Sunday Morning Book Thread 11-15-2015: Tempête De Feu [OregonMuse]

Library of the National Assembly, Palais Bourbon, Paris.jpg

Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée Nationale, située dans le Palais Bourbon, Paris
See It Now Before It Gets Torched By "Yutes".

Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The Sunday Morning Book Thread is the only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Or kilts. Also, assless chaps don't count. Serious you guys. Kilts are OK, though. But not tutus. Unless you're a girl.

God Bless The French

The events of this week brought to mind this book, Is Paris Burning? by Dominique Lapierre, simply because of the title. It has nothing to do with modern day Europe's craptacular mismanagement of the refugee ~~crisis~~ invasion, but rather is about the Allied liberation of Paris in 1944. As it turns out, it sounds like an interesting book nonetheless. For example, it seems that psychotic ISIS thugs aren't the only ones interested in destroying the symbols of western civilization:

If Hitler had his way, there would be no Notre Dame, none of Paris' beautiful bridges, no Eiffel Tower. The Allies didn't stop him, a brave German general did. At a tremendous personal risk, he resolved not to be the man to destroy the most beautiful city in the world...The title is drawn from a question Hitler asked, when he found out that Allied troops were approaching Paris.

There also was a 1966 film of the same title with an all-star cast of French guys based on this book.

Progressives Give Progress A Bad Name

Last week's book thread had an interesting discussion about wartime influences on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. JTB is reading a book about it:

I came across a book published last summer: A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War: How J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis Rediscovered Faith, Friendship, and Heroism in the Cataclysm of 1914-18 by Joseph Loconte by Joseph Loconte... In fact, Loconte provides the background of cultural and social changes that contributed to WW I and the disillusionment in religion and faith and established norms afterward. This was the world Tolkien and Lewis experienced growing up and as young men and their reaction to it as they wrote...I don't know if the author intended this, but much of what he describes from a century and more ago is replicated today and the consequences may be worse.

I do know that there are a number of references in Lewis' writings to belief in "Progress" with a capital 'P' in terms that indicate he didn't think it was all that. I was reminded of this when I read this excerpt from an interview of the book's author:

The most widely held view in the years leading up to the Great War was that Western Civilization was marching inexorably forward, that humanity itself was maturing, evolving, advancing to new heights of technological, moral, and spiritual achievement. Many believed that war itself would become a relic of a bygone era. This “Myth of Progress” was proclaimed from nearly every sector of society. Scientists, educators, industrialists, politicians, preachers—they all agreed on the upward flight of mankind. The Myth was not just one story among many. It was the story, the metanarrative of the meaning of human existence. And then, in a way no one anticipated, the Myth dissolved into the trenches and barbed wire and mortars and machine guns along the Western Front. People could not believe that the “civilized” and “Christian” nations of Europe were capable of such slaughter and barbarism.

There is no question that WWI devastated Europe physically, psychologically, and spiritually. And according to The Great and Holy War: How World War I Became a Religious Crusade by Philip Jenkins, mentioned last week by boulder terlit hobo, church and state worked hand in hand to accomplish this:

The war was fought by the world's leading Christian nations, who presented the conflict as a holy war. Thanks to the emergence of modern media, a steady stream of patriotic and militaristic rhetoric was given to an unprecedented audience, using language that spoke of holy war and crusade, of apocalypse and Armageddon...The disappointed hopes and moral compromises that followed the war also shaped the political climate of the rest of the century, giving rise to such phenomena as Nazism, totalitarianism, and communism.

And The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation by Richard Gamble argues that it was specifically liberal Christians who did the damage:

["They died to save their country and they only saved the world"], the final [line] in G. K. Chesterton's poem, The English Graves, serves...as an interpretive key to a peculiarly important moment in American history: the time of the First World War, when progressive Christian leaders in America transformed themselves from principled pacifists to crusading interventionists...World War I thus became a transcendent moment of fulfillment. In the eyes of the progressive clergy, the years from 1914 to 1918 presented an unprecedented opportunity to achieve their vision of a world transformed--the ancient dream of a universal and everlasting kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness. American sacrifice was necessary not only to save the country, but to save the entire world.

And don't forget the advent of the mass media. Trimegistus wondered:

Was WWI the first time national governments conducted large-scale, ongoing campaigns of lying to their own people?

I suspect it might be. Not that previous governments were restrained by their virtue, but rather limited by their lack of ability.

Obnoxious A-hole added:

I think a lot of the isolationist sentiment, in the US and Neville Chamberlain's 1938 Munich concessions were the result of widespread resentment at having been lied to during WW I. I would guess that a good deal of the refusal to believe reports of the Holocaust until US troops entered concentration camps was a reaction against having believed overblown stories of German atrocities before and a determination not to be fooled again.

And unlike WWI, this time around the enemy was actually WORSE than what we were led to believe.

Books Feminists Will Probably Hate

What with all the yelling and outrage swirling around the various faux rape stories that have been in the news recently, the thing that flabbergasts me is that when practical suggestions are offered to help women avoid unpleasant sexual encounters, feminists get offended. You'd think that women living in a such a dangerous world, with one-in-five (or is it four?) rapes just waiting to happen at any moment, that they would welcome measures that would help women not get raped. But they don't. Instead, the SJW feminists get their panties in a bunch over the very idea of women doing anything to protect themselves, preferring instead to bitch and moan about how all men are evil rapist scum.

So they're going to just hate books like these:

A Girl's Guide to the Criminal Mind: The Survival Handbook by Alison Summers.

In this survival guide, women and girls will learn from FBI profilers, forensic psychologists, and security experts how to recognize, avoid and escape dangerous individuals.

Famed security expert Gavin de Becker emphasizes that a woman’s “first line of defense is not risking attracting or exposing oneself to a predator in the first place." True of course. And since a rapist’s biggest advantage is surprise, this book aims to take that advantage away. Readers will learn how to think like a criminal profiler.

Now, admittedly, this is not the casual, drunken campus party hookup encounter than results in regret sex, shame, recriminations, and Title IX lawsuits, but still, there's useful information here for self-defense.

And then there's Summers' other book, The Girl's Guide to Predators:

Psychologists estimate that all women will be put in harm's way, in one form or another, by a predator during their lifetime (Really? -OM). At their most extreme, the predator is a sociopath who lures woman into psychologically-damaging relationships that are almost impossible to walk away from safely. More common is the garden-variety narcissist or the man with anti-social personality disorder. Then there are the stalkers...

The thought had occurred to me that if feminists were really interested in protecting women from dangerous men, they would be striving to create a culture where the expectations were that you waited until marriage to commence sexual activity, which would usually result in children, and you stayed married afterwards. Does this always work? Obviously not, but the cultural arrangements that have become common since the 1960s are decidedly less stable than traditional families and while everyone is harmed by this, it always seems to be women that end up being hurt the most. For example, do you know that there is evidence that suggests that domestic violence is much higher in lesbian couples? Funny, feminists don't like to talk about this.

And while we're at it, given the propensity of women to be drawn to or actively seek out dangerous (but exciting) men who then hurt and abandon them, wouldn't it probably be better for all concerned if families were more involved in the mate selection/marriage process ? After all, do we really want lifetime relationship decisions to be left to horny teenaged boys and dreamy, infatuated girls?

Whatever Happened To Portugal?

Ever since learning about New World exploration in grade school history class, this question has always sort of nagged at me. During the 1400s and 1500s, this tiny little country on the Atlantic Ocean was in there slugging it out with Spain, Italy, and England for world dominance. It bestrode the world like a colossus. Its sailors and navigators explored the world and set up colonies in Africa, South America, and the Far East. But look at Portugal today. It's not much more than a provincial little socialist backwater. Back in the day, when Portugal spoke, people listened. But these days, nobody cares. Except maybe tourists.

So what happened?

Disasters, that's what. Big honking disasters:

On All Saints’ Day in 1755, an earthquake stemming from a fault line in the Atlantic Ocean ripped through Lisbon, destroying most of the city and reverberating through much of Europe and North Africa. As if the earthquake weren’t enough, a tsunami then hit the wounded city, followed by an inferno – sparked by candles in the wreckage – that burned for days.

Wait, an earthquake AND a tsunami AND a massive firestorm? This sounds like a bad SyFy disaster movie. Throw in a sharknado and some flying piranhas and you'd have ratings gold right there. But, it all really happened. And This Gulf of Fire: The Destruction of Lisbon, or Apocalypse in the Age of Science and Reason by Mark Molesky argues that the effects were profound and devastating. The rest of Europe reeled in shock:

But perhaps the earthquake’s most important legacy was the debate it provoked among Enlightenment thinkers. In an optimistic age, when the violence of the wars of religion had receded into the past and Europe was on a scientific and material upward trajectory, the earthquake was a grim reminder of the chaos underlying the natural world. In the years following the quake, theologians, politicians, writers, and philosophers all weighed in on pressing questions: How could a beneficent, all-powerful God permit a holocaust like this? Was God to blame for the earthquake or should thinkers focus solely on understanding the natural causes of earthquakes and tsunamis? Was Lisbon’s decadence – or its flagrant Catholicism – to blame?

Nothing like a good kick in the pants to call into question everything you had ever thought was certain and true.

And then there's this guy:

Molesky...illustrates an early modern example of a leader using a disaster to consolidate power: in this case, Secretary of State Pombal, who became the de facto head of government in the wake of the disaster and shoved through reforms, weakened royal power, and imprisoned many of his political enemies.

Never let a crisis go to waste. I guess they knew that back then, too.

Books Of Note

I first saw the film Colossus: The Forbin Project many years ago on some network TV "movie of the week" show. I kind of liked it, I thought it was intelligently done, and the ending was delightfully grim. Found out some time ago that the movie was based on the 1966 novel Colossus by D. F. Jones, the Kindle edition of which, as of Friday night, is available for FREE. It the sale has ended, the price is back up to $3.99, still not bad. Colossus is kind of the ancestor of SkyNet, a self-aware super-computer with control over nuclear weapons. And when it meets up with Guardian, the Soviet counterpart, the hijinks are zany and they indeed ensue, right quickly.

___________

The world is going mad. Among conservatives these days, that's not so much an observation as it is an article of faith:

If someone just 20 years ago had said...that we’d someday elect an anti-American president who would intentionally flood our borders with millions of illegal immigrants and Islamist “refugees,” that we’d soon celebrate as “heroic” a former Olympic champion for mutilating his body and pretending to be a woman, that we’d have five extremist lawyers on the Supreme Court unconstitutionally force the radical redefinition of marriage to mollify people with same-sex fetishes – you might call that person crazy.

Into this sewer wades David Kupelian with his new book The Snapping of the American Mind: Healing a Nation Broken by a Lawless Government and Godless Culture

But despite the grim and disgusting subject matter, Kupelian is not on team Let It Burn:

“I don’t give up hope,” said Kupelian... “I mean, you could say, if there’s no hope then what do you do? You go off, you drop out, you live for yourself, for your family, and you try to live a good life. No; too many people have fought and bled and died to help this country and to help strangers in foreign lands. There’s still half the country that has not had their mind snapped.”

I just hope his solution isn't "we need to vote in more GOPe guys."

Thanks to 'CBD' for this.

___________

Mike Hammer sends along a link containing the covers of valuable paperbacks. Like this one here. And here are some more pulpy covers. Including one by Elmore Leonard, Forty Lashes Less One.

___________

Don't forget the AoSHQ reading group on Goodreads. It's meant to support horde writers and to talk about the great books that come up on the book thread. It's called AoSHQ Moron Horde and the link to it is here: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, 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 you all know, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Had been working on Ken Lozito's Safanarion Order series. But after getting bogged down in the third book and having to force myself to finish it I decided it wasn't worth the effort.

For now I have gone back to S. M. Stirling's Dies the Fire Series.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 08:57 AM (t2KH5)

2 "See it now, before it gets torched by yutes"

About ten years ago, I told my wife that we had to spend the money to see Europe before it was gone. For the past nine years, we have been going, once a year.

Now I feel like a prophet.

Posted by: Haiku Guy at November 15, 2015 08:59 AM (hfua1)

3

anyone read this yet?

Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again

by The Donald

I don't have time to read it.
Buried in other books atm for months to come.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:00 AM (qCMvj)

4 WWI really contributed to the disillusionment of the common people in England with the upper class. Europe has always been a class society unlike the US until now. But the average English dough-boy came back to England after a long time in the trenches he was one of the lucky few and he found that nothing had changed in the class society. There are many books written under this theme.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:01 AM (t2KH5)

5 Who has time for books when there's so many comments to read? (Still back on the last thread.) And why does the book thread kill the morning thread? The Horde can only focus on one post at a time?

Posted by: mindful webworker - shallow reader at November 15, 2015 09:02 AM (qScIa)

6 I read that book Colossus a long time ago. I wish I had know it was available for free.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:05 AM (t2KH5)

7 This week, A Winter's Tale, Helprin.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 15, 2015 09:08 AM (9mTYi)

8 5
Who has time for books when there's so many comments to read? (Still
back on the last thread.) And why does the book thread kill the morning
thread? The Horde can only focus on one post at a time?

Posted by: mindful webworker - shallow reader at November 15, 2015 09:02 AM (qScIa)

because the average Moron treats every thread on top like an open thread regardless of the subject. I gave up a long time ago trying to keep people on topic in the non-open threads.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:09 AM (t2KH5)

9 "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive." - C.S. Lewis

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 15, 2015 09:11 AM (9mTYi)

10 If you believe in miracles , you never give up because you never know when one will intervene.

Anyway, Steven Pressfield's latest book is The Lion's Gate. It's about the Six Day War. Just started it but if it's anything like any of his other books , I expect it to be awesome.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 09:11 AM (Z+ic4)

11

couple of articles for Author's
fun reads

Are Authors Leaving Kindle Unlimited? (Actual Data)

http://bit.ly/1QoVyGP

How to get an eBook to #1 on Amazon

http://bit.ly/1vpRTJj

(a bit dated, but construe what you will)

Using Twitter, you can easily push yourself to #1 in your category. Just need the hits/eyes.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:12 AM (qCMvj)

12

(back to watching Sunday news programs)

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:12 AM (qCMvj)

13 anyone read this yet?

Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again

by The Donald

--

I am starting it now. So far it reads exactly as if he is talking.
I will put a review on my blog (link in nic, hint hint)

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:13 AM (cbfNE)

14 Isn't "Alkahu Akbar!" one of the verses to Kumbaya ?

Someone's shooting Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Someone's shooting Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Someone's shooting Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Oh Lord, Kumbayah

Someone's killing Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Someone's killing Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Someone's killing Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Oh Lord, Kumbayah

Posted by: Whoopi Goldberg at November 15, 2015 09:14 AM (e8kgV)

15 I am starting it now. So far it reads exactly as if he is talking.
I will put a review on my blog (link in nic, hint hint)
Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:13 AM (cbfNE)

thanks Votermom

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:14 AM (qCMvj)

16 Morning all my fellow morons and moronettes.

I have pants on this morning so I can take stock of this thread.

