Lawrence Block has a very nice post on the problems in the publishing industry and the rise of ebooks here.

More on the publishing industry and a follow-up to the Extruder post below. From my experience as a micro-publisher, everything he says is very true.

The Commodore by Jan de Hartog


I cannot believe I never read this before. I loved [book:Captain Jan   A Story of Ocean Tugboats|6251910] when I read it years ago along with several other nautical books by Jan de Hartog. I am so glad I was reminded of that terrific book and I've ordered a whole bunch of additional de Hartog works.

I need to state at the outset that if you don't like nautical books, or books about ships, leave now and go about your depressing little lives. There is something about the grandeur of the sea and man's attempts to overcome storms in his puny little ways, that always makes for a great story, be it fiction or non-fiction.  And when the book is about an ocean-going salvage tug, watch out.

This book grabbed me and would not let go. Maxinius Harinxma, (also the star of The Captain) retired salvage tug captain is asked to come out of retirement for one last job as the consulting captain of a brand new slavage tug, the Isabel Kwel.  There's just one problem, it's gone through several captains and no one wants to say why.  Harinxma seeks out the first master who told him of the ship's very peculiar desire to roll like a barrel under certain circumstances to the point where everyone was sure it would capsize.  Still, after a trial run and witnessing how the latest captain used the bow thruster to contain the roll, Harinxma decides to take the job.

Of course, nothing is that simple, and soon he is caught in a web of intrigue surrounding the sale of the ship and it's secret tow. Anything more would be a spoiler.  If you like the sea, grab a copy.

Also highly recommended: [book:The Grey Seas Under  The Perilous Rescue Mission of a N.A. Salvage Tug|785655]

Pictures of a salvage tug much like the Isabel Kwel:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz_49OxRLHc

Spectacular video of one of the new salvage tugs being put through its paces.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yCCPioL4Ro

And the Abeille Flandre and Abeille Bourbon, the most powerful new salvage tugs in Europe in a storm. What I wouldn't give to have been on the bridge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5CYo8Y4D7U

Very cool.  Of course I would have puked my guts out.

Very funny but trenchant and accurate history of the publishing industry.  Be sure to read the comments as PW defenders embarrass themselves.

Being a Supreme Court junkie and one who teaches a course on landmark decisions of SCOTUS, one of the best sources for information about current activity is the SCOTUS blog where senior Supreme Court reporter Lyle Denniston writes comprehensive and thorough pieces on current cases and issues.  His review of the Affordable Health Care Act is a marvel and should be read by anyone who wishes to speak intelligently about it.

I listened to the oral arguments before the court regarding the constitutionality of the ACA (available here) and was disappointed by the presentation of the Solicitor General.  I think there are three possible outcomes at this point:

1.  The plaintiffs have no standing because of the Anti-Injunction Act (a late 19th century bill that prohibits anyone filing suit or seeking an injunction against a tax before that tax has been collected or taken effect.) This is my favorite outcome and the least likely to hurt the Court. It also makes the most sense since the individual mandate doesn't take effect for some time and no ones knows what its effect will be.

2.  The court rules the individual mandate unconstitutional but the remainder of the legislation unconstitutional. This would be a disaster for insurance companies since they would have to implement the very popular aspects of the bill (can't cancel policies of people who get sick, children covered until age 26, etc.) that rely cost them money without the increased revenue of the mandate.  This related to the sever-ability of the mandate, the government arguing that without it all the rest would fail.  The justices spent a lot of time talking about the impact on the insurance companies; very little on the impact of you and me.   Which tells you a lot about the justices POVs.

3.  The entire bill is unconstitutional.  This outcome would make a mockery of the court.  As Scalia pointed out, he had no intention of reading the entire 2700 pages of the bill, so for them to dump the entire legislation would simply mean the so-called non-activist conservatives who don't want to presume legislative prerogatives are doing just that, setting policy, and without having even read the legislation they want to condemn.  Then again, I doubt if Romney has read it either even though it's based on his Massachusetts legislation (not to mention the basis for it all came from the Heritage Foundation in 1991 as a way of combating Clinton's national plan and was intended to eliminate free-loaders.)

Whatever they do, I hope it's NOT a 5-4 decision which will make everyone even more cynical than they are already.