Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-13-2015: Barbarians At Our Gates [OregonMuse]

Artist's Rendition Of The Great Library at Alexandria, Egypt.

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. And when I type up the book thread, my pinkies remain elevated the whole time, that's how classy it is.

If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.

–Haruki Murakami

A Jihadi Under Every Bed

I'm having a conversation with one of my friends exploring the various aspects of this whole 'moderate Muslim' thing, and it's not easy. For example, I had read somewhere awhile back that, post 9/11, the authorities were getting good intel and tips from U.S. Muslims, reporting things they had heard at mosque and suspicious characters who showed up there, which led to the thwarting of a number of terrorist attacks.

But now comes former FBI counterterrorism agent John Guandolo who says no, that's actually not true.

In fact, we didn't get squat:

...[I]f one looks at the “major Islamic organizations, the major Islamic centers in the United States,” they have “condemned all of the counter-terrorism policies and they’ve gotten the government to kowtow to them, to turn only to them for advice.”

“And what advice do they give them?” Guandolo asked. “That Islam doesn’t stand for this and that everything you’re doing is the reason for what happened—9/11 is your fault because of your policies.”

It is Guandolo's contention that the "vast majority" of U.S. mosques and Islamic centers are a part of a much larger jihadi network. For example:

[T]he San Bernardino terrorists attended the Islamic Center of Riverside, which he said was a “a Muslim Brotherhood Center...

...there are over 2,200 Islamic Centers and mosques in America and the “vast majority of them are a part of this network — they’re hostile.”

...“over 75%” of these centers, based on their property records, are a part of the “Muslim Brotherhood network” since they are “owned by the North American Islamic Trust, which is the bank for the Muslim Brotherhood here.”

Guandolo doesn't much like the Muslim Brotherhood. He contends that the MB is an organization that supports and promotes Islamic terrorism. In fact, he has written a book about it, Raising a Jihadi Generation: Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood Movement in America

As this Handbook makes clear, the Muslim Brotherhood has operatives in our federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, our military, but, most importantly, advising our senior leadership in our national security apparatus...Once the control the Muslim Brotherhood has within the U.S. government's decision-making process is understood, it becomes clear America faces an insurgency inside our homeland, which requires a very different response, especially from local law enforcement.

This is just like the Cold War only with jihadi scum instead of rat bastard commies. And just like the FDR administration was lousy with de facto commies and actual Soviet spies, the Obama administration has welcomed in a raft of jihadi enablers and sympathizers whose goal it is to transform America. Hey, transforming America is what Obama wants, too. So no wonder he doesn't seem to have a problem with them. He's sympatico with them in his hatred for America, so there's a lot of common ground there.

As ace observed earlier this week:

The Red-Black coalition is of course real: both communism and islamism are violent, indecent revolutionary movements, and both fixate their hatred on everything decent and truly progressive of the West.

They are allies in fact.

And speaking of ISIS, you could do a lot worse than read The Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS by Robert Spencer. Most of the 1-star reviews on Amazon start out by saying Spencer is racist, and degenerate into gibbering spasms of hatred. What's even funnier is that none of them actually address anything specific that Spencer wrote in his book.

I'm probably not going to read it, though, because all it will do is make me mad and spike my blood pressure. My doctor hates it when that happens. But if any of you morons or 'ettes happen to be suffering from low blood pressure, this should help: Obama and Islam (Updated and Revised) also by Robert Spencer. I mention this particular book of Spencer's out of the many he has written chiefly because of the disgusting cover photo -- it's the one of our Slacker-in-Chief bowing in obeisance to a couple of sleazebag jihadi-enabling Saudi royals. (Did previous presidents feel the need to suck up to the bloated Saudi oil ticks like that?) And it's not just a polite little courtesy bow, either; that's some seriously submissive body language he's got going on there. Which should tell you all you need to know about how Obama views America.

About That Alexandria Library

It must have been quite a place:

The Royal Library of Alexandria or Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. It was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the 3rd century BC until the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 BC, with collections of works, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and gardens. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Musaeum of Alexandria, where many of the most famous thinkers of the ancient world studied.

And the much ballyhooed burning of the Alexandria library didn't happen all at once:

There is a mythology of the burning of the Library at Alexandria, but the library may in truth have suffered several fires or other acts of destruction over many years. Possible occasions for the complete or partial destruction of the Library of Alexandria include a fire set by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, an attack by Aurelian in the AD 270s, and the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in AD 391.

And this article argues that the Great Library at Alexandria was destroyed mostly by budget cuts, not fire.

What I would like to know is, what kind of system did the Alexandria librarians use to organize and catalog the thousands of scrolls that were stored there? Also, what was the fine you had to pay for overdue scrolls?

The True Truthiness of Alex Haley

I call your attention to the NY Times review of the new Alex Haley biography by Robert J. Norrell, Alex Haley: And the Books That Changed a Nation as a good example of liberals covering for one of their own.

Haley had money woes...and bad work habits. He broke deadlines and contracts with a shrug, and signed agreements to write books he did not deliver. His wiliness took amusing turns. At one point, when his editor begged for a finished manuscript of “Roots,” Haley gave her 750 typed pages — a few dozen of polished prose at the front and back, with 700 pages of notes in between. He had once promised to finish the book in 1965; the final manuscript was delivered late in 1975.

So, in other words, the author of the bestseller-and-made-into-a-TV-movie Roots was a lazy, dishonest, irresponsible bum whose slovenly habits make Obama look like a workaholic. But rather than just admitting this, Norrell puts a positive spin on it by describing it as "wiliness" which we're supposed to think is "amusing". Although I would guess that those to whom Haley owed money (or a manuscript) most likely did not find such "wiliness" at all "amusing", and probably called it by names less charitable. But the lesson here is that being a liberal means never having to say you're sorry, and someone else will always pick up the check.

And then there's Haley's characteristic crappy research, and tenuous (at best) commitment to the truth compared to which his egregious plagiarism paled in significance:

Far more damaging were the journalists and historians who emerged to poke gaping holes in his research, both in Africa and in the United States...Some historians stood by Haley. But the Harvard historian Oscar Handlin spoke for others when he commented, “A fraud’s a fraud.” Haley’s own agent called him “a literary Kim Philby.”...He seems to have made up a great deal of the book nearly wholesale.

Ouch. Kim Philby was not just some misguided liberal, he was an out-and-out traitor, which makes the comparison with him quite damning. So the whole Alex Haley 'Roots' enterprise was fraudulent from A to Z., yet the reviewer just mentions it en passant and moves on. One wonders if he would maintain such a carefully neutral, non-judgmental tone if this were a biography of say, Sarah Palin or perhaps Donald Trump.

And finally the frantic spinning reaches its glorious conclusion:

[Haley] wrote to a critic who was hard on him, “I was just trying to give my people a myth to live by.”...Mr. Norrell adds, “The power of ‘Roots’ ultimately lay not in its adherence to historical fact but in its being a new story of blacks’ past that included African origins.”

And there it is, ladies and gents! The "fake but accurate" meme once again gets pressed into service to support a liberal cause. They never, ever seem to get tired of using it.

One final comment:

When the nearly 3,000-page “Norton Anthology of African-American Literature” was published in 1996, no excerpt from “Roots” appeared in it, a decision Mr. Norrell calls “shortsighted.” He wonders aloud if Haley’s punishments fit his crimes.

I don't think it's "shortsighted" at all. I think the Norton editors made the right call. They evidently realize, even if Mr. Norrell does not, that African-Americans, who have historically been on the short end of the stick in many ways, are not going to be helped by feeding them more lies and bullshit.

A Moron Book Giveaway

Moron author Christopher Taylor is doing a book giveaway through Goodreads. It started on the 11th and will continue until 12-20. There are two winners that will be selected at random from the entries, who will receive a signed and personalized print copy of his second novel Old Habits.

A fortune in lost gems. A man on the run from his brothers. A dread secret in Castle Dornica. Stoce grew up alone on the tough streets of Farport to become an exceptional street thief, but nothing in his life has prepared him for this. Hired for a simple theft, Stoce is now on the run from The Brotherhood. Stalked by deadly assassins in a strange land, Stoce must face an archmage, soldiers, and a host of guards to find the gems he lost. But what treacherous plot is unfolding in the castle he searches, and how does the annoyingly noble paladin Judic fit into this conspiracy?

Here's the Goodreads link to sign up.

Moron Recommendations

This one is from Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing:

BTW, have I ever mentioned Frederic Morton's book A Nervous Splendor? It's about Vienna in the 1880s, during the short life of Crown Prince Rudolf, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire. But it also delves into the other fascinating people alive at the time, Freud and Klimt, just to name two.

I think Morton invests Rudolf with too much promise (he all but says that, had Rudolf not killed himself in 1889, WWI would have never happened), but it's a good book just the same for a cold, wintry day.

The book MP⁴ is referring to is A Nervous Splendor: Vienna 1888-1889 by Frederic Morton. From the Amazon reviews:

Concentrating on just ten months of Viennese history between July, 1888, and May, 1889, Morton...pulls together all the threads, cultural, political, social, and more, and ties them all together in a neat bow, yet reads like a novel. It furnishes us with a window into every level of the new thinking of which Vienna was the hub. We get to see the origin and development of what eventually became our own reality. Every art form, painting, music, architecture, literature, etc., with a dose of psychology added for good measure...We see the beginning of the attitude that was to culminate in the atrocities against Jews during WWII...and a direction in architecture that is still visible not only Vienna, but Prague, Budapest, and New York, just to mention a few.

So apparently the modern world was born in Vienna.

What I'm Reading

Ugh. I almost couldn't finish The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders because true crime author Anthony Flacco's account of Gordon Stewart Northcott, a psychopath who kidnapped, raped and murdered young boys during a two year span back in the 1920s was too horrific. One of the more disturbing aspects of this story is that he forced his 13-year-old nephew to assist him in his crimes -- in between bouts of raping and abusing him -- and threatened to kill him if he didn't cooperate.

These murders form part of the background to the movie Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood.

The death toll will never be known, but it may be as high as 20. The subsequent trial brought so much negative publicity to the little town of Wineville that the citizens afterwards voted to change the name, and so nowadays it's known as Mira Loma.

The good news at the end of this gruesome story is: (1) the nephew, Sanford Clark, survived his ordeal and went on to live a normal life. In many or most instances, abused boys grow up to be psychopathic abusers themselves, but Clark miraculously escaped this fate. He found steady work, married, became a decorated WWII vet, and found ways to deal with recurring episodes of what we now know as PTSD. And also (2) they hung the evil bastard murdering uncle. Back in those days, the state of California had the cojones to do things like that.

I think the real hero of this story is Jessie Clark, Sanford's sister, who realized something was not quite right from the get-go about her mother sending him off to live on a remote chicken ranch with her uncle. Northcutt had the psychopath's ability to fool people with a blizzard of lies and fake smiles and when she finally managed to arrange to visit the chicken ranch to check on her brother, she was not fooled in the slightest by Northcutt's BS. This was a welcome relief from the relentless progress of evil that had been the book's narrative up to that point.

Director Eastwood observes:

"And you wonder: How the hell did this guy go on to be a loving father and grandfather? How did he bury all that crap? That's a story in itself."

It certainly is, and The Road Out of Hell does a good job telling it. Although it's not one for the faint of heart.

___________

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 08:59 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 First?

Posted by: Skip at December 13, 2015 08:53 AM (k0xxN)

2 LOL, sneaked it in right after I checked. Anyway I am working on a re-read of the Recluse series. Great series by Modisette if you have not read it.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 08:55 AM (t2KH5)

3 Never had a first book thread first before,
Finished the 4th book of Andersonville by John McElroy, again a fantastic read. The last chapter he presents his arguments why the death toll in Renal prisons should all be on the Confederate government.

Posted by: Skip at December 13, 2015 08:57 AM (k0xxN)

4 It is a particularly more damning indictment when one remembers Kim Philby's spying for the Soviets resulted in many agents being murdered by the USSR.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:00 AM (IaQle)

5
Xmas shopping:

Amazon.com is offering an additional 25% Off Any One Book Purchase when you apply promo code 25OFFBOOK (during checkout). Note, enter your promo code in the "Gift Card Promotional Code" section; maximum discount of $10. Valid only for print books

Barnes AND Noble, BN.com, is offering 25% Off One Eligible Item with coupon code 25BNFAMILY (apply at checkout). Shipping is free on orders $25 or more. Valid through December 14

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:00 AM (kdS6q)

6 Repost from previous thread...
I have a book idea for someone. Free. First they should have knowledge of old and new testament.�It's not completely my idea. Buzzsawmonkey from lfg (stet) and I used to email. He lamented once that as the country on the whole became less religious common thoughts and language of both Jews and Christians was disappearing.�

Example: Listening to an old Lou Reed song last night, Perfect Day, performed by a more contemporary artist. 'You're going to reap just what you sow...' Present company excluded how many millenials would know the origin of that expression?�Even rock and roll bands like the Byrds... to every season...

So my public domain idea is the Top 100 Biblical Phrases You Should Know, and Why. Sure, you can remember me if you sell a million copies.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 09:00 AM (7v/r5)

7 And there it is, ladies and gents! The "fake but accurate" meme once
again gets pressed into service to support a liberal cause. They never,
ever seem to get tired of using it.

Roots was long ago exposed as a fraud but you can not telly liberals that. A conservative author would have been excoriated over such crap. And the same thing goes for that fraud Maya Angelou.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 09:01 AM (t2KH5)

8 Another aspect of congruity between Communists and Islam could be drawn from the Library at Alexandria. That knowledge, dangerous as it is, must be kept from the average person. Least that person start to think beyond the programming.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:04 AM (IaQle)

9 The only thing I've been reading lately have been music books.

I'm currently reading, "The Jazz Theory Book" by Mark Levine

Many great Jazz artists and works explained and detailed.

Posted by: Kreplach at December 13, 2015 09:07 AM (WVvzl)

10 Oregon Muse, IIRC another chicken farmer was Heinrich Himmler.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:07 AM (IaQle)

11 News from the goodreads group - we are talking about doing a monthly book discussion. Possibly a horde written book every other month alternating with a non horde book. I will put some polls up later this week.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 09:08 AM (cbfNE)

12 Y'all and your fancy 'reading'.

Posted by: Weasel at December 13, 2015 09:09 AM (e3bId)

13 The MB was able to infiltrate our government easily since the President is a mooselimb in denial.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 09:09 AM (t2KH5)

14 Good morning brethren of the book thread. (And sistren.)

Onto book two of LOTR. As I've learned more about Britain in Tolkien's time I appreciate his writing even more. I know he disliked allegory but seeing influences from his life and culture is illuminating.

I've been going back over "JRR Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator". Interesting to see how his approach to drawing varied over time and the influences he called on. Aside from his considerable amateur talent, the creativity, humor, and, sometimes, sheer beauty of his designs is enjoyable. I thought it was especially interesting how Art Nouveau styles occurred over the life of Tolkien's art.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 09:10 AM (FvdPb)

15 Finished "A Sailor of Austria" this week, thanks again to the Moron who recommended.

Now, for my annual read of "A Christmas Carol".

For those not aware, Dickens wrote five Christmas stories:

17 December 1843: A Christmas Carol (Chapman and Hall)

16 December 1844: The Chimes (Bradbury and Evans)

20 December 1845: The Cricket on the Hearth

19 December 1846: The Battle of Life 19 December 1848: The Haunted Man (series concluded).

Compendium:
1852-66, The Christmas Stories.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 13, 2015 09:12 AM (9mTYi)

16
Books I'm getting for Xmas. Don't tell me, it's a surprise:

King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris Hardcover by Brett Barris

George Barris is undisputably the most phenomenal kustom car builder ever. Barris created some of the best known and iconic cars of the 20th century, inlcuding the original TV Batmobile, the Munsters Koach, Hirohata Merc and countless other made-to-order vehicles for movies, TV, and for the private use of his celebrity clients.

This is the definitive work on a legend, over five years in the making. containing nearly 500 pages jam-packed with never-before-seen photos and design illustrations, illuminating how Barris creations helped redefine the automobiles place in American culture.