Current reading is Gutfeld's new book, plus I'm still working on "Too Many Curses" by A. Lee Martinez.

Shelved for the current future is "Anthology" by Daniel Madison, which is a collection of the last fifteen years of publications by the world's greatest sleight of hand artist on how he does what he does.

I'm trying to practice a few.

Posted by: CLS at November 15, 2015 09:15 AM (cdiDN)

17 Oregon Muse, thanks for another great Book Thread!

there's a question from the goodreads group from a Canadian ette.
If she uses Ace's amazon link to buy stuff, amazon will switch her over to amazon.ca
Does Ace still get credit for that, do you happen to know?

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:15 AM (cbfNE)

18 Someone's killing Lord, Alkahu Akbar!
Oh Lord, Kumbayah

Posted by: Whoopi Goldberg at November 15, 2015 09:14 AM (e8kgV)

Very good, very funny

Posted by: TheQuietMan at November 15, 2015 09:17 AM (45oDG)

19 Speaking of, the goodreads group is always open to new members. Link

http://preview.tinyurl.com/p5llchk

if you are a strict lurker give me a holler on this thread when you join

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:19 AM (cbfNE)

20 In my weak mind, I think that down through history, it would be hard to find a war that wasn't a 'holy' war. Leader, rulers, dictators, monarchs, despots, always tried/try to convince those who fight for them of the rightness of their cause - on whose side god is.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:20 AM (BZAd3)

21 I haven't been reading much lately but I need to pick something up...

>>Psychologists estimate that all women will be put in harm's way, in one form or another, by a predator during their lifetime (Really? -OM

I think 'put in harms way' is vague enough to probably include everyone.

Posted by: lea at November 15, 2015 09:22 AM (vmMMi)

22 I read Is Paris Burning? a couple of years ago. It was a good story, not told as well as I'd hoped.

In one sense, Hitler was smart: in this instance, he didn't leave much documentation behind. The lack of a paper trail is not good for historians.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 09:22 AM (OSULx)

23 I adored "Colossus: The Forbin Project" and Eric Braden, mostly a soaps guy, was totally and completely hot in it. Yum. Now where did I put my fan?

And I just bought both Girl's Guides, thank you very much. As I get older, I am more aware of the possibility of being a victim of crime, and as the city gets bigger, and as light rail to the north end comes closer, thereby providing cheap and easy access to my neighborhood for south end thugs.

I am reading "Airframe" by Michael Crichton. He is striking me as a less soapy Arthur Hailey. But the formula worked for Hailey better, or my memory is kinder because all of the exposition in Crichton's book is much to schoolbookish.

And I have started "The Devil's Pleasure Palace" but holy cow, it's depressing.

Finally, still reading "The Africans" by David Lamb, published in 1982. It is nothing short of amazing to read a journalist actually say that the involvement of the USSR in Africa was absolutely and completely only to the benefit of the USSR. Lamb actually says that the USA and some European countries were interested in actually helping Africa develop, sure, to keep the Russians at bay, but the USSR never provided any aid that wasn't military and that did not benefit the USSR in stealing the country's mineral wealth.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 09:23 AM (dCTrv)

24 It was a good week for reading. I finished three books. (Not many honey-dos). I read The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill Alone 1932-1940 by William Manchester. While reading this very detailed and well-researched and well-written history/biography, I could not help but draw parallels between the attitudes of the Chamberlain government and most of the British people towards Hitler and Nazism and the attitude of the Obama administration and all too many Americans towards Islam and terrorism. Both disbelieved their enemies when they talked about world domination and war, yet believe if only some accord could be reached by appeasement and negotiation, our enemies could be relied on to live up to the terms of the accord. Back in the '30's this naivete almost cost Great Britain its existence. Today, with the advent of weapons of mass destruction, with a large fifth column within our borders, and no leader of Churchill's abilities in sight; I wonder if we will be so fortunate.

I also read Storm of Lightning by Richard Paul Evans. This is the fifth book in the YA Michael Vey series. Although written for YA's, I'm enjoying the series. It certainly should be recommended for YA's, as the right values are promoted.

Finally, I read Glenn Beck's The Immortal Nicholas. In this story Beck gives Santa Claus a new history that brings him closer to the Christmas story. While I was enjoying this book, I thought that it would be even better read aloud over the course of a week or two at night with families with children

Posted by: Zoltan at November 15, 2015 09:23 AM (THsLo)

25 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. This has been another wonderful week for reading. In fact, it has been a reading tree that has grown branches in unexpected and interesting directions.

Read some more of LOTR. One unexpected branch was by gaining more insight into the influences on Tolkien and Lewis I am getting more out of the story. This is mildly annoying as after half a century of reading LOTR there shouldn't be any more to be gleaned.

Reading "A Hobbit, A Wardrobe ..." OM mentioned led to Chesterton's "The Everlasting Man". Dear God, the man could write! I'm only about a quarter of the way through it and I am fascinated. More on that in a later comment.

Learning more about Lewis' and Chesterton's nonfiction has grown a branch pointing toward George MacDonald, a huge influence on them and many others. That reading will begin soon.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:24 AM (FvdPb)

26 "4
WWI really contributed to the disillusionment of the common people in
England with the upper class. Europe has always been a class society
unlike the US until now. But the average English dough-boy came back to
England after a long time in the trenches he was one of the lucky few
and he found that nothing had changed in the class society. There are
many books written under this theme.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:01 AM (t2KH5)"

And that is when England first started passing restrictive gun laws. A whole lot of proles with recent experience with violence and death, familiarity with firearms and a bad attitude was worrisome to the upper classes and so they disarmed them. Just before WW I, there had been a "rifle in every cottage" movement to encourage arming of the common people as a deterrent to foreign invasion.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at November 15, 2015 09:24 AM (QHgTq)

27 If she uses Ace's amazon link to buy stuff, amazon will switch her over to amazon.ca

Does Ace still get credit for that, do you happen to know?
Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:15 AM (cbfNE)

I don't know for sure, but check the amazon URL of the linked book. If it contains the text 'aoshq-20', I'm almost positive ace will get credit. I've recently modified the way I post book links to reflect this. Hover your mouse over any of the book links in this thread, and you'll see what I did.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 09:25 AM (k0nf7)

28 Thanks for another fine book thread OM.

Oh, and thanks to all the Morons who bought my book and provided feedback. Much appreciated and taken to heart.

Did I mention it's got pie?

Check out Chapter One at the link in my nick.

"To Save Us All From Ruin"

Now available on Kindle and in paperback.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at November 15, 2015 09:26 AM (NeFrd)

29 Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:12 AM (qCMvj)

ette that's a very interesting article
bookmarking.

Also, I will have to give A Girls Guide to the Criminal Mind a look since it got the deBecker thumbs up. I sent kid 1 to college with a copy of his The Gift Of Fear after I suggested she read the library copy. She read it cover to cover and made notes on her own copy.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:26 AM (cbfNE)

30 Reading Noble House by James Clavell. First read it 30 years ago and loved it. Hong Kong in 1963 with so many intrigued and plots your head spins reading it.

Reading it because I've just recently been hired to head the commercial real estate department of a Chinese-owned American real estate brokerage so I want to immerse myself in all things related to China.

What a great book! One of my favorite novels ever. Plus, filled with stupendously insulting Cantonese swears.

Dew neh loh moh on dung-eating Islamo-Nazis!

Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 09:26 AM (PTcCb)

31
SF has an EQ and a fire, but was there a tsunami?

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 09:27 AM (iQIUe)

32 Thanks OM, I'll pass it on.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:28 AM (cbfNE)

33 This week I am reading "Effective C++", "More Effective C++" and "Effective STL" by Scott Meyer. He is a good and clear writer. As you might guess, my duties at work have changed and I will be scrambling to get up to speed for a while. I don't expect to be reading for pleasure for the next few weeks or months.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at November 15, 2015 09:29 AM (QHgTq)

34 Reading Noble House by James Clavell. First read it 30 years ago and loved it. Hong Kong in 1963 with so many intrigued and plots your head spins reading it.

Reading it because I've just recently been hired to head the commercial real estate department of a Chinese-owned American real estate brokerage so I want to immerse myself in all things related to China.

What a great book! One of my favorite novels ever. Plus, filled with stupendously insulting Cantonese swears.

Dew neh loh moh on dung-eating Islamo-Nazis!
Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 09:26 AM (PTcCb)

All of those books, I thought, were great - Shogun, Taipan and Nobel House.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:30 AM (BZAd3)

35 Re-read Allen Drury's "Come Nineveh, Come Tyre", part of the "Advise and Consent" series now released as e-books.

Widely derided by "sophisticated" reviewers on its release, the series and this book are remarkably prescient. Edward M. "Ted" Jason, an ambitious politician empty of real principles, running as a "peace at all costs" candidate is elected with the help of a fawning press. Once sworn in, he's immediately faced with a crushing assault from the Soviet Union, which he has no idea or plan to counter. With his foreign policy destroyed, he slips into internally-repressive measures out of sheer weakness.

Read the whole series.

Posted by: Kodos the Executioner at November 15, 2015 09:31 AM (wK1kg)

36 I am reading "Airframe" by Michael Crichton. He is
striking me as a less soapy Arthur Hailey. But the formula worked for
Hailey better, or my memory is kinder because all of the exposition in
Crichton's book is much to schoolbookish.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 09:23 AM

IMO, you're being kind to Haley. I read some of his books when they were a Big Deal, and the lasting impression was that they were, in essence, formulaic crap with a cast of interchangeable cardboard characters.

To his credit, though, he put in enough stuff that sounded like Inside Info to keep readers turning pages. That a fair amount of it was bogus wouldn't be apparent to most people. He was better than Clive Cussler, however.

All three authors wrote what I call "airport books," suitable for reading when you know you're going to be stuck on a plane for more than six hours.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (OSULx)

37 As I've been reading more contemplative matters, works that require, and deserve, attention and lack of distractions, I started to imagine a man cave. I'm not interested in huge TV screens and blaring sports broadcasts or the latest super hero movie. I thought of a retreat for reading and what that would entail.

A room that can be closed off for privacy.

A comfortable chair and hassock; NOT a recliner.

Walls lined with shelves that can hold several hundred books.

End tables to keep books, refreshments, and notepads at hand.

A good but not deafening stereo system.

Gentle general lighting and a good reading lamp.

Windows for natural light and drapes that can be pulled for privacy or that 'cave' effect.

Thomas Jefferson designed a similar space for Monticello. It has always been one of my favorite parts of the place.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (FvdPb)

38 >>The Gift Of Fear

I love that book. Loaned to a couple people before I never got it back. Cousin said it scared her but it did the opposite for me.

Posted by: lea at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (vmMMi)

39 anyone read this yet?

Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again

by The Donald

I don't have time to read it.
Buried in other books atm for months to come.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 09:00 AM (qCMvj)

The delightful and erudite Mrs naturalfake decided she wanted to learn more about Trump.

And got his other book, "Time to Get Tough".

She's been reading it on and off over the last week or so.

As a mini-review-

She thinks it's well-written in that it's easily read for just about any education level.

Thus, easy for people to understand.

Overall, she likes his plans and potential policies in the book, but is only a bit over halfway through.

She says it could easily be read in one or two days if you wanted to plow though it.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (KUa85)

40 O/T

Sen Burr, (R, NC) head of intelligence committee will be on Face the Nation at 10:30

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (jJRIy)

41 WW1 resulted in the Commies coming to power for the first time anywhere in the world in Russia.

The Russian commies, after their own civil war, began exporting the commie revolution and supplied money and arms for the purpose. Before 1914, very few firearms were found in colonies outside of the European's hands. After 1917 and to a much greater extent after 1945 Soviet ( and Chinese) arms flooded to any country that wanted them. Ever wonder why the SKS, AKM and RPG are so prevalent as symbols of revolution?

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at November 15, 2015 09:33 AM (ej1L0)

42 Obnoxious A-Hole, a little OT question for you. I am thinking of doing online classes / certification (I used to be a fulltime programmer in my past life) What in your opinion is a good certification for someone wanting to get into freelance or part time kinds of gigs?
thanks.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:33 AM (cbfNE)

43 Shogun was my first and favorite Clavell.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:35 AM (cbfNE)

44 Thanks to a recommendation at the HQ, I've been reading Oman's classic (read old) 3-volume series "The Dark Ages". I've finished books 1 and 2, and on the whole, found them a very, very good investment of $0.99 each. They focus a bit too much on kings and battles, to the almost complete exclusion of society and everyday life, but that's okay, since my knowledge base up to that point was so small. I'm getting the big picture, and then I'll spend more time on the other stuff later.

The most striking thing is the author's cultural confidence and lack of cringing praise of other, less worthy cultures. You'd never, ever see that now. It's very refreshing.

Posted by: pep at November 15, 2015 09:36 AM (LAe3v)

45 Just a 'two cents' comment on the debate that the Lisbon destruction caused...

Maimonides, in his book, The Guide For the Perplexed, gave perhaps the best answer to this perpetually asked question several centuries before this disaster took place. He points out that without the opposite of life - death, and the opposite of creation - destruction, life at all couldn't exist. There would be no life at all without the death of stars; no stars at all without the death of other stars. IOW - things were created the way they are because they had to be created that way. So... fwiw...

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:37 AM (BZAd3)

46 Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:30 AM (BZAd3)

Never read Shogun but I will always remember the mini series as a kid where the Japanese Lord pissed on the back of the westerner laying prone on the ground.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 09:37 AM (Z+ic4)

47 DeBecker's Gift of Fear is a good book, if you can get past his obvious support for gun restrictions (dude, how else is a 120 lb. woman going to drop a 250 lb. assailant?). A nice primer on self protection is Jeff Cooper's Principles of Personal Defense - I'm guessing most of the Horde is familiar with the Colonel, but if you're not, PPD is a short treatise on the defensive mindset.

As for me, I need to find something light and amusing to read. I've given up on Shelby Foote's Civil War series; the prose in the first volume was so convoluted that I can't face the idea of 2000 more pages. Maybe I'll pick up another Brad Thor book - pew pew, bad guys get shot, Scot Harvath saves the world, yay!

Posted by: PabloD at November 15, 2015 09:37 AM (+T2o3)

48 " I would guess that a good deal of the refusal to believe reports of the Holocaust until US troops entered concentration camps was a reaction against having believed overblown stories of German atrocities [of WWI] before and a determination not to be fooled again..."

***

"Overblown"?

Hardly.

German atrocities in Belgium in August 1914 are documented historical facts and indeed were a grim preview of the kultur that made the Holocaust.

British propaganda was good, but not so good that it could fabricate the thousands of grave stones in Belgium today that bear dates in two weeks of August 1914 nor did British propaganda torch the Library in Leuven.

