Sunday Morning Book Thread 08-17-2014: The Police States of America [OregonMuse]

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required.

All non-book-related discussion should go in NDH's early morning open thread, thanks.

Ripped From Today's Headlines!

So the events in Ferguson, Missouri this week generated a lot of mind-bogglingly stupid commentary from empty-heads who have no idea what they're talking about. And this, by the way, is yet another example of why the republic is not served well by the 24/7 news cycle. In situations like this, when nobody yet knows any actual facts, nevertheless the cycle demands that the airtime be filled with something, anything, so we shouldn't be surprised we get a lot of stupid commentary from empty-heads who have no idea what they're talking about.

The number one empty-head, or darn close to it, has got to be Paul Waldman, a Washington Post cocoon-dwelling commentator who complained that libertarians weren't "talking about" Ferguson. The funny part is that as of Friday afternoon, this silly article is still there, even after commenters responded with counter-examples and other evidence that thoroughly beclowned him.

So my counter-factual is a libertarian guy named Radley Balko, who used to run a web site called 'The Agitator', but who now writes for, of all outlets, the Washington Post. Yes, that's right, the same newspaper that published Waldman's dopey piece. Balko has been complaining about out-of-control, over-militarized police for years. And he still does, only now it's for the Post. Somehow, this has escaped Waldman's razor-sharp journalistic observation. Like this recent piece, for example.

In addition, Balko has written what could very well be the definitive book on the subject, Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces.

Waldman is apparently unaware of this, too. Amazon's synopsis:

The unrest of the 1960s brought about the invention of the SWAT unit - which in turn led to the debut of military tactics in the ranks of police officers. Nixon's War on Drugs, Reagan's War on Poverty, Clinton's COPS program, the post-9/11 security state under Bush and Obama: by degrees, each of these innovations expanded and empowered police forces, always at the expense of civil liberties.

OK fine, but "Reagan's War On Poverty"? WTH is that? I thought the WoP was an LBJ-ism, short for "massive amounts of federal spending on welfare programs that did diddly squat to relieve actual poverty while causing untold damage to black families".

Anyway, despite all my snark, this is serious stuff. I would think that this issue is one that the left and the right could agree and come together on. We none of us want SWAT teams and armored personnel carriers rumbling through our neighborhoods at all hours.

I used to be a big-time L&O guy, dating back to Rodney King riots, but now, maybe not so much. We're a long way from the days of Sir Robert Peel and his sensible Principles of Policing.

Whodunit?

So I got 70% on this quiz about famous literary detectives, featuring a number of seriously clueless guesses that turned out to be right.

Science!

Here is a list of 10 novels that will make you "more passionate" about science, which I guess means more interested. I was intrigued by this entry, and may have to get a copy:

The Practice Effect by David Brin

In this 1984 novel, scientists succeed in creating a device that manipulates space and time - and they're able to use it to travel to another planet, which is very similar to Earth. Except on this other planet, the second law of thermodynamics works differently: Objects don't get worn out, and in fact get stronger the longer they're used. It's up to Dennis Nuel to figure out why this aberration is happening.

I can't imagine material objects not deteriorating with time and use, that just seems so basic to how the universe is put together. But I have to admit the idea is not without historical precedent:

Deu 29:5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet.

We usually think of miracles as spectacular one-off events, but this is quite different: the Israelites experienced this day in and day out, for years. They probably started taking it for granted. I know I would have. It must have been a bummer when it ended.

Also, I'm disappointed that no book by Michael Crichton, who to me would be such an obvious choice, made it on this list. I mean, the guy's been writing science themes into his novels for decades, you'd think he'd have at least one novel the compilers would think worthy enough to include. State of Fear, anyone?

The Best & The Worst

I just stumbled upon this list of the 50 best (non-fiction) books of the 20th century. And by "best", I don't think they mean "best written", but rather, the best books that everyone really ought to read and listen to. Or, perhaps I should say, these books are the most truthful. Although I do have a couple of quibbles: that's not the C.S. Lewis book I would have chosen and also, if you're going to have Strunk and White's 'Elements of Style' on the list, you might as well include Betty Crocker's cookbook, too.

Naturally there's a companion list, the 50 worst books of the 20th century, also non-fiction. And by "worst", I believe they mean "most perniciously influential". It's a pretty good rogues gallery, but I would have found room for Rachael Carson's 'Silent Spring' and that new one by Piketty, 'Capital in the 21st Century'. Also a definite must: 'The Feminine Mystique' by Betty Friedan.

And one complaint, some tighter editing is in order when publishing lists like these. There's one book that managed to make it onto both lists. Oops.

Books of Note

Via Bookbub, I noticed this book that I may have to read, The Company: A Short History of a Revolutionary Idea by John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge, two Economist reporters who argue that the basic unit of modern society is neither the state nor the religion, but rather the company, i.e. the joint-stock company, or "corporation".

I was reminded of the "evil corporation" being the bad guy in many lib-prog Hollywood movies and other morality plays (because lib-progs hate the free market and they boneheadedly equate the free market with large corporations) as I saw this in the the Amazon blurb:

The enormous power wielded by the company is nothing new. Companies were behind the slave trade, opium and imperialism, and the British East India Company ruled the subcontinent with its standing army of native troops, outmanning the British army two to one. By comparison, the modern company is a bastion of restraint and morality.

In an Amazon review entitled Companies are better for citizens than most governments, the author observes:

Some people are suspicious or hostile to companies, contrasting them with some romantic vision of a charitable organization that picks up your kids from school and serves organic food to starving peasants with a side of educational enlightenment. They are deluded. In a comparison between "the state" and "the company," companies are better 95% of the time. First, because companies do not have the legal power to kill and punish; second, because they acquire customers and employees on a voluntary basis, while competing with other companies and opportunities.

He concludes:

The lesson -- to me -- is not that we need governments to behave more like companies. Governments need to get out of a lot of activities where companies (or individuals!) would do a better job.

Amen.

Recommendations

Moron Terry wants to pimp his friend Bryan Dodd, who has written a number of children's books, and I mean little kids, not YA, among them Poldilocks and the Bee Thrairs and Terry's favorite, Good Night, Carl., about a little boy who just won't (you guessed it) go to sleep.

Kind of reminds me of this book here, but this is one you wouldn't want to read it to your kids. Unless you're a moron. In which case you'd want the audiobook version, narrated by Samuel L. Jackson.

___________

A friend of mine is very much enjoying The Terror, which is anovel about a polar expedition in the 1840s by 200 men sailing north on two converted naval vessels, Erebus and Terror, to search for the fabled Northwest Passage. Spoiler: things don't go as planned. It's an historial event, but there's a paranormal aspect in there, too.

The author, Dan Simmons, has written a metric boat load of novels, as you can see on his Amazon author's page. There're so many, there's got to be something there for you to like.

___________

Another moron recommends Those Who Wish Me Dead, the newest thriller by best-selling author Michael Koryta. Or maybe it isn't the latest. It came out in June, but Koryta writes so many books, maybe by this time there's already another one out. This one is about

A teenage boy [who] witnesses a murder. He is sent to the Montana wilderness to a survival school, rather than be put into WITSEC. The killers, as dispassionate as the ISIS, find his location and begin their pursuit.

Add a backdrop of a forest fire, an education on survival skills, and nice plot twists, and settle in for a good night's (or two) read.

Sounds like a page-turner. Thanks, Dave, for the tip.

Books By Morons

Moron Gary e-mailed this week to let me know he has just released his novel Worth Saving on Kindle. He tells me it's set in a post apocalyptic world where

...Only the bad guys have guns. Young Kristopher and Clair try to establish a safe community. Building a safe haven on the roof tops of a mostly deserted city, they have to fight raiders, wild animals, and sometimes each other to try and create a life that is worth more than just surviving.

___________

I also heard from David, another moron who has just released a new book. This one is called The Giant's Walk. The blurb on Amazon says

In 1858, young priest Zebediah Goodnow and the orphaned Joanna pursue a murderous Giant and soon find themselves among the Martians. In 1957, astronaut Scott Winslow Hale takes his sick wife Helen to the shrine of the beatified Zebediah and clashes with a stranger named Eddie. In a tangle of Providential events, perseverance and peace are drawn from the toil of Faith.

Wow. Sounds wild.

Also available at Smashwords.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at the book thread e-mail address: aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:35 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Uhhhh....words, words, words....

Posted by: EC at August 17, 2014 09:32 AM (doBIb)

2 Does it have any pitures?

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at August 17, 2014 09:33 AM (JNZbt)

3 Just re-read, for about the 30th time, Blood Music by Greg Bear....and I still don't understand exactly what happens at the end....in fact, sometimes I read the last chapter by itself, hoping to figure it out...love this book

Posted by: Mercenary Soul at August 17, 2014 09:36 AM (TM0fU)

4 Working on re-read of The Recluse series by Modesette. One thing I have noticed on this re-read. Modesette does not do a good job on male-female relations. All his male characters are pussies.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 09:38 AM (T2V/1)

5 So the events in Ferguson, Missouri this week generated a lot of mind-bogglingly stupid commentary from empty-heads who have no idea what they're talking about.[/]

Reading Jazz Shaw can indeed be aggravating.

Posted by: MTF at August 17, 2014 09:42 AM (6um35)

6 Shaw gets me so aggravated in fact that I forget to close tags. That's my excuse and I think its a good one.

Posted by: MTF at August 17, 2014 09:43 AM (6um35)

7 Shaw has been the better writer on the subject. I guess he just doen's hate the cops enough to give some of you a stiffy. Poor you!

Posted by: Pug the Boneless at August 17, 2014 09:46 AM (QZcg+)

8 Ferguson is a persuasive argument in favor of the militarization of police. You don't go to gunfight with a badge and a smile, you bring guns, preferably bigger guns than the other guy.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 09:46 AM (2cS/G)

9 By the way, I'm 100 pages into Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. Many of you probably already have read it but I had not. Excellent reading so far.

Posted by: MTF at August 17, 2014 09:46 AM (6um35)

10 City on the Edge of Time, Tales of the Metachronopolis

Very entertaining time travel short stories, interrelated. Different styles include detective noir. Time travel treated a little differently.

