Antioch Road

One Paragraph Review: We Are Doomed by John Derbyshire

We Are Doomed: Reclaiming Conservative Pessimism by John Derbyshire
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is interesting that an atheist presents a better understanding of human nature and potential than many nominal Christians, but National Review contributor John Derbyshire does that in his call to a return to pessimism. In We Are Doomed, Derbyshire lambasts happy talk, including from too many conservatives, that lacks foundation in reality. He moves swiftly and deftly through a broad range of topics -- diversity ("nothing to celebrate"), politics ("show business for ugly people"), culture, education, human nature, religion, war, immigration, and the economy among them. As he notes, things are getting worse, they have been for some time, and human efforts to intervene and make them better have the opposite effect. Too many conservatives have, among other things, "are fully invested in the wrongheaded educational theories of our time" and "were made fools of by George W. Bush's grand world-saving project." Derbyshire is even the rare atheist who laments the decline of religion, at least the right kind. Somehow Derbyshire's pessimism is refreshing rather than depressing. After reading this book, I read an interview of former U.S. representative Dick Armey in WORLD. "It's a prudent thing for a man to know his limitations," said Armey. "When you're in a position of authority like public office, it's a moral imperative.... I'm amazed at how little introspection I see from privileged people." Both pessimistic and true, things that often go hand in hand.

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Iowa Out West Under Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz

A very good Iowa football team heads to Tucson next Saturday night to play the University of Arizona. Going west for Iowa football teams has often failed to produce happy results.

Coming into the 2010 season, in the 31 years of the Hayden Fry and Kirk Ferentz eras, Iowa teams have traveled west of the Rocky Mountains 13 times. The first trip, the 1982 Rose Bowl, in which Washington shut out Iowa 28-0, was a sign of things to come. Things improved over the next several games, including the 1984 Freedom Bowl trouncing of Texas that led to 1985’s national championship contention and Heisman Trophy candidacy of Chuck Long, but overall Iowa is 5-7-1 in those games. Worse, Iowa has not won out west since the 1987 Holiday Bowl (a 1-point win over the WAC’s Wyoming). That was more than 22 years ago.

Iowa has lost 5 of its last 6 games out west, the only non-loss being a tie to BYU in the 1991 Holiday Bowl (produced by an almost great Iowa team whose only loss that season was to Michigan, which finished the year ranked 6th in the country). The last three losses have been by a combined 83 points (Oregon in 1994, Arizona in 1998, and Arizona St. in 2004).

Here are the results with victory margins.

A loss in Arizona will not break Iowa’s season, as the 2004 team can attest. The Big Ten schedule remains the most important set of games for Iowa. But it would be nice to end that 22-year draught.

One Paragraph Review: Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matt Latimer

Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor by Matthew Latimer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whereas Noonan had her What I Saw at the Revolution, Latimer has his what in the world am I doing here? Latimer served as a speechwriter in House and Senate offices before moving to the Department of Defense as Donald Rumsfeld's speechwriter and finally to his dream job: presidential speechwriter, during the final years of President Bush's 2nd term. His account is funny, engaging, and sometimes saddening. Latimer clearly respects Rumsfeld a lot, but found himself disillusioned by a White House that lacked principles and coherence. The one strange thing about this tale is that Latimer sometimes presents people he didn't respect as too liberal and presents other such people as too conservative. We are left to wonder what Latimer's principles are, though smaller government certainly seems to be one of them. The whole book moves fast, but the fastest moving part is near the end when Latimer is discussing how the October 2008 economic "bailout" came to be, how few understood it, and how the White House worked to try to explain what it didn't understand. We are left, ultimately, with an unflattering picture of our federal government. Many insider books are flattering to the point of embarrassment and lacking in substance to the point of worthlessness. This is not one of those books. Latimer is blunt and honest.

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One Paragraph Review: Heading for Home by Kent Stock

Heading for Home: My Journey from Little League to Hollywood! by Kent Stock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heading for Home is Kent Stock's autobiographical story of how he ended up the coach of, pound for pound, the greatest high school baseball program in the state of Iowa--Norway--in its final season in 1991 and how he led that team to its 20th state championship. The story is fascinating enough that a movie was made out of it (The Final Season), though the book was written after the movie. In fact, the final portion of the book is the fast-page-turning tale of how the movie came to be. Kent's good character comes through in the book. (I call him by his first name only because I know him, having the privilege of serving with him on a nonprofit board.) Unlike many autobiographies, he does not put down or make fun of others. If he had anything bad to say about anyone, he kept it to himself. Heading for Home preserves for Iowa baseball an important part of its history, but it is more than a baseball story and appeals to more than just baseball fans or people from Iowa. It is simply a good story, well told, from a good man.

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One Paragraph Review: Stars and Their Purpose by Werner Gitt

Stars and Their Purpose: Signposts in Space by Werner Gitt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book from German physics professor Werner Gitt presents, from a Bibical perspective, the purposes of the stars. Along the way, Gitt sets out amazing facts about our solar system, our galaxy, and the universe beyond, underscoring the incredible scope and magnitude of it all. The central message, though, is explaining *why* the stars are there. Many people look up at the night sky and wonder what is out there; some even place their hope in the stars. The Bible is not silent on these issues. This book outlines in straightforward fashion why God created the stars. If we believe the Bible, it is worth knowing what it says about the "stars and their purpose" (or, more accurately than the title, their "purposes," for there are more than one). Translated into English from German, the book reads well and quickly, and is an excellent resource.

