Folly becomes reasonable
921203
I like reading Josh K-P books since he is so candid about his feelings and assesses his life with a similar outlook to mine. I admired his ability to embrace a 19th century farmhouse and share his love for growing vegetables. The house was too massive for what he could handle and he showed that in his book.
82761
Good story believable proposition.

Good value at the price.
1710159
An interesting plot about the absurdities of the legal provenance of criminal laws on Indian Reservations, with a great deal of exculpatory evidence of questionable decision making on the part of the adolescent main character. Louise Erdrich writes beautifully, and if the book suffers, it is becasue she has romanticized the Native American. No, he cannot get away with a vengeful murder in the eyes of the reader just because life is unfair. But she succeeds in making us wish it was so, which is the next best thing to giving the reader a deeper, more realistic resolution. Vigilantiism is not a victory on or off the reservation. That said, a good mystery with a provocative message worth thinking and talking about.
2435312
A truly delightful summer read which reveals how easily one can become ensnared by little temptations that lead to big consequences.  While a bit unrealistic for the tidy conclusion, it is still an enjoyable read.
1676781
Although I haven't made use of the advice found in this wee book, Bell's "laws" strike me as reasonable and good and wise. Self-Publishing Attack was an enjoyable and quick read.
3861650
Our self-esteem and reputation are so threatened by the admission of error, that we would rather devise convoluted rationalizations. The authors apply the concept of cognitive dissonance to explain our misguided stubbornness. To reduce the inconsistency between (a) I am a good person, and (b) I did something stupid, we refuse to admit we did something stupid or dishonest. The most interesting examples they present come from law enforcement, from prosecutorial misconduct. Even though as a political conservative I hate to say it, yes, sometimes, cops lie.
4026256
Jessamine's Folly is about other's actions that impact you unfairly.  Her parents' deaths leave her unprotected. Her uncle and aunt have no regard for her, nor does her cousin. She is forced to seek employment to sustain herself.  If all this misfortune isn't enough, Jessamine continues to face lies and deceit not of her own design.
169677
Very clever.  Strikes a good balance between being too easy and making you feel stupid.
4327218
Joel Shatzky's mordant wit makes Option Three an insatiable, amusing, and edifying read at a time when the teaching profession is under assault on all levels. Just from the title alone, one knows that the "option" given Professor Circassian that would make it financially practical for him to continue at the university will be one that neither he nor anyone with his experience would want.  Shatzky's delightful sarcasm about the workings of university administration and its treatment of dedicated faculty is a reality.  He makes the point that, ultimately, holograms just might replace human instructors to avoid their being compensated to the degree that they so richly deserve!
2759091
Where is Barbara Tuchman now that we need her? As the United States pursues a "war" on "terrorism" -- the former undeclared, the latter undefined -- I fear we are heading down a familiar road that led the Trojans to open their doors to the Greek horse, the Renaissance popes to ignore the Protestant secession, the British to lose their colonies and the Americans to lose in Vietnam. All it takes, the two-time Pulitzer-winning author claims, is folly: the pursuit by governments of policies contrary to their own interests, despite the availability of feasible alternatives. Even, perhaps especially, eighteen years after publication, this book is crisp, lively, and relevant.
"The power to command" concludes the author, who earns high marks for being an independent scholar rather than an academic, "frequently causes failure to think. " Of course there are examples of individual folly, that is, folly committed by individuals. However, folly by governments is more far-reaching. Merely surrounding yourself with competent people, as apologists for George W. Bush boast, will not steer you away from folly: JFK had "the best and the brightest" working for him, yet he began to get the US deeply involved in Vietnam; fearing the right wing would think him soft on Communism, Johnson escalated the folly. It is principally for that Vietnam section, comprising over a third of the volume, that I recommend this book.
....
In The March of Folly, Tuchman does not shrink from harsh criticism of politicians. In the semi-mythical Trojan War, at least the gods could be blamed for the successful Greek ruse. The roguish, opportunist, nepotistic politicians of the Holy See, from 1470-1530, saw that they were doing wrong, but lacked either the sense or the courage to put it right and save the church. Those Renaissance popes saw the chair of Peter as a cash box for their personal aggrandizement, and a venue for their political exploits and carnal festivals -- but only because that was the way things had always been done. The British couldn't grasp that their American colonies consisted of people who, once having tasted of freedom, might be irked to have that freedom recalled and, at the same time, might not like their sweat equity in the new land become an entitlement for the lords.
The first three sections of The March of Folly are well and vividly written, a melding of historical narrative and commentary. I suspect that Tuchman couldn't wait to wrestle with the Vietnam War. Here her insight into the workings of policy makers from Eisenhower to Nixon is acute, yet dissected in an account that a layman can follow. One of the most interesting, and currently relevant, observations from Tuchman is prompted by a remark made at the time by Governor Nelson Rockefeller: "We ought all to support the President. He is the man who has all the information and knowledge of what we are up against." That, she says, "is a comforting assumption ... usually invalid, especially in foreign affairs." When pursuing liberty, America will wave its flag and invest its heart. But the current administration would do well to follow the second part of John Quincy Adams's dictum: "... but [America] goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy." Smiting terrorists for their actions is one thing, and one with an end in sight; aiming to smite terrorism, root and branch, worldwide, is not only endless, it is folly's march.
2857951
There are two things one can expect from humankind:  that some people will behave in ways that invite the mockery of others and that others will oblige them, happy to point out their excesses and absurdities.  From the time of Horace, to that of Jonathan Swift, to present day, these two truths have interacted to give us copious amounts of satirical literature.  Jumping into the fray is D. W. Franklin with his political satire.  In current times, when much is spoken of bipartisanship, but little is practically done, some, no doubt, have wondered what it would be like if the opposition, whichever side that may be, would just disappear.  In his book, Franklin depicts what the inevitable and ludicrous consequences are to just such a situation. Franklin's tale illustrates how absurd some modern ideologies are when carried out to their extremes, once again proving there is humor to be mined from the behavior of one's fellow man.
1857575
Hermann Hesse wrote a poem that is included in his novel "The Glass Bead Game. It is called "A Compromise" and it opens:

