Bibliophiles unite!

Some time ago a friend of mine told me about goodreads.com, a place where people who love books can connect, get recommendations and reviews on books, and participate in other ways in the world of books and the people who love them. I was hesitant at first, but a year or so back I got into it and decided to use it for a special purpose. I knew that I wanted to embrace a regular reading program because I love to read and also because I knew that it would be a great way to renew my mind and learn more about the world around me. But in order for that renewal to occur, I needed to process my experience somehow, and I decided that writing a review after I finish a book and then posting it on goodreads.com would be an excellent way to do just that and also enlighten anyone who happened to read my reviews (at least I hope they are enlightened).

So now that I finished my latest tome, I decided after posting my review to goodreads.com that I would post it here as well. And if you care to see what else I have been reading, there is a link at the bottom of the post that can help you with that. Enjoy!

Fatherhood by Bill Cosby

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
So with Father's Day in June, I thought it appropriate to choose this tome for my next read. My experience was not what I expected.

I remember when I was a kid Bill Cosby had this show called Picture Pages. The show featured a workbook with pages that the kids would complete together with Bill on the tele. I never had Picture Pages, but I remember watching the show and wanting so very much to have that workbook so that I could follow along. Then as I got older I remember The Cosby Show and how funny it was. So my expectations going into this book was to laugh myself silly and have a totally fun read.

What surprised me first was that Bill Cosby's words are not the only ones in the book. There is a foreword and afterword by Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint, who approached the subject of fatherhood from a rather serious point of view. I liked the sociological and psychological perspectives provided by Dr. Poussaint, but the seriousness of his writing was at odds with my expectations of laughing myself silly.

It also tempered Cosby's own style, or at least my own reading of him. Or maybe it was that I have grown and matured since I watched The Cosby Show as a teenager and what I found funny then no longer amuses me now. Granted, many of he stories he shared were hilarious. Take these words, for instance.

"You see, the wives pretend to turn over the child-raising job to us fathers, but they don't really mean it. One day, my wife said to me, 'He's your child. I wash my hands of him.' Where is this sink where you can wash your hands of a child? I want to wash my hands too, and then the boy can go free."

And to illustrate the point, Cosby tells this story. His wife awakens him at 6AM and tells him to go downstairs and fix breakfast for the kids. He naturally tries to resist, and he naturally fails. He then finishes the tale with these words:

"And so, downstairs I went, wondering about the divorce laws in my state, and I started slamming things around. I had bacon, sausages, and eggs all lined up when my four-year-old arrived, looking so adorable with her cute face and little braids.

"'Morning, Daddy,' she said.

"'Okay,' I said, 'what do you want for breakfast?'

"'Chocolate cake,' she replied.

"'Chocolate cake? For breakfast? That's ridiculous.'

"Then, however, I thought about the ingredients in chocolate cake: milk and eggs and wheat, all parts of good nutrition.

"'You want chocolate cake, honey?' I said, cutting a piece for her. 'Well, here it is. But you also need something to drink.'

"And I gave her a glass of grapefruit juice.

"When the other four children came downstairs and saw the four-year-old eating chocolate cake, they wanted the same, of course; and since I wanted good nutrition for them too, I gave each of them a piece.

"So there my five children sat, merrily eating chocolate cake for breakfast, occasionally stopping to sing:

"Dad is the greatest dad you can make!
"For breakfast he gives us chocolate cake!

"The party lasted until my wife appeared, staggered slightly, and said, 'Chocolate cake for breakfast? Where did you all get that?'

"'He gave it to us! He made us eat it!' said my five adorable ingrates in one voice; and then my eight-year-old added, 'We wanted eggs and cereal.'"

The book is filled with such stories, and I did have a good laugh. But Cosby's words also had a serious side to them, and it was that mixture that made me think as well as laugh. For example, the dedication contained these words: "And to those people with no children but who think they'd like to have them some day to fulfill their lives. Remember: With fulfillment comes responsibility." For some reason that made me think of that line from Spider-Man: With great power comes great responsibility. And while the power foremost in my mind was that of creating life and extending the generations, I also thought about the power of influence, and that is a power that we all have and therefore a responsibility that we all have also. So as I said at the start, my experience with this book was not at all was I expected. I expected to laugh and forget about life for a time. What I got instead was both laughter and a recollection of what life really can be. I recommend this book.
View all my reviews.

It takes one to H1N1

So with my recent illness and all, I mean I was away from the office for almost two weeks, I kept getting the question "Do you have swine flu?" My response: "No, I don't have swine flu. I have GE flu." (I guess you'd have to work where I do to find that funny, because those are the only people who laught at that.) But with all the buzz going around about swine flu (what scientists call "novel H1N1 virus"), I decided to do a little research to see if I did have it after all.

