August 29, 2008

Daddy! I wanna go on the boat!

The fateful decision is made September 1: Charles Darwin will indeed sail on the Beagle.

Here’s some back-and-forth between Charles, his father, and Francis Beaufort, British Royal Navy Captain and hydrographer. Beaufort approved Darwin for the voyage, and his Wikipedia entry alone is testament to how interesting a figure he is.

Darwin writes his dad Robert Waring Darwin, begging (this is not the first time he’s pressed the issue) to be allowed to go. He’s right out of Cambridge, by the way.

He’s got his uncle’s responses to Dad’s concerns enclosed in the letter. This uncle, Josiah Wedgwood, would later be his father-in-law.

To Robert Waring Darwin, 31 August [1831]

[Maer]
August 31

My dear Father
I am afraid I am going to make you again very uncomfortable.— But upon consideration, I think you will excuse me once again stating my opinions on the offer of the Voyage.— My excuse & reason is, is the different way all the Wedgwoods view the subject from what you & my sisters do.—

I have given Uncle Jos, what I fervently trust is an accurate & full list of your objections, & he is kind enough to give his opinion on all.— The list & his answers will be enclosed.—But may I beg of you one favor. it will be doing me the greatest kindness, if you will send me a decided answer, yes or no.— If the latter, I should be most ungrateful if I did not implicitly yield to your better judgement & to the kindest indulgence which you have shown me all through my life.— …

After the jump: the reasons that Daddy Darwin was reluctant to allow Charles to go.

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I had never heard about this incident before.

The Beatles were booked for a 1965 concert in Israel, but organizers were denied permission to pay them (in foreign currency), canceling the show because “The Beatles have an insufficient artistic level and cannot add to the spiritual and cultural life of the youth in Israel.”

The Times reported yesterday on Paul McCartney’s upcoming concert, and the Israeli London embassy only apologized to McCartney and Starr last year.

Whoa.

The best part of the article:

The Hebrew name for the group printed on the tickets is also worth noting. The performers may have been universally known as the Beatles, but in Israel, then still trying earnestly to create a culture buffered from foreign words and influence, they were Hipushiot Haketzev, or the Beat Beetles (like the bugs).

The Full Article >>

Wow. They had a lot of issues, didn’t they?

My favorite that I've read so far

A lot of sites are chattering about the article in this month’s Atlantic on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Joshua Green was able to get a hold of internal memos from clashing factions, and plot a very good timeline rife with shifting priorities, competing strategies, and decisions that languished far too long.

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August 27, 2008

David D. Friedman has a resume that will make your head spin, but at its nexus are Law, Economics, and Technology. Liberty Watch Radio interviewed him on August 24, discussing his latest project, Future Imperfect, which steps forward to examine the many possible implications of the astounding pace of technology.

As a Libertarian, Friedman’s scenarios square off for mechanisms that will allow personal freedom to thrive in the face of the crazy implications of, say, robot surveillance flies or identity theft.

It’s another long interview, but a really intriguing one.

Listen to the interview >>

He blogs at Ideas.

Rick Kleffel is an independent producer with NPR, and has interviewed a remarkable range of figures, and reviewed a massive amount of books. You can view his work here.

He recently sat down with Charles Bamforth for a very long interview — a great bonus for beer geeks the world around. Get the full scoop on Grape vs. Grain, on early brewing history, and get Charles’ entertaining wit as a bonus.

Listen Here!

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