym a bit since his last celebrated appearance on “I Love the 90’s vol 22: Electric Bugaloo”. Live Strong, Mo!
See it all here:
Update: That Mo’s a sneaky guy. He apparently had the youtube footage pulled. But my investigative journalism (that is, google) cannot be stopped. Here’s the movie from another source:
Tonight (or last night I should say, as it’s now past midnight), I attended the capstone lecture in RIT’s 2006/7 Gannett lecture series, given by Daniel Dennet. I don’t intend this as a full review of the lecture, as I’m not particularly good at that sort of thing, but there were a couple of interesting points that I figured I’d log here before I go to sleep and forget them.
Alright, so it’s April 2 by now. So sue me.
Today I picked up a book I’d been perusing at the book store a couple times, and decided to finally purchase it. “Man’s Search For Meaning” by Viktor E. Frankl. It’s pretty famous apparently.
The principal subject sounds somewhat depressing– and it its– but the idea is how Frankl found the wherewithal to survive his time in Nazi concentration camps. The second part of the book (which I have only scanned part of so far) elaborates on his techniques of therapy which developed from his experiences.
References:
I’ve started reviewing Robert Greene’s 33 Strategies of War. Those of you who know me know that I’ve read each of his 3 books (he has another old book on philosophy that isn’t the same sort of instructional guide, and I haven’ read that).
There have been a couple of recent events which inspired me to review the book. Most especially some of the politics going on at the office. When it comes to office politics, I have a sort of love-hate relationship. I am a technical contributor at heart. I view politics as an obstacle to technical accomplishment. Therefore, when I play politics, it is usually to counteract a political environment, so I can get the best technical solution accomplished. I just happen to usually believe my solution is the best technical solution out there (why would I settle for a sub-optimal solution from myself?).
So anyway, the topic above is the first of the 33 strategies. The lesson is to use polarization to focus your energies (and those of your allies) against a single enemy, as a motivational tool. Identify your enemies and do not equivocate on their status. With that in mind, I’m keeping a mental list of the people I would consider my enemies at work. Not that they are actively seeking to bring misfortune to me, although in at least one case I believe that to be so, but some of them simply stand in the way of my vision of how we ought to do things.
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