This book is about quantum mechanics and entanglement. You will know more about QM after reading it, but trust me, you will not understand it any better. It is too weird and there are no analogies in our macroscopic world that apply… not even causality. The book is a good history of the development of this crazy part of physics, from Newton and Young through Heisenberg, Bohr, Einstein and Bell.
QM seems to be saying that two particles that are separated by great distance can, some how, instantly influence another. This seems to violate relativity (which it kind of does). Einstein rejected the QM model because it was proposing "spooky action at a distance". For most of the 20th century, no one knew who was right: Bohr, the champion of QM, or Einstein, the master of relativity. Einstein is famous for saying "god does not play dice with the universe". He was wrong and Bohr was right.
The book spends quite some time on the infamous two slit experiment.
Richard Feynman had this to say about the two slit experiment:
"We choose to examine a phenomenon (the two slit experiment) that is impossible, absolutely impossible, to explain in any classical way. And which has in it the heart of quantum mechanics. In reality, it contains the only mystery."
The ideas in this book are far too deep to explore in a short piece like this. So rather than trying to write notes about the contents, I am going to describe the famous two slit experiment.
Newton showed that light was a wave using a prism. Waves display interference. Click the link to see water wave two-slit interference. Young's two slit experiment shined monochromatic light (light of one colour) through two vertical slits set a certain distance apart. When the light passes through the two slits and appears on a screen, it shows patterns of light and dark, aka "interference". Liight was a wave. Then Einstein came along and explained the photoelectric effect in which light is clearly acting like a particle (called a photon). Light is both a wave and a particle, and neither, at the same time! This is known as "wave-particle duality".
Flash forward a few years. The experiment is refined. With modern tools, they can see where and when a single photon hits the detectors. Laser light is used to create the interference pattern. Billions of photons interfering with each other to create an interference pattern on the detector.
So far, so good. Nothing odd is happening here.
If we turn the brightness down, or in other words, fire fewer and fewer photons of light, we would expect to see interference pattern disappear because there will not be enough photons to interact with each other to create interference. In the extreme case, experimenters can fire one photon at a time, separated by as much time as desired. In this scenario, it is obvious that the photon must pass through one of the slits and, since it is alone, no interference can appear. But… it does! As each photon is fired, slowly over time, a diffraction pattern emerges! This makes no sense. The only way to explain this is to say that the photon goes through both slits at once and interferes with itself! That is three exclamation points in one paragraph.
It gets stranger. If the experimenter makes any attempt to figure out which slits the photons go through, the pattern disappears. The reason for this is partly explained by what the word "look" means in this context. To "look" at a photon or any subatomic particle, we must bounce something off it. Doing this at the atomic level is like firing a bullet at a BB. If you hit the BB, you know where it was, but you now have no idea in which direction the BB is now travelling. To know more precisely where a particle is, you must hit it harder, and that act upsets the QM applecart. This is just a restatement of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. QM effects are reliable enough to make your smart phone work, but only if you do not look too closely at the mechanisms. If you look, QM hides.
No one has been able to explain this in terms people can understand, and no one has been able to find an exception to the rules.
The remainder of the book discusses the weird world of entanglement., focusing on Bell's Theorem which ultimately defeated Einstein's world view.
Dumb asses light Deepak Chopra like to read into QM some magical effect that binds us all together. I am tempted to call the "the Force". That is rubbish. It should be noted that entanglement does seem to work at infinite speed, but it cannot be used to communicate instantly over vast distances. Einstein is still right about that.
On April 26th, 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor number four exploded. The explosion lifted a more than 200 ton "bio-shield" named Elina into the air, exposing the reactor's core.
If you have seen the docudrama about Chernobyl, then you are already aware of much of the contents of this book. I wanted to read it to better understand the physics. What I got was a better understanding of how the worst nuclear disaster in history could have happened at all. The short answer is that the USSR was crumbling, inefficient, and corrupt. The USSR was most concerned about saving face, extolling Soviet science as the best in the world, and doing everything on the cheap.
The result was the second major nuclear disaster in the USSR. A weapons-grade plutonium producing reactor in Siberia had a similar meltdown during the height of the cold war, but the USSR was able to keep it secret.
In their arrogance, the USSR opted on a graphite moderated reactor design, rather than the water moderated design used everywhere else in the world. They eschewed the giant concrete containment vessels that Western eyes associate with nuclear reactors... thinking themselves too smart, and their reactor designs so safe, that they would never have an accident (again). The Soviets built 10 RBMK (in Russian: High Power Channel Reactor) reactors. These reactors were built by a system that had to deal with vendors who routinely supplied sub-standard goods. Seventy percent of one major vendor's goods were faulty.
On one occasion, the Chernobyl plant out-performed its quota by 10%. This was accomplished in part by delaying routine maintenance operations. This sort of thing happened all the time.
Here is my major take-away from the book: the Chernobyl accident lead directly to the collapse of the Soviet Union three years later. Ecological activism became associated with anti-nuclear and anti-Soviet feelings. Lithuania and, most importantly, Ukraine, wanted out. Ukraine got out on December 1, 1991.
The explosion of reactor number four happened during a test of some of the reactor's emergency systems. The fatal test would, among other things, test the SCRAM (Safety Control Rods Activation Mechanism) functions. To do this, they wanted to simulate power losses on some equipment, such as safety equipment. If you think that sounds stupid, you are right. What happens next is complicated.
The boron control rods are tipped with graphite. The boron slows the reaction down and graphite speeds it up. So as the rods go in, the power goes up, and then down. Another accelerating effect involving cavities full of steam (called the positive void effect) also increased power output. Power output went from 200 MWts to 30,000 MWts in just a few seconds. Then it exploded.
What happens next was well covered in the docudrama. Chunks of red hot, and extremely radioactive, graphite were lying about on the ground. Fire fighters did not know what to make of them. For some who got too close, it would mean their death. Even remote controlled vehicles could not stand the radiation.
Initially, the powers that be relied on dosimeter readings, which indicated a tolerable amount of radiation. They downplayed the severity based on that. But what they chose to ignore was that the numbers that the dosimeters were giving were the maximum they could register! When better meters were used, the true picture came into focus, namely that the radiation was well into the dangerous/lethal zone.
Another problem was the water table. More Russian arrogance at work… they should have chosen a sight where ground water was not an issue. If the reactor got to the ground water, another explosion could be expected, along with radioactive water seeping into everything. In a heroic act, miners managed to tunnel under the reactor and freeze the ground solid with liquid nitrogen. They invoked a common Soviet saying: "Who, if not we?"
All things considered, the story of Chernobyl could have been much worse. A whole town, many small villages, and thousands of acres of farm land was contaminated in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. But all told, immediate deaths could be counted on one hand; and the final total, which includes cancers caused by radiation, and guesses on future death tolls is between 4,000 (from the UN) and 90,000 (from Green Peace) souls.
I would like to think that the Chernobyl disaster had some positive impacts. As mentioned, it was the catalyst of the fall of the USSR (which Putin is trying to resurrect). No new RBMK reactors are being built. The original plan was shut these reactors down, but that idea was quickly modified when the practical realities were considered. People need power to live.
The interior of the Chernobyl sarcophagus will be deadly to human life for 20,000 years.
This was a very easy read. It is very well written. The author is aware of the avalanche of Russian names the book presents. He is careful to remind the reader of each players title and position whenever an obscure Russian re-enters the narrative. It has an excellent index.
A note about radiation:
The units have changed over the years. The old measures are the curie, rad and rem. They are replaced by the becquerel (GBq), gray (Gy), and sievert (Sv). They respectively measure the emitted radiation, the amount of radiation absorbed, and the biological damage done.
The 442 Infantry Regiment was, pound for pound (i.e. pro-rated for size), the best and most decorated fighting unit in the European Theatre. Two dozen Medal of Honors; Seven Presidential Unit Citations; 9,000 Purple Hearts; 6,000 Bronze and Silver Stars, and more. More than one medal per man! They gained fame for saving the WWII "Lost Battalion" of the 443 Infantry Regiment after they were surrounded by Germans for over a week. This book is about the rescue of the Lost Battalion and who did the rescuing.
In addition to its battle record, the 442nd was unique in another way. The 442 was a segregated unit. If you are thinking they were black… close but no cigar. They were all Nisei, aka Japanese Americans, except for the officers, who were all white. All were volunteers, most from the Japanese concentration camps that were set up by the bigoted US government after Pearl Harbor. Many were from Hawaii. Canada segregated the entire Japanese population of British Columbia during the war, so we should be humble. Like the segregated black units, the Nisei were shit on by their country, but fought for it anyway.
If you are a movie buff, there is the 1951 film about the 442nd's exploits called "Go For Broke" (the unofficial Regimental motto) starring Van Johnson. It is hard to find except on DVD. I recommend it.
The Nisei had to beg to be allowed to fight. Finally, FDR made a speech where he described what a true American was, and how all Americans had the right to fight. He did not mention that those same Americans he was referring to were stripped of their most basic rights because of US bigotry.
The 442 served in Italy with distinction. On October 24, 1944, the unit found itself in the Vosges Forest in France. In two months, the Battle of the Bulge would begin. The Vosges has Germany to the north east and Switzerland to the south east. The 441st Texas battalion was cut off and surrounded on hill 595 (595 is the hill's height above sea level). The Vosges is a very dense forest, featuring 45 degree hills and continuous cold rain and mist.
The Germans were defending their homeland's border. They fought fiercely and bravely. Both sides were under-supplied, and neither side knew how poor off the other was. Both sides faced the same issues: miserable weather, foul water, little or no food for days, dwindling ammo supplies, and limited ability to treat wounded. For the Americans, one of the biggest risks was exploding trees. When hit with an artillery, trees splintered into a thousand flying knives.
The 442nd was assigned the task of rescuing the 441st Texas Battalion. The German's were one thing that demand attention. Others include trench foot; acts of enormous courage and sacrifice; lack of everything (food, water, medicine, bandages etc); and friends dying every day as they fought to free the 441st. The biggest problem was resupply for the trapped Texans. Planes dropped gas tanks full of supplies that landed in enemy hands as often as they did friendly hands. Artillery was used to shell the Americans with supplies… a very dangerous procedure, as you might imagine. One soldier was killed by a can of cheese from a exploding resupply shell (the resupply shells had small charges in them).
This book, like many others, documents the conditions of war… hell on Earth. There are many tear-inducing moments in the narrative.
Perhaps the most galling thing about the battle was the actions of Major General John Dahlquist. He was an asshole of major proportions. Every few hours, he would get status information from the 441st and 442nd. Low on everything, fighting strength diminished, many untreated wounded etc. And every few hours, Dahlquist, the overall commander in the area, would give orders to do what he was just told was not possible to do. On several occasions, a junior officer flatly refused to carry out his orders, as they amounted to suicide for his men. The 442nd Nisei hated Dahlquist and respected their commander, Gordon Singles, for telling him to shove off. Shortly after the combat in the Vosges was over, Dahlquist assembled the 442nd for review. He was outraged that so few of them showed up... until he was informed that what he saw was all that was left of the 442nd. Dahlquist got in trouble later in the aftermath of the war for cozying up to Goering. IOW: he liked Germans better than he like Japanese Americans. Dahlquist's bigotry was baked into the army at the time.
Some years later, Dahlquist attended a parade review of the 442nd. Dahlquist approached Singles in front of his men. Singles snapped to attention. Dahlquist held out his hand, suggesting that perhaps now they could bury the hatchet. Singles said nothing and held his salute until Dahlquist withdrew his hand and returned the salute. A perfect take-down. The 442nd remembered.
Even after the war was over, things had not changed. Some west coast States tried to keep the Japanese from returning to their "homes" (in quotes, because their homes had been sold)! Many soldiers in the 442nd were put forward for medals. From the Congressional Medal of Honor to the Purple Heart, and everything in between. But after the war, most of the 442nd's medals were downgraded. This was blatant bigotry in action. It was not until Presidents Reagan and Clinton that some of these sins were redressed. Reagan paid reparations for stolen property and Clinton addressed the medals issue. Unfortunately, most of the major medal recipients were already dead. The last died about 10 years ago.
I often complain about books that lack a decent index. This one is not one of those.
The Blank Slate refers to the idea that we are, when we are born, a tabula rasa (Latin for "clean slate"), with potential to become anything. It is a central tenet of most religions. Its pals are the Noble Savage and the Ghost in the Machine. To philosophers, they are known as empiricism, romanticism, and dualism. The three get along quite well. When one fails to capture an idea, the others can step in and save the day. Ensoulation, the moment when the soul enters the body, is wrapped up in it all too. Popes and dictators like the Blank Slate, as does religion. Nobility does not like it since they are born into nobility, presumably because they know they are inherently noble.
Sociobilogy has become the Standard Social Science Model. Nature versus nurture is the debate. On one side is the Blank Slate (we can become anything we want), and on the other is genetic determinism ("I yam what I yam", as Popeye would say). This creates issues. For example, any hint that our genetics dominates who we are might lead to justifiable racism. If the Blank Slate dominates, then racism is a cultural issue that can be addressed.