Posted by: Oscar at November 15, 2015 09:38 AM (QolCq)

49 Mine Hammer: Anything by Helprin is usually good, though I think his best are Refiner's Fire and of course A Soldier of the Great War. That one is a classic.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 09:40 AM (PTcCb)

50 The disillusionment of WWI was also a major influence on T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land", arguably the greatest poem of the 20th century.

Posted by: cool breeze at November 15, 2015 09:40 AM (6Cu7i)

51 I don't remember debecker mention of guns at all, but I think his main points in that book are all about avoiding trouble? So maybe he wasn't so much focused on how to fight back when you can't avoid it. thats not the part he's interested in?

But I may forgetting something since its been ages since I read his book.

Posted by: lea at November 15, 2015 09:41 AM (vmMMi)

52 She thinks it's well-written in that it's easily read for just about any education level.
Thus, easy for people to understand.
Overall, she likes his plans and potential policies in the book, but is only a bit over halfway through.
She says it could easily be read in one or two days if you wanted to plow though it.
Posted by: naturalfake at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM

An interesting take, NF. One of the hallmarks of good writing, IMO, is Keeping It Simple. Some authors -- and a whole heckuva lot of "pundits" from all over the political spectrum -- either never learn this, or think using overblown verbiage gives them gravitas.

If teh Donald is doing this naturally, good for him. If he's toning down the 50-cent phrases so the rubes get his message clearly, also good for him.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 09:42 AM (OSULx)

53 50
The disillusionment of WWI was also a major influence on T. S. Eliot's
"The Waste Land", arguably the greatest poem of the 20th century.

I'm a "Second Coming" man myself. Distilled despair.

Posted by: pep at November 15, 2015 09:42 AM (LAe3v)

54 Kodos, it has been so long since I read all the Drury books I will have to re-visit them - thanks for the reminder. I read them when I was in high school, I think, and I have forgotten most of the stories.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 09:43 AM (dCTrv)

55 Started War and Peace this last Friday. Hope to finish it today. Easy read.

Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 09:44 AM (Fmupd)

56 Shogun is also one of my favorites.

A lot of Clavell fans haven't read his King Rat, which is also splendid. Basically Clavell's thinly fictionalized recounting of his time in a Japanese prison camp during WW2.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 09:44 AM (PTcCb)

57 Never read Shogun but I will always remember the mini series as a kid where the Japanese Lord pissed on the back of the westerner laying prone on the ground.
Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 09:37 AM (Z+ic4)

All three books deal with the same family wherein John Blackthorne is the patriarch.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:45 AM (BZAd3)

58 36, Mr. Scribbler, it would not surprise me if you were entirely right - it's been a hugely long time since I read Arthur Hailey. But the exposition in the Crichton book is just intrusive. He invented a trainee so the main character would have someone to explain things to and then trainee just disappears for the longest time, and we're left with endless exposition. Sigh.

37 JTB, sounds like heaven.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 09:47 AM (dCTrv)

59 Thomas Jefferson designed a similar space for Monticello. It has always been one of my favorite parts of the place.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (FvdPb)

Heh. I think you just described Keith Richards' library from that book thread photo of a couple of weeks ago.

And I agree, your requirements would make a great man cave for us, uh, "seasoned" bibliophiles.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 09:47 AM (k0nf7)

60 A lot of Clavell fans haven't read his King Rat,
which is also splendid. Basically Clavell's thinly fictionalized
recounting of his time in a Japanese prison camp during WW2.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 09:44 AM

IMO, King Rat was the best thing Clavell ever wrote. I liked his other books, but that one was exceptional.

I knew a man who was in one of the Japanese camps during WWII. He thought Clavell was dealing in understatement.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 09:48 AM (OSULx)

61 55 Started War and Peace this last Friday. Hope to finish it today. Easy read.
Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 09:44 AM (Fmupd)

This may be the first time I've seen War and Peace described as an easy read.

#impressed

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:49 AM (cbfNE)

62 lea - you're correct that Gift of Fear doesn't talk about the "how-to" part of self-defense, in terms of actual fighting, but I do recall him talking about firearms in the home in a negative way. Of course, if you're living with a crazy person, it might be a good idea to remove yourself and your guns (or just the crazy person) from your home.

Posted by: PabloD at November 15, 2015 09:49 AM (+T2o3)

63 Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

-Groucho Marx

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at November 15, 2015 09:50 AM (LUgeY)

64 Psychologists estimate that all women will be put in harm's way, in one form or another, by a predator during their lifetime (Really? -OM).
I"d have to say "Yes." Depending on what the psychologist means by being put in harm's way, almost all women and for that matter, almost all men, have been in great risk from a predator at one time or another. During the years of youth and beauty, I know that creepy men often focused on me and there were no doubt times that things could have gone terrifyingly wrong. Men have to worry about women sociopaths too, and while they are not usually at physical risk from psycho women, men are at a high risk of encountering other violent men who want to physically attack them to assert dominance.

Posted by: RigelDog at November 15, 2015 09:50 AM (g8sYt)

65 I recently reread Shogun, Tai Pan, and Nobel House. Liked those. When I downloaded and started to read Gai Jinn I found that I had lost all interest in that book and gave it up.

As for Crichton vs Haley, yes, Crichton is much better.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:50 AM (t2KH5)

66 Another maritime nation hit by a cataclysmic earthquake.... Japan, 1923:
http://www.amazon.com/Yokohama-Burning-Deadly-Earthquake-Helped/dp/0743264665

Good thing that the Japanese government at the time was stable enough to shut out its opportunistic tyrants... oh, wait.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 09:51 AM (D65RZ)

67 situ�e dans le Palais Bourbon

Yes. *hic*

Posted by: Ready For Hillary!!11!! at November 15, 2015 09:52 AM (Dwehj)

68 if feminists were really interested in protecting women from dangerous men they'd be up in arms about thousands of "refugees" known to be part of a culture that condones rape. What was the statistic in Scandanavia, that 70% of all rapes are committed by moslems?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 09:52 AM (B8JRQ)

69 >>I do recall him talking about firearms in the home in a negative way

Hmm. Like I said, it's been a while. I think in a domestic violence situation guns in the home probably are dangerous. I do remember him being very down on restraining orders.

Posted by: lea at November 15, 2015 09:52 AM (vmMMi)

70 BTW, I read King Rat long ago and didn't like it. I have the hard back still but I will not get the Kindle version.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:53 AM (t2KH5)

71
Regarding WWI, one of my great grandfathers kept a diary throughout that time and beyond. He was a civilian, a fisherman on Lake Superior, married and father of six children.

He also was extraordinarily laconic -- not a peep about the war appeared in his writings. Nor, for that matter, did much about the world outside of his business and his immediate community. It was a much different time.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 15, 2015 09:53 AM (BK3ZS)

72 I recently reread Shogun, Tai Pan, and Nobel House. Liked those. When I downloaded and started to read Gai Jinn I found that I had lost all interest in that book and gave it up.

As for Crichton vs Haley, yes, Crichton is much better.
Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:50 AM (t2KH5)

I thought Whirlwind was good, but I know what you mean, one needs a break after a while before continuing on in that series. It can get very heavy after a while.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:53 AM (BZAd3)

73 He invented a trainee so the main character would
have someone to explain things to and then trainee just disappears for
the longest time, and we're left with endless exposition. Sigh.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 09:47 AM

Haley didn't do that, for which I suppose we can be grateful. Instead, he just yapped on for page after page about how an airport's baggage-handling system operates, or how automobiles are built.

Who needs trainees when you have the Top Man Stressed by His Personal Life, the Sharp Female Climbing the Corporate Ladder, the Bright Young Negro and the Guy Who Doesn't Take Showers? IIRC, they were in every book.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 09:54 AM (OSULx)

74 Good morning, Book-Threaders! I didn't get too much reading done, aside from Bujold's "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" which was my bedtime reading.

To busy prepping for the start of the seasonal round of book and craft events - for which I planned to launch two books - Sunset and Steel Rails, and The Chronicles of Luna City. They are both on Amazon as Kindle books, but the print version of Chronicles isn't there yet, although it may be up on Barnes & Noble.

The event yesterday went really well for both of us - we had a nice spot in the main room this time, and there were a lot of people wanting to spend money. I did twice as much in sales than last year at this event, and I hope it's promising for the rest of the Christmas season schedule. (Next Friday and Saturday it's the Christmas Market in New Braunfels, at the convention center. Last year, my sales there were down by half from the year before.)

It was terribly dispiriting, though -- to go set up for the craft fair Friday afternoon, and then return home to get the news about the ISIS/ISIL terrorist front opening in Paris. More than ever, now, I am glad that my daughter and I did a full, leisurely European tour in 1985. Glad I saw the Louvre - or as much as I could see in a single day - and Notre Dame.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 15, 2015 09:55 AM (95iDF)

75 Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 09:49 AM (cbfNE)

-----------------------

Just some erudite book thread snark. I'll quit now.

Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 09:55 AM (Fmupd)

76 Seventeen Hundred and fifty five.
Georgius Secundus was then alive,
Snuffy old drone from the German hive.
That was the year that Lisbon town
saw the earth open up and gulp her down,
And Braddock's army was done so brown,
Left without a scalp to its crown.
It was on that terrible Earthquake day
That the Deacon finished the One Hoss Shay.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at November 15, 2015 09:55 AM (tEDMc)

77 Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx
Posted by: BackwardsBoy

****

As always, that is never NOT funny!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at November 15, 2015 09:56 AM (NeFrd)

78 72 I thought Whirlwind was good, but I know what you
mean, one needs a break after a while before continuing on in that
series. It can get very heavy after a while.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:53 AM (BZAd3)

I checked out Whirlwind and read it long ago. It was OK, but mainly because he ripped Jimmy Carter apart in every chapter.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 09:57 AM (t2KH5)

79
The Holocaust was at the time beyond belief. Sure, in WW1 civilians by the hundreds were shot in retaliation, but nothing like they systematic murder the nazis practices. And with the aid of trains, gas vans, gas,mobile killing squads, they really out did themselves. Seriously, who in their right mind thinks this shit up? And they were so effin dedicated to the very end. Look how they shipped people from far away places to Birkenau. Look at the marches the winter of 1945 where the prisoners were forced to walk from Poland to Germany or from Germany to other parts of Germany to avoid liberation.

I asked a polish historian why the krauts would divert so many resources to this b.s. at the very end and it was his opinion that the Germans thought they were going to win, especially with the V1 V2 rockets.

The NYT would publish little blurbs about Jews being massacred as early as 1942.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 09:57 AM (iQIUe)

80 Speaking of DF Jones, there was another of his available really cheap for the Kindle, "Earth Has Been Found." It's a lot like "The Andromeda Strain" in that it deals with how doctors and the military work to contain a new threat.

Airplanes of various types go missing, then turn up months (sometimes years) later. Then the passengers develop strange marks on their skin....

Overall it was a fun read, but I was puzzled by the author's insistence that belief in aliens would naturally mean belief in God. The Soviets are adamant that the missing planes are simply the result of some natural phenomena, because if they admit aliens exist, they have to admit God exists. I didn't get the logic but then Communist "beliefs" have always puzzled me.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 09:57 AM (B8JRQ)

81 I've heard that domestic violence rates are much higher in Lisbonese households.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at November 15, 2015 09:57 AM (NeFrd)

82 Forgot the link

http://tinyurl.com/op5f7fu

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at November 15, 2015 09:57 AM (tEDMc)

83 I have wanted to mention this book many times and haven't really had the opportunity, but if you have never read "Mash" it is a must read, I think. But don't read it in public unless you want to have people think you are nuts. It will have you laughing your ass off, uncontrollably. Way better than the movie and thousands of time better than the TV series.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:58 AM (BZAd3)

84 83 It will have you laughing your ass off,
uncontrollably. Way better than the movie and thousands of time better
than the TV series.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:58 AM (BZAd3)

Alan Alda turned the TV series to shit after about the first season.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (t2KH5)

85 How can I get added to the Goodreads list?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (B8JRQ)

86 There also was a 1966 film of the same title with an all stars cast is done based on this book.

***

THat's one helluva cast.

Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at November 15, 2015 10:02 AM (PMlgt)

87
MrScribbler, sure you know this already but Clavell was working from personal experience in King Rat.

True story. First time I went to Singapore (well, through it, mostly), I picked up King Rat to read on the trip. Started it shortly after leaving Dulles. Finished it as we approached the airport in Singapore, Chang'i. A while ago. Connection in Narita. Loooong trip. Was able to get through the whole thing.

As we landed, I looked out (right side of plane, I think). There were the ruins of Chang'i prison, where King Rat took place. Not much of a fiction reader any more. But that there's a great little book-reading experience.

Posted by: rhomboid at November 15, 2015 10:02 AM (QDnY+)

88 re "In the eyes of the progressive clergy, the years from 1914 to 1918 presented an unprecedented opportunity to achieve their vision of a world transformed--the ancient dream of a universal and everlasting kingdom of peace, justice, and righteousness", don't forget that other nightmare that came with this "dream"--the League of Nations, and it's mutant spawn the United Nations. "Progressives" still be dreamin', with continuing (un?)intended consequence.

Posted by: barbarausa at November 15, 2015 10:03 AM (DyGWm)

89 My grandparents lived outside Lisbon until I was about 30, so I saw some of the devastation. They never finished that cathedral, for instance. At the time I always thought... uh, isn't it, like, 250 years now? Time to move on?

I wonder if there's a bit of the Arab in the Portuguese character.

Also, although Pombal did effectively seize power from King Jose, Queen Maria seized it right back. Unfortunately those monarchs ended up useless - Maria the Mad, they called her. She also married her own uncle, and spawned this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_VI_of_Portugal

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 10:03 AM (D65RZ)

90
85 How can I get added to the Goodreads list?
Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (B8JRQ

-------------------

By reading real good?

Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 10:03 AM (Fmupd)

91 I think pretty much every government in history has engaged in sustained propaganda campaigns against their enemies. "Carthago delenda est" is probably the earliest slogan we have. Cato the elder and his allies had a pretty firm grip on the machinery of the Republic and they took every opportunity to talk up the Carthaginian recovery and and accuse them of intransigence; meanwhile the people of Carthage were bending over backwards trying to comply with Roman demands.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at November 15, 2015 10:04 AM (tEDMc)

92 Just some erudite book thread snark. I'll quit now.
Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 09:55 AM (Fmupd)

Oh, well, in that vein, you really must read it in the original Russian to truly appreciate it.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 10:05 AM (cbfNE)

93
Found out some time ago that the movie was based on the 1966 novel "Colossus" by D. F. Jones, the Kindle edition of which, as of Friday night, is available for FREE.

