Minor Thoughts from me to you

President Obama is proposing a new principle: the “Buffett rule”

President Obama on Monday will call for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-income taxpayers, according to administration officials.

Mr. Obama, in a bit of political salesmanship, will call his proposal the “Buffett Rule,” in a reference to Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor who has complained repeatedly that the richest Americans generally pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than do middle-income workers, because investment gains are taxed at a lower rate than wages.

This argument, however, ignores the entire concept of double taxation. I oppose the Buffett rule because investment income is already taxed twice: once as corporate income and once as investment income. This means that investors are actually paying higher taxes than everyone else.

I’ll illustrate this by walking through a simplified example. I’m aware that this is a very, very, very simplified example. (For instance, it ignores corporate tax deductions and other “tax breaks”. It also ignores whatever “loopholes” Mr. Buffett is currently using to reduce his own personal tax liability.) I think the general idea is correct, however.

Let’s say Berkshire Hathaway earns a profit of $18,000,000 and wants to distribute the entire amount as dividends to its shareholders. And, for the purposes of extreme simplification, let’s say that Mr. Buffett is the sole shareholder.

First, Berkshire Hathaway must pay U.S. corporate income tax on the profits. Corporate income of $18,000,000 would be taxed at a rate of 35%. The remaining balance would be distributed as investment income, to Mr. Buffet. Mr Buffet will then pay a capital gains tax of 15% on that money. Here’s how that breaks down.

Now, let’s imagine that we implement the “Buffett Rule” and we require Mr. Buffett to pay a 35% tax rate on his investment income. Here’s how that breaks down.

This rule definitely forces Mr. Buffett’s taxes up, but he’s hardly paying the same rate as the rest of us. He’s now paying a total tax rate of 58% on his income—far more than the 35% rate that “we” pay.

If we wanted to aim for equal taxation (the supposed aim of the Buffett Rule), we need to aim at more fundamental reforms. For instance, how about eliminating the corporate tax rate and then taxing investment income at the same rate as personal income? That would eliminate all of the hanky panky that goes on with the corporate tax code and would, in one fell swoop, eliminate all of its deductions and loopholes. It would simultaneously increase the taxes directly paid by Mr. Buffett. Here’s how that breaks down.

Mr. Buffett is now paying the same rate as “we” do. That’s fair, isn’t it?

Georgia absolutely should not execute Troy Davis next week. No one should ever be executed when there is this much doubt in the case record. This is very disturbing and scary.

In an extraordinary hearing in June 2010 ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, Davis' attorneys were finally allowed to present evidence of his innocence to a federal judge. In statement after statement, witnesses from the original trial avowed that they had been coerced by police to implicate Davis in the shooting or had lied in order to secure lenience for their own troubles with the law.

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Emanuel also noted the prosecutors' reliance on two hearsay confessions at the original trial, including one allegedly given by Davis to a cellmate shortly after his arrest. Both confessions were later recanted by the witnesses in affidavits.

"At the original trial, you've got very dubious eyewitness identifications and a lot of hearsay," Emanuel said. "It's appalling for a death case."

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Paul Ryan, with a very, very good speech on the importance of the Constitution and on the primacy of the rule of law, in our political and economic system.

We can strengthen our defense of liberty if we remember to keep in mind those who are struggling to make ends meet. What makes our Constitution such an extraordinary document is that, in making the United States the freest civilization in history, the Founders guaranteed that it would become the most prosperous as well. The American system of limited government, low taxes, sound money and the rule of law has done more to help the poor than any other economic system ever designed.

I want to talk today in particular about the last of those – the rule of law, which is absolutely essential to all the other benefits of our system, to the prosperity and freedom of our country, and to the well being of all Americans, especially the most vulnerable.

What is the rule of law? When the Declaration of Independence cited as justification “the laws of nature and of nature’s God,” the Founders were channeling Aristotle, who wrote that the rule of law in principle means that, quote, “God and intellect alone rule.”

Aristotle defined the law as “intellect without appetite,” by which he meant justice untainted by the self-interest of those in power.

The great difficulty we encounter in striving to meet Aristotle’s ideal was best summed up by James Madison: “if men were angels, no government would be necessary. And if angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.”

But, as Madison reminded us, men are no angels, and government is “administered by men over men.” Grounded in a proper understanding of human nature, our Founders tackled this challenge head-on with a brilliant Constitution and a healthy separation of powers, binding all men to the same set of laws and preventing any one man or group of men from gaining enough power to declare themselves above the law.

Do read the whole thing.

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Wisconsin Judge Patrick J. Fiedler, on your fundamental rights.

"This court is unwilling to declare that there is a fundamental right to consume the food of one's choice without first being presented with significantly more developed arguments on both sides of the issue."

