WithMentalReservations

http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/2011_01_01_archive.html This is Massimo Pigliucci's blog and one that I very highly recommend.  Professor Pigliucci has two Ph.D.'s...in biology and in philosophy and uses the combined insights to illuminate the logical and rational underpinnings of contemporary evolutionary theory.  But he is also a noted freethinker (a la Susan Jacoby), and addresses a very wide range of topics in his blog...as well as inviting guest bloggers to list some of the more interesting items they've come across in recent times.  On this particular blog, there is a link to a John Stewart show that Dr. Pigliucci introduces with the item "Once more John Stewart proves himself to be the sanest person in America" in reference to Stewart's commentary on the Arizona tragedy.  I find visiting this blog enlightening and hope all of my readers will check it out. BTW...Stewart's commentary is well worth listening to.  Pigliucci may well be right....

Just finished Ken Scholes' Lamentation , a post-apocalyptic fantasy novel that forms the first of what is intended to be a 5-volume series.  Given this first book...a first novel...I am looking forward to the rest, even though I tend to find that lengthy series often grow stale after the first three or so (I hope Scholes is an exception).  The characters are engagingly drawn, and I found myself caring about them, and the action was exciting without dominating the book (a fault of a good many "sword-n-sorcery" novels).  The story blends magic and some limited technology cleverly...with hints of "steam-punk."  Scholes came to Bellingham to hawk his third book in the series with an author's reading at Village Books...that most amazing community bookstore which ought to be emulated widely across the country.  He sang and read a short story (a humorous story of a out-of-work clown and a "monkey" that was, in fact, an alien) and previewed an anti-Xmas ca...

Despite a sincere effort to restrain my book buying, I confess...I failed again.  Just picked up two paperbacks by Susan Jacoby.  One, The Age of American Unreason, I've read before and I felt a need to refresh my memory of the book.  It is an updated exploration of the same topic addressed in Richard Hofstadter's Anti-Intellectualism in American Life , published in 1963.  Alas...in the intervening years, unreason has not diminished, and the recent election only highlighted that fact. The second book is an earlier one by Jacoby:  Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism .  I'm looking forward to this, since so many of our "founding fathers" were clearly free thinkers, and this had a significant impact on the formulation of the Constitution of the United States...a fact that is largely ignored by those who fall into the "unreasoning" category of most of the right-wing pundits of today.

Just finished "Holy Shit" by Gene Logsdon, and what a delight it has been.  While I suspect the target audience might be the "back to the land" types and small-scale farmers, and others who wish to be "organic" in growing some of their own food, I think it would be an eye-opener for almost anyone who has a sincere interest in the future of agriculture in this country and the world.  Vast...and I do mean "vast"...quantities of fertilizer are going to waste because of inadequate management of manure, even as sources of packaged fertilizer...potash deposits (mostly from Canada...I frequently see the rail cars pass through Bellingham on their way south) and natural gas are being depleted (the Marcellus shale notwithstanding).   As more and more folks embrace the concept of "recycling", perhaps it is time to consider recycling manure...including human waste.  The author is a farmer and a widely published author (in farming-related magazines)...

Yep.  Me the blogger.  As a former professor who misses the classroom and the chance to pontificate, this looks like a perfect fit.  I suppose it is an ego-trip, but I like to think that I may still have something useful to share with folks.  Mostly, I will be talking about books.  I am a certified book-a-holic, trying desperately to not spend more than I should on books...and failing miserably.  So if my limited income is going to support my local bookstore, maybe I will feel better if I can share what I find with more people and get them to support their local bookstores.  My taste in books runs primarily to non-fiction, mostly science-related texts, but I admit to enjoying what I call "trash" novels...mostly epic fantasy and science-fiction.  I love vampire and werewolf books, especially where the supernaturals are the good guys.  I've read all of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, and all of Charlene Harris' Southern Vampire series...a...