Posted by: simplemind at August 17, 2014 09:49 AM (hTeQK)

11 "Sensible Policing" works only when you have a coherent literate populace with common standards of decency and an almost universal understanding of what constitutes right and wrong.

Posted by: R Peel at August 17, 2014 09:50 AM (o3MSL)

12 Something Anything for y'all's listening pleasure this fine morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-YBDxak1QQ

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at August 17, 2014 09:51 AM (0HooB)

13 Piketty's book isn't 20th century.

Posted by: Bud Norton at August 17, 2014 09:52 AM (t/d1K)

14 Finished the Ringo/Weber "Empire of Man" series. Very sad. Excellent series. Military sci fi at its best. I know there are rumors of a fifth book but the last one was published years ago so I figure both authors are busy with other projects and haven't gotten around to it or 4 is all we are going to get. Damn. Absolutely loved the major characters, human and alien alike.They were so well drawn that you kind of feel like you're losing a friend if one dies. Now what to read next. Hmm, hmm, hmm.

Posted by: Tuna at August 17, 2014 09:53 AM (hpWy+)

15 "We none of us want SWAT teams and armored personnel carriers rumbling through our neighborhoods at all hours." Speak for yourself. If I lived in a sh!thole like Ferguson, with rioting gangs running the town, I'd welcome SWAT and APCs. This whole notion that armed-up LE are _causing_ civil unrest is horsesh!t, and I'm shocked and surprised to see so many conservatives buying into it.

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 09:53 AM (+Jpqc)

16 Unbroken is a extraordinary story, very well written. It is also difficult to read because you suffer with him. It is worth finishing. The human spirit has great power to overcome. Unbroken and We Die Alone stand out as biographies that will make you a better person for having read them.

Posted by: simplemind at August 17, 2014 09:53 AM (hTeQK)

17 I tried top read Shelby Foote's Civil War tomb. I had to put it down after a few chapters. Dryest book I ever tried to read. Instead of examining the cause and effects of the war it moved from one battle to the next. I could have got the same stuff from Wiki.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 09:54 AM (T2V/1)

18 The case can be made that the one and only instance where local police militarization is warranted is when local citizenry are burning and looting.

Rolling up in MRAPs and kicking in doors in the middle of the night to execute warrants or arrest suspected drug dealers not so much.

Posted by: Kreplach at August 17, 2014 09:54 AM (bKSy7)

19 Dan Simmons is great, and could possibly be considered one of the moron horde. Read his novel Flashback, where he sticks it to Obama. Not one of his best books (Hyperion), but enjoyable anyway.

Posted by: kalel666 at August 17, 2014 09:54 AM (Ejhlz)

20 I just read the Oath Keepers Manifesto. What a fucking joke huh?

Posted by: Thin Veneer Of Civility at August 17, 2014 09:55 AM (knfPD)

21 Every time I read a Book Thread post title I hear Mike from the Red Green Show announcing: It's time for the Possum Lodge Word Gaaaame!

Anyway, read Monster Hunter Nemesis and most of the way through Viper Pilot.

Posted by: .87c at August 17, 2014 09:56 AM (Lo1kv)

22 14 Tuna If you haven't read the Golden Age Trilogy yet, give it a try. John C Wright.

Posted by: simplemind at August 17, 2014 09:56 AM (hTeQK)

23 Early OT but statistical confirmation of something I've noticed: it's been a cold summer.

Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at August 17, 2014 09:56 AM (/8qpd)

24 What is ironic about Ferguson and the militarization of Police is that we had just had a discussion aboot this in the morning thread. A lot of us decried this trend which resulted from the insane war on drugs which we lost long ago.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 09:59 AM (T2V/1)

25 I can understand quibbling with Abolition of Man, OM, but I can also understand why they chose it because I lost count of the number of times I quoted it in my Lit Theory class. Read it and then look at the state of our educational system and of our society. Lewis was dead on.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at August 17, 2014 09:59 AM (dpszv)

26 I scored 80% on the mystery quiz ... and yes, there was some judicious guessing involved. But I actually had a college elective course in mystery novels, which I have not entirely forgotten.

I haven't really made much headway in the tall pile of books on the bedside table - spent too much time working on the two next ones of my own, and building a website for my daughter's Tiny Bidness. She does origami jewelry and objects d'arte ... and one of her part-time jobs has decided to get along without her services, so I got on her about creating her own regular income stream.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at August 17, 2014 10:00 AM (Asjr7)

27 By far the mildest summer in our 7 years here in NC. When we moved here, they were in a drought that had lasted months, we didn't see rain until autumn. Nineties seemingly every day. This year it's been wet, with most days in the high Seventies, nice change of pace.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 10:00 AM (2cS/G)

28 Russians suck:

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/article/505057.html

Posted by: Pug the Boneless at August 17, 2014 10:00 AM (QZcg+)

29 Just started "The Civil War of 1812" by Alan Taylor, and only a few chapters in I feel I can give it a hearty recommendation. Republicans vs. Federalists, Subjects of the Crown vs. citizens of a new republic, the Irish vs. everybody. The conflict over impressment came from different ideas of citizenship. Press gangs felt American sailors with obvious old-county accents were deserters and therefore legitimate targets of repatriation (if not hanging), even if they had naturalization papers. Does one have the right of self-determination to declare one's allegiance, after having been born a subject of the empire? Obviously the British didn't think so. Reminds you what a modern concept this was.

What a marvelous turn of phrase Taylor has. It reads like a novel.

For fun, I'm finishing up Correia's latest, "Monster Hunter: Nemesis", which for a change is from the viewpoint of taciturn terror Franks and his mentor, Myers. They are the heroes holding the line, and MHI are the assholes cocking it up. Hilarious! This is the best in the series IMHO.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:01 AM (QBm1P)

30 Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 09:53 AM (+Jpqc)

Your attitude may change when those helpful SWAT teams are helping you get to the train station for your ride to the camps.

I think the problem that conservatives have with militarization of the police is that far too many "civil servants (including those in LE)", will follow orders, and those orders will come from senior government officials. I cannot name one official in the entire Obama administration that has the integrity to never abuse such power.

Posted by: Hrothgar at August 17, 2014 10:01 AM (o3MSL)

31 14 Posted by: Tuna at August 17, 2014 09:53 AM (hpWy+)

Everything by David Weber and John Ringo is good. If you haven't read all their stuff pivk another by them.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 10:03 AM (T2V/1)

32 words, words, words....

They're only words,
but words are all I have,
to steal you're heart away....

Posted by: Fox 2! at August 17, 2014 10:04 AM (cHwSy)

33 That Ryan Reilly is one dumb son of a bitch. Jeezus.

Sorry. Forgot my "Book Thread" etiquette. Sorries.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:05 AM (M0jib)

34 This is not a Libertarian blog...
this is an establishment republican blog...
not as big a sellout as Malkin's spumes
but...close.

Posted by: Beto at August 17, 2014 10:05 AM (TfAS/)

35 I got 57% on the detective quiz, which isn't bad since the only detective stories I've ever read were Sherlock Holmes.

I've seen a couple movies, and I must have picked up the rest by osmosis from reading the book thread.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 10:05 AM (sdi6R)

36 The thing is that the "Camps" are still hypothetical. The arson, the shooting, the beatings, the looting are very real, and I don't know how you do anything but fight fire with fire.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 10:06 AM (2cS/G)

37 Over at Bookworm she has a picture of the Battlestar Galactica commander Adama (played by EJ Olmos) and this quote:

"There;s a reason you separate the military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and
protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of
the state tend to become the people."

Yep.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 17, 2014 10:07 AM (D/504)

38 I read The Unbroken a couple of years ago. Whenever I think I'm having a shitty time of it it gives me a dose of reality.

Posted by: Owl pellets at August 17, 2014 10:08 AM (fK7bh)

39 Curfews how do they work?

And it appears CNN is no longer allowing comments on its Ferguson coverage.

I wonder what caused that?

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at August 17, 2014 10:08 AM (oFCZn)

40 Ringo and Weber are at work on book 5 of Empire of Man at the moment, as well. If you follow Ringo on Facebook he wil occasionally drop snippets of whatever it is he's working on.

Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at August 17, 2014 10:10 AM (/8qpd)

41 Queing up The Way of Kings (The Stormlight Archive) after I finish up some other sequels.

Can never get enough sci-fi. And, a way to get away from politics.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at August 17, 2014 10:11 AM (IXrOn)

42 Listened to Scalzi's Redshirts, the story revolves around those nonessential personnel in Star Trek who die on away missions. These redshirts figure out they're doomed and decide to fight for their lives.

It's entertaining but is told entirely with dialogue as with a TV script, which becomes wearying. Also I found the last third of the book, which is an extended coda to the adventure, jarring and dull. Overall I liked it, even though Wil Wheaton is a grating reader.

Currently listening to Crichton's State of Fear. It's structured like a movie and is entertaining, but with its portrayal of climate change as a scam I don't think Hollywood will bring it to the silver screen anytime soon.

Posted by: waelse1 at August 17, 2014 10:12 AM (2Z2BR)

43 It's funny, when you look up SWAT history, it looks like Philly had one in 1964 and LA in 1967. I trying hard to remember who was president then. Anyone?

Posted by: Stringer Davis at August 17, 2014 10:13 AM (xq1UY)

44 I'm not sure Peel's principles apply to the control of hordes of malignant, Obama voting primitives.

Wait, I am sure: they don't.

And the British themselves sure didn't use much of Peel's wisdom in 'policing' India, did they?

Posted by: bildung at August 17, 2014 10:14 AM (riOeb)

45 Early OT but statistical confirmation of something I've noticed: it's been a cold summer.

Not here. We've had day after day of 90 degree weather, which is very warm for this area.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 10:15 AM (yRdR4)

46 29 there is a death in Monster Hunter Nemesis that I keep wondering if it is a real death or not.