"no, Plaintiffs to not have a fundamental right to own and use a dairy cow or a dairy herd;

"no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to consume the milk from their own cow;"

"no, Plaintiffs do not have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice..."

If Americans don't have a fundamental right to produce and consume the foods of their choice, what rights do they have?

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Walt Harrington's reflections on how George W. Bush grew over the years that Harrington knew him. As many people have pointed out, President Bush was far smarter than people thought. (That doesn't mean that he was always right, just that he wasn't an idiot.)

And he began to talk—and talk and talk for what must have been nearly three hours. I’ve never told anyone the specifics of what he said that night, not even my wife or closest friends. I did not make notes later and have only my memory. In the journalism world, off the record is off the record. But I have repeatedly described the hours as “amazing,” “remarkable,” “stunning.”

President Bush—and he was, no doubt, by then a real president—talked expansively about Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, China, Korea, Russia. He talked about his reelection strategies, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, WMD and how he still believed they would be found, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, Vladimir Putin. He talked about his aides and how tough their lives were, the long hours and stress and time away from their families, about how difficult it was for his daughters. He said that compared with everyone around a president, the president had the easiest job. He was the same confident, brash man I had met years ago, but I no longer sensed any hint of the old anger or the need for self-aggrandizement.

As he talked, I even thought about an old Saturday Night Live skit in which an amiable, bumbling President Ronald Reagan, played by Phil Hartman, goes behind closed doors to suddenly become a masterful operator in total charge at the White House. The transformation in Bush was that stunning to me.

On the other hand, I still dislike President Bush's assumption that everyone else should bow and scrape before powerful men.

As it turned out, I did see George W. soon again after the encounter on his father’s Cigarette boat. After my story ran in The Washington Post Magazine, the vice president invited my family over to lunch and horseshoes at his official residence, on the grounds of the U. S. Naval Observatory. The vice president had actually called twice to invite us over, but on both occasions, our schedules hadn’t meshed. After the second invite, George W. called my house.

“Walt, my dad is vice president of the United States,” I remember him saying with a touch of irritation. “When he calls and invites you to lunch, you come to lunch.”

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Interesting. Companies that have the freedom to set their own pay and benefit scales are able to create more new jobs than they would otherwise be able to. That's certainly unexpected.

They are a cornerstone of Chrysler’s unlikely comeback: 900 employees turning out a Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle every 48 seconds of the working day at an assembly plant here. Working for Less

Nothing distinguishes them from other workers at the Jefferson North plant, except their paychecks. The newest workers earn about $14 an hour; longtime employees earn double that.

With the economy slumping and job creation once again a pressing issue in the White House and Congress, the advent of a two-tier wage system in Detroit is spiking employment for one of the country’s most important manufacturing industries.

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It is past time for Christians around the U.S. to make it abundantly clear that Pat Robertson is not one of us and does not speak for us.

When my wife and I married, we were very consciously thinking of these types of scenarios when we promised fidelity "in sickness and in health".

This week on his television show Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson said a man would be morally justified to divorce his wife with Alzheimer’s disease in order to marry another woman. The dementia-riddled wife is, Robertson said, “not there” anymore. This is more than an embarrassment. This is more than cruelty. This is a repudiation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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Sadly, many of our neighbors assume that when they hear the parade of cartoon characters we allow to speak for us, that they are hearing the gospel. They assume that when they see the giggling evangelist on the television screen, that they see Jesus. They assume that when they see the stadium political rallies to “take back America for Christ,” that they see Jesus. But Jesus isn’t there.

Jesus tells us he is present in the weak, the vulnerable, the useless. He is there in the least of these (Matt. 25:31-46). Somewhere out there right now, a man is wiping the drool from an 85 year-old woman who flinches because she think he’s a stranger. No television cameras are around. No politicians are seeking a meeting with them.

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When you get Medicare and Social Security benefits, you're not really getting "your" money back. In many cases, you're getting back far more than you paid in and the whole system isn't designed to make that kind of math work.

Our recent analyses of lifetime contributions and expected benefits in Medicare show that, over a wide range of scenarios, beneficiaries retiring at age 65 in 2011 can expect to receive dramatically more in total benefits than they have paid in dedicated taxes. For example, single beneficiaries and dual-earner couples who had earned the average wage throughout their working careers can expect to receive about $3 in Medicare benefits for every $1 paid in Medicare payroll taxes. If only one member of the couple had worked, we calculate a six-fold difference between contributions and benefits since both spouses are eligible for Medicare yet only one has paid taxes. Higher earning workers will have paid somewhat higher Medicare taxes, but their expected lifetime benefits still far outpace their lifetime contributions.