I read it as a youth and found it not too bad. The movie screwed up the ending in that it made Crete the successor or new home for Colossus. Earthquakes, hello? In the book, the location was the Isle of Wight.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars at November 15, 2015 10:05 AM (BK3ZS)

94 MrScribbler, sure you know this already but Clavell was working from personal experience in King Rat. Posted by: rhomboid at November 15, 2015 10:02 AM

I didn't know that when I first read the book. To tell the truth, I was just out of high school, and couldn't tell you why I bought it.

Recently, I found another copy, and found it just as good second-time-around as I did initially. But this time, I understood why it came across as frighteningly realistic.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 10:06 AM (OSULx)

95

Ordered a small library of books on Game Theory.

That's where my head is at.

Can't wait for them to arrive.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 10:06 AM (qCMvj)

96
Funny, Friday's events had me looking back at the Paris WWII story. Saw the movie version long ago, believe I read the book in the 80s, not positive. Had forgotten how the commies and the Gaullists were wrestling for prominence at the time and the commies started a strike the Gaullists were forced to join.

Thanks to whomever suggested The German War by Stargardt. About 1/3 the way through now, it's quite good. Lots of good stuff beyond just the personal accounts it's built around.

Off to make bang-bang with a Garand. Someone's gotta use up the surplus ammo, it won't shoot itself.

Posted by: rhomboid at November 15, 2015 10:06 AM (QDnY+)

97 Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (B8JRQ

Join goodreads, then go to the group page and click join. Be sure to mention that you are Beckoning Chasm so I can approve it.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/p5llchk

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 10:07 AM (cbfNE)

98 One reason "The Everlasting Man" is making such a huge impression on me is that it addresses a concern of mine that has been growing for a while now. That is the use of "science" as a means of power and control for political purposes. I was surprised by how far back, over a century, the problem extends.

The Libs decry the Spanish Inquisition (torturing and mutilating an individual for heresy) as a condemnation of all religion. They have replaced it with public shaming, smearing in the media with pure lies, and personal destruction by driving people out of business, taxation, and job loss, any individual or group that doesn't adhere to the pronouncements and dictates of their social and governmental betters.

The robes and hand gestures of the priest have been replaced by the white lab coat and diagrams of 'scientists' who expect the public to accept their revelations on faith that they are right.

Chesterton deals with the presumptions of scientists that go beyond any basis of available fact. I've seen it in the global warming scam, based on nothing determinate, filled with lies (not mistakes), and used for political power and control. Or how the food pyramid pushed on us for decades was based on one man's opinion with little or nothing to back it up. Limited studies used to prove that coffee, salt, eggs, red meat, booze, etc., are all bad until another study finds just the opposite. Congress destroys the incandescent light bulb industry, based on nothing but some activists' rants, and demands they be replaced with more dangerous and vastly more expensive lights.

And this always gets back to the importance of the individual, for freedom and to the benefit of society, versus the requirements of those in power. Chesterton, Lewis and others are more in tune with our founding fathers than most politicians and cultural leaders.

OK. Rant off.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 10:07 AM (FvdPb)

99 #36, go easy on Clive Cussler. He inspired me to learn how to scuba dive, helped foster my love of naval and military history, and has the best story on how to bullshit a manuscript into a publisher that I EVER heard.

Unfortunately his "how to hit on women" template through Dirk Pitt, while better than Fleming-era Bond, still was a little too high-level for the girls at my high school. Oh, well. No one was perfect.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:07 AM (M870l)

100 Excellent opening "monologue," OM.

Re: Pressfields's "The Lion's Gate" -- highly recommended.

Browsing the new books shelves in the library, I picked up a Sherlock Homes book called "Art in the Blood" by Bonnie MacBird. I'm a sucker for Homes stories and this one is pretty interesting at the 20 per cent point. Currently 4.5/5 for 15 on Amazon.

For the amateur radio types, there is an ARRL book called "Introduction to Emergency Communication Course." I took the actual online course, but the book is a self-study covering the same material. Quite good, particularly if you put the time into doing the "activities" -- essay type questions that make you really use what you are leaning. If you actually want the certificate, you can challenge the test for $15, but you are better off doing the online course because you get a mentor. My mentor was very sharp.

Posted by: doug at November 15, 2015 10:07 AM (rJI/e)

101 Oh, well, in that vein, you really must read it in the original Russian to truly appreciate it.
Posted by: @votermom at November

-----------------------

Of course. I deserve no less.

Posted by: Soona at November 15, 2015 10:08 AM (Fmupd)

102 German atrocities in Belgium in August 1914 are documented historical facts and indeed were a grim preview of the kultur that made the Holocaust.

Yeah the Germans did commit some pretty horrible atrocities even in WWI. Not as wide scale and evil as the Nazis, but there were some terrible things done. Forcing Belgian resistance - men, women, children - across the bridge at gunpoint to act as human shields in Lille, for example. The Germans sometimes were as bad as portrayed in WWI.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:09 AM (39g3+)

103 Seems like the theme of the book thread is - what happens when a ruling class that grounds itself in its superior virtue proves itself impotent, and not even all that virtuous. The Catholic monarch of Portugal in 1755; the progressive monarchies and democracies of Europe in 1914... Japan in 1923.

Can't happen here though, because America is the city on the hill and the last best hope of mankind. We've even conquered racism by electing Obama!

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 10:10 AM (D65RZ)

104 There is a sequel to the book "The Forbin Project."

"Fall of Collosus."

Posted by: Butch at November 15, 2015 10:12 AM (hXu8T)

105 #38, the thing to remember about Gavin de Becker is that he's a gun control fanatic who believes that, now that you're scared, you need to outsource your personal protection to highly paid elite professionals like him.

In short, he is trying to make work for guys like him. An aware and armed population that can handle its own business takes money out of his pocket so he is opposed to it.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:12 AM (M870l)

106 " Trimegistus wondered:

Was WWI the first time national governments conducted large-scale, ongoing campaigns of lying to their own people?"

Nah -- there was a huge amount of propaganda during the Spanish-American War in 1898.

We know about how much lying was going on in the US, but a similar amount of lies were coming out of Madrid as well. Both sides deceived their citizenry -- the Spaniards were told they were winning fer chrissakes, and were stunned when their military surrendered and lost.

And the US media, as we all know, basically invented "advocacy journalism" during the Spanish-American War.

All of this was 16 years before WWI.

Posted by: zombie at November 15, 2015 10:12 AM (jBuUi)

107 @104 and there's a third book as well, "Collosus and the Crab."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 10:13 AM (B8JRQ)

108 89, BTH, Wikipedia says that king was responsible for the modern state of Brazil. Hardly something to brag about.

Posted by: Tonestaple at November 15, 2015 10:13 AM (dCTrv)

109 #36, go easy on Clive Cussler. He inspired me to
learn how to scuba dive, helped foster my love of naval and military
history, and has the best story on how to bullshit a manuscript into a
publisher that I EVER heard. Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:07 AM

Sorry, dude, but but after reading three or four of his novels, I was -- and remain -- convinced that the books were Google translations of from Spanish of originals written in Sumerian that were first Google-translated into Mongolian.

Either that, or the dude is totally illiterate.

He has an imagination; I'll give him that. But "coherence" is not one of his strengths.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 10:14 AM (OSULx)

110 107 - I did not know that. Thank you.

Posted by: Butch at November 15, 2015 10:14 AM (hXu8T)

111 It is true that the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century was the last gasp of Christian dominance in western culture, and that was through the work of leftists ("progressives") bearing crosses. How actually Christian some of them were was in question - Jim Jones, for instance, used Christianity to spread his poison although he personally dismissed all religion as a good Marxist would.

But almost all the stupid crap from that time period such as prohibition, welfare, social security, minimum wage, shorter work week, women's sufferage (I kid) came from that sector: we can make paradise on earth if only we follow these schemes. And all of them were wrapped in pious sounding statements and Bible verses ripped from context and meaning.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:14 AM (39g3+)

112 Will the ette who just requested to join the group please raise her hand, or send me a goodreads message? Thanks!

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 10:14 AM (cbfNE)

113 I bought myself an e-reader a couple of months ago (Kindle Paperwhite). Having no experience in the e-reader business, I have nothing to compare it to, but it does seem to do what it is supposed to do.
Anyway, I've been loading it up with, and reading, some of the free books offered by Amazon, some of which have been worthy, others either not my cup of tea or unreadable. I won't bother you with the latter. A couple I liked are: Finders Keepers, by Sean Costello, which deals with a lost lottery ticket; and Officer Jones, by Derek Ciccione, which deals with drunk driving and obsession.

Of late, I've been re-reading some Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash and Cryptominocon.

I'm a big fan of W E B Griffin. I have on my bookshelf the 1st four volumes of the Honor Bound series. I see that the rest of the series is available on Kindle for a reasonable price, so I am going to reread the 4 volumes I have and order the rest of the series on Kindle for my Christmas present to myself.

Posted by: Semilitterate at November 15, 2015 10:15 AM (G0uHO)

114 @97 Thank you votermom.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 10:15 AM (B8JRQ)

115 Alan Alda turned the TV series to shit after about the first season.
Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (t2KH5)

True. He turned it into a political soapbox and the book was anything but. The movie was good though. It stayed true to the book and was funny as hell, but the book is way better.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 10:16 AM (BZAd3)

116 W E B Griffin - I read all his Marine books. Liked them a lot.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 10:16 AM (cbfNE)

117 IIRC my own college project of reading a major big-city newspaper (every daily issue from 1935-1945 of the Chicago Tribune) there was enormous resistance to believing the various published stories which dribbled out of Germany all during the war about what was happening to the Jews. In the following days after such stories or editorials were published, there would be indignant letters to the editor regarding being sucked in by Allied propaganda. (Not to deny the horrific destruction of the Louvain Library, or the thousands of Belgians executed during the German invasion - but some of the most baroque atrocities the Germans were accused of were flat-out propaganda.) The general tone of the letters to the editor was pretty much, "Yeah, stuff happens in war, and yes, the Germans are probably doing pretty awful things to the Jews ... but let's not get fooled again, OK?"

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at November 15, 2015 10:17 AM (95iDF)

118 Yeah the Germans did commit some pretty horrible atrocities even in WWI.

When the Germans beat Napoleon ~~XIV~~ III's army in 1871, they ended up in control of the whole of France whilst they tried to get a peace-treaty out of... uh, anybody (it was very chaotic). The Frogs spent the whole occupation sniping at Germans; these were the Francs-tireurs.

When the Germans took over Belgium in WW1, that wasn't their objective - France was. The Germans had to secure their supply-lines, at least until they could establish new ones across Alsace. So stamping out franc-tireurs was a priority and they weren't going to be gentle about it.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 10:18 AM (D65RZ)

119 Amazon Black Friday sale - Fire 7" tablet $35 (one site said $25 - typo?) , Touchscreen Kindle e-ink $50, Fire TV stick $25.

Kindle e-ink sale starts 11/22, tablet and stick Thanksgiving Day.

Posted by: doug at November 15, 2015 10:19 AM (rJI/e)

120 >>38, the thing to remember about Gavin de Becker is that he's a gun control fanatic who believes that, now that you're scared, you need to outsource your personal protection to highly paid elite professionals like him.

I didnt know anything about that when I read the book I guess. I still found his advice useful, I may have just ignores that part of it.

I watch criminal minds occasionally and one thing that drives me batty about it is that you might have someone targeted by a murderer and they never seem to think about running out and getting something for protection. Just comes off as crazy to me.

Posted by: lea at November 15, 2015 10:20 AM (vmMMi)

121 This may be the first time I've seen War and Peace described as an easy read.

It's about Russia.
--Woody Allen, after taking the Evelyn Wood course

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 15, 2015 10:21 AM (xq1UY)

122 Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 09:58 AM (BZAd3)

There are actually a number of MASH books by the author.

Posted by: HH at November 15, 2015 10:22 AM (DrCtv)

123 83 ... MASH was good but the follow-on books "MASH Goes to Maine" and "MASH Mania", both by Hooker before Butterworth got involved, were wonderful. They are a series of short pieces based on the MASH doctors after the war and the colorful Maine characters. I enjoyed them so much I tracked down hardback editions for re-reading. They are touching, laugh-out-loud funny and sometimes insightful.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 10:22 AM (FvdPb)

124 I'm a big fan of W E B Griffin. I have on my
bookshelf the 1st four volumes of the Honor Bound series. I see that the
rest of the series is available on Kindle for a reasonable price, so I
am going to reread the 4 volumes I have and order the rest of the series
on Kindle for my Christmas present to myself.

Posted by: Semilitterate at November 15, 2015 10:15 AM (G0uHO)

I have just about all his stuff and love it. And don't forget Project Gutenberg for free books:

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:23 AM (t2KH5)

125 86 There also was a 1966 film of the same title with an all stars cast is done based on this book.
***
THat's one helluva cast.
Posted by: Niedermeyer's Dead Horse at November 15, 2015 10:02 AM (PMlgt)

Yeah, that didn't make much sense, did it? I've now revised it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:24 AM (k0nf7)

126 Keep in mind the Tribune was one of the most Roosevelt-hostile and isolationist papers in the country, so its not exactly representative.

The thing is, WWI wasn't just a psychological blow to the utopian fantasies of the western world, it was a horrific meat grinder. One out of every 20 young men in Europe died in the conflict; 17 million dead and 20 million wounded. Over 100,000 civilians died in the UK alone from malnutrition and disease due to the economic disaster that accompanied the Great War. A full 11% of the entire population of France died in the war.

Everyone remembered that well. By the time 1939 rolled around it had only been 21 years; that's like a horrific war first introducing poison gas and machine guns taking place for the first five years of the 1990s. People remembered it well and wanted no part of that, again.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:26 AM (39g3+)

127 With regards to wartime propaganda, I recommend Steven Pressfield's "Tides of War", starring Alcibiades, in the Peloponnesian War.

It is a fictionalized, novelized version (of course) of the War, and frankly makes the whole thing fascinating in a way that most dry histories don't.

If you read "The Lion's Gate", I recommend you also read "Six Days of War", written by Michael Oren. This is a pretty factual historical account of the prelude to the Six Day War, the war itself, and the aftermath. It puts a lot of Pressfield's book into perspective.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at November 15, 2015 10:26 AM (+1T7c)

128 Ordered a small library of books on Game Theory.

That's where my head is at.

