30th October, 2009
Bad Medicine
The folks at This American Life have put together a two-part overview of the current state of the U.S. healthcare system that will both enlighten and maddeningly frustrate you. They discuss the history of healthcare, some of the issues that plague the system and how things got to where they are, and present a pretty solid case as to why reform is desperately needed. As always, they manage to tell it in terms that are easily understood by us common folk. If you haven’t already donated to your local NPR station this year, this is one of the reasons you should. Really well done.
Posted at 5:03 am | Comment (0)
28th October, 2009
We’re all gonna die.
The good folks at CERN have begun testing the newly-repaired Large Hadron Collider again. Heedlessly disregarding warnings from the future. We are so screwed.
Posted at 5:21 am | Comments (2)
15th October, 2009
Rise and Fall
One good, one bad today.
The Other Lands by David Anthony Durham
The second book in Durham’s Acacia-focused series picks up several years after the first ended. While not quite as good as Acacia, it was still a solid read. My biggest complaint is that, while it continued the existing story, not all that much happened. A lot of time was spent filling in historical events as well as setting a somewhat complex stage, but there really wasn’t all that much progression overall. That being said, I am still looking forward to the next installment even if it may take another couple of years before we see it.
3.9/5 gogs.
The Burning Skies by David J. Williams
I really need to stop believing Amazon’s ratings system. Yes, I know I panned Williams’ first book The Mirrored Heavens, but the ratings on Amazon indicated that the second book was better so I gave it a chance… only to find more of the same crap. Honestly, this book was even worse in my opinion. Williams’ constant reliance on incredibly short (as in 1-2 paragraphs) “chapters” that jump from character to character and location to location in an attempt to make some sort of real-time picture of events is an absolute disaster. With writing like this, there is no time at all for scene creation, character development or any sort of worthwhile dialogue. Don’t even bother with this.
1/5 gogs.
Posted at 5:18 am | Comment (0)
