Currently reading all about my recently sourced and purchased Ed White 321B via one of the books that came with the watch…
Just gotta post an actual movement shot…
Just gotta post an actual movement shot…
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What are you reading?
- Thread starter Recovering LSO
- Start date
AIRMMCPORET
Plan “A/B” Retired
Good thing for pics.
Chekhov. I could never get into Russian Realism. Life sucks, the people around you die, and then you die. "Three Sisters" was the only show that I designed lights for that once it opened I never went back.Won an art contest and got a $100 gift card, so here’s the book haul.
View attachment 45187
Chekhov is first after I finish the two other books I already started lol
They smushed my Count of Monte Cristo and I'm in shambles
For anyone who hasn't seen/read "Three Sisters" let me summarize the 4 act long play in two sentences. "My life sucks and I want to go to Moscow!" "Too bad, everyone will die and then you will die."
Red Rising is a good and slow burn. Buckle up, pixie!
Chad.Johnson51
Street SNA Select
Just finished up reading Blood Meridian, gotta love Cormac's punctuation or lack thereof. Next up is Web of Disinformation: Churchill's Yugoslav Blunder.
"A Japan Who Can Say No" and "Ghost Fleet"
Really couldn't focus too much on the content of the books.
I've read Ghost Fleet before in English-- as recommended by a lecturer (Ret. USN Admiral) at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library when it was across the street from the Field Museum... (Like 10 years ago now...)
The thing about it in French is the language, while translated "accurately" doesn't at all reflect how "military French" is actually spoken in Francophone armed forces... saw the same problem in the localized version of Top-Gun a few years ago... in a practical sense it doesn't help to consume this kind of media for the sake of interoperability language training... (If you start talking "translated Top-Gun/Ghost Fleet French", the words will make sense semantically and meaning maybe derived, but no one talks like that...
)
"A Japan that can say 'No'" was tough, struggled a lot with the language but it gives a valid, albeit dated (1990) , perspective on Japan-US relations from the perspective of a very Pro-Japan business (Sony) executive. The sections on defense were interesting, but I don't know enough about-- say NORAD-- to say whether or not their understanding of the system in this book accurately captures the capabilities of the system. (But i do know it effectively tracks Santa Claus which I've followed quite closely for the last 30 years or so...
)
Anyhow, back to smut summer...
Really couldn't focus too much on the content of the books.
I've read Ghost Fleet before in English-- as recommended by a lecturer (Ret. USN Admiral) at the Pritzker Military Museum and Library when it was across the street from the Field Museum... (Like 10 years ago now...)
The thing about it in French is the language, while translated "accurately" doesn't at all reflect how "military French" is actually spoken in Francophone armed forces... saw the same problem in the localized version of Top-Gun a few years ago... in a practical sense it doesn't help to consume this kind of media for the sake of interoperability language training... (If you start talking "translated Top-Gun/Ghost Fleet French", the words will make sense semantically and meaning maybe derived, but no one talks like that...
)"A Japan that can say 'No'" was tough, struggled a lot with the language but it gives a valid, albeit dated (1990) , perspective on Japan-US relations from the perspective of a very Pro-Japan business (Sony) executive. The sections on defense were interesting, but I don't know enough about-- say NORAD-- to say whether or not their understanding of the system in this book accurately captures the capabilities of the system. (But i do know it effectively tracks Santa Claus which I've followed quite closely for the last 30 years or so...
)Anyhow, back to smut summer...
Nate Silver just released an article on the rise of the DSA and he referenced Peter Turchin’s hypothesis of elite overproduction causing societal instability (he shows this as s global phenomenon that cycles through history). If one is interested in political science, Turchin’s book “End Times” is a fascinating read.If you have a way of reading The Atlantic, there was a 2020 article on him.
The Next Decade Could Be Even Worse
A historian believes he has discovered iron laws that predict the rise and fall of societies. He has bad news.www.theatlantic.com
The DSA sweet spot: highly educated, downwardly mobile
Education and economic security are usually correlated. But where the relationship breaks down is fertile territory for the new left.
www.natesilver.net
We’ve discussed Turchin before, he still maintains his typical Russian gloom. I don’t think he is remotely on spot because he consistently fails to engage the nuances between a society, a culture, and the nation-state. Societies are the weak link in the grouping because they are prone to grinding reorganization (something I believe we are seeing now) but cultures and nations are quite fixed and remarkably resilient. So, is American society changing? You bet, this is our largest period of change since the 1980’s and before that it was the late 1960’s. Did it collapse, no, but everyone at the time “felt” it might. I also disagree with his definition of elite as meaning a college degree.
I do think Silver is on to something, and I think it is good news for the country. Where he slightly misses the point is by conflating a “college education” as one thing. Many DSA types are extra-soft degree types typically of the “Insert Sub-Group Title” Studies type who thought the work force would fit their value, not the other way around where employers search for workers to fit their needs. I don’t consider this a case of “elite overproduction,” because those college graduates who believe the DSA will fix their problems aren’t actually elite, their are just papered (and perhaps a bit pampered). I don’t see legions of biologists, engineering, and science types running toward the DSA, certainly blue collar workers aren’t. This is the critical difference and I think will keep the DSA loud, noticeable, but mostly on the fringes of power in future elections. My big question is, will they break off from the democrats if obvious support isn’t forthcoming?
I do think Silver is on to something, and I think it is good news for the country. Where he slightly misses the point is by conflating a “college education” as one thing. Many DSA types are extra-soft degree types typically of the “Insert Sub-Group Title” Studies type who thought the work force would fit their value, not the other way around where employers search for workers to fit their needs. I don’t consider this a case of “elite overproduction,” because those college graduates who believe the DSA will fix their problems aren’t actually elite, their are just papered (and perhaps a bit pampered). I don’t see legions of biologists, engineering, and science types running toward the DSA, certainly blue collar workers aren’t. This is the critical difference and I think will keep the DSA loud, noticeable, but mostly on the fringes of power in future elections. My big question is, will they break off from the democrats if obvious support isn’t forthcoming?