Sunday Morning Book Thread 02-23-2020

Rare Book Room, Henry Charles Lea Library, University of Pennsylvania

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules), stumblers, fumblers, mumblers, and other maladroits. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which, if you're looking for evidence that we're hurtling toward a very unpleasant dystopian future, you've hit the jackpot.

Pic Note:

*No one* expects the Spanish Inquisition:

Henry Charles Lea, Philadelphia publisher and civic reformer, was also America's first distinguished historian of the European middle ages, focusing on the Inquisition and ecclesiastical history and magic and witchcraft. His library became a specialized working collection out of which Lea wrote his History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages (188, History of the Inquisition of Spain (1906-190, and other studies including substantial work on the Inquisition in Spanish America.

All of Lea's books on the history of the Inquisition are available on Kindle for cheap.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

MISOLOGY is a hatred of reasoning, or learned, informed argument.
— Haggard Hawks 📚🦅 (@HaggardHawks) February 21, 2020

talking ape 03.jpg
"Yet somehow, those guys keep
getting elected."

Page from a book about witchcraft from the 1400s

More photos from the Lea Library here

Trump's Books -- Part 2

As I said last week:

If I were a reporter assigned to cover Trump, the first thing I'd do is try to find out as much as I could about him. I'd try to find out what he thinks and why he thinks what he thinks. And one of the ways I could accomplish this is to find out what books he has read, what books he recommends and which books are his favorites.

I wonder how many of the reporters yelling questions at the president as he walks to his waiting helicopter have actually done this?

Anyway, I found this article that contains a list of Donald Trump's 10 favorite books. The author doesn't say how she knows this is the definitive top-10 list, so I'm taking her word for it here.

Last week, I covered the surprising number of books on the list about China. There are still some surprises left. Such as Ideas and Opinions by Albert Einstein

Topics include the meaning of life, wealth, personality, academic freedom, human rights, socialism economics, good and evil, and much more.

And then there's The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale, the classic self-help book that teaches the reader to

· Believe in yourself and in everything you do
· Build new power and determination
· Develop the power to reach your goals
· Break the worry habit and achieve a relaxed life
· Improve your personal and professional relationships
· Assume control over your circumstances
· Be kind to yourself

Sounds like President Trump has put a lot of this into practice.

Another surprise is Essays and Lectures by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I'm not sure what to say about this book or how to speculate why PDT might have liked it since I'm completely unfamiliar with the author and with the philosophy known as Transcendentalism.

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli, is no doubt useful in the world of business as well as politics:

The Prince is sometimes claimed to be one of the first works of modern philosophy, especially modern political philosophy, in which the effective truth is taken to be more important than any abstract ideal. It was also in direct conflict with the dominant Catholic and scholastic doctrines of the time concerning how to consider politics and ethics. Although it is relatively short, the treatise is the most remembered of Machiavelli's works and the one most responsible for bringing the word "Machiavellian" into usage as a pejorative. It also helped make "Old Nick" an English term for the devil, and even contributed to the modern negative connotations of the words "politics" and "politician" in western countries.

Finally, The Art of War by Sun Tzu is at the top of the list of Trump's favorite books. I can see why. It's principles are general and flexible enough that they can be used in any human conflict or competition, not just military.

I downloaded a copy and glanced through it. I thought this was notable:

The 14 Deceptions:

01. pretend to be incompetent
02. disguise when troops are about to be deployed
03. when near, appear far
04. when far, appear near
05. offer the enemy what it wants
06. create disorder and strike
07. when the enemy is prepared for attack, prepare to defend
08. avoid engaging an enemy that is stronger than you
09. enrage the enemy into making mistakes
10. feign inactivity to put the enemy off guard
11. when the enemy is at full strength, tire them out
12. where there is unity, sow discord
13. attack where the enemy is unprepared
14. appear where and when unexpected

Are these not Trump, or what? I think he uses them all, especially numbers 1,6,9,13,and 9. Yeah, I said 9 twice. Because I think Trump really likes #9.

We should be really thankful that everyone in the MSM/infortainment complex are all so caught up in how super-smart they are so it will never occur to them to realize that if this is Trump's favorite book, then maybe they should read it and try to understand the principles it espouses to get a handle on how Donald Trump thinks and why he does what he does. But not only do they not do this, but Trump knows they will never do this, so he's not shy about telling the press what he's doing.

But if reading an entire book is too taxing, then maybe they should understand this famous Sun Tzu quote:

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.”

Or, as Donald Trump would say, "the leaks are real, but the news is fake."

Who Dis:

Last week's 'who dis' was Ava Gardner, and, judging from the thead comments, not her best photo.

Bookshelf Inserts

You can see more here. Very cleverly done. The Bladerunner themed insert looked like it took a lot of work. (h/t Shibumi)

Books By Morons

The plot of the new novel by moron author A.H. Lloyd is based on a phenomenon not often discussed, namely, vampires in Michigan. In fact, that's pretty much the title of the book:

Vampires have a saying: life is good but unlife is better.

Dwight Emerson "Zip" Zimmer might find this out for himself - if he isn't killed first.

There he was, playing in a weekend band in Marquette, Michigan and trying to put his life together when a beautiful and mysterious woman approached him after one of his bar gigs. The next thing he knows, he's in the middle of a torrid love affair and caught in up in a bloody vendetta between the Vampires of Michigan.

Author A.H. Lloyd's eighth novel takes readers on a wild ride of nonstop action from the mean streets of Detroit to the shores of Lake Superior. Violent, sexy and wickedly funny, the Vampires of Michigan is a fresh take on the timeless story of boy meets undead girl.

In his e-mail to me, Mr. Lloyd did not mention whether any Yoopers were harmed in the writing of this novel.

The Vampires of Michigan can be had for a mere $2.99.

___________

Oh, and speaking of Michigan:

They Don't Publish Books Like This Any More:

(h/t hogmartin for the photo)

___________

Moron Recommendations

Plucked this rec out of one of this week's rant threads:

Just finished a fascinating biography about the perpetually-indebted Jefferson and his family post-presidency entitled "Twilight at Monticello." I love that he was *proud* I'm having left the White House pooor than when he entered -- proving to his countrymen and posterity that he was neither corrupt nor in politics for personal gain.

Would recommend.

Posted by: ShainS, vote Bernie 2020 -- Make Gulags Great Again! at February 19, 2020 12:29 PM (HHmur)

It really is amazing how many of our congressmen and senators get very wealthy after election. It's like just living in Washington DC enables them to start soaking up money like a sponge. My favorite example of this is (now retired) senator Harry Reid, dirt poor guy from Searchlight, Nevada, got into politics and left congress a millionaire. Amazing how that works. I don't think our country will ever really be fixed until this phenomenon is addressed.

Anyway, Twilight at Monticello: The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson sounds like an interesting history:

Twilight at Monticello is something entirely new: an unprecedented and engrossing personal look at the intimate Jefferson in his final years that will change the way readers think about this true American icon. It was during these years–from his return to Monticello in 1809 after two terms as president until his death in 1826–that Jefferson’s idealism would be most severely, and heartbreakingly, tested.

Based on new research and documents culled from the Library of Congress, the Virginia Historical Society, and other special collections, including hitherto unexamined letters from family, friends, and Monticello neighbors, Alan Pell Crawford paints an authoritative and deeply moving portrait of Thomas Jefferson as private citizen–the first original depiction of the man in more than a generation.

Touring Monticello, which I have done, is a real treat, and I highly recommend it if you ever have the opportunity. I was especially impressed with Jefferson's alcove bed, that was positioned between his bedroom ("bed chamber") and study ("cabinet") where he got most of his work done. I'm not sure this is the most efficient use of indoor space, but it sure looked cool and I'm sure it suited his purposes.

The Kindle edition of Twilight at Monticello is $9.99.

___________

11 I read The Whisper Man by Alex North. This is a scary, well-plotted thriller about young boys going missing in a small town where five similar cases happened twenty years ago. The perpetrator of those cases is in prison, so who is the new murderer? A very enjoyable mystery.

Posted by: Zoltan at February 16, 2020 09:14 AM (PevXk)

This one sounds pretty intense:

After the sudden death of his wife, Tom Kennedy believes a fresh start will help him and his young son Jake heal. A new beginning, a new house, a new town. Featherbank.

But the town has a dark past. Twenty years ago, a serial killer abducted and murdered five residents. Until Frank Carter was finally caught, he was nicknamed "The Whisper Man," for he would lure his victims out by whispering at their windows at night.

Just as Tom and Jake settle into their new home, a young boy vanishes...And then Jake begins acting strangely. He hears a whispering at his window...

The Whisper Man will cost you $13.99, about the same price as the hardcover and paperback editions.

___________

101 JTB, have you ever read any Edward Rowe Snow?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 16, 2020 09:51 AM (Ki5SV)

I had never heard of this author, but according to his wikipedia page,

Snow is widely known for his stories of pirates and other nautical subjects; he wrote over forty books and many shorter publications. In all, he was the author of more than 100 publications, mainly about New England coastal history.

Mr. Snow was also a major chronicler of New England maritime history. With the publication of The Islands of Boston Harbor in 1935, he became famous as a historian of the New England coast and also as a popular storyteller, lecturer, preservationist, and treasure hunter. Forty years later, he was still publishing.

On Amazon, he has many seafarin' books, but few on Kindle. One that is, though, and which is very appropriate for this blog, is Pirates and Buccaneers of the Atlantic Coast

Here is a volume devoted exclusively to the buccaneers and pirates who infested the shores, bays, and islands of the Atlantic Coast of North America. This is no collection of Old Wives' Tales, half-myth, half-truth, handed down from year to year with the story more distorted with each telling, nor is it a work of fiction. This book is an accurate account of the most outstanding pirates who ever visited the shores of the Atlantic Coast.

These are stories of stark realism. None of the artificial school of sheltered existence is included. Except for the extreme profanity, blasphemy, and obscenity in which most pirates were adept, everything has been included which is essential for the reader to get a true and fair picture of the life of a sea-rover.

Bold, daring adventurers, whose deeds are still discussed from the far reaches of North America to the tropical islands of the West Indies, parade through the pages of this volume. There is hardly a square mile of sandy beach from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland to Key West, Florida, which has not felt the imprint of the buccaneer's boot.

Shiver me timbers! The Kindle edition is only $4.99. Arrrr!

Other titles include Mysteries and Adventures Along the Atlantic Coast, Storms and Shipwrecks of New England, and A Pilgrim Returns to Cape Cod,

...which was originally published in 1946, is an engrossing tale that chronicles Edward Rowe Snow’s 235-mile trek through Cape Cod that same year.

Owing to its historic, maritime character and ample beaches, Cape Cod, which extends into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts in northeastern USA, is a popular tourist attraction particularly during the summer months.

Filled with information on the maritime history of this area, with the author’s usual emphasis on the lighthouses, life-saving and shipwrecks, this book provides a wealth of information on the area.

This one is available on Kindle for $4.99.

Snow passed in 1982 at the age of 80.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, bribes, insults, threats, ugly pants pics and moron library submissions 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: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Foist?

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:01 AM (Um2IM)

2 hiya

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 09:01 AM (arJlL)

3 Orson Wells?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (tT0V4)

4 Booken morgen horden

Posted by: vmom 2020 at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (G546f)

5 Crap!!

**hurriedly looks for pants**

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (Um2IM)

6 Yay books! Is it Orson Wells

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (ONvIw)

7 Hey there my Book Wookies!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:04 AM (Dc2NZ)

8 Hey MP4 if you are around.

Read yoour post 2 weeks ago about the book "Ridin' the Rainbow" by Rosemary Taylor. I had previously read "Chicken Every Sunday", but had no idea about this other book.

So I sent for it, got it the other day and willl probably start reading it today or tomorrow.

Funny thing. When you mentioned that her father wanted the family to live on Easy Street. I grew up in Tucson and for a number of years I actually did live on Easy Street. Yep, it's an actual road there. But man, talk about a street sign that got stolen again and again.

Anyway, just want to thank you for bringing that book to my attention...

Posted by: HH at February 23, 2020 09:04 AM (mIJBI)

9 That liner note in the book of witchcraft appears to have been written by my ancestor,

the Duke of naturalfake.

It says:

"Pick up duck eggs and nematodes on way home for evil spell."

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 09:05 AM (z0XD8)

10 That's MisHum in the photo.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:05 AM (Dc2NZ)

11 6
Yay books! Is it Orson Wells

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (ONvIw)

---
Yaaahhh, the French make excellent wine, but thish California ssstufff ishn't bad.

Posted by: Orson Wells selling wine at February 23, 2020 09:05 AM (cfSRQ)

12 Nice Lieberry!

Silly pants!

Orson Welles before he became a fat ass.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 23, 2020 09:06 AM (Z+IKu)

13
g'mornin, book-ish 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at February 23, 2020 09:06 AM (/aKd3)

14 Orson Wells?
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 09:02 AM (tT0V4)

That's what I thought. It's the eyebrows.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:06 AM (t+qrx)

15 Orson Wells is one Hollywood type I can actually envision having a library.

And, though not my typical fare, I enjoyed Vampires of Michigan. I see where you sort of set up an obvious sequel.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:06 AM (ONvIw)

16 In his e-mail to me, Mr. Lloyd did not mention whether any Yoopers were harmed in the writing of this novel.
---
Not in the writing.

But dere is a bit of carnage above da bridge in da U.P., eh?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:07 AM (cfSRQ)

17 Those pants! It's like a gaucho who still lives with his mom.

"Wear a sweater! It's cold on the pampas today!"
"Yes, Mother!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:08 AM (Dc2NZ)

18 Looks like Orson Welles, in his salad days.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 09:08 AM (H8QX8)

19 Those pants are fine, if they have no ass.

Posted by: An assless chap at February 23, 2020 09:09 AM (Tnijr)

20 Orson Welles is my guess too.

Posted by: no good deed at February 23, 2020 09:09 AM (MmFTx)

21 But dere is a bit of carnage above da bridge in da U.P., eh?
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:07 AM (cfSRQ)

Yes there is! And I did not expect the ending.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:09 AM (ONvIw)

22 And, though not my typical fare, I enjoyed Vampires of Michigan. I see where you sort of set up an obvious sequel.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:06 AM (ONvIw)

---
Please email me the plot for this 'obvious sequel.'

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:10 AM (cfSRQ)

23 The who dis isn't Bloomburger.......

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 09:10 AM (arJlL)

24 Book nerds!

Posted by: Ogre at February 23, 2020 09:11 AM (1CjJc)

25 Surely everyone here has heard the outtakes from Orson Welles doing the frozen peas commercial? If not: recommended.

I'm still working on the SPQR series by John Maddox Roberts. I'm up to volume X, and they're holding up quite well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPQR_series

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 09:13 AM (Ewo9R)

26 25
Surely everyone here has heard the outtakes from Orson Welles doing the frozen peas commercial? If not: recommended.

---
The wine commercial outtakes are great.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:14 AM (cfSRQ)

27 OM for a weird old book look up the Voynich manuscript some time

Posted by: vmom 2020 at February 23, 2020 09:15 AM (G546f)

28 The bookshelf inserts remind me of the Ann Arbor fairy doors, which the DNR mostly has under control. Infestations are rare these days, but it's still a good idea to have a home inspector check for signs of fairy damage before you make an offer.

https://tinyurl.com/u3dmvcv

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:15 AM (t+qrx)

29 Finished up "Little Women", which I adored, and will now seek out "Little Men".

I'm also reading "Battle Officer Wolf" by some hack.

Do comics count? I'm in Volume II of "I Hate Fairyland".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:15 AM (Dc2NZ)

30 Good morning all ... not much time for reading this week - prepping to replace some interior doors in my Tiny Suburban Cottage, and (more importantly) for the guy to come tomorrow to replace the garage door... we had to move stuff out of the way so that he could work ... and that eventually one of our cars can fit into the garage. The Daughter Unit tripped while moving a bag of mortar and bashed her knee on the concrete floor! I took a flyer last weekend and got the Kindle version of John Ringo's "The Last Centurion" which is scarier than it might have been, because of the corona virus flu. The book moves rather slowly, but the character voice in first person is interesting and convincing.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at February 23, 2020 09:16 AM (xnmPy)

31 Please email me the plot for this 'obvious sequel.'
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:10 AM (cfSRQ)

I'll have to do that, as I can't see adding spoilers here.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:17 AM (ONvIw)

32 I'm also reading "Battle Officer Wolf" by some hack.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:15 AM (Dc2NZ)

---
By "hack" you mean "brilliantly talented but tragically underselling independent author."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:19 AM (cfSRQ)

33 The Art of War was a required read for a business class I took in college. Not surprised when Trump, or other business people, have read it.

Reread Hound of Baskervilles by AC Doyle. Still one of my favorites.

Posted by: Charlotte at February 23, 2020 09:19 AM (Aj6Tl)

34 > Surely everyone here has heard the outtakes from Orson Welles doing the frozen peas commercial? If not: recommended.

Someone has done an animation for it:

https://vimeo.com/68817558

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 09:20 AM (Ewo9R)

35 Once on the Tonite Show, Orson Welles was the first guest, then Robert Blake came out.

Welles stood up and moved over and before he sat down, Blake said

"MISTER Welles ! You make Wimpy look skimpy ! "

Welles replied

"I'm fat and you're ugly, but I can diet"

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 09:20 AM (arJlL)

36 > 28 The bookshelf inserts remind me of the Ann Arbor fairy doors, which the DNR mostly has under control. Infestations are rare these days, but it's still a good idea to have a home inspector check for signs of fairy damage before you make an offer.

https://tinyurl.com/u3dmvcv
Posted by: hogmartin at February 23

It's a fool's errand to try and root out all the fairies in Ann Arbor.

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:21 AM (Um2IM)

37 The media flatly refuses to spend any time whatsoever learning what conservatives actually believe, what they actually think and how they actually live.
They prefer to fire bombs at their stereotypes of conservatives.
Imbeciles.

Posted by: Northernlurker at February 23, 2020 09:21 AM (Uu+Jp)

38 Finished Northanger Abbey, which I liked just fine (4 stars on Goodreads) but probably not as much as vmom and a few other 'ettes who raved it up when I initially mentioned it. It was fine, and I really liked her comments on fiction within the narrative, but it just didn't flow smoothly enough to put it at the highest level. But that's not a put down by any stretch and I didn't mind reading it at all.

