Author Archives: Harry Katz
What Makes People Vote Republican?
An intresting essay over at The Edge by Jonathan Haidt about the moral considerations that differentiate Democrats from Republicans. This is a long essay but well worth the read. Here are a few exerpts that make some of Haidt’s key … Continue reading
Ambient awareness
Very interesting artilcle on the effects of social networking by Clive Thompson in the Sept. 7, 2008 Sunday New York Times Magazine. The article describes how services like Twitter and Facebook facilitate "ambient awareness" about a large group of people … Continue reading
Barack Obama’s Acceptance Speech
A brilliantly crafted and superbly delivered oration delivered in Denver tonight. Transcript here.
George Carlin (1937-2008)
Lots of tributes pouring in for comedian George Carlin who died on Sunday, June 22 at the age of 71. Carlin was one of the first comedians I ever heard about as a kid, along with Bill Cosby and Cheech … Continue reading
Fareed Zakaria
Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International, and former editor of Foreign Affairs, spoke this evening at Seattle’s Town Hall about his new book The Post-American World. He spoke for about 35 minutes and then took questions from the audience. Here’s … Continue reading
Book Review: The Bookseller of Kabul
The Bookseller of KabulBy Ǻsne SeierstadLittle, Brown and Company, New York, 2003 The Bookseller of Kabul is a “stranger in a strange land” book. The stranger, Ǻsne Seierstad, is a blond, female, Norwegian journalist. The strange land is Kabul during … Continue reading
The Black Swan
Nassim Nicholas Taleb, options trader cum philosopher, defines a Black Swan as an extremely improbable event that has huge impact. Think 9/11 or the current subprime lending crisis. The title comes from the fact that black swans – the birds … Continue reading
Jeffrey Sachs
This evening we attended a lecture by Professor Jeffrey Sachs sponsored by the Seattle World Affairs Council. Sachs gained fame in the early nineties advising the newly elected governments of Eastern Europe how to transform their economies from communism to … Continue reading
Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke passed away today in Colombo, Sri Lanka (1:30 am, March 19 local time) at age 90. He’s probably most famous for his novel 2001, A Space Odyssey upon which Stanley Kubrick based the movie of the same … Continue reading
Admiral “Fox” Fallon Resigns
The New York Times is reporting here that Admiral William J. "Fox" Fallon is taking early retirement. Fallon, commander of Central Command (CENTCOM) which encompasses the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, has often seemed critical of the Bush … Continue reading
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