Posted by: votermom at August 17, 2014 10:16 AM (GSIDW)

47 Reading comprehension. Hard facts to swallow and the future of our country from Bill Whittle's newest video.

http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/bill-whittle-struggle-stupidity

Below is the paragraph he highlights from a California text book from 1914. "Bill Whittle explains how full comprehension of a single paragraph from that hundred-year-old elementary school textbook eludes virtually all of today's college graduates; shows why it is such a sin, and reveals the Progressive Struggle for Stupidity in all of its undeniable venality."

Then Jason lighted the pile, and burnt the carcass of the bull; and they went to their ship and sailed eastward, like men who have a work to do. Three thousand years and more they sailed away, into the unknown Eastern seas; and great nations have come and gone since then, and many a storm has swept the earth; and many a mighty armament, to which Argo would be but one small boat; English and French, Turkish and Russian, have sailed those waters since; yet the fame of that small Argo lives forever, and her name is a proverb among men.

sixth graders...

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at August 17, 2014 10:17 AM (IXrOn)

48 It already feels like fall today here.

Posted by: votermom at August 17, 2014 10:17 AM (GSIDW)

49 67%, with a few answers that I kicked myself over. Since I don't read a lot of mystery fic, it was a more of a general knowledge test for me...

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 10:18 AM (MMC8r)

50 It already feels like fall today here.
Posted by: votermom at August 17, 2014 10:17 AM (GSIDW)

The leaves are turning very early this year all over the country...

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at August 17, 2014 10:19 AM (IXrOn)

51 "Your attitude may change when those helpful SWAT teams are helping you get to the train station for your ride to the camps." That is pure paranoid baloney. Thug criminals like those who now own Ferguson are a much more realistic, present threat to me and mine than any hypothetical domestic totalitarian crackdown. How can any conservative look at the photos and videos out of Ferguson and conclude that _police_ are the problem?

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 10:19 AM (+Jpqc)

52 Of course, one side feeds off the other. A lot of the social problems we see today are the result of the multigenerational breakdown/teardown on family, religious, and social values-- enabled by the government in many cases; sometimes with good intentions, sometimes not.

LE naturally has to react. They hire more guys, buy more gear, and become more agressive. Other side reacts to their reaction. Fast forward forty years of back and forth and here we are.

The looters and burners won't stop in this situation because they never had the software for civilized behavior loaded during their formative years, and instant mass communication has made it way too easy to get in on the action. LE can't back off without leaving the citizens to get a) eaten alive or b) take matters into their own hands, neither of which the cops want to have happen.

Books! Working on The Federalist Papers (Good stuff, and it shows how far we've slid. I do think Hamilton was a bit naive on a couple of topics, but I have hindsight) and Aristotle's Ethics (Apparently, I'm supposed to behave myself. Whodathunkit? I kid, I kid, it's actually pretty insightful).

Posted by: Secundus at August 17, 2014 10:21 AM (zBliu)

53 Below is the paragraph he highlights from a California text book from 1914

sixth graders...

A discussion of Jerry Pournelle's reprinting of the 1914 California Sixth Grade Reader didn't survive a last-minute edit before I posted today's thread. It's in the pipe for next week.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 10:21 AM (yRdR4)

54 Where is navycopjoe to assure us that cop thuggery and dog shooting is all a figment of an overactive imagination? Not that the shooting of Saint Swisher Sweets was thuggery - that was a justified shooting.

See the Cato Institute's map of botched SWAT raids for examples of 'thuggery'.

http://www.cato.org/raidmap

Posted by: Hippoglossus hippoglossus at August 17, 2014 10:22 AM (EStAT)

55 Finished David L. Robbins' "The Empty Quarter" last night, one of my one-per-month freebies from Amazon.

War, warfare, al Qaida nasties, Saudis and a royal family princess, and PJs, the heli Air Force teams that do the hard work of getting you out when you are injured in Indian country.

Quite good.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at August 17, 2014 10:23 AM (Djl06)

56 Posted by: Hippoglossus hippoglossus at August 17, 2014 10:22 AM (EStAT)

did i miss the part when the officer rolled up on michael brown in a tank?

Posted by: phoenixgirl at August 17, 2014 10:24 AM (u8GsB)

57 I read The Giver in one sitting this week. Great book and I can't believe I had never heard of it before.

Posted by: Michael the Hobbit at August 17, 2014 10:24 AM (oWhIO)

58
"We none of us want SWAT teams and armored personnel carriers rumbling through our neighborhoods at all hours."

Through OUR neighborhood for every missing kid and movie filming? No.

Through YOUR neighborhood, when you're having a delightful time rioting, looting. assaulting those around you and burning down buildings? Why, surprisingly OK with that.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at August 17, 2014 10:25 AM (kdS6q)

59 Cold summer? Gonna have to call bs on that one. Forecast says 100� here Wednesday. How about turning on a fan and blowing some cool air to Ga?

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at August 17, 2014 10:25 AM (JNZbt)

60 I was there in 1968 when the Chicago Police opened for the DNC Show at Buckingham Fountain.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at August 17, 2014 10:26 AM (Djl06)

61 "did i miss the part when the officer rolled up on michael brown in a tank?"

No, you didn't. Because that part didn't happen AFAIK.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:27 AM (M0jib)

62 sixth graders...

I grew up on vacations at my Grandma's house reading the school books she used to teach grade school out of. (out of which she used to teach grade school, ok, happy?) Lots of stuff like this, and I learned my Greco-Roman and Norse mythology.
It is not that kids are unable to learn and read and study, it is that they are not encouraged to do so. IN many ways they are discouraged from doing so.

This also makes me crazy.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2014 10:28 AM (t//F+)

63 No, you didn't. Because that part didn't happen AFAIK.
Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:27 AM (M0jib)

exactly....

Posted by: phoenixgirl at August 17, 2014 10:29 AM (u8GsB)

64 46 29 there is a death in Monster Hunter Nemesis that I keep wondering if it is a real death or not.
Posted by: votermom at August 17, 2014 10:16 AM (GSIDW)
------------
I know. Is any death really permanent in this series, when Z Pitt can commune with the dead?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:30 AM (QBm1P)

65 Because of the movie reviews I read "The Giver" on vacay and the second book of the four on the plane ride home last night.

Speaking of plane ride, we were eating at a diner before going to the airport when I get a text that our flight is cancelled due to maintenance. So, we wind up leaving from JFK instead of Newark, on a totally different airline, two hours later. Got in around 11:35pm. Took another hour to get our bags and to the car since 4-5 other flights all landed around the same time....in Austin. For a city this big, the airport is till pretty small so they probably only had one baggage crew on at that hour. Took a long time to get our bags and then our three booster seats came very last in a separate area, of course!

Posted by: lindafell at August 17, 2014 10:31 AM (nKVlf)

66
"Dan Simmons, has written a metric boat load of novels"

An infuriatingly inconsistent author. When he is on his game, he is amazing -- for example with Hyperion. When he ain't, he is unreadable.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at August 17, 2014 10:31 AM (kdS6q)

67 "I mean, the guy's been writing science themes into his novels for decades ..."

Was writing. It's worth emphasizing that he died in 2008. I wish he'd been around in these last six years to lend his voice in observation and criticism. I imagine he'd have quite a few things to say about collective delusions.

Posted by: Walter Freeman at August 17, 2014 10:34 AM (kqGWM)

68 did i miss the part when the officer rolled up on Michael Brown in a tank?

I missed that part too, as I was unaware Ferguson City Police were Panzergruppen. Maybe Malik Zulu Shabazz can make himself useful and get stuck under one.

Posted by: Hippoglossus hippoglossus at August 17, 2014 10:35 AM (EStAT)

69 59 Cold summer? Gonna have to call bs on that one. Forecast says 100? here Wednesday. How about turning on a fan and blowing some cool air to Ga?

See the link in my original post's sig. The entire Midwest is having one of the mildest summers in a very long time.

Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at August 17, 2014 10:37 AM (/8qpd)

70 The only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required.
------------
Full disclosure: Posted without pants.

May not get out of my robe today.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:38 AM (QBm1P)

71 Point of order: does "in robe" = "pantsless"?

Inquiring minds. Something worth a horde-a-thon.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at August 17, 2014 10:39 AM (xq1UY)

72 I missed that part too, as I was unaware Ferguson City Police were Panzergruppen. Maybe Malik Zulu Shabazz can make himself useful and get stuck under one.
Posted by: Hippoglossus hippoglossus at August 17, 2014 10:35 AM (EStAT)

In fairness, they just stopped off for gas on their way to bomb Pearl Harbor.

Posted by: filbert at August 17, 2014 10:39 AM (h6Mpm)

73 Also "out of robe" = "pics or didn't."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at August 17, 2014 10:40 AM (xq1UY)

74 We've been Hectored yet again. Ain't we lucky.

Posted by: fairweatherbill at August 17, 2014 10:40 AM (2uj8H)

75 "Ain't we lucky"

Where's he at? I'll get that sumbitch.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:43 AM (M0jib)

76 59
Cold summer? Gonna have to call bs on that one. Forecast says 100 here
Wednesday. How about turning on a fan and blowing some cool air to Ga?

Posted by: weirdflunkyonatablet at August 17, 2014 10:25 AM (JNZbt)

When I fist moved here in 1977 we used to have one week of 100 degree days every summer. We haven't had a 100 degree day now for the past two years. We are in a cooling period as predicted by the Old Farmer's Almanack last year.

And BTW, that is as measured by my own devices in my yard.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 10:43 AM (T2V/1)

77 71 Point of order: does "in robe" = "pantsless"?

Inquiring minds. Something worth a horde-a-thon.
Posted by: Stringer Davis at August 17, 2014 10:39 AM (xq1UY)
------------
Right? It's slatternly, yet decorous. True 'ette lifestyle.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:44 AM (QBm1P)

78 Twitter is kinda fun.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:45 AM (M0jib)

79 Of all the detective novels I do love Chandler, Hammett and Sayers. How many of you have read Manning Cole's Tommy Hambledon stories?

Gorgeous books. Smack you between the eyes stories. They start with the British Secret Service in WW1 Germany and go on from there through WWII and on into the cold war.