We're now on to Sister Carrie and already a few red flags have been triggered because it's looking like it might be some muckraking dogshit worthy of commie dolts like Sinclair Lewis over and beyond being set in Chicago. Maybe it'll get better and win me over in a Thomas Hardy manner (Saul Bellow liked Dreiser) so we'll see.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:22 AM (y7DUB)

39 Currently reading 'The Flight' by Dan Hampton. It is the story of Charles Lindbergh and his historic flight. I hadn't realized that he had gone to a Broadway show instead of sleeping the night before the flight, so add another 24 hours without sleep to the 33 he spent in the plane.

Posted by: Vashta Nerada at February 23, 2020 09:24 AM (42uoM)

40
Those pants!

*****

Che Chic - a limerick

An Argentine commie named Parks
Wears those pants in the streets and the parks
You'll see him out on campus
Or when he rides the Pampas
A tribute to his hero-- Gaucho Marx!

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 09:24 AM (m45I2)

41 Favorite books about music or musicians?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (PUmDY)

42
It's a fool's errand to try and root out all the fairies in Ann Arbor.

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:21 AM (Um2IM)

----

"When these are the men who populate this great campus, well, you realize why all the women here are lesbians."
https://tinyurl.com/sxgvfyj

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

43 I had to look up Orson's bibliography, surprisingly it looks like he only wrote one book of short stories called "The Lives of Harry Lime". Well maybe not surprisingly, I never heard of any books he wrote.

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (4thlk)

44 I finished reading Tony Bennett's autobiography.

For awhile now, I've been looking for a book..

you know what I mean......the kind of book that GRABS you by the lapels and PULLS you IN !

This wasn't it.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (arJlL)

45 There is hardly a square mile of sandy beach from the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland to Key West, Florida, which has not felt the imprint of the buccaneer's boot.

And now another pirate has landed on the Vineyard's coast.

Posted by: Manufactured News Network: at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (Ndje9)

46 Favorite books about music or musicians?
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (PUmDY)

The Music of Erich Zann

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (t+qrx)

47 The Music of Erich Zann

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (t+qrx)

---
Technically a short story, but we'll allow it.

Posted by: The Elder Gods at February 23, 2020 09:28 AM (cfSRQ)

48 > "When these are the men who populate this great campus, well, you realize why all the women here are lesbians."
https://tinyurl.com/sxgvfyj

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

ROFLMAO

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:29 AM (Um2IM)

49 I'm currently listening to an audiobook by Alan Pinkerton. Yeah, the guy who founded the world's first private detective agency, wrote a couple of books. Its supposedly about an actual case, with changes to names and locations, and it reads like notes about a case for the most part. It was a bit dry at first but there are some pretty hilarious bits in it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at February 23, 2020 09:29 AM (KZzsI)

50
[i[It's a fool's errand to try and root out all the fairies in Ann Arbor.

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 23, 2020 09:21 AM

they're a protected / privileged class in The Peoples' Republik of AnnArbor

Posted by: AltonJackson at February 23, 2020 09:29 AM (/aKd3)

51 The Music of Erich Zann

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (t+qrx)

---
Technically a short story, but we'll allow it.
Posted by: The Elder Gods at February 23, 2020 09:28 AM (cfSRQ)

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (y7DUB)

52 Love the bookshelf inserts. I saw some a few years back made by a Japanese artist, Mondo is his name I think. He never got around to selling them overseas, sadly.

Reading Tom Holland's Dynasty, the Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar. I'm not a huge fan of his somewhat circular style of writing, and it doesn't help that everyone in the Caesar train has some variation of about six names: Julius, Antony, Agrippa, Livia, Octavius, Lucius. I have to keep flipping back to the family tree to see exactly who the author is referring to at any given moment. I will endeavor to persevere.

Posted by: squeakywheel at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (JRXet)

53 "When these are the men who populate this great campus, well, you realize why all the women here are lesbians."
https://tinyurl.com/sxgvfyj
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

It never gets old.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (t+qrx)

54 Anyway, just want to thank you for bringing that book to my attention...
Posted by: HH at February 23, 2020 09:04 AM (mIJBI)

My pleasure. I'm glad you liked it.

And since that is the great Orson up top, allow me to recommend My Lunches With Orson: Conversations Between Henry Jaglom and Orson Welles.

Jaglom is a director (A Safe Place, Last Summer in the Hamptons), who would meet Welles regularly for lunch at Ma Mason in Hollywood, and would tape their conversations as they discussed Welles' problems finding a financier or his impressions of people or events in his past.

It's very inside baseball, and you have to be either a Welles fan or a Hollywood obsessive to really enjoy the book, but there it is.

https://tinyurl.com/ruv9lae

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (Ki5SV)

55 17 Those pants! It's like a gaucho who still lives with his mom.
"Wear a sweater! It's cold on the pampas today!"
"Yes, Mother!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:08 AM (Dc2NZ)

See, your snark about the ugly pants are always better than mine.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (eA950)

56 You laugh, but Naugas have been hunted to near extinction in Argentina to supply the corrupt Naugahyde pants industry.

Posted by: The Society For The Prevention Of Naugahyde Pants at February 23, 2020 09:31 AM (Tnijr)

57 Orson Welles!!

I hope POTUS not only wipes the floor with Breadline Bernie, but the entire Democrat Party. Then exacts a groveling apology from Cap'n Bill and the Rick Wilson. Punks.

Posted by: jmel at February 23, 2020 09:32 AM (OeWgo)

58 "It is the story of Charles Lindbergh and his historic flight."

You should read the books he wrote. With the help of his wife he was a great writer. His last book "Autobiography of Values" is probably his best work and insight into his mind.

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:32 AM (4thlk)

59 "When these are the men who populate this great campus, well, you realize why all the women here are lesbians."
https://tinyurl.com/sxgvfyj
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)
---
M Blow Glue!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:34 AM (Dc2NZ)

60 I was surprised to see Iowa has more delegates than Nevada.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:34 AM (PUmDY)

61 Mrs Bernie Sanders as flotus. I would rather Yoko Ono.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:36 AM (PUmDY)

62 52
Love the bookshelf inserts. I saw some a few years back made by a
Japanese artist, Mondo is his name I think. He never got around to
selling them overseas, sadly.

Posted by: squeakywheel at February 23, 2020 09:30 AM (JRXet)

---
Someone is going to have to explain what an 'bookshelf insert' actually is.

It looks like it uses space that belongs to books. WTF.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:36 AM (cfSRQ)

63 I'm not a huge fan of his somewhat circular style of writing, and it doesn't help that everyone in the Caesar train has some variation of about six names: Julius, Antony, Agrippa, Livia, Octavius, Lucius
------
The Romans suffered from a dearth of proper names. If you had a lot of kids, you'd wind up calling the later ones "Fifth", "Sixth", "Seventh", etc.

Women had it worse. They were typically just given the feminine version of the clan name ("Julia", "Octavia"), and, if there were sisters, simply called "Older" or "Younger".

Posted by: Captain Obvious, 45th Carnival Barking Clowns at February 23, 2020 09:37 AM (jW9oF)

64 I read a very good first novel, Miracle Creek, by Angie Kim. It is a courtroom thriller with many twists and turns. Interwoven with the courtroom proceedings is the story of and immigrant family from Korea. The two come together in a conclusion that had me guessing right to the end. I hope Ms. Kim follows this up with a second book in the near future. The woman can write.

Posted by: Zoltan at February 23, 2020 09:37 AM (PevXk)

65 Favorite books about music or musicians?
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (PUmDY)

Headed for the Blues: A Memoir with Ten Stories - Josef Skvorecky

Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues - Elijah Wald

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:37 AM (y7DUB)

66 Mrs Bernie Sanders as flotus. I would rather Yoko Ono.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:36 AM (PUmDY)

The White House would end up being repossessed.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:37 AM (t+qrx)

67 Regarding Jefferson's post-Presidency financial mess:

He tried to farm his way out of it, instead of law practicing his way out of it!

A world famous former POTUS would have had no problem whatsoever finding clients who wanted top shelf legal representation before the brand new, infant federal courts.

That Jefferson didn't see the obvious way out of his money troubles has always amazed & fascinated me.

Did I mention "obvious"?

Trump's book list doesn't interest or impress me. I love the man, but whoops, there it is. Where are the classics of world literature? Where are Burke & Adam Smith?

On another topic entirely, I'm uneasy about Trump going to India-- for a 14-mile motorcade through throngs of people! I hope the Secret Service brings their A game. India has Islamic terrorists aplenty. And probably more assassinated national leaders than anybody.

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:38 AM (Cssks)

68 Favorite books about music or musicians?
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (PUmDY)

One of my many, many regrets is that I can neither read music nor play an instrument. But I have three books I like: Shaw on Music, which is a collection of critical essays / reviews he did during the 1880s - 1890s;

Arthur Jacobs' Arthur Sullivan: A Victorian Musician, because I adore Gilbert and Sullivan;

and James Hamilton-Patterson's Beethoven's Eroica: The First Great Romantic Symphony because that is my favorite piece of music.
and

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 23, 2020 09:38 AM (Ki5SV)

69 It would be another co-presidency.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:39 AM (PUmDY)

70 I'm listening to an Audible book called The Dead Drink First by Dale Maharidge.
It's about the author's search for the remains of Humphrey Mulligan, a marine who died in the WWII battle of Okinawa.
The search was spurred because of a picture his father had of himself and Mulligan.
Along the way he talks about PTSD, particularly that caused by concussive brain injuries.
I find the book quite moving.

Posted by: Northernlurker at February 23, 2020 09:39 AM (Uu+Jp)

71 Yes, that's Orson Welles.

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:40 AM (Cssks)

72 This week I read "Money in the Morgue." This is a mystery set in New Zealand during WWII, begun by author Ngaio Marsh (her detective is Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard; he was assigned to New Zealand during the war). Somebody else took her notes and finished the book. It was...okay.

Complaints: far too many run on sentences. I think the author never heard of the semicolon. Also, the detective just can't quit quoting Shakespeare. The action takes place on midsummer's night, but all right already, two references would have been enough. And lastly the plot depends on underground tunnels which seem to have an infinite number of entrances to fit the plot. I couldn't keep it straight.

That said, the characterizations were excellent and some Marsh is better than none at all. If you are a Golden Age mystery fan I'd probably recommend it, otherwise not.

Posted by: Dr Alice at February 23, 2020 09:40 AM (oW/8k)

73 GM Roonz and Roonettez! I haven't been reading much lately as I have been model building instead. And on that note, those little book nook things have really piqued (excited by challenge) my interest.
Mrs Hades is a dragon lover, in which she will read almost anything that has dragons in it. In fact one of my T-TRAK modules (model trains) has on it a dragon cave, complete with pile of gold. And so, I am contemplating a dragon cave with a snoozing dragon atop a pile of, not gold, but books, with bookshelves lining the walls and book piles here and there.
And maybe, one of these days, I'll read a book.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 09:40 AM (ZXnzo)

74 You should read the books he wrote. With the help of his wife he was a great writer. His last book "Autobiography of Values" is probably his best work and insight into his mind.
Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:32 AM (4thlk)

Anne Morrow Lindbergh actually wrote some good stuff. I remember my roommate having to read one of her autobiographical pieces, and not loving it, but about 10 years ago I started looking for some nice things I missed type books and read a few. I can see how she would have helped Charles write his pieces.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:40 AM (ONvIw)

75 66 Mrs Bernie Sanders as flotus. I would rather Yoko Ono.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:36 AM (PUmDY)

I was thinking that maybe it would be salutary for Sanders to win. It would finally ruin Socialism in the minds of many Americans.

But then I figured, no, that wouldn't happen. They'd just say, "next time we'll get it right. Next time, with the right person, and more power, we'll make it right."

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 09:41 AM (H8QX8)

76 OK, hubby asked me to solicit comments on a book both of us recently read: "My Father the Pornographer" by Christopher Offutt, son of noted sci-fi/fantasy/porn writer Andrew J. Offutt.

Years ago hubby read some of the elder Offutt's sword and sorcery books and was kind of a fan of them. Until recently he had the impression that Offutt was an heroic fantasy/sci fi author who wrote porn on the side (under various pseudonyms) to supplement his income.

Well, apparently the younger Offutt had the same notion, until his father passed away and he had to sort through his stuff. Turns out it was the other way around -- he was a porn writer who did sci-fi on the side. The vast majority of what Andrew Offutt wrote in his lifetime was porn, in just about every concievable iteration (other than pedophilia or child porn which was, thankfully, totally absent) including lots of BDSM and the like.

The book is interesting as a memoir of the younger Offutt's childhood in rural Kentucky (might be some parallells to Hillbilly Elegy in spots) and of what the publishing business was like in the late 20th century. Reviews of the book are generally positive.

However, my husband thinks this book was a totally unnecessary trashing of the memory of an author that he kind of respected, and is nothing more than a Boomer generation kid whining about his "daddy issues".

Has anyone else read this book, and if so, what was your takeaway from it? What do you think of Chris Offutt for having written it?

Posted by: Secret Square at February 23, 2020 09:41 AM (9WuX0)

77 Grateful Dead Annotated Lyrics is a good reference book.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:42 AM (PUmDY)

78 Spoiler alert: In Thucydides the Spartans have decided to go to war against Athens. In the past I'd always assumed the Athenians were the good guys because of Persia and all that but they could be stupid dicknoses on occasion, like lots of times.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:42 AM (y7DUB)

79 Bernie's wife outfrumps any of the old Soviet first ladies.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 23, 2020 09:44 AM (oVJmc)

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

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

- Groucho Marx, whom Burnye probably has confused with the other Marx

Posted by: BackwardsBoy. #PutChinaOutofBusiness at February 23, 2020 09:45 AM (HaL55)

81 What is she wearing? Looks like burlap.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (PUmDY)

82 Howdy book nerds!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (NWiLs)

83 "The Real Frank Zappa Book"

Posted by: freaked at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (Tnijr)

84 Beautiful day here. Think I will engage with The Outside.

Have a great Book Thread, everyone!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (Dc2NZ)

85 67 Trump's book list is meant to impress, it's meant to understand who he is. He is a man of action, he gets things done, setbacks don't deter him. His reading material supports this.

Posted by: LD at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (KxVME)

86 Speaking of Charlies Lindbergh, I see HBO is doing a mini-series of the Phillip Roth novel "The Plot Against America". An alternate history where Lindbergh becomes President instead of FDR. Lindbergh and the anti-war/isolationists are of course a bunch of anti-Semites and xenophobes.

Gee I wonder if Hollywood is trying to say something about Trump and his supporters?

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (4thlk)

87 Spoiler alert: In Thucydides the Spartans have decided to go to war against Athens. In the past I'd always assumed the Athenians were the good guys because of Persia and all that but they could be stupid dicknoses on occasion, like lots of times.
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:42 AM (y7DUB)
-----
Yeah, well, ask the Melians about that.

Posted by: Captain Obvious, 45th Carnival Barking Clowns at February 23, 2020 09:47 AM (jW9oF)

88 "MISOLOGY is a hatred of reasoning, or learned, informed argument."

This word applies to the cancel culture ...

but it's opposite (pedantry?) applies to the Cuckservatives/NeverTrumpers that constantly make the "conservative case against all things Trump". They love to torture quotes from Hegel or Adam Smith, contorting context until our Land of Liberty is squeezed into their "globalist run Utopia" box (where they preside as philosopher priests, I presume).

"The Conservative Case for Commie Bernie", coming to an election near you.

Posted by: illiniwek at February 23, 2020 09:47 AM (Cus5s)

89 78 Hate

Sparta led a coalition of willing allies. Athens led a Warsaw Pact-type group of the coerced & reluctant, from what I've read.

VDH has written some wonderful histories about ancient Greece-- it's his specialty.

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:47 AM (Cssks)

90 There's also Nik Cohn's awopbopaloobop alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock.

Originally published in 1969, it was Cohn's summing up of what he thought rock was all about and basically, as he put it, "trying to get a jump on the mortician."

He starts with the early days - Johnnie Ray, Bill Haley, Gene Vincent and so on - before moving to Elvis, the Beatles (whom he doesn't particularly care for) the Stones (whom he loves), the Beach Boys, the Monkees, RandB, James Brown, Phil Spector, Dylan and so on.

Some of his choices are, to modern eyes, odd - he gives an entire chapter to the otherwise forgotten PJ Proby - but if you wanted a handy guide to what rock was, how far it had come and how Cohn thought 1969 was the end point - you couldn't do any better.

https://tinyurl.com/s5ob9gh

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 23, 2020 09:47 AM (Ki5SV)

91 Inspired by the MiMorons, I dropped by The Archives last week and picked up The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford.

I'm going to finish my re-read of LotR and that will be next.

Having finished watching "Brideshead Revisited" with one of my friends, I'm now watching it with my wife.

She HATED it when we watched it together years ago, writing it off as English decadence and a sappy story about dissolute rich people with lots of teh ghey mixed in.

That was before we became Catholic.

Now she LOVES it, because she's able to pick up all the Catholic references. We're almost done and last night we reached the part where Cordelia describes the closing of the chapel at Brideshead and when she finishes, she looks at Charles and says "None of this means anything to you, does it?"

At the end of the episode, I reminded her of that and how when we saw it before, we were like Charles and it made no sense. Now, of course, it's heart-breaking.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:48 AM (cfSRQ)

92 - Groucho Marx, whom Burnye probably has confused with the other Marx
Posted by: BackwardsBoy. #PutChinaOutofBusiness at February 23, 2020 09:45 AM (HaL55)

I look forward to the day that AOC (Milton Keynes) refers to Marx as "Harpo".

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:49 AM (ONvIw)

93 I'm currently reading Paradoxes if Defense by George Silver, Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto, and telling myself that I need to restart Orthodoxy by Chesterton. The last one will likely have to wait until after Easter.

Posted by: Colorado Alex in Exile at February 23, 2020 09:49 AM (FIj/s)

94 Good Sunday morning, horde!

Eris, I looked up I Hate Fairyland. It is described as "an adventure that ain't for the little kiddies, (unless you have super cool parents, then whatever)."

What say you? How much not for kiddies--is 11 too young? For, say, a certain granddaughter who is turning 11 today, but likes spooky things and whose favorite movie is "It?"

Posted by: Dumb, but hot at February 23, 2020 09:50 AM (OX9vb)

95 What I got out of reading the "Art of War" is basically, the key to winning the battle is not to lose.

Though I'm pretty sure I already knew that.