The answer throughout the book seems to be "It is shades of gray". You are not genetically fated, nor can you just shrug off your genetic heritage.
Here are five ideas that represent the "cognitive revolution".
The rest of the book analyzes human behavior from various points of view, always landing, I think, on a useful compromise between the two extremes of analysis.
Three recent major discoveries that superficially support the Blank Slate have added to the demise of the Blank Slate. First, the human genome was mapped. It has a surprisingly small number of genes (34,000 or so). The small number lent credence to the idea that anything complex could not be baked in. It also opened the door for the soul (fewer genes means more room for the Ghost in the Machine). Second, computer models of neural networks have led to new ideas about cognition. And the third is neural plasticity, which suggested that the brain is like clay and can be remodeled as needed. Pinker refutes these interpretations.
One look at a new-born antelope that is up and running within minutes of its birth speaks volumes. That creature was not born with a Blank Slate. The Blank Slate cannot be blank for it it is, it could do nothing.
Biologists like E. O. Wilson applied the ideas of Darwin and evolution to the Sociobiology of the human race and the shit hit the fan. Wilson was attacked for years with straw man arguments. The attackers claimed that Wilson's ideas justify Nazism and genocide. Their arguments are unscientific and stupid, even to a lay person like me. Remarkably, Stephen J. Gould made some awful arguments against Sociobiology. People's reactions seemed more visceral than logical.
Needless to say, all this talk about evolution and brains processing information does not sit well with the "the church". Radical religion hates these ideas and fights them tooth and nail.
A note about ensoulation. The Roman Catholic Church has been very clear: the soul enters the body at conception. Period. I have two close friends that are identical twins. Identical twins occur when a fertilized egg spontaneously splits, one to three days after conception. This is a problem. Now we have two people and only one soul! This problem can happen in reverse as well (two souls, only one egg). The church's ideas are not consistent with scientific reality. It took 300 years for the church to recognize that Galileo was right. It will take longer than that before the church ditches the idea of souls. After all, if you do not have a soul, they cannot threaten you with going to hell.
It is December 13, 2022 as I write this. An article about an anti-abortion judge crossed my desk. It is a good illustration of Blank Slate reasoning. Judge Kacsmaryk spoke about the sexual revolution in 2015. He said: "… sought public affirmation of the lie that the human person is autonomous blobs of Silly Putty unconstrained by nature or biology, and that marriage, sexuality, gender identity, and even the unborn child must yield to the erotic desires of the liberated state." There is actually a chapter in Pinker's book called "Silly Putty"!
There is a lot of angst over human nature. The next chapters of the book devote themselves to four issues: If people are innately different, discrimination is justified; If people are innately immoral, there is no hope; If people are simply a consequence of biology, then there is no free will; and; If people are just biological products, there is no meaning to life.
I have had a great deal of disdain for clinical psychology over the years. The McMartin Preschool trial, the most expensive trial in US history, is a testament to the damage that can be done by mucking about with things you do not understand. McMartin was about psychologists who accused teachers of pedophilia based on statements from eager-to-please, prompted children. Pinker seems to share my disdain. But, over the last few decades, it would seem clinical psychology has matured and is now much more empirical in nature.
A lot of data has been gathered, much from studies of separated twins and separated siblings, that have lead to some conclusions that drive your average parent nuts, until they understand what the conclusions actually mean. The issue circles around the debate between genetics (nature) and nurture (child rearing). For example: Insanity is hereditary… you get it from your kids. (Pinker's book is not without humor.)
We are not all the same. Sex makes a big difference. It is generally true that males compete and females choose; males want quantity, females want quality. This is a natural outcome of evolution and the degree of investment each parent has in their offspring. Females are generally much more invested in their children than males, if for no other reason than the fact that sex takes minutes, but gestation takes nine months (for humans)… and that is often just the start.
The remaining chapters of the book focus on the impact of the Blank Slate on Art, Politics, Gender, Violence and Children.
The chapter on Children was quite interesting. Using three rules and a lot of relatively new empirical data, some surprising conclusions can be reached.
The rules are:
Heritable traits become more so over time (e.g.: you get more like your parents as you get older).
That is surprising.
It is clear that the basic measurable traits of people are determined largely by their genes. Separated twins are remarkably similar to each other. Separated siblings less so, because they share less DNA. There is little a parent can do to change this. This does not mean that there is no such thing as "good parenting", just that good parenting is not going to turn a natural introvert into an extrovert.
This book was a long read, but worth it. It covers a lot of ground. This is hardly surprising since human nature is so complex. The general sense I had was that Pinker's analyses always seems to land in about the same spot that my instincts would land me. Of course, he gets there through strong arguments.
The issues raised by human nature get a lot of people really riled up (IMHO… mostly religious nuts). So much so that they fight back with a barrage of straw man arguments that seem to never want to die. When you say "some", they hear "all", and have a fit. When you say "may", they hear "must", and have a fit.
You do not need to understand statistics and probabilities to understand Pinker's arguments. You should have a reasonable understanding of what correlation coefficients (CCs) are and what they mean. The short version is this: Imagine you are watching two stocks. A CC of zero between the two stocks is saying that the stocks are unrelated. A CC of 1 is perfect correlation: When one stock goes up, so does the other, in lock step. A CC of -1 means when one stock goes up, the other goes down. Any other value means that sometimes one stock will go up and the other does not, with a certain probability.
My philosopher friend Dale Beyerstein has read the book and my comments. I have made some small changes to my essay based on them. I thought the following from him was worth including:
"Second, a substantive argument between you, me and Pinker: I think that religious types who blabber soul talk (no, they’re not Black!) are less are less driven by the blank slate hypothesis than Pinker or you argue. Yes, many think they need the blank slate idea to say that you, as essentially a soul, can choose anything you want (innate parts of the brain won’t stop you). But the real driver is their need for the free will defence so they can blame us rather than God for evil. There’s nothing stopping them from a “middle ground” position that holds that much of our behaviour is hard wired, but the important part of the soul that we use to choose right or wrong transcends the parts that are hard wired. In fact, many fire and brimstone preachers bang on and on about how we (our souls) must use our reason (in the soul) to transcend our bodily pleasures (sex!) that are so evil. In other words, religious types have less need for the blank slate than ----- Studies (substitute ‘Women’s’, ‘Black’, ‘Fat’, &c.) people in universities."
Aside on Logical Fallacies
There are many, many logical fallacies (more than 100). You should learn to recognize some of the big ones. Google the "argument from ignorance"; the "straw man" (see below); and confirmation bias as a start. If you have more time, just Google "logical fallacies".
Straw man arguments are a common logical fallacy. Since I mentioned them in this text, here is an example of a straw man argument.
You say "I believe in evolution."
Your opponent replies "So you think we descended from apes!"
The opponent is making a straw man argument by attacking you for something you did not say, nor even believe (the straw man). (We are not descended from apes. Mankind and apes share a common ancestor.)
This book deals with the biggest questions of all about the biggest thing of them all… the entire universe of universes, or if you prefer: life, the universe and everything.
These write-ups are really just my notes on what I have read. In many cases, the concepts are so large that my notes cannot do them justice and you must read the original source. This just such a case. This book contains some very large, deep ideas that I do not really understand and my notes cannot adequately reflect.
This book's index is quite poor. A pet peeve of mine.
Some basics the book discusses:
At this point, the book lays out a cosmic timeline beginning from a very hot and dense start 13.7 billion years ago, till now. Time starts in the Planck Era: from 10 to the -43 seconds to 10 to the -32 seconds. It goes on from there to 6 billion years ago when matter became less dense than energy and cosmic growth stopped decelerating and started accelerating. Which brings us to today.
It is very hard to summarize a book that deals largely in abstract ideas, but here goes.
Another interesting idea about time is discussed. We see an infinite future, but a finite past. This is asymmetric. But if you use a logarithmic clock, time appears infinite in both directions.
The descriptions of the many universe hypothesis is fun and intriguing, but as the author points out, these ideas are not scientific in that they are unfalsifiable.
The title of the book comes from Giordano Bruno who said, shortly before he was burned to death for heresy: "God is infinite so his universe must be too… He is glorified not in one, but in countless suns, not a single earth , a single world, but in a thousand thousand, I say an infinity of worlds."
No discussion of the universe and how it came about is complete without mentioning the anthropic principle. One way to look at the multiverse is as a beer with many bubbles. Each bubble is a universe, possibly with its own physics laws. The multiverse, as implied by inflation, also addresses the fine tuning argument (the idea that the universe was made just for us, or vice versa).
In its simplest form, the anthropic principle is basically a tautology. The universe is what it is because we are here to observe it. I.e.: the universe implies us, and we imply the universe that made us.
There are three main objections to the anthropic principle. 1) It is not scientific because we are cut off from the other bubbles. 2) The anthropic principle does not say what parameters in each universe can change, and which cannot. 3) The idea is based on a narrow interpretation of "life"
This book is very recent so it should represent our best ideas of how it all came to be. These are literally the largest ideas that the human mind has ever contemplated. Five thousand years ago, somebody speculated that we were super-duper special, and that we, and everything we see, was all created for us by a benevolent god. That idea is forgivable and a load of rubbish. As we have grown in knowledge, our specialness has all but disappeared. I find it utterly remarkable that we live in a time when we can ask these types questions and actually get answers. Of course, most of those answers are negatives, often in the form of "close, but no cigar". The good news it that we are getting new data every day (e.g.: the James Webb telescope, CERN, LIGO, COBE, Chandra etc)), , and these data underscore our ignorance and drive us forward.
This a graphic novel. I have some interest in WWII, The story is about the Jewish Holocaust in Poland. The Jews are mice, the NAZIss cats. It is an interesting and engrossing tale of the horrors that the Jews suffered in NAZI Poland, and the lengths that the few who survived had to go just to get stay alive.
As I write this in September 2022, this book was banned in several high schools in the USA.
This is another book that cannot be summarized. It is long, uses a small font, and is information dense. Since human history and war cannot be separated, you can view this book as a history of humanity through the lens of war.
The book opens and closes with Clausewitz. Clausewitz was a well known theorist about war and he argued famously that war was an extension of politics by other means. This book disagrees.
Keegan points out early that wars are often fought over religious issues, and that Muhammad, unlike Christ, was a man of violence who preached jihad. Islam is divided over two caliphs (successors to Muhammad). They disagree on who is in charge and the basic aims of Islam, which is often religion at knifepoint.
When guns were introduced to the battle field, many thought them unworthy of a soldier. In fact, Japan was so appalled at the idea that a common man could get a gun and kill man of high stature that they banned guns outright in order to perpetuate their close quarter combat military society. That all changed when the US sailed a gun ship into Tokyo harbor.
Throughout history, war and technology moved hand in hand. With each new weapon came new tactics and new goals.
The history of war is the history of empires and peoples… and there have been a lot of them through the ages. I had never heard of many of them, such as the Yanomamo of Peru: they were called "the fierce people" and were known for stylistic forms of ritual combat.
War as we know it started with the invention of the bow and arrow (man's deadliest innovation to date) . The bow is a simple machine used to store muscle energy as mechanical energy and quickly release it. The bow was a true stand-off weapon... a game changer. Later, the composite bow was invented. These bows shot arrows further and faster, were much smaller than their predecessors, and could be wielded easily from horseback. .
The first written history of war comes from Sumerians wall reliefs. Sumer was the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers around 5,000 years ago.
The next innovation was the chariot. One may wonder why the Egyptians et al did not ride horses into battle. Horses have changed a lot due to selective breeding. Five thousand years ago, horses were small. They were well muscled in the rear but could not carry much weight on their forelimbs. This meant that a rider had to sit way back on the horse, making control difficult. But horses were good at pulling things, like a chariot. Later in history, the chariot was abandoned for the mounted cavalry soldier.
Fortifications are discussed at some length. Fiction has made much of siege engines vs. fortifications. In reality, fortifications nearly always won out in a siege... until the age of gunpowder.
Much is made of the clash between the nomadic horse peoples of the steppe (e.g. Mongols) and the settlers and farmers of cities and towns. There really was no way for them to coexist as they both competed for the same resources.
Another group of well known raiders, the Vikings, used ships rather than horses.
The book also goes into depth on armies: how they are formed, manned, fed, organized etc. Armies are built in many ways: through enslavement, conscription, and through volunteers who are rewarded in some way, such as citizenship. Rome was built that way and Rome had the first body of professional fighting officers in history.
The introduction of iron was another game changer. Iron was strong, but very heavy, so most armor remained made of bronze. Cannons of bronze were supplanted by larger cannons of iron. Gunpowder allowed iron shots to fly horizontally which allowed cannons to undermine defensive fortifications. Siege engine shots were lobbed and generally dealt ineffective glancing blows.
There is so much information in this book that it is best used as a reference work. Subsequent chapters discuss logistics and supplies and, of course, the modern wars that shaped our world: The US Civil War, the French Revolution, WWI and WWII, the introduction of nuclear weapons, and so on.
