User Profile

Daniel Keast

dmk@ramblingreaders.org

Joined 1 year, 3 months ago

Computer programmer living in Exeter, UK.

Loves open source, retro video games, food, and anxiously watching the unfolding UK political catastrophy.

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Politics on the Edge (2023, Penguin Random House) 4 stars

This is a very depressing read. Stewart clearly has a deep love of the UK and it's institutions, but describes his experiences of how its politics have been completely hollowed out. All the incentives are wrong, power is not truly in the hands of either the people that claim to have it or should have it. People are only interested in their position, and no one seems interested in the actual improvement of people's lives. It ends with the rise of Boris Johnson and populism arriving in the UK.

I guess the only way this stuff can be fixed is people actually being honest about the situation so in a sense is hopeful to have things like this written.

Snow Crash (EBook, 2003, Bantam Books) 3 stars

Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison -- …

Hiro puts his head in his hands. He’s not exactly thinking about this; he’s letting it ricochet around in his skull, waiting for it to come to rest. “Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing—is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?”

Juanita shrugs. “What’s the difference?”

Snow Crash by 

Lady Sings the Blues (2018, Penguin Books, Limited) No rating

Lady Sings the Blues (1956) is an autobiography by jazz singer Billie Holiday, which was …

If half of this book is true Billie Holiday had an extraordinary life. I'm guessing William Dufty is the author, but her voice shines through this.

I couldn't stop reading this book. The sheer amount of trauma, anger and racism she faced is overwhelming but over that she never stops being insightful and funny. She could give as good a she got, had some serious troubles, and a real violent streak too.

Lady Sings the Blues (2018, Penguin Books, Limited) No rating

Lady Sings the Blues (1956) is an autobiography by jazz singer Billie Holiday, which was …

People on drugs are sick people. So now we end up with the government chasing sick people like they were criminals, telling doctors they can’t help them, prosecuting them because they had some stuff without paying the tax, and sending them to jail.

Imagine if the government chased sick people with diabetes, put a tax on insulin and drove it into the black market, told doctors they couldn’t treat them, and then caught them, prosecuted them for not paying their taxes, and then sent them to jail. If we did that, everyone would know we were crazy. Yet we do practically the same thing every day in the week to sick people hooked on drugs. The jails are full and the problem is getting worse every day.

Lady Sings the Blues by , ,

This was written in 1957.

Lady Sings the Blues (2018, Penguin Books, Limited) No rating

Lady Sings the Blues (1956) is an autobiography by jazz singer Billie Holiday, which was …

Content warning More of a content warning, a description of a young girl experiencing the death of a loved family member.