Why haven’t you read more George Eliot?

Science fiction and real wars (via Per Square Mile):

Fiction does not replace policy analysis.  But science fiction is the literature of “what if?”  Not just “what if X happens?” but also “what if we continue what we’re doing?”  In that way, science fiction can inform policy making directly, and it can inform those who build scenarios for wargames and exercises and the like. One of the great strengths of science fiction is that it allows you have a conversation about something that you otherwise couldn’t talk about because it’s too politically charged. It allows you to create the universe you need in order to have the conversation you want to have

What does the current economy have in common with 14th century Venice?

I spend a lot of time feeling like a total idiot failure at work. This makes me feel a whole lot better about it.