This book was in my to-read list after all the “conflicts” about people rejecting vaccines during the pandemic. As far as I remember from school, this book was important in the French Revolution and used on most European democracies and constitutions . So I was curious about how the situation would have been managed under the rules of the social contract.
I am was quite surprised that book was quite thin but it was sometimes quite dense (like a good old tiny-letter contract…) and difficult to follow. There are many comments about Sparta, Venice, Jewish law and mainly Rome. And comments from other authors mainly Montesquieu and Maquiavelo.
In general, I consider JJ Rousseau a pure romantic. It seems man is good by nature and the common will makes things fall into its place… As the goal of this contract is to maintain the human freedom in the society. As well, this contract proves that the right of the strongest doesnt work. And political parties are not good!! As well, only in the social contract you can have real (private) property. I struggles to understand the difference between Sovereign and state. A good point expressed is legislation needs to been understood by the people. So it is very important how the language is used to express ideas. So I was quite surprised by that, looks like a genuine interest to reach the masses and he was aware of that difference. Too, the proportion of inhabitants per land benefits different political systems. And the legislator looks a like a special human being that is going to the best for Society. That’s for me one the “most” romantic things in the book. It reminds me a bit to the dictatorship of the proletariat. That is not going to work because Man is not good by nature.
There is a division of power between legislation and executive. Legislation is based on Equality and Liberty (and you add Fraternite’ = France 🙂
It is important of the number of magistrates in a government. It is curious because I think this happens nowadays with parliaments and civil servants.
I expected the book to be mainly focus in “democracy” but when reading about the classification of governments: democracy, aristocracy and monarchy. The best gov is mainly based on the size of the country. So democracy works best in small countries because leaving in a demo”crazy” requires “you” to be a very active part of the government. And looks like it is not very well suited for me… There are three types of aristocracy: natural, elective and hereditary, considering the “elective” the best. That for me, it is kind of the current democracies. We vote for somekind of elite and the govern for us….
And in any kind of government, the challenge is to put the good people in the correct post.
It is interesting that as well, based on the economy and weather!, different types of government are most suitable! And a government is not forever. It needs to change, that is a good thing we do, as power corrupts (man is not good by nature…) And it is very important to have periodic reunions to check on the status (like in Rome) and there shouldnt be a fix capital city so that keeps everybody on their toes regarding the government matters as it is something you can ignore.
Money is showed as a chain, so nothing really positive from an active member of society as it distracts you from the main goal: group will. As well, wealth can make you ignore your responsibilities in the social contract and with too much wealth, you have poverty. Another thing that doesnt work well as you can buy votes, etc etc.
One interesting point is that dictatorships sometimes are needed but must have a fix short term. This is mainly when there is agreements.
A nice quote: “It is easier to conquer than to rule” – true story
Interesting things I found is the death penalty is accepted. I am not sure if I understood well but considers God as the source of Justice.
There is a section about “censorship” that is mainly to keep morality… I wasn’t very sure about this.
And the last part talks about religion. And the conclusion is clear, religion is not compatible with politics! 🙂 It puts as example mainly the Catholicism with Rome.
It is a very dense book of ideas and likely I have left many ideas out and not sure If I am understood all. But it is worth it. At the end, based on this book and myinterpretation, people should have follow the government advice about vaccination. But I feel biased anyway because that was what I was trying to verify.
I booked a baking e-course for this morning regarding Greek baking. At the end, I had only the instructions and couldnt join the session so I decided to go ahead myself anyway. So it was a nice way to wake up early and start the weekend.
Olive Bread – Elipsomo
Ingredients
400gr strong white bread flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
7gr dried yeast
250g water
30g honey
2 tbsp olive oil
75g olives, pitted and chopped
1 tsp rosemary chopped
Process
Pre-heat oven at 80C to help proving the dough later. Let it warm up for 5 minutes and then drop the temperature to the minimum.
Put flour, garlic powder, salt and yeast in a bowl and mix well
In a small bowl, mix water and honey until well combined
Make a well in the center of the flour bowl and pour the water/honey mix. Combine well until a ball of dough is formed.
Put the dough in a table and knead for 8-10 minutes. It should be smooth and pass the “window pane test”.
Then add one tbsp of olive oil in the bowl and spread it around. Put back the dough, let it rest inside the oven. Be sure it is just warm. Let it be until it doubles in size.
Take the dough out of the oven and pre-heat at 220C.