Posted by: Eric at February 23, 2020 09:50 AM (CcbdU)

96 Who cares what potus reads?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:51 AM (PUmDY)

97 86
Speaking of Charlies Lindbergh, I see HBO is doing a mini-series of the
Phillip Roth novel "The Plot Against America". An alternate history
where Lindbergh becomes President instead of FDR. Lindbergh and the
anti-war/isolationists are of course a bunch of anti-Semites and
xenophobes.

Gee I wonder if Hollywood is trying to say something about Trump and his supporters?

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (4thlk)

---
So Lindbergh will move to limit Jewish immigration so that more die in the concentration camps, right?

The funny thing about the left is that they don't get that bringing this crap up only makes them look worse.

"Yeah, our guys were monsters, but look at this hypothetical monster we created that's even worse!"

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:51 AM (cfSRQ)

98 "I can see how she would have helped Charles write his pieces."

You can really see her influence on him just by contrasting his book "We" verses "The Spirit of St. Louis". And "We" was actually pretty good but "The Spirit of St. Louis" didn't win the Pulitzer by accident.

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:51 AM (4thlk)

99 Speaking of Charlies Lindbergh, I see HBO is doing a mini-series of the Phillip Roth novel "The Plot Against America". An alternate history where Lindbergh becomes President instead of FDR. Lindbergh and the anti-war/isolationists are of course a bunch of anti-Semites and xenophobes.

Gee I wonder if Hollywood is trying to say something about Trump and his supporters?
Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (4thlk)

===

It sucked. Figures they'd make a movie.

Roth's appeal has always been a mystery to me.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 23, 2020 09:52 AM (EZebt)

100 >>What I got out of reading the "Art of War" is basically, the key to winning the battle is not to lose.

The real story to take from the Art of War is if you properly prepare you win without ever fighting a battle.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 09:53 AM (ZLI7S)

101 78
Spoiler alert: In Thucydides the Spartans have decided to go to war
against Athens. In the past I'd always assumed the Athenians were the
good guys because of Persia and all that but they could be stupid
dicknoses on occasion, like lots of times.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:42 AM (y7DUB)

---
Classical writers almost uniformly took the side of Sparta.

They wrote extensively on how its political system was superior, how its people had superior ethics, etc.

Athens' democracy was widely held up as a disaster that inevitably led to tyranny and oppression.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:53 AM (cfSRQ)

102 Willowed from last thread- cleaned up since I moved from phone to puter.

390
Here is the thing about commie Sanders and the other socialist democrats
national healthcare nightmare pipe dream. You take one look at the
British health system and you would fargin scream.

Last night I
watched a hulu show "30 inches at 18" about a British girl with a rare
dwarfism syndrome. Her bone growing plates fused at about three years
old. To boot her femur heads are shaped like a 20 sided dice not round.
She is basically in chronic debilitating pain.

In the USA I bet she would have
two shiny titanium balls and sockets. In Britain, heir solution was ablate the area and then let fibrous scar
tissue fill the void in the joint that they created. Well duh the heads still look like rounded over 20 sided die. WTF? And then said swim therapy and all the morphine and
oxycodone you can stomach.

As a fella who has had deformed femur head
replaced and knows how it makes the pain go away I was screaming at the
tv because it was so sad. All the doctors were like nope. Nothing else
we can do.

And everyone in the room was like...sorry kid. Think that would fly at the Mayo Clinic or even a moderately nice teaching hospital associated with a upper tier medical school in the US.

Posted by: Cuthbert the Witless at February 23, 2020 09:54 AM (9dzlp)

103 The Prince is to understand the enemy, I guess.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:54 AM (PUmDY)

104 Support your Moron author and pick up a copy of Vampires of Michigan. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. And the vampires don't sparkle like that wanker from Twilight. You may need to keep a Michigan-to-English dictionary handy, though.

I give it: Two fangs up.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (NWiLs)

105 79 Bernie's wife outfrumps any of the old Soviet first ladies.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 23, 2020 09:44 AM (oVJmc)

And she's no slouch in the Socialist department. She bankrupted a college.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (H8QX8)

106 The real story to take from the Art of War is if you properly prepare you win without ever fighting a battle.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 09:53 AM (ZLI7S)

---
The ChiComs do not read Sun Tzu.

Want proof?

Look at them right now.

They don't know themselves and they don't know their enemy. Their entire culture is now based on getting rich and lying to the boss.

It's why they are ultimately doomed as a political experiment.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (cfSRQ)

107
"President Trump never said 'it depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is,' during his sham impeachment trial. But another president did."

--Shih Tzu

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (n/O3c)

108 For awhile now, I've been looking for a book..

Your long wait is over. Per a promo heard several times yesterday on NPR, Jessica Simpson is publishing her memoirs. Soon to take its place next to Grant's Memoirs and the Diary of Anne Frank.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (qc+VF)

109 It sucked. Figures they'd make a movie.

Roth's appeal has always been a mystery to me.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 23, 2020 09:52 AM (EZebt)

---
Odds are that it will be even more preachy and dumb than Man in the High Castle, which actually started off reasonably well.

Burn that money, lefties! Burn it all!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:57 AM (cfSRQ)

110 At the end of the episode, I reminded her of that and how when we saw it before, we were like Charles and it made no sense. Now, of course, it's heart-breaking.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:48 AM (cfSRQ)

Being "a bit" older, I loved the series when it first came out and watched it in weekly installments. It is also a work that stands the test of time, maybe better with age, as at the time I felt Olivier was in everything and overused.

Back to Vampires though. I liked the slow roll out of character development and the overarching theme (which is not spelled out for you). It's also right up the alley for those who eschew detailed description and prefer the story to move with action and dialogue. I split it over two evenings.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:59 AM (ONvIw)

111
Have you read my slogan, yet?

A fyoochah you can believe in.

Posted by: Bernie Sanders at February 23, 2020 09:59 AM (n/O3c)

112 Morning, Readers!

Posted by: Weasel at February 23, 2020 10:01 AM (MVjcR)

113
Roth's appeal has always been a mystery to me.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 23, 2020 09:52 AM (EZebt)

Me too. I also have it on great authority that he was personally a complete jerk

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:01 AM (ONvIw)

114 Who Dis : a guy with MUMPS smokin' and wearing shoes on my Whale Penis chaise longue FFS.

William Barr or the war of the worlds dude.

Posted by: saf at February 23, 2020 10:03 AM (5IHGB)

115 So how about a real crossing of the streams.

Perhaps we could find the list of books read by the late Neil Pearth.

I understand that for a rock drummer, he was remarkably well read.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:04 AM (tT0V4)

116
Gee I wonder if Hollywood is trying to say something about Trump and his supporters?

They did the same thing with W, with HW, and with Reagan.

Overblown delusional rants, that they stew and obsess in for the length of the Presidency.

Then forget the second anything changes, and any Dem elected is the Second Coming of Absolute Purity and Salvation.

Psychotic behavior.

Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 23, 2020 10:04 AM (oVJmc)

117 Let these mentally diseased fucktards write books no one reads and make movies that few go to. Could care less.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at February 23, 2020 10:05 AM (5FuoX)

118 115, good idea.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:05 AM (PUmDY)

119 Anybody seeing "The Boys" on Amazon. I'm beginning to realize the story is a liberal metaphor for "America under Trump" and the character of Homelander with the golden hair is a Donald Trump simulacrum (that is, what Leftist writers imagine Trump to be) -- shallow, self-centered, covertly cruel.

Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (H8QX8)

120 Psychotic behavior.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles at February 23, 2020 10:04 AM (oVJmc)

I'd have said Borderline, but there is an overlap

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (ONvIw)

121 I know I'm late. Just got back from the grocery store which was a mad house.

Current reading the novel Outlander after watching the Netflix version of season 1 episode 1 through 5. I liked the first episode but it started dragging by 5.

Posted by: Vic at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (mpXpK)

122 115 So how about a real crossing of the streams.

Perhaps we could find the list of books read by the late Neil Pearth.

I understand that for a rock drummer, he was remarkably well read.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:04 AM (tT0V4)

What if Neil Peart is actually a vampire, who used his superhuman speed and senses to be the world's best drummer? And what if he isn't dead, but in a state of torpor?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (NWiLs)

123 >>The ChiComs do not read Sun Tzu.

Seems pretty clear that Trump has read him.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (ZLI7S)

124 Posted by: Dumb, but hot at February 23, 2020 09:50 AM (OX9vb)

/Off, failed attempt at funny sock from yesterday

Posted by: April at February 23, 2020 10:07 AM (OX9vb)

125 Thucydides was like one of kennedys generals. He couldnt imagine pericles could do anything wrong that was for nicias and cleon (insert nixon reference here) thats what i got from donald knoxs monograph on him

Posted by: Gaius martius at February 23, 2020 10:08 AM (hMlTh)

126 Except garth ennis wtote this sbout w and cheney.

Posted by: Gaius martius at February 23, 2020 10:09 AM (hMlTh)

127 Rules for Radicals is their Art of War.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:09 AM (PUmDY)

128 Trump uses Rules for Radicals.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 23, 2020 10:10 AM (8PoSv)

129 104 Support your Moron author and pick up a copy of Vampires of Michigan. I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats. And the vampires don't sparkle like that wanker from Twilight. You may need to keep a Michigan-to-English dictionary handy, though.

I give it: Two fangs up.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (NWiLs)

I haven't lived in MI for many years and I was not unfamiliar with terms. Vampires, etc are not my thing and I don't know anything about modern vampire lore or epidemiological fantasy, but I'd give it two fangs up as well.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:10 AM (ONvIw)

130 Back to Vampires though. I liked the slow roll out
of character development and the overarching theme (which is not spelled
out for you). It's also right up the alley for those who eschew
detailed description and prefer the story to move with action and
dialogue. I split it over two evenings.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 09:59 AM (ONvIw)

---
Thanks!

Yes, it changed as I wrote it and part of the reason why it seemed to get locked in editing was that there were some major problems with all the changes between its conception and completion.

Funny you mentioned the description. Yesterday I had lunch with my father and gave him a paperback copy (I know he won't read it, but I like to be nice).

We chatted about description and I said I just don't have the patience to describe everything to the last detail. I mentioned how upon getting a car back from the mechanic I looked it over more carefully than I have in a long time, and noticed a few things about the dashboard's finish that I hadn't thought about before.

But who does that? Who writes about the curve of the gauges, the color of the dials, texture of the vinyl, and so on?

So I try to get to the point and say what I have to say.

I wanted it to be fast read because it's a fast story. I think it covers less than two weeks of time.

Oh, and some author trivia: The character of "Bear" just showed up. I was writing a scene and he barged in just like it happened in the story. Totally unplanned.

Must've been the whiskey.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:11 AM (cfSRQ)

131 Russell mead was who made the nixon comparison in his 90s rant mortal splendor he was unhinged as any puff8ngton hoster then.

Posted by: Gaius martius at February 23, 2020 10:11 AM (hMlTh)

132 When I suggested the Neil Peart list, it was about those books which he had read, and influenced his life.

On the other hand he also wrote at least six books.

http://www.neilpeart.net/index.php/books/

Cause rock drummers be dumb, and stuff.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:12 AM (tT0V4)

133 I haven't lived in MI for many years and I was not
unfamiliar with terms. Vampires, etc are not my thing and I don't know
anything about modern vampire lore or epidemiological fantasy, but I'd
give it two fangs up as well.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:10 AM (ONvIw)

---
*points to Amazon page*

Five stars would be nice.

Hint, hint.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:12 AM (cfSRQ)

134 The Music of Erich Zann

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 09:26 AM (t+qrx)

---
Technically a short story, but we'll allow it.

-
I read a syfy short story many years ago possibly entitled something like Who Will Watch the Watchers about a talented young composer who is ostracized because he unintentionally heard some music of Bach and thus hid originality was compromised.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:13 AM (+y/Ru)

135 I don't think he uses it, but he definitely knows it.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:13 AM (PUmDY)

136 124 Posted by: Dumb, but hot at February 23, 2020 09:50 AM (OX9vb)

/Off, failed attempt at funny sock from yesterday
Posted by: April at February 23, 2020 10:07 AM (OX9vb)

Are we talking AOC here? I understand that some "conservative" twitterer took aim at her expensing togs and was quoted in the NYPost. Conservative is getting quite a battery of insults from the AOC fanclubbers, who see no problem with AOC's pricey wardrobe. Hence Bernie's homes will not be an issue. With the left ideological purity crushes actual behavior

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:15 AM (ONvIw)

137 Books > Groupie sluts and mountains of blow.

Posted by: Zombie Neal Peart at February 23, 2020 10:16 AM (sGKZZ)

138 103 The Prince is to understand the enemy, I guess.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:54 AM (PUmDY)
________

Not necessarily. Michael Anton, the Flight 93 Election author, is a big (and I mean BIG) fan. There is a school of interpretation of Machiavelli which sees him as actually promoting and defending republican government. Many, but not all, are Straussians.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:17 AM (ZbwAu)

139 Ok, 'rons and 'ronettes, time for me to move on. Hope you all have a lovely day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 23, 2020 10:18 AM (Ki5SV)

140 If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.

Might as well by the definition of Trump's twitter.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 10:18 AM (ZLI7S)

141 In the past I'd always assumed the Athenians were the
good guys because of Persia and all that but they could be stupid dicknoses on occasion, like lots of times.

-
In his book, A War Like No Other, Victor Davis Hanson is amazed the destruction of Athens and, particularly, of the walls of Piraeus was celebrated with dancing, flutes, and drums.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:18 AM (+y/Ru)

142 Bookshelf inserts? That implies that there's empty space on your bookshelf to begin with

Posted by: josephistan at February 23, 2020 10:19 AM (Izzlo)

143 Mrs Bernie Sanders as flotus. I would rather Yoko Ono.

Speaking of the Yokester......

If Cobs get tired of punishing us with her, I nominate this as a replacement.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:19 AM (arJlL)

144 "If Cobs get tired of punishing us with her, I nominate this as a replacement"

Ummm?

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:20 AM (tT0V4)

145 I read "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," the first of Jan Harold Brunvald's books on urban legends. It's from 1981, but it's still pretty fascinating. For a while, the Kindle edition was $2, dunno if it still is.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at February 23, 2020 10:21 AM (l9m7l)

146 Bernie will be the nominee, or the D house berns down

It's baked in that Bernie will have the most delegates and I'd bet a majority. That's because he'll always get 25% and qualify for delegates. The others won't. It gets worse when Bloomberg gets in and fizzles, leaving the rest of the field even more divided. Anyone who doesn't get to 15% in effect gives Bernie more delegates. It just happened in NV with Bernie getting half the delegates without Bloomberg in the mix

Bloomberg's plan has already failed. He'll only help Bernie, not stop him

If Bernie falls just short of a majority of delegates; and the DNC fucks him, it'll be D on D war

Will Bloomberg spend half a billion backing Bernie?

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 23, 2020 10:21 AM (8PoSv)

147 If Cobs get tired of punishing us with her, I nominate this as a replacement.

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

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:23 AM (arJlL)

148 Roth's appeal has always been a mystery to me.
Posted by: San Franpsycho at February 23, 2020 09:52 AM (EZebt)

The books of his I've read have been pretty funny although humor is subjective. I don't doubt he was a real life shithead, like that's an unusual situation, but he was also at least the face of Penguin's "Writers from the Other Europe" which opened my eyes to samizdat from behind the Iron Curtain in which I thoroughly immersed myself then and now.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 10:23 AM (y7DUB)

149 MISOLOGY is a hatred of reasoning, or learned, informed argument.

-
Higher education

Old and busted: Socratic method

New hotness: Stalinic methodx

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:24 AM (+y/Ru)

150 "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uORPxmsBJoE"

Thanks, JT

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:24 AM (tT0V4)

151 The ChiComs do not read Sun Tzu.

Want proof?

Look at them right now.

They don't know themselves and they don't know their enemy. Their entire culture is now based on getting rich and lying to the boss.

It's why they are ultimately doomed as a political experiment.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 09:55 AM (cfSRQ)

Sun Tzu would have been categorized as one of the fold "olds" that the ChiComs deliberately set out to destroy during the Cultural Revolution.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:24 AM (eA950)

152 "If Cobs get tired of punishing us with her, I nominate this as a replacement"

Ummm?
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

See above sorry, I'm delirious from hunger.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:25 AM (arJlL)

153 Since we're over 100...

Yesterday I went to the funeral of my ne'er do well uncle. Lifelong alcoholic, really smart, but always failed.

No, he wasn't a direct inspiration for Zip in Vampires of Michigan, but you write what you know.

Anyhow, after the service and some lunch with my father (the uncle was maternal, so he wasn't there), Mrs. Lloyd and I attended vigil mass at the Shrine of the Little Flower, which is now a basilica.

Wow. My grandmother's funeral mass was said there but we never took the time to go through the place. Truly amazing. Worth a visit for those impressed by art and architecture. They don't build stuff like that anymore.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:26 AM (cfSRQ)

154 I had a good book buying week. Yesterday there was a used book sale at a local library, and I picked up a few good books: "The Edge of The Unknown" by Arthur Conan Doyle, a non-fiction exploration of the occult & supernatural by the creator of Sherlock Holmes; Alfred Hitchcock Presents "Stories that scared even Me"; "Bunker Hill: A City, A Siege, A Revolution" by Nathaniel Philbrick; "Thunder Below: The USS Barb..." by Admiral Eugene Fluckey, about the exploits of the submarine USS Barb in WWII, the only sub to sink a train!; "George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution" by Brian KIlmead; "The Looming Tower: Al-Queda and the Road to 9/11" by Lawrence Wright & "Pegasus Bridge" by Stephen Ambrose. All that for $10!

Posted by: josephistan at February 23, 2020 10:27 AM (Izzlo)

155 Rereading Murderers' Row, by G H Fleming. A newspaper clippings book on the 1927 Yankees. Unlike his previous two (The Unforgettable Season - 1908 - and The Dizziest Season - 1934) there is no suspense in the pennant race. Zero. But like the 1934 book (and unlike the 08 one) there is one personality who just dominates. Ruth and Dean, for the non-baseball fans.

One interesting thing - not often mentioned - is that the Yankees were not the preseason favorites. The Athletics were, followed by the Senators. That didn't last long.