Social Security benefits and contributions come closer to balancing out over the lifetime for many beneficiaries (middle panel), but the one-earner couple again comes out far ahead due to a Social Security system that was designed decades ago around the stereotypical family of the past, with a working father and a stay-at-home mother. While a single woman who worked a full career at the average wage can expect to receive Social Security benefits roughly in line with her payroll contributions, a married woman who never worked but whose husband paid the same taxes as the single woman can expect to receive about $180,000 in spousal and survivor benefits. Unlike private pensions, these additional benefits are essentially free but only to those who are married, regardless of need, contributions or any child rearing. They are financed by all Social Security taxpayers, including single mothers who get no spousal or survivor benefits at all.

Examining both programs together (bottom panel) highlights the large dollar value of benefits being paid out and the fact that total lifetime benefits consistently outweigh lifetime contributions across a range of scenarios. It is no wonder these programs now account for one-third of all federal spending each year. Furthermore, our projections for people retiring in 2030 (data not shown) reveal a continuation of the difference between benefits and contributions under the current unsustainable structure of these programs.

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This summer, "Starcraft II" has become the newest barroom spectator sport. Fans organize so-called Barcraft events, taking over pubs and bistros from Honolulu to Florida and switching big-screen TV sets to Internet broadcasts of professional game matches happening often thousands of miles away.

I don't have a good mental category for this.

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Z posts an illustration, about the Christian doctrine of Divine Election.

“After giving a brief survey of these doctrines of sovereign grace, I asked for questions from the class. One lady, in particular, was quite troubled. She said, ‘This is the most awful thing I ever heard! You make it sound as if God is intentionally turning away men and women who would be saved, receiving only the elect’ I answered her in this vein: ‘You misunderstand the situation. You’re visualizing that God is standing at the door of heaven, and men are thronging to get in the door, and God is saying to various ones, ‘Yes, you may come, but not you, and you, but you, etc.’ The situation is hardly this. Rather, God stands at the door of heaven with His arms outstretched, inviting all to come. Yet all men without exception are running in the opposite direction toward hell as hard as they can go. So God, in election, graciously reaches out and stops this one, and that one, and this one over here, and that one over there, and effectually draws them to Himself by changing their hearts, making them willing to come. Election keeps no one out of heaven who would otherwise have been there, but it keeps a whole multitude of sinners out of hell who otherwise would have been there. Were it not for election, heaven would be an empty place, and hell would be bursting at the seams. That kind of response, grounded as I believe that it is in Scriptural truth, does put a different complexion on things, doesn’t it? If you perish in hell, blame yourself, as it is entirely your fault. But if you should make it to heaven, credit God, for that is entirely His work! To Him alone belong all praise and glory, for salvation is all of grace, from start to finish.” —Mark Webb

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Megan McCardle is annoyed that President Obama wasted her time with a job's plan that he's not actually interested in passing.

If the president were serious about providing stimulus, he would pay attention to the work of his old CEA chair, and pay for the jobs bill by decreasing the growth rate of something-or-other in the future by 0.2%. This is also what he would do if he were serious about getting any part of it through Congress. Instead he is apparently sending them a less-stimulative bill designed to be maximally embarrassing to the GOP--which by definition means minimally politically viable.

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As I figure out ways to write more and practice my writing, it's important to keep Muphry's Law in mind.

Muphry’s Law is the editorial application of the better-known Murphy’s Law. Muphry’s Law dictates that:

1. if you write anything criticising editing or proofreading, there will be a fault in what you have written;
2. if an author thanks you in a book for your editing or proofreading, there will be mistakes in the book;
3. the stronger the sentiment in (a) and (b), the greater the fault; and
4. any book devoted to editing or style will be internally inconsistent.

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A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fans had to wait five years after the publication of Storm of Swords (November, 2000) before they got their hands on A Feast for Crows (November, 2005). In my review of Storm, I mentioned that “the book was a non-stop parade of events, swirling ever more madly as the body count rose ever higher.” That pace couldn’t last and it didn’t.

Feast opens with a new locale—Oldtown—and new characters. It jumps from Oldtown to Dorn, another location that’s new to readers. It was, in some ways, a restart to the story. Once again, events pick up right where the previous book left off. This time the story focuses on the events and characters in and around King’s Landing. Cersei is awakened to learn about the murder of Lord Tywin Lannister. She fancies herself as the second coming of Lord Tywin and immediately assumes full power as the Queen Regent. She’s determined to make her mark on the Kingdom.

The War of the Five Kings is mostly over. King Renly Baratheon, King Robb Start, and King Balon Greyjoy are all dead. King Tommen Baratheon rules in King’s Landing and King Stannis Baratheon is mostly out of the picture, ruling in the North at the Wall. Queen Cersei sets about remaking King’s Landing and the king’s court in her own image.