Can't wait for them to arrive.
Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 10:06 AM (qCMvj)

I just finished doing (not a small library full) some personal study into game theory. It is fascinating to me what math can reveal and where those revelations can lead, e.g.; for me anyway, the conclusions one can draw from societal norms - traditional values, in other words.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 10:26 AM (BZAd3)

129 #124, Griffin is amazing, but inconsistent. It's like he has a religion about not reading a previous book in a series before he writes the next one. The Brotherhood of War series, no matter how much I loved it and have read it a hundred times or more since 1980-something, is rife with continuity errors. His refusal to fill in the gaps in The Corps annoys me, skipping from 1943 to Korea. His Presidential Agent series annoyed me- he's not as good on the modern military as he is the Army in which he served. And I loved his Argentina one, and he's blending that into a post-WWII series that might be good if he finds a way to keep it within his son's limits as a writer. Web himself has got to be ninety by now and I am not sure how much he is pumping out.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:29 AM (M870l)

130 They are a series of short pieces based on the MASH doctors after the war and the colorful Maine characters.

Maybe they should have drawn on that for AfterMASH instead of... whatever it was they did.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:29 AM (39g3+)

131 Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at November 15, 2015 10:26 AM (+1T7c)

Tides of War is in my top five books. Pressfield is my favorite author by far.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 10:30 AM (Z+ic4)

132 >>>>starring Alcibiades, in the Peloponnesian War.<<<

"Hey, let's go take Sicily! It'll be a piece of cake!"

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at November 15, 2015 10:31 AM (tEDMc)

133 Leibniz wrote extensively about the meaning of the Lisbon earthquake, as it shook up his belief system (not his beliefs; there's a difference). The whole issue of why a supreme being would allow the innocent to suffer is called "The Lisbon Question."

You could go all the way through Marco Rubio Welding Academy and never need to know that. Then one day the union hall would send you to finish a cathedral.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 15, 2015 10:31 AM (xq1UY)

134 115 Alan Alda turned the TV series to shit after about the first season.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:00 AM (t2KH5)

It wasn't just Alda. The main writers, Larry Gelbart and whatsisface I can't remember his name, openly admitted in interviews that they were actually writing about the Vietnam War, only using the Korean War as a proxy.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:31 AM (k0nf7)

135
People are posting uncensored an photo of the blood bath and it is a blood bath. It looks like people were put into small groups before being murdered. I have mixed feelings about showing victims but I do believe it has to be hammered home what these animals do before people go all kumbaya.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 10:33 AM (iQIUe)

136 At least Trapper John is a conservative in real life ( I think ). Maybe that's why Wayne Rogers left the series.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 10:33 AM (Z+ic4)

137 #120, I had not heard of Becker before his work was analyzed in what I consider one of the best single-volume firearms references ever written, Boston's Gun Bible. It therefore always pops to mind when someone advocates his book.

As for Boston, I disagree with some of his conclusions. I am not a Glock person, and developments in ammunition have rendered the .40 Smith and Wesson cartridge somewhat superfluous. Still very much worth owning for the beginner, and has enough useful data in it I used to carry a copy in my duffel bag on deployments.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:34 AM (M870l)

138 openly admitted in interviews that they were actually writing about the Vietnam War, only using the Korean War as a proxy.

I haven't read the book but to be fair, the movie did, too.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:34 AM (39g3+)

139 #130- they couldn't get the actors. They built around who they could get.

Posted by: Colonel Kurtz at November 15, 2015 10:35 AM (M870l)

140 @132 "One riot, one Ranger"
--Gylippus

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 15, 2015 10:35 AM (xq1UY)

141 O/T

Is the moderator on CBS Face the Nation a fag, or does he just talk like one?

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 15, 2015 10:36 AM (jJRIy)

142 WWI begat WWII begat Korean War begat Vietnam.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 10:36 AM (Z+ic4)

143 it has to be hammered home what these animals do before people go all kumbaya.

The current response is "they aren't Muslims," because stopping the backlash is more important than stopping the murderous, raping monsters. Which is why I think its good to read the Koran, so you know the religion's core material. Know it first hand, so to speak.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:37 AM (39g3+)

144 This week I read Warbreaker (Warbreaker #1) by Brandon Sanderson, a fantasy with an interesting magic system. Two lands are on the edge of war and the daughter of the royal family in one is sent to marry the leader of the other. Lot of political intrigue, many things aren't what they seem, many twists and turns. Pretty interesting characters and story.

Listened to The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, where Marlowe is hired by an rich old man to help with a problem involving his two wild daughters. Murder, sex and madness all for $25 a day. Chandler perfected the noir PI story, terrific stuff.

Read Heir of Sea and Fire (Riddle-Master #2) by Patricia McKillip, part of her classic fantasy trilogy. In book one the male hero travels the countryside to find answers to stuff going on in the land, which ends in a cliff-hanger. In book two his betrothed goes on her on own search to find him. Very well written, good characters and story.

Posted by: waelse1 at November 15, 2015 10:39 AM (AIY+0)

145 136 At least Trapper John is a conservative in real life ( I think ). Maybe that's why Wayne Rogers left the series.
Posted by: Max Rockatansky at November 15, 2015 10:33 AM (Z+ic4)

We know why Larry Linville left the series. He said that there just wasn't anything more he could do with the Frank Burns character that he hadn't already done. The writers never gave Burns any room for growth or development.

Charles Emerson Winchester, at least, wasn't steamrollered every episode by Hawkeye and B.J. like they did Burns, so that, at least, was an improvement.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:40 AM (k0nf7)

146 Is the moderator on CBS Face the Nation a fag, or does he just talk like one?

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 15, 2015 10:36 AM (jJRIy)

Is his sh*t all retarded?

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:41 AM (k0nf7)

147 It wasn't just Alda. The main writers, Larry Gelbart
and whatsisface I can't remember his name, openly admitted in
interviews that they were actually writing about the Vietnam War, only
using the Korean War as a proxy.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:31 AM (k0nf7)

My understanding was that Alda demanded and got partial control of the story line and script after the first season. Where it had been a comedy before it turned into an anti-war Democrat propaganda show.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:41 AM (t2KH5)

148 Patricia McKillip's bard books are sort of forgotten classics of fantasy, great stuff in a very unique world that I recommend to all readers. There's a lot of great older fantasy writing that people have forgotten because of modern books, which is a shame.

The Big Sleep basically breaks all the laws of novel writing and detective novels. The mystery is really secondary to the characters and interaction. The plot is nearly incomprehensible, and some parts are never actually resolved (who killed the chauffeur? Even Chandler admits he forgot about the guy).

But it all works. Its a masterpiece, a book that redefined the hard boiled PI and has become a legend in American literature.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:42 AM (39g3+)

149 Just picked up Greg Gutfeld's "How to be Right."

Ch 2 - Why The Right Loses Argument

"The left is excellent at extolling horrible ideas; the right is horrible at extolling excellent ideas.

"Compare Russel Brand with Mark Levin. My politics align more with Levin, but Brand still makes me giggle. And I hate his politics. He's a piece of hair dog sh*t, but he's quick witted -- and that makes him a persuasive piece of hairy dog sh*t.

"Republicans handle humor the way Democrats handle your money: badly."

Just starting it, but it seems to be typical Gutfeld, with a bit of Breitbart for flavor. Good stuff.

Posted by: doug at November 15, 2015 10:42 AM (rJI/e)

150 On Portugal: Concentrating on the 18th C earthquake overlooks the effect of the 60 year union of thrones with Spain. In 1580, Phillip II became Phillip I* of Portugal; the union lasted until 1640. (It was somewhat analogous to the Anglo-Scottish situation.) That drew Portugal into the war with the Dutch, in which they took it on the chin, losing much of their eastern empire; even for a while, NE Brazil. Although Spain kept its promise that Portuguese would still administer their portion, it did mean that their strategic needs were subordinated to Spain's.

Of course, it can also be argued that Portugal didn't have the population to sustain it anyway. I've read that about half the men shipped out to the east did en route.

*OK, really Felipe I.

Posted by: George LeS at November 15, 2015 10:43 AM (etvdr)

151 I just finished doing (not a small library full) some personal study into game theory. It is fascinating to me what math can reveal and where those revelations can lead, e.g.; for me anyway, the conclusions one can draw from societal norms - traditional values, in other words.
Posted by: Mr Macca Bean at November 15, 2015 10:26 AM (BZAd3)

yay, another nerd-reader like me!
Hello, mate!

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at November 15, 2015 10:43 AM (qCMvj)

152 Getting in a Veteran Day mood I'm reading Top of the Ladder Marine Operations in the Northern Solomon's. Jungle fighting with the health hazards is unimaginable.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 10:43 AM (gviQk)

153 Note: The above is, itself, quite oversimplified. But there was more to the decline than the earthquake.

Posted by: George LeS at November 15, 2015 10:44 AM (etvdr)

154 "Hey, let's go take Sicily! It'll be a piece of cake!"

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living

Actually, that part of the book was what I was thinking about when people were talking about wartime propaganda. Pressfield writes and explains it in a way that makes more sense out of why it happened.

Alcibiades (and others) were advocating the campaign against Syracuse (on what we now call Sicily), and spoke to all the major families, and lodges of male adults, to get them to subscribe (raise money for) the campaign. Alcibiades was to lead it, but just when the campaign was to launch from Athens, a new scandal erupted regarding him, and he fled for his life.

The campaign was then totally mismanaged, resulting in the loss of nearly all the men and ships sent. This probably was the single biggest reason that Athens ultimately lost the war. It was supposed to be a strategic master stroke to outflank Sparta, and instead it was an unmitigated disaster.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at November 15, 2015 10:44 AM (+1T7c)

155 He said that there just wasn't anything more he could do with the Frank Burns character that he hadn't already done

He was right, the Frank Burns character was boring and one-dimensional. And not in an interesting way like, say, Ted Knight. He was weak and cringing and easily manipulated, stupid and boring. That's interesting for a while but he had to go.

Of course, from then on, Linville was permanently cast as Frank Burns and couldn't get any decent work. He was too good at the role.

I never liked the character anyway, he was basically a mockery of Christian patriotism in every aspect.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:45 AM (39g3+)

156 I hate to start anything with "to be fair to the Germans." BUT...
That progressive era was hard-assed as hell. The Germans certainly didn't invent being prick assholes. Apparently everyone wanted to be more like the Romans.

The world looked with general approval on American treatment of tribes, for instance. The British invention of civilian concentration camps, and the use of women and children as human shields on the front of trains, in the Boer wars was not considered excessive. When the Belgians would not vote for a good Christian colonization of Africa, their king bought one out of the palace sock-drawer money, and administered it so harshly that tough-guy T.Roosevelt sent him a "Dude" cable.

The way to civilize people, or pacify them, in "those days" was with a good kick in the ass, and that phrase was widely used in Germany. This was believed in more ardently by modern social reformers (Bismarck the liberal!) than by conservatives, but, it was general. And, say so or not, when we get down to cases, we still believe this today. "I did not bring artillery..."

Posted by: Stringer Davis at November 15, 2015 10:46 AM (xq1UY)

157 I do believe it has to be hammered home what these animals do before people go all kumbaya.

Too late.

Posted by: Attention whoring piano guy playing Imagine at November 15, 2015 10:46 AM (LAe3v)

158 I am troubled by the inferred beliefs behind this statement in the original post:

"And unlike WWI, this time around the enemy was actually WORSE than what we were led to believe."

I know there was a backlash against a lot of the anti-German propaganda from World War 1, but I wonder if the truth about Germany in WW1 is still worse than the common opinion now: consider that at the end of the war, as they were losing everywhere else, they still managed to forment a civil war in Russia and eventually support the victory of the Communists over the rest of the country.

So, even in loss, they managed to help create a totalitarian dictatorship that killed tens of millions of people, if not more.

I suspect we're only free to be talking about how the Germans Were Less Evil Than The Propaganda (or, in my case, not) because they lost the war.

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 10:47 AM (2eZBM)

159
The adult with autism cried, "How am I supposed to do my work if people don't understand me?"

The doctor responded sternly, "You don't always need to be understood!"

^^^
That's from a documentary I watched a little of today that was HBO. It was about an adult young woman with autism. The scene I saw was at her work-training place, a bakery, for adults.

If I didn't know this woman/girl had autism, I would've said she acted exactly like most college kids today, except she was sincere.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a low profile tip and ergonomical handle at November 15, 2015 10:49 AM (6a1ih)

160 "The left is excellent at extolling horrible ideas; the right is horrible at extolling excellent ideas.

This isn't exactly fair. There are some very funny, witty, and intelligent guys doing a great job promoting the right's ideas like Stephen Crowder and Nick DiPaolo. They're just instantly destroyed in the popular culture where they aren't simply ignored and buried. They're starved of attention and influence, so it doesn't matter how persuasive and engaging they are.

Plus, the left's ideas primarily appeal to childish emotion "we should be nicer" whereas the right's appeal to reason and fact "this works" and you can reach a broader segment of the public with sophistry and motion than you can truth. Telling people "we're all going to have to work harder and sacrifice" is never going to appeal as much as "here's more free stuff!"

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 10:49 AM (39g3+)

161
The Big Sleep basically breaks all the laws of novel writing and detective novels. The mystery is really secondary to the characters and interaction. The plot is nearly incomprehensible, and some parts are never actually resolved (who killed the chauffeur? Even Chandler admits he forgot about the guy).

This is discussed in the wiki entry for The Big Sleep, and it's quite interesting.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:50 AM (k0nf7)

162 Greetings, O Book Thread!
So nice to see the Horde hanging around in their jammies discussing books like they are grownups or something. We could rebuild civilization from the Book Threads alone--and we may have to.

Before I get back to writing, wanted to point out a very handy tool for the reading Moron on a budget. EreaderIQ (http://www.ereaderiq.com/) is a free service that lets you sign up for price watches on particular books, or a particular author. Was *very* handy last week when a huge swath of Georgette Heyer went on sale for $1.99 apiece (vs. 9.99, sheesh!). It has other clever options for freebies and suchlike, but the author/book watch is the one I use the most.

Finished "The Aeronaut's Windlass" by Butcher and enjoyed it very much. Giving citizenship to cats, however, is going to end in tears. Much as I love the fuzzy little bastards, they don't do democracy at *all*.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at November 15, 2015 10:51 AM (GG9V6)

163 A very good read for a Sunday morning, OM. I mean your stuff, I'm sure the books themselves are worth pursuing.

Regarding the rape stuff, I had the occasion recently to have a conversation with friend who finally disclosed to me what I already pretty much knew: she had been raped years earlier.

One thing that I understand from talking to her, she's very VERY attractive, and men she encounters treat her differently because of that. She has told me that she is essentially hit on by every man she meets (I'm a man, and... eh, I've never HIT on her, but...). She says especially men in positions of authority, there appears to be this sense of entitlement among them, in that if they tell her how beautiful she is, she's supposed to be grateful.

The extent to which some of these men are relatively harmless, versus those who may very well be sociopaths and predators appears to her to be on a continuum. I would argue there is more of a divide, but I'm not going to argue with her about it.

So my point is, yeah, most women probably DO encounter the predators often enough, and most likely the ones who are attractive either have a spidey sense that helps keep them safe, or they become victimized. Or both.

I wish it were less common than it is. Sadly, I think it's not uncommon at all. Another casualty of the casual sex era. Men who think they can "hit it" all the time, any time, and with enough money/power, with anyone they choose.

Posted by: BurtTC at November 15, 2015 10:52 AM (Dj0WE)

164 I suspect we're only free to be talking about how
the Germans Were Less Evil Than The Propaganda (or, in my case, not)
because they lost the war.