The other 2 I read this week were Ngaio Marsh, Scales of Justice and Margery Allingham The Black Dudley Murders. The former was a disappointment. She made a mistake in the solution; the "guilty" person cannot have done it. The latter really isn't a mystery at all, just a suspense novel. There really aren't any clues pointing to the murderer.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:27 AM (ZbwAu)

156 147 If Cobs get tired of punishing us with her, I nominate this as a replacement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uORPxmsBJoE
Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:23 AM (arJlL)

The thing is, Tony Bennett could actually sing. You might not like his style (I personally don't), but there's no denying his vocal talent. Yoko, not so much.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:27 AM (eA950)

157 Oh, and some author trivia: The character of "Bear" just showed up. I was writing a scene and he barged in just like it happened in the story. Totally unplanned.

Must've been the whiskey.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:11 AM (cfSRQ)

Agatha Christie's author characters used to complain bitterly about their literary denizens having minds of their own. One of her "writers" was really pretty disturbed about it. I suspect it's common enough to intuit that something should happen, even though it wasn't in the master plan.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:30 AM (ONvIw)

158 Chicoms , 1.5 billion of them , may not read Sun Tzu, but experts agree that Mao certainly did read him.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 10:31 AM (jUilJ)

159 Wow. My grandmother's funeral mass was said there but we never took the time to go through the place. Truly amazing. Worth a visit for those impressed by art and architecture. They don't build stuff like that anymore.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:26 AM (cfSRQ)

When I were a wee bairn growing up in the Bay Area, my father would occasionally drive us into San Francisco to hear Mass at St. Ignatius Church. Wow. Talk about jaw-dropping art amd architecture.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:31 AM (eA950)

160 I finally finished "The Catechism of the Council of Trent." It is great. None of the Social Justice Bullshit you find in the JP2 CCC. Oh, and there is nothing wrong with the death penalty.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:31 AM (2BZBZ)

161 As for COBs, I will never think of one of them in the same way since Vampires of Michigan. This is just my free-association, btw

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:32 AM (ONvIw)

162 154
Posted by: josephistan at February 23, 2020 10:27 AM (Izzlo)
________

The mention of Pegasus Bridge reminds me of a triumph of mine. Since we were married, my wife and I have had an agreement about books. If one buys a book, the other gets a purchase of about equal price*.

When Band of Brothers came on, she really got into it. So she decided SHE wanted the book. So I "balanced" it with Pegasus Bridge.

*Since my warship books tend to be costly, that usually means several for her. But not this time.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:32 AM (ZbwAu)

163 The thing is, Tony Bennett could actually sing. You might not like his style (I personally don't), but there's no denying his vocal talent. Yoko, not so much.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar

Yes, he could actually sing, I don't dislike him, but I think he tortured this song.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:32 AM (arJlL)

164 Anyone read "The Jewish War" by Josephus? I am looking forward to it.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:33 AM (2BZBZ)

165 Just checked Amazon, Brunvand's books are hugely expensive, even for the Kindle.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at February 23, 2020 10:35 AM (l9m7l)

166 Yes, he could actually sing, I don't dislike him, but I think he tortured this song.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:32 AM (arJlL)

Tom Waits has sold more records than me, but I think it's only because I haven't made any.

Posted by: BignJames at February 23, 2020 10:36 AM (X/Pw5)

167 Yes, Thucydides is overrated as a general.

Posted by: Brasidas at February 23, 2020 10:37 AM (x8Q/V)

168 38
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 09:22 AM (y7DUB)
_________

It's been a while, but I do remember that Austin showed a greater understanding of men than most women have. There's a passage where she says that had Catherine only spoken to her brother, she'd have found that it was a waste of time agonizing over which dress to wear. Tilney won't really notice.

There's something very endearing about Catherine Morland.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:37 AM (ZbwAu)

169 160 I finally finished "The Catechism of the Council of Trent." It is great. None of the Social Justice Bullshit you find in the JP2 CCC. Oh, and there is nothing wrong with the death penalty.
Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:31 AM (2BZBZ)

Did the RCC finally get around to incorporating blanket opposition to the death penalty into their "official" theology?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:38 AM (eA950)

170 164 Anyone read "The Jewish War" by Josephus? I am looking forward to it.
Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:33 AM (2BZBZ)

Which began when Moishe the tailor refused to give Herschel 50% off the bespoke two pair pants he already made.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 10:38 AM (NWiLs)

171 NAP time !

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 10:39 AM (arJlL)

172 Did the RCC finally get around to incorporating blanket opposition to the death penalty into their "official" theology?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:38 AM (eA950)

---
No.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:39 AM (cfSRQ)

173 Another music book

Psychotic Reaction and Carburetor Dung - Lester Bangs

Read a couple Nabokov stories, Tyrants Destroyed and The Visit to the Museum. Both of them dealt with dealing with tyranny. The first one started with a lot of promise but fizzled in the end with a confusing resolution to dealing with a tyrant the narrator grew up with. The second was much better about an emigre visiting a museum and getting lost in a labyrinth of increasingly fantastic rooms until finally dumped into the Soviet Union he'd escaped from.

Both of these were written when Vlad was trying to get the fuck out of Europe because of Hitler plus he had almost no money. It's hard to imagine that not having an impact on his writing.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 10:40 AM (y7DUB)

174
As president, I will make every year a Leap Year.
[waves hands wildly playing an imaginary piano]
It. Is. Not. Fair. For. Only. One. Year. Out. Of. Every. Four. Years. ToBeALeapYear!

Posted by: Bernie Sanders at February 23, 2020 10:40 AM (ZSUyT)

175 Mrs. Orsen Wells

Posted by: robert at February 23, 2020 10:41 AM (kd/wn)

176 The lesson here, is dont try to fight autterly ruthless larger power, the zealots wanted to fight rome, they got what they wished for, just not the result they expected.

Posted by: Gaius martius at February 23, 2020 10:42 AM (hMlTh)

177
Yeah, so this is a leap year, which means babies can be born
on February 29th and only age at .25 the rate everyone else does.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 10:42 AM (ZSUyT)

178 The other 2 I read this week were Ngaio Marsh,
Scales of Justice and Margery Allingham The Black Dudley Murders. The
former was a disappointment. She made a mistake in the solution; the
"guilty" person cannot have done it. The latter really isn't a mystery
at all, just a suspense novel. There really aren't any clues pointing to
the murderer.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:27 AM (ZbwAu)

---
IIRC, Frito and Spam have to work their way through the Ngaio Marsh on their way to Fordor.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:42 AM (cfSRQ)

179 > Will Bloomberg spend half a billion backing Bernie?

If Sanders gets the nomination, Bloomberg will endorse Trump.

We've already seen a few of the cuckservatives shifting to Trump.

Even for a cuckservative, an outright communist is a bridge too far.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:43 AM (Ewo9R)

180 I'm almost finished with Charles Todd's The Murder Stone. I had read several of his Inspector Ian Rutledge murder mysteries and thought I'd give this one a try. Although I'm almost finished, I don't know whether this can be described as a murder mystery because I'm unsure if there has been a murder, although there is plenty of mystery. Francesca Hatton, burned out Red Cross nurse assisting the wounded from WWI France, returns to her grandfather's isolated estate to care for the dying man. He has already lost his two sons to violence and his five grandsons to the battlefields of France leaving Francesca the sole surviving member of the family. In administering his estate she finds that her grandfather was far more complex with far more secrets than she had imagined and moral ambiguity clouds her remembrance of an idyllic childhood with her five cousins.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:43 AM (+y/Ru)

181 Would normally say Pick up and Read but haven't had a new book in weeks myself.

No doujbt the Rare Book Room in the University of Pennsylvania is where all the conservative books are held

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 10:43 AM (ZCEU2)

182 JT,
Saw your comment on the last thread. Rough week for me. I'm getting the memorial pulled together. It's next Sunday. Saw my pulmonologist. He says I really need to move. Lots of stuff to think about. It's been one month today.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at February 23, 2020 10:44 AM (Lqy/e)

183 I have PR and CD. Loose definition of book.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:44 AM (PUmDY)

184 i read a very silly book, Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson's The Lost Gospel. This argues that the Genesis fanfiction "Joseph and Aseneth" encodes the marriage of Mary Magdalene to Jesus.

Those interested in a full pantsing of the silly may read here : ntweblog.blogspot.com/2014/12/richard-bauckham-assessing-lost-gospel_9.html

There are some good ideas in here, certainly the grist for several good articles and maybe a book about the reception-history of this text in Late Antiquity. But if they'd done that the only lay person who'd read the result is me. So the authors jumped for the brass ring and came back with a terlit seat.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at February 23, 2020 10:45 AM (ykYG2)

185
Yeahbut, if Bernie Sanders does get the D nom, he absolutely will re-adopt some of his old policies for the general election, i.e., the few policies he and Trump had in common in 2016.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 10:45 AM (ZSUyT)

186 There will be many exemptions.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (PUmDY)

187 Those book nooks are right up my alley, I should try to make one.

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (ZCEU2)

188 The JP2 CCC has words like "... the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'"

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (2BZBZ)

189 > I understand that for a rock drummer, he was remarkably well read.

Do a web search for "Keith Richards library". Enviable.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (Ewo9R)

190 Sun Tzu tactics are basic common sense. I do like the areas where it addresses how to lead and treat your soldiers which I think is the most important.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 10:47 AM (2DOZq)

191 If Sanders gets the nomination, Bloomberg will endorse Trump.

We've already seen a few of the cuckservatives shifting to Trump.

Even for a cuckservative, an outright communist is a bridge too far.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:43 AM (Ewo9R)

If Bernie gets the nomination, Bloomberg will continue to endorse Bloomberg until his dying breath.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:47 AM (ONvIw)

192 There's something very endearing about Catherine Morland.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 23, 2020 10:37 AM (ZbwAu)

Oh hell yeah. Even though she could do some Patterico level dumbfuck things, like snoop around the abbey to find where General Tilney kept his trapped and not dead wife, if you don't like Catherine you're almost officially a horrible person.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 10:47 AM (y7DUB)

193 I heard Keef's autobiography is good.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 10:47 AM (PUmDY)

194 The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli Seems to be one of those books everyone talks about but nobody actually bothers to read. Even less so than The Bible. Seems that's a category itself.

Posted by: WTP at February 23, 2020 10:48 AM (WQfDg)

195 Rumor has it that under the new Francis CCC, using a plastic straw is a Mortal Sin.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:48 AM (2BZBZ)

196
If piss matthews is saying he'd rather have President Trump than Bernie,
it will fun to watch the Fake Republicans-For-Media make their case for
Bernie.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 10:49 AM (ZSUyT)

197 > Seems to be one of those books everyone talks about but nobody actually bothers to read.

I've read it, and recommend it. It's short and not at all a difficult read.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:49 AM (Ewo9R)

198 > I've read it, and recommend it. It's short and not at all a difficult read.

It was the "Rules for Radicals" of its day, you might say.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:49 AM (Ewo9R)

199 I had to read "The Prince" back in the day for AP Modern European History. Yikes. My vocabulary back then seriously sucked.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:50 AM (2BZBZ)

200 Mrs. Orson Wells

Posted by: robert at February 23, 2020 10:50 AM (kd/wn)

201 Anybody seeing "The Boys" on Amazon. I'm beginning to realize the story is a liberal metaphor for "America under Trump" and the character of Homelander with the golden hair is a Donald Trump simulacrum (that is, what Leftist writers imagine Trump to be) -- shallow, self-centered, covertly cruel.
Posted by: Dan Smoot's Apprentice at February 23, 2020 10:06 AM (H8QX

Honestly, I think there are absolutely no allegorical aspects to the show (and the book), other than the writers basically taking a piss out of the whole superhero/comics "world."

I guess if one WANTS to see parallels to "Trump's America," you can find it, but then you can do that with pretty much everything these days.

My suggestion is enjoy the show, and leave the current politics out of it.

By the way, I would highly recommend the books. The show takes some big detours from them, so you aren't going to be spoiling much if you read ahead. Having read the books, I'm dying to see where they take the second season of the series, because they're clearly not taking it where the book goes.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 10:50 AM (hku12)

202 190
Sun Tzu tactics are basic common sense. I do like the areas where it
addresses how to lead and treat your soldiers which I think is the most
important.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 10:47 AM (2DOZq)

---
Yet so few leaders follow them.

The ChiComs are basically doing a tour-de-force of What Not To Do.

I agree with OM: they threw him out because he's not revolutionary and it's killing them.

For all their supposed wonder-weapons, no one has any idea how any of their gear will perform in a combat environment. The export versions of their small arms are solid "mehs."

FUN FACT: Gun-free Canada allows civilian importation of ChiCom small arms, but not the US.

Just showing what a pawn little Justin from Canada is.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:50 AM (cfSRQ)

203 I found a very good book last week: it's Volume 4 of the collected short stories of Louis L'Amour. Volume 4, part 1: Adventure Stories is the full title.

Those stories are really good: mostly about sailors in the Pacific and China, adventurers in central Asia, and hobos riding the rails. And according to the end note by L'Amour's son Louis did most of those things himself.

Posted by: Trimegistus at February 23, 2020 10:51 AM (m7tTY)

204 189 > I understand that for a rock drummer, he was remarkably well read.
Do a web search for "Keith Richards library". Enviable.
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (Ewo9R)

As featured in a previous book thread:

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=359842

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:51 AM (eA950)

205 As for the Genesis fanfiction "Joseph and Aseneth" itself, you may read that free in many places. Jacobovici and Wilson translated the Syriac version but there are Latin and Greek versions out there too.

This story proved popular among literate Christians. As Bauckham's review points out, it is indeed a Christian text but, set in Biblical times. So it had to "anticipate" Christianity. There are many books like this in Christian monastic libraries: Ascension of Isaiah is a another. It can be very hard to tell books like this apart from Jewish biblical fanfiction.

It is sort of an analogue of the marriage between Christ and His Church told as if Joseph was Christlike and Aseneth as like the Syro-Egyptian pagans before conversion.

Going from that to saying that Magdalene herself was a pagan priestess is, of course, utter balls.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at February 23, 2020 10:51 AM (ykYG2)

206 Speaking of talked about books that nobody reads, I know of no one who actually read 2666. I've read glowing reviews and a few dank, snoozefest reviews, but I know of no one who read the 912 pages. I suspect I know a few people who won't admit to having started it.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:52 AM (ONvIw)

207 > I read a syfy short story many years ago possibly entitled something like Who Will Watch the Watchers about a talented young composer who is ostracized because he unintentionally heard some music of Bach and thus hid originality was compromised.

"Unaccompanied Sonata", by Orson Scott Card

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:52 AM (Ewo9R)

208 I give up on modern culture revisiting any classic on stage. The new production of "West Side Story" dropped "I feel pretty." WTF?

I walked out of a movie/broadcast of "Cyrano de Bergerac" by the UK's National Theater after five minutes. They moved it to modern times, made Cyrano a master of rap battles not actual fighting, completely destroyed that beautiful language and did nothing to alter the shape of his nose.

Posted by: vivi at February 23, 2020 10:53 AM (11H2y)

209 Just showing what a pawn little Justin from Canada is.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:50 AM (cfSRQ)

So he's a lot like his dad (whether that is Castro or Pierre doesn't matter here).

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:53 AM (ONvIw)

210 No.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:39 AM (cfSRQ)

I think that's the direction the RCC is heading, though. I think Francis is full-on anti-death penalty. What do you think?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:54 AM (eA950)

211 I'm still trudging through Neil Peart's book Ghost Rider. Its getting a wee bit tedious, because he includes a shit ton of letters he wrote to friends while on his journey, so you get to relive it twice. Still, its pretty good. I picked up his other book Masked Rider. I may start on that one.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 10:55 AM (9Om/r)

212 Another great book that I had a hard time with back then was "The Anatomy of Revolution." I read it a few years ago and it is great.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:55 AM (2BZBZ)

213 I walked out of a movie/broadcast of "Cyrano de Bergerac" by the UK's National Theater after five minutes. They moved it to modern times, made Cyrano a master of rap battles not actual fighting, completely destroyed that beautiful language and did nothing to alter the shape of his nose.
Posted by: vivi at February 23, 2020 10:53 AM (11H2y)

That's reminiscent of Roxanne, when Shelley Duvall asks Steve Martin why he doesn't just get a nose job. Also it's annoying that baldness is still an issue in TNG.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (ONvIw)

214 I currently own the most disappointing edition of Sun Tzu ever printed. The cover said it was annotated, so I snapped it up. Cool! A Chinese classic with commentary!

Well . . . the commentary turned out to be random quotes about war by various random people, with no relevance to Master Sun's writing. My guess is that they had the intern go on Google to find them. I still have it but that will last only until I find a better version. Then it will go on to a glorious destiny as kindling.

Posted by: Trimegistus at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (m7tTY)

215 Another good book on musicj is Testimony by Dimitri Shostakovich. Actually, there is some question as to he actually wrote it and it was smuggled out or whether it is merely anti-communist propaganda (although most of the incidents clearly happened). Dimitri welcomed the revolution, liberated pianos from the 1%, put them on flatbed trucks and rode around entertaining thex proletariat. Later Stalin took a more hands on approach to the arts and Dimitri constantly feared that a melodic or harmonic choice would lead to a bullet in the back of his skull.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (+y/Ru)

216 Getting near the end of A People's Tragedy and went through the part in which Lenin fucked over religion, which the people never stopped believing in and must be frustrating to the Peronist pile of shit currently stinking up the Vatican. Figes makes clear that Lenin deserves no excuses of not being as bad as Stalin because, in addition to being a lame ass rationale, it's probably not true in terms of out and out murdering religious people on top of desecrating places of worship.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (y7DUB)

217 Regarding Jefferson's post-Presidency financial mess:

He tried to farm his way out of it, instead of law practicing his way out of it!

A world famous former POTUS would have had no problem whatsoever finding clients who wanted top shelf legal representation before the brand new, infant federal courts.

That Jefferson didn't see the obvious way out of his money troubles has always amazed & fascinated me.

Did I mention "obvious"?

....

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:38 AM (Cssks)

I'm really not a fan of Jefferson, so take what I'm about to say from that perspective... but I believe I'm right here:

Jefferson really wasn't a deep thinker. He was a big picture guy, maybe even a visionary, but he was often also wrong, and wasn't terribly committed to putting in the hard work, or seeing things through to their conclusions.

