Author Archives: Anton

new toy

I bought a Mac Mini today. What’s recommended reading for someone coming back to the Mac universe after a long absence? (My other computers run Red Hat 9 and MacOS 8.1.) Monday: I bought David Pogue’s Missing Manual. It appears … Continue reading

Posted in me!me!me!, neep-neep | 3 Comments

a compassionate nation

Larry Elder lists some policies that harm people of color, sometimes intentionally.

Posted in drugwar, race | Leave a comment

the purloined telegram

Thirty-odd years ago I read Alvin’s Secret Code by Clifford B. Hicks (1963), which begins when a puzzling telegram falls into the hands of two boys. The only sentence in it that makes any kind of sense to them is … Continue reading

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medical waste

Because of Hugh Laurie, I watched the first episode of House, M.D., and that was enough: if the premiere is so formulaic (mysterious and scary illness, misdiagnosis, misdiagnosis, affirmation of the value of human life, intuitive leap, happy ending) there’s … Continue reading

Posted in cinema | Leave a comment

The Uses of Disaster

Interesting essay in Harpers (cited by the muted horn). The Scottish-born mathematician Eric Temple Bell, who witnessed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, saw “no running around the streets, or shrieking, or anything of that sort” but instead people … Continue reading

Posted in security theater | Leave a comment

and don’t stop until you catch your tail

That droll Mr Bush recently said it would be bad to stop killing people and breaking stuff in Iraq before “the mission” is completed. Say what? I thought the mission was to take Saddam’s nukes and war-germs and bad chemicals … Continue reading

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intentions sometimes count

Jacob Sullum observes: As I read the relevant Supreme Court decisions, if the [New York] police said they would randomly search bags [on the subway] for drugs, unlicensed guns or other contraband, mentioning in passing they would, of course, arrest … Continue reading

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