Issue #63

Last Update April 30, 2009

National and International EU, NATO - Too Far, Too Fast by David Katz April 28, 2009 The success of NATO over the past half century, and the success of the European Union over the past decade and a half, has landed both organizations in hot water. In their drive to become the all-inclusive economic and defense organizations for Western and Central Europe, they have lost sight of their original missions and the principals that made them successful. In both cases they have attempted to expand to inappropriate countries.  continued Solving The Carbon Problem by Gert Innsry April 10, 2009  The computer's contribution to global warming has been written about, but only in terms of the impact and energy costs of mining, fabrication and transportation on the environment, and the electricity used to run the millions of home and commercial computers we all depend on for work and play. Left out of the total is the change computers have made to the process of writing, in which keyboards have replaced handwriting and laser and ink jet printers have replaced pencils.  continued GOP=Hamas? by Gerry Krownstein March 15, 2009  In the early years of the Clinton presidency the GOP members of the House and Senate adopted a scorched-earth, take no prisoners policy of non-cooperation with the Democratic president. The Gingrich Revolution accomplished nothing much in terms of policy, but did succeed in closing down the government for a while, a feat that earned them the contempt of the American public and restored Clinton's damaged ratings. They are attempting the same tactic against a far more disciplined and competent President Obama, who has a very worried American public very much on his side. Despite his outreach to Republicans, to the point of modifying legislation to make it easier for GOP legislators to vote for, he has very little to show for it when it comes to Republican cooperation, or even constructive criticism. Like Hamas, who maintain that a Middle East settlement is impossible without the destruction of Israel, the GOP seems set on a policy Obama failure at any cost to the nation. This is not playing well in the polls. continued  Guantanimo by Gerry Krownstein February 1, 2009  What's the big problem with closing down Guantanimo? Everyone is acting like this is a hot potato that Mr. Obama should handle very carefully. There are mysterious "risks to our country" in precipitate action to eliminate this blot on America's honor., they say, and maybe we should keep it open for at least another year under we figure a way out of this very difficult problem. Bull! The real problem is that closing Guantanimo quickly leaves too much egg on too many faces. A delayed closing would show that really dangerous characters were kept in check; maybe we went a bit far, but it was all in a good cause, and was almost all necessary. None of this is true. continued Commentary January 2009  We have a new president, one who could have been a world-class CEO if he had chosen a different life. The less said about the previous president the better. The brilliance and steadiness with which Mr. Obama ran his campaign and the transition could fill a Harvard B-school textbook on effective management. Everyone knows that the tasks he has undertaken are almost insurmountable. He appears eager to get to work, and has laid a good foundation to begin on. continued Somali Piracy by Sten Grynir November 20, 2008  Somali pirates have been working overtime to make shipping through the Gulf of Aden and down the Eastern coast of Africa insecure. By boarding freighters and tankers and holding their crews and cargo hostage, the Somali pirates have bolstered the economy of their province. The shipping nations (those under whose flags the ships sail, and those who actually own the vessels) have not been able to bring this criminal activity to a stop. Even the presence of US and Russian warships has not deterred the pirates from operating openly. Now, in the ultimate act of outsourcing, the Indian navy has taken a hand, and with the usual Indian efficiency, seems to have sunk a fishing vessel that was itself hijacked. Wasn't this why the US Marines were formed? What happened to the shores of Tripoly? continued Commentary November, 2008  The election is finally over. Barack Obama has won, and Democratic majorities have increased in the House and the Senate. The big questions for the immediate future are: -Is Obama determined to unite the country, as he claimed in his campaign? His cabinet choices will give us a major clue as to whether unification is a real priority for him. At least one of the following positions must go to a centrist Republican for his unity claim to be credible: Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, or Secretary of the Treasury. Appointing a Republican to one of the lesser cabinet positions will not carry the same message. continued   Business and Technology Temporary Oil Reprieve by Gerry Krownstein April 26, 2009  Surging oil prices were the big headlines of 2006 and 2007. Gasoline went over $5 per gallon in some parts of the country, and triggered, in part, the collapse of the domestic automobile industry, as the gas guzzlers they had bet their futures on stopped selling. There was much moaning and groaning and gnashing of teeth as the American public mourned the