Inside the book: http://tinyurl.com/qcfzxdh

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:14 AM (kdS6q)

17 Votermom did you see this in last thread? Should I run with it and build a whole story?

The Girl from SANTA
Elf, "Well St. Nick had to change it from Spanking All Naughty Toddlers Agency."
Alice, "Why for? After all most little children get into some frightful mischief."
Elf clears throat. "Our lawyer advised we change it."
Alice, "Lawyers, always making things harder. So what is it called now?"
Elf, "We have an exploratory committee looking into that right now."
Alice, "Oh poo, it will die in there."

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:15 AM (IaQle)

18 Love the rendition at the top of the thread. The Library of Alexandria has always fascinated me. Its loss due to fire and other natural disasters is a true tragedy. Any loss through deliberate actions is a crime against human kind, no matter who did it or why.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 09:15 AM (FvdPb)

19 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 13, 2015 09:12 AM (9mTYi)

I did not know that. Is it ok if I use that info for a post on my book blog?

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

20 So my public domain idea is the Top 100 Biblical Phrases You Should Know, and Why. Sure, you can remember me if you sell a million copies.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 09:00 AM (7v/r5)

You know, I've often wondered about this very thing, that even for those who don't think much of the Bible, it did give us a common ground of communication.

I was reminded of this just yesterday while watching an old movie; it was not in any way a religiously-themed movie, but even so, the number and frequency of Biblical allusions was quite surprising.

And you never hear that in movies nowadays.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 09:17 AM (z6YGb)

21 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 December 13, 2015 09:17 AM (LUgeY)

22 Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:15 AM (IaQle)

LOL I love it.
You should run with it.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 09:17 AM (cbfNE)

23 Alerted to its publication by a moron on the thread last week, I downloaded "One Year After ", the sequel to Forstchen's "One Second After " It's a quick read and perhaps not as gripping as the latter, but highly recommended. Without giving away the plot, I can definitely classify the author as a Moron (the good kind).

When things settle down on the domestic and work fronts I hope to write a review on the Moron Goodreads site.

Posted by: That SOB Van Owen at December 13, 2015 09:19 AM (J0jXd)

24
And:

Creatures of the Night That We Loved So Well: TV Horror Hosts of Southern California - Second Ed - by James Fetters

As much as the audience loved the shows, they never knew the horror that occurred off-screen -- live adult stage performances, lawsuits and cutthroat competition. What started off as risque and sexy by 1954 standards ended as risque and sexy by 1984 standards. Horror hosts affected 30 years of Southern California television history - a phenomenon that is well remembered by the "Baby Boomers" and now chronicled for future generations

Inside this 550 page Second Edition, you will find over 300 images, many never published before - studio and behind the scenes photos, TV Guide ads, movie listings by date, scans of full scripts, interviews with the hosts and writers and identities of the hosts revealed for the first time.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:20 AM (kdS6q)

25 15 ... Mike, Thanks for the reminder. I need to dig out my copy of all Dickens' Christmas stories.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 09:20 AM (FvdPb)

26 King of the Kustomizers: The Art of George Barris Hardcover by Brett Barris

*grabby hands*

greasy ones

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 09:23 AM (LUgeY)

27 No time for a leisurely reading of the book thread; I need HELP. My nephew is 11 years old. He lives in Georgia and is a Bulldogs fan and maybe UNC. My sister says sports books, but I'm open to any suggestions. I'm getting his big brother a three-in-one volume of Robert Heinlein's juveniles - it's got Citizen of the Galaxy at least.

Anyway, what books do I get my nephew for Christmas?

Posted by: Tonestaple at December 13, 2015 09:25 AM (dCTrv)

28 "over 75% of these centers...are owned by the American Islamic Trust..."

Well, ya racist, you didn't expect them to take out a Joo Mortgage, did you?

If
we live to see it, there's going to be a brothers-vs-cousin firestorm
when all the "moderate" ("Leave Mo Alone!") muslims find out where their
offering money has been going. Yes, I freely believe most of them do
not know. I remember mainstream Christians being, well, mildly surprised
when that World Council of Churches envelope-money was found arming
commies in Angola, for instance.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 09:25 AM (xq1UY)

29 Over the past year, I finished Volumes 1 and 3 of the Last Lion series, William Manchester's definitive biography of Winston Churchill. Last week, my library notified me that my request for Volume 2 was fulfilled. Warning: these are dense books full of world history from a British perspective.

Posted by: scrood at December 13, 2015 09:25 AM (3b9U4)

30 Thanks Votermom. I think now that I have that bit the story will be - Elf shows the new girl around.

Alice, "So what happened to the girl who had this job?"

Elf looks embarrassed, "Too much Pixy dust."

Alice, "Is that truly bad?"

Elf, "It is when she stays orbital."

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 09:26 AM (IaQle)

31
And - (end of the year when the big coupons come out, we burn thru my want list):

Star Trek: Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier by Paula M. Block

From the classic Starfleet uniforms and daringly provocative outfits of The Original Series to flowing Vulcan robes, and formidable Klingon wedding attire, Star Trek: Costumes explores how these designs have played a key role in transporting fans to distant worlds and alien cultures over the last five decades.

Filled with exclusive photography, stills from the saga, rare concept art, and other striking visuals, Star Trek: Costumes also focuses on the talented individuals who have brought the Star Trek universe to life, including original costume designer William Ware Theiss and his successors.

Unboxing video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXsByVI6UhI

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:26 AM (kdS6q)

32 So my public domain idea is the Top 100 Biblical Phrases You Should Know

*****

I ran across one the other day that I did not know originated in the Bible.

Matthew 16:2-3

2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring...

(Verse 3 finishes up: "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?")

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 13, 2015 09:28 AM (NeFrd)

33 Creatures of the Night That We Loved So Well: TV Horror Hosts of Southern California - Second Ed - by James Fetters

I looked at the Amazon preview for this. It looks like a fun book, but I wonder if it would appeal to anyone other than TV historians or horror movie fans who grew up in Southern California during the 50s and 60s.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 09:29 AM (z6YGb)

34 Be an effective Moron, register with your local library and put in requests for books favored by Morons. Otherwise, your local library will be filled with crapola...

Posted by: scrood at December 13, 2015 09:30 AM (3b9U4)

35 frequency of Biblical allusions was quite surprising.

I had an English teacher in high school who played "spot the Biblical reference" while we read. I don't know if a teacher could get away with that nowadays even if it's strictly analytical.

Posted by: no good deed at December 13, 2015 09:30 AM (GgxVX)

36 ...the President is a mooselimb in denial.
Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 09:09 AM

His first exposure to religion as a child was with Islam. His father was a Muslim, automatically conferring that title upon him.

When it became politically expedient he went to an ostensibly 'Christian' church - one which welcomes both Christian and Muslims.

But people who actually know the facts are mocked by the idiots in the MSM, as if they had X number of more years of college, grad school, post-doc the actual facts or their perception of those facts would magically change.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 09:31 AM (7v/r5)

37 I am about to read a couple of Ibn Warraq's books about Islam. A good discussion is at City Journal.
http://www.city-journal.org/2010/transcript0715.html

Posted by: Mike K at December 13, 2015 09:31 AM (5namt)

38 someone say 'library'?

*lights match, pants, salivates*

Posted by: ISIS THUG at December 13, 2015 09:31 AM (ZzuMP)

39 Pants are required?

Like, what a dog does when he's thirsty?

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid; how dry i am at December 13, 2015 09:31 AM (3tg9B)

40 Yeah, the whole Alex Haley/"Roots" thing was exposed as a fraud years ago. I still laugh my ass off when I think of that scene from the miniseries when Kunta Kinte is bebopping through the jungle, minding his own business and the E-VIL WHITE SLAVERS jump out of the bushes, throw a net over him and haul him off to slavery.

Except, that is not how it happened. From a logistics standpoint there was no way this would have ever worked. What actually happened was that local African tribes on the west coast of Africa (black, of course), would send crews into the interior, raid the villages of other black tribes, taking the inhabitants prisoner and bringing them to what were literally warehouses along the coast (at least one of these still stands today as a museum showcasing how the process worked). The slave ships would put in at the sites of these warehouses, buying what were then slaves from the black Africans who were selling them. Also, in terms of actual numbers the majority of the slaves went to the Caribbean region and South America, not North America.

But you can't tell the average black American this even today, as they will go batshit crazy, because they simply cannot wrap their brains around the fact that, yes, their black African slave ancestors were originally sold into slavery by other black Africans.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at December 13, 2015 09:32 AM (AYY6Y)

41 Hear the call; release your inner ham by lending your own dulcet tones to the pantheon of immortal narrators. Through volunteer recordings, LibriVox creates free audiobooks out of public domain works, and better yet, provides its community an opportunity to reach Mount Parnassus, home of the Muses!

Realize your voice's full potential, wrap an audience in your soothing tones before plunging them into unimagined depths of emotion and rapture. Join us at LibriVox and be born anew!

Posted by: derit at December 13, 2015 09:32 AM (jT+gh)

42 "Bismillah! No! We will no let you go"

Top 100 Holy Q'u'ran Quotations You're Going to Have to Know...Soon...

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (xq1UY)

43 Hi Horde,

Does anyone out there have a 10 year old who uses a kindle? Do they like it?

Posted by: tops at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (FBjP7)

44
I wonder if it would appeal to anyone other than TV historians or people who grew up in Southern California during the 50s and 60s.
Posted by: OregonMuse

The horror host phenom continued into the 80s, lest we forget Elvira. Still around even today in a few spots.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (kdS6q)

45 How did Sanford Clark manage to get through the horror of his experience?

Perhaps his decorated notary service is a clue. Most people who've suffered like him just internalize it. But he went to war, presumably, and killed the Hell outta some enemies, and that may have taken the edge off.

Another part of the story not mentioned above is that the psycho uncle's MOM was also part of the murders, and actually seems to have been the instigator of them.

What's the deal with all these homos who meat and murder little boys?

Posted by: Sharkman at December 13, 2015 09:34 AM (X/Wqn)

46 "Books seem to me to be pestilent things, and infect all who trade in them, i.e. all but one sort of men. Printers, Binders, Sellers and others that make a trade and gain out of them have universally so odde a turne and corruption of mind that they have a way of dealeing peculiar to them selves, and not conformed to the good of society, and that general fairness that cements man kind. Whether it be that these instruments of truth and knowledge will not bear being subjected to any thing but those noble ends, without revengeing them selves on those who medle with them to any other purpose, and prostitute to mean and misbecomeing designes I will not enquire. The matter of fact I think you will find true, and there we will leave it, to those who sully them selves with printers ink, till they wholly expunge all the candor that nature gives, and become the worst sort of Black cattle."

John Locke, letter to Anthony Collins, June 9, 1704

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 13, 2015 09:36 AM (Cq0oW)

47 and another

"There is a bookseller in Paris, one Dessain, who has some Character, but who has play'd me a very ugly Trick... [He] will neither send over my Books, nor answer my Letters not take any Notice of me....Tell him I shall prosecute him either myself on my Return to Paris or by Order, if he does not send over my Books & Money."

David Hume, letter to Adam Smith, August, 1766

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 13, 2015 09:38 AM (Cq0oW)

48 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

*****

This comment has become the high point of my week. Thanks BB.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 13, 2015 09:38 AM (NeFrd)

49 (Verse 3 finishes up: "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?")Posted by:�Seamus Muldoon�at December 13, 2015 09:28 AM

I did not know that was from the Bible. As a boater and fisherman 'red sky at night, sailors delight' was learned at an early age.

I'm going to have to ask the wife later today if she knows the origination of the phrase. I like when I can occasionally trump her knowledge of all things Biblical. Doesn't happen very often. (small print) If ever.

Thanks.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 09:40 AM (7v/r5)

50 Even rock and roll bands like the Byrds... to every season...

Gratuitous correction: the Byrds are covering a Pete Seeger song, based I think on Leviticus.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 09:41 AM (1xUj/)

51 Hey I highly take HUMBRAGE with your characterization of righteous black fakery. Just MORE reason than not to KILL the white devil!

Posted by: Future Zombie Louie Farakan at December 13, 2015 09:41 AM (ZzuMP)

52 Read the Nero Wolfe book "Over My Dead Body". I had seen the TV movie made from it starring Timothy Hutton but hadn't read it. For some reason I forget just how much fun these books are. More to follow this winter.

I have the DVD collection of the Nero Wolfe series that was on a few years ago. It was so good, followed the original stories, and was visually lavish. No wonder it was cancelled. My truly enjoying a TV show is apparently the kiss of death. (See "Longmire", "Remember WENN", etc.)

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 09:42 AM (FvdPb)

53 So apparently the modern world was born in Vienna.

Aaaand me.

Don't forget me.

Posted by: The Vienna Sausage at December 13, 2015 09:43 AM (KUa85)

54 Bah. Stupid phone.

Decorated MILITARY service, not notary.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 13, 2015 09:44 AM (X/Wqn)

55 "Bah humbrage"

--Ebony-eezer Schrewedge

Posted by: derit at December 13, 2015 09:44 AM (jT+gh)

56 Funny timing, I have signed/stamped Murakami first editions I was gonna put on ebay today. Anybody want a good deal on a signed limited edition UK Kafka on the Shore? I have 3.

Posted by: VBJonny at December 13, 2015 09:45 AM (NX9H4)

57
On the wantlist:

Light Bulb Baking: A History of the Easy-Bake Oven Paperback by Todd Coopee

This first definitive retrospective of the Easy-Bake Oven celebrates its journey from children's toy to pop culture icon. The book explores the innovation, history, economics, commerce, advertising, and marketing behind the toy's 50 year history.

Illustrating how ingrained the toy is in popular culture, Coopee cites multiple cameo appearances in numerous television programs, details a longtime co-branded partnership with Betty Crocker, and the popularity of Bake-Off contests using the Easy-Bake Oven.

He also goes into a detailed examination of the marketing strategy used to promote the toy over the years including examples of the deliberate mix of print and television advertising, sweepstakes, rebate programs and product showcases. Together, these tactics proved to be a winning formula to ensure the product's enduring popularity.

Extensive author's book site: https://toytales.ca/light-bulb-baking/

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:48 AM (kdS6q)

58 !! Ready for Hillary !! If that bwitch is elected , the MB will be in bed with the Gov , literally and figuratively , Houma Abedin .

Posted by: jay hoenemeyer at December 13, 2015 09:49 AM (uvj0z)

59 Gratuitous correction: the Byrds are covering a Pete Seeger song, based I think on Leviticus.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 09:41 AM (1xUj/)

Actually, it was Ecclesiastes:

Ecc 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecc 3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
Ecc 3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
Ecc 3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
Ecc 3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
Ecc 3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
Ecc 3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
Ecc 3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 09:50 AM (z6YGb)

60 I believe that some of you are missing the true import of Roots.

Boobies on network television!

(Hey, if you were the right age when it came out that was important).

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 09:50 AM (1xUj/)

61 This comment has become the high point of my week. Thanks BB.

Thanks, SM. I'm not a big reader of books, but I do read quite a bit online.

Here's another Biblical quote for y'all: "Of the making of books there is no end."

Ecclesiastes 12:12

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 09:51 AM (LUgeY)

62 Actually, it was Ecclesiastes:

Darn. I knew/should have known that.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 09:51 AM (1xUj/)

63 @50 Not Leviticus. Ecclesiastes. The most un-Biblical book in there.
Excepting perhaps Job, and quite a bit of Isaiah. Therefore, my favorites.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 09:52 AM (xq1UY)

64 Between Shakespeare and the King James Version, that's pretty much the English language right there.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 09:52 AM (z6YGb)

65 In fact, we didn't get squat:

Yeah, I'm always surprised when people are surprised that-

followers of a Murder God's religion,

who have a book, that is not inspired by said Murder God, but, in fact is believed by said followers of said Murder God to be the direct words and instructions of the Murder God to his worshipers,

not only believe in their Murder God and his direct words and instructions

but also act on the Murder God's direct words and instructions

and also support others who act on direct words and instructions of their Murder God.

