My Commonplace Book

What I am listening to….aka Why I love spotify.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:00:36 -0400

What I am listening to….aka Why I love spotify.

A Final Post...for now

Fri, 03 May 2013 15:33:29 -0400

It dawned on me the other day that I have not posted anything here for over a month, and I think that trend will continue for the foreseeable future. In the past I have used this blog as a link and quote sharing vehicle, with the majority of the topics revolving around politics. Recently, I have sworn off all things news related and so this site has gone dormant.

However, I do still like to share and discuss interesting articles that I find but now I think that Google Plus is by far the best way to do this. Nowadays most of my shares revolve around career building, technology and social/cultural topics rather than politics, but if you want to follow along you can “circle” me here. Additionally I will still update my main blog: Reader Writer Runner with new book reviews and reading related essays.

"What the cloud should be about is both freeing us from being locked to local data, and also freeing..."

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 07:29:23 -0400

“What the cloud should be about is both freeing us from being locked to local data, and also freeing us from having that data locked to a particular service. I should be able to keep my data in one spot and then access it via a variety of cloud clients — and the clients and the data shouldn’t necessarily be directly connected or held by the same party. If I don’t want to listen to my music via one app, I can just connect a different app to my personal data cloud and off we go. If Google Reader shuts down, no problem, just point a different app at my RSS data. No extraction, no uploading. Just go. There are, of course, plenty of players around which sort of do this. DropBox, Box, Amazon’s S3 and even Google Drive are setting themselves up as personal data clouds, and there are a growing number of apps that run across them. Projects like the Locker Project are thinking about how we store personal data separated from apps as well. And I know there are a bunch of other projects either around today or quickly approaching release, that also seek to do something in this space. But, for the most part, all of the stories that people talk about concerning “cloud” computing almost always involve services that tie together the app and the data and all you’re really doing is trading the former limitations of local data for the limitations of a single service provider controlling your data.”

- This Is Not The Cloud Computing We Should Have | Techdirt

These are all valid points, but wonder if, at the end of the day, people really want those walled gardens. I think for many kinds of users the old days of AOL were good ones.

Obamacare: Even the Good News Is Bad | Via Meadia

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 14:53:00 -0400

Obamacare: Even the Good News Is Bad | Via Meadia

"Why, that is, is marriage even regarded as a political issue? Marriage, fundamentally, is of natural..."

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:58:16 -0400

“Why, that is, is marriage even regarded as a political issue? Marriage, fundamentally, is of natural and divine origin, while any given government is merely the creation of some group of persons (or, perhaps, a person) at a given time, claiming some legitimacy with longevity. I realize there are many issues involved with homosexual unions in terms of practicality and logistics, such as a company, a school, or a voluntary association being forced by law to provide insurance benefits for partners, etc. And, in America, according to Article IV of the U.S. Constitution, one state must recognize the legitimate acts of another through comity. But, these are material concerns, and they will pass, just as all man-made laws and governments pass. As St. Augustine warned, we should never attach our fortunes to a government. Governments and politics rise and fall, but the Church remains a constant. Second, as Roman Catholics, should we spend our time worrying about issues such as same-sex marriage when other issues–such as the continuing issue of abortion, or the fact we now are waging three simultaneous wars (none with the consent of the one war-making branch under the Constitution–Congress). These issues are matters of life and death, and we continue each at our own peril as a culture and as a people. Third, shouldn’t the real response come from the priests, rather than the laypersons? A priest can, with certainty, deny the sacraments to someone involved in a situation acting counter to the spiritual health of the person, the couple, or the community.”

- Stormfields | Christian Humanism and the World

Sebelius: Yep, ObamaCare is raising insurance costs

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 12:51:59 -0400

Sebelius: Yep, ObamaCare is raising insurance costs:

Told you so.

I know that the Democrats passed a poorly written bill with the idea that they had a chance to pass something and a bad bill was better than no bill. However, please, please fix this boondoggle before we all go bankrupt paying for insurance.

Sex Abuse Scandals Rock the BBC | Via Meadia

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:23:31 -0400

Sex Abuse Scandals Rock the BBC | Via Meadia:

It is looking more and more like the 1960’s & 70’s fascination with self fulfillment are largely to blame for all of society’s problems- I say only half in jest.

The Wilson Quarterly: The Gridlock Illusion by R. Shep Melnick

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 07:34:16 -0400

The Wilson Quarterly: The Gridlock Illusion by R. Shep Melnick:

Long but well written essay on the misnomer of congressional gridlock. Brings to mind the famous quote: Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other kinds.

