Orson's Rant

You must have heard by now about Orson Scot Card in the news comparing Obama to Hitler, but have you actually read his blog essay for yourself? He sounds like he's suddenly turned into Glen Beck:

 

Orson's Essay

 

I'm fairly conservative I guess, but I can't take these paranoid tea party types. They're everything that's wrong with conservatism. This essay is absolutely bizarre, and I say this as a fan of Card's books. I own several. But this is enough to make any conservative want to cut off all ties with republicans and libertarian knuckleheads. Enough already! Paranoia is not conservatism.

The Past Comes Walking Into The Present

Here's a photo I found in a news article today. It's one of several old photos that have been colorized. This is of course Mark Twain. People often think that old photos are bad photos shot with inferior cameras. Actually, camera technology has not really changed that much since 1900 or so. I've seen many photos from over a hundred years ago that have incredible quality, and this is one of them. However, once it's been properly colorized (using what are known period color schemes for the clothing, furniture etc. of the day), it becomes astounding! It's as though the past has just walked into the present. And the past doesn't seem so different after all. I feel like I could have been having a conversation with Twain yesterday.