Jerry Pournelle’s website isn’t a typical blog in many ways, although he does claim to be the “original blog” *heh* One of the ways it differs is that it’s (mostly) divided into two parts, with extra stuff thrown around to the sides. There’s Mail and there’s View. Mail is conversations between Dr. Pournelle and his correspondents. View is simply semi-random thoughts floating about in Dr. Pournelle’s head, posted for the world to see.
Another of the ways his site is atypical of most blogs is that its content is so very often much more interesting and his contributors–all via email only–are often the most thoughtful and thought-provoking to be found on blogs.
Here’re some excerpts from a recent exchange:
Sue: “…American educators spend so much time re-inventing and re-naming educational paradigms that they forget that there are important, basic skills we all need to know in order to run our lives and survive….”
J.E.P.: “The purpose of the school system is to pay its employees. A second purpose seems to be to provide a primary hamper to the children of citizens not part of the ruling class. Most of the teachers don’t know that’s the purpose, but if that were the goal how might it be better done and still manage to pay all the employees and not merely be abolished in rage by the taxpayers?”
That was yesterday. On Tuesday we have a glimpse at a different topic in this snippet:
“…The real disaster would be a Republican Congress that becomes tax collectors for Democratic programs. That would not quite be as great a disaster as we are experiencing at present.
We got rid of the Creeps. We need to get rid of the Nuts, and return to the notion of a Republic that provides rules and order and does not attempt to ‘solve all problems.’
God is not willing to do everything, and thus take away our free will and that share of glory which belongs to us. –Niccolo Machiavelli
We need a Federal Government which understands that applies to them, too. It isn’t God.”
And from yesterday’ View”
The big flap on this particular day of the silly season remains the threat of the Florida clergyman to burn a Koran.
I also note from what I saw of his collection of books to be burned, none is a Koran. The Koran is explicit: it cannot be translated, and any copy in any language other than the original Arabic is not a Koran and must not be considered a Koran by any Islamic scholar. None of the books I saw in his collection are Arabic. Now he intends to be insulting and insulting he can be by burning a translation, but blasphemous against Islam (which I presume is his intent) he cannot be without an Arabic copy. Actually one wonders whether any such overt action of an infidel is any more sacrilegious than the existence of the infidel who has not submitted to Islam nor submitted to dhimmitude by paying tribute.
Of course, those who aren’t familiar with the teachings of Islam can go ahead and allow disingenuous Muslims to mislead them, as usual.