Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-27-2015: Polarization [OregonMuse]

Hope You All Had A Merry Christmas.

(Photo stolen from the Hanna Arendt Center)

Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. Welcome to AoSHQ's stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread. The Sunday Morning Book Thread is the only AoSHQ thread that is so hoity-toity, pants are required. And when I type up the book thread, my pinkies remain elevated the whole time, that's how classy it is.

“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.”
―Alberto Manguel

A week or three ago, one of you morons, I forget who it was because I can't find the comment, related how he was trying to help his son who was struggling with how to express what he felt. The moron suggested that perhaps if he had been a regular reader, he might not be so tongue-tied. Which only makes sense, and that's what I think the quote means. Books teach us how to to talk.

Of Course You Know This Means War

NRO writer and author Dinesh D'Souza may not be on Team LiB/SMoD, yet, but he may be one step closer to it.

First, the backstory: D'Souza was tried and convicted for violating campaign finance laws. He was trying to arrange donations to help one of his friend's long-shot senate campaign, but ended up going over the personally-allowed $10,000 maximum.

Normally, these sorts of minor violations are punished with a fine, but Dinesh D'Souza, author of Obama's America: Unmaking the American Dream, The Roots of Obama's Rage, and also the documentary film 2016: Obama's America, is not just some random guy. He's obviously a very loud and persistent critic of President Selfie, whose corrupt DOJ saw him as a target of opportunity and went after him like Javert on steroids. The partisan DOJ prosecutors added a bogus "false statements" charge, and then argued for the maximum 7-year prison sentence, despite the lack of any criminal record and D'Souza's exemplary citizenship.

The prosection was so egregious that even D'souza's lawyer, who is apparently a die-hard progressive, came to agree that his client was not some tinfoil-hat wearing conspiracy nut, but really was being singled out for punishment by the DOJ for political reasons.

In the end, D'Souza was sentenced to 8 months to a half-way house, doing community work during the day and hanging out with murderers, rapists, and other hardened criminals at night. This sentence is itself questionable, but D'Souza accepted the deal rather than fight on and risk getting slapped with the maximum.

Serving out his prison sentence, D'Souza's viewpoint changed:

The principal evolution in the author’s thinking involves seeing his political adversaries as, yes, enemies. And as criminals. As a conservative intellectual, D’Souza had assessed progressives as true believers in an utterly flawed ideology. He was a forceful advocate of the conservative counter-case: liberty, limited government, human fallibility, the wisdom undergirding our traditions. Yet implicit in his arguments was the sense of engagement in a real battle of ideas against a bona fide political opponent.

But now, he realizes that's not it at all:

Progressives, he now perceives, are engaged in a massive scheme to “steal America,” meaning all of its wealth and traditions. Their ideas and the foibles of their interest-group politics are often incoherent because they are not actually meant to cohere. They are, instead, a Machiavellian ploy, a pretense to morality that camouflages the remorseless acquisition of power

From out of this experience with the criminal justice system came his new book, Stealing America: What My Experience with Criminal Gangs Taught Me about Obama, Hillary, and the Democratic Party, in which he explains how

America flourished because it was an anti-theft society: freedom inextricably linked to the protection of private property, unleashing creativity, entrepreneurship, and unprecedented prosperity. The progressive critique of that society is not advanced in good faith; it is, as D’Souza portrays it, a “con.” Its purpose — not its unintended consequence but its aim — is to seize the wealth and power of achievers. The con is systematized by the Democratic party now under Obama’s leadership, with Hillary waiting in the wings.

So, to recap what D'Souza learned:

1. Progressives don't care about ideas but only the acquisition of power
2. Progressives never argue in good faith
3. Progressives (and the Democratic Party in particular) are just another criminal gang

Heh. Welcome to the party, pal. And is it just me, or is this starting to sound an awful lot like Vox Day?

And this, by the way, is exactly why Andrew Breitbart said "F*** you. War."

I'm curious to see how this polarization of D'Souza's viewpoint will affect his writing. Up until this point, he has been pretty much an establishment Republican tyoe guy, but if he has indeed concluded that progressives can't be reasoned with, how long will it be before he takes the next step and he notices the utter uselessness, fecklessness and out-and-out betrayal of the GOPe?

All I Want For Christmas

So, did you morons get anything good this Christmas in the way of books or reading devices? I'll go first: Muse son #2 took advantage of a Black Friday deal at Amazon and got me a 7-inch Kindle Fire for $35, which is almost a steal. I've just got it set up and haven't used it much, so I don't have enough experience with it to post a review, but I eventually will.

And the Fire is currently selling for $49.99, so that's still a pretty good price for an e-reader.

So that's what I got. what did you all get?

It's Baaaa-aaack...

The Germans are getting wee-wee'd up over an upcoming publication of Mein Kampf:

The 70-year copyright on the text, written by Hitler between 1924-1926 and banned by the Allies at the end of World War Two, expires at the end of the year, opening the way for a critical edition with explanatory sections and some 3,500 annotations.

In January the 2,000 page, two-volume work will go on sale after about three years of labor by scholars at Munich's Institute for Contemporary History.

What do the morons think of Mein Kampf? Well, let's take a look:

"It's incomprehensible word salad reminiscent of Mooch's dissertation." --The Great White Snark

"Pretty much unreadable. In its day, it was a coffee-table book - a book that one wanted to be seen to own, not a book to be read." --Alberta Oil Peon

And chique d'afrique has an interesting observation about Germany's priorities: "By the way, Germany's like, let's ban an inanimate object that rails against Jews and advocates their destruction while importing loads of live people who feel the same way. Brilliant."

So the lesson here is, if you want to kill it, just make sure everyone can see it, then they'll know how crappy it is.

Although that hasn't stopped Mein Kampf from being a huge-best seller in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Yemen, etc. Or so I've heard.

The Dictionary Look-up

You know what the most looked up word online in 2015 is, according to Merriam-Webster?

Socialism.

“Socialism has been near the top of our online dictionary look-up list for several years,” said M-W editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski. “However, this year look-ups for socialism moved up even further, beginning with the July campaign events for Bernie "You kids get off my lawn!" Sanders, remaining high throughout the following months and spiking again after the first Democratic debate in October.”

And what do you get when you look up the word socialism? In addition to the actual definition, the editors of the dictionary decided to help out with a mini-essay on usage of the word:

Pure socialism has been seen only rarely and generally briefly in some Communist regimes, according to M-W.

“Far more common are systems of social democracy, now often referred to as ‘democratic socialism,’ in which extensive state regulation, with limited state ownership, has been employed by democratically elected governments (as in Sweden and Denmark) in the belief that it produces a fair distribution of income without impairing economic growth,” it wrote in explaining its definition.

Yes, by all means, let's make sure that socialism's good name isn't sullied.

Print: Not Dead Yet

E-book sales have remained stagnant, but print sales are up for the second year in a row:

Sales of print books have increased slightly in the United States this year...As of December, sales of paper edition books rose to 571 million units, up from 2014 when 559 million copies were sold, according to Nielsen BookScan, which follows 85 percent of the print market.

Jonathan Burnham, publisher and senior vice president of HarperCollins Publishing, pinned the change on Lee’s novel. The book was released in July. While updated sales statistics have yet to be revealed it sold four times as many hard copies as e-books.

“Possible the historic nature of the publication made people want to own a physical copy,” he told the AP.

Maybe so, but I wonder if the real reason is that hardback editions of Lee's novel sell for as low as $9.76, but the Kindle price is $12.99?.

I suspect most of us simply don't want to spend $12.99 on an e-book. I'll wait till I can buy it for $1.99 on BookBub or EReaderIQ, thank you.

Also:

Adult coloring books and books written by celebrities who made their names on YouTube have also contributed to sales, publishers told the AP...PewDiePie, Tyler Oakley, and Shane Dawson have translated a large YouTube following into bestseller status

OK, adult coloring books I know, but who the hell are PewDiePie, Tyler Oakley, and Shane Dawson?

Question For the 'Ettes

Well, 'rons, too, but maybe the 'ettes are in a better position to know. The following "megapack" type Kindle deal was offered to me earlier this week: B is For Bad Boy: A Collection of Steamy Bad Boy, Alpha and Billionaire Romance Stories by "Bella Love-Wins". Here's the blurb from thr EReaderIQ book service:

'B' is for Bad Boy is a collection of steamy romance standalone and first-in-a-series stories. Get ready to meet the bad boys, alphas and billionaires who have a way of melting our hearts as they claim the women who capture their attention. Guaranteed to leave you breathless and begging for more!