That's true of his political life, his private dealings, and his personal relationships.

I think a post-Presidency law career would have been too much work for him, and his clients would have gotten shoddy representation, had he gone that way. So I give him credit for not "cashing in," but otherwise... yeah, Jefferson's life was a mess, all said and done.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (hku12)

218 I always summed up The Prince as the ends justify the means. I'm not a fan of that philosophy and just play defense against those that do.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (2DOZq)

219 citizen welles

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (CLteG)

220 188
The JP2 CCC has words like "... the cases in which the execution of the
offender is an absolute necessity 'are very rare, if not practically
non-existent.'"

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 10:46 AM (2BZBZ)

---
Much of the opposition to the death penalty is predicated on the notion that we are affluent enough to pay the upkeep for murderers and rapists.

If you have a killer, especially a repeat offender, there's no safe way to let them back into society.

So you have to kill them out of necessity lest they kill again.

Prison provides an alternative, and in a wealthy society, it's not much of a burden.

But I question the morality of requiring people to work to sustain murderers, especially ones who show no repentance.

I'd love to debate someone about that. "This guy killed, shows no remorse, will kill again if given the chance, so it's my responsibility to clothe and feed him...why? Show me the scripture where we are told to forgive those who refuse to repent."

There's lots of places in the Bible that show capital punishment and frequent exhortations that those who live by the sword will die by it.

I'm aware of nothing in there that creates a moral requirement for a 'leisure class' of unrepentant murderers.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:57 AM (cfSRQ)

221 Even for a cuckservative, an outright communist is a bridge too far.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:43 AM (Ewo9R)

---------

Think fat guys can't jump? Watch me.

Posted by: Rear Adm. Bill Kristol at February 23, 2020 10:57 AM (XVuno)

222 > I read it a few years ago and it is great.

I wonder how many kids have been put off reading by being forced to read stuff that they just aren't ready for? Not just in terms of vocabulary, but in terms of having the relevant life experiences that allow them to connect to the book.

For instance, Moby-Dick is an incredible book, but is far beyond the level that can be appreciated by most high school age kids, especially in the current snowflake era.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:58 AM (Ewo9R)

223 218
I always summed up The Prince as the ends justify the means. I'm not a
fan of that philosophy and just play defense against those that do.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (2DOZq)

---
There is a lot more in there than that.

A lot more.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:59 AM (cfSRQ)

224 Being a self-published author is a great profession to pursue even if you suck at it, as long as you don't plan to make any money at it.

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 10:59 AM (m45I2)

225 And I picked up one more gem this week. I purchased "Shadows 3", the third volume in a series of horror anthologies published in the 70s & 80s. This is a presentation copy, signed & inscribed by the editor & several horror/sci-fi writers, including Ray Bradbury! I thought at first that I read the bookseller's description wrong (which has happened to me before), but decided to take a chance. It's the real deal & I couldn't be more thrilled to have that in my collection. Especially at the dirt cheap price I paid.

Posted by: josephistan at February 23, 2020 10:59 AM (Izzlo)

226 > I'm not a fan of that philosophy and just play defense against those that do.

Nor am I a fan, but playing a good defense requires understanding the strategy and tactics of your opponents. Once again, the same holds true with Alinsky.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:59 AM (Ewo9R)

227 In nine days, with Bloomberg added, the way the 15% rule works, Bernie will get 70% of the delegates in CA and many other states

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 23, 2020 11:00 AM (8PoSv)

228 I've read it, and recommend it. It's short and not at all a difficult read.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:49 AM (Ewo9R)

I'm almost certainly the least well read of the BOOKS eleventy! junkies here and I've read it.

It is short, as is AoW which I've also read.

Both are worth your time. YMMV

Posted by: weirdflunky at February 23, 2020 11:00 AM (cknjq)

229 I made sure both of my kids read The Prince. If you want to grow up to be an evil mastermind it's mandatory reading.

Only one of them is currently following the EM career track, but the other one shows promise as the named henchman who gets to defeat the hero at the end of the second act, so that's good.

Posted by: Trimegistus at February 23, 2020 11:01 AM (m7tTY)

230 "The Real Frank Zappa Book"

Posted by: freaked at February 23, 2020 09:46 AM (Tnijr)

Back when this book came out, Zappa was on Larry King's show to promote the book.

Larry asked: "So, who is the real Frank Zappa?"
Frank said: "No, Larry. There are a lot of unauthorized biographies about me out there. This isn't the real __Frank Zappa__ book, it is the real Frank Zappa __book__.

Frank went on to make fun of Larry throughout the rest the interview. Very entertaining!

Posted by: db at February 23, 2020 11:01 AM (G/Q6j)

231 Getting near the end of A People's Tragedy and went through the part in which Lenin fucked over religion, which the people never stopped believing in and must be frustrating to the Peronist pile of shit currently stinking up the Vatican. Figes makes clear that Lenin deserves no excuses of not being as bad as Stalin because, in addition to being a lame ass rationale, it's probably not true in terms of out and out murdering religious people on top of desecrating places of worship.
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (y7DUB)

Oh my... having just made my comment (above) on Jefferson, I want to make sure no one thinks I'm comparing Lenin to Jefferson, but.....

Lenin was another of those Big Picture guys, and so the difference between him and Stalin would be, Stalin was a brilliant man, who wanted his fingers in everything, and was relentless about getting his way. He was patient, he was cunning, he was diabolical, and he understood people extraordinarily well.

The main reason Hilter got over on him (at first) is because I don't think Stalin thought there was anyone around who was as good as it as he.

But Lenin... yeah, he needed Lenin to get people to follow them, and to believe in them, and to have a shining example of what communism COULD be... and then Stalin shoved him aside (and did probably kill him), and went about the decades long business of being the evil genius he was.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:02 AM (hku12)

232 So MISOLOGY is basically mythology without the lisp?

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:02 AM (m45I2)

233 was I a fool for not understanding the Straussian cooment?

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 11:02 AM (PUmDY)

234 Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 10:59 AM (Ewo9R)

Totally agree. Which brings us back to Sun Tzu.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (2DOZq)

235 I'm aware of nothing in there that creates a moral requirement for a 'leisure class' of unrepentant murderers.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:57 AM (cfSRQ)

I doubt if Veblen would add them to the ranks of leisure class or place prison garb into the canons of pecuniary taste. I do not however see any reason at all to have people like Manson, the weather underground bastards, or Jesse Timmendequas wasting perfectly good air.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (ONvIw)

236 If you do get to Monticello try to take the long tour. I think it's called behind the scenes. You'll see more of the house and time is taken for actual discussion. My wife and I had a great time.

Posted by: Robert Luebkemann at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (eohDJ)

237 > If you have a killer, especially a repeat offender, there's no safe way to let them back into society.

Repeat offenders, certainly. Hit men, serial killers, and so on.

I think I've read that garden-variety murderers are one of the LEAST likely to reoffend.

There are a lot of guys doing time for murder who are there because one specific person just monumentally pissed them off, possibly by doing something that would cause just about anyone to react violently.

They're not really much of a danger to the general public.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (Ewo9R)

238 Thanks OM. Excellent. Trump. Art of the Deal. Says a lot about the man and now especially his fight against the NY elites who hated him and wanted him to fail. But then when he had the best property in town had to buy from him so hated him even more.

Posted by: Cannibal Blob at February 23, 2020 11:04 AM (Orx/W)

239 Only one of them is currently following the EM career track, but the other one shows promise as the named henchman who gets to defeat the hero at the end of the second act, so that's good.
Posted by: Trimegistus at February 23, 2020 11:01 AM (m7tTY)

In my case, I'm the Bumbling Sidekick who's put in for comedy relief.

All we're missing is a Busty Tavern Wench. Where's Eris, is Eris still here?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:04 AM (eA950)

240 I think that's the direction the RCC is heading, though. I think Francis is full-on anti-death penalty. What do you think?

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 10:54 AM (eA950)

---
Francis is likely the high-water mark for the infiltrators.

They've been exposed for what they are, thanks to him.

He didn't mean to expose them, but he did.

Then he tried to find a way to get women ordained as deacons, married priests and incorporate pagan bits. That failed in a big way.

I live in a liberal town and the change to the Church here in the last ten years has been striking.

More emphasis on traditional doctrine, more use of traditional rites, much less feel-good nonsense.

The young priests coming up are very different from their Boomer predecessors.

Father Mark used to host "college sex talks."

His successor sponsors Marian consecrations. My previous parish is even more orthodox, using a variation of the Tridentine Mass. They have have kneelers to take Communion, even.

Francis' skill set was getting elected. He's botched everything else.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:05 AM (cfSRQ)

241 I've had several book/short story ideas knocking around in my noggin for quite a long time. Maybe one of these days I can get my ADD ass to focus long enough to start one.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:05 AM (NWiLs)

242 At one point about a decade ago there were over 800 people in prison for homicide that were previously in prison for homicide. It may be more today.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 11:05 AM (2DOZq)

243 There are a lot of guys doing time for murder who are there because one specific person just monumentally pissed them off, possibly by doing something that would cause just about anyone to react violently.

They're not really much of a danger to the general public.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (Ewo9R)

They could easily get pissed off again. And some of these inspirations for violence are things like community property, difference of opinions, and wanting something you can't have without stealing and killing for it. In the case of killing someone who is raping your kid, you should get an award, but many violent actions are spawned by stuff like "my sister wouldn't give me drug money." The bitch!

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:08 AM (ONvIw)

244 Little Known Muldoon Fact #1176: Machiavelli's original working title for his seminal work was "The Artist". The publisher convince him to change it, but he insisted on a subtitle, so it was published as "The Prince: (Formerly known as "Artist")

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:08 AM (m45I2)

245 Rare Book Room.

Sounds like a place for me. Making tea.

Posted by: Pussy Galore at February 23, 2020 11:08 AM (doAIC)

246 My son understands "The Prince." "It's better to be feared than hated."

My name in Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 11:08 AM (2BZBZ)

247 242 At one point about a decade ago there were over 800 people in prison for homicide that were previously in prison for homicide. It may be more today.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 11:05 AM (2DOZq)

The death penalty is a sure and certain solution for recidivism.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (eA950)

248 That Jefferson didn't see the obvious way out of his money troubles has always amazed & fascinated me.

Did I mention "obvious"?

....

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:38 AM (Cssks)

But there would have been the problem of winning cases because he was an ex-president and a Founding Father.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (/+bwe)

249
His successor sponsors Marian consecrations. My previous parish is even more orthodox, using a variation of the Tridentine Mass. They have kneelers to take Communion, even.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:05 AM (cfSRQ)

Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too. I have seen nothing to verify this.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (ONvIw)

250 Funny how the modern RCC expects the State to pay for everything.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (2BZBZ)

251 But Lenin... yeah, he needed Lenin to get people to follow them, and to believe in them, and to have a shining example of what communism COULD be... and then Stalin shoved him aside (and did probably kill him), and went about the decades long business of being the evil genius he was.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:02 AM (hku12)

I don't know if he killed him but there's a picture of Lenin after he'd had a stroke or something fucking up his noggin and he looked really bad, like nothing going on upstairs. Don't get me wrong, the Georgian gimp was as ruthless as it gets and quite an opportunist but Lenin wasn't capable of running a fucking thing after that.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:10 AM (y7DUB)

252 239

Countdown to Busty Tavern Wench as a nic in 3, 2, 1 ....

Posted by: Pussy Galore at February 23, 2020 11:10 AM (doAIC)

253 The death penalty is applied not out of hatred or a wish of retribution, but out of a duty to protect the innocent. The unrepentant murderer is a danger, as is the rabid dog, and must be put down for the same reasons. Not for revenge, or out of hatred of either dog or murderer, but simply because given the opportunity the dog will do harm (through no fault of his own) as will the murderer (of his own free will), and so both must be removed as a threat. No more, no less.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (ZXnzo)

254 Garden Variety Murdererers would be a good name for a band.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (PUmDY)

255 The death penalty is a sure and certain solution for recidivism.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (eA950)

Occupationally, I have spoken with a number of murderers, some mentally ill, some not, and I say they should never return to society.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (ONvIw)

256 I'd love to debate someone about that. "This guy killed, shows no remorse, will kill again if given the chance, so it's my responsibility to clothe and feed him...why? Show me the scripture where we are told to forgive those who refuse to repent."

There's lots of places in the Bible that show capital punishment and frequent exhortations that those who live by the sword will die by it.

I'm aware of nothing in there that creates a moral requirement for a 'leisure class' of unrepentant murderers.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 10:57 AM (cfSRQ)

All true. But I have seen such nonsense put out by American bishops in the last 30 years to know that these are considerations that it would not even occur to them.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (eA950)

257 I went to the March for Life. There was a Mass at the Basilica the day before. There is an order of nuns where apparently they are all young and beautiful. Gray habit with blue fronts/backs. Absolutely angelic.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (2BZBZ)

258 Death penalty. Mansons and Dahmers should not live. I am also aware that some on death row were exonerated due to modern advancements in genetic testing. The system is not perfect. Also, I can't imagine why any christian church would support capital punishment.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:12 AM (eXYC7)

259 If piss matthews is saying he'd rather have President Trump than Bernie, it will fun to watch the Fake Republicans-For-Media make their case for Bernie.

-
Shots fired!
m
(((AG)))@AGHamilton29
Btw the schmucks who spent the last 2 years loudly declaring they will support any Dem should think about the incentives they created. As was always obvious, they removed any incentive for Dems to moderate or appeal to anyone but the extreme base.

-
More at the link.

https://bit.ly/32kKAfo

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 11:12 AM (+y/Ru)

260 Yeah, so this is a leap year, which means babies can be born on February 29th and only age at .25 the rate everyone else does.

Slightly less, assuming they make it to the year 2100 which won't be a leap year.

-- Pedants Are Us We.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at February 23, 2020 11:12 AM (qc+VF)

261 > At one point about a decade ago there were over 800 people in prison for homicide that were previously in prison for homicide. It may be more today.

According to the Bureau of Prisons web site, there are currently over 5,000 people in federal prison for homicide, and that's just at the federal level. The overwhelming majority of homicide cases are charged at the state level.

So 800 is not really very many.

Yeah, I'd have no problem with a "frequent flier" program for multiple offenders, gang-related killings, botched robberies, and so on.

But what about the guy whose kid got molested and proceeded to beat the perpetrator to death?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:13 AM (Ewo9R)

262
Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too. I have seen nothing to verify this.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM (ONvIw)
---
I have.

Nuns were all but invisible when I started going to mass and now they're very much out and about. Lots of young women looking into the vocations in my diocese.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:14 AM (cfSRQ)

263 Francis is the Obama of Popes.

Posted by: JAS at February 23, 2020 11:14 AM (2BZBZ)

264 Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too.

********

Probably in nonconventional ways.

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (m45I2)

265 > And some of these inspirations for violence are things like community property, difference of opinions, and wanting something you can't have without stealing and killing for it.

That's why we have judges, juries, and parole boards, innit?

What about the guy who kills the guy who raped his kid?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (Ewo9R)

266 Another good book on musicj is Testimony by Dimitri Shostakovich. Actually, there is some question as to he actually wrote it and it was smuggled out or whether it is merely anti-communist propaganda (although most of the incidents clearly happened). Dimitri welcomed the revolution, liberated pianos from the 1%, put them on flatbed trucks and rode around entertaining thex proletariat. Later Stalin took a more hands on approach to the arts and Dimitri constantly feared that a melodic or harmonic choice would lead to a bullet in the back of his skull.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 10:56 AM (+y/Ru)

One of the subplots in Europe Central by William Vollman is Dmitri dealing with the creative process not getting him in deep shit with Stalin.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (y7DUB)

267 Morning book lovin' Hordemates.

Posted by: Diogenes at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (TGayj)

268 Nun shall pass!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:16 AM (NWiLs)

269 Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too.

********

Probably in nonconventional ways.
Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (m45I2)

It's a habit. hahahah !

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:16 AM (eXYC7)

270 No more, no less.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (ZXnzo

I would add respect for the life that was taken. The criminals life is somehow more valuable? And to give loved ones closure on their suffering, if that's even possible.

Posted by: Cannibal Blob at February 23, 2020 11:16 AM (Orx/W)

271 But what about the guy whose kid got molested and proceeded to beat the perpetrator to death?
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:13 AM (Ewo9R)

I would think that the number of these sorts of crimes are vanishingly small. I know that vigilantism makes for good fiction writing, but good men don't usually have it in them to beat a bad man to death.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (eA950)

272 217 Burt

Jefferson was a successful & much-admired attorney in private practice, as a young man.

I think he decided to return to farming because that's what gentlemen of his class were expected to do in their golden years, i.e., emulate George Washington & Cincinnatus.

His financial troubles weren't that much different from other planters. They were all up to their adz in debt.

That he died broke, imo, reflects a failure of imagination. His "plantation" consisted of several small farms which weren't contiguous. Making his operation profitable, & getting it out of hock, was perhaps impossible.

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (Cssks)

273 Start Me Up takes a lot of crap, the dead man lyric is awesome

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (PUmDY)

274

Can I join the Boy nuns?

Posted by: saf at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (5IHGB)

275 Repeat offenders, certainly. Hit men, serial killers, and so on.

I think I've read that garden-variety murderers are one of the LEAST likely to reoffend.

There are a lot of guys doing time for murder who are there because one specific person just monumentally pissed them off, possibly by doing something that would cause just about anyone to react violently.

They're not really much of a danger to the general public.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:03 AM (Ewo9R)

I think that's generally true.

I've worked with many ex-offenders, including several who have killed. They have often absorbed more of the concept of "rehabilitation" than other types of offenders. And so their actions are often, if not motivated by anything else, are geared toward staying out of the way of law enforcement.

Of the many myths about prison, one of the most pervasive is this notion that nobody learns anything in there, except how to be better at committing crimes. That might... MIGHT be true for low level street thugs who are just getting started in their careers, but guys who go to prison, often on those "spur of the moment" crimes, even if their whole lives up to that point had been leading toward it, they do get treatment, they do learn how to be better human beings, and they do come out often realizing they want no part of the thug life.

Sometimes they're robotic about it, spouting off what they "learned," but I think that's because they don't quite believe in themselves.. yet. But a guy who has been to prison, and has learned how to be a good citizen, they're often better at it than people who have never been in trouble at all in their lives.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (hku12)

276 Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea said once that when the Khmer Rouge came into power they did not realize how hard it was and how much was involved in running the country.