Most Canadians have never heard of Ortona, much less the Battle of Ortona (December, 1943). It was a relatively small operation compared to other primarily Canadian battles such as Hong Kong, Juno Beach on D-Day, the Battle of the Scheldt (12,000 casualties), and Dieppe. But Ortona was a costly Canadian battle for its size. Canada lost at the Battle of Hong Kong, and Dieppe. It won at the Scheldt, and took Juno Beach with only a few casualties. And it won at Ortona. That the German's would lose was a forgone conclusion, but they would make Canada pay dearly over three bloody weeks.
Ortona is a small town at just about the same latitude as Rome, on the east cost of Italy. The east coast of Italy is very rugged and Ortona is the Italy's only deep water port on that coast… hence its strategic importance. Even so, the port was tiny and only capable of handling one or two ships at a time. Port or no port, Ortona had to be taken as the allies moved north up the Italian boot.
As mentioned, Ortona was an almost all Canuck operation. An Indian division was there as well. The Seaforth Highlanders, one of the divisions that fought at Ortona, was raised largely from southern British Columbia.
The book has a glossary which was helpful. For example, I had to look up "PPCLI" several times before I memorized its meaning, Specifically the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry (obvious, right?).
The fighting around Ortona was savage. Canadians were asked to attack dug in positions over and over. Creeping barrages helped when they did not land on friendly troops. Mud was everywhere. It bogged down tanks and made progress on foot exhausting. On the up side, if a mortar shell lands in the mud, it detonates late and the troops were largely protected from shrapnel. Mortars killed more soldiers on both sides than any other weapon.
Germans fought dirty. On several occasions, German soldiers would surrender under a white flag, only to drop the flag and attack using hidden weapons when the time was right. They booby trapped everything as they withdrew. The combat pros knew the things to avoid, but green troops might pick up a souvenir luger that was attached to a bomb.
Fun fact: One young lieutenant named Farley Mowat shows up in the story of Ortona.
This book is a about a battle. The battle raged back and forth, often over the same patch of ground. The book details all these movements, but it also consists of short, often personal, stories about soldiers of all ranks. In many cases, their stories end in death. For example, it was most difficult to read about a short passage about a squad of reinforcements arriving on scene. The town of Ortona was largely in Canadian hands, but the Germans were fighting as they retreated and they knew the ranges to every point in town. Green, undertrained replacement troops were not unusual in battles that chewed through people at such a huge rate. A green officer lead a troop of about twenty fresh soldiers into Ortona. He marched them straight down a main street in parade fashion towards the Canadian front! The Germans dropped a motor round directly on the new squad, killing half of them. None of the fatally injured had ever seen combat.
In another brief anecdote, a new under-trained green soldier arrived at the front and was given several type 36 hand grenades. The type 36 is the classic American "pineapple" hand grenade that you see in the movies all the time. He had to ask his sergeant what they were!
The details of the battle are not important, but the sacrifices made by our fellow Canadians are. A typical day in the battle would consist of waking up at the crack of dawn in a cold, wet, fox hole. That would be followed by cold rations. Most days would have some action.... Perhaps an attempt to take or re-take some small house to be used as an HQ. A counter-attack would follow. If you were not fighting Germans, you were fighting mud, and getting sniped at, as you tried to move equipment and personnel about the battlefield. Artillery, machine guns and mortars were both side's weapons of choice. If you were lucky, you got a shrapnel wound that would have you moved to the rear, or even home. If you were not lucky, and you did not fall victim to battle fatigue (PTSD today), you might get shot and die in some filthy ditch. If you died on a road used by tanks, your body would likely be crushed until it was unrecognizable.
By the end of the 1943, Ortona was in Canadian hands. 2,300 casualties; 500 killed.
Another book with no index! This really annoys me. For a book like this, just indexing the proper names of people and places would take all of a day, and would help a lot. The book has a lengthy table of contents which makes up for it a little. Masha Gessen is a Russian born, gay, trans, activist and critic of Putin.
This book should be taken seriously, but I feel that for many, it will be seen as a testament to the bleeding obvious… namely that Trump, Putin, dictators, and dictator wanna-bes around the world, are all taking their cues from the same playbook. This book tries to illustrate this fact.
The book consists of 22 short, roughly chronological, chapters. It is a very fast read.
For those that have followed Trump history, this book is an analysis of Trump sins… sins that seemingly go on forever and are never challenged.
Betsy DeVos, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, Rex Tillerson, Mick Mulvaney, Jared Kushner, Ryan Zinke, Scott Pruitt, Tom Price, and David Shulkin were separately accused of stealing millions for themselves.
Trump ran the most corrupt administration in US history... by far. He surrounded himself with crooks, yes-men, and people who have a loose grip on their principles. When those people compromised themselves just once, they were Trump property.
When Erdogan thugs beat up American protestors at the White House, Trump and the White House did nothing. Professional courtesy perhaps?
Kavanaugh was put on the Supreme Court in the closest vote ever (51 to 50), despite credible sexual assault accusations from Blasey Ford. Eighty-three complaints were filed against Kavanaugh during the hearing. All were subsequently dismissed! Why? Because it was too late. He was now out of reach on the Supreme Court!
Certainly one way to get power is hire an AG who is in the bag. Trump got that with Barr. Barr, like Trump, lied all the time, but as always, without consequence.
Language has taken a beating under Trumpism. Everything is either "terrific" or "treason". Trump whined endlessly about "witch hunts" while he was in power, without realizing that witch hunts are only conducted by those in power.
"Fake news" is an oxymoron. Is it fake, or news? It cannot be both. Trump and Putin use the same tactic: accuse the accuser of doing the same crime. They are the very fountain from which "fake news" springs.
Gessen points out the similarities between Trumpism and Post Modernism (PM). Few people know what PM is, in part because it is hard to define. The BC Skeptics, of which I was a part, held a meeting at SFU where the topic was Post Modernism. The presenter read a passage from a PM magazine. The text was on an overhead projector (remember those?) so the entire audience could read it and study it. Some of the smartest people I know were in that room and no one could offer up a clue as to what it meant. PM basically says that all past events are just stories, and stories are entirely subjective. There are no facts, just stories. PM got punked one day. Alan Sokal wrote an essay for publication in the largest PM magazine of the day. It was published. Then the author admitted he had merely written a paper in the style of PM and that was utterly devoid of insight. He deliberately contradicted himself several times. In other words, it was gibberish, but it was published gibberish. PM seemed to me to disappear (it just fell off my radar), but my philosopher friend Dale Beyerstein assures me it is alive and well.
Case in point: Who can forget Kelly Anne Conway and her "alternate facts"? PM statements are designed to sound deep and contemplative, when, in reality, they are shallow and rambling. A typical PM essay is basically just word salad, and if that doesn't remind you of virtually every Trump speech, you haven't been paying attention. This is not to say that Trump uses PM on purpose. He is not that smart. But his speeches, especially when he goes off script, are little more than rambling, aimless, self-contradictory examples of verbal diarrhea.
Trump even lies about the weather. The one thing in the world most people can agree upon is the weather, and Trump lies about it. Trump lied about the weather at his inauguration, saying it did not rain. Thousands of open umbrellas beg to differ. He also lied about the path of a storm, which he had changed with a Sharpie. He did not lie about a suggestion to use a nuke to stop a hurricane. He was just too stupid to know how stupid what he just said really was.
On his road to becoming a despot, Trump referred to the press as "the enemy of the people". Stalin would be proud. The press does have some accountability in all this. In their zeal to appear neutral, they are automatically taking sides… namely, the autocrats side. Autocrats want language to be so loose that nothing that anyone says can be called a lie. This is very close to the George Costanza defense: "If you believe it when you say it, is it still a lie?" The answer to this must be "yes".
In addition to the Hitler-esque Big Lie, another major authoritarian tactic is to separate "us" from "them". Recall the Jewish threat to NAZI Germany and the "caravans" that were going to destroy America? The people at the Mexican border come every year, like the tide, for their own reasons. One of those reasons is the international legal right to apply for asylum. Trump treated them all like animals, and literally called them that too. To be fair, both sides use language that can divide us when they speak of African Americans, or Muslim Americans, or even women. Unfortunately, this use of language is fuel for the fires on both sides. The only way to defeat this prejudice in America is to always emphasize, first and foremost, that all American citizens are equally American.
I am a student of World War Two and the parallels between Hitler and Trump are very scary. It seems that he got more Hitler-ish every year he was in power. Gessen argues that all of these changes are signs of encroaching authoritarianism. The US likes to think of itself as the world's greatest democracy. Americans crow about rights and freedoms constantly while members of one party secretly try to restrict the rights and freedoms of their fellow citizens, all while knowingly allowing a criminally stupid pathological liar to be their president.
It can happen again.
My main frustration with this book is that it has a lot of players and no index! There is no excuse for the lack of an index in today's world. As it is, for example, if you had forgotten who "Vladimir" is in the book, you had to read-back in the book to find a mention that defines him. This can be very frustrating when some players are referred to by both their first and last names alone.
This is the sequel to Red Notice, Browder's excellent book on a subject that has had a huge influence on international politics… namely the Magnitsky Act. This law, now adopted by more than 34 countries, including Canada, allows countries to seize the assets of international criminals and the sponsors of terrorism. Putin is the big fish in that pond, and he is worried. Much of his wealth resides outside Russia.
The book starts well before the book Red Notice was published and could be characterized as a diary of Browder's experiences as he published the book and pushed the Magnitsky Act around the world... And, of course, Putin's attempts to get him.
If you have not read Red Notice, you should do so before you read this book. Spoiler alert: if you have not read it but plan to, stop reading this now!
Browder set up a investment company in Russia which made millions. Putin stole the company and 230 million dollars, accused Browder of stealing that very same money, threw Browder's lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in jail, and tortured him to death. Browder created the Magnitsky Act to punish Russia and has made it his life's work. Putin wants him dead.
The book reads like a Hitchcock movie script (think The Man Who Knew too Much, or North by Northwest). The innocent victim (Browder) goes to a lawyer to get help fight to the Russians. The lawyer's name is John Moscow (really!). He digs into Browder's case and helps him. But months later, he was working for Putin! John Moscow used his inside knowledge to harass Browder in an attempt to get him onto Russian soil. This is against all legal tenets but it took many court appearances to get the western courts to eject Moscow from the case. One lesson of this story is that the law, designed to protect the innocent, can be turned into a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. Moscow is a perfect example of what everyone hates: a crooked lawyer.
The story goes on, at times almost comically, in its cloak and dagger clichés. The clichés turn out to be real. Another minor observation: the Russians (i.e. Putin) like to poison people, but they are really not very good at it. Quite a few have survived being poisoned, including a player in this story. Putin should stick to straight up assassinations, like Boris Nemtsov who was shot eight times right outside the Kremlin. A mystery truck had pulled up and stopped, blocking the surveillance camera's view. That story also figures in this James Bond plot.
The original 232 million dollars had exploded into 232 billion, much of which went through Danske Bank. As a person of Danish descent, this was disturbing to me, but the Danes wasted no time in busting the bad guys when this crime came to light.
I have nothing but admiration for Browder. He leads the life of a fugitive while fighting for a just cause.
The madness of Putin does not stop with Bill Browder. Now he is waging a war he cannot win in Ukraine.
Lee Moller is a life-long skeptic and atheist and the author of The God Con.