OK, so the "bad boy" thing I get and the "alpha male" thing I get, but what I don't get is, why does it have to be a "billionaire"? Many of these modern "pr0n for women" romance novels feature mysterious and dangerous billionaires, so much so that it's pretty much an entire sub-genre. And if you want to get an idea of the its extent, try doing a search on Amazon for 'billionaire' or 'billionaire romance', and you'll see what I'm talking about. Obviously, this whole concept is resonating with an emotional chord that exists deep within women's hearts.

I think this phenomenon is relatively new. Are they all just imitating 50 Shades of Grey? (now only $5.99 on Kindle!), and its love interest, kinky billionaire bad boy Christian Grey? Was he the first? My point is, I believe that one of the things women desire is security, and what they want in a man is for him to make them feel assured that they will be taken care of. So in that regard, why aren't mere millions good enough?

Book Threads 2015

What follows is a list of links to every 2015 book thread. There's a metric boatload of book recommendations in these links, so this is your easy reference point. So you won't ever have to say you have nothing to read.

Also, I would like to take the opportunity again at this year's end to thank ace for letting me do the book thread. I never asked for his permission, by the way, which, if you think about it, is quite presumptuous on my part, considering that this isn't my blog and I'm just some guy. I'm glad that ace is the generous and tolerant sort. I remember the old days when he was lucky if he could get 20-30 comments on one of his threads. It's been ace's hard work over the years that has built up the audience of the AoSHQ blog and I'm deeply grateful that he lets me borrow it every week for the book thread.

Also, a big thank you to all of you 'rons and 'ettes. It's your comments and your recommendations, your collective Horde knowledge, that make the book thread as fun and informative as it is. And speaking of comments and recommendations:

Book Thread 01-04-2015
Book Thread 01-11-2015
Book Thread 01-18-2015
Book Thread 01-25-2015
Book Thread 02-01-2015
Book Thread 02-08-2015
Book Thread 02-15-2015
Book Thread 02-22-2015
Book Thread 04-05-2015
Book Thread 04-12-2015
Book Thread 04-19-2015
Book Thread 04-26-2015
Book Thread 05-17-2015
Book Thread 05-24-2015
Book Thread 05-31-2015
Book Thread 06-07-2015
Book Thread 06-14-2015
Book Thread 06-21-2015
Book Thread 06-28-2015
Book Thread 07-05-2015
Book Thread 07-12-2015
Book Thread 07-19-2015
Book Thread 07-26-2015
Book Thread 08-02-2015
Book Thread 08-09-2015
Book Thread 08-16-2015
Book Thread 08-23-2015
Book Thread 08-30-2015
Book Thread 09-06-2015
Book Thread 09-13-2015
Book Thread 09-20-2015
Book Thread 10-04-2015
Book Thread 10-11-2015
Book Thread 10-18-2015
Book Thread 10-25-2015
Book Thread 11-01-2015
Book Thread 11-08-2015
Book Thread 11-15-2015
Book Thread 11-22-2015
Book Thread 11-29-2015
Book Thread 12-06-2015
Book Thread 12-13-2015
Book Thread 12-20-2015
Book Thread 12-27-2015

___________

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

___________

I just realized I had said I was going to go over the Army's reading list this week, but apparently, I've blown it off. Dang.

Sorry. I will get to it next week.

___________

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

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:58 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Bork!

Posted by: The Swedish Chef at December 27, 2015 08:53 AM (LUgeY)

2 Yestenhuven udders.

Posted by: The Swedish Chef at December 27, 2015 08:53 AM (LUgeY)

3 See....now that's content!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 27, 2015 08:58 AM (ptqRm)

4 "Ootsiden puupydog, reedin goodbud.

Innsiden puupydog, durken reedin."

-Grouucho Marcksen

Posted by: The Swedish Chef at December 27, 2015 09:01 AM (LUgeY)

5 Hey, wait, I haven't even finished reading Vic's news yet...!

But I do have bookish stuff. Back in a bit. (You've been warned.)

Posted by: mindful webworker - later bet nev thanner at December 27, 2015 09:04 AM (Rt8Uf)

6 You know what the most looked up word online in 2015 is, according to Merriam-Webster?

Socialism.
-------------

As a definition, I simply refer to 'Venezuela'.

When I encounter the occasional Bernie supporter, I ask them if there are any distinctions between Berine's platform, and Hugo Chavez's. The answer must necessarily be "No". I then point out the general collapse of Venezuela and associated human misery.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (RrDm2)

7

So, to recap what D'Souza learned:

1. Progressives don't care about ideas but only the acquisition of power

2. Progressives never argue in good faith

3. Progressives (and the Democratic Party in particular) are just another criminal gang

"Progressives" just another word for power hunger blood thirsty commies. They only thing they progress is their own agenda and the demise of anyone who stands in their way

Posted by: TheQuietMan at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (45oDG)

8 Reading three books at once. Muldoon's book which is so well written, I don't see how he could ever do better. Don't even know if he should try.

Thanks again to the Ette who bought it for me. The Thank You Card will be in the mail soon.

Also a sci fi novel by William Dietz. Legion of the damned. Pretty standard fare so far.

Still reading End Game 1945. About the first three months after VE Day in Europe. THe Surrender may have been signed but that didn't mean the bullets stopped flying.

Retreating German, Craotian, Hungarian, and sundry outlaws were still working their way through soviet lines and getting through to the American side of the line.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and Unimproved. at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (WVsWD)

9 Sister in law gave me a $30 Barnes and Noble gift card, which I parlayed into THREE books. And they arrived yesterday, so I'm in heaven. Reading "Mornings on Horseback" now, I've always liked David McCullough's books and so far it's living up to my expectations...

Posted by: antisocialist at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (cDs+4)

10 Got the new Nook, Lowlight Plus from Mrs VIA for Christmas.

Seems good.

Much much smaller then I expected.
Almost prefer the size of the original Nook Simple Reader.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 27, 2015 09:06 AM (ptqRm)

11 Received '13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi' for Christmas. Just started the read.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2015 09:06 AM (RrDm2)

12 >Far more common are systems of social democracy, now often referred to as 'democratic socialism,' in which extensive state regulation, with limited state ownership, has been employed by democratically elected governments (as in Sweden and Denmark) in the belief that it produces a fair distribution of income without impairing economic growth,<

How does the benign M-W-splanation differ from how they would describe the US?

Posted by: Golfman - Xenophobe Extrodinaire at December 27, 2015 09:07 AM (bPXBn)

13 Re: the billionaire thing,

Foreign royalty used to be a big sub-genre and I suspect that (aling with the security thing) billionaires are the closest thing to royalty in a mostly egalitarian society. I think there is a lot of "The guy in charge wants *you*, and you can help him be happy and a better person" fantasy that is just expressed with different details. Then again, I've always admitted that having two X chromosomes in no way means I understand women.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 09:08 AM (GDulk)

14 161 Welp, husband got utv with trax stuck in 4 feet of bottomless powder snow 10 miles up a mountain road. Skied back down to the car. Now has to hike back up mountain this morning carrying 2x 4s to use to ladder his way out.

Refuses to request any assistance. "I got myself in I'll get myself out. "

Okaaayyyy.......something tells me I'm now involved.....
Taking suggestions.....
No time to read a book just now.....
Maybe I should just read a book. ....

Posted by: Derak at December 27, 2015 09:08 AM (/LnUG)

15 Why billionaires? Inflation. It used to be millionaires.

Posted by: kali the longtime lurker at December 27, 2015 09:09 AM (zC6PR)

16 The Kindle Fire works great and is easy to use to read books, surf the net, check email, etc,etc.
Even plays the movies, yotube stuff, etc. without hiccups.
I paid $99 for mine last year so snatch one up for $45 and when your laptop or such goes down the Fire is still there to use and the battery life is very long.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 27, 2015 09:09 AM (ej1L0)

17 A book I found at a salvage store yesterday. Almost bought it, still thinking about going back to get at 50% off.

How to Start Your Own Religion: Form a Church, Gain Followers, Become Tax-Exempt, and Sway the Minds of Millions in Five Easy Steps.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/ot4u7cr

Start the Church of the Holy Gun and Val-U-Rite or something.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:10 AM (trblM)

18 Just want to thank Mr. O'muse for the book thread. It's my favorite, and he obviously puts a lot of work into it. I may not post often on it, but I certainly read it.