Nothing worked, so they blamed saboteurs, the CIA and eventually each other.

Killing is all they were good at.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 23, 2020 11:18 AM (Z+IKu)

277 Rob Schneider impersonates Sundown.

Rob Schneider@RobSchneider
"Hi, I am @JoeBiden and I just did pretty good in Nevada! Now let's go on to South Korea and let's win there too!"

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 23, 2020 11:18 AM (+y/Ru)

278 Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea said once that when the Khmer Rouge came into power they did not realize how hard it was and how much was involved in running the country.

Nothing worked, so they blamed saboteurs, the CIA and eventually each other.

Killing is all they were good at.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 23, 2020 11:18 AM (Z+IKu)

Shoulda read The Prince !

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (eXYC7)

279 Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too. I have seen nothing to verify this.
Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:09 AM

I switched donation money from my alma mater to the Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Their motherhouse was in Ann Arbor and they had 4 nuns in the late 1990s. They have over 130 now, which is amazing growth.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (/+bwe)

280 "What about the guy who kills the guy who raped his kid?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:15 AM (Ewo9R) "

After the act occurred? He cops to manslaughter and gets out after 6 with good behavior.
In order to have a working society its members must agree to adhere to the rules, and one of the rules is you don't take the law into your own hands. Now, if the guy comes upon the molester in the act (as happened in Texas once upon a time) the longest part of his trial should be the debate on what day the parade is held.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (ZXnzo)

281 All true. But I have seen such nonsense put out by
American bishops in the last 30 years to know that these are
considerations that it would not even occur to them.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:11 AM (eA950)

---
Things are changing.

The bishops did not like Francis shutting down their reform effort and ended up implementing it anyway after observing his pause and seeing his empty gestures.

McCarrick's treatment was scandalous and outraged a lot of leaders as well as the laity.

Not too long ago a bunch of seminarians in Buffalo reported their instructors for inappropriately obscene language. All the priests involved were suspended and it looks like the bishop is getting investigated as well.

The Church goes through cycles, just like everything else. We had a period of complacency, decay and then crisis. Now we are moving into reform.

The pews are emptier, the donations are down, but the faith seems stronger. A lot of cradle Catholics seem to have bailed, but they were of the Pelosi/Biden variety who never really bought into all of it anyway.

Lots of interesting debates as well. One could do a thread on this, incorporating the writers at First Things, Human Events and elsewhere.

In fact, I'm planning on getting a subscription to First Things. Seems much more interesting and intellectual than anything National Review has done in a decade.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (cfSRQ)

282 So all Jefferson needed was a crime of the century to defend in court.

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 11:20 AM (ZCEU2)

283 61 Mrs Bernie Sanders as flotus. I would rather Yoko Ono.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 09:36 AM (PUmDY)

Our eyes would be sore from all the rolling at "fashion" magazines gushing over her innate style, grace and beauty.

Posted by: Gem at February 23, 2020 11:21 AM (65i3Q)

284 > I would think that the number of these sorts of crimes are vanishingly small.

I have no idea how many there are, but I had an aunt who was the victim of an attempted date rape when she was a young teen. Smacked her around. Yanked out some of her hair before she could get out of the car.

Her brother beat the living shit out of the scumbag. I mean he fucked him right the hell up. Broken jaw, numerous other injuries.

Suppose he'd gone a little bit too far? Automatic death penalty for him, you guys are saying?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (Ewo9R)

285 276 Brother Number 2 Nuon Chea said once that when the Khmer Rouge came into power they did not realize how hard it was and how much was involved in running the country.

Nothing worked, so they blamed saboteurs, the CIA and eventually each other.

Killing is all they were good at.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 23, 2020 11:18 AM (Z+IKu)

See? It didn't have the right people at the top.

Posted by: Commies in the Dem Party, BIRM at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (1CjJc)

286 I have read three biographies of Thomas Jefferson. He was my favorite founding father. He was the original small government conservative. Yes, when he died he had a great mass of dept built up but it was not all his fault. His father died and left him a massive amount of debt.
He
did try farming because that was the love of his life but he never could seem to break even. And that was mainly because the upper class in VA at the time were expected to entertain visitors lavishly when they decided to drop in. And he had a lot of visitors. His wine bill was immense. And all that was financed through creditors. He also spent lavishly on books which added to all that.

Posted by: Vic at February 23, 2020 11:23 AM (mpXpK)

287 Now would be a good time to spread the coronavirus on the Nork leadership.

Posted by: Ha at February 23, 2020 11:23 AM (45Em2)

288 I switched donation money from my alma mater to the
Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Their motherhouse was in Ann
Arbor and they had 4 nuns in the late 1990s. They have over 130 now,
which is amazing growth.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (/+bwe)

---
Yes, I've heard about that.

I see some of the sisters at the early morning daily mass. Hard to explain, but I find their presence very comforting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:23 AM (cfSRQ)

289 I'm about finished with a bio of Augustus, by Adrian Goldsworthy.

Rome should've started it's own space program.*

*(a blue water navy)

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 11:24 AM (Cssks)

290 Her brother beat the living shit out of the scumbag. I mean he fucked him right the hell up. Broken jaw, numerous other injuries.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (Ewo9R)

Old ways are best.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 23, 2020 11:24 AM (1CjJc)

291 Suppose he'd gone a little bit too far? Automatic death penalty for him, you guys are saying?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (Ewo9R)

Not at all, but there must be an atonement. The proper course of action in a civilized world would be for the attempted date raper to make an appearance in a court of law to be tried by a jury of his peers. However, if the brother was to appear before the judge instead...I don't think there is a jury in the land that would recommend a death penalty.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:24 AM (ZXnzo)

292 But Lenin... yeah, he needed Lenin to get people to follow them, and to believe in them, and to have a shining example of what communism COULD be... and then Stalin shoved him aside (and did probably kill him), and went about the decades long business of being the evil genius he was.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:02 AM (hku12)

I don't know if he killed him but there's a picture of Lenin after he'd had a stroke or something fucking up his noggin and he looked really bad, like nothing going on upstairs. Don't get me wrong, the Georgian gimp was as ruthless as it gets and quite an opportunist but Lenin wasn't capable of running a fucking thing after that.
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:10 AM (y7DUB)

Yeah, one of those "lost to history" details that will never been known... but we certainly know Stalin was capable of it, and once Lenin was incapacitated, the scurry for power would have been on. Better to seal the deal early, rather than wait.

I don't remember what actual "evidence" there might be for it, but I think it's more than just "yeah, Stalin COULD do something like that."

Ironically enough, I believe there is even more evidence that Khrushchev had Stalin put down, once the old man was safely incapacitated. And if I recall correctly, his ailments were more physical, so his mind would have remained sharp, as the shoe-pounder was putting the pillow over his face.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:25 AM (hku12)

293 There's something about Mary !

Posted by: saf at February 23, 2020 11:25 AM (5IHGB)

294 But what about the guy whose kid got molested and proceeded to beat the perpetrator to death?
Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:13 AM (Ewo9R)

They should get an award, IMO.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:26 AM (ONvIw)

295 Suppose he'd gone a little bit too far? Automatic death penalty for him, you guys are saying?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (Ewo9R)

---
No.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:26 AM (cfSRQ)

296 What I don't get is the opposition to wal mart.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 11:26 AM (PUmDY)

297 Mrs. Squirrel and i read a great book titled, "Goodbye Things." It is written by a Japanese author and turns Marie Kondo's minimalism dial from 7 to 11.
Essentially, the author states that the things you are hoarding or holding onto are physical and emotional baggage that clutter your daily life and head. He says that you should give most of your stuff away to people who need it, or sell it, and live simply.
He says you won't miss the things you part with.
To be honest, the wife and i both had positive takeaways from the book. I got rid of a bunch of books i was planning on reading and never did; scanned numerous work papers and got rid of originals. Cleaned out a ton of stuff from the house, and you know what? I don't miss any of it. all of my knickknacks from jobs and deployments cluttering the shelves- what was it for? to show others what i did? Yeah, probably so. That is another point he makes- when your house looks like a museum of stuff, ask yourself- who is this stuff for?
I high recommend the book to the Horde. There are a lot of great points he makes. While he isn't a philosopher, there are certainly thought provoking maxims and ideas he has, and i would encourage you to pick it up.
Wife and i realized that we don't need things- and the things we already have are too much; we want to save money for trips and have experiences. Hell i'm even trying to downsize our home to a shipping container or two!

Posted by: secret squirrel at February 23, 2020 11:26 AM (xyImL)

298 (From the Onion : Guide to 2020 dem candidates)

Joe Biden :

Birthplace: Middle Class, Swing State, USA
Electoral Strategy: Inertia
Greatest Liability: Prone to speaking publicly
Anticipated VP Pick: Stacey Abrams or the other one
Position On Iraq War: All of them
Campaign Bus: Desegregated during middle of 2008 run
Biggest Endorsement: "Hi, you've reached Barack Obama's voicemail"
Number Of Accusations Of Acting Inappropriately Toward Women And Girls: Butter pecan, with mint chocolate chip a very close second

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (eXYC7)

299 And if I recall correctly, his ailments were more physical, so his mind would have remained sharp, as the shoe-pounder was putting the pillow over his face.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:25 AM (hku12)

A happy ending.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (1CjJc)

300
I can tell why nuns are making a comeback:

Because the nunnery has become the Girl Scouts group for adult, angry, bitter,
pious, leftist girls who prefer the company of like-minded and like-bodied individuals.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (ZSUyT)

301 They will still give him all superdelegates.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (eXYC7)

302 Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:13 AM (Ewo9R)

The point is that 800 or more people were murdered when that could have been prevented. And based on your and my statistics that means 16% of those in prison had killed again after being released. That's not an insignificant percentage.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 11:28 AM (2DOZq)

303 Suppose he'd gone a little bit too far? Automatic death penalty for him, you guys are saying?

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:22 AM (Ewo9R)

Of course not. And this was not uncommon in the good old days. I had a cousin who experienced something similar, a policeman neighbor and his friends, handled the matter personally. The perp pressed no charges, in the 60s he wouldn't have dared, now I'm not so sure.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:29 AM (ONvIw)

304 I can tell why nuns are making a comeback:

Because the nunnery has become the Girl Scouts group for adult, angry, bitter,
pious, leftist girls who prefer the company of like-minded and like-bodied individuals.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (ZSUyT)

---
Alternatively, women are seeing that disaster that modern feminism has produced and look for something more meaningful than hate tweets and careerism.

Or are you saying women can't feel a call to serve God?

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (cfSRQ)

305 Someone told me that nuns are making a comeback, too. I have seen nothing to verify this.
Posted by: CN

---

Recently our parish has seen an uptick in nuns attending Mass. When I was in DC last month, loads of nuns - it was the March 4 Life after all but what was striking was they were mostly very young. And many, many novices.

Our parish has also reverted to more traditional memes - some women wearing veils, kneeling for communion, reestablishing Perpetual Adoration, etc.

P. Frankie isn't well thought of here.

Posted by: Tonypete at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (Y4EXg)

306 272 217 Burt

Jefferson was a successful & much-admired attorney in private practice, as a young man.

I think he decided to return to farming because that's what gentlemen of his class were expected to do in their golden years, i.e., emulate George Washington & Cincinnatus.

His financial troubles weren't that much different from other planters. They were all up to their adz in debt.

That he died broke, imo, reflects a failure of imagination. His "plantation" consisted of several small farms which weren't contiguous. Making his operation profitable, & getting it out of hock, was perhaps impossible.
Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 11:17 AM (Cssks)

Meh. I'd be curious what his contemporaries thought of his "successful and much admired" lawyering, at the time, rather than later. He was basically still a kid when he "wrote" the Declaration.

His financial troubles weren't limited to his "farming," in that he had that boondoggle of a house he kept sinking money into.

Jefferson fancied himself an architect.

He wasn't.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (hku12)

307
Yeah, prepare yourselves for Fake News and their paid shills, the Media Republicans, telling you that Bernie "shares many" of President Trump's anti-establishment attitudes and policies.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (ZSUyT)

308 Back from a long constitutional with the lively and athletic Mrs naturalfake.

What's new at the zoo?

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (z0XD8)

309
that's IF Bernie gets the nom

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:30 AM (ZSUyT)

310 Because the nunnery has become the Girl Scouts group for adult, angry, bitter,
pious, leftist girls who prefer the company of like-minded and like-bodied individuals.
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (ZSUyT)

This would surprise me, but I was hoping that it was a reaction against a lawless society, not an expression of condoning one.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (ONvIw)

311 Tom Waits has sold more records than me, but I think it's only because I haven't made any.
Posted by: BignJames at February 23, 2020 10:36 AM (X/Pw5)

Tom Waits' voice sounds like he is shoveling wet cement, but his music is intricate. I love the album Bone Machine. It is not ABBA, and he isn't very pretty, but I find the music compelling.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (6rS3m)

312 Well I today will start the actual rewriting of a novel. The 38 pages of story I printed out are now covered in rewrites, deletions, and fleshing out the background.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (Rdohv)

313 In fact, I'm planning on getting a subscription to First Things. Seems much more interesting and intellectual than anything National Review has done in a decade.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (cfSRQ)

Concur.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:32 AM (eA950)

314 Ironically enough, I believe there is even more evidence that Khrushchev had Stalin put down, once the old man was safely incapacitated. And if I recall correctly, his ailments were more physical, so his mind would have remained sharp, as the shoe-pounder was putting the pillow over his face.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:25 AM (hku12)

I remember as a youth thinking Nikita looked like the devil incarnate but that was at a time when our unfree press worshiped Saint JFK and would have made anyone opposing that bumbling pervert look terrible. Anyway, Khrushchev was Ukrainian and surely harbored some very bad feelings of what Stalin inflicted on his home.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:32 AM (y7DUB)

315 When your bishop gets out of line, beat him.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

316 Mrs. Squirrel and i read a great book titled, "Goodbye Things." It is written by a Japanese author and turns Marie Kondo's minimalism dial from 7 to 11.

...

I read that this past summer, and it was quirky but great. When he realized that he was using things to define himself, that really hit home for me.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at February 23, 2020 11:33 AM (/+bwe)

317 > And based on your and my statistics that means 16% of those in prison had killed again after being released.

Go back and read the part about "federal prison alone" again.

It's not "16%", or anything like it.

https://tinyurl.com/wem4tva

The recidivism rate for homicide is about 1.2%, and I would bet virtually all of those have a long history of other violent crimes.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at February 23, 2020 11:34 AM (Ewo9R)

318 Here comes...Warren?

National YouGov Poll: (Change from last week)

Sanders 28% (+4) Warren 19% (+3) Biden 17% (-1) Bloomberg 13% (+1) Buttigieg 10% (-1) Klobuchar 5% (-2) Steyer 2% (-)

Posted by: Ha at February 23, 2020 11:34 AM (45Em2)

319 Tom Waits' voice sounds like he is shoveling wet cement, but his music is intricate. I love the album Bone Machine. It is not ABBA, and he isn't very pretty, but I find the music compelling.
Posted by: Kindltot at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (6rS3m)

He definitely comes from the whiskey and cigarettes school of voice coaching

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:34 AM (NWiLs)

320 Oh, yes. Marie Kondo. Here is funny story, she now has a line of merchandise for sale. Think about it....

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:35 AM (eXYC7)

321 315
When your bishop gets out of line, beat him.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

---
That euphemism never made sense to me.

"Wrestling the bald-headed champ," on the other hand, still makes me laugh. In fact, I'm giggling as I type it.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:35 AM (cfSRQ)

322 Oh No Yoko as US diplomat toPyongyang?

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (Rdohv)

323 So all Jefferson needed was a crime of the century to defend in court.
Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 11:20 AM (ZCEU2)

Maybe an innocent black kid, accused of rapin' a white woman. Townfolk want to string him up, but ol' Jefferson, he thinks the boy dint doit!

I can see the ending speech now.....

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (hku12)

324 >>Tom Waits' voice sounds like he is shoveling wet cement, but his music is intricate. I love the album Bone Machine. It is not ABBA, and he isn't very pretty, but I find the music compelling.

Me too.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (ZLI7S)

325 322 Oh No Yoko as US diplomat toPyongyang?
Posted by: Anna Puma at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (Rdohv)

Certain to be interpreted as an act of war.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (NWiLs)

326 Captain Hate, glad you liked Northanger Abbey.

Posted by: vmom 2020 at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (G546f)

327 Tom Waits is a better actor than musician.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 11:37 AM (PUmDY)

328 "Wrestling the bald-headed champ," on the other hand, still makes me laugh. In fact, I'm giggling as I type it.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:35 AM (cfSRQ)

Now that's one I've actually never heard before. Learn something new every day around here!

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:37 AM (NWiLs)

329 >>Tom Waits is a better actor than musician.

He's a better song writer than either.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:38 AM (ZLI7S)

330 Now, if the guy comes upon the molester in the act
(as happened in Texas once upon a time) the longest part of his trial
should be the debate on what day the parade is held.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (ZXnzo)

I have a friend who has a daughter that was repeatedly molested by his ex wife's live in boyfriend. At the trial the cops in a round about way told my friend it would be a real shame if something happened to him *wink wink*. My friend who is far from stupid knew better.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 11:38 AM (9Om/r)

331 I read that this past summer, and it was quirky but great. When he realized that he was using things to define himself, that really hit home for me.
Posted by: NaughtyPine

Great point- i felt the same way- hence the purge of so many things i thought i needed or held on to for silly or baseless reasons. As Tyler Durdan said, "The things you own...end up owning you."

Posted by: secret squirrel at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (xyImL)

332 I have a friend who has a daughter that was repeatedly molested by his ex wife's live in boyfriend. At the trial the cops in a round about way told my friend it would be a real shame if something happened to him *wink wink*. My friend who is far from stupid knew better.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 11:38 AM (9Om/r)

When he's on trial, the time for shoot, shovel and shut up has passed.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (NWiLs)

333 Oh, yes. Marie Kondo. Here is funny story, she now has a line of merchandise for sale. Think about it....
Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:35 AM (eXYC7)

It's a trap. If you buy it, your name goes onto a list. One day, years from now, she'll be doing events at post-apocalyptic stadiums for throngs of starving, irradiated followers, and at the grand finale, she'll bring out the shambling wretches, chained together.

"These ones... they did not find the Spark of Joy."