An early quote in the book, from Lord Rodrik, establishes the theme and sets the course for the rest of the book.

“Crows will fight over a dead man’s flesh and kill each other for his eyes. We had one king, then five. Now all I see are crows, squabbling over the corpse of Westeros.”

It’s apropos as most of the book involves various characters maneuvering for influence, believing that the worst is over and all that’s left is to consolidate power and feast on the pickings. It’s a vital part of the story (it feels true to life) but it makes for a much slower read.

Many of the familiar characters are missing from this book. Martin originally intended to write one book but, as it grew and grew, that wasn’t possible. He told the stories of half of the characters in Feast for Crows. He saved the stories of the other half of the characters for Dance With Dragons. Many favorite characters are missing from this book; including Bran Stark, Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen, and Tyrion Lannister. With so much of the action happening King’s Landing, several other characters get short thrift: Samwell Tarly among them. That accounts for about half of the reason I gave this book 3 stars instead of 4.

I also struggled to follow the flow of time in this book. I couldn’t quite tell whether events were happening over a relatively short period of time (a matter of weeks or a very few months) or a longer period of time (half a year to a year or more). There seemed to be enough happening to justify a period of a year or so.

On the other hand, we heard almost nothing from the missing characters: no news from the Wall, no further rumors of Daenerys, and nothing at all from Tyrion. That seemed a little unrealistic given how much attention was paid to these characters in earlier books. It almost seemed like Martin was trying to avoid spoilers for events in Dance With Dragons.

Because I spent so much time wondering about the flow of time and wondering whether it was really possible for nothing newsworthy to be happening elsewhere, I lost a little bit of the suspension of disbelief. That’s the other half of the reason why I feel this book only deserves 3 stars instead of the 4 stars that I’ve given to the other books in the series.

As I’ve done for the first three books, I’m posting my own spoiler notes of what happened and where things stood by the end of the book.

Catelyn Stark, though dead, apparently spent most of the book leading a band of “broken men” around the river lands. She didn’t figure in the book, until she decided to hang Brienne, at the end.

Arya Stark lands in Braavosi and becomes an acolyte of the Faceless Killers. She’s still trying to figure out who she is, alternating between Cat, a seller of fish, and Arya of House Stark. She learns even more about how to observe the world around her and collect information. At the end, Arya kills a deserter from the Night’s Watch and Cat confesses to it. She drinks a bit of “warm milk” and wakes up the next morning, blind.

Sansa Stark lives in the Eyrie, posting as Petyr Baelish’s “natural born” daughter, Alayne. She helps to care for the weak and sickly, Lord Robert Aryn. Petyr eventually reveals that she is bethrothed to Harrold Hardyng, Robert's heir. If and when Lord Robert dies, Alayne will reveal her true identity and will lay claim to both the Eyrie and Winterfell.

Tyrion Lannister does not appear in the book. His story is told in A Dance With Dragons.

Jamie Lannister continues to be rehabilitated as the reader sees more and more of his true core of honor and fidelity to duty. When Queen Cersei begs him to become the Hand of the King, he refuses to renounce the lifetime vows of the Kingsguard. When confronted with the need to capture Riverrun, he manages to do so without violating his vow not to take up arms against the Tullys or the Starks. Disgusted by his sister’s recent actions, he refuses to return to King’s Landing to defend Queen Cersei.

Cersei Lannister rules King’s Landing as Queen Regent. She spends most of the book growing increasingly more paranoid about the people around her and manuevering to put only trustworthy people into positions of power. The result is that she makes increasingly more stupid decisions as she surrounds herself with complete dunces. By the end of the book, she’s managed to get herself arrested and imprisoned by religious fanatics that she herself raised to power. Sweet, sweet irony.

Daenerys Targaryen does not appear in the book. Her story is told in A Dance With Dragons.

John Snow does not appear in the book. His story is told in A Dance With Dragons.

Bran Stark does not appear in the book. His story is told in A Dance With Dragons.

Stannis Baratheon does not appear in the book. His story is told in A Dance With Dragons.

I’m going to experiment with writing reviews of the magazines I read. I’m currently subscribed to two: Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show and Clarkesworld. I find it very easy to read a magazine full of short stories and promptly forget what the stories were or which ones are worth remembering. In an effort to combat that kind of short attention span, I’m going to force myself to pay attention to what I’m reading.

I hope my experiment interests you and maybe, just maybe, you’ll be interested enough to subscribe too.