Thanks again...

Posted by: HH at December 27, 2015 09:11 AM (DrCtv)

19 Posted by: kali the longtime lurker at December 27, 2015 09:09 AM (zC6PR)

That too. Pretty much short-hand for "Money to waste on huge and dramatic gestures without it making a dent in future income".

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 09:12 AM (GDulk)

20 10. I miss my Nook!! I let my youngest grandson play games on it one weekend and he pretty much burned it up. New ones are so expensive, I'm thinking about getting a Kindle fire instead and never turning the WiFi on except for purchases.

Posted by: antisocialist at December 27, 2015 09:13 AM (cDs+4)

21 Got a set of Star Wars glasses (from my sister) and a "Telsa watch" (from my wife), both via ThinkGeek. Note that I'm 62, and my sister is almost 70. Some things are timeless. :-)

Posted by: Fritzworth at December 27, 2015 09:13 AM (B92Ag)

22 Billionaires? Because people are scared. Times are uncertain and you need to make sure that hunky bad boy (who really has a warm heart after all. It was just trauma from mama or other dysfunctional family dynamics or spurned early love that turned him into a narcissistic 'soft" abuser. Love will conquer all) has enough money to keep you in the style which you deserve. But what do I know? I haven't read romances since I was 15 except if you count Georgette Heyer and she wasn't steamy and is actually amusing. When I was fifteen they were rather tame romances by Victoria Holt. Oh, no I take that back. When I worked at bookstore in my 20s I read one by someone who churns them out regularly just to see what it was like, Can't remember the author. Awful drivel, I had no interest in reading "Fifty Shades"

Why am I reading? "Grace Abounding To the Chief of Sinners (John Bunyan's spiritual autobiography), Soliloquy Prayer- Unfolding Our Hearts to God By Dennis Billy who is a Roman Catholic spiritual writer and "Suffering and Hope"-the Biblical Vision and the Human Predicament by J Christian Beker who is- or was- (I'm not sure if he's still alive but I don't think so) a Protestant seminary Professor.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:14 AM (qES5k)

23 Heard Dinesh on one of the radio shows I listen to. It does sound like a good read on how government can trample all over private citizens.

Posted by: Skip at December 27, 2015 09:15 AM (C1Suc)

24 Agree with last week's book thread review of Michael Connelly's "The Crossing" -- very good.

I highly recommend Douglas Brunt's "The Means." The story centers around the efforts of a political "fixer" to nudge a presidential election, as well as the candidate's efforts and media involvement. Zero "sucker punches." While the book blurbs might make you think the book would be lefty, the author's acknowledgements give special thanks to Dana Perino and Chris Stirewalt. An imaginative take on the sleazy side of politics and journalism.

I'm halfway through Jo Nesbo's "Headhunters." Excellent, as I have found all his other books.

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 09:16 AM (yfAPD)

25 Books for Christmas:

I got a mint condition, first edition copy of A Canticle for Liebowtz.

I need an Albertian Order of Liebowitz ball cap. The Original Gangster AoL apparel.

Posted by: robopox at December 27, 2015 09:17 AM (TaYl4)

26 Refuses to request any assistance. "I got myself in I'll get myself out. "

God wants to help you. God helps us through his children. I'm one of God's children.

Talk to me like I'm someone who loves you,

We're in this together big boy. Either we work as a team or I'm going to pretend I'm your little brother.

Posted by: sound bite at December 27, 2015 09:17 AM (PGh+Q)

27
I received "Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?" by Gary Thomas, in print form. Also an audiobook called "Lasting Love", by Alistair Begg. Alistair Begg is a pastor of a church near Cleveland who I listen to frequently and enjoy immensely.

I gave a book to all the people on my list including the little children, and now writing this I remember that I forgot to buy a book for my mother, who we are celebrating with later today. She likes books about dogs. Maybe I can find something around here to give her, something that doesn't look worn.

Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:17 AM (dFi94)

28 Romance novels and Socialism, how similar are they?

In one, the rich bad boy with the hidden heart of gold takes care of the woman, even as he abuses her she 'knows' he loves her by all the worldly things he showers her with.

In the other, the rich bad boy is replaced by the State.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:18 AM (trblM)

29 Been busy trying to figure out how to get a playlist to these new mp3 players I got for Christmas and missed opening the prodigious book thread.

Anyway I am down to the last book in the Modisette Recluse series. Instead of opening that last book, I had downloaded a Micheal Crichten book called micro that Amazon had for .99 yesterday. It wasn't on their daily deals. Found out about it via BookBub which is much better than the daily deals. Now to read the post.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:20 AM (t2KH5)

30 O/T

Chicago cops admit they killed the 55 year old mother of FIVE by mistake while battling a crazy thug with a bat at 4:24AM.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:20 AM (jJRIy)

31 I finished Ross Thomas' *The Money Harvest* last week. And I just found a nice copy of the trade paperback reissue of *Twilight at Mac's Place* in a used bookstore yesterday.

I'm planning to restart Michael Connelly's *The Black Echo* this week and alternate reading that with *The Tunnels of Chu-Chi*. A big no prize for anyone who can guess why I plan to alternate between these two books...

Posted by: Dwight Brown at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (Qy4aD)

32 Yes; And I agree with the previous poster. Billionaires are the closest we have to royalty. Except for the jerk who did Facebook (is he a billionaire now? most of them (except for Middle Eastern princelings) arent young and George Soros and What's his name? (American hedge fund guy) are hardly figures of virile sexiness.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (qES5k)

33 Morning all

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (DUoqb)

34 >>>why does it have to be a "billionaire"?

A million ain't what it used to be?

I don't know, maybe it means private plan rides to distant cities for dinner are a possibility. I seem to recall that happening multiple times when 'billionaires' are involved.

Posted by: Lea at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (FbLkA)

35 This week, on the Kindle, I read Breakers by Edward W Robertson. A mysterious plague kills off most of the earth's human inhabitants.....and then things get worse. An alien mothership parks itself over Santa Monica Bay, to the west of Los Angeles, and begins raining havoc on any survivors. Not the greatest writing, but an engaging story. One thing that caught my interest is that most of the Southern California scenes were centered in the Redondo Beach/Torrance/Palos Verdes area of LA; an area in which I lived for over fifty years.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (ofOtD)

36 I'm thinking about getting a Kindle fire instead and never turning the WiFi on except for purchases.

I thought about getting a Fire, but the screen is shiny. It strains my eyes to read on it. I got the Paperwhite instead. I also prefer a dedicate reading device. No one pesters me to borrow it.

Posted by: no good deed at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (GgxVX)

37 I like Alistair Begg very much.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (qES5k)

38 Well, NGU is here, we have a quorum.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:22 AM (jJRIy)

39 I've had my kindle fire since spring, I love it and while not a good replacement for my computer it does do my basic needs but do love it as a hard book replacement. Have yet to get a purchased book but am going to get a Amazon card this week to get something.

Posted by: Skip at December 27, 2015 09:22 AM (C1Suc)

40 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Book Threadists. And, always, thanks to OM for the best part of AoSHQ.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 09:22 AM (FvdPb)

41 how long will it be before he takes the next step and he notices the
utter uselessness, fecklessness and out-and-out betrayal of the GOPe?

He should not have had to get convicted of a felony for that. He should have seen that right away.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:24 AM (t2KH5)

42 Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:18 AM (treble)

Very insightful.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:25 AM (qES5k)

43 I like Alistair Begg very much.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (qES5k)
================================================

There's something about his Scottish lilt and phrasing, his use of poetry and musical lyrics as illustrations, that really make the presentation of familiar passages be seen in a fresh way. I always come away feeling like I've been challenged to think, really think, about the Scriptures.

Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:25 AM (dFi94)

44 ...How to Start Your Own Religion...

google rattlesnake placed in mailbox

Can spiral out of control.

Posted by: not for the faint hearted at December 27, 2015 09:25 AM (PGh+Q)

45 And chique d'afrique has an interesting observation about Germany's
priorities: "By the way, Germany's like, let's ban an inanimate object
that rails against Jews and advocates their destruction while importing
loads of live people who feel the same way. Brilliant."