Welp, it must just be me. I'm the one missing some incredibly subtle aspect to all of this.

Never mind.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 13, 2015 09:53 AM (KUa85)

66 A few weeks ago I mentioned "The Christmas Cantata" by Mark Schweizer. It's one of the Liturgical Mystery series but stands apart from the usual murder mystery approach. It has all the usual characters but focuses on the music aspect. Anyone who has experienced and understands the power of music to uplift and heal will love the story; touching and enchanting. It will join "A Christmas Carol" as part of my holiday tradition.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 09:53 AM (FvdPb)

67 I couldn't spell Ecclesiastes. Or I coulda been a contenda for first reply.
*hangs head in shame*

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 09:53 AM (7v/r5)

68 Morning 'rons. It's 48 degrees in Long Beach CA.

Posted by: Anonymous-9 at December 13, 2015 09:54 AM (vmHHv)

69 "Powers that be" is another phrase first found in the Bible. But not, I think, the KJV, it was an earlier English version, perhaps Tyndale's.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 09:55 AM (z6YGb)

70

"There is no new thing under the sun."

Ecc. 1:9

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living... at December 13, 2015 09:55 AM (tEDMc)

71 Morton's "Nervous Splendor" is a fantastic read -- I bought it ages ago through a book club. His "Thunder at Twilight" is just as good.

I know it's not, strictly speaking - a book, although the series is based on three of them, but the TV miniseries "The Irish RM" is a lovely and diverting series. We got it it through the Acorn streaming video service. Edith Somerville and Martin Ross created the character of the retired Army major who becomes the regional magistrate in Ireland at the turn of the last century. They completely sidestep the political unpleasantness, and are just diversions... about country life and domestics and creaky old houses and slippery characters.

Posted by: CeliaHayes at December 13, 2015 09:56 AM (95iDF)

72 >> Ready for Hillary !! If that bwitch is elected , the MB will be in bed with the Gov , literally and figuratively , Houma Abedin .

The government is already in bed with the MB. Obama may not have a membership card but he represents the MB pro-Islam/anti western colonialism program as if he were the head Imam.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 13, 2015 09:57 AM (/tuJf)

73 Between Shakespeare and the King James Version, that's pretty much the English language right there.

A few years ago I went to a staging of The Tempest. I thought "this shall be interesting, as I am completely unfamiliar with this play".

Yeah, not so much. It turned out that I knew half the lines, the characters, the books of the Prospero.

It is uncanny how much Shakespeare just seeps into the culture.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 09:57 AM (1xUj/)

74
President Barack Obama's favourite books

Obama has been a prodigious reader since attending Occidental College in California where he said he read "tons of books"*.

And:

Obama has even done his own (brief) stint as a book reviewer, praising A Kind And Just Parent by William Ayers in the Chicago Tribune in December 1997. He called it: "A searing and timely account of the juvenile court system, and the courageous individuals who rescue hope from despair."

www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/barack-obama-book-reading-habits/

* [cough] BS [cough]

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:57 AM (kdS6q)

75 wondering

if the library of Alexandria was dedicated to the muses, was it arranged similarly? so all history would be in Clios wing, all dance reference in Terpichores, etc.

Making it a sort of temple, you see. ought to read the links....

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 13, 2015 09:58 AM (Cq0oW)

76 Agreed, OregonMuse.

As a keep-it-to-myself non-believer...

The Ecclesiastes passage is the one true beautiful bit of English in the Bible. Words to live by.

too long/didn't read version: Life's hard; do your best.

Posted by: robopox at December 13, 2015 09:59 AM (TaYl4)

77 Does anyone out there have a 10 year old who uses a kindle? Do they like it?
Posted by: tops at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (FBjP7)

I asked my 14yo just now, we've had a kindle for a couple of years, and she says yeah.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 09:59 AM (cbfNE)

78 The horror host phenom continued into the 80s, lest we forget Elvira. Still around even today in a few spots.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (kdS6q)

Chopped liver, I guess.

Posted by: (Son of) Svengoolie at December 13, 2015 10:00 AM (yxw0r)

79 (Kindle fire)

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 10:01 AM (cbfNE)

80 Votermom, Thank you I have a relative in a lousy situation and I think being lost in reading will help. I have read that the tangible text is better for several reasons. But the physical circumstances of her life make books and bookcases a problem.

Posted by: tops at December 13, 2015 10:03 AM (FBjP7)

81 followers of a Murder God's religion,

--

Along with the comments on Muses, I have a question:

Is Allah a Middle -Eastern cognate of Ares?

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 10:05 AM (cbfNE)

82 Tops I meant the kindle fire. Kiddo likes it for games and Netflix & YouTube.
We don't have a kindle reader.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 10:06 AM (cbfNE)

83 The Sunday Morning Book Thread is the only AoSHQ thread that is so
hoity-toity, pants are required. And when I type up the book thread, my
pinkies remain elevated the whole time, that's how classy it is.

pffffftt. You call that classy. I raise my pinkies and sip tea while wearing a tutu. And no underwear. It's yuuuuuge.

Posted by: Donald T. at December 13, 2015 10:06 AM (LAe3v)

84 http://preview.tinyurl.com/BibleReferenceSongs

Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep' a contemporary song and artist also makes reference to 'reap what you sow'.

Aside from a few rappers, there's not much current music with biblical reference.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 10:07 AM (7v/r5)

85 As I dip into books of the Bible, which only began last year, I am constantly amazed at how many phrases are familiar through modern language or at least in literature. I didn't appreciate how much of the Bible continues in modern parlance. Should have started this process several decades ago.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 10:07 AM (FvdPb)

86 It dates one, to think back to religious controversies of the past (rock and roll being denounced from the pulpit, and so on), but it's still kind of current to h8 on "Bible As Literature" classes, because it's not a religion class. I'm all for it, especially for non-members of established denominations.

I didn't raise my kid in a denomination. But kid fell in with some real serious Baptists on the next road, and went to Sunday School with them once in a while. They had flash-card and quiz games based on scripture, and it was great fun. They weren't especially militant about recruiting, so kid was left with a favorable feeling about "the Christians you love to hate."

I don't care if your career goal is Mikey Weinstein -- knowing the Bible is a great key to wisdom. Spanish was invented by Cervantes, Italian by Petrarch and Dante, German by Martin Luther. When King James closed the theaters (purportedly to curtail a VD epidemic) he musta-knowed people would need a real wad o'words to replace Shakspere and Marlowe.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:07 AM (xq1UY)

87 The Red-Black coalition is of course real: both communism and islamism are violent, indecent revolutionary movements, and both fixate their hatred on everything decent and truly progressive of the West.

They are allies in fact.

I would point out that this observation excludes Nazism. I'm sure it's implicit in that it mentions islamism, but Nazism IS a socialist ideology, and violent, and an ally of those ideologies pointed out.

Posted by: Mr. Macca Bean (Ahad Ha�m) at December 13, 2015 10:08 AM (BZAd3)

88 Nazis are the original red-black coalition. Just check out their flag and uniforms.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 10:09 AM (cbfNE)

89 Any good ideas for Christmas gifts for my 14 and 17 y/o daughter's? I have purchased "Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life" for my 17 y/o, my 14eener is getting "How To Read Fashion." Books or any other ideas for my girls would be appreciated.

Posted by: Brave Sir Robin at December 13, 2015 10:10 AM (5buP8)

90 This is just like the Cold War only with jihadi scum instead of rat bastard commies.

I've mentioned it before, but Diana West said that she started out to write about Muslim influence in present-day American government, then got sidetracked into writing about Communist influence in the 1930s and 40s.

That other book still needs to be written.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:11 AM (sdi6R)

91 81 ... Perhaps Allah derives from French: Oo-La-Lah! (serious smirking)

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 10:12 AM (FvdPb)

92 Votermom,
Well I didn't even realize there was a kindle for games.

Posted by: tops at December 13, 2015 10:12 AM (FBjP7)

93 31

That reminds me of the memo Maetenloch posted a few weeks ago. It was on Desilu studios stationery from Bob Justman to Gene Roddenberry complaining that Shatner kept stealing his toupees from the set.

Posted by: Sanfranpsycho at December 13, 2015 10:14 AM (Vv/Pc)

94 re: moderate Muslims. I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm guessing most Muslims here aren't plotting "heh heh, soft jihad!". But they do not share our fundamental values. They do think sharia is superior and they will push for it when they are in the majority.

And that is justification enough to say, "Sorry, you're not suited to be a citizen here. Given what you believe we have no obligation to allow you to overrun us.

Posted by: Bruce Boehner at December 13, 2015 10:15 AM (8Qx8I)

95 @75 so all history would be in Clios wing, all dance reference in Terpichores, etc.

We could have a whole thread sometime on the classical-bust system at the Bodleian. It has some relationship to the proto-compsci "Theater of Memory" contrived by Giardano Bruno, that enabled illiterates to remember Homer et al.

People don't realize what a quandary this presented, until Dewey.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:15 AM (xq1UY)

96
I would just point out that Ace's observation regarding the alliance between communism and islamism excludes Nazism. I'm sure it's implicit in that it mentions islamism, but Nazism IS a socialist ideology, and violent, and also an ally of islamism and a competitor with communism, though it would probably be difficult which of these ideological cults has murdered the most people. (Actually, and a bit ironically perhaps, Nazism, based on pure statistics, would probably be judged the least malignant, only because it shed it's label and was absorbed by the other two.)

Posted by: Mr. Macca Bean (Ahad Ha�m) at December 13, 2015 10:18 AM (BZAd3)

97 I would just point out that Ace's observation regarding the alliance between communism and islamism excludes Nazism. I'm sure it's implicit in that it mentions islamism, but Nazism IS a socialist ideology, and violent, and also an ally of islamism and a competitor with communism, though it would probably be difficult which of these ideological cults has murdered the most people. (Actually, and a bit ironically perhaps, Nazism, based on pure statistics, would probably be judged the least malignant, only because it shed it's label and was absorbed by the other two.)

Posted by: Mr. Macca Bean (Ahad Ha�m) at December 13, 2015 10:18 AM (BZAd3)

98 Nice rant Oregon. I am going to a Panther's game and we are undefeated, about the only thing I am happy about.

I am beginning to have terminal depression over the future of our country. The Baby Boomers, I am one of them, have let the country down.

Actually it was our parents and that bull shit Spock baby book that probably ruined the nation. No spanking, blah blah blah.

LBJ was the turning point. The "war on poverty", the 64 civil rights act, aka property rights don't mean shit, and free shit.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 10:18 AM (jJRIy)

99 @91 Perhaps Allah derives from French: Oo-La-Lah!

Au contraire, old man. All Euro expressions of nonsense as "La-la-la" derive from Crusaders' impressions of the sound of the Call to Prayer. La-i-laha.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:19 AM (xq1UY)

100 Finished up "One Year Later" the sequel to One Second After, last night. Overall I give it a C. I really enjoyed the first book and didn't think it needed a sequel, but authors have to eat (this I understand!) I believe Fortschen is going to write a third book in the series as this one left many unanswered questions. Anyway, the novel felt a bit forced and it followed the same template as the previous one (town is surviving then attacked by an almost overwhelming force). The protagonist of the story is a retired Army infantry colonel who is a resident professor at a small college (the character was wholly modeled on the author sans the military service). He was my biggest hang up with the novel- his thought process and dialogue with former soldiers and townsfolk came off as stilted, cheesy and unrealistic. Basically, all of the infantry colonels I have met were hard charging guys who simply did not act or speak in the manner. It's nit-picky, I know, but I'm a military guy and it just rubbed me the wrong way. I'd say pass on it. The big takeaway the author has given us is a glimpse into how thin the veneer of civilization is, and how quickly things can go to shit when the stores are empty or the EBT cards are turned off.

Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:19 AM (eTvJc)

101 I would just point out that Ace's observation regarding the alliance between communism and islamism excludes Nazism. I'm sure it's implicit in that it mentions islamism, but Nazism IS a socialist ideology, and violent, and also an ally of islamism and a competitor with communism, though it would probably be difficult which of these ideological cults has murdered the most people. (Actually, and a bit ironically perhaps, Nazism, based on pure statistics, would probably be judged the least malignant, only because it shed it's label and was absorbed by the other two.)

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean (Ahad Ha'am) at December 13, 2015 10:21 AM (BZAd3)

102 My dad's a physics prof, so I always knew entropy would win out.

But why must it win out in this way? With shitty barbarians coming here to kill us? Until the sun burns out we have a net influx of energy. Given that temporary surplus, why must decay and rot and shitty leaders and invaders be the trend? This really, really sucks. Holliday depression. Or perhaps Obama induced depression.

Posted by: Bruce Boehner at December 13, 2015 10:21 AM (8Qx8I)

103 @88 Nazis are the original red-black coalition.

O I think not. --Stendhal.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:22 AM (xq1UY)

104 Aside from a few rappers, there's not much current music with biblical reference.

Posted by: free range jihadist at December 13, 2015 10:07 AM (7v/r5)

And don't forget (as I did), the black female vocalists, many of whom have gotten their start singing in church services.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 10:22 AM (z6YGb)

105 87

Nazism is both Red and Black.

Posted by: Sanfranpsycho at December 13, 2015 10:22 AM (Vv/Pc)

106 98 LBJ was the turning point. The "war on poverty", the 64 civil rights act, aka property rights don't mean shit, and free shit.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 10:18 AM (jJRIy)

Actually the rot began with FDR in the 30s. He took the prosperity that Coolidge gave us in the 20s and using a little downturn as an excuse turned a recession into the great depression.

And we have never recovered from that because Democrats have essentially ran the country (into the ground) ever since.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 10:23 AM (t2KH5)

107 Sorry about the multiple posts. I kept getting a "internal server" error and I thought that the comment was not being posted.

I'll just be over in the barrel if anyone needs me.

Posted by: Mr Macca Bean (Ahad Ha'am) at December 13, 2015 10:23 AM (BZAd3)

108 Posted by: tops at December 13, 2015 10:12 AM (FBjP7)

Kindle Fire tablets are android tablets. They are in several sizes and some are SD, some are HD. There are also refurbished ones that Amazon sells. I think they are pretty good deals specially for kids.
The Amazon customer service is great while in warranty, so specially for a kid, an extended warranty might be a good idea.

The Amazon eco-system is one of the safest ones in the Android universe, and they have all sorts of parent controls.

Cons are that it will not have some of the hot games or apps that are on Google Play, but there are ways to sideload if you want.

Posted by: votermom at December 13, 2015 10:23 AM (cbfNE)

109 And since this is a book thread get a copy of Amity Shlaes Forgotten Man.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at December 13, 2015 10:23 AM (t2KH5)

110 Thirding the rec of A Nervous Splendor, which was our intro text when I took 19th-Century German Lit, which the prof focused on turn-of-the-century Vienna. I agree with MP4 that Morton's view of Rudolf is a bit optimistic, but otherwise it explains a *lot* of what was going on in Europe at the time. In fact, I started my Modern Art lecture for my Humanities 101 course with some of that info.
Another interesting book about that period is "Our Famous Guest": Mark Twain in Vienna by Carl Dolmetsch. It covers some of the same figures as A Nervous Splendor, just a decade later, but it also explores a lot of how Twain was influenced by his time in Vienna. I don't completely agree with Dolmetsch's conclusions, especially about No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger, but it's worth the read nonetheless.

Reading this week: student essays that have to get graded by Wednesday. Blah humbug.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 13, 2015 10:27 AM (iuQS7)

111 Traditionally, "Red" refers to Communism and "Black" to Fascism or Naziism.

Islam's color is green.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:29 AM (sdi6R)

112 102 Until the sun burns out we have a net influx of energy.
Given that temporary surplus, why must decay and rot and shitty leaders
and invaders be the trend?

Life is part of Earth's cooling system; a way to consume the excess energy. We in the western world have become too efficient in our energy use, so Mother Nature has decided to import some less efficient energy users to cool off the hot spot.

Kind of the like the Gaia theory, only different.

