This book written by Nassim Nicholas Taleb was recommended by a reader who has given many worthwhile suggestions. That track record kept me reading a book I found to be frustratingly difficult. I do not recommend this book to anyone who wants to have a fun and easy read. The book was written by a very smart person who has contempt for people who don’t understand his wisdom. The kindest description is that he has supreme self-confidence, although “arrogant” works also. I was frustrated with the frequent passages that said something was to be explained in more detail in a future chapter. I was also frustrated by his lengthy references to ancient philosophers and poets. Taleb wants the reader to be impressed by his scholarly intellect. I write this understanding that the author describes those who write reviews that are not fawningly positive as “idiots.” Continue reading
Author Archives: RF_Alum
In a Pickle
Both ecenglish.com and the Phrase Finder agree that the meaning of the expression is to find yourself in a difficult situation or that you have a problem that has no easy solution. They also agree that “The word ‘pickle’ comes from the Dutch word ‘pekel,’ meaning ‘something piquant’, and originally referred to spiced, salted vinegar that was used as a preservative.” Phrase Finder adds that, “The earliest pickles were spicy sauces made to accompany meat dishes.” Preserved vegetables came to be called pickles.
Another explanation is that the expression “…was an allusion to being as disoriented and mixed up as the stewed vegetables that made up pickles.” That is a gory reference to a mythical description of King Arthur’s diet. “He dines all season on seven rascal children, chopped, in a bowl of white silver, with pickle and precious spices.”
Right off the Bat
Knowyourphrase.com explains the origin of this phrase is likely baseball and that the first published examples of its use were found in the 1880’s. I seldom disagree with sources, but the first explanation is that the batter makes a quick decision to run to first base after hitting the baseball. I have the opinion that it refers to a fielder moving immediately after the bat hits the ball to a place to make a catch. Regardless, the expression is used to do something immediately, in a hurry, or without delay. The example sentence involves warning a person considering buying a home who is told “right off the bat” the house is infested with termites!
Costa Rica Fishing
There have been three previous commentaries about Costa Rica, and this is the final of that series. Our grandson and I offered that we would be willing to share the $475 cost of a four hour Pacific Ocean costal fishing trip with another party. No one agreed to that offer, so I told Grace at the resort diver’s shop that the two of us would pay the full price for the fishing trip. It was a wonderful decision! (I hope I have provided the correct link. Go to the Hilton Papagayo dive shop and ask for Grace or Auxi, and they will schedule your fishing trip.)
“Nacho” and “Marvin” pulled the “Vahia” in close to the resort shore and grandson and I waded the short distance to get on board. We cruised out to some reefs to do some bottom fishing, but had limited success. We did manage to catch a few fish in an hour and a half. Our grandson was pleased that he caught a poisonous lion fish (or scorpion fish). I was more impressed that he caught a “keeper” grouper that was eventually cooked by the resort for our dinner. Continue reading
Tyranny of the Status Quo
I was looking for a different book by Milton Friedman, but this was the only one available at the library. This book lists both Milton & Rose Friedman as the authors, and I initially thought it would probably be too out of date to be of much interest since it was written in the latter part of Ronald Reagan’s first term as President. I plunged ahead and was rewarded. The book is perhaps even more appropriate to discussing government-caused problems than when first published. The message I want to emphasize is that the Friedman’s warn that politicians often campaign against raising taxes but then engage in deficit spending. They explain that a deficit is a “…hidden tax whether it is financed by pieces of paper or bookkeeping entries called money or…notes or bills or bonds.” We are liable for the deficit, although it might be our children or grandchildren who will eventually have to actually pay the bill. That is a thought that should be frightening to anyone watching what has happened to the federal deficit in the last decade.
I had never read a Friedman book, although I’ve always admired his many Libertarian-based quotes. My favorite, and I don’t have the exact quote in front of me, is “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in six years we would have a shortage of sand.” I was disappointed that I found only one such pithy quote in the book, but more about that later in the review. Continue reading
All the Marbles
I’m going to break with my tradition of attempting to summarize the origin of expressions, because the explanation at mentafloss is far too interesting to summarize! I’ll list some history I found interesting, but encourage you to read the full description. No one knows where marbles originated, but “…they’ve been found in the ashes of Pompeii and the tombs of ancient Egyptians, and they were played by Native American tribes…” The link provides numerous names for the various kinds of marbles, and I wonder whether the sack of marbles from my childhood might contain some of the incredibly valuable types. Smaller marbles called “mibs” or “ducks” “…can run from anywhere from $10 dollars to a few hundred dollars.” “Shooters” start at $50 and go up from there to more than $10,000 for a “peacock Lutx onionskin (whatever that is?) or an “…amber glass Swirl for $10,800.” I suppose I should have the sack of marbles evaluated more closely, although I only thought of them as fun parts of a child’s game!