Posted by: Kindltot at August 17, 2014 10:46 AM (t//F+)

80 I got 63%, which sucks. If I'd guessed my score before I started I would've said 90%, having read zillions of mysteries, but I've obviously missed whole swaths of the genre. Tommy and Tuppence? General Sternwood? R_______? Never heard of any of them.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 10:49 AM (2cS/G)

81 When people would supposedly prefer to shock themselves with electricity rather than sit quietly and think, a lack of reading comprehension is just a symptom of the problem.

We currently have a non-introspective thoughtless populace burning its own city down.

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 10:50 AM (MMC8r)

82 For about the first 2-3 weeks of July I had the air conditioner on more or less constantly. It was hot enough to be uncomfortable, but I don't think it broke 90 more than a couple of times.

Since then I haven't used the air conditioner at all. It's mostly been in the 70s or low 80s in the daytime, and has even gotten into the 50s at night. That's near-perfect weather as far as I'm concerned, and is pretty unusual for August in my part of Pennsylvania.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 10:50 AM (sdi6R)

83 I've mentioned him before, but-

Peter Watts is good at inserting bleeding edge hard science into his novels and they're good reads.

His best books are:

"Starfish" - concerning people who's pathological personality problems allow them to be "engineered" to live and work at 3 kilometers beneath the Pacific ocean. Goes in unexpected directions.

Part of a trilogy but "Starfish" is self-contained and comes to a perfectly satisfactory ending.

The other two books of the trilogy: "Behemoth" and "Maelstrom" have issues mostly dealing with one particular character who's a serial killer/sadist and the amount of torture you need to read through. Plus, there just is nobody you like or can really root for.

"Blind Sight" - A first contact novel where the species truly is alien. Great scientific type problem solving. Again people modified to gain certain benefits at the expense of themselves.

He has a new novel coming out soon - "Echopraxis" concerning events on Earth during the events in "Blindsight".

Watts is always an interesting read.

Posted by: naturafake at August 17, 2014 10:52 AM (KBvAm)

84 "That's near-perfect weather as far as I'm concerned, and is pretty unusual for August in my part of Pennsylvania."

Pricksylvania.

Thunder about here.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 10:53 AM (M0jib)

85 also-

Peter Watts website is-

http://www.rifters.com

Where you can read excerpts from his novels and see if it's your kind of thing.

Posted by: naturafake at August 17, 2014 10:54 AM (KBvAm)

86 Sadly, I've read more of the "50 Worst Books" than of the "50 Best Books".
I wonder how Conservative I'd be if I hadn't read them...

Posted by: I lurk, therefore I amn't at August 17, 2014 10:54 AM (cr0Pu)

87 A TV series that is a kind of sampler-platter of old detectives is The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rivals_of_Sherlock_Holmes_%28TV_series%29

It looks to be on Amazon Video. An early 70s British shot-on-video production.

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 10:55 AM (MMC8r)

88 If I lived in a sh!thole like Ferguson, with rioting gangs running the town, I'd welcome SWAT and APCs. This whole notion that armed-up LE are _causing_ civil unrest is horsesh!t, and I'm shocked and surprised to see so many conservatives buying into it.

Please note it wasn't all the SWAT teams and APCs that calmed Ferguson down, it was when the missouri governor ordered the local police to stand down and put the more lightly armed missouri highway patrol in charge of security.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 10:55 AM (yRdR4)

89 @ 14

This is from a Ringo FB post back in March:

"EMPIRE OF MAN: David has given his okay on the opening 'throne-room' scene and other bits. Will be moving forward on that soonish. We have the basic outline of the plot but that's a long road from a finished book. We also have the basic outline of the future of the universe and sequels so we may eventually be able to 'wrap' that series."

Posted by: BornLib at August 17, 2014 10:56 AM (zpNwC)

90 55 Finished David L. Robbins' "The Empty Quarter" last night, one of my one-per-month freebies from Amazon.
War, warfare, al Qaida nasties, Saudis and a royal family princess, and PJs, the heli Air Force teams that do the hard work of getting you out when you are injured in Indian country.

Quite good.

I concur, except the damn book was too short.

Posted by: whatmeworry? at August 17, 2014 10:57 AM (dZGNV)

91
Books related. I went to the Los Angeles Family History Library in West LA yesterday. Been a while since I've been there, and they've shipped out most of the books. The library is down to the size of a master bath, and many of the microfilm reels have been sent back to Salt Lake,

Was told people just don't do much hard copy research anymore, it's all online and ebooks. I was the only person using a microfilm reader, everyone else was on the 'puters. Admittedly, I got itchy not being able to enlarge or enhance images with a couple of clicks, and I could have used a Ctrl-F or two. But most historical information, meaning anything before text processors became common at newspapers and magazines in the 70s, is still on paper of film.

Apparently another set of skills is about to fade away.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at August 17, 2014 10:58 AM (kdS6q)

92 87 A TV series that is a kind of sampler-platter of old detectives is The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rivals_of_Sherlock_Holmes_%28TV_series%29

It looks to be on Amazon Video. An early 70s British shot-on-video production.
Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 10:55 AM (MMC8r)
-------------
Oh man, loved this series as a kid. Thanks for the tip.

Also, there is only one true Sherlock, and he's Jeremy Brett.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:58 AM (QBm1P)

93 DirecTV off again. Shit.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:01 AM (M0jib)

94 If the police want to have miltary capabilities with their role in civic affairs they ned to be forced to be as politically agnostic as the military at a minimum.

Law Enforcement has sided consistently with the occutards and the unions b/c after all they are all FOP baby....

Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 11:02 AM (T4Ns2)

95 Please, bitch

Posted by: Ghost of Basil Rathbone at August 17, 2014 11:02 AM (dZGNV)

96 PJ's are the bomb.

Posted by: whatmeworry? at August 17, 2014 11:04 AM (dZGNV)

97 Re. "The Terror", I can recommend it highly. I've read the novel twice.

This is a ripe subject. The Franklin Expedition was, by orders of magnitude, the worst maritime disaster in the history of British polar exploration. Last seen by two whaling ships in July 1845, 129 sailors and officers set out in "The Erebus" and "The Terror", two converted bomb vessels, to discover the famed Northwest Passage. They were never seen again.

In the spring of 1848 the first of many ultimately fruitless search party expeditions were formed and sent out. Thanks to the tireless efforts of 150+ years of expeditions of explorers, scientists, etc., today we have a working theory of what probably happened with the men, but much is left unexplained and mysterious, and the two ships/shipwrecks remain lost (not for a lack of searching, a new search was announced just this year).

So what Simmons does with his novel isn't, of course, straight history. Instead he started with what we now know, imagined the experience of the expedition through the eyes of several of the expedition members (most notably Captain Francis Crozier), and then tacked some obviously fictional elements onto the basic story.

These fictional "additions" might be seen as unnecessary and could easily turn some purists off, I suppose, but IMO what Simmons has added is superb and I believe, if the reader has an imagination, can make it all the more entertaining and rewarding.

Serious readers will be able to separate the real from the fantasy, anyway. Via this novel I learned more about the Franklin Expedition than I would ever have thought possible, and it served as a springboard for my own interest and personal research into the tragedy. I can say with conviction that Simmons really did his research.

Simmons is an excellent writer. Some of his works will be considered "better" than others, IMO, but we could say the same about most any writer with a considerable output. Along with "The Terror" I myself would highly recommend: "Song of Kali", "Carrion Comfort", and "Summer of Night" (the first novel in a four-part series; if you like it, you'll like the rest of the series).

Posted by: Bill in TN at August 17, 2014 11:05 AM (gi/0z)

98 And rain again. Holy Shit. This doesn't happen.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:05 AM (M0jib)

99 95 Please, bitch

Posted by: Ghost of Basil Rathbone at August 17, 2014 11:02 AM (dZGNV)
----
Ha!

Joel and the 'bots:

http://tinyurl.com/kdopvur

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 11:05 AM (QBm1P)

100 Is TSR around? I'm wondering how last night in Ferguson compared with previous nights. All the stories sound the same, hard to tell if it's getting better or worse.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 11:05 AM (2cS/G)

101 Guess book end-quote for Helicopter Rodeo from ONT

"No one is more surprised than me"

Posted by: DaveA at August 17, 2014 11:08 AM (DL2i+)

102 Shit almighty it's raining hard here....

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:09 AM (M0jib)

103 I immediately stop reading any writer that calls any vehicle with armor plating a tank or any warship a battleship. Or for that matter, any semi-automatic weapon as an assault weapon or a machine -gun. There was far too much commentary about Ferguson using most of these terms.

Posted by: JHW at August 17, 2014 11:11 AM (5G4F7)

104 Might be this one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chickenhawk_book

Posted by: DaveA at August 17, 2014 11:11 AM (DL2i+)

105 Seen Drudge's "Curfew" headline? Heh.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 11:11 AM (2cS/G)

106 15 GP,

If the cops only played Eystone Kommando for riots and civil unrest we wouldn't be having this chat...

They are going to try to use MLRS which even the Army wasn't allowed to use for LE soon I'd wager....

Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 11:12 AM (T4Ns2)

107 92
Also, there is only one true Sherlock, and he's Jeremy Brett.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 10:58 AM (QBm1P)

-----

95 Please, bitch

Posted by: Ghost of Basil Rathbone at August 17, 2014 11:02 AM (dZGNV)

Heh. I was just about to chime in.

A local UHF TV station used to play all the old Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce movies when I was a kid. I loved them.

On the other hand, I can see how a Holmes purist might consider those movies a travesty, since all but the first were updated to the 1940s, and Watson was portrayed as a fuddy-duddy, almost a comic foil for Holmes at times.

Nevertheless, when I picture Holmes and Watson today, I think of Rathbone and Bruce.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:13 AM (sdi6R)

108 Press gangs felt American sailors with obvious old-county accents were
deserters and therefore legitimate targets of repatriation (if not
hanging), even if they had naturalization papers. Does one have the
right of self-determination to declare one's allegiance, after having
been born a subject of the empire? Obviously the British didn't think
so. Reminds you what a modern concept this was.
Just like New York state going after anyone who ever worked in the state, no matter how briefly and even if they were paying their taxes in a different jurisdiction (even to a foreign government like Canada's!) for back taxes owed to NYS.

