Recovery.gov

Wow, just came across Recovery.gov where we can see how recovery dollars are being spent...well, at least in some broad sense...How much on the website itself? Probably not that much I guess...
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State of Fear - by Michael Crichton

State of Fear is a novel that has changed my perspective on charity organizations and the validity of scientific studies. The novel itself is a thrill ride where a bomb is always about to go off on the next page. It has been a while since I have read a book where I have been so caught reading.

Weaved in this story Crichton shows us how charity organizations have little oversight, especially when compared to for profit corporations, and how this lack of oversight can lead to misinformation, abuse of funds, and even terrorism. I hereby pledge to be much more cautious before donating another dollar. In economic exchanges of value for value, there is a kind of inherent oversight that is lost when you just give your money away, not knowing exactly how it is going to be spent.

Crichton's other focus of the book is the validity of scientific studies where he suggests that science experiments be conducted in a double blind fashion. That is to say that one party desires an experiment, another designs the experiment, and a third carries it out. This prevent bias.

Strikingly, Crichton tells of a scientific test where two labs are given genetically modified mice. One lab is told the mouse is bred to be faster, the other lab is told the mouse is slower. The labs carry out experiments and confirm the assumption in both cases. The catch, however, is that the mice are genetically identical. Proving that scientists working to route out all bias are still subject to some bias when they know the assumptions of the experiment.

One answer to this problem is to implement double blind experiments discussed earlier, however, other options could also be proposed.

The two themes of charity abuse and scientific validity center on the issue of global warming where Crichton points out few terms are defined, much policy is based on speculation, and there is a wide array of disagreement in the scientific community. In other words, it is impossible to know for sure what is happening.

The book was also a great eye opener on ecology. How diverse the world is, and how much it changes, even without human intervention. Forests and the air we breathe all would change even without human hands.


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On Writing by Stephen King

Stephen King's book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft takes us through King's journey of becoming a writer. His struggles in childhood, his lottery fortune on selling his first novel, his battle with drugs and alcoholism, and finally his recovery from a car accident. For each trial in King's life the writing redeemed him.

The book is funny, entertaining and informative too. It gives a practical guide to becoming a writer: how to use the language well, find an agent, and set a routine to pound out words. Writing really is best when it is an honest reflection, when it comes naturally, and when you enjoy the message you are sending.

I cannot fully the describe the impact of this book. It is technical, but sweeps you away in story. King's account of getting hit by a van is powerful, one of the few books where I have come close to tears. I have read this three times and loved every second of it.

King closes his book with what every inspiring writer needs...a license to write. No need to wallow in self doubt, to listen to the critics, to remember the writing teacher that says you are wasting time. Really, that is true for every aspect of life.

"Writing isn't about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it's about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well. It's about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy...Some of this book—perhaps too much—has been about how I learned to do it. Much of it has been about how you can do it better. The rest of it—and perhaps the best of it—is a permission slip: you can, you should, and if you're brave enough to start, you will. Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up. "

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Ageless Quest by Lenny Guarente

Lenny Guarente professor and research scientist at MIT wrote a memoir of his research for the fountain of youth and named it: Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for Genes That Prolong Youth

The book is well written and easy to read. It brings the science down to a layman's level, and sheds light on many of the intriguing theories of aging over the years. Lenny also ads in tidbits of his personal life and that of his graduate students that ads a realistic charm and gives us a window to peer into the world of graduate school and academia.

Interestingly Lenny ends the book with an account of starting his own venture capital company, Elixir Pharmaceuticals to research aging.

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How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines by Dawn B. Sova

How to Write Articles for Newspapers and Magazines by Dawn B. Sova is a short but helpful book on the technical aspects of writing for newspapers and magazines. The books clearly explains the important elements of a story, use of verbs, diction, and quotes.