Flatten the dough like a rectangle, add the chopped olives and rosemary. This is the difficult part because I wasnt sure what to do. I tried to make a ball again but it started breaking with the olives. Anyway, once shaped in a ball, let it rest for 5 minutes. I need to find a video to see clearly this part.
Prepare a baking tray with paper and put the dough. Coat the dough with the last 1 tbsp of olive (I forgot this 🙁 )
Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.
This is the result!!!
Olive Bread
Clearly, I didnt spread the olives properly… It tastes good to be honest. Maybe next time I will try with a mix of white flour and rye.
Honey Cake
Ingredients
100gr brown sugar
100gr honey
125gr extra virgin olive oil
140gr water
150gr self raising flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
2 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste
Process
Preheat oven at 200C
Put sugar, honey, olive oil and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to the boil gradually and simmer for 2-3 minutes. I didnt get a syrup, it was still “quite” liquid. Remove from heat and let it rest
Put flour, cinnamon, cloves and baking powder in a bowl and mix properly.
In a cristal bowl, put the eggs and vanilla, whisk well. Then pour the liquid mix slowly always keep whisking.
Then add the flour mix to the liquid mix. Mix well, and taste it!!!
Pour the mix into a tin (with baking paper)
Bake for 30-40 minutes. It is ready when you poke with a skewer and comes out clean. It has to be moist!!!
Let it cold down
And not bad result. Very moist and tasty!
Honey Cake
You can add some icing after the baking but I thought it was not necessary.
I finished this book last week. I wasnt sure what was about but I liked it. It was a good refresh for keeping back the “peace” of mind. Its focus is Buddhism and mentions often the benefits of meditation while navigating a conflicting world/life. It reminds you to live the present, don’t hope, be groundless. There are a lot stories of main Buddhist figures dealing with different problems like when Buddha reached the illumination when the Maras attacked him, but he welcome them and didnt fight them. Something, as well, very important is to realize the path is the goal. In a so materialistic world, reading parts of the books is like cleaning your face with cold water. So refreshing, and wakes you up!
In general, it is a small book, quick to read and as I tell myself sometimes, I need to re-read some books. It is not the philosophical stone that is going to solve all problems but helps you to focus. This book or similar to be honest.
TCPLS: I know about QUIC (just the big picture) but this TCP+TLS implementation looks interesting. Although I am not sure if their test is that meaningful. A more “real” life example would be ideal (packet loss, jitter, etc)
ByPass CDN: I am not well versed in Cloud services but this looks like a interesting article CDN and WAF from a security perspective. It is the typical example of thinking out of the box, why the attacker can’t be a “customer” of the CDN too???
Packet Generator – BNG Blaster: I knew about TReX but never had the chance to use it and I know how expensive are the commercial solutions (shocking!) so this looks like a nice tool.
I visited Galicia recently. It was a great trip and with better company!
My main goal was to visit Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. And we spent nearly a full day seeing it inside, outside, in the roofs, etc.
Seeing Santiago Apostol from roof
It is a building with a very rich history starting from a Romanesque foundation to several changes of style in the next centuries. The most impressive part was the “Portico de la Gloria”. I didn’t have much idea about the actual setup of the Cathedral as I thought the external facade would be the most important part. The “Portico” is indoors and you can only see it with a tour. But it is worth it. It is a piece of 12th century and has been under restoration for 10 years: the colors, figures and setup are really impressive.
We visited Combarro and Islas Cies. Really beautiful places. We were lucky at the end in Cies and we could trek the whole island. Pity we couldn’t have a swim.
Islas Cies
Combarro
And by luck, we stopped in Bueu, and saw dolphins! from a very nice terrace.
We swam there!
And food wise, very important in Galicia, I tried “arroz negro” with just squid and its ink. Definitely I need to try at home.
Another thing we discovered was “pan de maiz“, really tasty! I need to try the recipe too.
The last thing we visited and really without planning was the “Monasterio de Armenteira” It was a very peaceful place. We couldnt visit the church due to Covid restrictions but we could walk in the claustro that was nice too. And by the way we discovered a very nice trekking route that we couldn’t do due to time constraints. It was beautiful, very green, following a river and with several water mills in the way.
So very good trip and as usual, with the best company. Can’t ask for more.
Finished today the third book of the Foundation series. It was short but really engaging. I liked again all the twists, meta-histories, etc around the “mystery” of the Second Foundation from the First Foundation members and others. The planning, the plots, the thrills, move your opinion to every direction but it is nice to follow the flow and hit the end wanting more.
My goal is to read all books of the series(and Dune) without much gap between of them as at the beginning of this one I was a bit lost remembering the earlier book. So I have homework!