Posted by: andycanuck at August 17, 2014 11:13 AM (u+r+m)

109 Gonna be reading some Calculus and Statics books starting on Thursday...

Posted by: CrotchetyOldJarhead at August 17, 2014 11:14 AM (60Vyp)

110 103 JHW,

I can jargon with the best of 'em....

The cops in Madison turned me....they want to side with moonbts so will I to defang 'em....

Splinter split the democrat caucus..

Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 11:14 AM (T4Ns2)

111 Yup, Andy, it's neverfuckinending.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 11:15 AM (QBm1P)

112 From the Top 10 Science list, I have only read Cryptonmicon.

And, only read the Mars trilogy from Kim Stanley Robinson.

The science fiction genre is broken down into so many sub-genres, now. Many have "science" in some form, but social science, or techno science, etc.

I like many genres, but my favorites are based on real-time science, stuff from white papers that get intermingled into the storyline. Like recent studies in teleportation, quantum physics, robotics, and so forth.

Basically, and ACM.org/SIG itinerary.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at August 17, 2014 11:15 AM (IXrOn)

113 Guess the Guvnah's gonna have to send in the National Guard if he's serious about that curfew stuff.

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 11:16 AM (MMC8r)

114 My current theory of portrayals of Holmes is that success depends on the strength of the Watson character. Rathbone -- excellent; Brett -- meh; Liu -- yuck; Cumberbatch and his Watson, current best of the bunch. Holmes is so full of quirks that those just can't carry the plot, it really takes Watson to be a full partner.

Anyway, just my current impression and I would be interested in the Horde's take on the theory.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at August 17, 2014 11:18 AM (MIKMs)

115 "Guess the Guvnah's gonna have to send in the National Guard if he's serious about that curfew stuff."

Oh, oh, oh, pick me, pick me.

Mizzurah.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:20 AM (M0jib)

116 ELLO GUV'NOR!

Posted by: Full Auto Assault Taxi at August 17, 2014 11:21 AM (EStAT)

117 Thunder getting louder. From the southwest.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:21 AM (M0jib)

118 All those phoney baloney jobs and shit...

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:23 AM (M0jib)

119 Just like New York state going after anyone who ever worked in the state, no matter how briefly and even if they were paying their taxes in a different jurisdiction (even to a foreign government like Canada's!) for back taxes owed to NYS.

Yeah, and we're going to see more and more of this BS, and "exit taxes" and the like, as state and local governments get increasingly desperate for money. This is only the beginning.

I think it won't be long before we start seeing legalized, licensed whorehouses in more than one state, heavily taxed, of course, they're that desperate.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 11:23 AM (yRdR4)

120 Since it is a book thread, what would Henry David Thoreau think about the leaves changing colors in August?

Posted by: Baldy at August 17, 2014 11:25 AM (2bql3)

121 I liked Dan Simmon's "Illium".

Posted by: eman at August 17, 2014 11:27 AM (MQEz6)

122 "Since it is a book thread, what would Henry David Thoreau think about the leaves changing colors in August?"

Screw that shit. Mongo is here.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:28 AM (M0jib)

123 Simmons'

Posted by: eman at August 17, 2014 11:28 AM (MQEz6)

124 I have some leave coming after I straighten out a few problems in Gaza. If the people in Ferguson need me, I will fly coach.

Posted by: Col Moshe Taggart, IDF at August 17, 2014 11:31 AM (N2A89)

125 Interesting. Corroborates the story told by the caller to Dana Loesch's show -- the guy ran away from the cop, the turned around and charged him.

DRUDGE REPORT @DRUDGE_REPORT 2m
Witness Conversation Unknowingly Captured at Scene 'a Game-Changer'... http://drudge.tw/VwMQft

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 11:31 AM (ZPrif)

126 Some of the trees here in W PA started changing colors a a week or two ago (since it is the book thread, I wonder what Rachel Carson would think?).

Posted by: Baldy at August 17, 2014 11:31 AM (2bql3)

127 Screwed with your theme, Baldy. Sorry.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:33 AM (M0jib)

128 And one thing about 1812 books and documentaries, Eris, I hate it when they call the Democrats "Republicans"! In the documentaries especially I think it's done to push the "Republicans are the party of war (while whispering the name Bush)" meme even though Dems have declared almost all of the U.S.'s wars.

Posted by: andycanuck at August 17, 2014 11:34 AM (u+r+m)

129 The last ten years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan has demanded that military personnel take on increasingly police-like roles. My unit had LEOs serving as advisors on things like arrest procedures and evidence collection so that we could make our case in the Afghan courts. A lot of military equipment was modified/developed with that in mind as well. It's no surprise that it comes over to the law enforcement side: it is basically law enforcement equipment.

Posted by: Colorado Alex at August 17, 2014 11:34 AM (Xkt9b)

130 DRUDGE REPORT @DRUDGE_REPORT 2m
Witness Conversation Unknowingly Captured at Scene 'a Game-Changer'... http://drudge.tw/VwMQft

Recordings are Racist.

Posted by: Eric Holder at August 17, 2014 11:35 AM (qC3T/)

131 Reading Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings by Craig L. Symonds and Napoleon: From Tilsit to Waterloo 1807-1815 by Georges Lefebvre.
I just finished Napoleon from 18 Brumaire To Tilsit 1799-1807 by Georges Lefebvre. On deck: Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at August 17, 2014 11:36 AM (u82oZ)

132 I want use a sentence with all the recent nonsense buzzwords I've been hearing:
Militarization of the police is a game-changing, hetero-normative, bullying form of rape culture.

Posted by: Naes at August 17, 2014 11:36 AM (YhayY)

133 I have a birch tree in my front yard that is already dropping leaves; however there are still tons of healthy green leaves.

It does that every year. Maybe it's insects or something.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:36 AM (sdi6R)

134 Raining again.

Weirder than Velveeta. Holy Hell.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:37 AM (M0jib)

135 It's one thing to say that Furgeson warrants the militarization of police. The problem is that it's not being used for the Furgesons of the country. It's being used to serve warrants and do no knock raids on citizens.

The cops didn't have soldier toys in the riots of re 60s and 70s. The National Guard was called in and that makes a lot more sense. Local police forces need to be reminded that they are dealing with citizens not enemy forces.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2014 11:37 AM (Lqy/e)

136 "rape:

You said "rape."

Heh.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:38 AM (M0jib)

137 Two books I want to see: 1. the one that draws the direct line from Rodney King to Ferguson. 2. the one that gathers all these various race war incidents, and demonstrates who said what early on, in direct opposition to the facts.

If you are a reporter, and you have ever uttered anything like "the gentle giant teenager was standing with his hands up when he was shot," you should be sued for malpractice. Real. Monetary. Damages.

It's the only thing that will stop an out of control media.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:39 AM (Dj0WE)

138 134 Raining again.

Weirder than Velveeta. Holy Hell.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:37 AM (M0jib)

Where are you? I've had some off-and-on drizzle today, but nothing major.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:41 AM (sdi6R)

139 It won't matter if it comes out that Brown was charging him, there have already been empty heads on CNN saying that shooting an unarmed 6'4 300 lbs man who is bull rushing you is police brutality.

Posted by: Adam at August 17, 2014 11:41 AM (HstNY)

140 Mark Steyn's piece on Ferguson is the best I've read. Agree with the moron upthread that Jazz Shaw's writing is irritating, and that new guy Noah Rothman is even worse. Like AP wasn't enough of a candyass RINO for HotAir.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:42 AM (Y92Nd)

141 Maybe we should nail Mr. Brown to 'is perch.

Beautiful plumage.

Posted by: Michael Palin at August 17, 2014 11:44 AM (EStAT)

142 Seriously, I want to go to law school, become Darren Wilson's lawyer, and sue the frickin' pants off everybody in the media who told bald faced lies about the dead perp and the cop who was complete innocent of any wrongdoing.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:44 AM (Dj0WE)

143 Please note it wasn't all the SWAT teams and APCs that calmed Ferguson down, it was when the missouri governor ordered the local police to stand down and put the more lightly armed missouri highway patrol in charge of security.
Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 10:55 AM (yRdR4)

No, it was the rain and the fact that there was no good stuff left to steal.

Posted by: Pug the Boneless at August 17, 2014 11:44 AM (QZcg+)

144 "Where are you? I've had some off-and-on drizzle today, but nothing major."

Fort Worth, Texas. Morning storms have been awesome.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:44 AM (M0jib)

145 Posted by: Adam at August 17, 2014 11:41 AM (HstNY)

Ok, well the witness Tiffany Mitchell says Brown was shot in the back first while running from Wilson. Then he turned around with his hands up, and Wilson unloaded his gun, shooting Brown several times.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:45 AM (Y92Nd)

146 witness Tiffany Mitchell was, get this, lying.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 11:46 AM (ZPrif)

147 The cops didn't have soldier toys in the riots of re 60s and 70s. The National Guard was called in and that makes a lot more sense. Local police forces need to be reminded that they are dealing with citizens not enemy forces.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2014 11:37 AM (Lqy/e)

THIS.

I loved the snark in Steyn's piece about camo. In Vietnam, camo blends in with the jungle. In the midwest, camo should be 711 and Taco Bell logos.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:47 AM (Y92Nd)

148 143 -

Yeah about that "calmed Ferguson down" thing:

This morning's headlines: Police use tear gas after one person shot, and seven men were seen on a rooftop after curfew.

I think when all is said and ton, the only people who will come out of this looking right are the heads of Ferguson, St. Louis County, and StLCo prosecutor, McCullough (or however you spell his name).

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:48 AM (Dj0WE)

149 139 It won't matter if it comes out that Brown was charging him, there have already been empty heads on CNN saying that shooting an unarmed 6'4 300 lbs man who is bull rushing you is police brutality.

Posted by: Adam at August 17, 2014 11:41 AM (HstNY)

I mentioned yesterday that the radio news is still saying "Police shot an unarmed black teen".

