Author: Jack
I retired in 2008 and so I have more time now to devote to several of my interests The blog here is mainly for my interests in some current events but may have the occasional rant on other subjects. I have also decided to keep my genealogy posts here instead of in a second blog (and so simplify my life a little).

Montaigne: unusual biography of an accidental philosopher and first blogger

Montaigne: unusual biography of an accidental philosopher and first blogger

Posted on by Jack

The reviewers can’t seem to say enough good things about How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell. If there are any negative reviews I haven’t seen them.

The Amazon.com crowd will usually let you know if they don’t like something and there are nearly always few negatives even if most folks like it. But when I looked this afternoon there were 22 reviews and 16 were the highest rating (5 stars). The rest were 4 stars. Have a look there. Read some reviews if so inclined and maybe even buy the book.

The Library Journal puts in among the Ten Best Books of 2010. The book has gotten rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic. (It was released in England before the U.S.) There is a wonderful portrait of the author and the book in the New York Times. But enough about everyone else; what do I think?

Montaigne believed the best way to discover how to live was in the examination of everyday things and events and writing about them in his Essays. In doing so he seems to have invented a new literary form. And you might consider some bloggers as his literary descendants. Speaking of blogs and such, I am grateful that the author chose to talk about the Oxford Muse self-portraits. I was unaware of this and it looks like some very interesting reading.

This is an unusual biography. But then Montaigne was an unusual man. He did think of himself as usual, or maybe as unusual as everyone else, but what made him really unusual was that he wrote about life and himself. And he had a knack for shifting his perspective, imagining events through the eyes of someone else or even his cat. (Yes, that was a shameless attempt to lure cat lovers to my blog.)

Sarah Bakewell has constructed a most unusual biography of this proto-blogger and accidental philosopher. It is structured around 20 answers (or as she puts in attempts at an answer) to the How to Live question. Bits about his life are scattered in among the answers and this a very seems suitable way to tell the story of his life. We slowly to know him as we listen to some of his answers and learn about his life.

The book is an enjoyable read. I felt I was learning much about Montaigne, his life, his philosophy, and the 16th century world he lived in while enjoying a good story or series of stories. The book reads like a novel perhaps because she make the subject so compelling but I think the book is so complete it would also be useful as an academic resource.

Here are a few more links if you want to read a bit more:

Also I might mention that I rarely am impressed with the design on the dust jacket but the design on the US version by John Gall is very good (in my opinion, of course).

Enough about this book and my opinions. I’m off to read some Montaigne essays which I hear are about you (and me!)

First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph Ellis

First Family: Abigail and John Adams by Joseph Ellis

Posted on by Jack

Joseph Ellis has done it again. This combined biography of the most important husband/wife team of the era is a wonderful extension of his writing on early US history. I enjoyed 2 of his previous books on the American Revolutionary era. In my previous review of Founding Brothers and American Creation I thought that he covered that era well and in a totally enjoyable way.

His new book First Family: Abigail and John Adams covers the same time period but from a different perspective (and of course with much more detail on the Adams family). The book is based on the letters between Abigail and John which spanned the years leading up to the Revolution and the early republic. The gaps are filled in with Ellis’ knowledge of the era and some informed speculation to fill in missing details.

I read this on my Kindle and that has both advantages and disadvantages over reading a physical book. I’ll write a more detailed post on that later.

If you think you might be interested in this book, I would encourage you to visit the Amazon site (link below). You can read more reviews on Amazon or read samples of the book (see link below).

Health care reform: Plan B for individual mandate

Health care reform: Plan B for individual mandate

Posted on by Jack

Yesterday I wrote about Plan B for the individual mandate which could be threatened by court decisions or a future congress. Health care reform ensures that insurance companies must take people with preexisting conditions. The obvious problem is that someone could skip having insurance until they know big medical bills are coming soon and then apply for insurance and companies would be powerless to refuse and so be stuck with pick payouts for relatively little in premiums. The solution in the Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) is the individual mandate .

A few days ago there was a court decision that ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional (see Bloomberg News story). There will be more litigation and the issue may end up in the Supreme Court.

Striking down the individual mandate by the courts or perhaps a repeal of this provision would be bad news for heath care reform but it is good to see that someone is thinking about a Plan B (see Kaiser Health News story)just in case the individual mandate is out of the picture.

The most straight forward idea would just be to raise taxes enough to cover insurance cost for the whole country and then offer a tax rebate to each filer that would cover a reasonable insurance plan and have some sort of mechanism for insuring those who cannot afford to pay full price for a reasonable plan. This approach would probably be a hard sell in an age of “no new taxes”.

But other options are surely possible. I like the one suggest by Paul Starr of Princeton in the article cited above (Kaiser Health News). Perhaps this or some variant of the idea might be useful.

Princeton sociologist Paul Starr, who was a senior health adviser to President Bill Clinton, anticipated the risk of political backlash even before health law was passed. He outlined a more flexible alternative aimed at quelling political fires while still expanding the insurance pool.

