Naftali's Blind Spot,

I read the latest issue of the New Yorker, which has a really long article on the head of the US National Intelligence service, a review of some Chinese films, a great review of two books on the mortuary industry and death during the Civil War. I also read the latest issue of the New Scientist, which has a feature article on mind exercises. Finally, I read Naftali's Blind Spot, which is about the history of counter terrorism in the US since World War II. The book didn't make much of an impression on me, and I found the argument about the neglect of terrorism easy to believe without plowing through the whole book. I'm halfway through Deborah Harkness' Jewel House, which is about the scientific community in Elizabethan London, as the precursor to the Scientific Revolution. The chapter on licensed and unlicensed medical practitioners is a hoot. I'm also a hundred pages into Barth's book on Calvin.