The Touch-Screen Generation - Hanna Rosin - The Atlantic

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:28:33 -0400

The Touch-Screen Generation - Hanna Rosin - The Atlantic:

Long but interesting piece. Can’t decide what I think about the author’s implied conclusions though.

"On a global level, we already have more than enough food to end world hunger. In 2008, the United..."

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 19:45:06 -0400

“On a global level, we already have more than enough food to end world hunger. In 2008, the United Nations released a report detailing that, for $30 billion a year, starvation could become a thing of the past. Furthermore, after ten years of this, the structures would be in place to allow for complete sustainability, thus ending the price tag forever. Altogether, the cost would be $300 billion over the course of ten years. Expensive? Certainly. However, let’s put this into perspective. In 2010, the United States spent $683.7 billion on our military. That’s more than double the entire expense for eradicating world hunger.
Over 75% of the world’s resources are consumed by the wealthiest 20%. That means that only a quarter of consumable resources are available to be shared by 80% of the world’s population.
It is estimated that in 2012, 30% of US corn production (FOOD!) will be used for ethanol production. This means that a full 30% of a viable food source will be used to fuel our vehicles, rather than feed the hungry.”

- The God of 18000 Starving Children - Of Dust And Kings

Kind if makes you feel guilty doesn’t it.

The Wilson Quarterly: Rethinking the Great Recession by Robert J. Samuelson

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:46:12 -0400

The Wilson Quarterly: Rethinking the Great Recession by Robert J. Samuelson:

Want to know why the recession happened without all the left-right finger pointing? Read this. But beware, it won’t leave you feeling terribly optimistic about the future. We may have seen the end of a post WWII economic anomaly.

"Russell Kirk, noted time and again that the left-right divide is truly a propagandistic means..."

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 18:32:13 -0400

“Russell Kirk, noted time and again that the left-right divide is truly a propagandistic means employed by ideologues to divide humanity against humanity. “The tactics of totalitarianism are to weld every difference of opinion and tradition… into an absolute ideological opposition which disintegrates society into hostile factions bent on destroying one another.””

- Neither Left nor Right, Greek nor Jew, Male Nor Female | CatholicVote.org

The Wilson Quarterly: Voting Against Freedom by Joshua Kucera

Sat, 09 Mar 2013 10:23:51 -0500

The Wilson Quarterly: Voting Against Freedom by Joshua Kucera:

Interesting analysis that speaks to possible futures in the arab states after the revolts of the past year. After hearing about the Arab Spring in the news for over a year, it is disconcerting that this is about the only realistic account I have come across.

Perfect example of popular pundits not looking to recent history to analyze present events.

Planned Parenthood Upset with NYC for Stigmatizing Teen Pregnancy | Via Meadia

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:20:15 -0500

Planned Parenthood Upset with NYC for Stigmatizing Teen Pregnancy | Via Meadia:

I don’t think this organization could do anything that I would agree with at this point. Ridiculous.

A Strange New Respect For Domesticity | The American Conservative

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:17:18 -0500

A Strange New Respect For Domesticity | The American Conservative:

I support and underscore everything about this piece. Literally.

College Fail: Employers Say Grads Are a Disappointment | Via Meadia

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 06:04:13 -0500

College Fail: Employers Say Grads Are a Disappointment | Via Meadia:

One more reason I am glad we are investing in our children’s education now, as homeschoolers. I know we probably are not going to be able to afford to send them to college, but college is looking less and less attractive all the time.

Here is hoping that a viable online/physical hybrid like Coursera takes off and gives students the skills without the bloated costs.

ayjay: The Library: A Film Just because,

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 12:51:30 -0500

ayjay:

The Library: A Film

Just because,

The GED Gets Some Competition | Via Meadia

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:09:23 -0500

The GED Gets Some Competition | Via Meadia:

This type of change can not come fast enough as far as I am concerned.

"One may say this is a good thing, this Protestantization of Catholicism, or one may decry it as a..."

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 15:42:24 -0500

“One may say this is a good thing, this Protestantization of Catholicism, or one may decry it as a bad thing. But I don’t see how one can credibly say that it doesn’t exist. Catholicism, understood on its own terms, is radically opposed to American culture, and to the essence of modernity. Catholicism, as understood by most American Catholics, is not.”

- -Rod Dreher

And until the choice between orthodoxy and modernity becomes more than one of aesthetics this will not change.

Janis Ian & Orson Scott Card | The American Conservative

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 07:16:00 -0500

Janis Ian & Orson Scott Card | The American Conservative:

There is a lot of wisdom in this. People can disagree without hating. I am still conflicted on this issue, and to be honest seeing the reaction against Card just makes me want to sympathize with his side more- which isn’t intellectually honest, it is just emotive. we need more reasonable debate, not histrionics.