Except for the poor (people making less than $9,350 and couples earning less than $18,700 are not subject to the mandate but would be eligible for coverage under Medicaid), people would have three choices, Starr said. They could buy insurance, with subsidies if they qualify. They could pay an annual tax penalty for going uninsured. Or they could opt out with no penalty – but they couldn’t opt back in for five years.

Those who opt out wouldn’t be eligible for any subsidies in the exchanges. And under this scenario, they wouldn’t be covered by one of the most popular protections in the legislation — the ban on insurers excluding people with pre-existing conditions. People who opted out could still shop for insurance, but there would be no guarantee that they could find an insurer to cover them, at a price they could afford.

Then there could be waiting periods or penalties for waiting (as in Medicare Part B). At any rate, if enough people think this is an important issue, I’m sure we can find a reasonable solution.

Note added: You might want to check out FireDogLake which lists 8 alternatives to the individual mandate.

implications of tax compromise to delay Bush tax hike

implications of tax compromise to delay Bush tax hike

Posted on by Jack

There is a very interesting exchange of views about the implications of the tax compromise to delay the Bush tax hike or extend the Bush tax cuts, depending on your point of view.

The HealthBeatBlog hosts a nice discussion of the implications of this tax compromise for Medicare, Social Security and Health Care Reform. The link is to Part 1. So more is coming and probably soon.

Health care debate: preexisting conditions and individual mandate

Health care debate: preexisting conditions and individual mandate

Posted on by Jack

The Affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) includes a provision requiring individuals to have a certain level of health insurance or pay a penalty. This is commonly called the individual mandate. And is often thought needed for the health care law’s provisions preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to those with preexisting conditions.

Depending on who you listen to there has been either elation or disappointment over the news lately that a Virginia judge has ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional. Of course this one decision and the next judge could support it or disagree but one thing we do know is there will continue to be litigation on this and the issue may end up in the Supreme Court.

Striking down the individual mandate by the courts or perhaps a repeal of this provision would be bad news indeed for those who believe our health insurance system should cover preexisting conditions. It is possible that the individual mandate will be preserved (and some think it likely) but shouldn’t those who believe we should cover preexisting conditions be thinking about a Plan B just in case the individual mandate is out of the picture.

How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne

How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne

Posted on by Jack

I am currently reading How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer by Sarah Bakewell. So far I find it very interesting and enjoyable. Montaigne believed the best way to discover how to live a good and satisfying life was in the examination of everyday things and events and writing about them in his Essays. In doing so he seems to have invented a new literary form. And over the centuries since he lived and wrote, many have discovered that Montaigne’s Essays are a valuable tool in understanding their own lives.

I find Bakewell’s book is a wonderful introduction to this writer. I am about 10% through this book and will have more to say about it when finished. Since the book is organized around 20 attempts to answer the “How to Live” question, it may be suited to taking breaks after reading each chapter but so far I have not felt the urge for a break. If I am still as excited about Montaigne’s Essays at the end, I may tackle those.

The Book, a dystopian novel

The Book, a dystopian novel

Posted on by Jack

The opening line is “Don’t read The Book” but I’m glad I did. The book is The Book by M. Clifford.

I thought the idea behind the book was important but I wasn’t always fond of how the author told the story. A good editor may have improved matters. The idea is somewhat similar to other dystopian novels in that the government controls and modifies information.

This book adds an interesting twist in that they do so not by banning books or burning books but by becoming a sole publisher of books which are electronic and can be edited as the government wants and paper copies are no longer printed and old paper copies recycled. The great recycling is presented as an environmental plus and government edits of books are a secret and only suspected by a few.

This reminded me of 1984 with government control of information but the technology is now more believable.

Thus this is a cautionary tale which features eReaders as an instrument of government control. It was an unintentional irony that I read my copy on a Kindle. By the way, the paperback version is about what you would expect to pay for a paperback but the Kindle version is only $2.99 (at least that is what I paid and it was still that when I looked tonight.)

Bush tax hike delayed

Bush tax hike delayed

Posted on by Jack

The delayed Bush tax hike (aka the Bush tax cuts) has been delayed by a compromise. I call them the delayed Bush tax hike because President George W. Bush gave us a temporary tax cut which would have expired this year giving us a tax hike. This was discussed in this blog a few days back as the Bush tax increase.

There have been numerous new articles and endless commentary on this on this so I won’t add much more for now, just point to 2 of the more interesting comments I have seen.

MAD from Forbes

Obama: President; McConnell: Sucker

Bush tax increase

Bush tax increase

Posted on by Jack

Seems to me if George W. Bush could not find a way to make his tax cuts permanent, we cannot blame the present administration or Congress for not finding a way to extend these cuts during a recession. Should any increase now be called the Bush tax increase? Or perhaps the George W. Bush delayed tax increases.