She is really a sharp person.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:26 AM (t2KH5)

46 Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:25 AM (dFi94)

Yes; I'm always glad when I'm in the car when "Truth For Life" comes on.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:28 AM (qES5k)

47 We have any WY or MT morons?

I am thinking of moving up there in the spring. Less people in the entire state than in CLT. Only 560K. Of that you have 4K Obama voters.

Interesting. http://tinyurl.com/hyc8vlb

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:28 AM (jJRIy)

48 Son had Welcome to Hell (the Marine boot camp memoir) on his Kindle Fire and it suddenly disappeared Christmas day. We weren't home to check his account from a desktop, but we need to look into that since it was a paid book.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 09:28 AM (GDulk)

49 Yes, by all means, let's make sure that socialism's good name isn't sullied.

I prefer the definition provided by Marx who invented the term, as well as capitalism and communism. He said socialism was an intermittent step between capitalism and communism.

And looking at history since that time he was exactly right.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (t2KH5)

50 Reading Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh's first novel. What a hoot. Cynical and funny.

I am thinking of the contrast of the average reader in the past, from Dickens to the 1950's, to todays popular entertainment for the masses.

Public education has a lot to answer for from 1980 onward. Well done, socialists.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (u82oZ)

51 She is really a sharp person.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:26 AM (t2KH5)

Where has she been? I miss her comments.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (jJRIy)

52
I believe the judge in DSouza's case also ordered him to see a psych. I think he was able to fight that.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 09:30 AM (iQIUe)

53 Zoltan, you might want to check out David Gerrold's Chtorr series that starts with A Matter for Men. Earth has been devastated by mysterious plagues that has severely winnowed the Human population. And now there are alien giant carnivorous worms and other alien beasties are on the loose transforming Earth to an alien eco-sphere.

Bad news. After Book 4: A Season for Slaughter came out in 1993, Gerrold has been promising to finish Book 5. So far no sign of the book.

Or you could try and watch the new movie coming out called The Fifth Wave which has alien diseases killing humanity come After the aliens show up.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:30 AM (trblM)

54 Where has she been? I miss her comments.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (jJRIy)

I think she got inadvertently banned. She has to post from her phone now, or something.

Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:31 AM (dFi94)

55 You discussed billionaires as romance novel lust objects, but completely ignored dinosaurs, to say nothing of billionaire dinosaurs.

Please try to be more thorough.

Posted by: Pep at December 27, 2015 09:31 AM (LAe3v)

56 g'mornin' again, 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 27, 2015 09:31 AM (ZQfW9)

57 Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (jJRIy)

She was accidentally banned. Has been commenting a little the last week or so.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 09:32 AM (GDulk)

58 Also, a big thank you to all of you 'rons and 'ettes. It's your comments
and your recommendations, your collective Horde knowledge, that make
the book thread as fun and informative as it is. And speaking of
comments and recommendations:

And I say a bug thank you to you for doing this thread every Sunday. I miss it sometime thanks to that front porch rocker but I always come back and review it later.

This is my favorite thread.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:32 AM (t2KH5)

59 I don't think the billionaire phenomenon is new, it's just a victim of reality and inflation. Women's romance novels are ALWAYS full of rich guys, as far back as I can remember.

They're just a continuation of the Prince Charming thing, which goes back millenniums. Princes are rather thin on the ground now, and a million doesn't go as far as it used to , so now we have billionaires.

Merry Third Day of Christmas, everyone!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 09:32 AM (vUcz/)

60 @54

WTF? How does Pixy screw shit up like that? Tell her to turn off her modem for a week and get a new IP.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:32 AM (jJRIy)

61
"The Hannah Arendt Center at Bard is a unique institution, offering a marriage of non-partisan politics and the humanities."

========
Bard allows a Christmas tree?
Bard allows non partisan politcs?

It's a Christmas miracle!

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 09:32 AM (iQIUe)

62 Well, off to get ready for Christmas, Day 4. Have a wonderful Sunday reading all your new books.

Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:33 AM (dFi94)

63 Another week of mixed reading. Finally got to The Return of the King.

I got an unusual book for me, "The Great American Pin-Up", sort of a history of glamour pin-up paintings for the last century. Although there is some nudity, most of it is, at best suggestive. The interesting part is that except for a few pulp magazine covers, it demonstrates a celebration of women. The paintings usually show the girls smiling, having fun, and, in the words of the song, enjoy being a girl. Just a lot of fun to glance through. It is a pleasant break from all the feminazi/SJW types that ooze through the culture, intent on destroying everything that might be enjoyable. It makes me feel so 1950s again.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 09:33 AM (FvdPb)

64 Yesterday, my wife took me to a legit used book store, the likes of which I haven't visited in years, since I left U of I. I'm so used to borrowing books online via my library that I've forgotten what it's like to be presented with hard copies of *affordable* books. Why, yes, I could part with $4.99 to buy a beautiful new Mark Helprin novel.

I love downloading books that disappear from my Kindle rather than forcing me to pay fines, which is my usual style with library books. But dang, a secondhand bookstore is a gem to be treasured.

Posted by: Smallish Bees at December 27, 2015 09:34 AM (YPgXi)

65 Speaking of banning. What is the name of the guy Pixy banned a few years ago and now you can not use the name in a comment?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:35 AM (jJRIy)

66 Pam Geller in a bikini.I must admit,I have no idea what the article is about.

http://tinyurl.com/hqng748

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 09:35 AM (8HTq1)

67 Reading Decline and Fall Evelyn Waugh's first novel. What a hoot. Cynical and funny.

I enjoyed that book.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:35 AM (qES5k)

68 65 Rhymes with Shmazer.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 09:35 AM (8HTq1)

69 Re: Fire vs. eInk Kindle

I've got both. The Fire is great for cookbooks (color graphics) and books that have tables & graphics that don't render well on the eInk Kindle. Very valuable.

For reading novels and most other uses, I prefer the eInk Kindle. Much lighter and better battery life. Less glare and readable in sunlight.

The $50 7" 8 GB Fire is surprisingly zippy. Exceeded my expectations.

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 09:36 AM (yfAPD)

70
I bought 2 powerball tickets and 2 state lottery tickets last night for the bargain price of 6 bucks. Someone won the state lotto (boo hoo!) but I won 14 bucks for a profit of 8 bucks.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 09:36 AM (iQIUe)

71 D'Souza could have saved himself a lot of time if he had just learned Milbarge's Equivalence Theorem:

Liberalism equals progressivism equals socialism equals communism, the only variation being in how long it takes for the camps to be opened.

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 27, 2015 09:36 AM (nFdGS)

72 Socialism will die in the USA when the skim evaporates. Might happen in 2016 since world trade is collapsing. Hard to collect the vig if nothing's moving. EBT cards are worthless if there is nothing to buy. Rioting is a waste of time if there is nothing to loot.

Posted by: socialism cure at December 27, 2015 09:36 AM (PGh+Q)

73 53 I have those books.The gay sex was kind of gratuitous don't you think?

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 09:37 AM (8HTq1)

74 @66

Holy Shittie. I hit that if I had a dick that wasn't dead

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:37 AM (jJRIy)

75 Lurker on the book thread saying Hi!

Posted by: Janir at December 27, 2015 09:38 AM (vzyrh)

76 Can't get too worked up over Dinesh - heck, I even know there's dollar limits that need work arounds. How does one miss that...

and the Kindle Fire is, well, incredible. Left my new one on overnight and it still had some battery life, and the screen is so much easier to "read" than even Mrs mouse's iStuff...

Posted by: anon a mouse - now with more puppy! at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (C9pBZ)

77 Received two books for Christmas: A tour and history book of Normandy, in anticipation of my upcoming D-Day battlefield visit with my little brother next summer; and the 40 year sequel to Six Days of the Condor. Who waits 40 YEARS to write a sequel!? My daughter was with me when i noticed and ranted about it in the bookstore. On the gift tag she wrote, "I hear its actually a trilogy...." Yes, she has her old man's sense of humor.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (Nd4YY)

78 Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (RrDm2)

You just don't understand...it will be DIFFERENT with Bernie. He's really smart, and will surround himself with really smart people who will respect the law. Socialism CAN work, it just has to be implemented by the correct people.