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One Paragraph Review: The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, now in its 3rd edition, has been read and reviewed enough that there is nothing new I can add. But I just finished it and here are some things I took away: The plan requires significant discipline and work. But if implemented with diligence, the plan will work. It is less about the numbers (i.e., the absolute best return), than it is about peace concerning your finances. Though hard, the plan is simple. Stop accumulating new debt, get rid of your current debt, save for retirement, and (again with the debt) pay for things with cash (check or direct debit is fine). As Ramsey says throughout the book, do not buy things with money you do not have to impress people you do not like. When you have reached the end of the steps, you will be free to live and give like no one else. And if you teach your kids these principles, they will avoid being crushed by their own significant debt as they exit college and get married. There are some who quibble with Ramsey's one-size-fits-all approach and other more minor issues (e.g., no credit cards), but it is easy to see that the approach does work. The one thing I would quibble with in the book is the assumption of 12% long-term investment returns, but that assumption would not change any part of the plan. This book is more than a series of principles; it contains many helpful practical points and examples of people who have implemented the steps. It reads fast and can be finished in a few sittings. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a desire to make their lives more "financially fit."

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One Paragraph Review: The Church Treasurer’s Manual by Bruce Nuffer

The Church Treasurer's Manual: A Practical Guide for Managing Church Finances by Bruce Nuffer

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Bruce Nuffer's The Church Treasurer's Manual is short and unlikely to be of much help to church treasurers who have served in that role for any amount of time and have some bookkeeping and accounting background. The book largely just compiles information available online from a number of denominations and Internal Revenue Service guidance. There are some practical suggestions and some forms that come on a CD, but I do not anticipate referring to this book much, if at all, when questions arise. For the amount of money (list price: $49.99, though you should be able to find it cheaper), I expected more. It addresses too few topics. It addresses some topics in a cursory manner. For example, the section on "How Do You Determine the Annual Budget" contains less than a page of any real substance. Here is the problem, I think: the back cover indicates the editor is "a freelance writer" and a "marketing manager." There is no evidence that he is or has been a church treasurer. For church treasurers that use QuickBooks, Kathy Ivens' Running QuickBooks in Nonprofits is a much more helpful resource.

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One Paragraph Review: The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I had no idea that a book on the building of the Panama Canal could be so fascinating, mostly because I had no idea that the story itself was so fascinating. David McCullough's 1977 telling of that story, in The Path Between the Seas, is excellent. From the debate over the path and the method, to the somewhat disastrous French attempt, through the triumph of the United States' completion of the canal, this 600 page history moves fast. The technological (sea level or locks?), natural (the landslides and the annual flooding of the Chagres River), and health (malaria and yellow fever) obstacles were enormous. The scale of the project was, literally, unprecedented. This book is just as much biography (de Lesseps, Bunau-Varilla, Roosevelt, Gorgas, Goethels) and political history as it is a description of just how the canal was built.

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SmartMoney.com’s 10 Things Not to Buy in 2010: Why No Love for the Compact Digital Camera?

SmartMoney.com gives us 10 things that are heading into the obsolete category and thus we should not buy in 2010. (Link via TruePravda.) Most items on the list make sense.

CDs: While providing better sound quality than alternatives, it’s clearly more convenient to listen to online radio. When I want a track permanently on my computer, Amazon's MP3 store usually provides what I need.

External Hard Drives: Ones I’ve owned have been so fickle and unreliable that I don’t plan on owning another. Backups on CDs or DVDs, networked computers in the house, flash drives, and online solutions work for me. I highly recommend paying Flickr’s relatively cheap yearly fee for online photo backups.

Smartphone Also-Rans: It’s down to Blackberry, iPhone, and Android. I love my Blackberry. My wife has less affection for it.

Newspaper Subscriptions: I’ve never had one and I would say a lot of people my age have never had one.

But then SmartMoney.com’s list includes this curious one: compact digital cameras. They say Digital SLRs are increasingly popular and, impliedly, what to purchase going forward. Digital SLRs may be the tool of professional photographers, but for most people, compacts meet our needs and are more practical and economical. The bestselling digital SLR on Amazon right now is the Canon EOS Rebel T1i. It costs $664. It is 8 x 12 x 7 inches and weighs 1.6 pounds. Compare that with the Canon PowerShot SX120IS, which costs $200, takes fine pictures for amateurs, and is much easier to transport with dimensions of 4.4 x 2.8 x 1.8 inches and one-third the weight of the Rebel. It’s hard to see how SLRs are the better option for how most people use their cameras.

Cedar Rapids sunset 12-2-2009

Cedar Rapids sunset 12-2-2009

I have a great view of the sunset from my downtown Cedar Rapids office. This picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives you an idea. Here are a few more pics from the December 2, 2009 sunset.