A "teen". You know, a skinny gawky 14-year-old whose voice is changing.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:49 AM (sdi6R)

150 witness Tiffany Mitchell was, get this, lying.
Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 11:46 AM (ZPrif)

That will be determined in court. But you have one version from the police, and then you have eye witnesses with another version.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:49 AM (Y92Nd)

151 More thunder from the SW.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:49 AM (M0jib)

152 A "teen". You know, a skinny gawky 14-year-old whose voice is changing.
Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:49 AM (sdi6R)

Well, no, meaning their age ends in -teen, like eighteen.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:50 AM (Y92Nd)

153 about that "calmed Ferguson down" thing:

That was me, yeah, looks like I misspoke there, I guess it's not as calmed down as I thought.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 11:50 AM (yRdR4)

154 And in that video, other apparent eyewitnesses said Brown was coming at the cop. So maybe no one really knows what happened yet. But that doesn't matter, lynch the bastard.

Posted by: Adam at August 17, 2014 11:50 AM (HstNY)

155 Meh, I don't have much faith in the courts. They'll probably railroad the guy as a sacrificial lamb to appease braying racist mobs.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 11:51 AM (ZPrif)

156 Mustbequantum

Agree!! There is a compilation of the behind the scenes/making of Sherlock in Netflix with lots of interviews of mark gatiss and Steven moffat and they make it clear that they were very focused on Watson in this version and that Watson is the real lynchpin of visual presentations of these characters and their relationship

I think guy Ritchie did a very good job as well

Posted by: ginaswo at August 17, 2014 11:51 AM (+X1qa)

157 150 -

Police will have ballistics, in addition to "eyewitnesses" who tell different versions of the same story. Some of whom do not have a racial ask to grind.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:51 AM (Dj0WE)

158 Artisinal 'ette, This struck me from Bill Whittle's video: "No, the final battle in the Struggle for Stupidity will be to make it illegal to be taught anything other than Standard State Stupid."

At our community college, we've adopted a math text that, as far as I can tell, is designed to produce good little collectivists. The text is extremely prescriptive and difficult to use unless the instructor teaches exactly the way prescribed in the text. When I expressed my misgivings to to the department head, he said "We need to have consistency." I realized that consistency is when everyone teaches the topics in the syllabus (important), while having everyone teach the SAME WAY is CONFORMITY which crowds out individual instructors' unique contributions to their students. (Hope this makes sense; I'm having trouble putting these thoughts into words.)

Posted by: Mindy at August 17, 2014 11:52 AM (hkl88)

159 Not read The Practice Effect in years so doubt I could give a summary of it. Perhaps that is a sign to add it to the list of books that need a trip to the used bookstore.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at August 17, 2014 11:52 AM (DY9qo)

160 153 -

I've been saying all week, we won't have an end until there are more dead people on the street. That's what is wanted here, consciously or not. More dead people.

Until then, the rioters will continue to find things that provoke them.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:54 AM (Dj0WE)

161 Forensics will tell a lot.

Like if Michael Brown's decision-making might have been chemically enhanced.

If Michael Brown was shot in the back.

At what range(s) Michael Brown was shot.

Trajectory could tell what position(s) Brown was in at the time.

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 11:54 AM (MMC8r)

162 I'm not saying Wilson should be lynched, or that the rioting, arson, vandalism and looting are justified. But these guys have armored vehicles with gun turrets, and they don't have dashboard cams? Was Brown such a threat that Wilson had to fire at him a dozen times?

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:54 AM (Y92Nd)

163 The Autopsy will tell us everything we need to know about the death of Michael Brown. Everything from not being shot in the back to what angle the bullets entered his body to what the kid was on.... if anything. All of these racial arsonists are just there to destroy a town and collect some checks. It is criminal what they are doing to Ferguson.

Posted by: Truck Monkey, as Voiced by Brian Dennehy at August 17, 2014 11:55 AM (jucos)

164 157
Some of whom do not have a racial ask to grind.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:51 AM (Dj0WE)

ISWYDT.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 11:55 AM (sdi6R)

165
I understand that it's not the most easily accessible Lewis, but The Abolition of Man really encapsulates all of what goes into the other non-fiction works. It's frightening how right he was about, well, everything. The world we're living in was a world that he saw coming, clearly, and warned about. (Another example - the essay "Willing Slaves Of The Welfare State.")

"The modern State exists not to protect our rights
but to do us good or make us good -- anyway, to do something to us or to make us something. Hence the
new name 'leaders' for those who were once 'rulers'. We are less their subjects than their wards, pupils,
or domestic animals. There is nothing left of which we can say to them, 'Mind your own business.' Our
whole lives are their business."
- CS Lewis (195

Posted by: Lyford at August 17, 2014 11:56 AM (C0fy8)

166 While I didn't mind Steyn's points about militarization, his fluffing off of the Gentle Giant's boyish crime and the rioters was the first time he's pissed me off. He should have written two, different columns about each issue and then maybe done some real research on Brown instead of following the MSM's theme.

Posted by: andycanuck at August 17, 2014 11:56 AM (u+r+m)

167 "it wasn't all the SWAT teams and APCs that calmed Ferguson down" When did Ferguson calm down? Was it in the last hour or so? Because I missed it.

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 11:57 AM (mk9aG)

168 162 -

Officer Wilson had an armored vehicle with a gun turret?

And you know he fired at him a dozen times.... how?

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:57 AM (Dj0WE)

169 Police will have ballistics, in addition to "eyewitnesses" who tell different versions of the same story. Some of whom do not have a racial ask to grind.
Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:51 AM (Dj0WE)

Agreed, I'm waiting till all the facts are in, but I'm retaining a healthy skepticism and not jumping to the conclusion that because liberals says Brown was executed for shoplifting, Wilson didn't use excessive force.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:57 AM (Y92Nd)

170 I believe, not sure, the fighting happened to the side of the car, so dashcam would have only be useful for audio.

And, yeah, if a 6'4 300 lb man is charging you then he's a threat. Especially since report is they initially fought in/on the car and Brown tried to grab the cops gun.

Cop had his gun up, telling him to freeze. He charged. Bad decision.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 11:57 AM (ZPrif)

171 Enjoy Sunday, everyone.

Posted by: The Printed Hat at August 17, 2014 11:58 AM (lN8KC)

172 or domestic animals. There is nothing left of which we can say to them, 'Mind your own business.' Our
whole lives are their business."
- CS Lewis (195
Posted by: Lyford at August 17, 2014 11:56 AM (C0fy

Wow. Lewis nailed it.

Posted by: Mindy at August 17, 2014 11:58 AM (hkl88)

173 'es not dead, 'es pining for the fjords, where only the finest Swisher Sweets tobacco is grown on the slopes in the cool mountain air... dew-picked and flown from Oslo, cleansed in finest-quality spring water, lightly rolled, and then sealed in a succulent Swiss quintuple smooth treble cream milk chocolate envelope, and lovingly frosted with glucose.

Posted by: Michael Palin at August 17, 2014 11:59 AM (EStAT)

174 "Enjoy Sunday, everyone."

What up, Hat man?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 11:59 AM (M0jib)

175 I do think every cop car should have dashcams. Probably should have multiple cameras to capture all angles.

Of course, all the cameras will eventually be monitored in real time.

Panopticon only grows.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 12:00 PM (ZPrif)

176 I read "See You in a Hundred Years" by Logan Ward. I've read a number of New Yorker moves to the country books so was wary of this one. They move to the country with the idea that they won't use anything newer than 1900. The couple has a two year old son with them. They manage to grow their own food and learn how to manage a horse driven wagon. And it was clearly tough on their marriage. So interesting book.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2014 12:01 PM (Lqy/e)

177 Posted by: Michael Palin at August 17, 2014 11:59 AM (EStAT)

You kind of segued into Terry Jones there.

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 12:03 PM (MMC8r)

178 The police weren't dealing with "citizens" they were dealing with citizens who were criminals. Or do you have a different definition for looters, arsonists, etc.?

Posted by: Pug the Boneless at August 17, 2014 12:03 PM (QZcg+)

179 I wonder what H. Beam Piper would say of current events, then open to pg 12 of Space Vikings.

"These are homemade barbarians. Workers and peasants who revolted to seize and divide the wealth and then found they'd smash the means of production and killed off all the technical brains."

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at August 17, 2014 12:05 PM (DY9qo)

180 David Burge @iowahawkblog
"Rick Perry indicted..."
*fapfapfapfapfappityfap*
"by drunk driver..."
*fap fap *
"seen on this video."

Posted by: Tweet the Tweets at August 17, 2014 12:05 PM (ZPrif)

181 It's the only thing that will stop an out of control media.

Posted by: BurtTC at August 17, 2014 11:39 AM (Dj0WE)

Just like the police have no obligation to protect you, the media have no obligation to report the truth!

Posted by: Hrothgar at August 17, 2014 12:06 PM (o3MSL)

182 crap -- pixy clipped out the punchline

David Burge @iowahawkblog 2m
"Rick Perry indicted..."
*fapfapfapfapfappityfap*
"by drunk driver..."
*fap fap *
"seen on this video."
*sad trombone*

Posted by: Tweet the Tweets at August 17, 2014 12:06 PM (ZPrif)

183 168 Look at the scenes from Ferguson. Rioting or not, it looks like imagery from the Iraq war. Of course, I'm not talking about Wilson's squad car. They didn't even call an ambulance. Just unceremoniously dumped his body into an SUV.

We know Wilson fired on round from his car and then fired another round. I don't know how many of those bullets hit Brown or whether he was shot in the face as some people are saying.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:07 PM (Y92Nd)

184 mOAR Big thunder. Everyone, hide your ass.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 12:07 PM (M0jib)

185 Ricky, so Michelle is visiting your area after eating the Taco Loco big fajita?

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at August 17, 2014 12:08 PM (DY9qo)

186 LOL, Twitchy has a nice round up of the tweets following the idiot HuffPo "journalist" that thought earplugs were rubber bullets.