Posted by: Earnest but deluded..... at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (Zu3d9)

79 70

I bought 2 powerball tickets and 2 state lottery tickets last night
for the bargain price of 6 bucks. Someone won the state lotto (boo hoo!)
but I won 14 bucks for a profit of 8 bucks.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 09:36 AM (iQIUe)

The lottery, a tax you choice to pay for people that do not understand math.

I never buy a tkt till it's over 200 mill.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (jJRIy)

80 Public education has a lot to answer for from 1980 onward. Well done, socialists.

*cough* Little Billy Ayers *cough*

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (LUgeY)

81 The reflexive protection of the reputation of socialism truly is a matter of faith in that which can't be seen.

In the last week or so I've finished reading Spider Bones by Kathy Reichs, which I enjoyed. I also read Dawn by Elie Wiesel, which I found to be powerful.
Right now I'm working through The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli, which I don't like. I don't like it because I suspect Dobelli is an arrogant dipstick. Perhaps I'll give up but I'm stubborn that way.

Posted by: Northernlurker at December 27, 2015 09:40 AM (4rzL1)

82 Been listening to a lot of public domain mysteries. One was set in the early 20th century and the main character is offered a chance to get out of a New York City heatwave by joining a friend at a rented farmhouse *on the outskirts of the Bronx* . Have to admit that I can't invision a non-cityscape Bronx at all.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 09:40 AM (GDulk)

83 You just don't understand...it will be DIFFERENT
with Bernie. He's really smart, and will surround himself with really
smart people who will respect the law. Socialism CAN work, it just has
to be implemented by the correct people.

Posted by: Earnest but deluded..... at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (Zu3d9)

Translation. He's bringing all his fellow socialist tribe members over from Israel.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (jJRIy)

84 I have a day off and can go with family to worship and hear lovely choral music at a local Episcopal Church (They do do choral music really well!) and out aferwardsf or dim sum-which I haven't eaten for decades. Yay me!!

Thanks for all your work on the book thread, OM. Always a highlight of the week here at AoSHQ-not only for your writing but to read the comments from other readers!.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (qES5k)

85 Hello, Janir, and welcome!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (vUcz/)

86 but what I don't get is, why does it have to be a "billionaire"

It doesn't. But money is a proxy marker for status. Social power. So is fame. It's good to be a billionaire but better to be a famous billionaire. See: Trump's harem.

Posted by: simplemind at December 27, 2015 09:43 AM (BTnAK)

87 51 Where has she been? I miss her comments.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:29 AM (jJRIy)

She has posted a few times, but not as much as she used to. And BTW, as soon as I retired I tried to get wifey to agree to move to WY. I was looking and Worland and had been monitoring the news and weather from there for about a year. Wife absolutely refused to even think about it. She said TOO COLD! NO WAY JOSE.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:43 AM (t2KH5)

88 84
I have a day off and can go with family to worship and hear lovely
choral music at a local Episcopal Church (They do do choral music really
well!) and out aferwardsf or dim sum-which I haven't eaten for decades.
Yay me!!

Thanks for all your work on the book thread, OM. Always a highlight
of the week here at AoSHQ-not only for your writing but to read the
comments from other readers!.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (qES5k)

Yes, AND we only sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. X's mother in law is in choir.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:44 AM (jJRIy)

89 gay sex? where was that?

All I remember of that sub-plot was where Jim shows up in a skirt and some make-up to piss his mother off. And considering how Jim later on went straight hetero along with hooking up with a truly kick-a$$ woman, it became oh well Jim outgrew his petty childishness.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:44 AM (trblM)

90 58 Bug = big

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:44 AM (t2KH5)

91 Posted by: anon a mouse - now with more puppy! at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (C9pBZ)

I agree that it was a very preventable mistake, but most get a fine and a slap on the wrist, not prison time. His political viewpoint shouldn't dictate his punishment.

I love my Fire, although to be honest, my original Kindle, maybe 5th generation, was perfectly fine; I like dhow light it was.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 09:45 AM (vUcz/)

92 Posted by: goatexchange at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM (Nd4YY)

That sounds fantastic. I think every American should go...if they can.

Don't forget the museum in Arromanches....it's a tiny little thing, but surprisingly interesting.

And the big museum in Caen is worth a visit too. It's part of a "Peace" initiative, but the museum itself is a good place.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:45 AM (Zu3d9)

93 Enjoy it all FenelonSpoke. Ooohh Chinese food. Don't forget the lamp marked Fagile and the Red Ryder BB gun.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:46 AM (trblM)

94 The billionaire romance meme isn't new. It probably started with Scherazade and 1,000 Nights and a Night. Of course, it's gone down hill from there. It is tough to beat exquisite.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 09:46 AM (FvdPb)

95 She has posted a few times, but not as much as she
used to. And BTW, as soon as I retired I tried to get wifey to agree to
move to WY. I was looking and Worland and had been monitoring the news
and weather from there for about a year. Wife absolutely refused to even
think about it. She said TOO COLD! NO WAY JOSE.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:43 AM (t2KH5)

Well, I sort of like cold and my x wife doesn't win win, she won't come.

I figure I'll go up there, hang out, get involved in politics, marry a old widow that owns 20,000 acres and hunt and fish.

It's a plan, although 20K up there in not much.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:47 AM (jJRIy)

96 He's bringing all his fellow socialist tribe members over from Israel.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (jJRIy)

First of all Sanders has very little contact with Israel and has NO attachment to the Jewish State and that's borderline anti-semitic.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:47 AM (DUoqb)

97 53 Zoltan, you might want to check out David Gerrold's Chtorr series that starts with A Matter for Men. Earth has been devastated by mysterious plagues that has severely winnowed the Human population. And now there are alien giant carnivorous worms and other alien beasties are on the loose transforming Earth to an alien eco-sphere.

Bad news. After Book 4: A Season for Slaughter came out in 1993, Gerrold has been promising to finish Book 5. So far no sign of the book.

Or you could try and watch the new movie coming out called The Fifth Wave which has alien diseases killing humanity come After the aliens show up.
Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:30 AM (trblM)

Gerrold is an asshole, and no one should ever buy his works until the end of time. Fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

He was the MC for the Hugos this year. The one with the wooden assholes/"asterisks". He also encouraged booing puppy supported works and authors at the ceremony while telling puppy supporters to be quiet.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at December 27, 2015 09:48 AM (E1IKf)

98 Public education has a lot to answer for from 1980 onward. Well done, socialists.

*cough* Little Billy Ayers *cough*
Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 09:39 AM

D'Souza is 'sposed to debate Billy "The Bomber (if someone else does it)" Ayers at U-o-Michigan in February. I'll see if I can find the details

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 27, 2015 09:48 AM (ZQfW9)

99 89
gay sex? where was that?

probably in the rector's room at our Episcopal church.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:48 AM (jJRIy)

100 Thank you, Anna Puma, for the recommendations. I'll check them out.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 27, 2015 09:49 AM (ofOtD)

101 First of all Sanders has very little contact with
Israel and has NO attachment to the Jewish State and that's borderline
anti-semitic.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:47 AM (DUoqb)

Didn't mean it to be. Israel has a huge socialist party, which you well know.

Bernie is so stupid he would need their help.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:50 AM (jJRIy)

102 Israel has a huge socialist party, which you well know.

Bernie is so stupid he would need their help.
Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:50 AM (jJRIy)

Israel no longer, and not for some time now, has had a large Socialistic bent or party. You really should learn some Israel history before you pontificate on it. If they did have a large socialist Party Netanyahu would not be the Prime Minister.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:51 AM (DUoqb)

103 The billionaire romance allows women to fantasize about having all their needs satisfied in one man. Instead of the real-life alpha bad-boy who is unemployed and leaves the woman picking up the checks, this one has unlimited money and can be the beta provider, too!

Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 27, 2015 09:52 AM (nFdGS)

104 The kindle fire HDX has pretty good specs, better than the iPad when it was released. But it seems like amazon is phasing them out to be replaced by the cheaper non-HDX models.

Or they're just trying to squeeze apple out of the tablet market permanently by flooding the low end along with other android based tablets while MS surface takes the high end.

Posted by: bananaDream at December 27, 2015 09:52 AM (Ag8Mw)

105 95 I figure I'll go up there, hang out, get involved in politics, marry a old widow that owns 20,000 acres and hunt and fish.