Kitabu hiki ni kuhusu quantum mechanics na entanglement. Ukiendelea kusoma QM, utaona kuwa ni muhimu sana, lakini usisahau kuwa kwa kweli ni muhimu sana. Ni ajabu sana na hakuna analogies katika ulimwengu wetu macroscopic kwamba kutumika... hata causality. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""Ulimwengu wa Kifizikia"" ni sehemu ya sayansi ya fizikia, ambayo inahusu Newton, Young, Heisenberg, Bohr, Einstein na Bell." QM inaonekana kusema kwamba chembe mbili ambazo zimetenganishwa na umbali mkubwa zinaweza, kwa njia fulani, kuathiri moja kwa moja nyingine. Hii inaonekana kuvunja relativity (ambayo ni aina ya hufanya). Einstein alikataa mtindo wa QM kwa sababu ulipendekeza "vitendo vya kutisha kwa umbali". Katika karne ya 20, hakuna mtu aliyejua ni nani aliyekuwa sahihi: Bohr, bingwa wa QM, au Einstein, bwana wa nadharia ya upendeleo. "Kama Einstein alivyosema, ""Mungu hachezi dice na ulimwengu.""" Alikuwa amekosea na Bohr alikuwa na haki. Kitabu hicho hutumia muda mwingi juu ya jaribio lenye sifa mbaya la vipande viwili. "Richard Feynman alisema hivi kuhusu jaribio la ""mchoro mbili"" - ""Tunachagua kuchunguza jambo ambalo ni jambo lisilowezekana, la ajabu kabisa, kueleza kwa njia yoyote ya kawaida.""" Na ambayo ina ndani yake moyo wa quantum mechanics. Kwa kweli, ina fumbo pekee". Mawazo katika kitabu hiki ni ya kina sana kuweza kuchunguzwa katika kipande kifupi kama hiki. Kwa hiyo badala ya kujaribu kuandika maelezo kuhusu maudhui, mimi nina kwenda kuelezea maarufu mbili slit majaribio. Newton alionyesha kwamba nuru ni wimbi kwa kutumia prism. Mawimbi huonyesha kuingiliana. Bonyeza kiungo ili kuona maji wimbi mbili-slit kuingiliana. Jaribio la Young la mashimo mawili lilitoa nuru ya rangi moja kupitia mashimo mawili ya wima yaliyogawanywa umbali fulani. Nuru inapopita katika mashimo hayo mawili na kuonekana kwenye skrini, inaonyesha mifumo ya nuru na giza, inayoitwa pia "mipingilio". Nuru ilikuwa wimbi. Einstein alieleza jinsi mwangaza unavyoweza kuonekana kama chembe (photon). Nuru ni wimbi na chembe, na si yoyote, kwa wakati mmoja! Jambo hilo linaitwa "duality ya mawimbi na chembechembe". Fungua mbele miaka michache. Jaribio hilo limeboreshwa. Kwa kutumia vifaa vya kisasa, wanaweza kuona mahali na wakati ambapo fotoni moja hupiga vifaa vya kugundua. Nuru ya laser hutumiwa kuunda muundo wa kuingiliana. Mabilioni ya fotoni kuingiliana na kila mmoja kuunda muundo wa kuingiliana juu ya detector. Hadi sasa, ni vizuri sana. Hakuna jambo lisilo la kawaida linalotokea hapa. Ikiwa tunapunguza mwangaza, au kwa maneno mengine, tunapiga picha chache na chache za mwanga, tunatarajia kuona muundo wa kuingiliana ukipotea kwa sababu hakutakuwa na picha za kutosha kuingiliana na kila mmoja ili kuunda kuingiliana. Katika hali ya kupita kiasi, wataalamu wa majaribio wanaweza kutupa fotoni moja kwa wakati, wakiwa wamegawanywa kwa muda mwingi kadiri wanavyotaka. Katika hali hii, ni dhahiri kwamba photon lazima ipite kupitia moja ya slits na, kwa kuwa ni peke yake, hakuna kuingiliana inaweza kuonekana. Lakini... ndivyo ilivyo! Kila fotoni inapopigwa risasi, polepole baada ya muda, muundo wa kutofautisha hutokea! Hilo halina maana yoyote. Njia pekee ya kueleza hili ni kusema kwamba fotoni hupita katika nyufa zote mbili kwa wakati mmoja na kuingiliana yenyewe! Hiyo ni alama tatu za mshangao katika kifungu kimoja. Inakuwa ya ajabu zaidi. Ikiwa mtafiti anajaribu kujua ni mashimo gani ambayo fotoni hupitia, muundo huo hutoweka. Sababu ya hilo inaelezwa kwa sehemu na maana ya neno "tazama" katika muktadha huu. Ili "kuangalia" fotoni au chembe yoyote ya chini ya atomu, ni lazima tupige kitu fulani. Kufanya hivyo katika kiwango cha atomu ni kama kupiga risasi kwenye BB. Ikiwa umepiga BB, unajua mahali ilipo, lakini sasa hauna wazo ni upande gani BB sasa inasafiri. Ili kujua kwa usahihi zaidi ambapo chembe iko, lazima uipige kwa nguvu zaidi, na kitendo hicho kinasumbua gari la apples la QM. Hii ni tu restatement ya Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. QM ni ya kuaminika na inaweza kufanya simu yako ya mkononi ifanye kazi, lakini tu ikiwa huangalia kwa karibu sana. Kama wewe ni kuangalia kwa QM, wewe ni kuangalia kwa QM. Hakuna mtu aliyeweza kueleza hili kwa maneno ambayo watu wanaweza kuelewa, na hakuna mtu aliyeweza kupata ubaguzi kwa sheria. Sehemu iliyobaki ya kitabu hicho inazungumzia ulimwengu wa ajabu wa kuingiliana, ikizingatia Theorem ya Bell ambayo hatimaye ilishinda mtazamo wa ulimwengu wa Einstein. Deepak Chopra anapenda kusoma katika QM athari fulani ya kichawi ambayo inatuunganisha sisi sote pamoja. Mimi ni kushawishiwa wito "Nguvu". Hiyo ni mambo ya kipumbavu. Inapaswa kutajwa kwamba kuingiliana inaonekana kufanya kazi kwa kasi isiyo na kikomo, lakini haiwezi kutumika kuwasiliana mara moja juu ya umbali mkubwa. Einstein bado ana haki kuhusu hilo. Aprili 26, 1986 - Chernobyl nyuklia reactor namba nne ililipuka. Mlipuko huo ulipandisha "kifuniko cha kibiolojia" chenye uzito wa zaidi ya tani 200 kilichoitwa Elina hewani, na kufunua kiini cha kiwanda hicho. Ikiwa umeona filamu ya habari kuhusu Chernobyl, basi tayari unajua mengi ya yaliyomo katika kitabu hiki. Nilitaka kuisoma ili nielewe vizuri zaidi fizikia. "Nilikuwa na ufahamu wa kina zaidi wa jinsi msiba mbaya zaidi wa nyuklia katika historia ulivyoweza kutokea.""" Jibu fupi ni kwamba Muungano wa Sovieti ulikuwa ukivunjika, haukuwa na matokeo, na ulikuwa na ufisadi. USSR ilikuwa na wasiwasi zaidi juu ya kuokoa uso, kuhimiza sayansi ya Sovieti kama bora zaidi ulimwenguni, na kufanya kila kitu kwa bei nafuu. Matokeo yakawa msiba mkubwa wa pili wa nyuklia katika Muungano wa Sovieti. Chombo cha kutengeneza plutoniamu kilichokuwa katika eneo la Siberia, Urusi, kilikuwa na mlipuko wa nyuklia wakati wa vita baridi, lakini Urusi ilishikilia siri. Katika kiburi chao, USSR ilichagua muundo wa nyuklia ya graphite, badala ya muundo wa maji uliotumiwa mahali pengine popote ulimwenguni. Waliacha vyombo vikubwa vya saruji ambavyo macho ya Magharibi yanahusianisha na mitambo ya nyuklia, wakijiona kuwa wenye akili sana, na miundo yao ya mitambo ni salama sana, kwamba hawatapata ajali tena. Urusi ilijenga mitambo kumi ya RBMK (kwa Kirusi: High Power Channel Reactor). Vifaa hivyo vilijengwa kwa mfumo ambao ulilazimika kushughulika na wauzaji ambao kwa kawaida walitoa bidhaa zisizo na kiwango. Asilimia sabini ya bidhaa za muuzaji mmoja mkuu zilikuwa na kasoro. Katika tukio moja, kiwanda cha Chernobyl kilizidi kiwango chake kwa 10%. Jambo hilo lilitimizwa kwa sehemu kwa kuchelewesha shughuli za kawaida za matengenezo. Mambo kama hayo yalitukia mara nyingi. "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""ajali ya Chernobyl ilisababisha kuanguka kwa Muungano wa Sovieti miaka mitatu baadaye.""" Harakati za kimazingira zilihusianishwa na hisia za kupinga nyuklia na Sovieti. Lithuania na, muhimu zaidi, Ukraine, walitaka nje. Ukraine iliondoka mnamo Desemba 1, 1991. Mlipuko wa kiwanda cha nyuklia cha namba nne ulitokea wakati wa mtihani wa baadhi ya mifumo ya dharura ya kiwanda hicho. Mtihani huo wa hatari, miongoni mwa mambo mengine, ungechunguza kazi za SCRAM (Safety Control Rods Activation Mechanism). Ili kufanya hivyo, walitaka kuiga hasara za nishati kwenye vifaa fulani, kama vile vifaa vya usalama. Ikiwa unafikiri hilo linaonekana kuwa jambo la kipumbavu, unakosea. Kile kinachotokea baadaye ni kigumu. Vipande vya kudhibiti boroni vimefunikwa kwa grafiti. Boroni hupunguza mwendo wa mmenyuko huo na grafiti huuhimiza. Kwa hiyo kama vijiti kwenda ndani, nguvu huenda juu, na kisha chini. Athari nyingine ya kuharakisha inayohusisha mashimo yaliyojaa mvuke (inayoitwa athari ya utupu chanya) pia iliongeza pato la nguvu. Uwezo wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme wa umeme. Kisha ikafyatuka. Kile kinachotokea baadaye kilionyeshwa vizuri katika drama hiyo. Vipande vya grafiti moto sana, na yenye mnururisho mkubwa, vilikuwa vimelala ardhini. Wazima-moto hawakujua la kufanya nao. Kwa wengine waliokaribia sana, hilo lingemaanisha kifo chao. Hata magari yanayodhibitiwa kwa mbali hayangeweza kuvumilia mnururisho huo. Mwanzoni, mamlaka ambayo kutegemea dosimeter masomo, ambayo ilionyesha kiasi tolerable ya mionzi. Walidharau uzito wa ugonjwa huo kwa sababu hiyo. Lakini walichagua kupuuza ni kwamba nambari ambazo dosimeters zilikuwa zikitolewa zilikuwa za juu zaidi ambazo wangeweza kurekodi! Wakati vipima-mwanga vilipotumiwa vizuri zaidi, picha ya kweli ilionekana waziwazi, yaani, kwamba mnururisho huo ulikuwa katika eneo hatari au lenye kuua. Tatizo jingine lilikuwa maji ya chini ya ardhi. Ujasiri zaidi wa Urusi kazini... wangepaswa kuchagua eneo ambako maji ya chini ya ardhi hayakuwa suala. Ikiwa kiwanda hicho kingeweza kuingia chini ya ardhi, mlipuko mwingine ungeweza kutarajiwa, pamoja na maji yenye mnururisho kuenea kila mahali. Katika tendo la ushujaa, wachimba-migodi walifaulu kuchimba handaki chini ya kiwanda hicho na kufungia ardhi kwa nitrojeni ya kioevu. Walitumia msemo wa kawaida wa Sovieti: "Ni nani, ikiwa si sisi?" Kwa kuzingatia mambo yote, hadithi ya Chernobyl ingeweza kuwa mbaya zaidi. Mji mzima, vijiji vingi vidogo, na maelfu ya ekari za mashamba yalichafuliwa katika Ukraine, Urusi na Belarus. "Lakini kwa ujumla, vifo vya mara moja vingeweza kuhesabiwa kwa mkono mmoja; na jumla ya mwisho, ambayo inajumuisha saratani zinazosababishwa na mnururisho, na makadirio ya idadi ya vifo vya baadaye, ni kati ya 4,000 (kutoka UN) na 90,000 (kutoka Greenpeace).""" """Ninaamini kwamba msiba wa Chernobyl ulikuwa na athari nzuri." Kama ilivyoelezwa, ilikuwa kichocheo cha kuanguka kwa USSR (ambayo Putin anajaribu kufufua). Hakuna nyuklia mpya za RBMK zinazojengwa. Mpango wa awali ulikuwa kufunga mitambo hiyo, lakini wazo hilo lilibadilishwa upesi wakati mambo ya hakika ya kiutendaji yalipofikiriwa. Watu wanahitaji nguvu ili waishi. Chernobyl sarcophagus ni hatari kwa maisha ya binadamu kwa miaka 20,000. Ilikuwa rahisi sana kusoma. Imeandikwa vizuri sana. Mwandishi anajua kuhusu idadi kubwa ya majina ya Kirusi yanayopatikana katika kitabu hicho. Yeye ni makini kukumbusha msomaji wa kila wachezaji cheo na nafasi wakati wowote obscure Kirusi re-kuingia hadithi. Ina faharisi bora sana. Kumbuka kuhusu mnururisho: Vipimo vimebadilika kwa miaka mingi. Vipimo vya zamani ni curie, rad na rem. Zimechukuliwa mahali na becquerel (GBq), gray (Gy), na sievert (Sv). Hizi hupima mnururisho unaotokezwa, kiasi cha mnururisho unaomenywa, na uharibifu wa kibiolojia unaosababishwa. 