'Speechless!' You won't believe what Huffpo journo arrested in Ferguson thought were rubber bullets

my favorite is the picture of the "taser."

ahahaha

twitchy.com

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at August 17, 2014 12:09 PM (IXrOn)

187 Whoa! Just got hammered.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 12:09 PM (M0jib)

188 rioting or not
---

huh? The riot squads only came out after the rioting. Because of the rioting. Cause meet effect.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 12:10 PM (ZPrif)

189 The portrayal of the Ferguson cop has all the balanced portrayal of the white people in 'Django Unchained.'

Posted by: --- at August 17, 2014 12:11 PM (MMC8r)

190 "Ricky, so Michelle is visiting your area after eating the Taco Loco big fajita?"

Just about. Lotsa en fuego and shit. Lightning just hit about 50 yards from the house.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 12:12 PM (M0jib)

191 Nood up.

Posted by: OregonMuse at August 17, 2014 12:13 PM (yRdR4)

192 huh? The riot squads only came out after the rioting. Because of the rioting. Cause meet effect.
Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 12:10 PM (ZPrif)

I think the riot gear is excessive and hinders more than it helps.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:13 PM (Y92Nd)

193 If your police department is militarized and you don't like it, vote the bastards out. That's what conservatives are all about, right? Local control. All this pissing and moaning over something that we still have some degree of control over doesn't make much sense from a conservative perspective.

Yes, I realize all the federal and state incentives to increase equipment and develop SWAT teams, etc. Still, local cops respond to local politicians and to the local population. Make it an issue and get the votes, if you can.

I live in a crappy, inner-ring suburb of Philly. We have a tough police department, just the way I like it because we're on our way to becoming Philly. Our police department is incredibly responsive and reacts swiftly to public opinion. And they love law-abiding citizens.

But if you don't like your police department, do something to change it. Put your conservative/libertarian principles into action and use local elections and control to get what you want.

Posted by: jeannebodine at August 17, 2014 12:13 PM (Pe3hN)

194 But these guys have armored vehicles with gun turrets, and they don't have dashboard cams? Was Brown such a threat that Wilson had to fire at him a dozen times?
Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 11:54 AM (Y92Nd)

The military equipment is usually funded by the Feds; the dash cams would come out of the local budget, and most towns like Ferguson don't have money for extras like that ( I think they should be funded by the Feds from now on myself)

Police protocol is many situations is to absolutely keep shooting til the threat is clearly gone. If someone is shot and still keeps coming at you, you are doing as you are trained to keep firing. People do not understand that, but it's standard procedure.

My understanding, which may be wrong, is that the young man came after the officer in the car. Maybe the cop thought the kid had taken his shotgun or something; I have no idea.

I am also trying to retain a healthy skepticism, but it is a known fact that the cop was treated for injuries. Maybe minor ones, but once he is assaulted, he is justified in feeling that the suspect is a threat.

If the guy really was on his knees with his hands up, he didn't need to be shot any more, but the cop was justified shooting him while he was being attacked.

But all you will hear about is "Oh he was unarmed, why'd they have to shoot him?" No one ever stops to think that the fucking cops don't know at the time if the suspects are armed or not.

Again, if he was on his knees with his hands up, that's bad. But aren't some people saying they were running?

Also, my town has no ambulances. Ferguson looks big enough to have them, but I'm guessing it was a Coroner's vehicle, not just some random SUV.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (LQGru)

195 The problem is the people who rioted and terrorized their neighbors.

Posted by: Costanza Defense at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (ZPrif)

196 And in the early morning hours of August 17th, 1969 the Category 5 hurricane named Camille stormed ashore between the sleepy towns of Long Beach and Pass Christian on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

And one of the stories that the storm spawned along with its real tornadoes, storm surge, and death is the party at the Richelieu Apartments. Too bad the story is false.

http://tinyurl.com/pdttabl

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (DY9qo)

197 Civil War nerds, assemble.

When the weather cools I want to visit some of the battle sites in the MD and VA area. Can you recommend some books that give good overviews of the battlefields and describe troop movements and terrain? Bonus points for pretty maps, +1 for sepia tones.

Status: Still pantsless. Think I will remain so for the rest of the day.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:16 PM (QBm1P)

198 187 Whoa! Just got hammered.
Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 12:09 PM (M0jib)

So it rains Val-U-Rite in Texas?

Posted by: Piercello at August 17, 2014 12:16 PM (JybVy)

199 I think the riot gear is excessive and hinders more than it helps.
Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:13 PM (Y92Nd)

I love your idealism, I really do. God bless you for it. I am idealistic, too, for the most part. But when shit hots the fan, I think the officers who are in the middle of this should have every protection and advantage.

Protect them or don't send them in.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:19 PM (LQGru)

200 Lotsa en fuego and shit. Lightning just hit about 50 yards from the house.
Posted by: Ricardo Kill at August 17, 2014 12:12 PM (M0jib)

Can you make sure all this rain gets to north central Arkansas? We are soooo dry.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:20 PM (LQGru)

201 With a new one up maybe the book thread can go back to being about books.

Posted by: Vic at August 17, 2014 12:21 PM (T2V/1)

202 According to the NYT, the reason black ring suburbs riot is that their local govt is still majority white.

From the same NYT article, here's a quote from an aggrieved woman in Ferguson: "Aliyah Woods, 45, once petitioned Ferguson officials for a sign that would warn drivers that a deaf family lived on that block. But the sign never came."

The sign never came. No wonder Ferguson citizens are fed up! The sign never came. That's what NYT calls "Deep Tensions Rise to Surface. Rings of Rage."

Any excuse to riot is OK with libs, always has been. Now it's OK with conservatives too, all because the police have too many AR's.

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 12:21 PM (mk9aG)

203 Civil War nerds, assemble.

I've been to Harper's Ferry and Antietam. Highly recommend a visit to both. Neither location has been turned into a circus sideshow. A web search brings up scores of books.

Posted by: fairweatherbill at August 17, 2014 12:22 PM (2uj8H)

204 Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (LQGru)

I agree with everything you said, and I think the military equipment should come with strings, like you must undergo the same kind of training our military goes through and have a dashboard cam before we give you all these dangerous toys.

I also see many on the right have grabbed onto the "strongarm robbery" angle, which I think is misleading. That charge could have easily been pled down to a misdemeanor given that Brown was 18, had no record and did not threaten the clerk to steal the items. He pushed him on his way out when the clerk tried to lock the door. Violence? Yes, but the amount stolen and the degree of violence determines along with other factors determines whether it is felony robbery.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:24 PM (Y92Nd)

205 "maybe the book thread can go back to being about books." When OregonMuse titled his post saying America is a police state, is it OT to respond to that?

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 12:26 PM (mk9aG)

206 I've been to Harper's Ferry and Antietam. Highly recommend a visit to both. Neither location has been turned into a circus sideshow. A web search brings up scores of books.
Posted by: fairweatherbill at August 17, 2014 12:22 PM (2uj8H)

I grew up near Harper's Ferry. It's gorgeous, and anyone should visit, especially in the fall when the leaves change. You're right at the entrance to the Skyline Drive. I will recommend a nice diner for a bite of Virginia ham at the halfway point. It's called Southern Kitchen in New Market, VA.

Harper's Ferry is also a destination for ghost hunters with its long, bloody history. They have a fun ghost tour. When I was growing up, they showed us a dramatized version in first grade that I swear was meant to scare us for life, so we wouldn't sneak out of the house as teenagers.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:29 PM (Y92Nd)

207 When the weather cools I want to visit some of the battle sites in the MD and VA area. Can you recommend some books that give good overviews of the battlefields and describe troop movements and terrain? Bonus points for pretty maps, +1 for sepia tones.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:16 PM (QBm1P)

For an overview of the military history of the Civil War, I recommend The Longest Night by David Eicher. He also wrote Civil War Battlefields: a Touring Guide. That will let you select the particular battles/campaigns you are interested in (even limiting yourself to MD/VA there are quite a few and they are widely dispersed).

Then, for additional detail you can turn to the Great Campaigns series by Combined books, which will give you more information for the battles on which you decide to focus.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 12:34 PM (WbsS3)

208 Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:24 PM (Y92Nd)

Definitely would have plead down had it ever come to trial, which it never would have. But strong arm robbery charges are on the books for a reason, too.

I guess I just kind of hate the fact that people blow his actions off, as if he just strolled into the store and mooned the cashier and ran off. He showed a willingness to physically assault someone, 5 minutes later he's assaulting a cop.

Now, the cop's injuries could have been sustained by him bumping his head as he was rolling down the window for all we know, so I am also assuming something there!

It's a sad situation, anyway you look at it.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:34 PM (LQGru)

209 For those of you who were awed (and rightly so)
by "Unbroken" try Jack Cheevers' "Act of War." Re: the Pueblo incident, a now somewhat forgotten tale of heroism and bravery.

Posted by: Libra at August 17, 2014 12:35 PM (GblmV)

210 It's gorgeous, and anyone should visit, especially in the fall when the leaves change. You're right at the entrance to the Skyline Drive. I will recommend a nice diner for a bite of Virginia ham at the halfway point. It's called Southern Kitchen in New Market, VA.

Ditto. And you'll know you're in the South cuz I believe it's not too far form Confederate Lane or something like that?

Arguably one of the most beautiful areas in the country.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:37 PM (LQGru)

211 Thanks, Tattoo and Fairweatherbill! I'm jotting all this down. Ham sammich ... bloody ghost tours ...

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:38 PM (QBm1P)

212 "maybe the book thread can go back to being about books." When OregonMuse titled his post saying America is a police state, is it OT to respond to that?

Posted by: gp at August 17, 2014 12:26 PM (mk9aG)

Vic didn't say the comments were OT, but in my opinion makes a good point. This is one of those weekend threads that doesn't normally feature the usual political stuff, but when it starts off with a "recent event" and then tries to tie that into the book theme, a significant percentage of the comments wind up being not about books at all.

Now of course it's Oregon Muse's thread and he can do what he wants, but some of us enjoy it more the more it focuses on books, and I think that was what Vic was trying to say.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 12:40 PM (WbsS3)

213 Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 12:34 PM (WbsS3)
--------------
Just requested Eicher's "Civil War Battlefields" from the library. I really appreciate the input.