It's a plan, although 20K up there in not much.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:47 AM (jJRIy)

Make sure where ever you look at moving to has easy access to water. That is why I was looking at Worland. Water is a huge issue out there. I have a nephew who bought a house in Colorado on the side of a mountain. The house was fairly cheap but he had to buy a tanker truck to haul water up the mountain to a storage tank every few weeks. And has to really conserve the use of water.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 09:52 AM (t2KH5)

106 but most get a fine and a slap on the wrist, not prison time. His political viewpoint shouldn't dictate his punishment."

Agreed, but to not think that the Chicago way would have a say in the case is just beyond naive.

oh, and NS at 99 - not touching that one.

Heh.

Posted by: anon a mouse - now with more puppy! at December 27, 2015 09:52 AM (C9pBZ)

107 "Up until this point, he has been pretty much an establishment Republican type guy..."

@OregonMuse:

I must dissent. D'Souza was a rabble-rousing, freedom-loving rock-throwing type in college. He fought the good fight in the early 1980s...before the left had such a firm hold on academia. He saw what was coming, and pushed back...hard.

He was one of the first contributors to the Dartmouth Review, which speaks highly of his disenchantment with mainstream anything.

I have read him for years, and I see much less of the establishment in him than you do.....

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:53 AM (Zu3d9)

108 I figure I'll go up there, hang out, get involved in politics, marry a old widow that owns 20,000 acres and hunt and fish."

Hmm. Sounds like Vasili.

Posted by: anon a mouse - now with more puppy! at December 27, 2015 09:54 AM (C9pBZ)

109 @102

I will defer to your knowledge. I thought the second largest party was and still is a socialist party. Looks like it to Wiki.

http://tinyurl.com/ocg6kxn

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:56 AM (jJRIy)

110 Excellent thread as per usual, OregonMuse. Thank you.

Read "Mein Kampf" and "Das Kapital" but they are so thuddingly awful I can't remember a damn thing. And that's probably for the better.

There used to be a series of illustrated guides called "For Beginners" (Capitalism For Beginners, Trotsky For Beginners, Communism For Beginners, etc.) that, despite their lefty bent, were quite funny and informative. At least that's how my 18-year-old self remembers them. I also liked the (fair trade, shade-grown) coffee table book "Trotsky: A Documentary".

Kinda doubt there's a "Mein Kampf for Beginners".

I've never thought they should approach it like the frightened hominids touching the Obelisk in 2001. It's not a dread compendium of spells that should not be opened, it's the game plan for antisemites. They need to demystify it.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 09:56 AM (jR7Wy)

111 Jeff, your mileage may vary. But then again that is the only book of Gerrold's I would like to see. Finish the darn series you gosh darn slacker.

The Star Trek Phase II adaptation of his rejected Next Generation story "Fire and Ice" left me completely underwhelmed. A homosexual character aboard Enterprise was not even vital to the plot... one has to look at to Balance of Terror to realize that swapping genders had zero true impact on Gerrold's story. So his riding off in a huff over Roddenberry's rejection of his story takes on a different meaning once "Fire and Ice" has been seen.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (trblM)

112 Um, Pat Buchanan sounded the alarm way back in '92 that we were at war with radical leftism/progressiveism, so I'm not quite sure what took D'Souza so long to figure this shit out.

You can go all the way back to Wilson/Roosevelt to see the roots and beginnings of this war.

We are at war, our enemy cannot be reasoned with, they have to be destroyed.

To give you an idea of how unrelenting the lefts desire to win is, we had a completely fair and workable regime with society offering domestic partnerships for same sex couples en lieu of society giving the imprimatur of marriage for these couplings, but that was not acceptable to this infinitesimal minority they sought out and advanced their agenda over the express desire of the vast over whelming majority of Americans.

So welcome to the party pal.

Posted by: Kreplach at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (WVvzl)

113 And regarding the bazillionaire thing, it just lets the heroine be whisked away to exotic locales at any time of the day or night. Real people have to work.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (jR7Wy)

114 Translation. He's bringing all his fellow socialist tribe members over from Israel.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:41 AM (jJRIy)

What the fuck does that mean?

1. You are ignorant of Sanders and his supporters.
2. Socialism in Israel is thoroughly discredited, and is rapidly shrinking.
3. The subtext is pretty clear.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (Zu3d9)

115 Morning horde.

Getting ready to go watch my boys beat the hell out of the Ravens.

B'more fans are assholes so I'm wearing my Black and Gold.

Bail funds are welcome

Posted by: RWC - Team BOHICA at December 27, 2015 09:58 AM (hlMPp)

116 I will defer to your knowledge. I thought the second largest party was and still is a socialist party. Looks like it to Wiki.

http://tinyurl.com/ocg6kxn
Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:56 AM (jJRIy)

If your talking about the Labour party, which only has 19 seats to begin with, is NOT a socialist party . The closest thing Israel has to a left wing secular close to socialist party is "Meretz" which only has 5 seats in the Knesset.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:58 AM (DUoqb)

117 That D'Souza shit happens all the time. And the plea bargain thingy too. Once the authorities have officially charged you, you have already lost. Imagine rooms full of gov attorneys sitting around waiting for something to do. All paid by you, to harass those who dare be different. Is that poor Benghazi filmmaker still in the can?

Posted by: Asscheeks of Saturn at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (msVAP)

118 66 Pam Geller in a bikini.I must admit,I have no idea what the article is about.

http://tinyurl.com/hqng748
Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 09:35 AM (8HTq1)

Holy crap, is that a real lawsuit that was actually filed? It reads like some kind of parody or joke.

If we lived in a sane world:

-in addition to the suit being instantly dismissed, the plaintiffs would have been assessed court costs, plus Geller's costs.

-the lawyer who submitted the suit would have been reprimanded, or disciplined, or disbarred.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (EmQQu)

119 89 I haven't read it in a long time but I remember a gay sex scene.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (8HTq1)

120 @114

See @109 oh, and EAT ME.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (jJRIy)

121 Women's romance novels are ALWAYS full of rich guys, as far back as I can remember.

So are thrillers, but for some reason no one ever makes fun of men for reading them.

Posted by: HR trinken trinken trinken at December 27, 2015 10:00 AM (vn2q2)

122 If your talking about the Labour party, which only
has 19 seats to begin with, is NOT a socialist party . The closest thing
Israel has to a left wing secular close to socialist party is "Meretz"
which only has 5 seats in the Knesset.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 09:58 AM (DUoqb)

Perhaps you should edit the wiki entry. "Social Democrats" are always socialist to me.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:01 AM (jJRIy)

123 See @109 oh, and EAT ME.
Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (jJRIy)

your WRONG, 100% WRONG, about your definitions of Israeli Political parties and have no idea about Israeli politics. I'd really back off if I were you.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:02 AM (DUoqb)

124 Israel, Jews and Socialism.
Dennis Prager did a small little book on the Ten Commandments. The copy I bought was overpriced (too little content). But the book did give me an epiphany. (Of course ones person's epiphany may sound like blather to another person.) The Ten Commandments as translated by Prager are rules to make socialism work. A motivated writer could take his slim material and turn it into a 1,000 page book on why each rule is necessary. A novelist could build an entire career building a world where socialism worked based on the Ten.

Posted by: just thinking at December 27, 2015 10:02 AM (PGh+Q)

125 I am reading both Flashman in the Great Game (G M Fraser) and The Weapon Shops of Isher (A E Van Vogt)

Van Vogt must have been the inspiration for Asimov's foundation.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 10:02 AM (q2o38)

126 @123

10-4 You know what they say, a little knowledge is dangerous.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:03 AM (jJRIy)

127 As I have been known to remark- I know all about right and wrong, but this legal v. illegal thing confuses me terribly.

Posted by: Asscheeks of Saturn at December 27, 2015 10:03 AM (msVAP)

128 Steevy, perhaps I blocked it out. Not read the books in ages. That waiting for the fifth book to read them all in one swoop. But ti looks more like Gerrold will never finish it.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:03 AM (trblM)

129 I don't know, maybe it means private plan rides to distant cities for dinner are a possibility. I seem to recall that happening multiple times when 'billionaires' are involved.
Trillionaires, baby! And Hawaii is for lunch not dinner!