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 10:47 AM

Imagine what books written 50 years from now about the Age of Choom will look like.

Will future writers be constrained by the P.C. attitudes that fill our media? Or will they be honest about the atrocities committed by the Muzzies, the treason of so many elected officials here, and the malfeasance of the MFM?

Since so much of the potential source material has already been thoroughly scrubbed, I suspect the truth about the Mocha Messiah and his enablers will never be told.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 10:52 AM (OSULx)

165 Not saying it doesn't bothers me but have watched many gruesome stills and video clips. The I think Jordanian officer who in a cage doused in gas and set on fire was a act of amazing bravery or religious finality. I've mentioned watching beheadings very rarely to one one one conversation but try to give my opinion you need to see evil to appreciate why it must be fought at every opportunity. Even if it means going to some foreign hell hole to do it.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 10:52 AM (gviQk)

166 I suspect we're only free to be talking about how the Germans Were Less Evil Than The Propaganda (or, in my case, not) because they lost the war.

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 10:47 AM (2eZBM)

You may be right. Interestingly enough, I've heard there was some question during that time as to when America entered the European War, whose side would we be on. There are lots of German immigrants in America and lots of pro-German sentiment in those days.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:54 AM (k0nf7)

167 I came across a recording on Youtube, apparently the only surviving copy, of Lewis' radio broadcast of part of what became "Mere Christianity". I always wondered how such an intellectual address on radio could have made such an impact. But Lewis' cadence and clarity comes through beautifully. Worth the few minutes to listen.

That brings up another unexpected branch: concern that people are losing the ability to focus on intellectual matters for more than a moment. It's not just youngsters with tweets and ten word texting. It took me a chapter to relax into the pace of LOTR without starting to get itchy about email or following some breaking news. Even more so for new material like "The Everlasting Man". That, and some of Lewis' essays, are so rich they require concentration to glean their benefits. I knew I was, finally succeeding when an hour or more of reading them would go by without realizing the time. That was what got me thinking about the reading man cave idea.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 10:56 AM (FvdPb)

168 Skip-
I've seen none of the videos, and don't plan to. They are snuff films, pure and simple. I know I want these people to die. That's good enough.

Posted by: pep at November 15, 2015 10:56 AM (LAe3v)

169 What was the statistic in Scandanavia, that 70% of all rapes are committed by moslems?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at November 15, 2015 09:52 AM (B8JRQ)

In Sweden, that number is 100%, which makes your point all the more telling.

Posted by: RickZ at November 15, 2015 10:56 AM (dcIVz)

170 And the US media, as we all know, basically invented "advocacy journalism" during the Spanish-American War.

All of this was 16 years before WWI.

Posted by: zombie at November 15, 2015 10:12 AM (jBuUi)

Dang. I had completely forgotten about the Spanish American War.

You're right, though.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 10:57 AM (k0nf7)

171 166 - I don't agree that there was a question, yes there were German American social groups and many leftists were in support but don't see any chance things could have been different

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 10:58 AM (gviQk)

172 Gardening thread is NOOD.

Posted by: Y-not at November 15, 2015 10:58 AM (t5zYU)

173 164 Will future writers be constrained by the P.C.
attitudes that fill our media? Or will they be honest about the
atrocities committed by the Muzzies, the treason of so many elected
officials here, and the malfeasance of the MFM?

Since so much of
the potential source material has already been thoroughly scrubbed, I
suspect the truth about the Mocha Messiah and his enablers will never be
told.

Posted by: MrScribbler at November 15, 2015 10:52 AM (OSULx)

Since most historians do their research by reading newspapers now all history is liberal slanted because their sources are liberal slanted. It is the very rare historian who compiles his history from direct sources such as correspondence and writings of the people he is researching.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 10:59 AM (t2KH5)

174 There were two sequels to Colossus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus_(novel)

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at November 15, 2015 10:59 AM (FkBIv)

175 Dang. I had completely forgotten about the Spanish American War.

Was that the one ginned up by Charles Foster Kane?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at November 15, 2015 11:02 AM (FkBIv)

176 Got up late and have to get ready for church. Won't get to the book thread until later. God bless the Horde!

Posted by: baldilocks at November 15, 2015 11:02 AM (ys2UW)

177 167 I came across a recording on Youtube, apparently the only surviving copy, of Lewis' radio broadcast of part of what became "Mere Christianity".

And JTB neglects to post the relevant link. He's obviously a horrible person.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:02 AM (k0nf7)

178 Good morning, y'all.

I recently finished The Promise (Robert Crais). I devoured the Elvis Cole series in order on advice found in th AoSHQ Book Thread as well the stand alone K-9 story (Suspect). I waited a year for The Promise to be available from my library's e-book shelves. I loved it. Highly recommended. Probably best to know the entire cast before reading. So, I recommend reading them all first.

Now reading Make Me. Love Reacher, and have read them all as well, but this one is slow going so far. Could be that I am picturing Tom Cruise versus the giant hero Reacher used to be in my mind.

I'm always looking for characters that are selfless instruments of Providence and retribution.

Any suggestions would be checked out. Thanks in advance.

Posted by: Hey, cool statue! Let's get more ASAP! at November 15, 2015 11:03 AM (ZedYY)

179 I fault no one for not wanting to see any of these. I have been a military history nut since I could read. War is hell and should not be taken lightly.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:03 AM (gviQk)

180 The Sicilian Expedition was doomed from the start. The island was simply too big and too far away. And even though most of the Greeks there were Dorians they really hadn't given or offered Sparta any real material support. It was like whacking a hornet nest with a stick.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at November 15, 2015 11:04 AM (tEDMc)

181 Apropos of nothing, but writing some longer comments makes me realize, again, that I HATE typing on a computer. I am faster and more accurate on my Royal KMM manual typewriter from 1939 and would hook it up to the computer if there were some easy way to do so.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:04 AM (FvdPb)

182 Patricia McKillip's bard books are sort of forgotten classics of
fantasy, great stuff in a very unique world that I recommend to all
readers. There's a lot of great older fantasy writing that people have
forgotten because of modern books, which is a shame.

Let me second this. In case you don't know which books are in the series, it's composed of The Riddle Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind.

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 11:05 AM (2eZBM)

183 Anyone around able to recommend a good book on the Crusades? I'm looking for one with historical background as to why the Crusades were declared and how they benefited Europe.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by: NJRob at November 15, 2015 11:07 AM (jJkdf)

184 181 Apropos of nothing, but writing some longer comments makes me realize, again, that I HATE typing on a computer. I am faster and more accurate on my Royal KMM manual typewriter from 1939 and would hook it up to the computer if there were some easy way to do so.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:04 AM (FvdPb)

Really? The computer saved me from a lifetime of typing mistakes. I'm such a lousy typist, the entire page would be one giant blob of white-out. I still make mistakes, you just can't see 'em because, backspace.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:07 AM (k0nf7)

185 So, I could use some elbows to forget what a fvcking disaster Obama is.

How about an early football thread?

I so move, can I get a second?

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 15, 2015 11:07 AM (jJRIy)

186 25 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. This has been another wonderful week for reading. In fact, it has been a reading tree that has grown branches in unexpected and interesting directions.

Read some more of LOTR. One unexpected branch was by gaining more insight into the influences on Tolkien and Lewis I am getting more out of the story. This is mildly annoying as after half a century of reading LOTR there shouldn't be any more to be gleaned.

Reading "A Hobbit, A Wardrobe ..." OM mentioned led to Chesterton's "The Everlasting Man". Dear God, the man could write! I'm only about a quarter of the way through it and I am fascinated. More on that in a later comment.

Learning more about Lewis' and Chesterton's nonfiction has grown a branch pointing toward George MacDonald, a huge influence on them and many others. That reading will begin soon.
Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:24 AM (FvdPb)

I've read a little bit of MacDonald. His best, IMHO, is Lilith, which I read in University and have reread several times since.
Lilith was, according to Jewish legend, the first bride of Adam.
MacDonald was a universalist, who believe all creation will eventually be redeemed (in other words he did not believe in the possibility of eternal damnation).

I know this is late.

Posted by: Northernlurker, feeling grumpy today at November 15, 2015 11:08 AM (4rzL1)

187 A perfect Sunday morning, live book thread and a f-1 race, football immediately after. The drivers had a moment of silence for the victims in Paris.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:10 AM (gviQk)

188 183 Anyone around able to recommend a good book on the Crusades? I'm looking for one with historical background as to why the Crusades were declared and how they benefited Europe.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by: NJRob at November 15, 2015 11:07 AM (jJkdf)

Try "God's Battalions" by Rodney Stark.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:11 AM (k0nf7)

189 I know this is late.

Posted by: Northernlurker, feeling grumpy today at November 15, 2015 11:08 AM (4rzL1)

It's never too late for the book thread.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:12 AM (k0nf7)

190 Before you praise that German general too highly, the Germans still resisted the Allied advance into Paris street by street causing death and destruction.

As for post Great War disillusionment due to being lied to, that is something I would have to look into. While President Wilson's draconian actions like censorship receives a fair bit of blame in spreading the Spanish Flu in Barry's book The Great Influenza I don't recall any comments on consequences.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:13 AM (Mqay0)

191 People are posting uncensored an photo of the blood bath and it is a blood bath. It looks like people were put into small groups before being murdered. I have mixed feelings about showing victims but I do believe it has to be hammered home what these animals do before people go all kumbaya.
Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 10:33 AM (iQIUe)

I have looked at the photo for this exact reason. It looks like as people were shot, they were then dragged into groups. You can see the trails of blood have had bodies dragged through them, not something a coroner or police would do. I have no idea why these animals would take the time or effort to do that.

Posted by: Jen the original at November 15, 2015 11:14 AM (dzKf1)

192 re: Colossus, there is always Harlan Ellison's novella I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream which won a Hugo. Such a self-aware computer had nuked the Earth and only kept a few humans alive for sadistic pleasure.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:16 AM (Mqay0)

193 191- My guess for the shear horror of it

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:16 AM (gviQk)

194 A mountain of bodies - resist and you will be added to the pile of bodies.

Vlad Tepes and his wall of humans on wooden stakes unnerved his Muslim enemy.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:18 AM (Mqay0)

195 Thanks for the tip, Sabrina Chase, I'll have to look into that. I hope they track all books, not just mainstream ones, hint hint.

One of these days I'll get to a Common Knowledge post about the Spanish-American War and how much of an actual impact the press had. Hint: the bits in Citizen Kane about making a war happen were, get this, fiction.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 11:19 AM (39g3+)

196 It looks like as people were shot, they were then dragged into groups. You can see the trails of blood have had bodies dragged through them, not something a coroner or police would do. I have no idea why these animals would take the time or effort to do that.

Posted by: Jen the original at November 15, 2015 11:14 AM (dzKf1)

Precisely because it makes for more horrific photos. ISIS' goal is to terrorize us into submission.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:20 AM (k0nf7)

197
Jackie Cooper's memoir, Please Dont Shoot My Dog, is pretty good. After his stint as a child actor, he directed, including a number of episodes of Mash. He wrote that Alda was a huge pain in the ass.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:20 AM (iQIUe)

198 WWI was another matter entirely, of course. The press did really play this one up, and Wilson basically became a dictator. The US federal government outlawed even disagreeing with the war, banned German language classes and German social groups having meetings, etc. It was pretty awful and unAmerican, particularly for such a completely stupid war we had no reason to be a part of.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 11:21 AM (39g3+)

199 Try "God's Battalions" by Rodney Stark.
Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:11 AM (k0nf7)
----

Read the blurb and a couple of reviews from Amazon and it looks like what I'm trying to find. Just uploaded it to my Kindle. Thanks.

Posted by: NJRob at November 15, 2015 11:21 AM (FDyew)

200 177 ... OM, I don't know how to post a URL in the comments. I had heard there was a fragment of the original broadcast out there and hoped it would be on Youtube. I just went there and searched for Lewis radio broadcast Mere Christianity. There are several readings of it but only the one that has Lewis' original. It's in two parts.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:22 AM (FvdPb)

201 195 One of these days I'll get to a Common Knowledge
post about the Spanish-American War and how much of an actual impact the
press had. Hint: the bits in Citizen Kane about making a war happen were, get this, fiction.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 11:19 AM (39g3+)

But Randolph Hearst did take credit for starting the war with his "yellow press".

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 11:23 AM (t2KH5)

202 184 ... I'm a terrible typist but for some unknown reason I am faster and more accurate on a manual typewriter. It's not a matter of good, just not as bad. I'm sure there is a doctoral thesis in there for someone.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:26 AM (FvdPb)

203 They may not have bayoneted babies in Belgium, but Germans sure committed plenty of other atrocities in WW1.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:26 AM (iQIUe)

204 He wrote that Alda was a huge pain in the ass.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:20 AM (iQIUe)

Why does that not surprise me?

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:26 AM (k0nf7)

205 The Napoleonic wars, American civil war and WWII are my main interest but will read anything else in military history. There is a fair amount of propaganda in the Napoleonic war era, the main down fall was method of mass distribution.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:27 AM (gviQk)

206 200 177 ... OM, I don't know how to post a URL in the comments. I had heard there was a fragment of the original broadcast out there and hoped it would be on Youtube. I just went there and searched for Lewis radio broadcast Mere Christianity. There are several readings of it but only the one that has Lewis' original. It's in two parts.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:22 AM (FvdPb)

I was just messing with you. I think this is the one you found:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxs3gdtV8A

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:28 AM (k0nf7)

207 The lack of instantaneous mass communications saved Napoleon - the disaster in Egypt. He was able to slip away, return to France, and proclaim a great victory. Even as the forces he left behind surrendered to the English.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:29 AM (Mqay0)

208 The British invention of civilian concentration camps, and the use of women and children as human shields on the front of trains, in the Boer wars was not considered excessive.

During and right after the Second Boer War the Brits took a lot of abuse for their conduct -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opposition_to_the_Second_Boer_War

There was some element of "wait - you're doing this to WHITE people?!" at play here; but at the time Europeans were also disgusted at King Leopold's treatment of the Congo.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 11:31 AM (D65RZ)

209
The next book I read is Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar by Tom Holland.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:32 AM (iQIUe)

210 207 - Same for the Russian campaign, he got back before the army blamed the weather for the defeat instead of military action and capability and raised a new if weaker army.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:35 AM (gviQk)

211 "Vlad Tepes and his wall of humans on wooden stakes unnerved his Muslim enemy."

I feel compelled to point out that this was a Turkish tactic. "Vlad the Impaler" learned that from the Turks, and did it back to them. He didn't invent it.

