Arena

By © Ed Lederman/PEN American Center, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=123127054

David Remnick’s, The Defiance of Salman Rushdie – The New Yorker, February 6, 2023 – is a masterful piece on the cowardly attack on the famed author of the Satanic Verses. The profile essay covers Rushdie’s humble beginnings and his defiant choice of living an open life in the face of a Fatwa for decades, and the fateful moments where his courage to live came head-on with the cowardice of a weakminded ideolog — almost costing him his life.

The attack is a reminder that free speech is not a motto but a way of life. We cannot allow laziness to hide behind offended feelings. We must sharpen our intellect for battling bad ideas.

Reads From The Web

20200910

Going Postal — Book review with one of the best opening paragraphs Ive ever read.  Really captured the mood of the COVID lockdown.

Bonfires of Reason — Book review of the upcoming Burning of the Books by Richard Ovenden.  Ive pre-ordered my copy.

The Sturgis Statistical Misfire — “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”  Phrase popularized by Mark Twain.  This Wall Street Journal OpEd exemplifies the hidden wisdom of this phrase.

Reads From The Web

Reads from the web 202008

Father and Son Investment Bankers Describe Wall Street Regrets — Good interview with father and son about being black in Wall Street.

Amazon Drivers Are Hanging Smartphones in Trees to Get More Work — Clever delivery drivers figured out that by dangling cell phones on phones near the store they can a jump on other drivers, making more money.  Reminds me of Michale Lewis’ Flash Boys.

Retail Eviction Proceedings Pick Up as Economy Restarts — this is one of those second or third order effects from the pandemic.