books, theories, and politics

Okay. So I sent out an email to some people about the scariness that is McCain and his VP candidate. If anyone would like to discuss it here they're welcome to, and it's preferred to reply-all emails.

In otherness, I finished re-reading The Golden Compass (by Philip Pullman) for the first time since 1997 and am currently marveling once again at it. I remember why I loved that trilogy and why, like with Nix's Abhorsen trilogy, I was completely transfixed as a child, waiting on pins and needles waiting for the next to come out.

It's interesting also reading this now, having just finished The Scar (by China Mieville) before it. They're both about Probability Theory (philosophical, not mathematical, though obviously super-related). Or, it's basically the central idea to the plots. The Probability Theory is about how for every possible outcome of any divergent moment there exists a reality in which each comes true, essentially creating infinite realities that may be similar or vastly different, and lie closer together depending on similarity. It's a concept that's played with by many writers and can be explained well by some. It's fun to see the different plots and characters that weave around it, helping the writer explore and project the theory so that the readers can understand.
If anyone has read these or other books that deal with the Probability Theory, I'd be interested in what they have to say!