*shakes head sadly, then cups ear to crowd*

"What do we do, friends, with things that do not Spark Joy?"

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (t+qrx)

334 Captain Hate, glad you liked Northanger Abbey.
Posted by: vmom 2020 at February 23, 2020 11:36 AM (G546f)

Yes, I was pleased to see when I entered it into Goodreads your and my older daughter's reviews popped up as my friends reactions.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (y7DUB)

335 Ironically enough, I believe there is even more evidence that Khrushchev had Stalin put down, once the old man was safely incapacitated. And if I recall correctly, his ailments were more physical, so his mind would have remained sharp, as the shoe-pounder was putting the pillow over his face.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:25 AM (hku12)

I remember as a youth thinking Nikita looked like the devil incarnate but that was at a time when our unfree press worshiped Saint JFK and would have made anyone opposing that bumbling pervert look terrible. Anyway, Khrushchev was Ukrainian and surely harbored some very bad feelings of what Stalin inflicted on his home.
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:32 AM (y7DUB)

There is of course, the probably not true story, that Stalin was told by Lenin, that after ol' Lenin kicks the bucket, when times get tough, for Stalin to blame it all on him. After all, being a good commie, Lenin figured once he was dead, it won't matter to him if everyone blames him for the economic troubles.

Fast forward several decades, and Khrushchev is now the Grand Poobah. As he assumes and is consolidating his power, he is handed a letter from Stalin. In it, Stalin tells him "when things get tough, economically, go ahead and blame me for it, because I'll be a rotting corpse, and it won't bother me none."

Or words to that effect.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:41 AM (hku12)

336 Because the nunnery has become the Girl Scouts group for adult, angry, bitter,
pious, leftist girls who prefer the company of like-minded and like-bodied individuals.
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:27 AM (ZSUyT)

This would surprise me, but I was hoping that it was a reaction against a lawless society, not an expression of condoning one.
Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (ONvIw)

I don't believe leftie screechers would tolerate the vows of poverty and chastity, let alone obedience. Offering up your work, your pain, and your sacrifice without complaining or self-aggrandizing? Impossible for the self-absorbed.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at February 23, 2020 11:41 AM (/+bwe)

337 When he's on trial, the time for shoot, shovel and shut up has passed.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (NWiLs)

That's a great line.

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:41 AM (ONvIw)

338 When he's on trial, the time for shoot, shovel and shut up has passed.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (NWiLs)

Exactly, although I think they were talking about in case he got away with it. Before the trial he was actually entertaining the thought of hunting him with an M1 Garand, but came to his senses.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 11:42 AM (9Om/r)

339 Finally finished Wages of Destruction, by Adam Tooze. Economics of the Nazi regime, and the late Weimar. Overall very good, especially as this critical aspect is not much discussed or covered in most histories.

He goes hard at what he calls the myth of the "armaments miracle" under Speer - not denying the numbers, but laying out how heavy investment in '41-'42, and massive increase in inputs (including forced labor), were as much responsible for the increases in production as "rationalization" or magic from the top.

One of his best angles, but not pursued very far, is how post-war assessments (US Strategic Bombing Survey, and the British equivalent) greatly under-estimated the impact of the bombing. He might have explored this more in other publications, I haven't scoured his extensive reference notes on this yet.

As seems almost standard now, at least with British historians, there were the odd moral equivalence asides. Wacky one was raising the US westward expansion/manifest destiny as an inspiration for Hitler's eastern "Lebensraum" project (huh? WTF?). Silly one was implying that the US and Allies - out of revenge - deliberately kept Germany barely above water, economically etc., in the early post-war years.

Reading the foreword to the next book in the pile, the oddly titled "Hitler Book" (the intel briefing for Stalin about Hitler prepared by Soviet analysts who'd interrogated the Hitler staff captured in Berlin), the respected British historian Overy manages to call Stalin a "populist politician". Dude.

Seems many of today's best historians share this odd moral judgement lapse, they almost have a need to blur the lines, against the facts, as the actual fairly clear story cannot be quite accepted by a culture mau-mau'd into doubting itself and even its best moments.

Posted by: rhomboid at February 23, 2020 11:43 AM (El6T/)

340 WISCONSIN: Sanders 30% Bloomberg 13% Biden 13% Buttigieg 12% Warren 12% Klobuchar 9%

MICHIGAN: Sanders 25 Biden 16 Bloomberg 13 Warren 13 Buttigieg 11 Klobuchar 8%

PENNSYLVANIA: Sanders 25 Biden 20 Bloomberg 19 Buttigieg 12 Warren 9 Klobuchar 5 Yougov/

@ElectionsCenter

2/11-20

Posted by: Ha at February 23, 2020 11:44 AM (45Em2)

341 I love the booknooks. Now I need to get daughter a Sherlock Holmes one.

Reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley. Recommended by said daughter and so far, its a very enjoyable post WWII crime mystery with an 11 year old girl and the very capable sleuth. Not YA though. I hope it continues to be good because there are several books in the series.

Posted by: LASue at February 23, 2020 11:44 AM (Ed8Zd)

342 It's a trap. If you buy it, your name goes onto a list. One day, years from now, she'll be doing events at post-apocalyptic stadiums for throngs of starving, irradiated followers, and at the grand finale, she'll bring out the shambling wretches, chained together.

"These ones... they did not find the Spark of Joy."

*shakes head sadly, then cups ear to crowd*

"What do we do, friends, with things that do not Spark Joy?"
Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (t+qrx)

" I trashed my colander mask and bought KonMarie small bubble bud vase...what now ??"

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:44 AM (eXYC7)

343
Ever notice you hardly ever see Nuns at pro-life rallies?

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:45 AM (ZSUyT)

344 Tom Waits is a better actor than musician.
------------------------
He's a better song writer than either.
Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:38 AM (ZLI7S)

In the movie "Dead Don't Die" he's an astoundingly good Nick Nolte, drunk and disheveled, impersonator.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:45 AM (hku12)

345
Today's nuns are feminists and Democrat voters.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:45 AM (ZSUyT)

346 Ever notice you hardly ever see Nuns at pro-life rallies?

Posted by: Soothsayer

---

Huh? There were thousands when I was there.

Posted by: Tonypete at February 23, 2020 11:46 AM (Y4EXg)

347 Anyway, gotta get ready for lunch.

Now that I've taken the plunge into vampires, maybe Christopher's werewolf will be next.

Have a great Sunday

Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:46 AM (ONvIw)

348 Exactly, although I think they were talking about in case he got away with it. Before the trial he was actually entertaining the thought of hunting him with an M1 Garand, but came to his senses.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 11:42 AM (9Om/r)

Fair enough. I certainly couldn't blame the guy if he had though. Not a great choice of weapon if he wanted to stay under the radar. You'd want to use something ubiquitous and easily disposed of.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:46 AM (NWiLs)

349
Some nuns are better than others.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:47 AM (ZSUyT)

350 " I trashed my colander mask and bought KonMarie small bubble bud vase...what now ??"

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:44 AM (eXYC7)

In the Burning Times, my colander face mask will bring me much joy.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:47 AM (NWiLs)

351 When he's on trial, the time for shoot, shovel and shut up has passed.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:39 AM (NWiLs)

That's a great line.
Posted by: CN at February 23, 2020 11:41 AM (ONvIw)

In the movie Clueless, Dan Hedaya's character tells a guy dating his daughter, Alicia Silverstone "if anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel; I doubt anyone would miss you."

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (y7DUB)

352 >>In the movie "Dead Don't Die" he's an astoundingly good Nick Nolte, drunk and disheveled, impersonator.

Not exactly a stretch role of Waits.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (ZLI7S)

353 Trying to come up with a way to work "sun's out, nuns out" into a comment here, but drawing a blank.

Gonna go clean the garage a bit.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (t+qrx)

354
Huh? There were thousands when I was there.

Posted by: Tonypete

Those were penguins.
Penguins.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (ZSUyT)

355 for

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (ZLI7S)

356 About Jefferson. People forget these guys took a couple decades out of their lives to secure Independence and form a country/government with almost no pay. I can look past their personal financial issues.

Posted by: lowandslow at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (4thlk)

357 Half a Catholic's better than nun.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:49 AM (NWiLs)

358 >In the movie "Dead Don't Die" he's an astoundingly good Nick Nolte, drunk and disheveled, impersonator.

Not exactly a stretch role of Waits.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (ZLI7S)

Like Crispin Glover playing a retard.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (y7DUB)

359 Some nuns are better than others.

******

But in sum, nuns are better than otters

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (m45I2)

360
Seems many of today's best historians share this
odd moral judgement lapse, they almost have a need to blur the lines,
against the facts, as the actual fairly clear story cannot be quite
accepted by a culture mau-mau'd into doubting itself and even its best
moments.

Posted by: rhomboid at February 23, 2020 11:43 AM (El6T/)

---
Try reading about the Spanish Civil War.

Most of it is hot communist propaganda garbage.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (cfSRQ)

361 Yesterday, I found a Folio Society edition of-

"The Great Plague in London"

for a pittance. So, I picked it up.

Thought it would be interesting for a contrast and compare depending on what happens vis a vis - 600+ years ago vs today.

as human nature doesn't really change.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (z0XD8)

362
I'll hear nun of it!

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (ZSUyT)

363 Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at February 23, 2020 11:19 AM (ZXnzo)

I have a friend who has a daughter that was repeatedly molested by his ex wife's live in boyfriend. At the trial the cops in a round about way told my friend it would be a real shame if something happened to him *wink wink*. My friend who is far from stupid knew better.
Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 23, 2020 11:38 AM (9Om/r)

Given how many kids are sexually molested by moms' boyfriends and uncles and older siblings, often half/step, I'm sure that more than a few of those cases we see show up on the news, where somebody supposedly kills a family member for taking the last piece of chicken, are not really about squabbles over food or what to watch on tv.

They're kills because somebody catches somebody in the kid's room.

But it doesn't seem cops or prosecutors are doing much considering of mitigating circumstances.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (hku12)

364 But in sum, nuns are better than otters
Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (m45I2)

This man is gifted.

Posted by: DR.WTF at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (aS1PU)

365 I'll hear nun of it!
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (ZSUyT)

You sound cross.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (eXYC7)

366 Maybe an innocent black kid, accused of rapin' a white woman. Townfolk
want to string him up, but ol' Jefferson, he thinks the boy dint doit!

=====

I think John Adams made his bones by defending some Brit soldiers at risk from a mob.

Probably Adams is my favorite founder as a person (although his wife is right up there as well). His son seemed ineffectual, but then went and spent the rest of his life in the House of Reps, and was proud to do so.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (MIKMs)

367 Nuns butts the best

Oh I am so going to Hell in a hand basket

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (ZCEU2)

368 365 I'll hear nun of it!
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (ZSUyT)

You sound cross.
Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (eXYC7)

It's a habit.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (NWiLs)

369

Some Nuns Are Better - a limerick

An erstwhile street hooker named Hemphill
Found peace in a nunnery, 'twas simple
She forsook her former friends
And thus her sinful era ends
No, not with a bang, but a wimple

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (m45I2)

370 Today's nuns are feminists and Democrat voters.

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:45 AM (ZSUyT)

---
Lots of Boomer nuns, absolutely.

Just like Boomer priests. They tried to take over the Church from within.

The new generation seems very different.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (cfSRQ)

371 Sooth,
Please knock it off. Nuns aren't the horse faced bullies of our youth. The nuns I see at Mass are sweet faced and kind. The parochial school kids flock to them for hugs and for encouragement. They sing like angels and are peaceful and protective. And I really enjoy seeing more of them.

Posted by: Nurse ratched at February 23, 2020 11:54 AM (PkVlr)

372 Nun desu ka?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (NWiLs)

373 Thought it would be interesting for a contrast and compare depending on what happens vis a vis - 600+ years ago vs today.

as human nature doesn't really change.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 11:50 AM (z0XD

---
Do you mean A Journal of the Plague Year by Defoe?

Great read. Really interesting.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (cfSRQ)

374 I'll hear nun of it!
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (ZSUyT)

You sound cross.
Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (eXYC7)

It's a habit.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (NWiLs)

Makes cense.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (eXYC7)

375 315
When your bishop gets out of line, beat him.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

I thought you usually flogged your bishop.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (eA950)

376 374 I'll hear nun of it!
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 11:51 AM (ZSUyT)

You sound cross.
Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (eXYC7)

It's a habit.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (NWiLs)

Makes cense.
Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (eXYC7)

Don't let him fool you, he's actually a very gracious and welcoming host.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (NWiLs)

377 >>I think John Adams made his bones by defending some Brit soldiers at risk from a mob.

Not just any old soldiers. It was the soldiers involved with the Boston Massacre. Defending them was not a very popular move at the time.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (ZLI7S)

378 375 315
When your bishop gets out of line, beat him.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:33 AM (NWiLs)

I thought bishops were usually flogged.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (eA950)

Dolphins.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (NWiLs)

379 372
Nun desu ka?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (NWiLs)

---
Klaatu barada niktu!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (cfSRQ)

380 Nuns on the run!

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 11:57 AM (eA950)

381 In the movie "Dead Don't Die" he's an astoundingly good Nick Nolte, drunk and disheveled, impersonator.
-----------------------------------------------
Not exactly a stretch role of Waits.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:48 AM (ZLI7S)

By the way, for anyone considering, the movie is NOT recommended.

It's a mess, and the biggest problem is not that it's supposed to be a Jim Jarmisch "comedy" about the zombie apocalypse, and it's not that the theme is kinda sorta globall warmening bullship. No, the biggest problem is they have a gazillion great actors in it, and nobody ever actually gets enough time on screen to become interesting characters. Not Bill Murray, not Adam Driver, and not any of the others, who you would really really like to see more of. Not least of all, Tilda Swinton.

Who, unsurprisingly, plays a weird "outsider."

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:57 AM (hku12)

382 It's a habit.
Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (NWiLs)

Change of Habit starring Elvis and MTM.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at February 23, 2020 11:57 AM (2DOZq)

383 Tom Waits' voice sounds like he is shoveling wet cement, but his music is intricate. I love the album Bone Machine. It is not ABBA, and he isn't very pretty, but I find the music compelling.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 23, 2020 11:31 AM (6rS3m)

I think he's a great songwriter.

Posted by: BignJames at February 23, 2020 11:58 AM (X/Pw5)

384 Nun desu ka?

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (NWiLs)

---
Klaatu barada niktu!
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (cfSRQ)

Kto Suka ??

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 11:58 AM (eXYC7)

385
Chaste, Yet Chased - a limerick

The madam was yelling "Dagnabbit"
If you must cop a feel then just grab it.
But don't ask the nun
If she wants to have fun
You ought not to get in the habit.

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:59 AM (m45I2)

386 Lots of Boomer nuns, absolutely.

Just like Boomer priests. They tried to take over the Church from within.

The new generation seems very different.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:53 AM (cfSRQ)

The great untold story(novelwise) of the later half of the 20th Century and dribbling into the 21st-

is the take-over of all the foundational institutions of the West and the US,

by people who absolutely hate those institutions and wish to destroy them,

while simultaneously benefitting from the respect those institutions hold for those who believe in them.

I suspect there's a great novel or six in there.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 11:59 AM (z0XD8)

387 Neither here nor there my Dremel tool needs a new stop button, $2.99 for part and $5.95 to ship it and thats by slow mail. You could put part in a letter envelop and send it.

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 12:00 PM (ZCEU2)

388 Got that title backwards. It should have been "Chased, But Still Chaste"

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 12:00 PM (m45I2)

389 Chaste, Yet Chased - a limerick ....

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 11:59 AM (m45I2)

👏 👏 👏

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:00 PM (eXYC7)

390 Reading burned up books and trying to stay hip

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 12:01 PM (PUmDY)

391 Maybe an innocent black kid, accused of rapin' a white woman. Townfolk
want to string him up, but ol' Jefferson, he thinks the boy dint doit!

=====

I think John Adams made his bones by defending some Brit soldiers at risk from a mob.

Probably Adams is my favorite founder as a person (although his wife is right up there as well). His son seemed ineffectual, but then went and spent the rest of his life in the House of Reps, and was proud to do so.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 23, 2020 11:52 AM (MIKMs)

Yeah, I'm much more partial to Adams, than Jefferson.

As most people know, Adams never thought much of Jefferson... for most of his life, and then toward the end, the two struck up a long and friendly correspondence.

Then both men went ahead and died on the same day: July 4, 1826.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 12:01 PM (hku12)

392 Skip, are you an Amazon prime member ?

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:01 PM (eXYC7)

393 The Mother Superior was concerned about the dwindling numbers at the convent. She went to the Father to seek advice. "Father, there are fewer sisters each year. Many of the most faithful are aging and dying, and for the life of me I can't get any new initiates! What should I do?"

The Father leaned back in his chair and reflected a moment. "Well, the problem seems clear to me. If you don't start nun, there won't be nun."

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 12:02 PM (NWiLs)

394 It's a mess, and the biggest problem is not that
it's supposed to be a Jim Jarmisch "comedy" about the zombie apocalypse,

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 11:57 AM (hku12)

---
Over the weekend I watched "Downfall," the source material for all the "Hitler Learns __" memes.

While watching, I realized that the original source material for the zombie apocalypse genre was Hitler in the bunker.

Now that The Vampires of Michigan has been published, I think I shall explore this in my next column for Bleedingfool.com.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 12:03 PM (cfSRQ)

395 Reading The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley.
Posted by: LASue at February 23, 2020 11:44 AM (Ed8Zd)

IT'S A COOKBOOK !!!!

Posted by: Adriane the Illiterate Literary Critic ... at February 23, 2020 12:03 PM (LPnfS)

396 Then both men went ahead and died on the same day: July 4, 1826.

*******

Simply amazing.
50 years to the day after the seminal event in Western History.

Coincidence or Providence?

Discuss.

Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 12:04 PM (m45I2)

397 Some cookbooks are masterpieces...just saying...

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:04 PM (eXYC7)

398 Do you mean A Journal of the Plague Year by Defoe?

Great read. Really interesting.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 11:55 AM (cfSRQ)

No, this is a history book by an English historian, Walter George Bell.

Though I should reread Danny Defoe's book as well.

The long view vs up close and personal.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 12:05 PM (z0XD8)

399 I think John Adams made his bones by defending some Brit soldiers at risk from a mob.
------------------------------------
Not just any old soldiers. It was the soldiers involved with the Boston Massacre. Defending them was not a very popular move at the time.
Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 11:56 AM (ZLI7S)

The mini-series, which I think was HBO, "Adams," with Paul Giamatti as the title character, is well worth seeing.