442 Infantry Regiment (Kikosi cha Wanajeshi wa 442) pro-rated kwa ukubwa), bora na zaidi decorated kupambana kitengo katika European Theatre. Alitunukiwa tuzo za heshima nyingi, na pia tuzo za Urais za 7, Purple Heart 9, Silver Star na Bronze Star. Zaidi ya medali moja kwa kila mtu! "Walipata umaarufu kwa kuokoa ""Battalion iliyopotea"" ya Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia ya 443 ya Kikosi cha Wanajeshi baada ya kuzungukwa na Wajerumani kwa zaidi ya wiki moja." Kitabu hiki ni kuhusu uokoaji wa Kikosi kilichopotea na ni nani aliyefanya uokoaji huo. Kwa sababu ya mapambano yake, kikosi cha 442 kilikuwa cha pekee katika njia nyingine. 442 ilikuwa ni kitengo cha kujitenga. Kama wewe ni kufikiri walikuwa nyeusi... karibu lakini hakuna sigara. "Watu hao wote walikuwa ""Nisei"" (Wamarekani wenye asili ya Kijapani), isipokuwa maafisa, ambao wote walikuwa weupe." Wengi wao walikuwa waandamanaji kutoka kambi za mateso za Japani zilizowekwa na serikali ya Marekani baada ya Pearl Harbor. Wengi wao walitoka Hawaii. Canada ilitenganisha idadi nzima ya watu wa Japani wa British Columbia wakati wa vita, kwa hiyo tunapaswa kuwa wanyenyekevu. Kama vile vikosi vya weusi vilivyogawanywa, Nisei walichukiwa na nchi yao, lakini walipigana kwa ajili yake hata hivyo. "Kama unavyopenda sinema, kuna filamu ya 1951 kuhusu vitendo vya 442 inayoitwa ""Go For Broke"" (mstari wa kawaida wa regiment) na Van Johnson." Ni vigumu kupata isipokuwa kwenye DVD. Ninapendekeza hivyo. Nisei walilazimika kuomba ili kuruhusiwa kupigana. "Mwishowe, FDR alitoa hotuba ambapo alielezea ""Mmarekani wa kweli"" na jinsi Wamarekani wote walivyo na haki ya kupigana." "Hata hivyo, hakusema kwamba Wamarekani hao aliowataja walikuwa wameondolewa haki zao za msingi kwa sababu ya ""upendeleo wa Marekani.""" 442 walitumikia nchini Italia kwa heshima. Mnamo Oktoba 24, 1944, kikosi hicho kilijikuta katika msitu wa Vosges nchini Ufaransa. Baada ya miezi miwili, Vita vya Bulge vingeanza. Mto Vosges una Ujerumani upande wa kaskazini-mashariki na Uswisi upande wa kusini-mashariki. Jeshi la Texas la 441 lilipigwa na kuzungukwa kwenye kilima cha 595 (kiwango cha kilima juu ya usawa wa bahari). Mto Vosges ni msitu mkubwa, na milima ya digrii 45 na mvua baridi ya kuendelea na ukungu. Wajerumani walikuwa wakilinda mpaka wa nchi yao. Walipigana kwa ujasiri na kwa ukali. Pande zote mbili hazikuwa na vifaa vya kutosha, na hakuna upande uliokuwa na habari jinsi ule mwingine alivyokuwa maskini. Pande zote mbili zilikuwa na matatizo yaleyale: hali mbaya ya hewa, maji machafu, chakula kidogo au hakuna chakula kwa siku nyingi, vifaa vya risasi vilivyopungua, na uwezo mdogo wa kutibu waliojeruhiwa. Kwa Wamarekani, mojawapo ya hatari kubwa zaidi ilikuwa mlipuko wa miti. Miti iliposhambuliwa na makombora, ilivunjika vipande-vipande na kuwa visu elfu moja vilivyoruka. Kikosi cha 442 kilipewa jukumu la kuokoa kikosi cha 441 cha Texas. Kijerumani ni kitu kimoja ambacho kinahitaji uangalifu. "Watu wengine ni pamoja na ""mwendo wa matundu"" (trench foot), vitendo vya ujasiri mkubwa na kujitolea, ukosefu wa kila kitu (chakula, maji, dawa, bandages, nk) na marafiki wanaokufa kila siku wakati wakipigana ili kuachilia 441st." Tatizo kubwa lilikuwa kuandaa vifaa kwa ajili ya Watexani waliokuwa wamekamatwa. Ndege zilitupa matangi ya gesi yaliyojaa vifaa vilivyopatikana mikononi mwa adui mara nyingi kama vile vilivyopatikana mikononi mwa marafiki. Makombora yalitumiwa kuwapiga Marekani kwa vifaa... utaratibu hatari sana, kama unavyoweza kuwazia. Askari mmoja aliuawa na chupa ya jibini kutoka kwa risasi ya kuhifadhi iliyokuwa ikilipuka (risasi za kuhifadhi zilikuwa na risasi ndogo ndani yake). Kitabu hiki, kama vingine vingi, kinaonyesha hali za vita... kuzimu duniani. Kuna mambo mengi yenye kuleta machozi katika simulizi hilo. Labda jambo lenye kuchukiza zaidi kuhusu vita hivyo lilikuwa matendo ya Meja Jenerali John Dahlquist. Alikuwa mjinga wa kiasi kikubwa. Kila baada ya masaa machache, alipewa taarifa kutoka kwa kikosi cha 441 na 442. Chini ya kila kitu, nguvu ya kupigana ilipungua, majeraha mengi yasiyotibiwa nk. Baada ya muda mfupi, Dahlquist, aliyekuwa kamanda mkuu wa eneo hilo, alitoa amri ya kufanya kile ambacho alikuwa ameambiwa hakingewezekana. Katika pindi kadhaa, afisa mdogo alikataa kabisa kutekeleza amri zake, kwa kuwa zilikuwa sawa na kujiua kwa watu wake. Kikosi cha 442 cha Nisei kilimchukia Dahlquist na kumheshimu kamanda wao, Gordon Singles, kwa kumwambia aondoke. Baada ya vita vya Vosges, Dahlquist alikusanya kikosi cha 442 kwa ajili ya ukaguzi. Alikasirika sana kwa sababu ya idadi ndogo ya askari waliokuja, mpaka alipogunduliwa kwamba kile alichokiona kilikuwa ni kile kilichobaki cha Kikosi cha 442. Dahlquist alipata matatizo baadaye baada ya vita kwa sababu ya kumshikilia Goering. "Mwanamume huyo alisema: ""Nilikuwa na wasiwasi sana kuhusu Wajerumani kuliko Wajapani wa Marekani." Ukatili wa Dahlquist ulikuwa umeenea sana katika jeshi wakati huo. Baada ya miaka kadhaa, Dahlquist alihudhuria maandamano ya kuangazia jeshi la 442. Dahlquist alimkaribia Singles mbele ya watu wake. Watu wasio na wenzi wa ndoa walivutiwa sana. Dahlquist aliinua mkono wake, akidokeza kwamba labda sasa wangeweza kuzikia shoka la vita. Singles hakusema chochote na akaendelea na salamu yake hadi Dahlquist alipoinua mkono wake na kurudi salamu. Kuangushwa kikamilifu. 442 ya kumbukumbu Hata baada ya vita kumalizika, mambo hayakuwa yamebadilika. Baadhi ya majimbo ya pwani ya magharibi yalijaribu kuwazuia Wajapani wasiwarudi "nyumbani" zao (kwa sababu nyumba zao zilikuwa zimeuzwa)! Wanajeshi wengi katika kikosi cha 442 walipewa medali. Kutoka kwa Medali ya Heshima ya Bunge hadi Moyo wa Zambarau, na kila kitu kilicho kati. Baada ya vita, medali za kikosi cha 442 ziliondolewa. Huo ulikuwa uchochezi wa waziwazi uliokuwa ukifanywa. Ni hadi mara tu Rais Reagan na Clinton kwamba baadhi ya dhambi hizi zilirekebishwa. Reagan alilipa fidia kwa ajili ya mali zilizoibwa na Clinton alizungumzia suala la medali. Kwa kusikitisha, wengi wa wapokeaji wakuu wa medali walikuwa tayari wamekufa. Mmoja wao alikufa miaka kumi iliyopita. Mara nyingi mimi hulalamika juu ya vitabu visivyo na faharisi nzuri. Hii si mojawapo ya hizo. "Kutoka kwa ""blank slate"" ni kwamba kila mtu alizaliwa akiwa na tabula rasa (kitabu safi) na uwezo wa kuwa kitu chochote." Ni fundisho kuu la dini nyingi. Marafiki wake ni Noble Savage na Ghost katika Mashine. Kwa wanafalsafa, zinajulikana kuwa empiricism, romanticism, na dualism. Wote watatu wanaelewana vizuri. Mtu mmoja anaposhindwa kukamata wazo, wengine wanaweza kuingilia kati na kuokoa siku. Ensoulement ni wakati ambapo roho huingia ndani ya mwili na kuunganishwa na mwili. Papa na watawala wa kimabavu wanapenda Bamba tupu, kama vile dini. Watu wa tabaka la juu hawapendi jambo hilo kwa kuwa walizaliwa katika tabaka la juu, labda kwa sababu wanajua kwamba wao ni watu wa tabaka la juu. Sociobilogy imekuwa Standard Social Sayansi Model. Asili dhidi ya kulea ni mjadala. "Kuna ""blank slate"" ambayo inamaanisha kwamba mtu anaweza kuwa chochote anachotaka, na kuna ""genetic determinism"" ambayo inamaanisha kwamba mtu anaweza kuwa chochote anachotaka." Hilo husababisha matatizo. Kwa mfano, dalili yoyote ya kwamba chembe zetu za urithi zinatawala jinsi tulivyo inaweza kusababisha ubaguzi wa rangi unaofaa. Ikiwa Blat la Blank Slate linatawala, basi ubaguzi wa rangi ni suala la kitamaduni ambalo linaweza kushughulikiwa. Jibu katika kitabu chote hilo laonekana kuwa "Ni rangi za kijivu". Wewe si hatima ya chembe za urithi, wala huwezi kuepuka urithi wako wa chembe za urithi. Hapa kuna mawazo matano yanayowakilisha "mapinduzi ya utambuzi". Kitabu hiki kinachunguza tabia ya binadamu kutoka kwa maoni mbalimbali, na kila wakati inakuja kwenye makubaliano muhimu kati ya vipindi viwili vya uchambuzi. Ugunduzi mkubwa wa hivi karibuni ambao unaunga mkono wazi Slate umeongeza kwa kifo cha wazi Slate. Kwanza, genomu ya binadamu ilichorwa ramani. Ina idadi ndogo sana ya jeni (karibu 34,000). Idadi hiyo ndogo ilithibitisha wazo la kwamba kitu chochote tata hakingeweza kuchemshwa ndani yake. Pia ilifungua mlango kwa ajili ya nafsi (jini chache humaanisha nafasi zaidi kwa ajili ya Ghost katika Mashine). Pili, mifano ya kompyuta ya mitandao ya neva imesababisha mawazo mapya kuhusu utambuzi. Plastiki ya Neural: Ubongo ni kama udongo na unaweza kubadilishwa kama inahitajika. Pinker anapinga ufafanuzi huo. Kuangalia antelope mchanga ambaye anaanza kukimbia dakika chache tu baada ya kuzaliwa kwake kunaonyesha mambo mengi. Kiumbe hicho hakizaliwa na karatasi tupu. The Blank Slate haiwezi kuwa tupu kwa sababu ni, haiwezi kufanya chochote. Wanasayansi kama E. O. Wilson walipeleka mawazo ya Darwin na mageuzi kwa Sociobiology ya jamii ya binadamu na shit hit fan. Wilson alishambuliwa kwa miaka mingi kwa hoja za mtu wa nyasi. Washambuliaji walidai kwamba mawazo ya Wilson yanathibitisha Unazi na mauaji ya kimbari. Hoja zao si za kisayansi na ni za kipumbavu, hata kwa mtu asiye na elimu kama mimi. Kwa kushangaza, Stephen J. Gould alitoa hoja mbaya sana dhidi ya Sociobiology. Watu waliitikia kwa njia ya ndani zaidi kuliko ya kiakili. "Hakuna haja ya kusema kwamba mazungumzo haya yote kuhusu mageuzi na ubongo wa kusindika habari hayafanyi kazi vizuri na ""Kanisa.""" Dini yenye msimamo mkali huchukia mawazo hayo na kuyapinga kwa meno na kucha. Maelezo kuhusu kuingizwa kwa roho. Kanisa Katoliki la Kiroma limekuwa wazi sana: nafsi huingia mwilini wakati wa mimba. Kipindi. Nina marafiki wawili wa karibu ambao ni mapacha sawa. Mapacha sawa hutokea wakati yai lililotengenezwa kwa mbegu linapogawanyika ghafula, siku moja hadi tatu baada ya mimba. Hilo ni tatizo. Sasa tuna watu wawili na nafsi moja tu! Tatizo hili linaweza kutokea kinyume pia (nafsi mbili, yai moja tu). Mawazo ya kanisa hayapatani na hali halisi ya kisayansi. Ilichukua miaka 300 kwa Kanisa kutambua kwamba Galileo alikuwa sahihi. "Itachukua