"The men of principled simplicity
Will have no traffic with our subtle doubt.
The world is flat, they tell us, and they shout:
The myth of depth is an absurdity!"

The goal of science is to find satisfactory explanations for whatever we feel needs explaining. Whatever explanations we come up with in science are regarded as permanently open to criticism and refinement, but the holding of doubt is subtle, for not even the philosopher Karl Popper would suggest that theories that have survived severe testing should be readily discarded without serious consideration.

The closing sentence of Hesse's excerpt raises the issue of who are the flat-earthers, the denialists of human accentuated climate change or the proponents? It is obvious in matters of conjecture and refutation that exaggeration and dogmatism can stain all sides of the debate. If Garth Paltridge's text highlights the dangers of an excess of dogmatism, the inertia of normal science, and the dangers of herd mentality, yes even in the IPCC, it is perhaps a worthy aim, if however it subtly reinforces denialist claims that have already been falsified in peer-reviewed testing then it would be a sad legacy for his eminent and long fought career. A forward by The Viscount Monckton of Brenchley is not a good way to start a work of serious intent. Sad career finales are not without precedent, Sir Ronald Fisher, arguably the greatest statistician of the twentieth century naively stained his legacy in the final years of his life in questioning the impact of smoking tobacco for public health. Science has implications that are far from neutral or saintly in their disinterest. Do shrill, and politically correct, warnings about the dangers of tobacco look so misguided now?

Moving to specifics, Garth Paltridge in this short book does question the hockey-stick model of climate change - studies do seem to have repeatedly falsified Paltridge's (and Monckton's) claims.