The book can best be summarized in the closing questions writers should ask after finishing an article:

1. Is the substance of the article the same as originally agreed on with the editor?


2. Does the article exhibit a consistent theme?


3. Does the article contain a consistent tone?


4. Is the voice of the article consistent?


5. Are adequate descriptive details provided to illustrate the meaning of generalizations?


6. Is the writing free of clichés and other timeworn phrases?


7. Does the writing contain strong verbs and precise words?


8. Is the organization of the content logical?


9. Are the transitions invisible, and do they allow the ideas to flow seamlessly together to form a whole?


10. Are all quotations strong and meaningful?


11. Are all quotations correctly attributed?


12. Does the lead capture you attention as a reader?


13. Does the lead connect with the rest of the article?


14. Does the ending complete the story?


15. Is the ending connected to the lead and to the rest of the story?


16. Would you continue to read the article after the lead?

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The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan looks at plants from the unique perspective of how they manipulated humans into growing and tending them. I like this perspective and the points of how plants used to naturally evolve to avoid pests, but now have to be genetically engineered or sprayed with pesticides.

Pollan looks at 4 plants: apples, tulips, cannabis, and potatoes.

The story on apples turns into a history of the apple and Johnny Appleseed. John Whitaker (or Appleseed) spread apple orchards across the land, selling them to settlers who were required by the government to plant 50 on every lot they settled to avoid speculation. The trouble with apples, however, is that they don’t come true from seed. They have to be grafted, so all the apples Whitaker planted were spitters, or bitter apples. Whitaker’s apples were still desirable on the frontier, however, as they were used to make hard cider and apple jack (a strong apple brandy).
Apples are amazingly diverse, and evolve drastically if not grafted. Pollan visited an apple library in New York with over 2,500 apples. Some small and purple, others blue, and all of them with varying tastes. The library is kept because wild types of apples may be needed to fight a natural pests that can’t be fought synthetically. Pollan ends his apple adventure by planting some seed apples of his own, in the hope of continuing the wild strain should it ever be needed to find a gene to develop resistance to some new pest of nature.

For tulips Pollan observes how flowers came to symbolize beauty among humans. Tulips are thought to have first been cultivated by the Turks and then the Dutch. Tulips underwent an investment craze when their bulbs were written into futures contracts in Holland in the 1600s, only to burst when people had to pay $1000 for a flower bulb. Pollan takes us back in time to when the first flower evolved and how it symbolizes the balance between function and beauty, perhaps the point of life.

Pollan next looks at cannabis, where the best gardeners of our time have fled to Holland (yet again) to dedicate their time and genius to growing the world’s number one cash crop. There he finds intricate indoor conditions for growing cannabis, and how the plant itself has evolved to handle such extremes.

What are the roles mind altering drugs have played in evolution? Would addled creatures with a loss of coordination not have died out in the survival of the fittest? Or do drugs (including coffee, alcohol, and chocolate) have benefits in terms of letting us concentrate, focus, and handle social conflict? A further interesting analysis shows the roles drugs have played in religion, even Christianity can’t escape as Jesus himself turned water into wine, and claimed his blood to be made of wine. Pollan delves deeper into this topic, looking at consciousness itself, and the role of plants in altering or intensifying our consciousness.

Pollan’s last look at the potato focuses on the issue of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Pollan has been given a sample of potatoes with the BT gene, a gene which produces the pesticide BT in every part of the plant.
Pollan plants the spuds, and notices how he does not own the rights to the genes, that is to say, to replant the spuds the next year, or give the spuds to someone else.
Traveling to large commercial potato farms he finds the spuds are welcomed as a environmentally beneficial alternative to spraying potato leaves white with pesticides and making the soil grey with herbicides. Going to an organic farmer, he gets a different opinion, as the farmer expresses concern over genetic drift so that other plants produce BT, and pests eventually becoming resistant.
The question on whether or not GMO foods are harmful to humans is inconclusive, there simply has not been any testing either way. This is not unusual with humans as controlled trials are difficult. It took years to prove cigarettes cause cancer.

Pollan concludes that GMOs present a new stage in the nature-man relationship, one that breaks the variety and genius of nature. To be certain, the botany of desire still exists in GMO products since the plants benefit from having BT genes, but there are reservations where the plant cannot naturally reproduce. Pollan finishes his book advocating a more natural and equal approach to agriculture. Man and plants should work side by side, tending and nurturing each other in a way a gardener and garden could only understand. It is a nice vision, and a beckoning call.

But the Botany of Desire from Amazon.com