muda mrefu zaidi kabla ya kanisa kuondoa wazo la ""nafsi.""" Kwa kweli, ikiwa huna nafsi, hawawezi kukutisha kwenda kuzimu. Leo ni Desemba 13, 2022 na ninaandika hii. Makala kuhusu hakimu mpinga-kutolewa kwa mimba ilipita mezani mwangu. Ni kielelezo kizuri cha kusababu kwa kutumia "Blank Slate". Hakimu Kaczmarek alisema kuwa, katika kesi ya mwaka 2015, "Mwanamume huyo alisema: ""Nilitafuta uthibitisho wa umma wa uongo kwamba mwanadamu ni chembechembe za Silly Putty zisizo na vizuizi vya asili au biolojia, na kwamba ndoa, jinsia, utambulisho wa kijinsia, na hata mtoto ambaye hajazaliwa lazima atoe kwa tamaa za ngono za hali ya uhuru.""" Kwa kweli kuna sura katika kitabu cha Pinker inayoitwa "Silly Putty"! Kuna wasiwasi mwingi juu ya asili ya kibinadamu. "Sura nne za kitabu hicho zinaeleza mambo manne: ""Ikiwa watu ni tofauti, ubaguzi ni halali; ikiwa watu ni wa kiadili, hakuna matumaini; ikiwa watu ni matokeo ya biolojia, basi hakuna hiari; na ikiwa watu ni bidhaa za kibiolojia, hakuna maana ya maisha.""" Nimekuwa na dharau kubwa kwa saikolojia ya kliniki kwa miaka mingi. Kesi ya McMartin Preschool, kesi ya gharama kubwa zaidi katika historia ya Marekani, ni ushahidi wa uharibifu ambao unaweza kufanywa kwa kuingiliana na mambo ambayo huelewi. McMartin alikuwa kuhusu wanasaikolojia ambao walishutumu walimu wa pedophilia kulingana na taarifa kutoka kwa watoto wenye hamu ya kufurahisha, waliohamasishwa. Inaonekana kwamba Pinker anashiriki dharau yangu. Lakini, katika miongo michache iliyopita, inaonekana kwamba saikolojia ya kliniki imekomaa na sasa ni ya kihistoria zaidi. """Uchunguzi wa data umekusanywa, mengi kutoka kwa masomo ya mapacha waliotenganishwa na ndugu waliotenganishwa, ambayo yameongoza kwa baadhi ya hitimisho ambazo zinaendesha karanga za mzazi wa wastani, mpaka waelewe nini hitimisho hilo linamaanisha." Suala hilo linazunguka mjadala kati ya chembe za urithi (asili) na malezi (kulea watoto). Kwa mfano: Ujinga ni wa urithi... unaupata kutoka kwa watoto wako. (Kitabu cha Pinker kina ucheshi.) Sisi si wote sawa. Ngono hufanya tofauti kubwa. Ni kweli kwa ujumla kwamba wanaume hushindana na wanawake huchagua; wanaume wanataka wingi, wanawake wanataka ubora. Hii ni matokeo ya asili ya mageuzi na kiwango cha uwekezaji kila mzazi ana katika watoto wao. Wanawake kwa ujumla wanaweka zaidi katika watoto wao kuliko wanaume, ikiwa kwa sababu nyingine isipokuwa ukweli kwamba ngono inachukua dakika, lakini ujauzito huchukua miezi tisa (kwa wanadamu) na mara nyingi ni mwanzo tu. Sura zilizobaki za kitabu hicho zinazingatia athari za Blank Slate kwenye Sanaa, Siasa, Jinsia, Jeuri na Watoto. Sura kuhusu Watoto ilikuwa yenye kupendeza sana. Kutumia sheria tatu na mengi ya data mpya ya majaribio, baadhi ya hitimisho ya kushangaza inaweza kufikiwa. Kanuni ni: Sifa hereditary kuwa zaidi hivyo kwa muda (kwa mfano (Mwanzo: Unakuwa kama wazazi wako unapoendelea kukua.) Hilo linashangaza. Ni wazi kwamba sifa za msingi za watu huamuliwa kwa kiasi kikubwa na chembe zao za urithi. Mapacha waliotenganishwa wanafanana sana. Ndugu na dada waliotenganishwa hawafanani sana, kwa sababu wana DNA chache za kawaida. Kuna mambo machache ambayo mzazi aweza kufanya ili kubadili hali hiyo. Hii haimaanishi kwamba hakuna kitu kama "uzazi mzuri", tu kwamba uzazi mzuri si kwenda kugeuka introvert asili katika extrovert. Kitabu hiki kilikuwa cha muda mrefu kusoma, lakini kilikuwa cha thamani. Inafunika eneo kubwa. Hilo halishangazi kwa kuwa asili ya kibinadamu ni tata sana. Kwa ujumla nilihisi kwamba uchambuzi wa Pinker daima unaonekana kuanguka katika mahali palepale ambapo hisia zangu zingeniweka. Bila shaka, anafikia mkataa huo kwa kutumia hoja zenye nguvu. Kwa sababu ya hali ya asili ya binadamu, watu wengi wana wasiwasi (IMHO, wengi wao ni wazimu wa kidini). Kwa kiasi kwamba wao kupigana nyuma na barrages ya hoja straw mtu kwamba kuonekana kamwe wanataka kufa. Unaposema "wengine", wao husikia "wote", na wanashtuka. Unaposema "inaweza", wao husikia "lazima", na wanashtuka. Huna haja ya kuelewa takwimu na uwezekano wa kuelewa hoja za Pinker. Kwa hivyo, ni muhimu kujua ni nini coefficients za uhusiano (CC) na ni nini maana yake. Kwa kifupi, fikiria kwamba unaangalia hisa mbili. CC ya 0 kati ya hisa mbili inaonyesha kwamba hisa hizo hazihusiani. "A C of 1 ni uhusiano kamili: wakati hisa moja inapoongezeka, hivyo pia nyingine, katika hatua ya kufuli.""" A = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 1 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 = 2 Thamani nyingine yoyote inamaanisha kwamba wakati mwingine hisa moja itaongezeka na nyingine haifanyi, kwa uwezekano fulani. Rafiki yangu mwanafalsafa Dale Beyerstein amesoma kitabu hicho na maoni yangu. Nimefanya mabadiliko madogo-madogo katika insha yangu kulingana nayo. Nilifikiri yafuatayo kutoka kwake ilikuwa ya thamani ya kujumuisha: "Pili, hoja ya msingi kati yako, mimi na Pinker: Nadhani kwamba aina za kidini ambao blabber soul kuzungumza (hapana, wao si Black!) "Hata hivyo, kuna uwezekano mkubwa kwamba ""blank slate"" hypothesis ni zaidi ya Pinker na wengine." Ndiyo, wengi kufikiri wanahitaji wazo tupu slate kusema kwamba wewe, kama kimsingi nafsi, unaweza kuchagua chochote unataka (sehemu za asili ya ubongo si kuacha wewe). Lakini kichocheo cha kweli ni haja yao ya kujitetea kwa hiari ili waweze kutulaumu sisi badala ya Mungu kwa uovu. Hakuna kitu cha kuwazuia kutoka kwa msimamo wa "nchi ya kati" ambayo inashikilia kwamba tabia yetu nyingi ni ngumu, lakini sehemu muhimu ya nafsi ambayo tunatumia kuchagua haki au makosa inazidi sehemu ambazo ni ngumu. "Kwa kweli, wahubiri wengi wa moto na kiberiti wanasema tena na tena jinsi sisi (na nafsi zetu) tunavyopaswa kutumia akili yetu (katika nafsi) ili kuvuka raha zetu za kimwili (ngono).""" ambazo ni mbaya sana. Kwa maneno mengine, aina za kidini zina haja kidogo ya karatasi tupu kuliko ---- Mafunzo (kubadilisha <unk>Wanawake<unk>s<unk>, <unk>Black<unk>, <unk>Fat<unk>, &c.) watu katika vyuo vikuu. " Kwa upande mwingine, kuna makosa mengi ya mantiki (zaidi ya 100). Unapaswa kujifunza kutambua baadhi ya wale wakubwa. Google "hoja kutoka ujinga"; "mtu wa nyasi" (tazama hapa chini); na uthibitisho upendeleo kama mwanzo. Ikiwa una muda zaidi, tafuta tu kwenye Google "kutoelewa mambo kwa njia sahihi". Hoja za mtu wa nyasi ni kosa la kawaida la kiakili. Kwa kuwa nimewataja katika maandishi haya, hapa ni mfano wa hoja ya mtu wa nyasi. "Mimi naamini katika ""Evolution.""" Mpinzani wako anajibu "Kwa hiyo unafikiri tumetokana na nyani!" "Mshindani wako anafanya hoja ya mtu wa nyasi kwa kukushambulia kwa kitu ambacho hukusema, wala hata kuamini (mtu wa nyasi).""" (Hatutokani na nyani. Wanadamu na nyani wana babu mmoja.) Kitabu hiki kinashughulikia maswali makubwa zaidi ya yote kuhusu kitu kikubwa zaidi cha wote: ulimwengu mzima wa ulimwengu, au kama unapendelea: maisha, ulimwengu na kila kitu. Maandishi haya ni maelezo yangu tu juu ya kile ambacho nimesoma. Katika visa vingi, dhana ni kubwa sana kwamba maelezo yangu hayawezi kufanya haki yao na lazima kusoma chanzo cha awali. Hii ni kesi kama hiyo tu. Kitabu hiki kina baadhi ya mawazo makubwa sana, ya kina ambayo mimi si kweli kuelewa na maelezo yangu hawawezi kutosha kutafakari. Faharisi ya kitabu hiki ni duni sana. Mnyama wangu wa kufugwa. Kitabu hiki kinaelezea kwa ufupi jinsi ulimwengu ulivyoanza na joto na unene wa miaka 13.7 bilioni iliyopita hadi sasa. Wakati wa Planck unaanza katika sekunde 10 hadi sekunde -43 hadi sekunde 10 hadi sekunde -32. Katika miaka ya nyuma, wakati madini yalipoanza kuwa na unene mdogo kuliko nishati, ukuaji wa ulimwengu uliacha kupunguza kasi na kuanza kuharakisha. Jambo hilo linatuleta kwenye siku ya leo. Ni vigumu sana kufupisha kitabu ambacho huzungumzia sana mawazo yasiyo ya kweli, lakini hapa kuna jambo. Wazo jingine lenye kupendeza kuhusu wakati linazungumziwa. Tunaona wakati ujao usio na mwisho, lakini wakati uliopita una mwisho. Hii ni asymmetric. Lakini ukitumia saa ya logarithm, wakati huonekana kuwa usio na mwisho katika pande zote mbili. Maelezo ya nadharia nyingi za ulimwengu ni ya kufurahisha na ya kuvutia, lakini kama mwandishi anavyosema, mawazo haya si ya kisayansi kwa kuwa hayawezi kupotoshwa. "Giordano Bruno, ambaye aliandika kitabu hicho, alisema hivi kabla ya kuchomwa moto kwa sababu ya kuasi: ""Mungu ni asiye na mwisho, kwa hiyo ulimwengu wake lazima uwe pia... Yeye anasifiwa si katika jua moja, bali katika jua isiyohesabika, si katika dunia moja, bali katika maelfu ya ulimwengu.""" Hakuna mazungumzo ya ulimwengu na jinsi ulivyotokea ambayo yanaweza kukamilika bila kutaja kanuni ya anthropic. Njia moja ya kuangalia multiverse ni kama bia na Bubbles wengi. Kila Bubble ni ulimwengu, labda na sheria zake mwenyewe za fizikia. Multiverse, kama inavyoonyeshwa na mfumuko wa bei, pia inashughulikia hoja ya tuning nzuri (wazo kwamba ulimwengu ulifanywa tu kwa ajili yetu, au kinyume chake). Katika namna yake rahisi zaidi, kanuni ya anthropic ni kimsingi tautology. Ulimwengu ni jinsi ulivyo kwa sababu tuko hapa kuutazama. Yaani, """Ulimwengu unatuonyesha sisi, na sisi tunamuonyesha ulimwengu uliotufanya." Kuna pingamizi kuu tatu kwa kanuni ya anthropic. 