Okay, the premise of the Red Dawn remake is that North Korea invaded us? North Korea, the country that can’t feed itself because it blows all its dough on missiles that don’t work and luxury cars for the Dear Leader? Unless this movie takes place in a parallel universe where Gustav Graves‘s orbiting laser killed James Bond and enabled North Korean global conquest, I think not.

During yesterdays tutoring sessions we veered from English language topics to my explaining what the Higgs field is and why Armageddon‘s ideas on asteroid deflection are hilariously wrong. Yes, I keep up with the sciences.

The hazards of trying to remove politics from politics.

Tim Ferriss is advertising his new book as “the most banned book in U.S. history”. Apparently, since it’s an Amazon Publishing title, B&N refuses to stick it on the shelves. Ferriss claims to regard this as a free speech issue, which it isn’t because the 1st Amendment applies only to government restrictions on speech, not to private businesses. (Ferriss or Amazon Publishing could try to go for a restraint of trade action, but while B&N is a powerful bookseller, it’s hardly a monopoly. A restraint of trade claim against B&N from Amazon, itself a giant in the book selling business, wouldn’t pass the laugh test.) Ferriss’s plight, such as it is, is a symptom of the pissing contest among Amazon, B&N, and the Big Six publishing companies. I can’t blame Ferriss for trying to make a buck off of it. We all have to make a living. I just wish he’d do it without saying stupid stuff.

10 myths about Leonardo Da Vinci.

Later.