I’m still catching up on the back archives of IGMS, so I’ll start off with

Issue #12 of Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show

1. Over There by Tim Pratt

   When I was eighteen, I went on a quest to win back my true love. I trekked a thousand leagues across a strange world, helped by a ragtag band that grew into a mighty army, and in the end I faced down the nameless emperor who'd stolen my Gwen. I defeated him in single combat, swept Gwen into my arms, and brought her back to our world to become my wife.

   That was twenty-two years ago. For the past ten months, I've been cheating on my true love with one of my graduate students.

   This was a great take on the genre of heroic fantasy. What happens after you complete the quest, save the kingdom, win the princess and return home in triumph? As it turns out, nothing good. 4 stars, because I really enjoyed this and I like the way it subverts the genre.

2. The Multiplicity Has Arrived by Matthew S. Rotundo

   A good story, based on the abstract of a paper, in an obscure journal.

   Given current trends, one may conceive of a moment in the near future when the Internet completely supplants memory, and by extension, history. From that moment on, that which is not on the Internet is not remembered, and may as well have never existed. Thus the Internet may begin to literally change the past as well as influence the present. Such a phenomenon would make the distinction between historical revisionism and actual events meaningless. What we call reality may be more malleable than we ever suspected.

   One may argue that our global society is already advancing inexorably toward this point, which may be called the Multiplicity.

   How might an unscrupulous campaign consultant (but I repeat myself) take advantage of such a thing? And what might it do to him in the end? 4 stars.

3. Somewhere My Love by Stephen Mark Rainey

   At night, no light ever shone in any of the windows. But sometimes after dark, I would hear her voice echoing out of that old house, singing songs that seemed to me unearthly.

   Her name was Jeanne Weiler, and she was my music teacher when I was in elementary school.

   Of course, she was a witch.

   The power of music to change and affect people? The bond created between a mentor and a mentee? I’ll admit that I’m not quite sure what this story was about. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. I’ll give it 3 stars.

4. The End-of-the-World Pool by Scott M. Roberts

   This was another story that I thought was largely forgettable. Without rereading it, I still have trouble remembering what it was about. 3 stars.

5. Hologram Bride, Part 1 by Jackie Gamber

   Between 1908 and 1924, over 20,000 Asian women immigrated to Hawaii to marry Japanese sugar plantation workers. Strong restrictions in immigration laws forced workers to arrange marriages on photographs only. The U.S. Immigration act of 1924 abruptly stopped these arrangements, but by 1930 picture bride unions birthed over 100,000 offspring--a powerful presence in what would become the 50th state of the union.

   I loved the way this story started out. It takes the experience of mail order brides and translates it to an alien world. In the process, it makes the whole experience vividly real to the modern reader. Especially to this reader who has never experienced the wrenching dislocation that would come from being sent to a strange, alien, culture. Easily 4 stars.

6. WEST by Orson Scott Card

   This is one of Card’s previously published short stories. A lone drifter, battling his own memories and demons, finds redemption by helping a naive band of outcasts, becoming a part of their “family” in the process. This being Card, it should surprise no one to find that the outcasts are Mormons and that the drifter eventually finds a home in the Mormon church. 4 stars.

7. The Crack by David Lubar

   The first time Kevin noticed the crack, he was down in the basement looking for an old board game his father had stored away. At least it wasn't dark, yet. During the day, with the sun coming through the small, dirty window at the top of the wall, the basement was bad, but not awful. The air always had that wet, dark-green smell whether it was midnight or noon, but shadows didn't seem as deep during the day.

   A very short story with an overly abrupt ending. It seemed to be reaching higher than its grasp. 2 stars.

8. Interview With Joe Haldeman by Darrell Schweitzer

   I didn’t feel like I really learned much new about Haldeman or his books, through this interview. A missed opportunity, good for 2 stars.

9. Essay: American Idol by Kathleen Dalton-Woodbury

   Dalton-Woodbury compares the early season experience of American Idol to what an editor experiences going through a slush pile of submissions.

   Writers tend to think about submitting stories as a kind of luck-of-the-draw experience, but when editors look at the piles of manuscripts they have to get through, they pray that maybe there'll be just one in all of those piles that they can use.

   If you haven't watched American Idol before, I would like to recommend that you find a way to watch at least one episode of the early-season auditions, just to get an idea of what reading a slush pile might be for an editor.

   The similarities just boggle my mind, and I expect that as the show progresses and the contestants try to win the votes of the American public, the similarities will continue.

   Well written and compelling, what an editorial should be. 4 stars.

Overall, this was a good issue. There were several stories that I really enjoyed, which more than made up for the ones I didn’t.

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m used to reading a series and watching the quality drop off, bit by bit, with each book in the series. That’s not the case with A Song of Ice and Fire. So far, each book maintains overall quality of the series and manages to ratchet the frenetic pace of events just a little bit higher. I really enjoyed reading A Storm of Swords and I’m already looking forward to tackling A Feast for Crows.

