Comments on "Dreaming in Chinese" - Mandarin Lessons in Life, Love, and Language by Deborah Fallows
Some books come with many recommendations, and, sometimes it seems that they need them, for some reason or other. This book has 7 recommendations, but it does not need any such authoritative defenses. The author, Deborah Fallows, is a very impressive linguistic scholar. For outsiders, her little book is a very engaging introduction to the mysteries of the spoken and written Chinese language.
Among other things, this little journey into the Chinese language and people shows what differences and similarities 5000 years of continuous history and vast, or maximum, linguistic differences have produced among the hundreds of millions of Chinese people, and many of the other people of the world as well.
If these comments were authoritative, they might be an 8th recommendation.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Experimental Blog #51
Comments on "The Next Big Story" - My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities by Soledad O'Brien with Rose Marie Arce
Most people probably know the author of this book, Soledad O'Brien, as the well-known, always charming, news anchor and special correspondent. Not surprisingly, she has always been an exceptionally high achiever. Soledad is a graduate of Harvard University, as well as are all 5 of her high achieving sisters and brothers. Page after page of this book relate her seemingly inexhaustible energy, optimism, and successes.
Soledad O'Brien's stories about her family and hometown, and her reporting about the different news networks where she has worked, and about all kinds of people, such as Lou Dobbs, another news anchor and Harvard graduate at her workplace, are extremely interesting.
Most of all, however, she seems to concentrate on the events of Hurricaine Katrina and the massive earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.
She generally seems disappointed with and is disparaging about the efforts of the American government. However, it also seems that the nature of the American government and political solutions must derive from American sources; they can not be imported, at least for very long.
America has its own "political philosophers", such as, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt, to mention only 3. The best description, or most dependable in the longest run, of American government seems to be Abraham Lincoln's; that is, the conveniently somewhat ambiguous, "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." This description can impose limits on those people who want more American government as well as on those people who want less government.
Most people probably know the author of this book, Soledad O'Brien, as the well-known, always charming, news anchor and special correspondent. Not surprisingly, she has always been an exceptionally high achiever. Soledad is a graduate of Harvard University, as well as are all 5 of her high achieving sisters and brothers. Page after page of this book relate her seemingly inexhaustible energy, optimism, and successes.
Soledad O'Brien's stories about her family and hometown, and her reporting about the different news networks where she has worked, and about all kinds of people, such as Lou Dobbs, another news anchor and Harvard graduate at her workplace, are extremely interesting.
Most of all, however, she seems to concentrate on the events of Hurricaine Katrina and the massive earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.
She generally seems disappointed with and is disparaging about the efforts of the American government. However, it also seems that the nature of the American government and political solutions must derive from American sources; they can not be imported, at least for very long.
America has its own "political philosophers", such as, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt, to mention only 3. The best description, or most dependable in the longest run, of American government seems to be Abraham Lincoln's; that is, the conveniently somewhat ambiguous, "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." This description can impose limits on those people who want more American government as well as on those people who want less government.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Experimental Blog #50
Comments on "When a Billion Chinese Jump" - How China Will Save Mankind - Or Destroy It by Jonathan Watts
Right near the beginning of this book this British author, Jonathan Watts, declares that his book's "structure is polemical rather than geographic." The book is highly praised; there are 10 recommendations from other authors or executives of organizations of public education or opinion. However, the author's writing should not be accepted without any criticism, such as, he seems so determined in his polemic, or disputation, that he often gives the impression that he is contradicting himself, even if that may not be more strictly true. His stated "facts" are occasionally controversial, such as, he says that China has 3000 years of continuous history, the world's longest, while other authorities have usually, or often, given 4000 years, or even longer, for this figure. The author twice, first in the text and again in the end notes, seems to report, without sufficient comment, that China has converted carbon dioxide into hydrogen!
However, in spite of this frequent, or even continuous polemical overstating, this book is a very informative tour of some of China's provinces and territories and China's immense significance and problems, both for itself and for everybody else too.
