It is the "based on fact" story of the wonderful collaboration between
mathematicians G. H. Hardy (played by Jeremy Irons) and Srinivasa Ramanujan (played by
Dev Patel). The as-is truth is pretty good: Ramanujan was largely
self-taught in mathematics in India, and took to sending his research
notes over to England for the recognition that was hard to come by
locally. Hardy invited him to Trinity College, where they bumped noggins
on all sorts of thorny problems. But Ramanujan grew ill, and moved back
to India, and kicked the bucket shortly thereafter.
There are cameos from Bertrand Russell (Jeremy Northam) and John
Littlewood (Toby Jones). World War I took place contemporaneously, and
that horror is shown, as is the casual expected racism toward Ramanujan
by ordinary folk and some of the Trinity faculty. The loneliness of
Ramanujan's child bride in India and the posessiveness of his mother
also play roles.
It's sort of by-the-numbers (heh) with very good acting. It's pretty
brave
to make a movie about mathematicians, I suppose. Once you go through
John Nash, Alan Turing, and Ramanujan, … I can't think of a lot of
stories ripe for moviemaking. Maybe Emmy Noether?
■ Proverbs
16:27 is not the greatest. No advice, just assertive
description.
27 A scoundrel plots evil,
and on their lips it is like a scorching fire.
Well of course a scoundrel plots evil. That's what they do.
And—oy—again with the lips. The Proverbialist had a thing about lips.
Thanks to the
Bible Study Tools
website, I can tell you that the word "lips" appears 37 times in the
Book of Proverbs alone. "Mouth" appears 20 times. Does this evidence
some sort of oral fixation?
He is bemused by a
new
one that labels him "Genuinely in the Middle", because it asks
zero questions on politics. (For the record, it ranked me "Solidly
Right-Wing").
Anyway: Mitchell quotes Peggy Noonan on what's driving current
political divides:
There are the protected and the unprotected. The protected make
public policy. The unprotected live in it. …The protected are the
accomplished, the secure, the successful—those who have power or
access to it. They are protected from much of the roughness of the
world. …They are figures in government, politics and media. They
live in nice neighborhoods, safe ones. Their families function,
their kids go to good schools, they’ve got some money. All of these
things tend to isolate them, or provide buffers. …They’re insulated
from many of the effects of their own decisions. …This is a terrible
feature of our age—that we are governed by protected people who
don’t seem to care that much about their unprotected fellow
citizens.
I think there's something to this.
Also: a lot of political rhetoric exploits the fear people
have
of losing their perceived "protected" status.
Since late last year, GOP leaders have been planning to pump tens of
billions of dollars’ worth of new federal spending into the veins of
insurance companies that are hemorrhaging red ink on the Obamacare
exchanges.
The transfusion is expected to be a concoction of two bills. The
first, championed by Sens. Lamar Alexander
(R., Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D., Wash.), would appropriate
cost-sharing-reduction payments to insurers. The second,
sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R., Maine) and Bill Nelson
(D., Fla.), would give insurers an additional $10 billion (and perhaps more) in federal
cash.
Both bills are a distraction and fail to address the real
reasons Obamacare is driving up premium costs and reducing
Americans’ insurance options. Republicans would be better off
focusing on these problems, rather than diverting their
attention to side matters.
Well, sure they would. Will they? Not for nothing do they call it
the "Stupid Party".
Somehow, Republicans who typically worship at the cult of the
surveillance state are now accusing the FBI of being nothing more
than an arm of Hillary Clinton's election effort. And Democrats who
screamed bloody murder about Bush-era overreaching are now shocked
as hell that anyone anywhere would ever question the sagacity of the
national surveillance state.
If our pols and their tribal cheerleaders didn't have double standards,
they wouldn't have any at all.
■ On a related matter, the WSJ's James Freeman writes on Obama
and the FISA Court. A lot there, and it's probably paywalled,
sorry, but this stuck out for me:
Readers concerned about the government’s surveillance authority may
be interested to know about one current member of the Intelligence
committee who began focusing on this issue all the way back in the
George W. Bush administration.
In March of 2007, he announced that he was “deeply troubled” by what
he called “abuses of authority” by the FBI in acquiring personal
information on U.S. citizens. Over the years, he urged various
restrictions on the ability of the executive branch to get
information on Americans’ phone calls. In order “to protect privacy
and increase transparency” he sought in various ways to reform the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court—the very court that approved
the electronic surveillance of a Trump associate for reasons that
are still not entirely clear.
Way ahead of the news, this particular lawmaker specifically
introduced the “Ending Secret Law Act” which according to a press
release from his office, “would require the Attorney General to
declassify significant Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court
(FISC) opinions, allowing Americans to know how the Court has
interpreted” its legal authorities.
This lawmaker said that his legislation “will help ensure we have
true checks and balances when it comes to the judges who are given
the responsibility of overseeing our most sensitive intelligence
gathering and national security programs.”
And that man's name was (drumroll) Adam Schiff.
■ An amusing LTE in the Union Leader from Jeffrey
Barnes of Deerfield rang the LFOD bell: New to New Hampshire
Although I've been a resident of this state for less than eight
weeks, which makes me a carpetbagger, I wonder why the sale of beer
occurs at gas stations.
It may be the "Live Free or Die" a slogan that drew me to this
state. I'm no teetotaller and I like the quote "A saint is a sinner
who lives his best in a world at its worst." Therefore, I'd ask what
is the wisdom in selling beer at gas stations? If there is not much
wisdom in this current modality, what can be done to fix this
situation?
I'm not a politician. I just hate to see alchohol-induced injuries
and deaths, court proceedings, and wrecks. I hope I've not offended
on what for some is a touchy issue.
Jeffrey, you haven't noticed the state liquor stores with their own
turnpike exits?
Anyway, Google does not find any easy answer to which states allow
beer to be sold at gas stations. I'm pretty sure it's not just us.
I did find this guide for beer snoots:
Your
Best Gas Station Beers. (Spoiler: Sierra Nevada if possible;
Miller High Life a last resort.)
Also this 2009 story:
Brewery
Draws Ire for Naming Beers After N.J. Turnpike Exits. Yes, some
nanny staters are very quick to take humorless offense. Mindy Lazar,
executive director of New Jersey's chapter of Mothers Against Drunk
Driving, is quoted:
"The combination of a roadway and advertising for any kind of a beer doesn't make any kind of sense," she said. "This is almost a mockery."
Advice to Mindy: if you want to avoid being mocked, don't be
ridiculous.
Note that even though the story is from 2009,
the
Flying
Fish Exit Series is still going strong. (Except that as I type
"Exit 1 Bayshore Oyster Stout" is unavailable.)
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