The action picked up right where A Clash of Kings left off. Actually, it backtracked a bit first, to cover what was happening in the rest of Westeros, during the final events of A Clash of Kings. The book was a non-stop parade of events, swirling ever more madly as the body count rose ever higher. In Martin’s world, no one is safe from death, betrayal—or redemption. It all combines for a very entertaining read and one that’s devilishly hard to put down.

As I’ve done for the first two books, I’m posting my own spoiler notes of what happened and where things stood by the end of the book.

Robb Stark finally reappears after spending most of the last book off stage. He reveals that he’s married Jayne Westerling, one of Lord Tywin’s banner men. This breaks off his promised engagement to one of the Frey’s and turns Lord Walder into an enemy. King Robb, the Young Wolf, is later murdered by Lord Frey, at the Red Wedding.

Catelyn Stark spends most of the book wondering about the fate of her daughters. She surreptitiously released Jamie Lannister, on his promise that he would release her daughters from King’s Landing and return them to her. Lady Catelyn is later murdered by Lord Frey, at the Red Wedding. At the very end of the book, she is seen with the Brotherhood Without Banners, apparently alive(?) though with a grievous throat wound that leaves her unable to talk.

Arya Stark spends most of the book riding out the river lands, with the Brotherhood Without Banners. She meets the (dead?) Lord Beric Dondarrion and eventually falls in with the Hound. After a fight with Ser Gregor Clegane’s men, she leaves the dying Hound and books passage on a ship bound for the Free City of Braavos. Before leaving, she sees her mother’s dead body, apparently through Nymeria’s eyes.

After the battle for King’s Landing, Sansa Stark was released from her betrothal to Joffrey Baratheon. King Joffrey married Margaery Tyrell and Sansa was forcibly married to Tyrion Lannister. She was spirited out of King’s Landing by Littlefinger’s agents and carried first to the Fingers and then to the Eyrie. While at the Eyrie, she learns that her Aunt Lysa was the one responsible for poisoning Jon Arryn (at Littlefinger’s prompting) and watches as Littlefinger escorts Lady Lysa out the Moon Door.

After Tyrion Lannister recovers from his wounds, his father appoints him to be the new master of the purse. After King Joffrey is poisoned, Queen Cersei accuses Tyrion of the murder. He claims trial by combat but his champion, Lord Oberyn Martell of Dorne, is killed by Cersei’s champion, Ser Gregor Clegane. Lord Oberyn does mortally Clegane, however. Tyrion is rescued before his execution, by his brother Jamie. Before making good his escape, he kills both Shae (his former whore, who testified against him) and his father, Lord Tywin.

Jamie Lannister was released from his Riverrun cell by Catelyn Stark. While traveling with Brienne of Tarth, he was captured by Vargo Hoat’s men. They cut off his sword hand, leaving him a cripple. When he finally does make it back to King’s Landing, he takes over the position of Lord’s Commander of the Kingsguard, prompting his father to disown him. After angering Cersei, he ends by rescuing Tyrion from execution.

Cersei Lannister watched her brother abandon her, listened to her father plan to marry her off against her will, and saw her firstborn son die in her arms. She’s now the regent to King Tommen.

Joffrey Baratheon was at his own wedding feast, when he was poisoned by one of the Tyrells. Having acted like a royal jerk for 3 books, he’s unlikely to be mourned by anyone other than his own mother.

Daenerys Targaryen used her dragons to conquer three slaver cities and liberate the slaves. She purchased a large Unsullied slave army, then liberated them all. She added Ser Barristan Selmy to her Kingsguard and exiled Ser Jorah Mormont. She decided to remain in Meereen, to learn how to rule as a queen rather than just continue moving forward as a destructive, conquering force.

John Snow successfully defected to the wildlings and traveled with them. He even took a wildling woman as his bedmate. He helped the wildlings cross the wall, then escaped to Castle Black to warn of their approach. He defended the tunnel under the wall until King Stannis Baratheon arrived to crush the wildling army. He was later elected as the new Lord Commander of the Nightswatch.

Bran Stark arrived safely at the wall and met Samwell Tarly there. He passed through a Nightswatch tunnel to go beyond the wall with the cold rider, Jojen and Meera Reed, and Summer, looking for the three eyed crow.

Theon Greyjoy is rumored to still be alive, being held by the Boltons. He isn’t seen at all, however.

Winterfell remains in ruins as the Greyjoys still claim to be king over the Iron Isles and the North.