1) Ni si kisayansi kwa sababu sisi ni kukatwa mbali na Bubbles nyingine. "Kama kanuni ya anthropic, kanuni ya anthropic haisemi ni nini kinachoweza kubadilika katika kila ulimwengu, na ni nini kisichoweza kubadilika.""" "Kama ni kweli, ""maono"" ni tafsiri ya kifupi ya ""maono"" ambayo ni ya kisasa sana na ambayo inapaswa kuwakilisha mawazo yetu bora ya jinsi yote yalivyotokea." Hizi ni mawazo makubwa zaidi ambayo akili ya kibinadamu imewahi kufikiria. Miaka elfu tano iliyopita, mtu fulani alidhani kwamba sisi ni super-duper maalum, na kwamba sisi, na kila kitu tunachoona, wote walikuwa kuundwa kwa ajili yetu na Mungu wema. Wazo hilo linaweza kusamehewa na ni mzigo wa uchafu. Kadiri tulivyozidi kupata ujuzi, ndivyo utu wetu wa pekee ulivyozidi kutoweka. Ni jambo la kushangaza sana kwamba tunaishi katika wakati ambapo tunaweza kuuliza maswali ya aina hii na kupata majibu. "Kwa kweli, majibu mengi ni ya ""hakuna"" - mara nyingi katika fomu ya ""karibu, lakini hakuna sigareti.""" Habari njema ni kwamba tuna data mpya kila siku (kwa mfano. "Teleskopi ya James Webb, CERN, LIGO, COBE, Chandra, na mengineyo, na data hizi zinaonyesha ujinga wetu na kutufanya tuendelee mbele.""" Hii ni riwaya ya picha. "Kama ni kweli, ""Watu wa Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu"" ni hadithi ya hadithi ya Holocaust ya Wayahudi nchini Poland." Wayahudi ni panya, NAZI ni paka. Ni hadithi ya kuvutia na ya kuvutia ya vitisho ambavyo Wayahudi walipata katika Poland ya Nazi, na urefu ambao wachache waliokoka walilazimika kwenda tu kupata kuishi. Wakati ninapoandika hii Septemba 2022, kitabu hiki kilipigwa marufuku katika shule kadhaa za sekondari nchini Marekani. Hii ni kitabu kingine ambacho hakiwezi kufupishwa. Ni ndefu, hutumia herufi ndogo, na ina habari nyingi. Kwa kuwa historia ya binadamu na vita haiwezi kutenganishwa, unaweza kuona kitabu hiki kama historia ya binadamu kupitia lensi ya vita. Kitabu hicho huanza na kumalizika na Clausewitz. Clausewitz alikuwa mwanasayansi maarufu wa vita na alidai kuwa vita ni upanuzi wa siasa kwa njia nyingine. Kitabu hiki hakikubaliani na hilo. Keegan anasema kwamba vita mara nyingi hufanywa kwa sababu ya masuala ya kidini, na kwamba Muhammad, tofauti na Kristo, alikuwa mtu wa vurugu ambaye alihubiri jihad. Uislamu umegawanywa katika khalifa wawili (wafuasi wa Muhammad). Wanapingana juu ya nani anayesimamia na malengo ya msingi ya Uislamu, ambayo mara nyingi ni dini iliyo chini ya kisu. Bunduki zilipoletwa kwenye uwanja wa vita, wengi walifikiri hazikuwa za kufaa kwa askari. Japani ilichukizwa sana na wazo la mtu wa kawaida kupata bunduki na kumuua mtu wa cheo cha juu, na hivyo wakapiga marufuku silaha kabisa ili kuendeleza jamii yao ya kijeshi ya mapigano ya karibu. Jambo hilo lilibadilika wakati Marekani ilipopeleka meli ya kivita katika bandari ya Tokyo. Katika historia yote, vita na tekinolojia viliendana pamoja. Kila silaha mpya ilileta mbinu mpya na malengo mapya. Historia ya vita ni historia ya milki na watu... na kumekuwa na wengi wao kwa muda mrefu. "Watu wengi wa kabila hilo, kama vile Yanomamo wa Peru, waliitwa ""watu wenye jeuri"" na walijulikana kwa njia zao za kupigana." Vita kama tunavyojua vilianza na uvumbuzi wa upinde na mshale (ubunifu wa kibinadamu wenye kuua zaidi hadi sasa). Upinde ni mashine rahisi inayotumiwa kuhifadhi nishati ya misuli kama nishati ya mitambo na kuitoa haraka. Upinde huo ulikuwa silaha ya kweli ya kuzuia... iliyobadili mchezo. Baadaye, upinde wa chuma ulibuniwa. Mishale hiyo ilipiga mishale mbali zaidi na kwa kasi zaidi, ilikuwa ndogo sana kuliko mishale iliyotangulia, na ingeweza kutumiwa kwa urahisi kutoka kwenye farasi. . Historia ya kwanza iliyoandikwa ya vita inatokana na michoro ya ukutani ya Wasumeria. Sumer ilikuwa eneo kati ya mito ya Tigri na Eufrates, karibu miaka 5,000 iliyopita. Ubunifu uliofuata ulikuwa gari-moshi. Mtu aweza kujiuliza kwa nini Wamisri na wengine hawakuendesha farasi vitani. Farasi wamebadilika sana kwa sababu ya uzalishaji wa kuchagua. Miaka elfu tano iliyopita, farasi walikuwa wadogo. Walikuwa na misuli mingi nyuma lakini hawangeweza kubeba uzito mwingi kwenye viungo vyao vya mbele. Hilo lilimaanisha kwamba mpanda farasi alipaswa kuketi nyuma sana juu ya farasi, na hilo lilifanya iwe vigumu kumdhibiti. Lakini farasi walikuwa wazuri katika kuvuta vitu, kama gari la vita. Baadaye katika historia, gari hilo liliachwa kwa ajili ya askari-jeshi wa wapanda-farasi. Ngome huzungumziwa kwa urefu fulani. Hadithi za uwongo zimetumia sana injini za kuzingira dhidi ya ngome. Kwa kweli, ngome karibu sikuzote zilishinda katika kuzingirwa... hadi enzi ya risasi. Mengi yamefanywa ya mgongano kati ya watu wa farasi wa nomadic wa steppe (kwa mfano Wamangoli (Mongolians) na wahamiaji na wakulima wa miji na miji. Kwa kweli hakukuwa na njia ya wao kuishi pamoja kwa kuwa wote wawili walishindana kwa ajili ya rasilimali zilezile. Kikundi kingine cha wapiganaji mashuhuri, Waviking, walitumia meli badala ya farasi. Kitabu hicho pia kinaeleza kwa undani juu ya majeshi: jinsi yanavyoundwa, kuendeshwa, kulishwa, kupangwa na kadhalika. Majeshi huundwa kwa njia nyingi: kupitia utumwa, kuandikishwa jeshini, na kupitia wajitoleaji ambao wanapewa thawabu kwa njia fulani, kama vile uraia. Roma ilijengwa kwa njia hiyo na Roma ilikuwa na kikundi cha kwanza cha maofisa wa kupigana wa kitaaluma katika historia. Kuanzishwa kwa chuma kulikuwa badiliko jingine la mchezo. Chuma kilikuwa na nguvu, lakini kilikuwa kizito sana, kwa hiyo silaha nyingi ziliendelea kutengenezwa kwa shaba. Makombora ya shaba yalibadilishwa na makombora makubwa ya chuma. Pua ya risasi iliruhusu risasi za chuma kuruka kwa usawa ambayo iliruhusu makombora kuharibu ngome za ulinzi. Shots injini kuzingirwa walikuwa lobbed na kwa ujumla kushughulikiwa ineffective glancing pigo. Kuna habari nyingi sana katika kitabu hiki hivi kwamba ni afadhali kukitumia kama kitabu cha marejeo. Vipengele vya kwanza vya kitabu hicho ni vita vya kisasa, vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe, vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe vya Ufaransa, vita vya kwanza vya dunia na vya pili vya dunia, na vilevile silaha za nyuklia. Wakanada wengi hawajawahi kusikia kuhusu vita vya Ortona. Mapigano hayo yalikuwa madogo sana ikilinganishwa na mapigano mengine ya Canada kama vile Hong Kong, Juno Beach, D-Day, vita vya Scheldt na Dieppe. Lakini vita vya Ortona viligharimu pesa nyingi kwa sababu ya ukubwa wake. Canada ilipoteza katika Vita vya Hong Kong, na Dieppe. Ilishinda katika vita vya Scheldt, na ilichukua Pwani ya Juno ikiwa na majeruhi wachache tu. Na ilishinda katika Ortona. Walakini, ikiwa Ujerumani itashindwa, Canada italazimika kulipa kwa gharama kubwa zaidi ya wiki tatu za damu. Ortona ni mji mdogo ulio karibu na latitudo moja na Roma, kwenye pwani ya mashariki ya Italia. Pwani ya mashariki ya Italia ni ngumu sana na Ortona ni bandari pekee ya maji ya kina ya Italia kwenye pwani hiyo... kwa hivyo umuhimu wake wa kimkakati. Hata hivyo, bandari hiyo ilikuwa ndogo na ingeweza kubeba meli moja au mbili tu kwa wakati mmoja. Uwanja wa ndege wa Ortona ulipaswa kuchukuliwa wakati washirika walipoelekea kaskazini kupitia eneo la Italia. Kama ilivyoelezwa, Ortona ilikuwa karibu shughuli zote Canuck. Kikosi cha Wahindi kilikuwa pia huko. Seaforth Highlanders, mojawapo ya vikosi vilivyopigana huko Ortona, vilitokana hasa na kusini mwa British Columbia. Kitabu hicho kina kamusi ambayo ilisaidia sana. "Kwa mfano, nililazimika kutafuta ""PPCL"" mara kadhaa kabla ya kukumbuka maana yake, hasa ""Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry"" (ya wazi, sawa?" Mapigano karibu na Ortona yalikuwa makali sana. Wakanada waliombwa washambulie nafasi zilizochimbwa tena na tena. Mabwawa ya kuteleza yalisaidia wakati ambapo hayakuanguka juu ya majeshi ya rafiki. Kulikuwa na matope kila mahali. Ilizidisha mizinga ya vita na kusonga mbele kwa miguu yenye kuchosha. Kwa upande mwingine, shell ya makombora ikishuka kwenye matope, ililipuka kwa kuchelewa na askari walikuwa wamelindwa sana kutokana na vipande vya risasi. Makombora yaliua askari wengi zaidi katika pande zote mbili kuliko silaha nyingine yoyote. Wajerumani walipigana vita vya uovu. Katika visa kadhaa, askari wa Ujerumani walijisalimisha chini ya bendera nyeupe, lakini wakati ulipofika waliacha bendera na kushambulia kwa kutumia silaha zilizofichwa. Waliweka mitego ya mabomu kwenye kila kitu walipokuwa wakiondoka. Maofisa wa jeshi walijua mambo ya kuepuka, lakini askari wa kijani wangeweza kuchukua lugger ya ukumbusho iliyokuwa imeunganishwa na bomu. Jambo la kufurahisha: Luteni mmoja mchanga aitwaye Farley Mowat anaonekana katika hadithi ya Ortona. Kitabu hiki ni kuhusu vita. Mapigano yaliendelea, mara nyingi juu ya eneo lilelile. Kitabu hicho kinaeleza kwa undani harakati hizo zote, lakini pia kina hadithi fupi, mara nyingi za kibinafsi, kuhusu askari wa cheo chochote. Katika visa vingi, hadithi zao huishia kwa kifo. Kwa mfano, ilikuwa vigumu sana kusoma kuhusu sehemu fupi kuhusu kikosi cha msaada kilichowasili mahali hapo. Jiji la Ortona lilikuwa mikononi mwa Wakanada, lakini Wajerumani walikuwa wakipigana walipokuwa wakirudi nyuma na walijua maeneo ya kila sehemu ya mji. Vikosi vya badala vilivyo na rangi ya kijani kibichi na visivyo na mazoezi ya kutosha vilikuwa vya kawaida katika vita vilivyowaangamiza watu kwa kiwango kikubwa kama hicho. Afisa wa kijani anaongoza kikosi cha askari wapya wapatao ishirini kuingia Ortona. Aliwaongoza moja kwa moja kwenye barabara kuu kwa mtindo wa gwaride kuelekea upande wa mbele wa Kanada! Wajerumani walitupa risasi moja kwa moja juu ya kikosi hicho kipya, wakiua nusu yao. Hakuna yeyote kati ya wale waliojeruhiwa vibaya aliyekuwa amewahi kupigana. Katika hadithi nyingine fupi, askari mpya wa kijani aliyezoezwa kidogo alifika mbele na alipewa makombora kadhaa ya aina ya 36. "Tayari ni aina ya 36 ya ""ananas"" grenade ya mkono ambayo ni kawaida katika sinema." Alilazimika kumwuliza kamanda wake zilikuwa nini! Maelezo ya vita si muhimu, lakini dhabihu zilizofanywa na wananchi wetu wa Kanada ni muhimu. Siku ya kawaida katika vita ingehusisha kuamka asubuhi na mapema katika shimo baridi, lenye unyevunyevu. Hiyo ingefuatwa na vyakula baridi. Siku nyingi kulikuwa na vitendo fulani, labda jaribio la kuchukua au kuchukua tena nyumba ndogo fulani itumike kama makao makuu. Shambulio la kulipiza kisasi lingekuja. Kama wewe si kupigana na Wajerumani, wewe walikuwa kupigana matope, na kupata sniped katika, kama wewe alijaribu kuhamisha vifaa na wafanyakazi kuhusu uwanja wa vita. Makombora, bunduki za mashine na makombora yalikuwa silaha za kuchagua za pande zote mbili. Kama wewe ni bahati, wewe got shrapnel jeraha kwamba ingekuwa na wewe kuhamishwa kwa nyuma, au hata nyumbani. Ikiwa wewe si bahati, na wewe si kuanguka mhasiriwa wa mapumziko ya vita (PTSD leo), unaweza kupata risasi na kufa katika baadhi ya mtaro chafu. Ikiwa ungeuawa kwenye barabara iliyotumiwa na mizinga, huenda mwili wako ungepondwa hadi usionekane. Kufikia mwaka wa 1943, meli ya Ortona ilikuwa mikononi mwa Wakanada. Mauaji ya watu 2,300; 500 waliuawa. Kitabu kingine kisicho na faharisi! Jambo hili hunikasirisha sana. Kwa kitabu kama hiki, tu indexing majina sahihi ya watu na maeneo itachukua