Pretty sure they were mostly historically accurate, and the casting is brilliant. Giamatti makes a great Adams... a man who was almost always right, and was insufferable at times because of it.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 12:06 PM (hku12)

400 Neither here nor there my Dremel tool needs a new stop button, $2.99 for part and $5.95 to ship it and thats by slow mail. You could put part in a letter envelop and send it.
Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 12:00 PM (ZCEU2)

Dremel is great for some stuff, but not too many like it's oscillator/scraper. We went with Bosch. Arrived this week. On the way to pick it up got a call from the alarm company.

It's been a weird week.

Hope your part arrives pronto ...

Posted by: Adriane the Illiterate Literary Critic ... at February 23, 2020 12:07 PM (LPnfS)

401 No, had it as a freebee but never used it once.

Looking at those book nooks again, could carve a monster like some or go miniature.

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 12:07 PM (ZCEU2)

402 Reading burned up books and trying to stay hip
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 12:01 PM (PUmDY)

You were screaming in Las Vegas? Attended one of the caucus ?

Posted by: Adriane the Illiterate Literary Critic ... at February 23, 2020 12:09 PM (LPnfS)

403 Then both men went ahead and died on the same day: July 4, 1826.

*******

Simply amazing.
50 years to the day after the seminal event in Western History.

Coincidence or Providence?

Discuss.
Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 12:04 PM (m45I2)

If anything it shows God has a sense of humor.

Otherwise, it doesn't seem important enough to warrant the Deity's attention.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 12:09 PM (hku12)

404 I have a Dremel multi-max as well, found a lld Craftsman dremel that seems to be working, no idea why I stopped using it, must be some reason.

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 12:09 PM (ZCEU2)

405 Now that The Vampires of Michigan has been published, I think I shall explore this in my next column for Bleedingfool.com.
=====

LOL. I would dispute Vampires of MI unless they are parents of adolescents. I still remember the blood running down my chin from biting my tongue.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 23, 2020 12:10 PM (MIKMs)

406 The mini-series, which I think was HBO, "Adams," with Paul Giamatti as the title character, is well worth seeing.

Pretty sure they were mostly historically accurate, and the casting is brilliant. Giamatti makes a great Adams... a man who was almost always right, and was insufferable at times because of it.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 23, 2020 12:06 PM (hku12)

Although I almost always shit all over movies being an inferior substitute for reading, I'd agree with everything you wrote.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 12:11 PM (y7DUB)

407 Say your prayers.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 12:13 PM (PUmDY)

408 Amazon doing a Lord of The Rings series.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:13 PM (eXYC7)

409 >>The mini-series, which I think was HBO, "Adams," with Paul Giamatti as the title character, is well worth seeing.

I agree. It is excellent.

Also the Freedom Trail in Boston is a must do for any history curious moron. The site of the Boston Massacre is one of the many sites on the walk that have been largely preserved.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 23, 2020 12:14 PM (ZLI7S)

410 I'm old enough to recall 2008, when Obama, encouraging his supporters in Columbia, Mo saying '...we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.'

Also fresh in my memory is the hubris from the then WH 'occupant' that prolonged the Great recession, pushed unemployment to new heights--only to be exceeded by the spike in US debt. Wasted spending on alternative energy (Solyndra), cash for clunkers , not to mention the government-grab of health insurance.

I've seen enough of this. Now, new bottles of snake-oil are up for sale (release from college loans, M4A {O-care deux?}, NGD, gun control) by Bernie and AOC (& Warren). But, we should trust Bernie to get socialism right, this time.

Fool me once, shame on you, Fool me twice...

I was born at night. Just not last night.

Posted by: socalcon at February 23, 2020 12:15 PM (Roy2Z)

411 Say your prayers.
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 12:13 PM (PUmDY)

Dear Lord,

Thank you for giving me a wonderful Grandmother who taught me how to read ...

Posted by: Adriane the Illiterate Literary Critic ... at February 23, 2020 12:15 PM (LPnfS)

412
If you've never seen John Adams, here's a good taste:

https://tinyurl.com/reyr4v6

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 12:15 PM (TiELo)

413 I don't remember how I learned to read. Think mom taught me.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:16 PM (eXYC7)

414 410 Dennis Prager plays that clip alot, adds if you love your wife or husband but want to fundamentally change them do you really?

Posted by: Skip at February 23, 2020 12:17 PM (ZCEU2)

415 he great untold story(novelwise) of the later half of the 20th Century and dribbling into the 21st-

is the take-over of all the foundational institutions of the West and the US,
by people who absolutely hate those institutions and wish to destroy them,

while simultaneously benefitting from the respect those institutions hold for those who believe in them.

I suspect there's a great novel or six in there.
Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 11:59 AM (z0XD

Right. I believe a great part of the "divisiveness" on social media and in public discourse these days is because the progs are walking around wearing the skins of these hollowed-out institutions and shouting "Respec' my authoritah!" Increasingly, their demands are being met with snorts of contempt, Bronx cheers, and mooning, which only makes the lefties shriek louder.

Because the devil cannot endure to be mocked.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 12:17 PM (eA950)

416 depending on what happens vis a vis - 600+ years ago vs today.

The Plague Year was 1665. (Defoe wrote about it around 1722.
Pepys kept a diary as it was actually going on.)That was about 350 years ago.
600 years ago was 1420. King Henry V was making speeches.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at February 23, 2020 12:18 PM (8IOEj)

417 If you've never seen John Adams, here's a good taste:

https://tinyurl.com/reyr4v6
Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23,
2020 12:15 PM (TiELo)

That was a good series.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 12:18 PM (eA950)

418 LOL. I would dispute Vampires of MI unless they are
parents of adolescents. I still remember the blood running down my chin
from biting my tongue.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 23, 2020 12:10 PM (MIKMs)

---
You'll need to buy a copy first.

Probably more than one.

In fact, definitely.

Volume discounts are available!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at February 23, 2020 12:19 PM (cfSRQ)

419 White Wedding isn't bad either.

Posted by: Cosmic Charlie at February 23, 2020 12:19 PM (PUmDY)

420 Social media will wane in influence over time. It is new, it it hip - now. Cannot be sustained forever.

Posted by: runner at February 23, 2020 12:20 PM (eXYC7)

421

noood

Posted by: Soothsayer, now with a gentle glide applicator tip at February 23, 2020 12:20 PM (TiELo)

422 410 I'm old enough to recall 2008, when Obama, encouraging his supporters in Columbia, Mo saying '...we are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America.'

Posted by: socalcon at February 23, 2020 12:15 PM (Roy2Z)

And when somebody says they're going to "fundamentally transform" America, that's when you reach for your musket and cartridges.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 12:20 PM (eA950)

423 NOOD.

Posted by: Insomniac - Ex Cineribus Resurgo at February 23, 2020 12:21 PM (NWiLs)

424 In their old age, Adams and Jefferson used to go on about how the Revolution's true meaning had been lost, it was all over, all the purity had passed on with the founding generation, and all was now lost.

I quote them on here some nights. They fit right in.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at February 23, 2020 12:24 PM (8IOEj)

425 Simply amazing.

50 years to the day after the seminal event in Western History.

Coincidence or Providence?

Discuss.
Posted by: Muldoon at February 23, 2020 12:04 PM (m45I2)

A quirk of humanity. We hold on to life for a reason, when that has passed, we let go.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 23, 2020 12:29 PM (6rS3m)

426 I suffer from schizophrenia
It comes on me in spells
Sometimes I'm King of Armenia
And others I'm Orson Welles

Posted by: Introverted Elephocentric Hypochondriac at February 23, 2020 12:30 PM (mq4fd)

427 ''In the movie Clueless, Dan Hedaya's character tells a guy dating his daughter, Alicia Silverstone "if anything happens to my daughter, I got a .45 and a shovel; I doubt anyone would miss you."''

That still makes me chuckle. Hedaya's delivery of that line was perfection.

Posted by: Tuna at February 23, 2020 12:30 PM (RueoN)

428 Speaking of Charlies Lindbergh, I see HBO is doing a mini-series of the Phillip Roth novel "The Plot Against America". An alternate history where Lindbergh becomes President instead of FDR.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at February 23, 2020 12:31 PM (e1mEI)

429 In their old age, Adams and Jefferson used to go on about how the Revolution's true meaning had been lost, it was all over, all the purity had passed on with the founding generation, and all was now lost.

I quote them on here some nights. They fit right in.
Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at February 23, 2020 12:24 PM (8IOEj)

Marbury v Madison was the beginning of the end. They should've had an Article V convention immediately and hanged a few black robed tyrants as a warning for the future.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 23, 2020 12:32 PM (y7DUB)

430 428
Now the half that wasn't typed in when the post key was hit due to coffee overdose jitters:

I always tried to get Lindberg as president when playing HOI4.

Posted by: Headless Body of Agnew at February 23, 2020 12:36 PM (e1mEI)

431 "In their old age, Adams and Jefferson used to go
on about how the Revolution's true meaning had been lost, it was all
over, all the purity had passed on with the founding generation, and all
was now lost.
I quote them on here some nights. They fit right in. Posted by: Way, Way Downriver
Marbury v Madison was the beginning of the end. They should've had
an Article V convention immediately and hanged a few black robed tyrants
as a warning for the future.Posted by: Captain Hate

thanks for helping me catch up on some founder history ... I still have many pieces to put together, but the commentary here at AoS is helpful (really, not being sarcastic)

In general ... MAGA needs to put American civics back in the classroom, so many changes to get back to "original intent" of Liberty and Sovereign rights.

Posted by: illiniwek at February 23, 2020 12:51 PM (Cus5s)

432 Notsothoreau-

Thanks for your reply. I was wondering about you.

I hope things get smoother for you.

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 12:53 PM (arJlL)

433 depending on what happens vis a vis - 600+ years ago vs today.

The Plague Year was 1665. (Defoe wrote about it around 1722.
Pepys kept a diary as it was actually going on.)That was about 350 years ago.
600 years ago was 1420. King Henry V was making speeches.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at February 23, 2020 12:18 PM (8IOEj)

You are correct in each particular, sir or madame.

In my defense, my ignorance is a vast and eclectic thing of enormous breadth and depth,

encompassing not only simple mathematics but history as well.

And since I read him in high school, how could I forget Samuel Pepys!

He was the fellow who invented those delightful marshmallow chicks which we eat on Easter morn!

Posted by: naturalfake at February 23, 2020 01:03 PM (9wmyx)

434 All Hail Eris: Do comics count?

No. Only text, no illustrations, in ink on paper, is a book. No 'graphic novels,' no 'mixed media,' no 'coffee table art books.' And certainly nothing 'online,' or 'digital.' Must be able to hold a literal, physical bookmark.

Anything else is a 'book.' And this isn't the 'Book' Thread.

Posted by: mindful webworker
Invulnerable, a tall tale
at February 23, 2020 01:08 PM (Isn+8)

435 I own both "The Prince" and "The Art of War." Never have read them in their entirety. Keep skipping to my favorite sections.

I'd love to have bookshelf nooks, but I am no craftsman. Don't even know what I would want to show.

My Who Dis guess is Orson Welles.

Now to read the comments and see whether I am correct.

Posted by: Weak Geek at February 23, 2020 01:42 PM (u/nim)

436 Speaking of Charlies Lindbergh, I see HBO is doing a mini-series of the Phillip Roth novel "The Plot Against America". An alternate history where Lindbergh becomes President instead of FDR.

Because Orange Man Bad.

The original was written to explore the sad lot of American Jewry under George Dubya Bush, well noted isolationist who herded the whole of Brooklyn into camps in Kentucky. Those were sad days.

Posted by: boulder t'hobo at February 23, 2020 01:43 PM (ykYG2)

437 The 14 Deceptions:

01. pretend to be incompetent
02. disguise when troops are about to be deployed
03. when near, appear far
04. when far, appear near
05. offer the enemy what it wants
06. create disorder and strike
07. when the enemy is prepared for attack, prepare to defend
08. avoid engaging an enemy that is stronger than you
09. enrage the enemy into making mistakes
10. feign inactivity to put the enemy off guard
11. when the enemy is at full strength, tire them out
12. where there is unity, sow discord
13. attack where the enemy is unprepared
14. appear where and when unexpected
--------

Nearing the end of 'The Street Without Joy', I am quite certain that the Viet Minh, and later the NVA and Viet Cong were well-read so far as 'The Art of War' is concerned.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 23, 2020 01:49 PM (xSo9G)

438 Here's comments I would have left if I'd been here on time for the first 200:

_____

Please email me the plot for this 'obvious sequel.'
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd

Chuckled
_____

Gaucho Marx!
Posted by: Muldoon

Yea, verily did I LOL.
_____

Bernie's wife outfrumps any of the old Soviet first ladies.
Posted by: Mr. Peebles

Heh. Adding 'outfrumps' to my spellchecker and lexicon.
_____

Who cares what potus reads?
Posted by: Cosmic Charlie

A question deserving of an excellent answer, especially here in the book thread. I'm sure someone else has already or will provide said answer so I don't have to.
_____

I read "The Vanishing Hitchhiker," the first of Jan Harold Brunvald's books on urban legends. It's from 1981, but it's still pretty fascinating. For a while, the Kindle edition was $2, dunno if it still is.
Posted by: BeckoningChasm

Back in (omg) '75, I wrote a (rather tedious?) ballad about the vanishing hitchhiker after reading an article about it.
mindfulwebworks.com/best-of-spirits/the-mysterious-stranger
Don't think I ever recorded it. Small mercy.

Posted by: mindful webworker
Invulnerable, a tall tale
at February 23, 2020 01:51 PM (Isn+8)

439 Nearing the end of 'The Street Without Joy', I am quite certain that the Viet Minh, and later the NVA and Viet Cong were well-read so far as 'The Art of War' is concerned.
Posted by: Mike Hammer,

Read Hell in a very Small Place the siege of Dien Bien Phu

Posted by: JT at February 23, 2020 01:56 PM (arJlL)

440 And since I read him in high school, how could I forget Samuel Pepys!
--------

A wealth of good quotes to had, one of my favorites:

"I went out to Charing Cross to see Major General Harrison hanged, drawn, and quartered; which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could in that condition."

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 23, 2020 02:07 PM (CDGwz)

441 @68 --

Favorite book on music/musicians?

"My Favorite Intermissions" by Victor Borge. Each chapter is about a noted opera figure, with side-splitting footnotes.

Example: Text states that [Name] was being criticized for writing an extremely long opera, so he cut it in half.

Footnote: "Now he had two operas nobody wanted to produce."

My gawd, the things those guys got up to -- Hollywood had nothing on them!

I lent my copy to a family friend, so I'll probably never see it again. Oh, well. I have lots of other books to read.

I doubt that anybody will read this comment, but I've done my part. Wish the thread didn't open when it's time for church.

Posted by: Weak Geek at February 23, 2020 02:55 PM (u/nim)

442 I'm back!

What say you? How much not for kiddies--is 11 too young? For, say, a certain granddaughter who is turning 11 today, but likes spooky things and whose favorite movie is "It?"
Posted by: Dumb, but hot at February 23, 2020 09:50 AM (OX9vb)

Oh my, I don't know! There's no cussing -- the rules of Fairyland make it impossible for Gertie to swear, but there's a heck of a lot of "Fluff you!"'s and explosions and candy-colored disemboweling. I would have loved it, but then I was a horrible child.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at February 23, 2020 03:11 PM (Dc2NZ)

443 Earlier in the thread there was some discussion of Machiavelli's "The Prince". I have read that and I feel moved to cite my favorite piece of the advice Machiavelli offers to a would be tyrant who wants to have a long reign: If it is necessary kill your enemies but do not confiscate their estates. Because men will much sooner forgive the loss of a father than they will the loss of an inheritance. A sublime bit of cynicism and, of course, quite true.

Posted by: John F. MacMichael at February 23, 2020 04:41 PM (9AOND)

444 Well, this is weird. I posted something this morning before church, but it seems to have disappeared. I'll try to reconstruct what I said:

Here are a few books I have enjoyed recently:

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center--a book about a widow and her two children who to go to live with her Aunt who owns a goat farm. It's about adjusting to new circumstances and forming a community. Some humor ensues when one of the farm hands teaches the children how to stand up to bullies. Overall, a heartwarming and touching story.

The Silent Patient--about a woman who is accused of murdering her husband. She has fallen silent and mostly expressionless since the event. She is declared insane and becomes a ward of a mental institution. The therapists at the institution try to get her to talk again. There are some twists in the story. Overall, it held my interest, was pretty good, especially for a debut novel, and it was a fast read.

I've also started reading the Callahan Garrity mystery series by Mary Kay Andrews (first published under a pseudonym). Callahan is a former Atlanta police officer who now runs a home cleaning business. She is a PI on the side and keeps finding herself in the midst of murder investigations. Full of dry humor and snarkiness. So far, I have read the first three in the series.

Hope you all are doing well.

Posted by: Violet at February 23, 2020 06:02 PM (9ppMC)

445 This is way late, but I have to respond:

Trump's book list doesn't interest or impress me. I love the man, but whoops, there it is. Where are the classics of world literature? Where are Burke Adam Smith?

Posted by: mnw at February 23, 2020 09:38 AM (Cssks)

It wasn't intended to impress. It is just a means to understand how he thinks. You can learn a lot about a man from the books he reads and likes. You'd think that the MSM, specifically those super-smaht reporters on the White House beat, would pay more attention to things like this.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 06:12 PM (nJBeS)

446 Hope you all are doing well.
Posted by: Violet at February 23, 2020 06:02 PM (9ppMC)

Hi Violet. It's always good to read one of your comments. Don't know why your earlier comment disappeared, which is why it is always good to keep a backup copy.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Austere Religious Scholar at February 23, 2020 06:15 PM (nJBeS)

447 Thanks, OM. I'll live and learn! Thanks for the book thread.

Posted by: Violet at February 23, 2020 06:35 PM (9ppMC)

448 The mademoiselle looks nice, if a bit bovine in shape.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at February 24, 2020 09:52 AM (XVuno)

449 In all the cartoons a room has a Portrait with the eyes following you

Posted by: Tamaa the Drongo Bird at February 24, 2020 05:10 PM (wGqjj)

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