Stannis Baratheon is alive and well, at the well. After raising Ser Davos Seaworth to be his hand, he learns off the wildling attack on the Wall and rushes North to defend the realm. He does, however, spend a lot of time grinding his teeth and clenching his muscles in range, every time people contradict him or refuse to give him his due.

Tywin Lannister was killed by his son Tyrion, after successfully scheming to kill the Young Wolf and arrange a closer alliance with the Tyrells.

Letter from Steve Jobs

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

Well, damn.

Thanks, Steve, for all of the great products that you and your team have brought to the market. From my first Mac (a PowerMac G5), to my first Mac laptop (a white iMac), to my first iPod (3rd generation click wheel iPod), I’ve loved every Apple product that I’ve owned. I’ve been inspired by the careful attention to detail, in every single facet of the product design. I’ve been inspired by your business methods and the amazing success that Apple has achieved.

My daughters are growing up with Apple technology. They navigate around our iMac with amazing ease. They’re pros at using our iPad and constantly ask to be allowed to play on our iPod Touches. Your systems have made computing easy for them and even at the young age of “nearly 3” and “almost 5”, they’re not afraid to experiment, learn, and create.

Thank-you, God bless, and I wish you nothing but the best as you start this new chapter of your life.

(I have no doubt that Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Jonathan Ives and the rest of the crew will continue to make great products and have great success. But Apple without Steve just feels wrong and I’ll miss knowing that he’s there.)

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought this was a very good sequel to The Game of Thrones. It picked up where the last book left off and immediately went to work advancing the plot. If Game of Thrones had one fault, it was that there was too little action and too much world building. All of that world building begins to pay off in this book, however.

In the last book, some scenes were presented multiple times, from a different character’s viewpoint each time. There was little of that in this book, as the main characters are scattered all over Westeros.

There are four main Lords claiming the kingship: Robb Stark, in the North; Renly Baratheon in the South; Stannis Baratheon at Storm’s End; and Joffrey Baratheon in King’s Landing. In addition, Danys Targareon is still raising her three young dragons, Baylon Greyjoy is planning a new rebellion in the Iron Isalnds, and the men of the Night’s Watch are hearing rumors of a massive gathering of Wildlings, north of the Wall.

I was entertained by the continued growth of each of the main characters. It was also very obvious that the story was being driven by the personalities of each of the main characters. Game of Thrones revealed what those personalities were. A Clash of Kings showed the actions that those personalities demanded and the inevitable results of those actions. That personality driven story telling made this book a success.

As I did for the first book, I’ll keep notes of the major characters and where each was left at the end of the book.

Robb Stark—Is somewhere between Riverrun and Casterly Rock, still making war on the Lannisters. He didn’t appear in the book much, except as an offstage force of chaos.

Catelyn Stark—Is in Riverrun, interrogating Jamie Lannister. Last we saw her, she was preparing to execute him, during a midnight interview in the dungeons.

Arya Stark—Has just escaped from Harrenhal, after hiding there as a servant girl under two different conquering forces. She appears to be heading towards Riverrun, to find her mother and brother.

Sansa Stark—Is still a hostage of the Lannisters, in King’s Landing. Her engagement to Joffrey has been dissolved and she’s still hoping to escape King’s Landing.

Tyrion Lannister—Is recovering, in King’s Landing, from wounds sustained during the Battle for King’s Landing. He’s no longer the Hand of the King, however.

Jamie Lannister—Is still a prisoner of Robb Stark’s forces, having been captured during the battle for Riverrun. He managed to spend the entire book rotting in Tully’s dungeons.

Cersei Lannister—In King’s Landing, still trying to keep Joffrey safe. She’s no longer the regent however. That role has been assumed by Lord Tywin Lannister.

Joffrey Baratheon—Has been hailed as King by both the Tyrells and the Lannisters now, as well as most of the bannermen for the Baratheons. He is freshly engaged to Margery Tyrell.

Daenerys Targaryen—Is on the far side of the world, booking passage out of Qarth, with her dragons and khalasar.

John Snow—Has defected to the wildlings, north of the Wall. The wildling horde is riding towards the wall and plans to smash through into the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Bran Stark—Is heading North, from the ruins of Winterfell. He’s still a cripple but has discovered that he can mentally ride with Summer, at will.

Theon Greyjoy—Is dead, after the Bolton’s sack of Winterfell.

Winterfell—Was first captured by Theon Greyjoy and the men of Pyke, then captured and sacked by the Boltons. The North is at war and completely unprepared to face and invasion from beyond the Wall.

Stannis Baratheon—Presumed dead, at the Battle of King’s Landing.

Tywin Lannister—Newly named Hand of the King and Regent, in King’s Landing.

Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.

… Sprint will also carry the iPhone 4, starting at the same time, one person familiar with the situation said.