Posted by: Anachronda at December 13, 2015 10:29 AM (o78gS)

113 I may read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose next. Anyone perused it?
BTW nice post this morning, OM. Interesting facts about the Alexandria Library. Good question on their version of the Dewey Decimal System- how did they categorize those scrolls? And it begs the further questions- what kind of amazing, arcane knowledge was forever lost?

Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:30 AM (eTvJc)

114 That picture of Keith Richards' library convinced me to read his book. It's entertaining. Did you know he got a punctured lung in that library? He wanted to look up something in a book on anatomy. It was up on a top shelf. When he climbed up to get it, the pins holding the shelf in place came out. All the books came down, knocking him down to a table and causing the injury. He was amused that it was all because of an anatomy book.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 10:31 AM (Lqy/e)

115 *tacks up "Kilts are OK too" sign on the Book Thread entrance*

Finished reading The Dungeoneers, all about a group of professional dwarf dungeon artifact retrieval specialists and their superior trap detection and thwarting skills (chickens!). Oh, and a lich with delusions of mechanical grandeur. Funny and quite enjoyable.

Also working my way through The Philosophical Strangler by Eric Flint. He's trying to pull off the light, funny tone of Dungeoneers but not quite succeeding. Possibly because I've *met* Eric Flint and I keep hearing his dockworker/union organizer-from-central-casting voice as I read. But it is good enough to keep me reading on the bus. Mr. Flint may want to consider humor is not his forte and stick to uptime coal miners.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 13, 2015 10:31 AM (GG9V6)

116 Former FBI agent ..........
Wasn't he the one who was involved in that sex scandal? Should we be looking at him as a reliable source of information ?

Posted by: Righter at December 13, 2015 10:32 AM (ucedS)

117 >>I'm guessing most Muslims here aren't plotting "heh heh, soft jihad!"

That may be so, but if the mb is basically in charge of so many mosques and they can influence the way the religion is taught? That's a problem.

Like a communists in the schools system problem, except they're teaching murder.

Posted by: Lea at December 13, 2015 10:32 AM (vmMMi)

118 Traditionally, "Red" refers to Communism and "Black" to Fascism or Naziism.

Islam's color is green.

Not to fuss too much, but the ISIS flags I've seen are black.

IMO, it's the perfect pick since all of islam is darkness.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 10:32 AM (LUgeY)

119 @113 After reading "Undaunted Courage," you will never again wonder why the Expedition always got kind of Readers Digested in school social studies class.
It is a coast-to-coast orgy. All those mercury decoctions weren't for constipation; they were VD treatment. And they all had it.

Hell of a takeaway from a major historical text, but hey, there it is.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:33 AM (xq1UY)

120 Just got done reading "The Girl With All the Gifts".

Excellent. A zombie apocalypse story with a humanistic twist. Great characters, great concept. A page-turner. Highly recommended, especially to Walking Dead fans.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at December 13, 2015 10:34 AM (/pB9Z)

121 Saudi oil tics

A tic would be the physical urge to push buttons whenever the Saudis are mentioned.
A tick is a blood sucking parasite which carries multiple horrendous spirochetes.

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:34 AM (DL2i+)

122 Thanks to whoever suggested Dog on it. Great fun, dunno if it will hold up for a series but I'll check them out of the library.

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:35 AM (DL2i+)

123 @106

Well yes, FDR is the original socialist, if we leave out Wilson. I figured we had gotten over most of his shit and then Kennedy stole the 60 election and gave us LBJ. Course Nixon later was no fucking conservative.

All in all, we are losing, they are winning. I thought this in 64 when Goldwater lost, Reagan was just a pause in the destruction.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 10:35 AM (jJRIy)

124 >>A tick is a blood sucking parasite which carries multiple horrendous spirochetes.

Whoa. You talkin trash about me?

Posted by: Harry Reid at December 13, 2015 10:36 AM (c7vUv)

125 There was a time when people knew and recognized and quoted biblical passages at the drop of a hat. Even illiterate people or people who weren't true believers.
It's no surprise that so many biblical passages have found there way into every day use.
Other sources of common phrases and slang come from Shakespeare, followed by baseball. Think of how many baseball phrases are used on a daily basis from "step up to the plate" to " (she's) out of my league", to "ballpark figure"--there are hundreds.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 13, 2015 10:37 AM (MF70y)

126 I just read Don't Look Back by Loren Estleman. He's been writing hard boiled detective fiction for over 30 years now, and is the master of the genre. Perhaps the only true writer in the genre right now. If you like Chandler and Hammett, you'll love Estleman's work.

Also read Tears of Heaven an independent writer R.A. McCandless, also an online "buddy" of sorts. Its quite good, very interesting setting and story. An urban fantasy, kind of, using the Nephilim and angels and demons (called "rogues") in a non-religious sense for a fascinating tale with a very interesting female protagonist.

And I read To Save Us All From Ruin by Seamus Muldoon. This is an enjoyable, easy read with lots of historical bits interspersed with real diary bits from his pa. The book reads more like a biography than a work of fiction, but is worth picking up and reading.

Finally, I'm currently reading Assassins of Isis by PC Doherty. This is the 4th ancient Egyptian murder mystery and I'm glad it wasn't the first I read because it is not his strongest outing. I guess when you write like 80 books, they can't all be gems. Its all right, just not as good as the others in the series.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:37 AM (39g3+)

127 Traditionally, "Red" refers to Communism and "Black" to Fascism or Naziism.

Islam's color is green.

And take a look at their national flags...

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:38 AM (39g3+)

128 Re: the Bible in literature: a "top 100" might indeed be useful, but if you really want to know how deep the influence goes, check out A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, edited by my friend and mentor David Lyle Jeffrey. It's nearly a thousand double-columned pages of small print.
But yeah, it struck me the last time I watched an episode of the '88 Mission: Impossible revival that ended with a Scripture quote (Tony: "What does it profit a man if he gain the world..." Jim: "And lose his immortal soul?") and a MacGyver ep where an assassin targeting a cardinal got caught in his own trap, with the same result ("What happened?" Mac: "The wages of sin, I think."). You just don't see that on TV much anymore.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 13, 2015 10:39 AM (iuQS7)

129 I've mentioned it before, but Diana West said that she started out to write about Muslim influence in present-day American government, then got sidetracked into writing about Communist influence in the 1930s and 40s.

That other book still needs to be written.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:11 AM (sdi6R)

Paul Sperry did write one (Infiltration) in 2005. But since Obama is an even greater friend of Islam than W was, I'm sure the subject would benefit from a revisit by Diana West.

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 13, 2015 10:39 AM (nFdGS)

130 Wot we are leaving William Jennings Bryan off the hook? And that damn progressive T.R.?

It would be illustrative to consider what each generation of the nation's past considered the point at which all was lost, and became unrecoverable. Because they all did that.

In one of Jefferson's last letters to Adams, he laments all the trouble taken 50 years in the past, to establish an experiment that had so obviously failed. That was far from being the first obituary for the republic, but we have been jacking ourselves off similarly ever since. It's what old men do. Cato The Elder's influence, maybe.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:41 AM (xq1UY)

131 Yes, ISIS' flag is black, but in Afghanistan when the locals we are training turn and kill our soldiers, they're called "green on blue" killings.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:41 AM (sdi6R)

132
I'm afraid the Gaystapo will go after Alan Leech.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (iQIUe)

133 116- Righter- the SPLC and Salon have damning articles on the former FBI agent, but I immediately take those with a grain of salt. but if he did resign in lieu of an internal investigation by the FBI's OPR, then, yeah, he may not be as pure as the wind driven snow and we may not want to put much stock in him.

Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (eTvJc)

134 "42
"Bismillah! No! We will no let you go"

Top 100 Holy Q'u'ran Quotations You're Going to Have to Know...Soon...

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 09:33 AM (xq1UY)"

I am assuming that this is a joke but just to be pedantic, I will point out that Freddy Sparks, the lead singer of Queen and author of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was actually a Zoroastrian. There are not that many of them left in the remote mountains of Iran after the Muslims took over Iran way back then. A bunch of Zoroastrian Persians fled to Bombay where their descendants are known as the Parsees. The Indian actress Persis Khambata who was in one of the Star Trek movies was a Parsee.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (QHgTq)

135 122 ... DaveA, Mrs. JTB and I have read the whole Chet and Bernie series so far, including the 99 cents ebook short stories. They have held up in our estimation. Got the first two for a friend's Christmas gift this year.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 10:43 AM (FvdPb)

136 Star Trek: Costumes: Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier by Paula M. Block
Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at December 13, 2015 09:26 AM (kdS6q)
---
Somebody knocked their 5-star review down one notch for the glaring omission of Uhura's Mirror Universe uniform (though they did include Kirk and Spock - no word of oiled up Sulu).

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 10:43 AM (jR7Wy)

137 A tic would be the physical urge to push buttons whenever the Saudis are mentioned.

A tick is a blood sucking parasite which carries multiple horrendous spirochetes.

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:34 AM (DL2i+)

Thank you, I will make the correction. This is what I had in mind:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Tick_before_and_after_feeding.jpg

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 10:43 AM (z6YGb)

138 Mr. Flint may want to consider humor is not his forte and stick to uptime coal miners.

Humor is by far the hardest thing to write, I think closely followed by horror. Its just not easy to make things scary in a book.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:44 AM (39g3+)

139 136- "Ohhhh....myyyyy"

Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:44 AM (eTvJc)

140 I may read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose next. Anyone perused it?

I quite recommend it, even though all of my opinions about it make me look like Uncle Grumpypants. It's great material, so I guess my critique comes from what it says unwittingly.

From a literary perspective, this is from the phase of Ambrose's career where he was a celebrity and resting mostly on the work of his grad students, so some of it reads as transcribed notes.

As to the whole "go to the Pacific and come back" thing, MacKenzie had already done it in Canada.

Also, for all of the "firsts" the party met virtually no uncontacted tribes. French Canadian fur trappers had met just about everyone on this side of the Rockies and once they crossed the continental divide all the Injuns had already traded with Russians.

And Lewis failed in his primary mission, to document his discoveries in a book. Profound depression took over him after the return and he died of apparent suicide without completing his life's work.

Also, all the credit goes to Lewis except the bit allowed to Clark. Ambrose barely focuses on the fact that their key to survival is a 15 year old girl who is basically a slave who also has a newborn baby and yet gets them back and forth across the continent.

That said, the party did get there and back again. And despite separating and regrouping they all came back alive. They found astonishing things (like grizzly bears, which could be shot with .50 cal and not mind it too much) and documented much of it.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 10:45 AM (1xUj/)

141 118--the flags of many Muslim countries are red, black and green.
Hmmm.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 13, 2015 10:45 AM (MF70y)

142 The Indian actress Persis Khambata who was in one of the Star Trek movies was a Parsee.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (QHgTq)

The hot bald chick?

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 13, 2015 10:46 AM (nFdGS)

143 @130

Points well taken, but the Fed's didn't have an income tax back then. That is when the trouble started.

The amendment was going to have a cap of 10% on it, but congress was afraid that a number that high would not have been passed by the states.

Go figure. YES, it WAS a Republican congress.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 10:46 AM (jJRIy)

144 134
I am assuming that this is a joke but just to be pedantic, I will point out that Freddy Sparks, the lead singer of Queen and author of "Bohemian Rhapsody" was actually a Zoroastrian. There are not that many of them left in the remote mountains of Iran after the Muslims took over Iran way back then. A bunch of Zoroastrian Persians fled to Bombay where their descendants are known as the Parsees. The Indian actress Persis Khambata who was in one of the Star Trek movies was a Parsee.
Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (QHgTq)

AoSHQ: Come for the boobeh pics, stay for the f'n knowledge put to ya.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:47 AM (sdi6R)

145 The government is already in bed with the MB.

Has ANY candidate said they'd stop this?

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:47 AM (DL2i+)

146 You just don't see that on TV much anymore.

The Bible used to be a very powerful shared cultural influence that you could use very easily to make a point. Drop a quote or even a small portion of it and people would know what the full meaning and context was. Its why thousands of books had titles taken from the Bible, to connote a certain meaning: Grapes of Wrath, etc. There was no religious intent, simply a short-hand way of delivering a meaningful, philosophical or moral point.

These days when you want a shared cultural concept people know in short hand, you quote, I dunno, Sir Mixalot or something. Doesn't say much for the literacy of the modern west.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (39g3+)

147 Well All Hail Eris, the oiled up Sulu due to the Psi2000 bug was basically duty trousers and boots as he swashed buckles as a Musketeer.

But yeah for excluding Uhura's uniform from Mirror Mirror is kinda bad. Did they include the human Isis' costume from Assignment Earth?

I need to walk away from the Internet and write some. Like flesh out The Girl from SANTA story.

Followed by job hunting. I need income badly.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (IaQle)

148 AoSHQ: Come for the boobeh pics, stay for the f'n knowledge put to ya.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 10:47 AM (sdi6R)

Speaking of boobs, where are those elbows?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (jJRIy)

149 @134 Generations: used to be, you could cite the influence of Zoroastrianism in the name of Edison bulbs, "Mazda." Those are illegal now, so there's the car. The name if not the doctrine also figures prominently IIRC in some works of SF.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 10:49 AM (xq1UY)

150 I may read "Undaunted Courage" by Stephen Ambrose next. Anyone perused it?

Read it. Recommend it. As a followup, I recommend Astoria by Peter Stark. Basically, the next group of people to make the trip (finding a better way through the Rockies by accident) and telling a little-known piece of Oregon history.

Five Decades of Fashion from the Final Frontier

Fashion is stretching the definition a bit thin, perhaps "costuming" would be a better word.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:51 AM (39g3+)

151 133 116- Righter- the SPLC and Salon have damning articles on the former FBI agent...,
Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (eTvJc)

'Righter' is a troll/moby.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 10:51 AM (z6YGb)

152 black ISIS flags recall the flag of jihad

the flag of peace, really the conquered, is white.

the green in Saudi Arabia's flag is for Islam but the flag itself is otherwise traditionally those same flags, without the sword flourish

Posted by: Bigby's Knuckle Sandwich at December 13, 2015 10:51 AM (Cq0oW)

153 Persis Khmbata was supposed to be in the first attempt at rebooting Star Trek as a TV series. Then Star Wars hit the silver screen and Paramount said "We need something like that!" And someone remembered they had this property called Star Trek, so the TV script "In Thy Image" was plucked from the script pile and turned into Star Trek: The Motion Picture. So Lt. Ilia made it on the big screen and Persis had to cut all her hair off for the role.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 10:52 AM (IaQle)

154 The Red-Black coalition

I missed an obligatory last week:

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

Canadian Mounted baby!

And for Red Green

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqK7H_XTd00

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:53 AM (DL2i+)

155 Only because the thread introduction brought it up, pj media has a article on thoughts of what would happen sitting in a mall and a terrorist attack happens and the Muzzy problem.

Posted by: Skip at December 13, 2015 10:54 AM (k0xxN)

156 write about Muslim influence in present-day American government, then
got sidetracked into writing about Communist influence in the 1930s and
40s.

Abetted by Democrats - Huh, like it's a pattern.

Posted by: DaveA at December 13, 2015 10:55 AM (DL2i+)

157 "118
Traditionally, "Red" refers to Communism and "Black" to Fascism or Naziism.

Islam's color is green.

Not to fuss too much, but the ISIS flags I've seen are black.

IMO, it's the perfect pick since all of islam is darkness.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 10:32 AM (LUgeY)"

There seems to be a tradition of jihadis using a black rather than a green flag. For centuries, most of the pirates preying on Europeans, particularly in the Mediterranean were Muslims who viewed their predation on European Christians as jihad. They traditionally flew a black flag. I suppost that naval tradition was carried on by the late 17th century pirates in the Caribbean who provide most of the images used by modern day fiction.

Thomas Jefferson bought the Koran that the Muslim Congressman swore into office with because he wanted to confirm what the Algerian ambassador in London who told Jefferson that piracy against non Muslims was justified by the Muslim religion was in fact written in the Koran. After Jefferson learned that this was in fact true, his foreign policy towards the Barbary States reflected this knowledge.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 10:56 AM (QHgTq)

158 Has ANY candidate said they'd stop this?

Has any candidate even mentioned it?