Right near the beginning of this book this British author, Jonathan Watts, declares that his book's "structure is polemical rather than geographic." The book is highly praised; there are 10 recommendations from other authors or executives of organizations of public education or opinion. However, the author's writing should not be accepted without any criticism, such as, he seems so determined in his polemic, or disputation, that he often gives the impression that he is contradicting himself, even if that may not be more strictly true. His stated "facts" are occasionally controversial, such as, he says that China has 3000 years of continuous history, the world's longest, while other authorities have usually, or often, given 4000 years, or even longer, for this figure. The author twice, first in the text and again in the end notes, seems to report, without sufficient comment, that China has converted carbon dioxide into hydrogen!
However, in spite of this frequent, or even continuous polemical overstating, this book is a very informative tour of some of China's provinces and territories and China's immense significance and problems, both for itself and for everybody else too.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Experimental Blog #49
Comments on "Wild West 2.0" - How to Protect and Restore Your Online Reputation on the Untamed Social Frontier" by Michael Fertik and David Thompson
Here are some disorganized thoughts provoked by reading this book.
It almost seems that the entire, at least 10,000 year, social history of human beings that happened before about the year 2000 might be thought of as something like "prehistoric," in comparison with the "Internet New Digital Frontier."
The technology described so well in this book applies mostly to the activated, up to date, and, mostly, younger population. However, this portion is truly global, very large, and is continuously and rapidly increasing.
The "Internet New Digital Frontier" society is described as "amoral," and has little or no government, and mostly limited "vigilante justice," at best.
Will this new society ever have more effective government or any religion? And where would these temporizing and self-controlling factors come from? How would they develope?
Here are some disorganized thoughts provoked by reading this book.
It almost seems that the entire, at least 10,000 year, social history of human beings that happened before about the year 2000 might be thought of as something like "prehistoric," in comparison with the "Internet New Digital Frontier."
The technology described so well in this book applies mostly to the activated, up to date, and, mostly, younger population. However, this portion is truly global, very large, and is continuously and rapidly increasing.
The "Internet New Digital Frontier" society is described as "amoral," and has little or no government, and mostly limited "vigilante justice," at best.
Will this new society ever have more effective government or any religion? And where would these temporizing and self-controlling factors come from? How would they develope?
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Experimental Blog #48
Comments on "Here Is a Human Being - At the Dawn of Personal Genomics" by Misha Angrist
The author of this book, Misha Angrist, quotes others to say that, actually, the entire human genome has not been sequenced because about 7% of the 6 billion base pairs in our 23 pairs of chromosomes, for some reason or other, do not yet yield to sequencing. He does not say anything more about this fact, such as, where is all of this "refractory 7%" located on our chromosomes.
Besides that, instead of a clear "blueprint" for human life, what has been sequenced, or deciphered, of our chromosomes, is often so apparentely repititious and "mixed up", that it is a wonder how it all works, or that it works at all.
None the less, this incredible scientific achievement has led to such a deluge of billions upon billions of facts, that there seems to be as much mystery in understanding the developement of a human life and the genetic sciences as there was 20 years ago, before the genome project had really started. Various scientific experts disagree with each other on the determining importance of our genes and chromosomes.
We all begin with a single cell, the fertilized egg and its chromosomes, but to become a mature adult involves an unimaginable and incomprehensible number of factors and processes. Beyond that, an adult human life includes so much unpredictabiblty of an unimaginable number of events that the control and influence of our beginning and life long individual genomes might seem all but buried.
Besides having a PhD and postdoctoral work in genetics, the author also has a Master of Fine Arts in writing and literature.
The author of this book, Misha Angrist, quotes others to say that, actually, the entire human genome has not been sequenced because about 7% of the 6 billion base pairs in our 23 pairs of chromosomes, for some reason or other, do not yet yield to sequencing. He does not say anything more about this fact, such as, where is all of this "refractory 7%" located on our chromosomes.
Besides that, instead of a clear "blueprint" for human life, what has been sequenced, or deciphered, of our chromosomes, is often so apparentely repititious and "mixed up", that it is a wonder how it all works, or that it works at all.