I started by going to Google and seeing what was out there. The top hit was the website for the Centers for Disease Control, which I already trusted as a reasonably good source of information. And the site (http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm) does have some good info along with links to others sites. Here's an excerpt:

"With seasonal flu, we know that seasons vary in terms of timing, duration and severity. Seasonal influenza can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death. Each year, in the United States, on average 36,000 people die from flu-related complications and more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related causes. Of those hospitalized, 20,000 are children younger than 5 years old. Over 90% of deaths and about 60 percent of hospitalization occur in people older than 65."

"So far, with novel H1N1 flu, the largest number of novel H1N1 flu confirmed and probable cases have occurred in people between the ages of 5 and 24-years-old. At this time, there are few cases and no deaths reported in people older than 64 years old, which is unusual when compared with seasonal flu. However, pregnancy and other previously recognized high risk medical conditions from seasonal influenza appear to be associated with increased risk of complications from this novel H1N1."

All very interesting, but notice how they don't give you the numbers? I'm not suggesting that they are hiding anything; it's just that me in my engineering mind was looking for the numbers in order to make a comparison which would lead to an assessment or conclusion. Like I said, there was lots of good info on the site.

Interestingly enough, I found these words buried in the site: "There is no vaccine available right now to protect against novel H1N1 virus." Wait, hold the phone! No vaccine?! "There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza." Gee, that's comforting. And somehow not all that surprising. But here's something on the site that was surprising -- a blurb about swine flu parties. I never heard of these before, so I read on.

"'Swine flu parties' are gatherings during which people have close contact with a person who has novel H1N1 flu in order to become infected with the virus. The intent of these parties is to become infected with what for many people has been a mild disease, in the hope of having natural immunity to the novel H1N1 flu virus that might circulate later and cause more severe disease." And I thought they were doing it for a jolly, you know, like those idiots who inhale compressed air or glue fumes.

Somehow the words of one my former roommates came to mind: The gene pool definitely needs some more chlorine. But wait! There's more . . .

"CDC does not recommend 'swine flu parties' as a way to protect against novel H1N1 flu in the future." No? Really? You can't be serious. "While the disease seen in the current novel H1N1 flu outbreak has been mild for many people, it has been severe and even fatal for others." OK, so it has been fatal, but you won't give us the numbers. "There is no way to predict with certainty what the outcome will be for an individual or, equally important, for others to whom the intentionally infected person may spread the virus." Now there's a surprise. I can't predict with any certainty whether I'll get hit by a bus either.

"CDC recommends that people with novel H1N1 flu avoid contact with others as much as possible." I love the medical community; they have this great way of telling me what I already know and then charging me for the privilege of hearing it from them! "They should stay home from work or school for 7 days after the onset of illness or until at least 24 hours after symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer." Stay home from work? Alright, if you insist. Interestingly, these are the first real numbers I got that are associated with swine flu, and I like them!

Seriously, though, public health officials must be walking a fine line between informing people on the one hand and not creating massive panic and anarchy on the other. I've seen reports of other countries -- now more than 70 with reported cases -- taking this swine flu VERY seriously, lots of people wearing masks and detaining people at airports even. No one in this country is doing that (detaining people -- I have seen a few souls wearing masks). It makes me wonder why. Why aren't we taking it as seriously?


I hear lots of people discounting it, saying it is no big deal based on how many people are sick and how many are getting treatment (gee, I wish they'd share some numbers with me, because I just don't have them from the government or anyone else). Maybe they are right. But my real concern is if the virus mutates and comes back next year with a vengeance. The virus itself is a mutation of already extant flu strains. And we have already seen how quickly the virus can spread. Not a huge problem if the intensity of effect is low. But what if it mutates into a more wicked form, one that we aren't prepared to fight with our current vaccines?

Since I can't get numbers from an official source, I'll make them up. Imagine 30% of the people you work with sick with a stronger version of swine flu. If you are one of the 30%, it sucks to be you. But it also sucks to be you if you are one of the 70% because now you have to carry more than just your own weight. And if you are like me, you are busy enough that you seem to remember this thing called free time but the memories are all fuzzy and fading because that was such a long time ago.

I found lots more with Google, including this YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wK1127fHQ4). At first I was totally showing old school colors. This is where you go for trusted information? But hey, lots of reputable sources are disseminating information via YouTube, so why not this? I found the linked video most interesting. It was straightforward, simple, and direct, a good summary of what to look for and precautions to take.