Still haven't found that web page I saw a few months back that showed all the MB cockroaches that hold high posts in this clown car of an administration.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 10:56 AM (LUgeY)

159 These days when you want a shared cultural concept people know in short hand, you quote, I dunno, Sir Mixalot or something. Doesn't say much for the literacy of the modern west.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (39g3+)

But even Sir Mixalot was quoting George Washington when he said "I cannot lie".

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 13, 2015 10:56 AM (nFdGS)

160 And I need to stop reading this. Am past this point and working through the Puffy Cat Virus infestation of the VIS.

http://www.tavicat.com/sihrc/2015/10/19/sihrcv1ch004page002

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 10:57 AM (IaQle)

161 "The Red-Black coalition is of course real: both communism and islamism are violent, indecent revolutionary movements, and both fixate their hatred on everything decent and truly progressive of the West.

They are allies in fact."

Red- communism
Black - islam
Green- Gaia worship
White - false pacifism

the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

(Ducks and runs!)

Posted by: Jade Sea at December 13, 2015 10:57 AM (frIeR)

162 Did that alien race Persis played show up ever again? I hate one-off aliens, particularly as Star Trek aliens were inevitably just a human with body paint or a funny forehead.

And no, there's not a single Presidential Candidate that's said anything about cleansing the undue Muslim influence out of the US Government. I don't have a problem with Muslim Americans having their say, but its pretty clear they've infiltrated and infected all levels of government and need to be cleansed.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:57 AM (39g3+)

163 Morton also wrote Thundet At Twilight about Vienna's last year before WWI, a time when Hitler, Stalin, Troysky, and Freud were there.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 13, 2015 10:58 AM (NWQ/q)

164 well guys, need to head out for work today. hope you all have a great week!

Posted by: Dana author of Outward Frontier and military sci fi adventure on Amazon at December 13, 2015 10:59 AM (eTvJc)

165 These days when you want a shared cultural concept people know in short hand, you quote, I dunno, Sir Mixalot or something.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (39g3+)

I find women with large derrieres to be quite appealing to my sexual tastes and preferences, and furthermore, I am unable to utter a falsehood concerning this matter.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:00 AM (z6YGb)

166 Anybody remember the dresses Moochelle and her daughters wore on Election Night 2008?

They looked like black widow spiders. Creeped me right out, they did.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 11:01 AM (sdi6R)

167 I find women with large derrieres to be quite appealing to my sexual tastes and preferences, and furthermore, I am unable to utter a falsehood concerning this matter.

Forsooth.

Fivesooth, even.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 11:03 AM (LUgeY)

168 Believe or disbelieve the FBI agent, NPR (far right wing nuts obviously) had an article about Muslims who were irritated with ~~Trump's~~ Obama's remarks about Muslims rooting out and standing up to fundamentalists when they encounter it/them.

"Why should it be our responsibility?" "Why is this being directed at Muslims?"

Posted by: Mr. Healthy Penis at December 13, 2015 11:03 AM (LYCUN)

169 Brave Sir Robin: As a former pre-teen girl, I heartily recommend Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer. In a Neo-Victorian future, an interactive book intended for a daughter of the upper class falls into the hands of a street urchin, who reads, learns, grows, and rises above her station to a heroic destiny.

It's like The Little Princess in reverse, but full of adventures small and great, intriguing technology, a well-crafted SF world. Best of all, crammed with Victorian virtues made palatable to even a jaded modern young lady.

If that goes over, Snow Crash is the next dose of girl power. His newest, Seveneves is overflowing with inspiring womenfolk.

If you want to innoculate a girl from victim feminism, fill her head with girls too busy for nonsense.

Posted by: Spellcheck at December 13, 2015 11:04 AM (j+aWk)

170 I am not sure if any other Deltans made it on the screen.

And luckily the movie never gave Kirk time to see if he could break her vow of celibacy.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:05 AM (IaQle)

171 125, JoeF. at December 13, 2015 10:37 AM, all of my knowledge of baseball sayings comes from reading "Rhubarb" by H. Allen Smith, and if any of you haven't read that, well, what in hell is wrong with you? Go get a copy. It will enrich the moron language set with, among other things, "guava jelly."

Posted by: Tonestaple at December 13, 2015 11:06 AM (dCTrv)

172 "142
The Indian actress Persis Khambata who was in one of the Star Trek movies was a Parsee.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 10:42 AM (QHgTq)

The hot bald chick?

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 13, 2015 10:46 AM (nFdGS)"

Yep. That's the one. Sadly, she had health problems and died some years back.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 11:06 AM (QHgTq)

173 And luckily the movie never gave Kirk time to see if he could break her vow of celibacy.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:05 AM (IaQle)

Good thing her skin wasn't green.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:08 AM (z6YGb)

174 With regard to "The Road out of Hell" -I find I cannot read most true crime books. My heart is broken on behalf of the innocent who suffer.

Once in a while there is a book however that gives such careful consideration to the nature of evil and guards the dignity of the innocent that the book transcends its subject matter.

I found that to be the case with "Dance with the Devil:
A Memoir of Murder and Loss" by David Bagby. I got that book after watching the stunning documentary "letter to Andrew."

Don't get any plot spoilers. Watch the documentary (it's on netflix I believe) then read the book. It knocked the breath out of me.

Posted by: Jade Sea at December 13, 2015 11:08 AM (frIeR)

175 Speaking of Wineville, during WWII some Italian POWs were held there and I believe worked in the wineries and on the farms. They had dances with the locals, were treated very well. Many of them decided to stay after the war ended and married and had families there!

Posted by: PJ at December 13, 2015 11:09 AM (cHuNI)

176 And luckily the movie never gave Kirk time to see if he could break her vow of celibacy.

Matter of time, really. Kirk populated the galaxy

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:09 AM (39g3+)

177 68 Morning 'rons. It's 48 degrees in Long Beach CA.

Posted by: Anonymous-9 at December 13, 2015 09:54 AM (vmHHv)

Heh. It's 60 in N. Indiana!

Posted by: Cicero Kaboom! Kid; mtcmtmail= at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (3tg9B)

178 Wait! Chicken George wasn't real?

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (JO9+V)

179 Matter of time, really. Kirk populated the galaxy
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:09 AM (39g3+)

Story idea: 5,000 years into the future, they finally complete a DNA survey of every race in the galaxy, and it turns out that some hugely disproportionate number of individuals on many different planets have genetic material that can be traced back to James Tiberius Kirk.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (z6YGb)

180 Pink? It's all pink on the inside. Oh, wait, never mind.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (jJRIy)

181 Anyone see the post of Bush clips in 2007 warning about everything that could happen in the ME and the world if we did not take certain steps. The warnings and potential consequences weren't general. They were specific and unfortunately highly accurate. I think it was posted by Common Sense Conservative .

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (cdYPW)

182 Roots was a pretty powerful cultural moment, but its too bad the guy presented it as his historical ancestry rather than just stories based on things that took place in the past. The lies and rip offs tainted the work pretty badly.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:14 AM (39g3+)

183 Supposed to get above 70 in se Pa.
Anyway is it a good viable way to go to get a Amazon gift card instead of just using a credit card?

Posted by: Skip at December 13, 2015 11:16 AM (k0xxN)

184 Last year: snowpocalypse paralyzed the east coast, proving global warming.
This year: warm and pleasant weather proves global warming.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:17 AM (39g3+)

185 174 With regard to "The Road out of Hell" -I find I cannot read most true crime books. My heart is broken on behalf of the innocent who suffer.

That was my problem with it, too, and I almost put it down, but it turned around about half-way through, and it was very satisfying to see the evil works of the devil destroyed.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:17 AM (z6YGb)

186 First draft of the script for Star Trek The Motion Picture. Written by Harold Livingston.

pg 53 -
Her name is ILIA (eye-lee-ah), and she takes her place at the Navigator's position beside Sulu now. Sulu seems unable to prevent himself from being distracted by her presence. Though not looking at him she is immediately aware of his eyes on her and soon turns to face him directly. She holds out a bare arm to the embarrassed helmsman.

ILIA Go ahead. It's all right.

SULU (flustered) Go ahead? I'm not sure I know what you mean.

ILIA Mr. Sulu, I am a normal Deltan female and I can sense it whenever a man wants to touch me. There's no need to repress it so long as you are aware that I am sworn to celibacy for the duration of this mission.
----
The interaction goes on as she finally gets Sulu sorted out when he finally does touch her arm. And she also mentions how she can make someone calm as well as stimulate.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:17 AM (IaQle)

187 Yep. That's the one. Sadly, she had health problems and died some years back.

She was a former Miss World, IIRC.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 11:19 AM (LUgeY)

188 Say what you want about Haley, but "Hotel" was a pretty good book, and the comet he built is very cool.

Posted by: that guy who's easily confused at December 13, 2015 11:20 AM (dbDB8)

189 182 Roots was a pretty powerful cultural moment, but its too bad the guy presented it as his historical ancestry rather than just stories based on things that took place in the past. The lies and rip offs tainted the work pretty badly.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:14 AM (39g3+)

Right. If Haley had just written it as a novel and presented it as a novel, that would have been perfectly OK.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:20 AM (z6YGb)

190 It's not the barbarians at the gates that I'm worried about, it's the ones our insane leadership has mistakenly or maliciously let inside that are the threat.

Regrettably for those that are innocent, this means that ALL of those of this one particular ethnic/religious group are suspect.

And it means that too be fair will mean we will be killed without knowing who are killers are or we must then choose to punish an entire group for the acts of a few. Which is just what our enemy wants us to do.

There are solutions and we and they can survive but only if our so called leaders are sane and rational and have the steel to make some hard decisions.

Because there will inevitably be some errors and innocents will be punished.

We only have a little time to do things right if we wait too long we will miss our chance and the Nation will be lost and will never return to the way it was.

Posted by: Bitter Clinger and All That at December 13, 2015 11:22 AM (Xo1Rt)

191 57 ANOTHER ANGLE
as Sulu leads Kirk down to her.

KIRK From Delta 14 ... I've heard a lot about you Lieutenant.

ILIA And I you, sir.

58 KIRK AND ILIA - TWO SHOT
as she peers at him, the Deltan seductiveness literally oozing out of her. For just one instant Kirk is completely caught up in it - and then he realizes who and where he is.

KIRK Well ... please, don't let me interfere with your duties.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:22 AM (IaQle)

192 And husband is reading a book! It's The Diaries of Harriet "Hattie" Dillabaugh 1889-1940: Miner's Delight, Wyoming Territory; Oregon Trail; Chehalis and Olympia, Washington Territory; ... Vancouver, Washington; Portland, Oregon.

Clyde Dillabaugh, her son, was a major boatbuilder in the PNW. Jerry Ross, who compiled the diaries, was an astronaut and is a descendent of Hattie. These are daily diary entries, without any commentary explaining the entries. So we spent some time try to sort out what "added a wheel to my tidy" meant. I'll try to pull together a better review of it.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 11:22 AM (Lqy/e)

193 That was my problem with it, too, and I almost put it down, but it turned around about half-way through, and it was very satisfying to see the evil works of the devil destroyed.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:17 AM (z6YGb)

Well put. I'm not a fan of the "Dexter/horrible crime as entertainment" mentality. However, someone who overcomes evil is worthy of attention.

What I found in the David Bagby book "Dance with the Devil" was a father grief-stricken over the loss of his son, who ultimately turns his grief and rage into committed service on behalf of other vulnerable people.

Bagby is an atheist, his wife a Christian. I wish for him to have the confidence and reassurance that God gives. I believe with every fiber of my being that we will see our loved ones again.

I couldn't get out of bed in the morning if I didn't know that.

Posted by: Jade Sea at December 13, 2015 11:22 AM (frIeR)

194 178
Wait! Chicken George wasn't real?

Posted by: Count de Monet at December 13, 2015 11:13 AM (JO9+V)

Yeah he was, he started Kwanzaa

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 13, 2015 11:24 AM (jJRIy)

195 Just finished "Dawn over Kitty Hawk" by Walter J. Boyne. It is a sort of historical novel, about not only the Wright Brothers (although they are the central characters, to be sure), but also talks of the other major players in the years leading up to the first heavier than air powered manned flight. The book delves deeply into the personalities of the various players involved in early work on aviation. And oh yes, there was a lot of backbiting and bullshit among the various players back then, all wanting to be the first to fly.

One thing that comes through yet again in this book is that in practically all of the major technological breakthroughs of the last 100-150 years or so, no one person or group of people were working on these problems. Whether you are talking about aviation, rocketry, communications (telephone, radio and later TV), computers, all of it, all of these fields had multiple groups, often scattered all over the (western) world, all working towards the same basic goals.

The Wright Brothers were fortunate in that they were in the right place, at the right time, with the right combination of skill sets, data from previous researchers in the field (most of which they found to be wrong through experimentation), and an innate spark of genius, and so were the first to achieve the first heavier than air manned powered flight, beating out (in some cases) some very bright people who were working on the same problem at the same time, such as Alexander Graham Bell, among others.

Made for a very interesting read....

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at December 13, 2015 11:25 AM (AYY6Y)

196 So we spent some time try to sort out what "added a wheel to my tidy" meant.

Oh, that's the kind of thing for which the Horde could find 40 twisted explanations.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 11:25 AM (1xUj/)

197
Regrettably for those that are innocent, this means that ALL of those of this one particular ethnic/religious group are suspect.

Yes, but whose fault is that? Because lying and deception is perfectly acceptable - even laudable - in Islam to further the religion, and because we keep seeing seemingly ordinary, calm members suddenly erupt into violence and death, who can trust any of them?

The reason people are suspicious of and distrust Muslims is because of Islam. They're taught to keep it quiet and fit in until its time to murder and destroy. So it makes the unsafe and extreme ones seem like the safe and neighborly ones. Nobody can tell the difference, so you can't trust any of them. Whining that isn't fair or complaining about racism does not change this.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:26 AM (39g3+)

198 A ampersand E network is doing a remake of Roots that will air sometime in 2016. It is nicely timed to throw more gas on the racial fires. This time, Kunta Kinte saying Kill the white man! may actually inspire some murder, but it will be hard to tell.

Posted by: Delurk Ergo Sum at December 13, 2015 11:27 AM (FqDos)

199 Greetings:

I'm four chapters into Kevin Phillips' "1775". Usually, historical writers with "theories" about the bit of history that interest them end up distracting and undermining my pleasure (such as Nathaniel Philbrick's "The Last Stand" theory that it was not just Custer's but also Sitting Bull's) but Mr. Phillips seems to be able to minimize that effect. His underlining intellectual conceit is that 1775 is more important to the American Revolution than 1776. But then he kind of redefines 1775 to mean from mid-1774 to mid-1775, his "long year".

Mr. Phillips offers a great depth of information about those times (500 pages+) delineating, the ethnic and religious (no muslims) demographics such as were available as well as the political. The usually to me more interesting military aspects of the build up to the actual revolution are somewhat modulated by all the other data but the boys were definitely ready to go to their colonial mattresses.

A somewhat dense info-wise but certainly worthwhile read.

Posted by: 11B40 at December 13, 2015 11:29 AM (evgyj)

200 So we spent some time try to sort out what "added a wheel to my tidy" meant.

... I think it was Foxworthy that has a bit about how single and married guys react to lines like that. The single guy turns it into a double entrendre, the married guy works out a different meaning (at least when the wife is around).

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:29 AM (39g3+)

201 Read Equal Rites (Discworld #3) by Terry Pratchett, story of a young girl who wants to become a wizard, when everyone knows boys become wizards and girls become witches! Very funny book.

Listened to Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, which tells the single-minded purpose of Captain Ahab to find and destroy the white whale. I learned a lot about whales and whaling, as the author has some long info-dumps in the middle of the book; they are interesting but do bring the storytelling to a stop. The chase was good and overall it was a pretty good read.