Posted by: president o'bumbles at December 27, 2015 10:03 AM (DLIIY)

130 Lots of short reads this week once I got to the end of The Two Towers. Several magazines came out a week early and so I've indulged in Backwoodsman, American Frontiersman, Black Powder Cartridge, and Muzzleloader. Dipped into a couple of the shorter Dickens Christmas stories. And went to some of the Gospels, especially Luke, and the associated commentaries. Reading the Bible is so new to me it seems odd to just pick it up and enjoy various parts chosen at random.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 10:04 AM (FvdPb)

131 Perhaps you should edit the wiki entry. "Social Democrats" are always socialist to me.
Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:01 AM (jJRIy)

If the word Social is the basis of your whole argument, good luck with that one. I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and only blame your statements on ignorance of Israel. But stop digging

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:04 AM (DUoqb)

132 The biggest success of Democratic Socialism is a burgeoning welfare culture that will allow more and more people to live comfortably without any effort whatsoever.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 27, 2015 10:04 AM (oVJmc)

133 Anyone who still thinks the American justice system is still just hasn't been touched by it.

Posted by: Asscheeks of Saturn at December 27, 2015 10:06 AM (msVAP)

134 Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (EmQQu)

I don't think they need lawyers to submit to the courts.

Anyone with knowledge of the system out there?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:06 AM (Zu3d9)

135 My Christmas gift book was a present to myself (with a big coupon from B and N), "Your Beauty Mark" by Dita von Tease. I've always admired her style, a throwback to Old Hollywood glamour.

Her marriage to Mr. Manson may have failed, but her purple dupioni silk gown was epic.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:07 AM (jR7Wy)

136 128 Back when I bought them I thought the series was complete but the bookstore didn't have the final book.Oh well.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:07 AM (8HTq1)

137 What the fuck does that mean?
[...]
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (Zu3d9)

Full moon. Disappointing holiday. Urge to share, or at least spread it widely.

Been there myself.

I'd rather talk books nowadays, myself.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 10:08 AM (q2o38)

138 B'Gal gave me Jeff Dunham's book All By My Selves (Walter, Peanut, Achmed and Me) for Christmas.

The introduction is a hoot already.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:08 AM (LUgeY)

139 @137

Well put. It's the damn moon's fault, and BOOSH

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:09 AM (jJRIy)

140 Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 09:59 AM (jJRIy)

If Wiki is your source, then perhaps you should reevaluate your attempts at discourse here.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:09 AM (Zu3d9)

141 That D'Souza shit happens all the time.

Word.

Posted by: Conservatives in Wisconsin at December 27, 2015 10:09 AM (ppaKI)

142 Okay now, let's not lower ourselves to cannibalism on the book thread, boys.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:09 AM (jR7Wy)

143 Do we have a flame war going om the book thread???? Shame and on a Sunday too.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 10:10 AM (t2KH5)

144 Not a problem Steevy. After 22 years it should be obvious that Gerrold has no idea on how to end the series. Because by the end of the fourth book, Jim and Lizard are still only battling the invading alien ecosystem, the hypothesized alien invaders had not appeared.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:11 AM (trblM)

145 Shame and on a Sunday too.
Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 27, 2015 10:10 AM (t2KH5)

Well it's not our Sabbath? Just saying

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:11 AM (DUoqb)

146 Reading "Mornings on Horseback" now, I've always liked David McCullough's books and so far it's living up to my expectations...
Posted by: antisocialist at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (cDs+4)
---
I loved "Mornings on Horseback". The story of Teddy's father and mother was as interesting as that of the man himself.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:11 AM (jR7Wy)

147 Does the Daily Racing Form count as a book?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:12 AM (DUoqb)

148 Life is too lousy to be reading short books.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:12 AM (kpqmD)

149 Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 10:08 AM (q2o3

Heh.....

"City of Thieves," by David Benioff, of "Game of Thrones" fame.

He has written a few things, but nothing comes close to this one. A great book.

I think he is an example of the premise that everyone has a great novel in them.....but just one.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:12 AM (Zu3d9)

150 God has taken care of Israel since before it was called Israel. Where you are at is what God wants you to focus your time and effort on. D'Souza had to go to jail so that he could enlighten us (and himself). Pray that God corrects any injustice you see. If it apparently is not corrected then there may be more to it than you know. Every time I pick sides in a fight I'm wrong and end up feeling the fool. When it's my fight God helps me.

Posted by: lighten up at December 27, 2015 10:12 AM (PGh+Q)

151 here's what I found in re D'Souza / Billy the Bomber enabler debate:

http://www.yaf.org/eventdetails.aspx?id=14830

I didn't see a time or a venue listed...I'll keep you posted

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 27, 2015 10:13 AM (ZQfW9)

152 Back from reading the morning thread, feeding the pests, and other chores.

Some folks are apparently still trying to get me to read dead tree editions again, despite my web-induced attention disorder. I got lots of print for Christmas.

1

My late cousin's daughter, who is my daughter's age, gave me a copy of Time magazine's Abe Lincoln, His Life and Times: An Illustrated History. I'm sure it's the kind of pro-Abe stuff I grew up on. I've had a hard time moderating my admiration for the old rail-splitter nation-saver, but I've come to recognize a lot of our overbearing federal problems stemmed from his Presidency; not totally convinced it was his fault as much as the times, but then today we have examples like, say, Gowdy, as look like one thing do another Con-servatives.

2

She also got me what looks like it might be a fun read: Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a Cheese - Wisdom from Our Elders, by Kathryn and Rosa Petras

3

Daughter bestowed upon me an interesting-looking volume: A Guide to the Study and Use of Military History from the Center of Military History, United States Army. This may take a while to absorb, but how cool!

She also gave me some old, raggedy Classics Illustrated (Junior), Disney, and Gold Key comics. Don't have to worry that they're not in mint condition, anyway! Barely "readable condition." But, Dumbo!

Milady loves books, and thrift stores, and I got the benefit of the combination this Christmas. To wit:

4

Holy Humor: Inspirational Wit & Cartoons by Cal lll & Rose Samra from the best of The Joyful Noiseletter. I may be able to ~~compete~~ participate with FenelonSpoke in spiritual humor using this.

5

Clay in the Master's Hands, the story of John Frank, ceramic artist and founder of Frankoma Pottery, as told by Donna Frank. Frankoma is a locally-famous Oklahoma business. His wares used to be available at Wal-Mart, back when Sam was alive and insisted on American-made goods. Now the stuff is only available online, I think.

6

The Boy Who Came Back From Heaven - A remarkable account of miracles, angels, and life beyond this world - a true story. Not sure about this one, but I'll give it a look. On the plus side, it's not Colton Burpo. On the downside, the authors are Kevin & Alex Malarkey. What an ironically unfortunate name for such a work!

7

A copy of H.G. Wells' The First Men in the Moon, in edge-worn paperback. This may be the one I dive into first. I don't think I've ever read it.

Milady also got me a "Comic Note Book," a shirtpocket-size "blank book" with blank pre-drawn panels and a word-balloon stencil. Kind of confining, a little impractical, but a cute idea.

8

And I got a real prize from one of my sons: A first-printing edition of The Urantia Book, a little yellowed but otherwise in good condition. No paper cover; that would've made it perfect. A true collector's item.

I haven't seen a first printing UB since I ran across the copy my brother donated to the local library. I mentioned it to my neighbor and friend, the old librarian (RIP), and he put it on protected Reserve, because sometimes UB-haters (or maybe it's UB-overenthusiasts) tend to abscond with them. Alas, the new librarians apparently ditched that one years ago.

I should be set for winter reading!

Posted by: mindful webworker - what, me read? at December 27, 2015 10:14 AM (Rt8Uf)

153 D'Souza always believed the Left negotiated in bad faith. It's in all his previous writings and docs. He is just writing it now in even a more harsh description and the realization that the previous strategy not working and we need a 'surge'.

Anyway I needed some light reading so I bought David Spade's book, Almost Interesting, in the discount bin. I'm a Spade fan so I thought it was very funny since I could hear his voice when I read it. Even if you're not a Spade fan it has some very good inside info / stories about SNL if that is of interest.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 10:14 AM (MNgU2)

154 I don't think they need lawyers to submit to the courts.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:06 AM (Zu3d9)

Dang you and your facts.

