The March of Folly looks like an interesting book. From Richard Clarke’s article in TNR’s “Iraq: What Next?” issue:

Still, President Bush insists on staying in Iraq, and it is easy to understand why. In The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman documented repeated instances when leaders persisted in disastrous policies well after they knew that success was no longer an available outcome. They did so because the personal consequences of admitting failure would be very high. So they postponed the disastrous end to their policy adventures, hoping for a deus ex machina or to eventually shift the blame. There is no need to do that now. Everyone already knows who is to blame. It is time to stop the adventure, lower our sights, and focus on America’s core interests. And that means withdrawal of major combat units.

People really haven’t changed much over the years, and our leaders are, after all, people. Seems like it might be an interesting read. You can read more in the comments over at the Washington Monthly post where I found the links to the TNR article.

Last week, I heard an interview on NPR’s Talk of the Nation talking about a new graphic adaptation of the 9/11 Commission Report. At first, I thought that this was an odd idea. Why would anyone want the 9/11 Report as a graphic novel? Are you ready for the words BLAMM! to be shown next to an image of a burning Pentagon? As I listened to the authors explain their motivation, I was convinced that this might be a unique way of communicating the 585 page 9/11 Commission Final Report.

It didn’t hurt that these authors were excellent comic writers and artists in their own right. Sid Jacobson created Richie Rich and was the editor-in-chief at Harvey Comics. Ernie Colón worked at Harvey, Marvel and DC Comics and oversaw “production of the Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, … and The Flash.” Both sounded very serious about why they were doing this and what this project meant to them.

I also began to see this as a piece of art that, while completely based on fact and striving to be true to the Final Report, offered a new way to view the tragic events of that day. Even before the authors brought it up, I remembered the power of reading Maus for the first time. I wrote then that a graphic novel about the Holocaust seemed “wrong” at first blush, but after reading it, I really appreciated having and reading Maus.

This graphic adaption also rises to the occasion. There are fold out timelines of all four planes. There are actually two timelines, one focusing on the events on board the aircraft and the other focusing on when each agency knew about the various events. While you can read much of this in the Executive Summary, this representation makes it easy to understand how the events fit together.

It’s these thousand word pictures that allow a reader to choose whether they want to skim the text or to dive into the details and the touches in the panels. The artwork is beautiful and rich in detail. The writing is clear, simple, and expertly crafted to capture the essential points of each section of the Final Report. Ultimately, it is a serious testament to both the quality and potential of this medium as well as the convictions and vision of the authors. I’m sure they got some incredulous looks when they proposed this project, but the final product says they made the right choice.

I’m watching Bridget Jones’s Diary right now while I’m working, and I just realized that the woman that plays Bridget’s friend Jude is the same actress that plays Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter movies. Shirley Henderson plays both characters even though they’re completely different ages. It’s actually pretty damn impressive that she can pass for a teenager even though she’s 40.

I’ve been following the progression of the Google Print lawsuits with some interest because it’s the first foray of new technology companies taking established online practices into a traditional offline business. A quick summary of Google Print is on Google’s web site, but simply put, Google wants to index all of the books in the world so that you can search them as easily as you search the web today. It makes sense, and really, especially from a technical standpoint, it’s exactly the same problem they have searching the web.

I remember writing a research papers in college and using the computerized system there. Books were only searchable as far as the subjects they covered, which really depending on a summary and the keywords that someone assigned to them. In other words, you never really got a hit if a book that was really about the history of American rail technology had an interesting chapter or subchapter that talked about unions, for example (I was doing a paper on communications technology and union organization). Google Print ought to be a huge boon to researchers of all types, whether they be academic or bloggers trying to learn more about a subject.

We’re seeing this collision of old vs. new so often now… Music libraries should be searchable (iTunes), video should be on demand (TiVo, OnDemand, iTunes, etc.), and books and magazines, too. Google is pushing the boundaries on the integration of paper and plastic into the digital realm with Google Print and their search for subscription content (allows magazines/premium content services like Insider to get indexed without giving away content). It almost makes me feel like the dystopian view of the future may not pan out… Instead of getting bombarded by more and more advertising, maybe we’ll hit a balance where we get ads and we pay for some ad free private viewing/consumption.

Another interesting observation: Google has been defending the program on their company blog. By the way, those of you that are trying to set up corporate or organizational blogs, the Google model is one approach to look at. Even though they don’t allow comments.

I didn’t only watch movies on my trip out to California. I was also able to finish Freakonomics on the flight back. After hearing a number of coworkers and friends absolutely rave about this book, I picked it up a few months back. Because of a little thing called football, I wasn’t able to read the book until last week. The book was a very quick read. I was able to finish it without reading that fast on the trip from CA to CT.