Read The Forever War (The Forever War #1) by Joe Haldeman, where due to relativity soldiers who battled aliens in outer space would age much more slowly than the planet they were defending. As the author says, it's about how you can never go back home again. Societal changes get weird in the main character's absence. Liked the scientific concept behind it but the book was middling for me.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 13, 2015 11:29 AM (TSAFu)

202 Sounds like Alex must be related to that other "great" author Barack ummmummumm Hussein ummummumm Obama.....ummummumm. Lazy, money woes, broke agreements and bad work habits.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 13, 2015 11:30 AM (ej1L0)

203 196 So we spent some time try to sort out what "added a wheel to my tidy" meant.

Oh, that's the kind of thing for which the Horde could find 40 twisted explanations.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 11:25 AM (1xUj/)

Starting with: "oh, is that what they're calling it now?"

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:30 AM (z6YGb)

204 Go get a copy. It will enrich the moron language set with, among other things, "guava jelly."
Posted by: Tonestaple at December 13, 2015 11:06 AM (dCTrv)

I have a copy of Son of Rhubarb on the shelf, I keep intending to read it.

H. Allen Smith was a columnist (Life in a Putty-Knife Factory, Low Man on the Totem Pole) who went to write for Hollywood during the war (Lost in the Horse Latitudes) and later wrote about things like taking and extended vacation to Mexico in The Pig in the Barbershop, and always wrote about the people he talked to.
Most anything written by him is worth reading, and some of it is worth digging through piles of old books to read again.
(Which describes my filing system for books)

Posted by: Kindltot at December 13, 2015 11:30 AM (q2o38)

205 ...as he swashed buckles as a Musketeer.

*****

Shouldn't that be 'as he buckled swashes?'

...being a swashbuckler and all.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 13, 2015 11:33 AM (NeFrd)

206 Posted by: waelse1 at December 13, 2015 11:29 AM (TSAFu)

I really must be part of the unwashed masses.

I've tried at least three times to read Moby Dick and I just can't do it. I mean I've really tried but by about 50 pages in I realize why I could't read it before. I just hate it.

Like I said, unwashed.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 13, 2015 11:34 AM (6Uggm)

207 We have one of those prefab cottages in the backyard and are starting to turn it into a library, with a corner set aside for a ham shack. It has electric with a heater and A/C unit but, alas, no water so rent on tea and coffee requires a return to the house. Still have to find a comfortable reading chair, not easy given my size and weight.

The biggest dilemma will be deciding which books stay in the house in the good glass front bookcase. So far it is Bibles and related materials, Shakespeare, Lewis, Tolkien, and Chesterton. Then it gets tougher to choose.

At one time I thought of using the cottage as a darkroom (B&W film in medium and large format) but if I start that again it will be in the house.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 11:34 AM (FvdPb)

208 I quite enjoyed Moby Dick, including the digressions.

My favorite is where he insists on calling whales a fish. Paraphrasing: I know they are mammals and warm-blooded and breathe air, but they have fins and swim so they're fish, dammit.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 13, 2015 11:36 AM (1xUj/)

209 "165
These days when you want a shared cultural concept people know in short hand, you quote, I dunno, Sir Mixalot or something.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 10:48 AM (39g3+)

I
find women with large derrieres to be quite appealing to my sexual
tastes and preferences, and furthermore, I am unable to utter a
falsehood concerning this matter.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:00 AM (z6YGb)"

Not Shakespear but maybe Gilbert and Sullivan will do.

https://youtu.be/qkJdEFf_Qg4

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 11:37 AM (QHgTq)

210 Skip: Amazon gift cards at RiteAid pharmacies. (Probably most other stores that have a gift card section. Maybe not B&N.) I THINK you can load any dollar amount. If not, there are various preloaded values. You even get a nice presentation envelope to wrap it.

Much nicer than an online electronic credit email.

Posted by: Spellcheck at December 13, 2015 11:37 AM (j+aWk)

211 195 Just finished "Dawn over Kitty Hawk" by Walter J. Boyne.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at December 13, 2015 11:25 AM (AYY6Y)

That sounds like an interesting book. I've read "To Conquer the Air" by James Tobin. It also discusses the Wrights and their competitors like Langley and Bell.

That book talks about Wilbur Wright's 1908 tour of Europe. The Euros had achieved heavier-than-air flight by that time, but the way his plane gracefully banked into turns astonished them.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 11:39 AM (sdi6R)

212 H. Allen Smith was a columnist...
Most anything written by him is worth reading
Posted by: Kindltot at December 13, 2015 11:30 AM (q2o3

I read his "The Compleat Practical Joker" when I were a yoot, a compendium of hilarious pranks.

Like the guy who took guests who passed out drunk at his parties and put them in a specially constructed 'upside down room' where furniture was fastened to the ceiling and the lamp fixture in the center of the floor.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:40 AM (z6YGb)

213 Posted by: weirdflunky at December 13, 2015 11:34 AM (6Uggm)

Interesting. Next time I read something by Melville I'll try not bathing until I'm finished, and report back on whether I can get through it and how it impacts people around me.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 13, 2015 11:43 AM (TSAFu)

214 Point of correction, it was in fact the Bush administration that "has welcomed in a raft of jihadi enablers and sympathizers whose goal it is to transform America."

They want me biddable and just accept the yoke of slavery and Sharia?

No.

My quiet and abiding No.

Posted by: Deety at December 13, 2015 11:43 AM (EmfUD)

215 209
Not Shakespear but maybe Gilbert and Sullivan will do.

https://youtu.be/qkJdEFf_Qg4

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 13, 2015 11:37 AM (QHgTq)

I think that wins the internet for today.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 11:46 AM (sdi6R)

216 Amusing to see photo of Shatner and Persis Khambatta together. I wonder if anyone pointed out that she was the one who wasn't actually bald.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 11:47 AM (xq1UY)

217 If anyone is interested, the first draft script can be found in Star Trek Phase II The Lost Series by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Also has pre-production art for the movie. For example Enterprise in orbit and the space station is more in line with the art von Braun had commissioned years earlier. Pictures of the never used TV model version of the refitted Enterprise. Screen shots of Persis in Original Series uniforms both gold and red. Plus story synopsis of the other unused TV scripts and even a revised script for "The Child" which would later be reincarnated for Next Generation with Deanna Troi.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:48 AM (IaQle)

218 I guess I don't care enough to find out, but what I'm wondering is, did Haley start the process with the intent of writing a "fake but accurate" account of what slaves experienced, going back to their time in Africa?

In other words, did he approach a publisher with an honest statement of his intent, only to be told by the publisher that no, they were going to try to sell it as historically accurate?

If so, it would change who the bad guys are here... to some extent. Obviously he went along with the lie, but I guess it's a little different, if he went into it one way, then found himself unable to resist either the temptation, or literally, having the decision taken away from him, almost to the point of becoming a slave to the lie.

It would be interesting to find out, I guess. Because, if my little speculative "what if" is accurate, then the real bad guys were never exposed. The book industry murderers who know damn well how much truth they have killed, in order to sell more books.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 13, 2015 11:49 AM (Dj0WE)

219 206 ... Not unwashed, just not to your taste. I've enjoyed Moby Dick for the rich language, a bit of dry humor, and the underlying morality. Even the historical aspects of whaling are interesting for me. But it is a long, dense book and not everyone will like it.

OTOH, everyone tells me that Faulkner is a genius and his books are classics. Screw their opinions. It takes about two chapters for me to get tired of the constant perversion and decay that permeates his stuff. If I want a feeling of hopelessness, I'll pay more attention to the news.

Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 11:49 AM (FvdPb)

220 @215 That one really pulls the d'oily off the carte, so to speak.
And adds a wheel to the tidy while it's at it.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at December 13, 2015 11:50 AM (xq1UY)

221 Imagine the MFM's behavior during a Trump presidency.

Imagine our college campuses during a Trump presidency.

Imagine what might get told to kids in high school classrooms during a Trump presidency.

Imagine a State of the Union address during a Trump presidency.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 13, 2015 11:52 AM (/zOAd)

222 Like the guy who took guests who passed out drunk at his parties and put them in a specially constructed 'upside down room' where furniture was fastened to the ceiling and the lamp fixture in the center of the floor.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 11:40 AM (z6YGb)

In my yoot we would put two guys in bed together, hoping hilarity would ensue. Generally, I do not recall it ever working, because you would find one guy good and out, the other with enough wits still about him to resist.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 13, 2015 11:53 AM (Dj0WE)

223 Looks like Japan might not be able to afford a full size [ 18 meters tall] walking Gundam in time for the 40th Anniversary. Price tag to make it move is around $650 million US.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:54 AM (IaQle)

224 Point of correction, it was in fact the Bush administration that "has welcomed in a raft of jihadi enablers and sympathizers whose goal it is to transform America."

They want me biddable and just accept the yoke of slavery and Sharia?

No.

My quiet and abiding No.

Same here, plus a bit of colorful language to emphasize the point.

And speaking of points, I live my life in order to comport with a joke that I've become rather fond of:

An English dandy some years ago visits the States, Texas specifically. While traveling a Texas byway, he looks for some directions from a local.

Dandy: "I say good man. Is your master about?"

Texan: "That sumbitch ain't been born yet."

Words to live by.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 12:01 PM (LUgeY)

225 I do a lot of fiber work so I thought she was talking about doilies. The interesting thing about diaries is that people don't explain a lot. You just have to sort things out by context. Her husband was a miner and had a Civil War pension. So they did some traveling in a wagon and camping out.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 12:03 PM (Lqy/e)

226 And this article argues that the Great Library at Alexandria was destroyed mostly by budget cuts, not fire.

Sequester. Is there anything it can't do?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at December 13, 2015 12:03 PM (FkBIv)

227 And there it is, ladies and gents! The "fake but accurate" meme once again gets pressed into service to support a liberal cause. They never, ever seem to get tired of using it.

Why would they get tired of using a winning strategy?

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at December 13, 2015 12:06 PM (FkBIv)

228 For me the last week: 1)Van Halen Rising; & 2) The Fears of Henry IV by Ian Mortimer.

I'm marching through British history a monarch at a time, but I can only take so much. After I finished Richard II, I had to read three Rock 'n' Roll books to cleanse my palate.

Posted by: mnw at December 13, 2015 12:06 PM (NiHAc)

229 Looks like Japan might not be able to afford a full
size [ 18 meters tall] walking Gundam in time for the 40th Anniversary.
Price tag to make it move is around $650 million US.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 11:54 AM (IaQle)

Anna, I remember they had the same issue with the Oberth rocket that was supposed to be launched as part of the publicity when Fritz Lang released Frau im Mond

Posted by: Kindltot at December 13, 2015 12:07 PM (q2o38)

230 The reason people are suspicious of and distrust Muslims is because of Islam. They're taught to keep it quiet and fit in until its time to murder and destroy. So it makes the unsafe and extreme ones seem like the safe and neighborly ones. Nobody can tell the difference, so you can't trust any of them. Whining that isn't fair or complaining about racism does not change this.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 11:26 AM (39g3+)

This. Indeed, based on my 40 years of dealing with Muslims in the workplace and elsewhere, I would say most of them are a potential risk, because Islam. The only reason there has not been more Muslim murder and mayhem in this country is because, for now at least, we still outnumber them, and most of them don't have the balls to do what Islam tells them to do, which is kill or enslave the infidel. That is, the rest of us. Indeed, I would submit that, if the truth were known, most Muslims here support this sort of spree killing that we have seen carried out of late, both here and elsewhere in the world. Again, because Islam.

Naturally, the usual suspects on the Left, because of their willful ignorance of history, will scream "rayciss, rayciss" if they see this. In their stupidity, what they refuse to grasp is this is NOT about race. It is about CULTURE. Muslims come in every race, color and hat size, but they won't see it. Bet they will when their "peaceful" Muslim neighbor is anally raping them, just before slitting their throats. Along about then, they will finally figure it out...

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at December 13, 2015 12:07 PM (AYY6Y)

231 The interesting thing about diaries is that people don't explain a lot. You just have to sort things out by context.

*****

Exactly this is what made writing "To Save Us All From Ruin" enjoyable to me. It is in fact, the entire premise of the story is filling in the gaps between my dad's diary entries and mixing a bit of whimsy. In the process one learns a lot more (via research to help fill the gaps well) than by merely reading the diary.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at December 13, 2015 12:08 PM (NeFrd)

232 I'm right in the middle of "Life Unworthy", and I love it...hard to put it down, I've got the kindle app for my phone and I find myself putting my phone in my toolbox drawer and then sneaking a page or two every now and then...

Posted by: The Original antisocialist-Accept No Substitutes! at December 13, 2015 12:10 PM (cDs+4)

233 nope. Will probably go to a screaming dishonorable death thinking, but I TUTORED the disadvantaged, I should have made other people be nicer to them.

I am full of anger and fury. Can't figure how to get around that.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 13, 2015 12:10 PM (q2o38)

234 214 Point of correction, it was in fact the Bush administration that "has welcomed in a raft of jihadi enablers and sympathizers whose goal it is to transform America."

Posted by: Deety at December 13, 2015 11:43 AM (EmfUD)

Point taken. But I think Obama has taken it to a whole new level.

Now we know Obama's doing this because he hates America as it now is. That's easy enough to understand. But Bush...? He doesn't hate America. What the hell was he thinking?

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 12:10 PM (z6YGb)

235 _ Scott Adams is this revolutions Thomas Paine. His blog is the new Common Sense.
_ Scott Adams effectively sees Trump as (George Washington? Thomas Jefferson?) but doesn't state it.
_ Side note: During the American Revolution, Jefferson was elected governor of Virginia. He was the wartime President.
_ Side note: Progressives (Obama and friends) are try to be the Bolsheviks in Islams Russian Revolutionaries.
_ Scott Adams says his weapon is his Iphone (ie recording atrocities). This was explored by a SF novel from the (50s? 60s?). May have been van Vogt. Inventor invents a wireless system that beams tyrants actions to all. Has a tiny bit of amusing cannibalism that could be an allegory on academia.
_ Scott Adams says, "fast food businesses will soon replace workers with robots that eat cows and poop hamburgers. My advice is to keep your distance from that robot. Stay on the other side of the counter."
This was explored in a SF short story. Possibly Niven. Trapped in an automated restaurant. The story's correct solution was to wait patiently at your table till the restaurant closed. Do not try to escape via the kitchen.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:12 PM (PGh+Q)

236 Speaking of William Forstchen's "One Second After" and "One Year After," I highly recommend his 2014 novella, "Day of Wrath." It is focused on a single day incident of multiple Islamic terror attacks across the U.S., is quite seriously believable in its description of the immediate affects in our communities, and utterly infuriating in its handling of how the thinly-disguised Obama responds.

A short afternoon's read, lots to consider about what it suggests, though.

Posted by: John the Baptist at December 13, 2015 12:12 PM (MPH+3)

237 For me the last week: 1)Van Halen Rising; & 2) The Fears of Henry IV by Ian Mortimer.

I'm marching through British history a monarch at a time, but I can only take so much. After I finished Richard II, I had to read three Rock 'n' Roll books to cleanse my palate.
Posted by: mnw at December 13, 2015 12:06 PM (NiHAc)

Me too, but it sort of depends on the writer. Alison Weir's books are really easy to get involved in, but "A Great and Terrible King" was a little, well, dry for my tastes. I like my British monarchs a little on the trashy side.

Posted by: The Original antisocialist-Accept No Substitutes! at December 13, 2015 12:15 PM (cDs+4)

238 Scott Adams' analysis of Trump has been amazing, he's brilliant at pulling apart the forces and dynamics at work, not to mention what is working for Trump and why. I loved his simplification of a Trump vs Clinton general election: Dad vs Mom. Do we want Dad to protect us and take charge, or Mom to nurture us and make us feel better? It largely will depend on world events.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:16 PM (39g3+)

239 Posted by: JTB at December 13, 2015 11:49 AM (FvdPb)

I've never read Faulkner but remember in college being told how great his writing was and that it was sometimes difficult reading. Probably will continue avoiding his books, just as I've avoided James Joyce.