It also bothers me that the Republican minority is holding up extending these tax cuts for the vast majority of citizens. If the majority in Congress cannot find a reasonable compromise with this very stubborn minority, I would have no problem with letting the entire tax cut expire on schedule. I think that would be bad for the economy and bad for the American people but preferable to allowing a minority to dictate policy and increasing the deficit to give a larger tax break to the richest Americans.

As I understand it if the tax break is limited to the first $250,000 of income, everyone still gets a tax break. It is just that the person who makes a million a year gets the same tax break as someone making a quarter of that.

Can’t Congress reach a reasonable compromise? – higher income cut-off, estate exemptions, temporary extensions, etc. I think the uncertainties about future income and estate taxes are more causing problems than any compromise I can imagine.

Red Hook by Gabriel Cohen

Red Hook by Gabriel Cohen

Posted on by Jack

Last month, I reviewed “The Ninth Step” by Gabriel Cohen..

I really liked that book but it is the 4th in a series about Detective Jack Leightner. At the time I mentioned that I planned to look for the earlier books in this series. As it turned out I found the first of the series in our county library and enjoyed that as much as the other. Here is my review of the first in the series, “Red Hook” .

Although Gabriel Cohen’s books (or at least the two that I’ve read) are crime novels, they are so much more. “Red Hook” begins with a young Dominican man who is found murdered near the Gowanus Canal. The questions are who and why and there is no obvious answers. Sure the book is a crime mystery and in it Jack investigates a this crime and risks his career doing what he thinks is right (and his superiors disagree) but it is more importantly a story of an imperfect man dealing with his past and working toward a better future.
Continue reading “Red Hook by Gabriel Cohen”

Pete Hamill’s new book

Pete Hamill’s new book

Posted on by Jack

I am a big fan of Pete Hamill’s books. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, I’ll re-read Forever, or one of his other books and write a review here but for now I just have a question. I understand that he has a new book coming out on immigration and I would like to read it. I had read it is only going to be released as an e-book and I thought it was coming our this fall. Last I read said November 15 but I don’t see anywhere to get it. Does anyone know anything about this book< I did a search and can't find anything current. I also looked at his website and Facebook page but there is no information.

Free Books for your eReader

Free Books for your eReader

Posted on by Jack

I am kind of new to the Kindle. I got it as a birthday present and have been using it for about 3 weeks now. At first I downloaded lots of free books to see how it works. No matter what eReader you are using lots of free books are available.

Barnes and Noble has free books for the Nook. Amazon has free books for the Kindle. There are multiple sources for free books in a variety of formats. Most tend to be older books which are out of copyright. But sometimes a book just a few years old is released as a free book. Gives those of us who hesitate to buy a book by an unknown author a chance to try for free. I imagine the publisher hopes we will like the author and buy a more current book. This way I found both Chinatown Beat by Henry Chang and Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for free.

And have downloaded and read a couple books I paid for. Right now reading the new John-Abigail Adams book by Joseph Ellis.

I have the least expensive version with Wi-Fi. There are fancier, bigger, and more expensive versions with various options. I have shopped the Amazon Kindle Store from my computer and my sections are downloaded wirelessly to my Kindle using my home wireless router. It is very easy to do. This low-cost option works well if you have wireless at home or access to wireless. If not you can pay a bit more and have 3G connectivity.

If you get a free book via Project Gutenberg or something similar, you can just download it to your computer and copy the file to your Kindle. So far everything seems pretty easy.

I am still thinking about physical books vs Kindle version. It is a very different experience and I see advantages and disadvantages to each. I imagine I’ll have a bit more to say when I’ve used the Kindle a bit more.

Collusion by Stuart Neville

Collusion by Stuart Neville

Posted on by Jack

The second book from Stuart Neville Collusion continues the story of the violence in North Ireland during the “peace”. It is a bit different from the first (Ghosts of Belfast my review:

http://www.jackreidy.com/blog/2010/10/29/the-ghosts-of-belfast-by-stuart-neville/).

I liked both books. And although both were very violent, the violence hit me differently. I’m not sure why. I think it was because much of Ghosts was about a killer and the violence seems to fit naturally. But Collusion was perhaps less violent overall (I didn’t count the torture and death scenes) and more of a exploration of inner conflicts, right and wrong, and justice.

Much of this is done through the character of Jack Lennon. He was briefly mentioned in Ghosts (perhaps not by name) but here he is the center of attention. An Irish Catholic, he joined the Northern Irish Police because he thought it was the right thing to do and 15 years later is still struggling with the consequences of that decision (and with his Protestant superiors). The internal conflicts in Jack Lennon character are interesting and this book does an excellent job of presenting them. I hope to see him more in future books.

Other than one critical showdown near the end which I thought was overdone, it was a very good read. But the overdone business is just my taste. Another reviewer has a different take on this, see:
http://fionnchu.blogspot.com/2010/10/stuart-nevilles-collusion-book-review.html

If you have a kindle, you may want to consider the option of getting both books in kindle format.