Bookies on the Books

The Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced next week and the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the odds makers are making noise for the usual suspects. Of course we all know it’s all just a guessing-game (as most gambling is) as to who will win, a game depending on the author and scholars who make up the selection panel, and, unfortunately, the international politics at play. That said, still it’s fun to guess. Here are some of the odds: Haruki Murakami is the favorite at 5 to 1 Joyce Carol Oates is at 12 to 1 Philip Roth … Continue reading Bookies on the Books

The Proxy Wars

jurvetson / Foter / CC BY Oppressive governments like China, Iran, and Syria, among many others, are spending billions to censor the internet from their populations; and other governments like Pakistan, that one might not consider to be in the same oppressive category as China and the others mentioned, are also focused on internet censorship as well, mostly for religious purposes. But as these governments find new ways to oppress, internet freedom advocates, find new ways to circumvent the oppression. Unfortunately, those seeking access to the internet usually are not as well funded as those seeking to oppress. Just as … Continue reading The Proxy Wars