Posted by: waelse1 at December 13, 2015 12:16 PM (TSAFu)

240 >>Scott Adams' analysis of Trump has been amazing, he's brilliant at pulling apart the forces and dynamics at work, not to mention what is working for Trump and why. I loved his simplification of a Trump vs Clinton general election: Dad vs Mom. Do we want Dad to protect us and take charge, or Mom to nurture us and make us feel better? It largely will depend on world events.

Nothing against Adams but the Republicans as dad, Democrats as mom thing has been around for years.

Posted by: JackStraw at December 13, 2015 12:19 PM (/tuJf)

241 Scott Adams' analysis of Trump has been amazing, he's brilliant at pulling apart the forces and dynamics at work, not to mention what is working for Trump and why. I loved his simplification of a Trump vs Clinton general election: Dad vs Mom. Do we want Dad to protect us and take charge, or Mom to nurture us and make us feel better? It largely will depend on world events.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:16 PM (39g3+)

Sounds cute, but Dad vs. Mom is nowhere near what these two are.

If you had them for a mom and dad, I'm gonna go ahead and say your life is a wreck.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 13, 2015 12:20 PM (Dj0WE)

242 Wouldst that NDH hasten the elbows.

I have some bragging to do.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 13, 2015 12:20 PM (LUgeY)

243 To extend my remarks, I said:
_ Scott Adams is this revolutions Thomas Paine. His blog is the new Common Sense.

This is not necessarily a complement. Thomas Paine was discarded after the revolution as a useless nut.

There was a short story by James H. Schmitz where a character was selling his psychic talents way too cheap and on the open market. This was severely punished in Schmitz universe.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:21 PM (PGh+Q)

244 "If you had them for a mom and dad, I'm gonna go ahead and say your life is a wreck."

You are describing a large number of voters. Maybe a majority. :-)

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:23 PM (PGh+Q)

245 Sounds cute, but Dad vs. Mom is nowhere near what these two are.

No, he's not trying to describe them as family. He's taking the basic dynamic of each role and how they are received by voters. To quote:

You know Dad; he's the a-hole who makes the hard choices. He makes you go to school when you don't feel like it. He makes you come home before midnight when you know there is nothing magic about midnight. He prohibits you from watching X-rated movies when you are nine years old even though you are sure it would be fine.

Here I am not talking about logic and reason. I'm talking about the tendency of human brains to form automatic associations. Those automatic connections that are disconnected from reason are how hypnotists can hypnotize and influencers can influence. Reason aside, when you observe an older male authority figure making a hard choice on your behalf, it just feels dadlike. You can't help make the connection.

...
Trump isn't your dad, he's acting as the nation's dad, saying the stuff you don't want to hear but know is true and taking charge regardless of what everyone says.

Clinton isn't your mom, but she's acting as the nation's mom by trying to be the one that gives people the stuff they want and makes them feel better about themselves.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:24 PM (39g3+)

246 Nothing against Adams but the Republicans as dad, Democrats as mom thing has been around for years.
Posted by: JackStraw at December 13, 2015 12:19 PM (/tuJf)

Yeah, PJ O'Rourke has been working this field for years.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 12:24 PM (z6YGb)

247 Another book on the same subject as Morton's A Nervous Splendor is Wittgenstein's Vienna, by Janick and Toulmin. I had the 1973 edition, being a Wittgenstein kinda guy/gal, and found it fascinating. Highly recommended.

Amazon has the 2001 edition. I won't paste the link due to the length of the url.

Posted by: Mickey and Sylvia at December 13, 2015 12:25 PM (QP2lF)

248 I'm reading Mark Spencer, very similar to Brad Thor. Even better, his books are selling for under $4.

Posted by: AdamPM at December 13, 2015 12:26 PM (CpRG+)

249 That sounds like an interesting book. I've read "To Conquer the Air" by James Tobin. It also discusses the Wrights and their competitors like Langley and Bell.

That book talks about Wilbur Wright's 1908 tour of Europe. The Euros had achieved heavier-than-air flight by that time, but the way his plane gracefully banked into turns astonished them.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 11:39 AM (sdi6R)

Yes, Boyne talks about that tour as well. All the Euros, particularly the French, had done was a few straight line hops, and that was it. When he got there, Wilbur Wright took his time getting ready and the French media raked him over the coals as a faker, liar, etc. Well, once he got the Flyer ready and took off, he left the French speechless. It was clear the Wrights had flown, and were in fact ahead of everyone in technical skill. The French, after seeing what the Wrights had achieved, did a quick 180 and they were lauded very loudly as heroes.

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs at December 13, 2015 12:26 PM (AYY6Y)

250 Morning, Glories! I missed the whole morning thread. Slowly plowing through the book comments now.

Bandersnatch: I believe that some of you are missing the true import of Roots. Boobies on network television! (Hey, if you were the right age when it came out that was important).

Hm. I must've been too old by then to remain impressed by that part...! (Checks iMDB) Roots (tv) was in 1977? I thought it was much earlier. If that's right, I was not only well past my boob-seeking adolescence and already living with Milady Webworker by then.

The big takeaway I remember from the Roots show was the oral history of the African village, still recalling Haley's ancestor's kidnapping, generations later when Haley went there.

All BS, I must now suppose, but I remain impressed with the pre-literate practice of preserving history with oral tradition, stories and songs, with very little change over long generations. Fake but accurate for realz?

Posted by: mindful webworker - still working on Dick, Jane, and Spot at December 13, 2015 12:26 PM (tHAoL)

251 Adams says he's "deeply offended" by Trump's wanting to exclude immigrants based on "religion".

Really. So you think living in America is some sort of natural right that's bestowed upon all human beings at birth?

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (z6YGb)

252 I have a diary from 1942. I have no information at all about the writer. She starts out living with her husband on a farm and ends up in Portland with her husband working in the war effort. It's interesting and it made me change my journaling habits. I try to sometimes mention world events and how I feel about them. And I try to sometimes explain how a person relates to me. I don't expect that anyone would ever read this stuff, but just in case...

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (Lqy/e)

253 Nothing against Adams but the Republicans as dad, Democrats as mom thing has been around for years.

Yeah, its pretty good as a general rule, but rarely has it been more pronounced and obvious as this year. And as much as I love mom; for a leader, commander in chief, and chief executive officer, the country needs dad, not mom.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (39g3+)

254 238 Scott Adams' analysis of Trump has been amazing, he's brilliant at pulling apart the forces and dynamics at work, not to mention what is working for Trump and why. I loved his simplification of a Trump vs Clinton general election: Dad vs Mom. Do we want Dad to protect us and take charge, or Mom to nurture us and make us feel better? It largely will depend on world events.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:16 PM (39g3+)
---
I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan; and Creepy Granny who lives in a gingerbread McMansion and eats children.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (jR7Wy)

255 I always thought roots was supposed to be pure fiction..

Posted by: Lea at December 13, 2015 12:28 PM (vmMMi)

256 This is just like the Cold War only with jihadi scum instead of rat bastard commies. And just like the FDR administration was lousy with de facto commies and actual Soviet spies, the Obama administration has welcomed in a raft of jihadi enablers and sympathizers whose goal it is to transform America.

It's almost as if Democrat Administrations put America's long-term security at risk.

Crazy talk, I know.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 13, 2015 12:29 PM (oKE6c)

257 Adams says he's "deeply offended" by Trump's wanting to exclude immigrants based on "religion".

Yet he also notes that despite this, he believes it should be done, depending on the cost in lives. He's making an argument based on liberty vs safety, weighing as heavily as possible on the liberty side, which I believe we always ought. But even with that, he admits that if there are enough casualties, we need to restrict liberty.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:30 PM (39g3+)

258 Gingerbread?

More like Vodka-bread.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 12:31 PM (IaQle)

259 I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan; and Creepy Granny who lives in a gingerbread McMansion and eats children.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (jR7Wy)

Hahaha....
This +100....plus Drunkle lets you call an escort service and Granny Cankles feeds you lots of sweets before shoving you in the oven.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 13, 2015 12:32 PM (ej1L0)

260 "And this article argues that the Great Library at Alexandria was destroyed mostly by budget cuts, not fire.
...
Sequester. Is there anything it can't do? "

I would argue that cutting the budget is the way to destroy the Progressive party (and GOPe). It would also destroy NWO and Globalism.

Without the Fed wars can not be financed. Without a deficit China (or any other country) can't run a trade deficit. When hundreds of millions are spending the money (which is a accounting mechanism for real things) they do a better job than hundreds of thousands (all the bureaucrats and tycoons).

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:33 PM (PGh+Q)

261 I would argue that cutting the budget is the way to destroy the Progressive party (and GOPe). It would also destroy NWO and Globalism.

And it would severely damage cronyism and the huge money corruption going into campaigns and law writing.

If the fed is too small and weak to have much impact on how things go, there's no real motivation to bribe them eh?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:34 PM (39g3+)

262 Anti-socialist:

I read & liked "A Great and Terrible King," too.

If you want "trashy," try Greg Allman's autobio. Most rock stars are a little on the trashy side, but Greg exceeds expectations!

Greg is the only rock star I've read about who got compelled to testify in fed court against his drug dealer.

I hated Richard II. Couldn't WAIT for him to get deposed. Henry IV is fun to read about-- he knew he was a fraud & so did everybody else, but he pulled it off.

Posted by: mnw at December 13, 2015 12:36 PM (NiHAc)

263 I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan

So, Ron White.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:36 PM (39g3+)

264 Yet he also notes that despite this, he believes it should be done, depending on the cost in lives. He's making an argument based on liberty vs safety, weighing as heavily as possible on the liberty side, which I believe we always ought. But even with that, he admits that if there are enough casualties, we need to restrict liberty.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:30 PM (39g3+)

******

1. What number of casualties fits his model?

2. Liberty here is simply not available to all who may want it.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at December 13, 2015 12:36 PM (uM1T1)

265 261
I would argue that cutting the budget is the way to destroy the
Progressive party (and GOPe). It would also destroy NWO and Globalism.

And that's going to be what's going to happen soon anyway. All the money that could be stolen and funneled to friends and cronies has already been spent.

When the welfare state implodes, that's when we'll see great freedom again.

Posted by: Stateless Infidel at December 13, 2015 12:36 PM (AC0lD)

266 But Bush...? He doesn't hate America. What the hell was he thinking?

He wasn't thinking. Thinking wasn't ever something that Bush liked to do very much.

He was elected (sort of) the first time because he was about as smart as Al Gore, and elected (definitely) the second time because he was smarter than John Kerry. These are not high bars to meet.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 13, 2015 12:37 PM (GsVXe)

267 I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan; and Creepy Granny who lives in a gingerbread McMansion and eats children.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (jR7Wy)

Pure poetry. Could not be a better description.

Platinum membership is surely headed your way.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 13, 2015 12:38 PM (6Uggm)

268 Here's how Adams puts it:

...
But if the risk is more than tiny, can you put a price on your love of religious tolerance? In other words, how many dead Americans are you willing to accept? I'll go first.

Personally, I would accept up to 1,000 dead Americans, over a ten-year period, to allow Muslim non-citizens to enter this country. My calculation assumes we are better off accepting some degree of tragedy in the name of freedom. That is often the case with freedom.

If you believe there is no risk from allowing Muslim immigration to continue as is, please explain that thinking in the comments. I have not seen that argument yet.

And if you believe there is some risk of a Muslim terrorist slipping through our current system of screening, what level of American deaths do you consider an acceptable tradeoff?
...
I think he's being very thoughtful and considering this carefully instead of leaping to one side or another and I appreciated his ideas. I don't necessarily agree with his calculus, but its the kind of thing we have to do in real life as human beings.

How many automotive deaths are worth the economic benefit and personal freedom of driving cars? How many accidental deaths are worth gun ownership? We have to consider this kind of thing as adults. There comes a point at which its not worth it, and a point at which it is reluctantly and regrettably acceptable.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:39 PM (39g3+)

269 I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan; and Creepy Granny who lives in a gingerbread McMansion and eats children.

Okay, Eris needs to write a book already.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 13, 2015 12:40 PM (GsVXe)

270 "Nothing against Adams but the Republicans as dad, Democrats as mom thing has been around for years."

(my opinion) Adams is professionally offensive. I would kick him out of any organization I was an officer in as a trouble maker. He is a good court jester. What you said about mom and dad is true. But this year the LIVs will buy into it and vote Trump (eg I agree with Adams).

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:41 PM (PGh+Q)

271 How many automotive deaths are worth the economic benefit and personal freedom of driving cars? How many accidental deaths are worth gun ownership? We have to consider this kind of thing as adults. There comes a point at which its not worth it, and a point at which it is reluctantly and regrettably acceptable.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:39 PM (39g3+)

****

This asshole clearly mentally rules out he or anyone he knows being in that first 1000. Therefore, fcuk him and his Fascist ideas.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at December 13, 2015 12:42 PM (uM1T1)

272 255 I always thought roots was supposed to be pure fiction..
Posted by: Lea at December 13, 2015 12:28 PM (vmMMi)

Exactly. It was as laughably implausible on its face as Rubin Erdeley's "Jackie" story. Guys rolling around buck naked with Jackie on a floor covered in broken glass in the dark? Risk cutting the hell out of Little Me? Uh ... no. Also, guys are highly visual. Turning out the lights is a classic feminine move. Guys would want the place lit up like Yankee Stadium.

Same thing with "Roots." How many white people can trace their ancestry back a century or two? And that's often only by virtue of family Bibles and census records.

As for African slaves, seriously, who would have bothered? How many of them were literate and had family Bibles going all the way back to a family member from Africa? It's not as if scholarship and literary pursuits are their long suit. How many blacks even now know who their fathers are, much less where they come from?

It is to laugh.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 13, 2015 12:42 PM (oKE6c)

273 This asshole clearly mentally rules out he or anyone he knows being in that first 1000.

Well everybody does that, with cars or airplanes or booze or whatever. His "100 casualties a year" was broken in 9/11 obviously, and in 2009 with the Fort Hood shooting. It might happen his year.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:45 PM (39g3+)

274 Great post, great content, OregonMuse. Well done.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at December 13, 2015 12:47 PM (oKE6c)

275 Okay, Eris needs to write a book already.
Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 13, 2015 12:40 PM (GsVXe)
---

Whenever anyone asks me what I plan to do upon retirement, I always say "I want to write children's books!" and bask in the horror writ large on their faces.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:47 PM (jR7Wy)

276 His "100 casualties a year" was broken in 9/11 obviously, and in 2009 with the Fort Hood shooting. It might happen his year.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:45 PM (39g3+)

******

Exactly, we are at 4k plus already, so his ideas are already outdated.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at December 13, 2015 12:48 PM (uM1T1)

277 Adams isn't trying to set policy, he's proposing his limits and asking for a discussion on the topic rather than ignoring it or pretending either extreme: there is no threat or that the threat can somehow be negated entirely. He's examining the topic trying to embrace liberty as much as possible yet recognizing in a real world you have to adjust for evil.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:48 PM (39g3+)

278 I saw the guy that does the focus groups (Lantz? Luntz?) on John Dickersons show. He seemed to be focused on how Trump supporters said they would vote third party if he goes that route. I think he missed the folks saying that no one else was saying these things.

I managed to sit through Kasich. They also have Kerry on. Husband has the remote and is napping. Good thing I have an app on my phone that acts as a remote

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 12:49 PM (Lqy/e)

279 All Hail Eris, did you see my post #17? Yes/No/Maybe?

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 12:49 PM (IaQle)

280 I may be wrong, and I might be giving Adams too much the benefit of the doubt, but I think he's trying to use a Lewisian technique of reaching enemies on grounds that they can access and understand. He's using this example to get opponents to think and discuss topics that they might otherwise simply shut up about and begin spewing memorized talking points.

Getting them to admit that there is some level of risk to importing Muslims into the USA is a start, its a foot in the door. Then its a matter of degree: how many, at what risk? When do we draw the line?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:52 PM (39g3+)

281 "1. What number of casualties fits his model?"

Average of 100 a year. (1000 over 10 years)
Adams is betting that nobody he cares about will be killed.
My understanding is that Islam plans to infiltrate the US and kill, "convert", or enslave all the Christians and Jews (unless all the literature is incorrect).