It is all well and good to comment on the sociology of science, to stress situational analysis and piecemeal engineering rather than big budget government social engineering. The price of liberty is indeed eternal vigilance but even piecemeal solutions can turn toxic if out of context. Climate change does present complexities of a new scale that require a diversity of opinion and robust debate, but denialism is not scepticism.

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Reason-and-Imagination-Critical-Rationalist-Papers/dp/B00CGETUCM/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Reason and Imagination (Critical Rationalist Papers)</a>

<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Hockey-Stick-and-the-Climate-Wars-Dispatches-from-the-Front-Lines/dp/0231152558/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines</a>
3410993
What a piece of reasonableness! How revealing of Orthodox reality, especially the reality of her worship! When I was in a Protestant seminary many years ago, I recall our dealings with the Revelation to St. John - I was left with the sense that while a frightening book to read I as a minister would have to choose between a pre- and post-millenial interpretation even though I could see no justification for either position in the New Testament much less the Apocalypse.

Now, nearly 40 years later I discover that at least one well-respected scholar from the Orthodox Christian community has substantiated most of what I believe.

Thankfully, Dr Hopko does not get into verse by verse decimation of the book - nothing could be worse save the disobedient attempts to predict the end of time. He presents the history of the book's rocky road into the Christian canon of scripture, and in so doing presents the basic reflection which St John  was inspired to do upon his times. Because that reflection was universal in application the Church took the book in, commending it to be read as true revelation from the Word of God, Jesus Christ.

Two or three years ago I sat down and read the Apocalypse over a period of 3 or 4 evenings. I was struck at how loving and gentle the book is. Father Thomas Hopko's dissertation upon the book, his attempt to present a truly Orthodox interpretation of it to all of us Orthodox or not, is just as loving and even more convincing.

While Father Hopko is deadly serious about the import of this piece of scripture for all of us, he convinces through humor, reasonableness, and truth.
2976952
A right fine tale, full of current realism, namely a plane crash and a murder mystery. The two are linked but in a sly way because it is slowly revealed how this could be the case. Our initial drive in reading is to learn something of the lives the aircraft disaster has affected in a direct way. The murder, seemingly senseless in the truest sense of the word -- and wasteful. After all, the victim is a young Support Officer, a natural nurturer where called on. That she would be brutally murdered seems unreasonable. Until we are shown the motivation, which though not exonerating the killer, makes sense at least as ultimately one of  the direct effects of the tragedy born by others who were directly killed by the disaster. While still unseemly, it still makes sense inside the parameters of this story, all so authentic and real.
2277297
This is a very interesting book. The premise is reasonable. She writes well and her arguments make we sense. Especially since nothing else is working. We'll researched.
2500416
For those of us who are Rumpole enthusiasts, it's a pleasure to once again have Horace Rumpole on his hind legs in court defending the rights of the innocent and the not so innocent. This time Rumpole's case is right out of the headlines when he defends a Pakistani doctor accused of terrorism. The doctor is incarcerated without being provided charges against him under a series of new British post 911 laws. Of course this gets up the hackles of 'champagne socialist" Mortimer and Rumpole his mouthpiece. The result is Rumpole spouting a lot of simplistic thinking on the proper handling of terrorists. However no one reads Rumpole with too much concern about philosophy or plot. What Mortimer shines at is his deft charactizations and piquant sense of humor. Mortimer does not disappoint on this score. She Who Must Be Obeyed contemplates an affair with Rumpole's arch nemesis Mad Judge Bullingham. The Timson clan is up to its old tricks. Hilda's old school chum Dodo Macintosh comes for a visit and Horace's Portia, Justice Phillida Erksine Brown attempts to get Rumpole to give up on saving his doctor client. Rumpole triumphs at the end of the novel of course and all ends well and in good fun which is exactly what we die-hard Rumpole fans keep wanting.
4469094
Some repetition, some writing that could have been tighter, but this is an excellent and sensible compilation of difficult to find information. Conclusions drawn and observations of the impact that the trial had on New England culture are logical and believable.