As always, I urge a write-in vote for William Howard Taft. A policy of trust-busting, dollar diplomacy, an increase in the corporate income tax, and strong tariffs is just what the times demand! It was right in 1908, and it’s right in 2008. So, get out and vote!

I finished reading Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire last night. It’s a engrossing look at the building of the Taj Mahal and the events that led to it. The description of how the Taj and the gardens around it were built is the best part of the book. The account of Moghul history that surrounds it, though, is a bit superficial. If you are really interested in the history of the Moghuls, I would still recommend Waldemar Hansens’s The Peacock Throne: The Drama of Mogul India. Although an older work (it was published in 1972), it is still the most approachable general history of the empire.

This has been coming for a while. Jerry Yang had close to a year to put Yahoo back on the right path. He never seemed to get started. His hundred days came and went, and nothing happened. Losing products weren’t cut. Nothing was rationalized. Hard decisions weren’t made. Now, Yahoo will pay for his lack of urgency. You want to know why it happened, then read The Peanut Butter Jar is Empty by Rich Skrenta.