The DNC and GOPe don't seem to understand that the Muslim immigrants are going to kill the Federal Government and some if not all of the State Governments. The rest of the world is likely to go to hell since weapons and food will quit flowing from USA to the world. Christian and Jewish enclaves will then have to reconquer North America.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:53 PM (PGh+Q)

282 Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 12:49 PM (IaQle)
---
*scrolls back*

Holy cow! You wrote the script for one of my favorite movies!

Bonus book: The Man from C.A.M.P.:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_from_C.A.M.P.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:53 PM (jR7Wy)

283 The Girl from SANTA
Elf, "Well St. Nick had to change it from Spanking All Naughty Toddlers Agency."
Alice, "Why for? After all most little children get into some frightful mischief."
Elf clears throat. "Our lawyer advised we change it."
Alice, "Lawyers, always making things harder. So what is it called now?"
Elf, "We have an exploratory committee looking into that right now."
Alice, "Oh poo, it will die in there."

You could make a pretty fun kids story out of that. But, F Santa and all the trappings.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:54 PM (39g3+)

284 Adams isn't trying to set policy, he's proposing his limits and asking for a discussion on the topic rather than ignoring it or pretending either extreme: there is no threat or that the threat can somehow be negated entirely. He's examining the topic trying to embrace liberty as much as possible yet recognizing in a real world you have to adjust for evil.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:48 PM (39g3+)

****

This position and all of those who agree with him are only using those two extreme positions, and I seriously doubt Adams or any of them want any real discussion on the topic.

A severe reduction can be achieved, and long before his "acceptable" number of faceless others get offed.

Posted by: ManWithNoParty at December 13, 2015 12:55 PM (uM1T1)

285 All Hail Eris, had never ever heard of that. They made a movie of one of the books? Are are you referring to Austin Powers?

Christopher Taylor I am not sure of your meaning of ditching Santa. Can you expand please?

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 12:58 PM (IaQle)

286 Evidently, even in the UK, Trump's "ban all Muslim immigration" is doing better in a poll than "ban Trump from the UK."

My guess is its most Brits vs all Muslims. And for now, the Muslims are still out numbered.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 12:59 PM (39g3+)

287 Anna, I kid. I imagined there would be a naughty Santa "film" just like that.

Perhaps our Horde can fill me in on that score.

As for The Man from C.A.M.P., apparently it's real and I need to go to Abe Books RIGHT NOW.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 01:01 PM (jR7Wy)

288 This position and all of those who agree with him are only using those two extreme positions, and I seriously doubt Adams or any of them want any real discussion on the topic.

He categorically and obviously rejects that in the very quote I put up above. I recommend actually reading the article.

http://tinyurl.com/zmtmm2z

Christopher Taylor I am not sure of your meaning of ditching Santa.

I don't care for Santa the way you wouldn't like a kid shoving your child off the school play stage and throwing money around for attention. Santa is a crass, ugly distraction from Christmas and the beauty of the incarnation. Its like having your marriage upstaged by a marching band that crashes through the doors and plays "Louie Louie" until the attendees all dance and sing along with them.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 01:01 PM (39g3+)

289
Re: the mosques in America:

If ANYONE in the FBI and the DHS had bothered to read Steven Emerson's "American Jihad: The Terrorists Among Us" (published way back in 2002, so it's been around for a while!) and Andrew McCarthy's "The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America" (published in 2010), they would already know all about American mosques that preach jihad, recruit jihadists, send money to overseas terrorist groups, and even store weapons in their basements.

It makes me sick to the point of puking that a farm wife out in rural Kansas knows more about the Muslim Brotherhood and all its branches (MSA, ISNA, CAIR, etc.) than does our "homeland security" establishment.

Does ANYONE in our government bother to read the blog of Steve Emerson's research group, the Investigative Project on Terrorism? Does ANYONE in government bother to read the blog Creeping Sharia, which has long been describing in detail the jihad involvement of American mosques, foundations, government entitites, etc.? Do they even know that these books and blogs exist? I don't know which is more disturbing: that they aren't even aware of these resources -- or that they're aware of them and purposely ignore them.

We seem to have nothing but ostriches in our government -- or at least in all the key positions. We're under government by ostrich. Government by big dumb birds that can't fly.

Posted by: Kathy from Kansas at December 13, 2015 01:03 PM (A/Q7Y)

290 Original antisocialist, I'm glad you are enjoying my book. I hope you can find time to write a review!

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 13, 2015 01:06 PM (39g3+)

291 "It is to laugh. Posted by: Jay Guevara"

The masses ate it up. Biggest (white) bigot I ever knew cheered the "spitting in the cup". He once bragged about him and a friend giving a black woman a lift. Having semi-consensual sex with her (cab fare?). Taking turns. One driving with the coupling in the back seat. Then setting her out further from where she was going.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 01:07 PM (PGh+Q)

292 Very late to the thread. Thanks OM for some great reading recommendations.

I've started Vince Milam's The Unknown Element. I'm about six chapters in, and enjoying it. Good pacing and a nice set-up for the rest of the book. I'll post a review at votermom's website, bookhorde.org, when I'm done.

Thirteen days and a wake-up before I head to Kenya to do some book research - when I'm not out playing. Not going to miss winter a bit.

Also, formulated my first safety rule for the Kenya trip: Do Not Pet the Lions.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at December 13, 2015 01:09 PM (L0bUn)

293 Why do I now have this image. Christopher Taylor is the Phoebe Cates character in Gremlins and they just found dear dead old Dad stuck in the chimney dressed as Santa Claus.

A naughty film? Well I hope to avoid that. And what score?

-----
Alice looking more confused. "So what exactly am I supposed to do in this job?"

Elf, "Well that too is under review."

Alice, "Under review? Another committee?"

Elf, "Well yes."

Alice, "I really fail to see why you even advertised this job. Really."

Elf, "Well you see HR said we needed to fill the vacancy or funding would be revoked."

Alice, "Oh dear, this sounds dreadfully like government work. Think I could be allowed to pet Rudolph at least?"

Elf nervously clears throat. "You would need to be certified for that. Union rules."

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 13, 2015 01:11 PM (IaQle)

294 "even in the UK"

See "The Antichrist and a Cup of Tea".

Prince Charles is an Antichrist. The above books both proves Prince Charles is 666 of Revelation and tries to undermine what that means by adding items that discredit the book. I wouldn't doubt that Prince Charles commissioned the book.

Prince Charles has proven he is an Antichrist by word and deed. Prince Charles is facilitating the destruction of Christianity in the UK.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 01:17 PM (PGh+Q)

295 I get caught up on book comments, and I check and, yeah, elbows thread is up, of course.

Not supposed to mean the book thread expired, of course, but, called the Horde for a reason.

I'd just like to throw out Amazon links - I've mentioned before - to books by my brother-in-law Jack, including his work collecting stories and diaries with my late mother-in-law, and my late brother-in-law Vince. For your Christmas shopping for yourself and others.

On the Home Front: Everyday American Life from Prohibition through World War II - Mary Jo Clark
http://bit.ly/OTHFmjc

Jack Clark's books
http://bit.ly/jack-clark
JACK CLARK's first novel WESTERFIELD'S CHAIN was a Shamus Award finalist. The Chicago Tribune called it "The best mystery of the month... A pure delight for many reasons, not the least of which is the way Jack Clark celebrates and rings a few changes on the familiar private eye script. . . There's a memorable moment [on] virtually every page."

Vince Clark's book The Confidants
http://bit.ly/Vince-Clark-Confidants
A politician and a detective seek vengeance with help from some friends

The links should all include the bit which credits back to Ace, if I did it right.

Posted by: mindful webworker - Run, Spot, run! at December 13, 2015 01:27 PM (tHAoL)

296 254
I see the two more as: Crazy Rich Uncle who lets you stay up, smoke cigars, and sample the scotch, but won't lend you money for your lemonade stand without a business plan; and Creepy Granny who lives in a gingerbread McMansion and eats children.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 13, 2015 12:27 PM (jR7Wy)

I love that.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 01:39 PM (sdi6R)

297 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 13, 2015 09:12 AM (9mTYi)

I did not know that. Is it ok if I use that info for a post on my book blog?
Posted by: votermom
------------------

Sorry for the slow response, went off to church and a meeting afterward.

Sure, that info is common knowledge, and I copied the dates off of the 'net somewhere.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 13, 2015 01:47 PM (9mTYi)

298 I'm nin the middle of re-reading Claire Tomalin's biography of Samuel Pepys. An absolutely fascinating book about an most interesting man - and, to boot, one of the creators of the modern British Navy. (Among other things, it was Pepys who created the system whereby officers had to serve an apprenticeship at sea and then pass examinations in navigation and seamanship before being promoted to lieutenant - in effect, professionalizing the officer corps.) Highly recommended.

As for the red-black alliance: This shouldn't surprise anyone. Both reds and blacks hate the Open Society and so have allied to tear it down. No doubt, each assumes that it will rule the roost after the republics have been toppled. We must not give them the chance to find out.

Posted by: Brown Line at December 13, 2015 01:51 PM (a5bF3)

299 Matthew 7:6
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

That is, do not feed the trolls.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 13, 2015 01:54 PM (9mTYi)

300 A car in every garage and a jihadi in every pot" would have been funnier.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at December 13, 2015 01:59 PM (YPgXi)

301 Quick note. From today through Epiphany Sunday, 20% of all (gross) Bapton Books sales, mine, GMW Wemyss', or from the spin-off merch (http://www.cafepress.com/baptonbooks) will be donated when all have been received to one of four UK agricultural charities helping with the aftermath of the recent floods in farming communities there, all as detailed here: http://baptonbooks.tumblr.com/post/135127059931/further-to-my-prior-appeal

Posted by: Markham Shaw Pyle at December 13, 2015 02:07 PM (WlkUc)

302 Here late because i stayed up too late finishing Jules Verne Journey to the Center of the Earth. What an interesting adventure book full of the discussion of when science is proved wrong by facts! Also just fun sciency adventures!

Earlier this week i read Harper Lee - Go Set A Watchman. It was a pretty easy read. Not one of my favorite things I've ever read but interesting. Buried in among the story is a very interesting discussion of states rights and the rights of the people of any local area to decide for themselves how to grow. I bet i would have really thought that book was brilliant about sixteen though. Man, she yells at her dad so much! That rant is half the book!

Posted by: sugar plum fairy slept late ... reading! at December 13, 2015 02:09 PM (hnCis)

303 289
Does ANYONE in our government bother to read the blog of Steve Emerson's research group, the Investigative Project on Terrorism?

Posted by: Kathy from Kansas at December 13, 2015 01:03 PM (A/Q7Y)

I'm pretty sure I heard the other day that Steve Emerson is on the "no fly" list.

So there's your answer.

Posted by: rickl at December 13, 2015 02:11 PM (sdi6R)

304 I would like to join the good reads book club, so I am posting 'hi' here. <3

Posted by: thesleepestofsouls at December 13, 2015 02:36 PM (lNB0b)

305 At the risk of ending up on a fatwa list, I highly recommend Spencer's Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam.

Posted by: WannabeAnglican at December 13, 2015 02:55 PM (hjp5Z)

306 RE: the Luntz focus group referenced supra:

I'm hopeful, & cautiously optimistic, that if Cruz is the nominee, it COULD inoculate the Trump cult from following their demented leader into an independent campaign.

It would be damn hard to paint Ted f'n Cruz as "a GOPe tool." Of course, if you are clinically insane, I guess that argument might be persuasive.

Back to books: if you're into books about rock stars & bands, Steve (Aerosmith) Tyler's autobio (Does the music in my head bother you?) is good. So is the late Ray Manzarek's book about his time with The Doors.

Posted by: mnw at December 13, 2015 02:58 PM (NiHAc)

307 And this article argues that the Great Library at Alexandria was destroyed mostly by budget cuts, not fire.

The scrollmobile was the first to go.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at December 13, 2015 02:58 PM (RU5ki)

308 Would love to browse the reads on the Goodreads group...just asked for an invite, from lurker..

Posted by: pongo647 at December 13, 2015 03:15 PM (sKho5)

309 So Ace, do you still stand by this statement of yours? "I don't really think Islam, per se, is responsible for Islamist violence."

Posted by: FrancisChalk at December 13, 2015 03:22 PM (NNPA3)

310 #309 ace rarely frequents the Sunday Book Thread.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 03:28 PM (js4/U)

311 Rarely being never.

Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 13, 2015 03:52 PM (rwI+c)

312 (my opinion) Adams is professionally offensive. I would kick him out of any organization I was an officer in as a trouble maker. He is a good court
jester.

Posted by: (false?) Profit at December 13, 2015 12:41 PM (PGh+Q)

This might be an interesting topic for exploration:

"Scott Adams: Thoughtful Observer or Professional Dick?"

Too bad I don't see a "hook" to the book thread for it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 04:22 PM (z6YGb)

313 311 Rarely being never.
Posted by: Grump928(C) at December 13, 2015 03:52 PM (rwI+c)

He actually showed up once. I think it was Sept. 2013. It was quite a surprise.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 13, 2015 04:28 PM (z6YGb)

314 He actually showed up once. I think it was Sept. 2013. It was quite a surprise.

Indeed? He must have been out all night hunting and come up empty.

Posted by: Grump928(C) has pictures at December 13, 2015 04:57 PM (rwI+c)

315 If what Guanaldo says is true - and I believe it is - then THE ANSWER IS

RICO

RICO charges should be filed on the Muslim Brotherhood and all the Mosques they support.

In a sane world, that would be enough to shut down the 75% of Mosques he says are financed by the MB.

Posted by: Pasorius at December 13, 2015 05:38 PM (gMAUH)

316 Sorry. I misspelled his name: John Guandolo.

Posted by: Pastorius at December 13, 2015 05:43 PM (gMAUH)

317 Anyway, what books do I get my nephew for Christmas?

Posted by: Tonestaple at December 13, 2015 09:25 AM (dCTrv)

I'm just starting Teh Book Thread, but if no one has suggested it or them, "The Bad Beginning," by Lemony Snicket. It's a series of about 13 volumes. They. are. hilarious. In fact, the author warns the reader, countless times at the outset, to not even bother because the story is so dreadful.

Posted by: RushBabe at December 13, 2015 07:04 PM (/NEnw)

318 Hadn't thought about the Steven Tyler or Manzarek books. Trashy biographies are an occasional pleasure.

And, while the Lantz group indicated some like Cruz, they basically said no one else is bringing this stuff out in public. Some were talking about getting involved with GOTV. I don't see that happening if Cruz is somehow the nominee. (And I don't see Cruz winning if he does. )

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 13, 2015 08:30 PM (Lqy/e)

319
Deep into "X-Day" about the American invasion of the Japanese Islands - an alt-history look at if the atomic bomb hadn't worked or been used.
Thank God it did and that it was.

Posted by: Whitehall at December 14, 2015 12:11 AM (WUJq5)

320 I know the thread is about dead, but I'd like to join the moron goodreads group.

Posted by: Sigfried at December 14, 2015 03:11 AM (QCide)

321 I'm so confused. Why do we have to give Islam credibility by calling it a religion? Why can't we call it what it is, a CULT, and treat it like a cult.

Posted by: Rex at December 14, 2015 09:57 AM (9nmLG)

322 "Yeah, the whole Alex Haley/"Roots" thing was exposed as a fraud years ago. I still laugh my ass off when I think of that scene from the miniseries when Kunta Kinte is bebopping through the jungle, minding his own business and the E-VIL WHITE SLAVERS jump out of the bushes, throw a net over him and haul him off to slavery. "

Posted by: The Oort Cloud - Source of all SMODs

Even if they wanted to, white men couldn't go trompin' though the interior of Africa to throw nets over innocent black folk because malaria would have made it impossible. They had to stay on the coasts for that reason, and even then you put in a serious risk if you stayed long enough. Penetrating Africa's interior by Europeans didn't start until the discovery of quinine.

Also someone up above referred the lead singer of Queen as Freddy Sparks. His stage name was Freddy Mercury.

Posted by: Serena at December 14, 2015 01:47 PM (44LEs)

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