The subtitle of the book is “A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything” which pretty well sums up the premise of the book. He approaches common social problems from an economist’s perspective, using statistical analysis and large data sets to challenge conventional wisdom. The book really is a more accessible version of some of the research papers Levitt has produced over his academic career. Pop economics blended with typical current affairs stuff, if you will.

If you’re easily offended by hard questions, this book probably isn’t for you. The most controversial segment of the book, which recently got Bill Bennett in trouble, was a study by Levitt that suggested that the legalization of abortion seems to have helped the reduction of crime in the 90s, more so than the reasons commonly cited, including the strong economy and alternative policing tactics. This is a tricky subject to broach, but an interesting analysis.

Another interesting chapter, titled “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live with Their Moms,” uses a unique set of data acquired from a Chicago gang to draw interesting conclusions that show that the local crack dealers are more like the burger flippers at McDonalds than the image we have of wealthy drug dealers. The story about how they got the data is as interesting and as central as the conclusions they were able to draw. Not that the conclusions are anything to sneeze at:

By the 1980s, virtually every facet of life was improving for black Americans, and the progress showed no signs of stopping.

Then came crack.

While crack use was hardly a black-only phenomenon, it hit black neighborhoods much harder than most. The evidence can be seen by measuring the same indicators of societal progress cited above. After decades of decline, black infant mortality began to soar in the 1980s, as did the rate of low-birthweight babies and parent abandonment. The gap between black and white schoolchildren widened. The number of blacks sent to prison tripled. Crack was so dramatically destructive that if its effect is averaged for all black Americans, not just crack users and their families, you will see that the group’s postwar progress was not only stopped cold but was often knocked as much as ten years backward. Black Americans were hurt more by crack cocaine than by any other single cause since Jim Crow.

That’s a pretty powerful statement.

My main complaint with the book is that it is pop economics. I would’ve liked a bit more detail into the numbers. Or, perhaps, a clear footnote (not endnote) for each section that indicated where the study was published. That way, someone like me who is actually interested in how the numbers work out and some extra detail is encouraged to look up the data. While the book begins with a warning against believing conventional wisdom, and not trusting experts blindly, the book does little in a practical sense to encourage readers to take that next step: challenge the data, the assumptions, and try to understand it. It’s a little nitpick in an otherwise very entertaining and informative book.

BTW, the authors have a web site and a blog, too.

Via Boing Boing, I’ve learned that this is Banned Books Week. The ALA has a great kit for teachers and libraries. Exploring these books is a great way to remember the history of our country and the progression of social mores and taboos through time. I suspect there are valuable lessons for our modern times in some of those books, as well.

They’re also offering, via Audible, a free chapter of 2004’s most challenged book, The Chocolate War.

Here’s the poster. Love the quotes:

I finished the latest Harry Potter book this morning and have to say, wow. The book was worth waiting around B&N for, even worth the loss of sleep to finish it in about 12 hours (I slept for about 5.5 hours in there). If you’re a Harry Potter fan, I think you’ll be happy.

I won’t give away anything much about the plot, so this is safe to read if you haven’t read it yet. I will say that the ending was a shocker and I’m still running through the ramifications of it 8 hours later. Without giving away much, a central recurring character is killed at the end of this book. The way it’s set up is stunning, so I doubt you will expect it coming. I think that was it… it was so sudden that I had no preparation.

Fans of the series won’t be disappointed, though. The book moves quickly and there’s little of the brooding downtime that characterized the last two books. Those expecting any sort of conclusion, even a limited one like the second book, will be disappointed. This book is made, like the previous two, to make you want the next book. It’s not forced, but beyond the death of that character, not much progress is made in this book toward the end goal of defeating Voldemort. In fact, the entire book is about two things: Harry growing another year older (which Rowling is very good at writing), and finding out what Harry will need to do in the next book to finally defeat Voldemort. We learn the mechanism without actually learning the details of how he will actually execute it.

Rating: 8/10

I’m planning on picking up my copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince at Barnes and Noble’s Midnight Magic event tonight. I figured it might be fun to check the thing out to see how crazy people get about Harry Potter.

Of course, I just stopped in to the store to pick up my numbered bracelet and was stunned at the preparations underway. The staff there informed me that they expect around a thousand people at least tonight and that during the last Potter book release, all the surrounding parking lots were full with people parking at the mall a half mile away and walking over to the store. That’s just nuts!

I’m still going to go, but I’m already concerned at what I’m going to see when I get there. I might take my camera and get some photographs for all of you.

Update: Mission accomplished. I did have to park down the road but I think they had fewer people than they expected. Something like 400 wristbands were handed out and since most people brought 2 or more people, they had something like 800 or so folks around. It was hot and loud but not very chaotic. Lot of high school children there. I’ve never been quite so aware of my age as I was surrounded by the parents and their kids… I’m likely more than twice as old as most of the kids there and perhaps 3 times as old as the kids this book is targetted at.