None the less, this incredible scientific achievement has led to such a deluge of billions upon billions of facts, that there seems to be as much mystery in understanding the developement of a human life and the genetic sciences as there was 20 years ago, before the genome project had really started. Various scientific experts disagree with each other on the determining importance of our genes and chromosomes.
We all begin with a single cell, the fertilized egg and its chromosomes, but to become a mature adult involves an unimaginable and incomprehensible number of factors and processes. Beyond that, an adult human life includes so much unpredictabiblty of an unimaginable number of events that the control and influence of our beginning and life long individual genomes might seem all but buried.
Besides having a PhD and postdoctoral work in genetics, the author also has a Master of Fine Arts in writing and literature.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Experimental Blog #47
Comments on "Going Rogue - An Anerican Life" by Sarah Palin
In this book by Sarah Palin the author reveals a very noticable and unusual ability to recognize and describe her mistakes in a simple factual manner. Other qualities revealed are Sarah's very impressive energy and her quick recovery from setbacks of different kinds. By far the greater part of the book is very informative and persuasive about herself, her exceptional family, and the state of Alaska and its politics, both Republican and Democrat.
Sarah Palin describes herself as a "Commonsense Conservative," and it might be true that many Americans think, along with her, that more prayer, or prayerfulness, would do as much, or more, for America in the long run as any trillion dollar "stimulus package."
Only toward the very end of her book does Sarah Palin expand on her common, and questionable, belief in the "specialness" of Americans. Can it really be true that America and Americans are organically different from all the world's other people today, as well as at other times in the world's history, as she seems to suggest?
In this book by Sarah Palin the author reveals a very noticable and unusual ability to recognize and describe her mistakes in a simple factual manner. Other qualities revealed are Sarah's very impressive energy and her quick recovery from setbacks of different kinds. By far the greater part of the book is very informative and persuasive about herself, her exceptional family, and the state of Alaska and its politics, both Republican and Democrat.
Sarah Palin describes herself as a "Commonsense Conservative," and it might be true that many Americans think, along with her, that more prayer, or prayerfulness, would do as much, or more, for America in the long run as any trillion dollar "stimulus package."
Only toward the very end of her book does Sarah Palin expand on her common, and questionable, belief in the "specialness" of Americans. Can it really be true that America and Americans are organically different from all the world's other people today, as well as at other times in the world's history, as she seems to suggest?
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Experimental Blog #46
Comments on "The Lost Girls" - Three Friends. Four Continents. One Unconventional Detour Around the World. by Jennifer Baggett, Holly C Corbett, and Amanda Pressner
Before the table of contents and the regular text of this book begins, there is a "Disclaimer." It says, in part, "we occasionally merged characters, reordered events," and "Many names ... have been changed and some of the identifying details altered..."
Whatever this means, one of the authors consistently seems more serious than the others. Another author seems prone to taking a variety of patience testing and provocative risks. The third author, perhaps, seems to sometimes alternate between her two companions. Also, at least 1 or 2 seemingly significant countries that they visited, Myanmar and, maybe, the United Arab Emirates, are completely omitted from the account of their travels.
Towards the last parts of the book the writing seems more hurried, or condensed, or perhaps, somewhat stylized.
However, seriously, overall, totally, their story of three American women, in their late 20s traveling around the world together for a whole year, is rather original and even quite thought provoking, seriously, totally.
Before the table of contents and the regular text of this book begins, there is a "Disclaimer." It says, in part, "we occasionally merged characters, reordered events," and "Many names ... have been changed and some of the identifying details altered..."
Whatever this means, one of the authors consistently seems more serious than the others. Another author seems prone to taking a variety of patience testing and provocative risks. The third author, perhaps, seems to sometimes alternate between her two companions. Also, at least 1 or 2 seemingly significant countries that they visited, Myanmar and, maybe, the United Arab Emirates, are completely omitted from the account of their travels.
Towards the last parts of the book the writing seems more hurried, or condensed, or perhaps, somewhat stylized.
However, seriously, overall, totally, their story of three American women, in their late 20s traveling around the world together for a whole year, is rather original and even quite thought provoking, seriously, totally.
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