I had to go to the United Nations to get any numbers. I saw a chart from the World Health Organization with numbers of reported cases by country and thought that it would be interesting to see the numbers plotted on a map, but I didn't want to take the time to do it. Then I saw the link (http://www.who.int/csr/don/Map_20090626_0600.png) and realized that someone else had already done it for me. I am just listing the latest one, but if you are really interested, you can access previous updates on the WHO site and compare them to see where and how quickly the virus is spreading. They even have an interactive timeline.

I poked around some more on the CDC site and actually did find some authentic numbers for the US! They are tabulated at http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm. But they aren't plotted on a map like WHO did with their numbers; the only may they show is one with relativistic categorizations -- no numbers. And as stated previously, I'm not taking the time to plot it out. But if you do know about this thing called free time, you are free to have at it.

Speaking of the gene pool needing some chlorine, the CDC website had this spicy tidbit in their FAQ section:

"Can I get infected with novel H1N1 virus from eating or preparing pork?"

"No. Novel H1N1 viruses are not spread by food. You cannot get infected with novel HIN1 virus from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork products is safe."

I'm not sure that Clorox makes a product strong enough to clean this mess! And then there is this news story (http://www.cnycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=308788) from the Syracuse, New York, area about how people don't need to go to the emergency room just because they have flu-like symptoms. And then this one from the Kansas City area (http://www.kctv5.com/health/19349266/detail.html). These two stories are just examples of what is more common than uncommon. Talk about trying to control panic!

What did I conclude from my scenic Internet detour? I did NOT have swine flu, and from the looks of things, I don't see any reason to worry too much this year. But I thought about the great challenge public health officials must face all the time, and I wondered whether I should be preparing for something next year.

No, no, no, not the Mini!

I suppose that everyone has their dream car. Personally, I've always loved the Mini. Slick, small, sporty -- the Mini has it all. So even though I don't own a Mini (another story for another time), I do plan on acquiring one in the future. In the meantime, I subscribe to their email newsletter.

Imagine my disappointment to see this advertisement in my inbox. It's not really surprising that Mini is succumbing to the enviromental movement. They are after all owned by BWM, and the Beemer boys are doing what every international business conglomerate is doing these days. Being politically correct is just good for business, if for no other reason than that you don't have to deal with the harrassment that the environmental nutjobs will give you if you go against them.

Of course I believe in being a good steward of the planet. I just have a hard time accepting what doesn't make sense to me. So let me get this straight -- instead of using my car to do what I need to do, I should do what? Bike with the bike I don't own? Take the train that doesn't exist? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm supposed to do the Bob Marley thing -- "my feet is my only carriage." If I were feeling well, I might consider it. The fresh air and exercise could do me some good. But I am not walking to work; I live to far away to spend the time it would take to walk. And since I didn't go to work today due to a head cold (which for some strange reason now always makes me think about swine flu, which I don't have), I am certainly not going to get to the store to get medical supplies and foodstuffs in any other way but my car!

I have trouble seeing the modern environmental movement as anything but a scam. If the science is so legit, then why not have a public debate and end the controversy? Why not help everyone to see the reasoning behind the argument? Because the real reasoning behind the argument is simply a power grab on an international scale. That's why anyone who disagrees with the "scientists" on global warming gets rejected and harrassed. What I have seen so far regarding "evidence" leaves me with more questions than answers; I see too many things that don't make sense to me, that just don't jive with my understanding of scientific laws and statistical principles. And apparently some of the questions I have shouldn't be asked. Without any real substance to the argument, rhetorically the only recourse left is name-calling, hence the introduction of "global warming deniers" on par with holocaust deniers. Those who question the "science" of the cause are treated as apostate heretics in much the same way that heretics were treated in Western Europe during medieval times. Science has become the new religion of the secularist world, and its technological priesthood are not to be questioned or challenged. This combined with the diametrical opposition of the actions of leading global warming proponents to what they preach doesn't exactly create confidence in me regarding their intregity.

Despite the blemish, I can't hold too much of a grudge against Mini. After all, my employer is one of the country's strongest proponents for cap and trade. And I still want a Mini. I love their website. You can customize your new Mini right in the comfort of your own home! So every now and then I take a quick peek at my dream car -- the Mini Cooper Convertible in nightfire red! Oh, baby! I know what they say about red cars and speeding tickets, and I tend to believe it since my last car was red and I got pulled over a ton, even when I wasn't speeding. But this is a dream car, so in addition to having my favorite color it should be able to avoid tickets. Ever see The Italian Job? "You got yourself a sweet ride now." Now that's what I'm talkin' about!