WTG Scottycakes!

"What I like about this type of rating is that it forces you to make decisions about what is better than another item. There are no five star movies or percentage ratings that can tie. This is better than that. If you see something new and fit it into the continuum it says something about that movie." This is always how I've wanted to rate stuff.

"And so you have an excruciating confluence of the questions of proportionality in a just war and asymmetry in the war against terrorism. What renders the current awfulness particularly wrenching is that the immoral means Hamas uses are logical from the point of view of an entity that is committed to Israel's destruction but not powerful enough to achieve it. And the response of Israel is logical from the point of view of a Western country enduring constant terrorist bombardment. Hence the never-ending argument in which both extremes reinforce themselves. This is not, one remembers, a Likud government. This is what the center left needs to do in Israel to stay in power at this point. And it has the backing of Egypt."

"My sense, though, is that for most people who repeatedly do (and sell) creative work, this all seems a bit like wanting to feel like a world-class athlete. Because 'feeling creative' produces great work in approximately the same way that 'feeling like a doctor' makes you a gifted thoracic surgeon."