Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
The full title is Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York by Ted Steinberg. It is the subtitle that tells what this book is about.
I had written about this book while I was reading it and thought I would review it when finshed.
It is a bit unusual. It is a different perspective on history Continue reading “Gotham Unbound: The Ecological History of Greater New York by Ted Steinberg”
Last week my wife and I took a few days to visit Frederick, Maryland and points west. One of the highlights of the trip was the drive from Frederick to Deep Creek Lake Continue reading “Western Maryland and the Casselman River Bridge”
The recent Supreme Court decision on in favor of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties seeking an exemption from the contraception mandate of in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was a step in the wrong direction. I think although the justices applied the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to reach a narrow conclusion, it was wrong and that wrongness will cause greater harm than the narrow ruling suggests. Continue reading “Hobby Lobby: Missing the forest for the trees”
I’m trying to find out more about Emma Cash who we think was born in Allegheny, PA about 1867. I believe that is now part of Pittsburgh. Her mother was Ellen Gow (probably from Ireland) and her father was Charles Cash (probably from Germany). She and Ellen Cash are listed in the Federal census for 1860 and 1870 in Westmoreland Co PA.
Emma Cash later married Malcolm McKenzie or Mackenzie, probably in the 1880s. We think they may have married and had their first child in the Boston, MA area and later moved to the Greater New York City area (New Jersey and New York).
In last Sunday’s NY Times, Henry Paulson wrote a piece called The Coming Climate Crash: Lessons for Climate Change in the 2008 Recession.
Yes, we are talking about that Henry Paulson Continue reading “Climate change, a conservative solution”
I am reading a wonderful book right now. Since I am still reading, it would not be fair to write a review at this point. So this is more of a Progress Report. Or maybe a note about What I am Reading Now.
A great Introduction got my interest in the opening paragraph where the author takes us on a nature adventure to a “veritable Garden of Eden” Continue reading “A Natural History of Greater New York”
A rather odd title but I wanted to mention The Nature Conservancy (website – nature.org). I’ve been a member for many years now and I’ve been glad to contribute a little to their work in preserving nature’s wild places. What made me think about it Continue reading “The Nature Conservancy and Nature Conservancy”
It is hard to believe but the Sherlock Holmes stories are almost a century old. Well, some are more and some less but the point is the stories are very old. So the stories have been in the public domain for years. Yet the character was still under copyright. And although Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died well before most us us were born, his heirs still collected a fee when Sherlock Holmes was used as a character in another work. Continue reading “Sherlock Holmes is now a public domain character”
A few weeks ago a wrote a review of the short free ebook on saving and investing by Dr. William J. Bernstein. I thought the book was a very good but short.
Continue reading “The Four Pillars of Investing by William Bernstein”
A total surprise. I was expecting a more or less usual crime novel when I downloaded By Any Means (from NetGalley) by a new (for me) author. Instead I was amazed by Chris Culver’s skill in sucking me into the story and then the life of his main character. I now know that By Any Means is Chris Culver’s third Ash Rashid novel. Continue reading “By Any Means by Chris Culver”
I enjoyed reading Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives—and Our Lives Change Our Genes by Sharon Moalem.
I think this is a wonderful book written for the general reader. At least I think it would be easily understandable by most people. A word of warning – I am a geneticist so I may not be the best judge of that but most of the reviews I’ve read seem to agree on this point.
Dr. Moalem is accomplished in his field. He knows the details and nuances but is able to explain a complicated subject in an easily understandable way.
I thought the opening chapter and the ending where he summarized were particularly well-done.
I saw an article in this morning’s paper, Survey puts Time Warner-Comcast merger in a harsh light.
It was very disturbing news when you consider how large this new company will be. I had previously written about the Time Warner-Comcast merger and was a bit concerned about the dominant size of the company in both cable TV and internet.
The survey shows that Time Warner is the worst in customer satisfaction and Comcast is second worst. It remains to be seen how customer satisfaction will be in the combined company but I would not be too optimistic based on past results.
Given the unpleasant aspects of the Amazon-Hachette Feud and the resulting consumer problems with delays buying books by many best selling authors published by Hachette you’d think consumers would be finding alternatives to Amazon and competitors would use this as an opportunity to increase sales.
You would think internet competitors such as Barnes and Noble or local independent book stores would advertise that they stock and can deliver Hachette titles.
For example, Michael Connelly has a thriller featuring Detective Harry Bosch which is available for pre-order. I am on their mailing list and did get an email about the pre-order but there was no mention of the Amazon-Hachette dispute and how Barnes and Noble had no problem with delivery of Hachette titles.
James Patterson and David Baldacci currently have best sellers and are published by Hachette. Thousands of titles are published by Hachette. Is this not a tremendous business opportunity for Barnes and Noble, other internet competitors, and your local independent book store?
I previously mentioned my experience with Amazon Prime in a post which seemed only appropriate since I have it mentioned in my sidebar.
I did renew for 1 year. I buy enough things off Amazon than I figure the 2 day free shipping alone will be worth it. I have borrowed a Kindle book for free and that works fine but they could have more choices and make it a bit easier.
I have tried the video streaming several times and that is easy and works well. I have watched several videos including season 1 of The Americans and am in the process of watching season 1 of Orphan Black.
I think it is a fantastic deal.
I have previously discussed the use of the CPI-E (Consumer Price Index for the Elderly): Seniors, cost of living and benefit cuts and Strengthening Social Security.
There is a bill in the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (H. R. 4202) to use the CPI-E in many Federal retirement programs, although I do not see a mention of Social Security. I’m wondering if it does make more sense to start with programs more closely tied to Federal employment (both civilian and military) and perhaps expand the idea to Social Security as the government fiscal situation improves.
Thank you Rep Rangel for sponsoring this bill; and thanks also to the 51 cosponsors. Also thanks to those sponsoring similar bills in both the House and Senate.