Nice. My contract is up for renewal in July. I wonder if Sprint would give me an early upgrade option before then?

Alternate link for the poor benighted souls that can’t read the WSJ online.)

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I don't like to see Presidential candidates engaged in this kind of crony capitalism.

The Emerging Technology Fund was created at Mr. Perry's behest in 2005 to act as a kind of public-sector venture capital firm, largely to provide funding for tech start-ups in Texas. Since then, the fund has committed nearly $200 million of taxpayer money to fund 133 companies. Mr. Perry told a group of CEOs in May that the fund's "strategic investments are what's helping us keep groundbreaking innovations in the state." The governor, together with the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the Texas House, enjoys ultimate decision-making power over the fund's investments.

… All told, the Dallas Morning News has found that some $16 million from the tech fund has gone to firms in which major Perry contributors were either investors or officers, and $27 million from the fund has gone to companies founded or advised by six advisory board members. The tangle of interests surrounding the fund has raised eyebrows throughout the state, especially among conservatives who think the fund is a misplaced use of taxpayer dollars to start with.

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After reading my last post on parenting and responsibility, two people raised the same objection: what about parents who don’t know about proper safety or about the resources that area available to them?

[T]here are many parents out there who are ignorant of the statistics on bike helmets, car seat, proper gun storage etc. AND many parents may not know that there are organizations to help needy families obtain safety items for free / reduced cost. If a doctor isn't allowed to ask questions, how can the information reach the parents who may need it?

It’s a fair question. How should society balance the desire to help people against the tendency to annoy people who don’t need help?

I think we need to start with respect. A pediatrician who questions parents, on their first visit, about their parenting skills risks appearing condescending and disrespectful. A pediatrician who claims that it’s his job to protect my children, implies that he doesn’t think it’s my job and that he doesn’t trust me to keep them safe.

I think the default assumption should be that parents are concerned about their children’s welfare and want to do what’s best. When a pediatrician starts by asking parents “do you do this?”, it communicates disrespect and distrust. From what I’ve read in recent articles, and from what pediatricians are defending, it seems that the normal approach is to grill parents with an invasive and potentially judgmental checklist:

• Do you own a pool? Is it kept covered and locked when not in use?
• Do you own a gun? If so, you shouldn’t. If you insist on doing so, here are the rules that you must follow so that your children don’t suffer from your obstinacy.
• Do your children ride bikes? Do they wear helmets all of the time or do you actually want them to die?

Now, I’m well aware that doctors aren’t quite that confrontational and insulting when they’re talking to parents. On the other hand, that’s often how parents perceive their questions. Especially when they’re asking those questions without first getting to know them and without first learning what their level of parenting competency is.

What should they do instead? Well, riffing off of a comment from a nurse I know, how about a general presentation of what they can do to help?

Hi, I’m Doctor Smith, your daughter’s pediatrician. I hear that your daughter has an ear infection today. We’ll make sure you get some general antibiotics to clear that up as quickly as possible. Since this is the first time we’ve met, I’d like to tell you a little about what we do here at the office. Obviously, we’re here to help you anytime your children get sick or have an injury.

We’ll also help you to keep your children up to date on vaccinations and immunizations—the immunization schedules can be confusing, so don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions. We’re also available to answer any questions you might have about general parenting topics. If you’d like, we can help you with understanding childhood nutrition, recommended diets, learning styles or disabilities, or other topics related to childhood development.

Surprisingly, the biggest risks your children face today aren’t from sickness or disease but from accidents. Nearly 30% of all childhood fatalities result from either motor vehicle accidents or drownings. We’d love to help you learn about the best way to prevent these accidents. We can talk to you about car safety, pool safety, bike safety, firearm safety, etc.

More than just medicine, we want to do everything we can to help keep your children safe. Is there anything you’d like help with today? If not, feel free to call or email the office anytime you have a question, day or night.

Beyond that, the doctor’s office could have posters prominently displayed, advertising proper safety or offering to counsel parents about safety. They could have posters and handouts, advertising local organizations that offer free / low cost car seats or safety devices. They could offer instructional DVDs (or link to online videos) that teach parents about proper safety and available resources.

There are many ways that pediatricians could offer help and resources without taking responsibility away from parents or without defaulting to a confrontational style of questioning. My post about parenting and responsibility wasn’t saying that pediatricians can’t offer advice. Far from it. The responsible parent will seek out advice from many sources. But there’s a large difference between solicited and unsolicited advice.

If you wait to be asked, you’ll communicate that you respect your patients and trust them to be responsible. If you freely give unsolicited advice, you risk communicating that you look down on your patients and don’t trust them to be responsible without your help.