The Turks are among the most savage civilizations in history and I do not understand how they've escaped the reputation. People spill oceans of ink on British, American, and French badness, but pay no attention whatever to the Turks skinning people alive and putting their flayed bodies into museums, or enslaving Christian boys and turning them into soldiers to go back and murder their parents, or kidnapping Christian women as rape dolls well into the 19th century, honest to goodness Genocides, banning the printing press for the express purpose of keeping their populations illiterate and ignorant, and so one.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 11:36 AM (x0/Qc)

212 Motion for an early football thread seconded.

No offense to the Blessed Book Thread, but I, too, Am in need of an elbow hit.

Posted by: Sharkman at November 15, 2015 11:36 AM (PTcCb)

213 Norman Angel published a book shortly before WWI entitled The Great Illusion that proved war was impossible. The idea was that modern countries had such resources that to defeat one would cost far more than a country could hope to gain thus no country would make the irrational decision to go to war. He was, of course, both right and wrong. Victory cost far more than it was worth but countries went to war anyway.

The French film borrowed its title from this book but is an entirely different work.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at November 15, 2015 11:37 AM (Nwg0u)

214 As I see how much of today's BS situations is an echo of shit that began over a century ago, I get really pissed at the time I wasted on twentieth century literature like "Great Gatsby" and Faulkner and Hemingway. Everything had to be depressing and emphasizing futility to be of value. Never a mention of the edification and hopefulness to be found in Lewis, Chesterton, et al. Same for philosophy courses. Bah!

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:37 AM (FvdPb)

215 Apostate, the term you are looking for is Jannisary for turning the children of unbelievers into the foot soldiers of Islam.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:39 AM (Mqay0)

216 I hate when things interrupt the Book Thread, but errands call. BBL

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 11:39 AM (FvdPb)

217
The M Room: Secret Listeners, by Helen Fry.

Based on the secret recordings of German generals POWs. A couple of them complained that only Napoleon and Hitler were unaware that it got cold in Russia during the winter.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:40 AM (iQIUe)

218 PS. My post about the 1871 war was a total garbled mess, so... um... don't cite it in a footnote. According to Wikipedia Napoleon III lost his battle (and government) in 1870, and the Third French Republic is what kept losing battles in 1871. That and the Paris Commune.

Like I said... chaotic.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 11:40 AM (D65RZ)

219 212- There are cheerleader web sites, had to see after showing some pretty bad Eagle cheerleader uniforms a few weeks ago after comments said they weren't up to their code.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:41 AM (gviQk)

220 Apostate, the term you are looking for is Jannisary for turning the children of unbelievers into the foot soldiers of Islam.
Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:39 AM (Mqay0)

Why can't we do the same back to them? Unleash teh Jesuits!

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:41 AM (k0nf7)

221 "Apostate, the term you are looking for is Jannisary for turning the children of unbelievers into the foot soldiers of Islam."

Oh, I know. I omitted it on purpose. People tend to think, "oh, they raised Janissaries from Christian populations" like it's a voluntary, sterile, military recruitment transaction and without considering what it MEANT.

Enslaving little boys, training them as slave-soldiers, and sending them to kill their own families in the Balkans is a little wordier, but much more honest.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 11:42 AM (x0/Qc)

222 The motion for an early elbows thread having received a second, a call for a vote is in order.

All opposed say nah, all in favor say aye.

Hearing no nahs the motion passes unanimously, bring on the elbows.

Posted by: Nip Sip at November 15, 2015 11:43 AM (jJRIy)

223
And Iraq and Iran turned their own little boys into mine sweepers: Here, kids, go run out on the field. I shite you not.They sent them running before the tank attacks. Monsters...

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:45 AM (iQIUe)

224 Never a mention of the edification and hopefulness to be found in Lewis, Chesterton, et al.

Which is precisely the reason that those are the main "moderns" I teach in my lit classes and the reason I became a medievalist instead of a modernist--studying the literature Lewis and Tolkien taught rather than the lit they were reacting against. (Andrew Lazo, whom I know slightly through CSL Foundation circles, has a chapter in his dissertation entitled "The Moderns and Why You Should Hate Them.")

Speaking of, "On Fairy-stories" and The Abolition of Man this week. Then we get a whole week off for Thanksgiving--huzzah!

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at November 15, 2015 11:45 AM (iuQS7)

225 OM, because only totalitarian arses do that. Like Islam, Communism, or Fascism.

Apostate, you built quite a castle of commentary jumping off from one sentence.

On another tack I could mention how during the War for American Independence, the British tossed people into prison barges which were definitely not Club Med cruise ships.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:48 AM (Mqay0)

226
When the Sultan kicked the bucket, all the little boys from his harem were strangled. Thanks, dad!

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:49 AM (iQIUe)

227 I'm already sick of the candle-light vigils, the hand-wringing,the grief junkies with their flowers , the cheesy Farcebook French-flag icons and postings of Lennon's execrable "imagine", and all the other flotsum and jetsam of our maudlin culture. The people engaging in this have no idea how great the threat is to our culture and keep acting as though all we need to do is keep singing Kumbaya and all will turn out okay.
The initial anger needs to be stoked until thousands of jihadis are killed. All this maudlin stuff does is sap strength. I'm sorry but it's bullshit.

Posted by: JoeF. at November 15, 2015 11:50 AM (BFJjv)

228 And Iraq and Iran turned their own little boys into mine sweepers: Here, kids, go run out on the field. I shite you not.

The Ayatollah's brass gave the tykes little plastic keys and told each one, this one will open the gate of Paradise

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 11:50 AM (D65RZ)

229 The Iranians bought thousands of little plastic keys. Gave a key to each boy. And sent them into the minefields saying the key would let them into Paradise.

There is definitely the fodder for a very very black novel lurking in there. Dante meets despair as the boys discover an afterlife of torment because Allah has refused them entry to Paradise.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 11:50 AM (Mqay0)

230 That CS Lewis audio recording on youtube is great. He sounds like a veddy proper Englishman. In fact, if I were going to do a parody of a stuffy English guy, Lewis' voice would be just about perfect.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 11:51 AM (k0nf7)

231 I'm ok with a football thread but can only juggle two web sites on my kindle and am following f-1 timing and scoring and the book thread.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 11:51 AM (gviQk)

232 There are sequels to Colussus that are quite fun too. The computers merge and decide that to meet humanity's need for war they should stage massive naval battles. Among other progressive projects for re-engineering human society.

Posted by: Sanfranpsycho at November 15, 2015 11:51 AM (afaIk)

233 I feel like I have to deny that Anna and I are twins, or clones with a single chromosome switched, or something.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 11:52 AM (D65RZ)

234 There is a fair amount of propaganda in the Napoleonic war era

Yeah Napoleon basically invented the modern police state. He had the first real state police, the first really organized system of turning people into informants against each other, the first real effort to control information and communication, etc. He used Le Moniteur to control understanding of events and shape public opinion.

Some people hold him up as a hero or something but he was one of the worst dictatorial monsters in history.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 11:55 AM (39g3+)

235 Hey, y'all. I've signed up for the Goodreads group.

Posted by: Captain Whitebread at November 15, 2015 11:55 AM (rJUlF)

236 Finished Camp of the Saints by Jean Raspail. The concept was clever enough for its time, and it's certainly relevant today, but it would have been more suited to short fiction. If you can get through the sometimes painful racialism of the novel, there are entertaining moments and characters, but the writing itself is uninspired and repetitive.

I picked up the Kindle sample for Houellebecq's Submission, now that it's available in translation. I'm sure someone has beaten me to it. Any comments? Is it worth the price of admission? At first blush, the writing seems immeasurably superior to Raspail.

Posted by: Patrick Shea at November 15, 2015 11:57 AM (+fvQu)

237 I love listening to Lewis' few surviving recordings--ten years ago or so, the Episcopal Media Center released a couple of sets, one of miscellaneous recordings and one of the broadcasts that became The Four Loves. You can tell why Tolkien based Fangorn's voice on Lewis'!

Somewhere on Youtube, I've also run across some recordings of Chesterton (this was a while ago, so they may not still be there). I was kind of surprised that his voice was a fairly high tenor.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at November 15, 2015 11:57 AM (iuQS7)

238 Not too much reading done this week as I've focused on writing. Finishing up a couple of books to clear the decks and then going to download some of the books written by others of the Horde so I can do some reviews.

I posted the first couple of chapters of the current novel I'm writing on my website for those that would like a taste. Feel free to leave comments. It's a contemporary fantasy with a male protagonist who's actually masculine. Seems to be lacking in the young adult genre.

In countdown mode for my trip to Africa - 41 days and a wake-up.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at November 15, 2015 11:58 AM (L0bUn)

239 Fun fact about Napoleon III - he had corrupted the state institutions so badly that the satirical dialogue composed in his "honour" got stolen by the Czar and (lightly) converted into the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Basically everything the nineteenth-century tyrants actually did, got projected onto teh joooooz.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 11:58 AM (D65RZ)

240 "And Iraq and Iran turned their own little boys into mine sweepers: Here, kids, go run out on the field. I shite you not.They sent them running before the tank attacks. Monsters..."

The Basij. Only the Iranians did that. They gave the kids little plastic keys to hang around their necks and told them they were the "keys to heaven."

[just noticed that this was already said, like three times... I need to be quicker on the uptake. Serves me right for doing calculus while I read the thread.]

And I'd bet you a thousand dollars that Obama doesn't know any of that. He actually thinks that the Iranians don't REALLY believe the things they say they believe. Because he doesn't.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 11:59 AM (x0/Qc)

241
I thought Elizabeth I invented the police state? Lord knows she had enough spies on the payroll. And all those heads on pikes when you entered London - shudder.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 11:59 AM (iQIUe)

242 I do remember reading a piece by H.L. Mencken from the 1920s, discussing some of the more over-the-top anti-German propaganda from WWI. He was especially incensed by one story from the British press that the Germans were making soap out of murdered Belgians.

I always wondered if some SS guy read that same story and kept it in mind . . .

Posted by: Trimegistus at November 15, 2015 11:59 AM (RDMD8)

243 I don't think lefties read history because they certainly don't learn anything from it

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 12:02 PM (gviQk)

244 Suicide bombers are assured they feel no pain when they martyr themselves.

To understand the ideas behind the whole martyr thing in Islam, you have to realize that everyone except a very select few go to hell in Islam. There they are tortured and punished for their sins, then they get to go to paradise. Some may never get out, I can't be sure exactly because the doctrine is not very clearly spelled out in the Koran and I haven't read any of the Hadith.

However, one loophole is dying while fighting a holy war. That's where the 72 virgins etc come from - that's just how heaven is described in the Koran (note: the Arabic says 72 boys or girls in one of the passages, by the way - and Muhammad wasn't reaching out to women). What they're promised isn't a special heaven, but an express ticket.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:02 PM (39g3+)

245
Who the hell wants a key to the gate to paradise? Not me. I would want to go back home to my mom.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 12:03 PM (iQIUe)

246 I thought Elizabeth I invented the police state?

She was one of many tyrants through history that used terror and spies to control their subjects, but Napoleon turned it into a modern art form.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:04 PM (39g3+)

247 There standing upon a plain of the finest alabaster is a wall of gray granite that stands taller than three humans. As far as the human eye can see the wall and plain are unbroken save the ornate gates of gold that gleam from an unseen light.

The wounded and wailing figures resolve themselves into children who drag their shattered bodies towards those gates, upon the alabaster they leave a trail of blood and bits. Finally one hears some of the voices calling out in a sing-song chant, "Allah is merciful. Paradise awaits us faithful. It is the will of Allah."

Mustaffa is the first to reach the gates with their silver lock. He reaches out with his one remaining hand that is trembling. He holds a simple red plastic key in his left hand that is missing two fingers. With his failing strength he puts the key in the lock and tries to twist. And nothing happens. Again he tries only to meet failure once more.

Then another boy pushes Mustaffa aside and tries. His key fails. And so it goes, each boy finding out the lock does not budge. The gates to Paradise remaining firmly closed.

Posted by: Anna Puma at November 15, 2015 12:04 PM (Mqay0)

248 And I'd bet you a thousand dollars that Obama doesn't know any of that. He actually thinks that the Iranians don't REALLY believe the things they say they believe. Because he doesn't.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 11:59 AM (x0/Qc)

Right, and I think this is one of the main progressive conceits. It's a willful blindness born of myopia and (in Obama's case) a heavy dose of narcissism.

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 12:05 PM (k0nf7)

249
If an express ticket is so great, how come the higher ups never take it? It's always the young and dumb that are sent out to kill themselves and murder people.

With everyone having access to the internet, not sure why there isnt more mocking of this BS, with the hope young Achmed sees it.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 12:06 PM (iQIUe)

250 Christopher Taylor - I would nitpick that the exact number "72" comes from Sahih Muslim, not the Qur'an.

It is, however, Qur'anic that most Muslims do a stint in Hell.
http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/muslims_in_hell.htm

...except for the martyrs.
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/019-killing-to-avoid-hell.htm

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 12:07 PM (D65RZ)

251 @Anna Puma. Render it in verse and title it, "The Basij." Beats the hell out of bees, or whatever tripe poetry that guy who pretended to be Asian got published the other month.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 12:07 PM (x0/Qc)

252 Oh they're insisting with a petulant little stamp of the foot that these murdering scumbags in Paris are not Muslim. Their argument? Some Muslim clerics condemn them.

The raw, flaming arrogance of declaring that you know someone's heart and faith better than they do is just inconceivable to me. If someone declares themselves Muslim, names themselves ISLAMIC States, and shouts the name of the Muslim god while they murder, it takes someone willfully ignorant or simply dishonest to claim they simply cannot be Muslim.

I know why they do it. Its 1 part fear of backlash, 1 part just ignorant pacifistic nonsense, 2 parts fear of a rising united support for war against terror, and 6 parts "make sure the only enemies people recognize are Republicans, Christians, and Conservatives."

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:08 PM (39g3+)

253 Taquiya allows the Clerics to say whatever they must if it advances their causes.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at November 15, 2015 12:10 PM (XvWx1)

254 If an express ticket is so great, how come the higher ups never take it?

Yeah well. That never seems to be the question the martyrs ask.

Although in the case of those children, a lot of them were probably not exactly living in luxury, so a promised paradise of comfort, ease, regular food, and pleasure probably sounded a lot better than going back home.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:11 PM (39g3+)

255 ManWithNoParty - not quite. Taqiya is only used for fear of a backlash.... which is why it's become a full-on religious commandment in Shi'ism, because the Shi'ites are the Muslims who've historically endured the most oppression. (From other Muslims.)

Mudarat is the deceit used to *advance* the sabil Allah.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 12:12 PM (D65RZ)

256 ManWithNoParty - not quite. Taqiya is only used for fear of a backlash.... which is why it's become a full-on religious commandment in Shi'ism, because the Shi'ites are the Muslims who've historically endured the most oppression. (From other Muslims.)

Mudarat is the deceit used to *advance* the sabil Allah.
Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at November 15, 2015 12:12 PM (D65RZ)

******

Wouldn't the fear of backlash apply in this case?