siku nzima, na kusaidia sana. Kitabu hicho kina orodha ndefu ya mambo yaliyomo ambayo inabadilisha kidogo. Masha Gessen ni raia wa Urusi, gay, trans, mwanaharakati na mkosoaji wa Putin. """Kitabu hiki kinapaswa kuchukuliwa kwa uzito, lakini ninaona kwamba kwa wengi, kitakuwa ushahidi wa waziwazi kwamba Trump, Putin, dikteta, na wanaotaka kuwa dikteta duniani kote, wote wanafuata ishara zao kutoka kwa kitabu kimoja cha kucheza." Kitabu hiki kinajaribu kuonyesha jambo hilo. Kitabu hicho kina sura 22 fupi, ambazo zinafuata mpangilio wa wakati. Ni usomaji wa haraka sana. Kwa wale ambao wamefuata historia ya Trump, kitabu hiki ni uchambuzi wa dhambi za Trump, dhambi ambazo zinaonekana kuendelea milele na hazitashtakiwa kamwe. Waziri wa Biashara Wilbur Ross, Rex Tillerson, Mike Mulvaney, Jared Kushner, Ryan Zinke, Scott Pruitt, Tom Price na David Shulkin wamehukumiwa kwa kuiba mamilioni ya pesa za Marekani. Trump aliongoza utawala ulioharibika zaidi katika historia ya Marekani... kwa mbali. Alijizunguka na walaghai, watu wenye kusema ndiyo, na watu wasiotii kanuni zao. """Watu hao walipojihatarisha mara moja tu, walikuwa mali ya Trump." Wakati Erdogan alipopiga waandamanaji wa Marekani katika ukumbi wa White House, Trump na White House hawakufanya chochote. Labda ni adabu ya kitaaluma? Kavanaugh aliteuliwa kuwa hakimu wa mahakama ya juu kwa kura ya 51 kwa 50, licha ya mashtaka ya unyanyasaji wa kingono kutoka kwa Blasey Ford. Malalamiko 83 yaliwasilishwa dhidi ya Kavanaugh wakati wa kusikilizwa. Baadaye wote walifukuzwa kazi! Kwa nini? Kwa sababu ilikuwa kuchelewa mno. Sasa hakupatikana katika Mahakama Kuu Zaidi! Njia moja ya kupata nguvu ni kuajiri AG ambaye yuko katika mfuko. Trump amepata hiyo na Barr. Barr, kama Trump, alidanganya wakati wote, lakini kama kawaida, bila matokeo. Lugha imepigwa chini ya Trumpism. Kila kitu ni "chenye kustaajabisha" au "chenye uhaini". Trump alilalamika bila kukoma juu ya "uwindaji wa wachawi" wakati alikuwa madarakani, bila kutambua kwamba uwindaji wa wachawi unafanywa tu na wale walio madarakani. "Habari bandia" ni oxymoron. Je, ni bandia, au ni habari? Haiwezi kuwa yote mawili. Trump na Putin wanatumia mbinu ileile: kumshtaki mshtakiwa kwa kufanya uhalifu uleule. Wao ndio chanzo hasa cha "habari bandia". Gessen anaonyesha kufanana kati ya Trumpism na Post Modernism (PM). Watu wengi hawajui PM ni nini, kwa sababu ni ngumu kuifahamu. "Wanafunzi wa chuo kikuu cha ""Skeptics"" walifanya mkutano wa kwanza wa chuo kikuu cha SFU, ambao ulijumuisha ""Postmodernism.""" Mtangazaji alisoma sehemu kutoka katika gazeti la PM. Maandishi yalikuwa kwenye kiwambo cha juu (unakumbuka hizo?) ili wasikilizaji wote waweze kuisoma na kuisoma. Baadhi ya watu wenye akili zaidi ninaowajua walikuwa katika chumba hicho na hakuna mtu aliyeweza kutoa kidokezo kuhusu maana yake. "Mambo yote yaliyotokea katika siku za nyuma ni hadithi tu, na hadithi ni subjective kabisa. """ Hakuna ukweli, ni hadithi tu. PM alipigwa risasi siku moja. Alan Sokal aliandika insha kwa ajili ya kuchapishwa katika gazeti kubwa la PM la siku hiyo. Ilichapishwa. "Mwandishi huyo alikiri kwamba alikuwa ameandika tu karatasi katika mtindo wa ""PM"" na kwamba ilikuwa kabisa bila ufahamu." Alijipinga kimakusudi mara kadhaa. Kwa maneno mengine, ilikuwa ni maneno ya kipumbavu, lakini ilichapishwa kama maneno ya kipumbavu. "Mimi nafikiri PM imepotea (ilionekana tu kutoka kwenye rada yangu), lakini rafiki yangu mwanafalsafa Dale Beyerstein ananihakikishia ni hai na vizuri.""" Kisa muhimu: Ni nani awezaye kusahau Kelly Anne Conway na "hadithi zake mbadala"? Taarifa za PM zimekusudiwa kuonekana kuwa za kina na za kutafakari, wakati, kwa kweli, ni za kina na zisizo na maana. """Maandishi ya kawaida ya PM ni saladi ya maneno tu, na ikiwa haikukumbusha karibu kila hotuba ya Trump, umekuwa ukisikiliza." Hii haimaanishi kwamba Trump anatumia PM kwa makusudi. Yeye si mwenye akili sana. Lakini hotuba zake, hasa wakati anapotoka kwenye maandishi, ni mambo ya kawaida tu, bila kusudi, na yenye kupingana na mifano ya kuchachua kwa maneno. Trump amedanganya kuhusu hali ya hewa """Kuna kitu kimoja tu duniani ambacho watu wengi wanaweza kukubaliana ni hali ya hewa, na Trump anadanganya juu yake." Trump alidanganya kuhusu hali ya hewa wakati wa kuapishwa kwake, akisema hakunanyesha mvua. Maelfu ya mwavuli uliofunguliwa husali kutofautiana. Pia alidanganya kuhusu njia ya dhoruba, ambayo alikuwa amebadilisha kwa Sharpie. Hakudanganya kuhusu pendekezo la kutumia silaha za nyuklia kuzuia kimbunga. Alikuwa tu mjinga sana kujua jinsi mjinga nini yeye tu alisema kweli alikuwa. Katika njia yake ya kuwa mtawala, Trump alirejelea vyombo vya habari kama "adui wa watu". Stalin angejivunia jambo hilo. Vyombo vya habari vinawajibika kwa yote haya. Katika bidii yao ya kuonekana kuwa wasio na upande wowote, wao huchukua upande moja kwa moja... yaani, upande wa watawala wa kimabavu. "Watu wenye utawala wa kimabavu wanataka lugha iwe huru sana hivi kwamba hakuna chochote ambacho mtu yeyote anasema kinachoweza kuitwa "" uwongo. """ "Hii ni sawa na George Costanza, ambaye alisema, ""Ikiwa unaamini wakati unasema, bado ni uongo.""" Jibu la swali hilo ni "ndiyo". Mbali na uongo mkubwa wa Hitler, mbinu nyingine kubwa ya kimabavu ni kutenganisha "sisi" na "wao". "Kama ilivyoelezwa hapo juu, ""mashambulizi ya Wayahudi dhidi ya Ujerumani ya Nazi na ""mashambulizi ya makaravani"" ambayo yalienda kuharibu Amerika." Watu katika mpaka wa Mexico kuja kila mwaka, kama mawimbi, kwa sababu zao wenyewe. Moja ya sababu hizo ni haki ya kisheria ya kimataifa ya kuomba hifadhi. Trump aliwatendea wote kama wanyama, na kwa kweli aliwaita hivyo pia. """Kwa uadilifu, pande zote mbili zinatumia lugha ambayo inaweza kututofautisha wakati zinazungumza juu ya Waafrika wa Amerika, au Waislamu wa Amerika, au hata wanawake." Kwa bahati mbaya, matumizi haya ya lugha ni mafuta kwa moto pande zote mbili. Njia pekee ya kushinda ubaguzi huu nchini Marekani ni daima kusisitiza, kwanza na kwa kwanza, kwamba wananchi wote wa Marekani ni sawa Marekani. "Mimi ni mwanafunzi wa Vita vya Pili vya Ulimwengu na kulinganisha kati ya Hitler na Trump ni ya kutisha sana. """ Inaonekana kwamba akawa zaidi ya Hitler-ish kila mwaka alikuwa madarakani. Gessen anasema kwamba mabadiliko hayo yote ni ishara za uvamizi wa utawala wa kimabavu. Marekani inapenda kujiona kuwa demokrasia kubwa zaidi duniani. Wamarekani wanalalamika juu ya haki na uhuru wakati wanachama wa chama kimoja wanajaribu kwa siri kuzuia haki na uhuru wa wananchi wenzao, huku wakiruhusu kijasiri, mpumbavu, mwongo kuwa rais wao. Hilo laweza kutokea tena. Kivunja moyo changu kikuu na kitabu hiki ni kwamba kina wachezaji wengi na hakuna faharisi! Hakuna udhuru kwa ukosefu wa faharisi katika ulimwengu wa leo. "Kwa mfano, kama umesahau ni nani ""Vladimir"" katika kitabu, ulilazimika kusoma nyuma katika kitabu ili kupata kumbukumbu inayomfafanua." Hii inaweza kuwa ya kukatisha tamaa sana wakati baadhi ya wachezaji ni inajulikana kwa wote wawili majina yao ya kwanza na ya mwisho peke yake. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika kitabu chake cha kwanza, ""Red Notice,"" Browder alitoa maoni yake juu ya sheria ya Magnitsky." Sheria hiyo, ambayo sasa imekubaliwa na nchi zaidi ya 34, ikiwa ni pamoja na Canada, inaruhusu nchi kukamata mali za wahalifu wa kimataifa na wafadhili wa ugaidi. Putin ni samaki mkubwa katika dimbwi hilo, na ana wasiwasi. Sehemu kubwa ya utajiri wake iko nje ya Urusi. Kitabu hicho kinaanza kabla ya kitabu cha Red Notice kuchapishwa na kinaweza kuelezwa kama kitabu cha uzoefu wa Browder wakati alichapisha kitabu hicho na kushinikiza Sheria ya Magnitsky ulimwenguni kote. Ikiwa hujawahi kusoma Red Notice, unapaswa kufanya hivyo kabla ya kusoma kitabu hiki. Onyo la spoiler: ikiwa hujasoma lakini unapanga kusoma, acha kusoma hii sasa! Browder alianzisha kampuni ya uwekezaji nchini Urusi ambayo ilifanya mamilioni. Putin alimwiba kampuni hiyo na dola milioni 230, akamshtaki Browder kwa kuiba pesa hizo, akamtia gerezani mwanasheria wa Browder Sergei Magnitsky, na kumtesa hadi akafa. Browder aliunda Sheria ya Magnitsky kuadhibu Urusi na amefanya kazi ya maisha yake. Putin anataka afe. Kitabu hicho kinasomeka kama maandishi ya filamu ya Hitchcock (fikiri The Man Who Knew Too Much, au North by Northwest). Mhasiriwa asiye na hatia (Browder) anaenda kwa mwanasheria kupata msaada kupigana na Warusi. Jina la mwanasheria huyo ni John Moscow (kwa kweli!). Yeye kuchimba katika kesi Browder ya na kumsaidia. Lakini miezi kadhaa baadaye, alikuwa akifanya kazi kwa ajili ya Putin! John Moscow alitumia maarifa yake ya ndani kumtesa Browder katika jaribio la kumleta kwenye udongo wa Urusi. Hii ni kinyume na kanuni zote za kisheria lakini ilichukua maonyesho mengi ya mahakama ili kupata mahakama za magharibi kuondoa Moscow kutoka kwa kesi hiyo. "Somo moja la hadithi hii ni kwamba sheria, iliyoundwa kulinda wasio na hatia, inaweza kugeuzwa kuwa silaha ya mauti katika mikono isiyofaa.""" Moscow ni mfano kamili wa kile kila mtu anachokichukia: mwanasheria mpotovu. Hadithi inaendelea, wakati mwingine karibu comically, katika clichés yake kanzu na kisu. Maneno hayo ya kawaida huwa ya kweli. Maelezo mengine madogo: Warusi (yaani Putin) kama kuharibu watu, lakini wao ni kweli si nzuri sana katika hilo. Wachache sana wameokoka kutiwa sumu, kutia ndani mchezaji mmoja katika hadithi hii. Putin alishindwa kuua Boris Nemtsov, ambaye alipigwa risasi mara nane nje ya Kremlin. Lori lisiloeleweka lilikuwa limesimama na kusimamishwa, likizuia kamera ya ufuatiliaji kuona. Hadithi hiyo pia inapatikana katika njama hii ya James Bond. Dola milioni 232 za awali zilikuwa zimepanda hadi bilioni 232, ambazo nyingi zilipitia Danske Bank. Kama mtu wa asili ya Denmark, hii ilikuwa ya kusumbua kwangu, lakini Wadanish hawakupoteza wakati katika kuwapiga watu wabaya wakati uhalifu huu ulipojulikana. Mimi nina kitu lakini admiration kwa Browder. Anaishi maisha ya kukimbia huku akipigana kwa ajili ya sababu ya haki. Uchafu wa Putin haukoma na Bill Browder. Sasa anafanya vita ambavyo hawezi kushinda nchini Ukraine. Lee Moller ni mtu mwenye kutilia shaka maisha yake yote na asiyeamini kuna Mungu na ni mwandishi wa kitabu The God Con.