Minor Thoughts

Dune by Frank Herbert My rating: 6 of 5 stars Brian Herbert, on Dune. Dune is a modern-day conglomeration of familiar myths, a tale in which great sandworms guard a precious treasure of melange, the geriatric spice that represents, among other things, the finite resource of oil. The planet Arrakis features immense, ferocious worms that [...]

Glory Season by David Brin My rating: 5 of 5 stars Personal Enthusiasm: Loads of Fun The best science fiction is, at its heart, speculative fiction. These books start with a single big idea—a single question—and develop it. The great books take that idea and develop it superbly. Glory Season is a great book. It [...]

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You could easily tell who the North Korean citizens were. Each had a pin on his or her shirt, right over the heart, featuring either the beaming smile of Kim Il Sung, the Great Leader and Eternal President of Korea—the only official head of state who is dead—or a more innocuous pin with the North Korean flag on it.

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This is absolutely wrong and is a very good example of why the current hysteria over illegal immigration is a bad thing. We are a nation of immigrants. We shouldn’t be so paranoid about immigrants that we’re willing to treat citizens like crooks.

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We had the bare bones of a script and then there was a writers’ strike and there was nothing we could do. We couldn’t employ a writer to finish it. I say to myself, “Never again”, but who knows? There was me trying to rewrite scenes – and a writer I am not.’

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Under Arizona law, as in most states, anytime two or more people work together to support or oppose a ballot issue, they become a “political committee.” Even before they speak, they must register with the state, and then they must track every penny they spend, and if spending more than a small amount, fill out complicated reports detailing every move.

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A. Barton Hinkle examines the Virginia state budget and determines that increased Medicaid spending is the big reason that the state government has had to cut the budget in recent years.

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Maybe it’s time to consider reforming Medicare? Before it eats up state budgets completely? And maybe we could do it without demonizing the one party that’s willing to talk about it? (Hello, Congressman Paul Ryan.)

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Some health plans require you to fill your prescriptions through mail order pharmacies. Some patients don’t like that requirement. In New York State, that requirement will soon be a thing of the past.

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I just discovered this 2007 article from Paul Graham. He said something that I’ve vaguely thought of before but I’ve never even come close to articulating it this well.

We all have lots and lots of stuff. We like to think that it’s valuable because we’ll use it one day. It’s not. It’s worthless.

What …