Friday, October 06, 2017

🌟A🌟L🌟A🌟N🌟


23 comments:

  1. "Why, what a remarkable coincidence! This Saturday past was my 39th birthday too!"
    --Alan

    Wait, your birthday is September 30th and we missed it?!!?!! How did that happen?!!

    Well, let's fix that right now:
    🌟 ALAN 🌟 IS 🌟 FIRST!! 🌟

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    1. Thank you, listener. That serving of cake is just the right size.

      Alan

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  2. Cat--rather than Das Kapital (which is a VERY heavy lift), allow me to suggest'The Life and Teaching of Karl Marx," by Max Beer, only 132 pages. Download here [Click] or here. [Click]

    Here is
    a Librivox recording of The Communist Manifesto [Click]

    And here is the Wikipedia article on it. [Click]

    I'm pretty sure I read it a long time ago--maybe I will have to read it again. But a dramatic reading would be good, too!

    --Alan

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    1. Great links! Thanks for posting these. I hope Cat sees them.

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    2. If she doesn't, we can tell her. Glad you like them. As memory serves me, the version of The Communist Manifesto that I read (partly? completely?) fifty-odd years ago had an introduction or preface that spoke about X number of years ago when it was hurled across the leaden skies like a lightning bolt and so forth; but that isn't in any of the versions I found last night. I gather that some folks take issue with Max Beer's interpretation of Marxism, but I found his book quite readable and see no reason to quibble about technicalities when one is just looking for a starting place where one can get a handle on a subject. I realized it was heavy enough that I needed to have a printed copy to study, and got a good one via albris.com [thanks again, Susan!]. Someday, maybe next year, I will go back and study it again.

      --Alan

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  3. It is fascinating to me to read Marx's description of the growth of capitalist enterprises, and to realize that it exactly describes Apple Computer and other big businesses of the present day. Elsewhere he contemplates in passing what will happen to society when robots do all the work! And given what was happening in Europe in Marx's time, it was perfectly reasonable to expect the proletarian revolution to come very soon. (Which reminds me of photos of parts of Paris reduced to rubble by Prussian cannon fire after the Paris Commune was crushed; the French government requested the assistance of the Prussian army.)

    --Alan

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    1. Here [Click] is a photo from Paris after The Commune was crushed. Note the blurred horses and cart; there were probably people there too, but the exposure was so long they can't be seen. The camera was probably similar to a pinhole camera.

      --Alan

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  4. Thoughts on Guns and Culture[Click] We de-normalized smoking tobacco, too.

    Title[Click] Boy, do I remember the failure of the first attempted satellite launch with a Vanguard rocket.

    —Alan

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    1. Oops--I was in a hurry. Here is the repaired Vanguard I link:

      Vanguard I still in orbit, sixty years on.[Click] Boy, do I remember the failure of the first attempted satellite launch with a Vanguard rocket.

      —Alan

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  5. Trump sets himself up for a big fail on the Iran agreement.[Click] Either in Congress or in US influence and trade. Who could have known that the EU has laws in place to deal with US economic pressure?

    —Alan

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  6. listener, heads up. Somebody has hijacked your contact list and is sending spam under your name. I didn't look at the email address it was coming from or they wouldn't have tricked me. It starts out "is this what we were talking about". Not at all familiar with tech and don't know the fix, but wanted to let you know.

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    1. It's not necessarily listener's contact list that they got access to, based on my experience a bit over a year ago. In fact, they couldn't have gotten access to my contact list since it's on my computer, not anybody's web site. What seems to have happened is that they got access to the contact list of somebody who shared some of my contacts and then put my name on the emails they sent out. Anybody who had access to and could understand the detailed header information could tell that the the originating email address wasn't actually mine.

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    2. No fake e-mail from listener here.

      Alan

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    3. Thanks for letting me know that this happened, Susan.

      But it's weird! The interesting thing is that I do not keep a contact list anywhere. I do not keep an address list on my computer at all, just so that it cannot be hacked. I have to go to my iPhone to work out an address, because it remembers them automagically without my maintaining a list there. I can't imagine how it happened. So far I've only heard this from you. Thanks, Alan.

      Thanks, Bill. I appreciated knowing about you experience.

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  7. It appears that Nancy Pelosi and associates are trying to portray Paul Ryan as an elitist,[Click] and in a pretty stupid way. If trued, that is disgusting. Read about Paul Ryan’s early life here.[Click]

    —Alan

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  8. About five years ago, someone used my email to "send" spam all over the world. I only found out when some of the receivers emailed me back with curses. In the event, all they ever had was the addy. Their spoofing was good enough that I got blamed. Took about six months to clear out my inbox.

    No fake emails from listener here.

    And belated HAPPY, Alan!!

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  9. The last American in an iron lung[Click]

    http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/10/06/arnold-schwarzenegger-oktoberfest-215685?lo=ap_f1[Click] “The Terminator is suiting up for a new adversary: Donald Trump.” He turned out a lot better than I expected; credit where credit is due. The California redistricting commission he made happen has been, in my opinion, partially crippled by partisan shenanigans, but it’s a good start.

    America’s government is getting old[Click]

    —Alan

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  10. Thanks for the happys, all. We had a combination celebration--birthdays for me and our daughter, wedding anniversary, and recovery from back surgery (ongoing) for Miyoko.

    --Alan

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    1. WHEN was your Anniversary and how many years? All this and Naomi's birthday too?! WOW!!

      I'm glad Miyoko is recovering. Is her prognosis good?

      It sounds like you get the Birthday Blitz effect this time of year too. Ha! My birthday falls between two granddaughters' birthdays in September, followed closely by three of our sons' birthdays, one of whom has an Anniversary in there too. Mayhem of the best sort!! 😆

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    2. September 9th, 34 years. Prognosis excellent. There is no statistical evidence that operating on herniated or ruptured discs is any better than patience, but statistics apply only to large collections of data, not individual cases. We gave the non-surgical approach a fair trial--15 months--and then insisted on surgery as things had taken a decided turn for the worse. There was marked improvement the morning after surgery, and Miyoko reports clear improvement every day or two in the severe numbness that has plagued her. She is obviously walking better and better. She has been shopping three times this past week, and this weekend will try driving short distances. It's great Naomi is home and can help, as well as provide company.

      --Alan

      P.S.: After this post has been up for a day or so, could you delete it for me, listener? TIA

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  11. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Alan. I must apologize for being late. My brain keeps taking little vacations. I actually asked a clerk if I could pick up my T-day ham on Nov. 28. Duh.

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    1. No apology necessary, Susan. My brain sometimes seems to have retired before the rest of me...

      Alan

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