Archive for October, 2008

  • 03 Oct

    Posted by


    Category

    Hold on just a doggone second…

    0

    Before everyone starts circulating folksy stories of the day the US Congress “showed some spine”, with the “triumph” of the people’s will, and the bankers “not getting their way”, etc. etc., did anyone notice that the Federal Reserve had already pumped US$630 billion into the global financial system literally hours before the bill was defeated? Which means, hasn’t everyone been celebrating/crowing a bit, ah, prematurely?

    The money that got quietly shot into the system is only US$70 billion less than originally asked for, and for general liquidity rather than the salepurchase of toxic MBSs (Mortgage Backed Securities), but it still got funnelled to the banks, so who’s quibbling? So yes, that means all those veiled threats from the United States Chamber of Commerce:

    When the aftermath of Congressional inaction becomes clear, Americans will not tolerate those who stood by and let the calamity happen.

    and the statement I quoted in an earlier blog about millions of jobs being lost, and the “fate of the country” hanging on the vote, and how we’re all know facing doom, doom I tell you! … was all a bit of hot air really.

    Now, if the amended US$700 billion is passed by the House (as it has already been by the Senate … and how come it can get passed by the Upper House when it hasn’t passed the Lower House yet? … Gads, there are things about the US legislative system that completely perplex me … but I digress), then the banks will get a total of US$1.33 trillion (minimum), will they not?

    And if the amended US$700 billion doesn’t get passed by the House, then, well, they already have US$630 billion anyway, with the Fed able to give them as much as they want, whenever they want, via the mechanism they used before with the $630 billion, don’t they?

    Uh, hold on just a tick: if the Fed could already give this money to the banks without having to go through legislation (which they so obviously can, and have), why have the US$700 billion bill in the first place?

    As Han Solo said: “What’s so important? What’s [the bill] carrying?” And is there some kind of arcane rule about this? “If you are going to give banks any money, then you have to do it through a bill only when the sum given is greater than US$6.999 billion”? Just wondering.

    In other news, War Games is now a downloadable PDF available from the War Games page. I’ve tested it in Linux and Windows. If anyone has issues, please let me know.

  • 01 Oct

    Posted by


    Category

    Review: One Corpse Too Many by Ellis Peters

    6

    I’m not sure how a copy of Peters’ book made in into our library. Maybe it was the picture of Sir Derek Jacobi on the front. (Man, what an actor!) But I do dabble in mysteries from time to time and was happy enough to read this slim volume.

    It is the time of the civil war between opposing forces for the throne of England during the twelfth century. And Shrewsbury, where the novels are set, seem to be a nexus for the conflict. While tending to those who were executed for being on the wrong side of a particular battle, Cadfael the monk discovers that there are ninety-five corpses waiting to be blessed and buried, rather than ninety-four. He decides to investigate the death of the unaccounted body, certain the young man was killed by foul means.

    There’s something about the language used in these historical novels that appeals to me. Cotte, hose, trencher, tincture, cordial … the syllables themselves evoke a particular atmosphere that’s half the fun of reading a novel such as this. Cadfael is as secular as a monk can be without being a civilian. Ex-crusader, ex-sailor, sexually knowledgeable, open-minded, tolerant, he protects Godrick, a youth in his charge, Tolund, the dashing Saxon sympathiser of Empress Maud, and skips prayer times as appropriate, all without much of a qualm. It’s also obvious that Cadfael has a lot of respect for women and I appreciated how the female characters were cast in this novel.

    The one thorn in the novel for me was the “pricking of the thumbs” phrase which, I felt, turned up too many times. Already, the first time I encountered it, I was thrown into Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (and none of that is Peters’ fault, I hasten to add), but the repetition of the phrase compounded that flip.

    Having said all that, my last thought was that all the good bits together–the evocative language, atmosphere, portrayal of women–was not really enough to have me actively seek out any Brother Cadfael mystery (although I wouldn’t say no to one if it dropped in my lap) until I discovered that my favourite character, Hugh of Beringar, becomes a regular after One Corpse Too Many, the second Cadfael book.

    Well, that changes everything! Hugh is bested in this book, but his good humour and sardonic wit overcomes his obvious sense of ambition, and he quickly became one of my favourites. Knowing that he’s in other books as well gives me the motivation to move Peters’ name a little further up the list of authors I look for when I walk into the bookstore.

    Summary: a good book to read when you’re already feeling relaxed. I might try searching out the videos as well. I do like Jacobi!

Page 2 of 2«12