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at November 15, 2015 12:14 PM (XvWx1)

257 Reading" A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. 1599" by James Shapiro. Lots of info about the events and personalities that influenced the Bard on his journey to becoming the English speaking world's greatest playwright. Loving all the details about Shakespeare's fellow playwrights and actors.

Posted by: Tuna at November 15, 2015 12:15 PM (JSovD)

258 Thanks I couldn't remember the term. Taquiya was the one I think that originated from a Muslim who didn't lie to his Muslim ruler and was put to death for it, so an exception was put into the system where you could lie to survive.

Mudarat is just part of the "do anything to advance he cause of Islam and all is forgiven" that came up after the Koran. There are parts of the Koran that specifically and vigorously condemn a lot of the stuff that is done in the name of Allah, but later clerics and teachers kept adding to the official law...

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:16 PM (39g3+)

259 "Yeah well. That never seems to be the question the martyrs ask."

Sure they do. But simply killing yourself as quickly as possible escapes the doctrine (at least, it does now; originally, lots of jihadis did this). You have to wage jihad "honestly," not just look for the quickest ticket-punch.

Ignorant camel-fucking footsoldiers carry out suicide bombings on buses. Engineers build bombs and maintain weapons. Financiers raise money. The religiously trained inspire, preach, convert, and recruit.

And those latter guys are high priority targets, so they die plenty, too.

Posted by: Apostate at November 15, 2015 12:16 PM (x0/Qc)

260
Notice how some muslim countries are very very picky about who they allow into their country while we are expected to take in any old trash?

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 12:20 PM (iQIUe)

261 OT, re: More relaxing Gabriella in the sidebar. I went to her youtube channel where her version of Aerosmith's Dream On is featured. It's simply outstanding. Amazing what she's doing with a simple guitar.

Posted by: t-bird at November 15, 2015 12:21 PM (RrDm2)

262 I'm not so sure all suicide bombers don't feel any pain. A clip on Blazing Cat Fur a week or so ago had a bomber who blew himself up and was cut off at the waist was still talking, probably wasn't for long.

Posted by: Skip at November 15, 2015 12:23 PM (gviQk)

263 257 Reading" A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. 1599" by James Shapiro. Lots of info about the events and personalities that influenced the Bard on his journey to becoming the English speaking world's greatest playwright. Loving all the details about Shakespeare's fellow playwrights and actors.
Posted by: Tuna at November 15, 2015 12:15 PM (JSovD)

=============
Michael Wood did a two part doc on him that is pretty good and I think he also did the one on his mother. You're right, the details are fascinating.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 12:29 PM (iQIUe)

264 Following up on Anna Puma's story bit: what if, denied heaven, the spirits of these children return to earth. Furious at their inability to achieve paradise as promised yet young and confused by their spiritual state, they lash out at the world in order to earn favor of Allah.

Aware only of bits of information (Iranian clerics etc) they target Israel and the USA with horrific ghostly, supernatural attacks, until a group or single heroic figure convinces them that the real people to blame are the clerics that lied to them, and they can never be laid to rest until those people are dealt with...

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:31 PM (39g3+)

265 Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (FvdPb)

And I agree, your requirements would make a great man cave for us, uh, "seasoned" bibliophiles.
Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 09:47 AM (k0nf7)

Effin' sexists, both of you. Almost the entirety of my house, barring the plumbed rooms and Thor's man cave in thebasement, are thus furnished. And I am no man!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at November 15, 2015 12:31 PM (JqEq4)

266 Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 09:32 AM (FvdPb)

I'm not a man, but I think your idea of a "man cave" is perfect. Victorian middle and upper class homes had such rooms.

Posted by: Donna&&&&V. (brandisher of ampersands) at November 15, 2015 12:32 PM (P8951)

267 Real men don't surrender the entirety of their home save one pathetic room in the basement as a "man cave."

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:34 PM (39g3+)

268 Real men don't surrender the entirety of their home save one pathetic room in the basement as a "man cave."
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:34 PM (39g3+)

******

Real men most certainly do, if they want to remain happily married men.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at November 15, 2015 12:38 PM (XvWx1)

269 Hi there, votermom. I'll be a joinin' that there goodreads group if'n that's okay.

Posted by: Alvin C York at November 15, 2015 12:46 PM (ZedYY)

270 "Let it Burn" doesn't mean the end of the world. It's simply the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of our world, but not the end of History, because something will come after. Besides, I don't think "let it burn" is an elective course. It seems that it's required for society to fall apart, so that man is forced to reconsider while he rebuilds.

Posted by: DFCtomm at November 15, 2015 12:56 PM (MAa9J)

271 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at November 15, 2015 12:34 PM (39g3+)

It isn't a matter of surrendering his home for Thor; he just likes all of his stuff in one big spot.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at November 15, 2015 12:56 PM (JqEq4)

272 Posted by: Alvin C York at November 15, 2015 12:46 PM (ZedYY)

did you send a Join request on goodreads?

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 01:04 PM (cbfNE)

273 I love Patricia McKillip! I try to have a copy of each of her books.

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 01:05 PM (cbfNE)

274 Announcement: If your Join request on goodreads hasnt been approved yet, please check your goodreads inbox (little mail icon upper right of screen) to see if I sent you a msg asking what your usual nic is here.
Thanks!

Posted by: @votermom at November 15, 2015 01:11 PM (cbfNE)

275 Just commenting here on my way to joining GoodReads ... just in case you missed all my other awesome posts I have made on Ace of Spades. And they are awesome. All 5 of them. Like a six months or year or two years ago.

Belts-and-suspenders approach to making sure I can join, ya know. Even if suspenders aren't approved Moron Horde attire ...

Posted by: PrincetonAl at November 15, 2015 01:18 PM (0v6Aj)

276 #264 Did you just reveal the plot of your next novel?

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 15, 2015 01:22 PM (vDRyT)

277 Fun fact about Napoleon III - he had corrupted the state institutions so badly that the satirical dialogue composed in his "honour" got stolen by the Czar and (lightly) converted into the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

Basically everything the nineteenth-century tyrants actually did, got projected onto teh joooooz.

And while I was criticizing the Germans earlier in the thread... weren't the czarist secret police at least contributors to the start of WW1 because of involvement in the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand?

Stack that on top of all the hints that Stalin was also a member of that organization.....

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 01:26 PM (2eZBM)

278 272

Yes.

Posted by: Alvin C York at November 15, 2015 01:28 PM (ZedYY)

279 ...weren't the czarist secret police at least contributors to the start of WW1 because of involvement in the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand?

Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain at November 15, 2015 01:26 PM (2eZBM)

Not really. The Russians were guilty of pan-Slavism, and of egging on the Serbians in their designs on Austrian territory, and probably of forcing an escalation of the crisis by refusing to admit that the Austrians had a legitimate case against Serbia, but they were not involved in the assassination plot itself. That was the work of a small group of radical officers in the Serbian military; even the Serbian government was unaware of it before the fact.

Posted by: HTL at November 15, 2015 01:39 PM (1ab8T)

280 265 ... Eowyn, er I mean Tammy,

I am a bit of a sexist: old enough, too big, and protective of 'the little woman'. (That's what a foot and a half height difference can do.) :-)

Mrs. JTB likes the idea because it means less of my 'stuff' (I am being soooo polite) all over the rest of the house.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 02:25 PM (FvdPb)

281 Elisabeth, Wish I had had you for a Lit. prof. in college but I suspect you hadn't been born yet.

Thanks for mentioning the other surviving recordings and the dissertation. I have to check them out.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 02:35 PM (FvdPb)

282 I have been thinking of Chamberlain's pie-in-sky head-in-sand isolationism...especially after reading the ole Cankly Cackles feels the same way, "This is not American's problem." Really? When there are 1000 open cases by the FBI w/ isis?

Please let me keep my mouth shut tonight at liberal in-law dinner. Not sure there is enough gin should things go wrong.

Also! The black olives matter Mizzou wackos are po'd, as you all know, that Paris had the audacity to take the spotlight from them. Have seen some hashtags that are totally disgusting...perhaps will backfire and show normal people of every race what type of creeps they are...as Paris is a "white people problem," etc. And, if a black hollywood star dares to hashtag #prayforParis, "they should be shot."

Rage overflowing. Will not read Mizzou crap in future. I hope they all get lice.

Posted by: ChristyBlinky, aging supermodel Redneck Queen at November 15, 2015 02:37 PM (Mopd7)

283 Howdy @votermom. Just dropped you a line, about joining the goodreads book.

Posted by: someone2 at November 15, 2015 02:42 PM (soJnX)

284 There was a movie last year called Diplomacy, which was a speculative fiction on how the Nazi leader and Swedish diplomat might have come to this understanding. Pretty good.

http://moviegique.com/index.php/2014/11/26/diplomacy/

Posted by: moviegique at November 15, 2015 02:44 PM (m3P2y)

285 just saying hi - long time ace.mu.mu lurker, want to join the goodreads ...it says to say hi on here..

Posted by: bdb777 at November 15, 2015 02:45 PM (E+LSq)

286
Free ebook:

War Stories from the Future is a new anthology of military SF, with stories commissioned by the Atlantic Council and several winners from their contests. Authors featured include Ken Liu, Madeline Ashby, Linda Nagata and David Brin.

www.atlanticcouncil.org/publications/books/war-stories-from-the-future

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at November 15, 2015 02:53 PM (kdS6q)

287 Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 02:25 PM (FvdPb)

I was just teasing with the sexist thing... I love me a big, old fashioned, protective man! I put my money where my mouth was and married one, even!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at November 15, 2015 02:54 PM (JqEq4)

288 Posted by: bdb777 at November 15, 2015 02:45 PM (E+LSq)

Welcome!

And now that you (and the other lurkers) have put your foot in the water...do please stick around!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at November 15, 2015 02:55 PM (JqEq4)

289 One reason "The Everlasting Man" is making such a huge impression on me is that it addresses a concern of mine that has been growing for a while now. That is the use of "science" as a means of power and control for political purposes.
-------------------

The Politics of Fear.
The Left is making great use of it just now with "Global Warming".

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 15, 2015 03:02 PM (9mTYi)

290 289
One reason "The Everlasting Man" is making such a huge impression on me
is that it addresses a concern of mine that has been growing for a while
now. That is the use of "science" as a means of power and control for
political purposes.

-------------------

The Politics of Fear.

The Left is making great use of it just now with "Global Warming".

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 15, 2015 03:02 PM (9mTYi)

The global warming scam has nothing to do with science. Science implies the use of scientific method, not political fraud.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at November 15, 2015 03:11 PM (t2KH5)

291 "If Hitler had his way, there would be no Notre Dame, none of Paris' beautiful bridges, no Eiffel Tower. The Allies didn't stop him, a brave German general did." Warsaw had no such luck, unfortunately: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planned_destruction_of_Warsaw

Speaking of which: those lurid accusations of German atrocities that helped to draw people into WWI? Gosh, turns out many of them were pretty accurate after all: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_Belgium . The choice facing people in Britain, Ireland or North America in 1914 wasn't between war and peace, it was between war d the Germans in Paris again; and I for one am not convinced that everything would have been hunky-dory in the Kaiser's Europe.

Posted by: anonymous irishman at November 15, 2015 03:17 PM (DJgfL)

292
Posted by: anonymous irishman at November 15, 2015 03:17 PM (DJgfL)
==================

I agree with you.

Posted by: Bruce With a Gangster Wang! at November 15, 2015 03:23 PM (iQIUe)

293 289 The Politics of Fear.
The Left is making great use of it just now with "Global Warming".

This is the central theme of Michael Crichton's "State of Fear". Published in 2004, it is amazingly prescient and well worth reading.

Posted by: cool breeze at November 15, 2015 03:23 PM (6Cu7i)

294 Finished Pride and Prejudice this week yet again, and I thought I'd take another look at the 2005 movie starring Keira Knightley and Michael Macfadyen. I bribed the husband with Jamaican rum to watch it with me.

He said that the last third of the movie almost makes up for the first two thirds, and was disappointed when I said the book was the same way. I do enjoy Austen's sense of humor, but I can understand modern readers' frustration with the build up of tension. Probably going to read Emma again, but I think I'll skip watching Clueless this time. (It's surprising how well the movie follows the book-stealth literature FTW!)

Posted by: pookysgirl at November 15, 2015 03:31 PM (K27gs)

295 289, 290 ... That corruption of legitimate science is what enrages and alarms me. For the sake of their political agendas and desire for power, the libs and progs and other lefties will pervert truth, which leaves no objective means to judge things. Legitimate mistakes, assuming they are acknowledged and corrected as soon as possible, are forgivable. Deliberate and conscious perversion of truth is not.

The phrase 'settled science' in the mouth of politicians and SJW types should be punishable by public flogging.

Posted by: JTB at November 15, 2015 03:37 PM (FvdPb)

296 Hi. looking to join the goodreads book club so I'm saying hey.

Posted by: DHM at November 15, 2015 03:57 PM (yVhDA)

297 113
Thanks. Looking for something "light" to read. Got the lottery one -- sounded interesting. Officer Jones, even with Prime, is now $2.99 unless you belong to that Kindle club thingy which I don't. Officer Jones -- a series and sounds interesting as well. Anyway, thanks for the tip.

Posted by: gracepc at November 15, 2015 04:05 PM (OU4q6)

298 263
Good golly. Those theater people were by and large a violent group. Duels, bar fights that ended in deaths, etc. Lordy. Mr. Shakespeare had the good sense to stay out of that kind of trouble.

Posted by: Tuna at November 15, 2015 04:35 PM (JSovD)

299 "The left is excellent at extolling horrible ideas; the right is horrible at extolling excellent ideas."

Might I humbly suggest IntellectualFroglegs.com, with your genial host Joe Dan Gorman. I often forward links to the young 'uns who are still malleable, and Joe Dan does the trick.

I have a friend who is the dean of a business school at the local community college, and she shows the videos to her class as well. She said her students LOVE it.

Gorman presents liberal hypocrisy with hilarious mockery and conservative ideas with admiration as well as humor.

He comes out with new videos on current events about every two weeks. His latest series is on Trump, but he's a Cruz fan as well. No RINOs need to apply. And did I tell you Joe Dan is a good old boy AND a Christian, from Kentucky?

Posted by: RushBabe at November 15, 2015 08:21 PM (/NEnw)

300 300!

Posted by: OregonMuse at November 16, 2015 12:45 AM (k0nf7)

301 And a well deserved 300! Thanks OM. The book thread is always great. Already ordered the Riddle-Master series mentioned.

I have an RCA Victor AM and shortwave cathedral radio from 1933. Those big old magnetic speakers can give a great sound. I wish I could have heard the CS Lewis broadcasts on it. (Although living in war time Britain wouldn't be my first choice.)

Posted by: JTB at November 16, 2015 01:19 AM (FvdPb)

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