Any feelings on Peter Cozzens' "Battlefields of the Civil War"? It has pull-out maps (with aforementioned sepia tones

)

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:44 PM (QBm1P)

214 Ham sammich ... bloody ghost tours ...
Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:38 PM (QBm1P)

If you go in October close to Halloween, make sure to reserve a spot on the ghost tours before traveling. They are very popular and fill up quickly.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:45 PM (Y92Nd)

215 It's a sad situation, anyway you look at it.
Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:34 PM (LQGru)

Yes, it is. I am not such an optimist, either, as you observed earlier. I worry that "they" are arming our local law enforcement to the teeth in anticipation of widespread civil unrest when the money runs out.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:47 PM (Y92Nd)

216 194
( I think they should be funded by the Feds from now on myself)

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (LQGru)

What? No fucking way.

I don't have a problem with the rest of your comment, but Federal funding (and control) of local police, schools, roads, hospitals, etc. needs to stop, right. fucking. now.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 12:49 PM (sdi6R)

217 For an overview of the military history of the Civil War, I recommend The Longest Night by David Eicher. He also wrote Civil War Battlefields: a Touring Guide. That will let you select the particular battles/campaigns you are interested in (even limiting yourself to MD/VA there are quite a few and they are widely dispersed).

Then, for additional detail you can turn to the Great Campaigns series by Combined books, which will give you more information for the battles on which you decide to focus.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 12:34 PM (WbsS3)

I will look both of those up myself. Thanks for the recommend.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:49 PM (Y92Nd)

218 196
And one of the stories that the storm spawned along with its real tornadoes, storm surge, and death is the party at the Richelieu Apartments. Too bad the story is false.

http://tinyurl.com/pdttabl

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at August 17, 2014 12:15 PM (DY9qo)

Fascinating. From that article, it sounds like Walter Cronkite was the origin of that myth, just as he originated the myth that we lost the Tet offensive.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 12:58 PM (sdi6R)

219 Any feelings on Peter Cozzens' "Battlefields of the Civil War"? It has pull-out maps (with aforementioned sepia tones)

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 12:44 PM (QBm1P)

I have never read the Cozzens battlefields book, although I do have some of his other books on some of the western battles (Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Stones River) and they are all good.

There is also a series published by the National Park Service that covers different battlefields. There are ten in the set, although only four are in the area you asked about. They are paperback pamphlets and date back to the 50's and 60's, so I don't know if your library would have them available. However, if you want to try and find them via somebody like Abebooks, you could start with the one on Antietam by Frederick Tilberg and see if you can find the rest from there. The others that you might be interested in cover battles around Richmond, Manassas and Petersburg.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 01:00 PM (WbsS3)

220 212
Now of course it's Oregon Muse's thread and he can do what he wants, but some of us enjoy it more the more it focuses on books, and I think that was what Vic was trying to say.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 12:40 PM (WbsS3)

I agree. I almost suggested a while ago that the police/Ferguson discussion should be moved to the open thread, but I went with the flow.

Posted by: rickl at August 17, 2014 01:00 PM (sdi6R)

221 Can you make sure all this rain gets to north central Arkansas? We are soooo dry.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at August 17, 2014 12:20 PM (LQGru)

Just checked out the radar app on the phone and it looks like Ricardo's storm is headed directly at me in west central AR. We're way ahead of normal rainfall so I expect the flash flood warnings to start soon.

Back on books ... after a Amazon offering early this week, I bought all 22 offered Kindle versions of Kenyon's Dark Hunter series and, as much as I've found them to be Harly Romances (based on the characters and wall to wall sex), find myself reading until almost daylight some days.
Since westerns and mysteries were my thing back in my youth (when I couldn't find a new Asimov), I guess I should check out that quiz ... hh

Posted by: WingNut at August 17, 2014 01:01 PM (1aKIH)

222 I am lisening to GRaphic Audio's presentation of the ClockWork Century series.

Fascinating alternate history/steampunk.

Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 01:07 PM (T4Ns2)

223 Fascinating alternate history/steampunk.
Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 01:07 PM (T4Ns2)
-----------
Loved this whole series.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 01:09 PM (QBm1P)

224 I will look both of those up myself. Thanks for the recommend.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at August 17, 2014 12:49 PM (Y92Nd)

One more recommendation. Not strictly a book about battles, but one of my favorite histories of the Civil War. Written by Allan Nevins. Eight volumes, and particularly good on the period before the war...the first volume starts in 1847, and Fort Sumter doesn't occur until about halfway through volume four.

Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 01:11 PM (WbsS3)

225 My book club chose to read Dan Brown's Inferno which I am slogging through. And I like the genre of old historical items tied in with current events, but I keep thinking I could be reading something better.

And I remember the Practice Effect really firing up my imagination when I read it when it came out (I was in high school at that time). Even better it got me to read other David Brin book, especially the Uplift series.

Posted by: Charlotte at August 17, 2014 01:15 PM (o5F30)

226 223 All Hail Eris,

The 3d book of the series wll be presented by GA on 1 September....definitely good driving listening.

I may pick up the literary series when I get home...

I am also reading a Treatiste on Nomonhan on the nook.

Apologies for the lack of the usual tiny url links and such but I'm on the phone.

Hope eveyone had a pleasant week.

Posted by: sven10077 at August 17, 2014 01:18 PM (T4Ns2)

227 Posted by: CQD at August 17, 2014 01:00 PM (WbsS3)
---

Yes, they are still to be had on Amazon and at Abe Books.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at August 17, 2014 01:19 PM (QBm1P)

228 137 BurtTC

As long as we are on books and Ferguson, Lou Cannon's book "Official Negligence" is by far the most comprehensive look at the LAPD and the Rodney King incident/riots, etc. Great read.
Seemed non-biased, and at least started drawing the line you mentioned between King and Ferguson.

Posted by: Andrew at August 17, 2014 01:29 PM (ADhya)

229 @178, actually they ARE dealing with citizens. Most of the people in the protests are not looters. In fact, some of them have been helping to clean up after the looting.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 17, 2014 02:10 PM (Lqy/e)

230 Maybe I'm mistaken but did the cops really prevent looting? Didn't look like it to me, the only shops not looted were the ones whose owners stood their ground with enough firepower to prevent teh stupids from even thinking about it. Who'll make the decision when it should be used, the cops or politicians and do you trust either of them making that decision. We've seen so many reports coming out of DHS and other policing agencies about tea partiers and returning vets being a danger. They can easily be turned on any citizen.

Posted by: palolojo at August 17, 2014 02:16 PM (w/NTO)

231 Ferguson is a persuasive argument in favor of the
militarization of police. You don't go to gunfight with a badge and a
smile, you bring guns, preferably bigger guns than the other guy.

Posted by: Lincolntf at August 17, 2014 09:46 AM (2cS/G)

Negative. You go to a gunfight with an armed citizenry behind you, which you do not have if you have militarized and turned that once-armed citizenry against you by seizing their guns. That and a re-introduction of the Peelian principles would go far in restoring the relationships (trust) between the populace and the police.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at August 17, 2014 02:23 PM (6fyGz)

232 Just want to say here that I really appreciated the Post and comment about the book "The Terror". I had never heard of the book until this morning, but I've been interested in the Franklin Expedition for many years. In fact, a couple of hours ago was mentioning it to one of my sisters and it turns out she met a Canadian Army Officer who had done hands on research of the expedition and possibly found artifacts from it.

So I just ordered the book from Amazon, using Ace's link.

Looking forward to reading it...

Posted by: HH at August 17, 2014 03:46 PM (XXwdv)

233 if you like a good, cheap horror novel try "Lineage" by Joe Hart... great stuff-- on kindle too

Posted by: tomc at August 17, 2014 04:16 PM (avEuh)

234 83 on the detective quiz . Not an easy quiz. Quite a bit of educated guesses . Quite worth the 5-8 minutes .

Posted by: DrDrill at August 17, 2014 06:04 PM (eiop0)

235 67 pct on the quiz. I thought I knew my stuff better than that. But thanks anyway for a most challenging quiz. And hats off to those with high scores.

Posted by: BarneyOffal at August 17, 2014 07:58 PM (CDFXa)

236 Someone actually said this year's Hugo awards were a victory over Fascism, when one of the winners was Stross, a neo-Fascist.

He's literally said the gov should kill people and take their money or use the threat of such to force the rich to send money the "right" way.

It's not really Fascism for the state to kill people and steal their money because it's for the space program! That's called progress!

Posted by: BornLib at August 17, 2014 10:04 PM (zpNwC)

237 Scored 90% on the detectives quiz. The amazing thing is that they take older (1930s and even earlier) authors like G.K. Chesterton, John Dickson Carr, and Ellery Queen into account.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 18, 2014 10:17 AM (yT080)

238 I get the disturbing idea that libertarians view riots as more legitimate than letter-writing campaigns.

Of course, since the Black Panthers et al want illegal practices -- indictment without grand jury, and racial quotas in hiring - letter writing probably won't trump extortion by arson.

It's not a question of depriving 999 people of their civil right to demonstrate because 1 guy is throwing gasoline bombs. It's a question of 999 accessories and conspirators joining 1 felon. The founders understood that, which is why it has always been permissible to break riots with lethal force.

Posted by: Chris Balsz at August 18, 2014 12:23 PM (HZLYB)

239
Huh. Reagan's "War on Poverty."
I suppose that's why Billy Preston sang that he was soldier in the War on Poverty in 1974. He was zapped by Reagan's time-travelling mind-controller and thus was a wholehearted supporter of this initiative.
Also, notice how the War on Poverty is awesome until it allegedly leads to police militarization, and then ZZZIIIIIING it automatically and magically becomes a Republican initiative?
These jokers are shameless and laughable. They are also unfortunately in charge.

Posted by: nightfly at August 18, 2014 12:57 PM (jiOft)

240 Police State force is being set up to deal with white people when we resist tyranny, not for when the modern Brown Shirts (Black Thugs) terrorize neighborhoods.

BTW, isn't it the job of the police to protect people and property during riots, not coddle the rioters.

Posted by: Smarty at August 18, 2014 03:45 PM (A05MT)

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