eight years the Bush administration wasted that could have been spent on research into alternate fuels, promotion of efficient public transit, and restructuring of the economy to reduce the impact of petroleum. The current economic crisis, and the resulting crash in petroleum prices, gives us at least a partial chance to recoup some of the lost time. Diminished economic activity results in diminished oil usage. Since the current recession is likely to continue for a year or two, we can regain at least that much time if we do several important things: continued Make Your Own Kindle Cover by David Katz April 20, 2009 Unlike the Kindle 1, the Kindle 2, reviewed here recently, does not come with its own cover. The cover was necessary for the Kindle 1, both to protect the screen and to prevent page turn buttons from being inadvertently activated as the e-book reader was being carried or used. Amazon apparently believes that the need for the same kind of protection is unnecessary for the newer device, with its more sensibly set-up navigation. Nevertheless, Amazon and a variety of aftermarket suppliers have covers for sale at prices ranging from $29 to over $150, depending on the magnificence of the material from which they are made. This article will show you how to make a perfectly satisfactory Kindle cover for less than one dollar, and in about ten minutes. continued The State of the Digital Union by David Katz March 11, 2009  Three slogans characterized the Digital Music Forum East, held at the Jewish Heritage Museum in New York in February: "Monetization", "360" and "Discovery". The music industry is still reeling from the impact of technology on its way of doing business, still trying to figure out how to make a living in the new digital universe. These three slogans are the best answers they have found so far. continued  Kindle 2.0 by David Katz February 28, 2009  After using the Kindle 1 electronic book reader for a year, I am an enthusiastic ebook fan. Now that the Kindle 2 is out, I have purchased one and passed my old Kindle on to my wife. How do the Kindles compare? Has the Kindle 2 corrected the faults of the Kindle 1. Has it added functionality not present on the original Kindle? If you have a Kindle 1, should you upgrade to a 2? Is there a better reader out there? If so, at what price? continued Homo Sapiens 2.0 by David Katz February 10, 2009  The September 20-26,2008 issue of New Scientist, the British science weekly, contained an interesting article on autism, based on work done on rats exposed to valproic acid, an anticonvulsant and mood-stabilizing drug, in utero. The rats given the drug on the 12th day of gestation, roughly equivalent to early part of the first trimester in humans, then developed a condition closely analogous to autism in humans, providing an animal model of the human syndrome. The experimenters (Kamila and Henry Markham of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) postulate that the spectrum of symptoms that comprise autism in young children is the result of physical changes in the brain, specifically abnormal brain growth after birth, especially in minicolumns in the cerebral cortex. In addition to being more plentiful, these mincolumns are hyperconnected; that is, there are many more signal paths between them, and are also more reactive, firing more readily in the presence of an external electrical current. The minicolumns, according to the article, are the smallest independent processing units in the cortex, handling perception, memory and other things before they are integrated into a whole. continued Too Big to Fail by Gerry Krownstein January 31, 2009 Part of the rationale for pouring public money into banks, brokerage houses, insurance companies and automobile manufacturers that are on the brink of bankruptcy due to their own managerial incompetence is that they are too big to fail; that is, a failure of one of these firms will bring down an entire sector of the economy, harming millions who are not themselves at fault, and perhaps triggering a national or worldwide depression. continued Damned by Sten Grynir December 21, 2008  Sometimes you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. On several issues lately, cries of alarm over certain conditions turned to cries of alarm over their opposites. Sometimes the confusion this engenders is warranted, but sometimes it is an indication of a political tug of war. A few of these issues are population growth (and the related issue of immigration), federal deficits, the savings rate of the US public, and the strength of the dollar. continued The Bailout by Gerry Krownstein November 12, 2008  Even when President Bush brings in a new team, as he did at Treasury, they can't seem to get it right. Secretary Paulson, a Goldman Sachs alumnus, came into office with the public hope that someone of competence at last held the economic reins. Whether he has been hobbled by free-market ideology, or constrained by political considerations, he has attacked the economic crisis with a level of dithering and a lack of common sense that I imagine is surprising to those who knew him as the successful chairman and CEO of America's foremost investment banking firm. His initial bailout plan was bizarre: authorize the Treasury Secretary to disburse huge amounts of money with no oversight, no transparancy and, thanks to the proposed immunity from court interference, no accountability. Congress wisely substituted its own plan which, flawed though it was, at least had the virtue of providing oversight and auditing mechanisms, accountability and public information. Then Paulson set about implementing the powers he was given, and we were back in a muddle. He loaned money to and invested in banks without extracting from them any concrete promises as to how the money would be used; did not ask, as a quid pro quo, that Treasury have any say in the operation of the banks (when banks and venture capitalists advance large sums of money to a company in the normal course of business they usually get at least one seat on the company's board); done nothing to help the real victims of the banks' overreaching, the people who were persuaded to take out these mortgages; and now has stated that the bulk of the bailout money will not be used for banks, after all, but to prop up other ailing sectors of the economy, again with no thought to changing their methods of operation. He should have done five things instead: continued   Arts and Reviews   Waterstone Grill by David Katz April 15, 2009 A few decades ago, the Wall Street area was a desert as far as good restaurants was concerned. This has changed radically. Stone street has become a pedestrian mall lined with cafes and restaurants. By far the best of these is the Waterstone Grill, located at 79 Pearl Street. This attractive bar and restaurant goes through between Pearl and Stone streets, and has a pleasing and roomy bar area with dining tables on the Pearl Street side, a dining room on the Stone Street side, and an upstairs dining room as well. In good weather, there is also outdoor dining on Stone Street’s cobblestoned mall. Waterstone Grill has all the elements to please the diner: a pleasant ambiance, attentive and efficient wait staff, and above all, a supremely talented chef.  continued Perpetual Motion by Sten Grynir February 10, 2009 In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, Dava Sobel, author of Galileo's Daughter, Sarah Pillow, soprano, Ronn McFarlane, lute and theorbo, and Mary Anne Ballard, viola da gamba, presented a multimedia offering, "Perpetual Motion: Revolutions in 17th Century Science and Music". Dava Sobel acted as Storyteller, introducing breathtaking images of space and reciting poetry or the era. Songs and instrumentals of the 17th Century were provided by Ms. Pillow, Mr. McFarlane and Ms. Ballard. The effect of the performance was to impart an almost mystical sense of learning to the audience; information entered the brain through eyes and ears in formats not usually encountered in the classroom. continued NYCC Carter Concert by David Katz January 2, 2009  On December 6, the New York Composers Circle (NYCC), New York's premiere organization for composers of contemporary concert music, presented a concert in honor of Elliot Carter's 100th birthday. (See our November preview of this concert.) Mr. Carter, an Honorary Composer Member of NYCC, agreed to allow the performance of his Woodwind Quintet as part of the celebration. The Quintet, written in 1948, is representative of his early style, a style which he had outgrown by the time he received his first Pulitzer Ptize in 1960. Along with the Carter piece, the NYCC concert featured woodwind compositions by Eugene Marlow, Margaret Fairlie-Kennedy, Cesar Vuksic, Joseph Pehrson, Fedor Kabalin and Donald Hagar, all of whom are Composing Members, and all of whom have become known for the quality of their composition. continued New York Revels '08 by Gert Innsry December 15, 2008  The New York Revels is the local branch of a national group, the Christmas Revels, which has branches in Cambridge MA, Boulder CO, Hanover NH, Houston TX, Portland OR, Puget Sound WA, Washington DC and San Francisco, CA. The Revels put on an annual Christmas show that is part Early Music concert, part sing-along, part ethnic music concert and part church pageant. It is always thoroughly enjoyable. continued Jazz Pictures at an Exhibition of Himalayan Art by David Katz November 25, 2008  Just about a year ago, we reviewed a concert given at the Rubin Museum by Chris Byars and his jazz group (Pictures at an Exhibition (of Himalayan Art)). Since then, a CD of that concert has become available, and the concert has been given several more times, most recently at the Riverdale YM/YWHA. What was an impressive artistic achievement on first hearing has retained its power and charm on rehearing, something that is not always true of programmatic works. continued Elliot Carter and The New York Composers Circle by David Katz November 20, 2008  This year is Elliot Carter's centennial, and a number of orchestras have given concerts in his honor. It is especially fitting for a New York composer that the New York Composers Circle (of which he is an honorary member) will be featuring Carter's Woodwind Quintet, composed in 1948, on its concert of woodwind music by member composers. The concert will be held on Saturday, December 6, 2008, at 8 PM at the Steven Engelman Recital Hall of Baruch College, 25th Street and Lexington Avenue. The Quintet dates from before his absorption with atonal music, and, though it has a contemporary sound, is quite melodic in nature. continued

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