You're probably right, though. The suit was filed by a couple of jailbirds, and I know that some prisoners like to sit around all day reading law books, so it seems likely that this is a DIY suit.

"Jailhouse lawyers" and all that.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:15 AM (EmQQu)

155 I received "Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy?" by Gary Thomas

And frequently fails miserably at both.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:16 AM (kpqmD)

156 Was looking forward to this weeks post: I'm hoping to gather a few recommendations from the crew here. In September, we were blessed with our first child. For Christmas, my parents got me some Barnes and Noble gift cards. I guess I never told them that I have fully graduated to the kindle at this point. Running out of shelf space, and all that.

Anyway, I was thinking that I would like to use the gift to help build up a collection of classics for our daughter. Really looking for the whole age spectrum. I need to look up in storage yet to see what I still have. I know I have a lot of Mark Twain, along with some Dickens and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Anyone have any favorites they remember that they would recommend? I'd appreciate anything. Will be stepping away for a few hours, but will check back in later on to see if anyone responds.

Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

157 The liberal intelligentsia is just a bunch of con artists who know but don't care that socialism hurts people. So they develop a bunch of lies to motivate the common liberal. The most powerful lies work because they appeal to common human frailties, such as the belief that everyone else is motivated solely by bigotry [egotism], the belief that the moral and intellectual superiority of the socialists
justifies enslaving everyone else (which seems to contradict the first
belief) [Machiavelli], the belief that government will become perfect if it is tied to majority will (which certainly seems to contradict the second belief) [karma], and the belief that the right people can be given all the power and they will remain benevolent and wise (which seems to contradict the third belief) [the triumph of hope over experience].

And women are attracted to power for the same reason men are attracted to physical beauty: nature. Don't you know that a woman being pretty is like a man being rich?

Posted by: JohnJ at December 27, 2015 10:18 AM (TF/YA)

158 Great book thread, as usual. Having those links is just going to eat the clock though. I won't have time to watch any football today! damn!

Posted by: goon at December 27, 2015 10:20 AM (gy5kE)

159 103 The billionaire romance allows women to fantasize about having all their needs satisfied in one man. Instead of the real-life alpha bad-boy who is unemployed and leaves the woman picking up the checks, this one has unlimited money and can be the beta provider, too!
Posted by: Emmett Milbarge at December 27, 2015 09:52 AM (nFdGS)

Bingo. They get the alpha fucks and beta bucks both at one convenient stop.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:20 AM (kpqmD)

160 To the Democrat party criminals are the "socially friendly". When the Progressives eventually throw us all in prison or gulags. They will employ them to crush the political prisoners. And amnesty them to cower a defenseless population who have been previously stripped of their guns.

Posted by: deepred at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (xv5cf)

161 Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

Andrew Klavan is outstanding, and he has a young adult series too.

Posted by: JohnJ at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (TF/YA)

162 Al Jazeera has a report that Peyton Manning took HGH in 2011.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (8HTq1)

163 Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

Wow....talk about a big question!

"The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (Zu3d9)

164 "Still reading End Game 1945. About the first three
months after VE Day in Europe. THe Surrender may have been signed but
that didn't mean the bullets stopped flying.

Retreating German, Craotian, Hungarian, and sundry outlaws were
still working their way through soviet lines and getting through to the
American side of the line.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Old and Unimproved. at December 27, 2015 09:05 AM (WVsWD)"

If that book leaves you hungry for more on the same subject, read "Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of WW II". If you have any residual optimism about human nature, this book will help to cure that.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (QHgTq)

165 My younger daughter had a fight with the boyfriend I hate last night. G-D please fight some more.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:22 AM (DUoqb)

166 Al Jazeera has a report that Peyton Manning took HGH in 2011.
Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:21 AM (8HTq1)

Al Jazeera...now there is some Pulitzer prize wining journalism there ha?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:23 AM (DUoqb)

167 I think that Al Jazeera had better put their bank account into a hole in the back yard where Peyton's lawyers can't find it.

Posted by: goon at December 27, 2015 10:23 AM (gy5kE)

168 Obamacare, a tax you choice to pay for people that do not understand math.

Posted by: Goofy at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (PGh+Q)

169 Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:23 AM (DUoqb)

Just wait....Jeter will be next.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (Zu3d9)

170 I read part of D'Souza's book in Amazon's showroom, the soon-to-be-former Barnes and Noble.

It is indeed excellent and I need to buy a copy. One thing that struck me: one reason D'Souza suspects it was Obama himself that wanted him raped in prison, is that Obama said as much: an unsigned editorial written in Obama's off-the-prompter style went up on Obama's webpage.

To me this sounded like how Stalin used to alert the commissars to public figures that he didn't like:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muddle_Instead_of_Music

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (6FqZa)

171 ***"A week or three ago, one of you morons, I forget who it was because I
can't find the comment, related how he was trying to help his son who
was struggling with how to express what he felt. The moron suggested
that perhaps if he had been a regular reader, he might not be so
tongue-tied. Which only makes sense, and that's what I think the quote
means. Books teach us how to to talk."***

Hey that was me! I got my first mention in a post at the HQ! Stardom here I come! More exclamations!

Seriously though, the boy actually read a book after that.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (Wckf4)

172 166 The most trusted name in news for conspiracy nut muslims everywhere.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:25 AM (8HTq1)

173 And women are attracted to power for the same reason men are attracted to physical beauty: nature.

It's the stoy of Huma and me.

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at December 27, 2015 10:25 AM (B3EeS)

174 Just wait....Jeter will be next.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (Zu3d9)

Well since he came out as a Fredo supporter, I sure hope so.

Hey I read there was an attempted car jacking in your town??

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:25 AM (DUoqb)

175 Dinesh D'Souza has spent some time in the jungle. It happens to everyone, when they experience slime first hand. It scrapes away almost all of the nice.

Posted by: goon at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (gy5kE)

176 I purchased D'Souza's book at audible.com and listened to it all the way through. D'Souza himself reads the introduction and another guy reads the rest. Too bad D'Souza didn't read the whole thing, he is so multi-talented that he even excels at reading aloud. No matter though, the other guy did a serviceable job.

I really loved the book. He has the mindset of a survivor, a topic I am keenly interested in. He went into the confinement center meek and scared, dressed in modest clothing and in a rental car to play down his celebrity. By the time he came out, he was commuting in his Mercedes, the bros in stir treated him like a rock star, and one of the guards even offered to quit his job and sign up for D'Souza's security detail. Thoroughly entertaining.

Although D'Souza has plenty of reason to be disillusioned with America, he still loves his adopted country, and he is fighting for OUR liberties with all his talent and energy. I personally feel quite reinvigorated after reading this tale of a guy who was unjustly singled out for persecution, yet came out the other side a clear-eyed and wiser patriot.

Posted by: Mongerel at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (F7sCe)

177 Anyone have any favorites they remember that they would recommend? I'd appreciate anything. Will be stepping away for a few hours, but will check back in later on to see if anyone responds.

Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

Check out gutenberg.org for zillions of public domain books, free e-books and stuff like that there.

If you haven't already, that is.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (LUgeY)

178 DaveS, I don't know if a young girl would enjoy it but the best book I read as a young boy was Captains Courageous.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (MNgU2)

179 169 I saw it on ESPN,the guy they recorded mentioned Jeter as well as others but I guess they figured Peyton would make the biggest splash.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (8HTq1)

180 Anyway, I was thinking that I would like to use the gift to help build up a collection of classics for our daughter.

The Winnie The Pooh books.

Winnie the Pooh
The House at Pooh Corner
When We Were Very Young
Now We Are Six

You'll want the hardback editions with the original illustrations.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:27 AM (EmQQu)

181 I saw it on ESPN,the guy they recorded mentioned Jeter as well as others but I guess they figured Peyton would make the biggest splash.
Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (8HTq1)

I've heard all the reports and have NOT heard Jeter's name mentioned. I don't really give a rat's ass at this point, just saying.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (DUoqb)

182 I must dissent. D'Souza was a rabble-rousing, freedom-loving rock-throwing type in college. He fought the good fight in the early 1980s...before the left had such a firm hold on academia. He saw what was coming, and pushed back...hard.

He was one of the first contributors to the Dartmouth Review, which speaks highly of his disenchantment with mainstream anything.

I have read him for years, and I see much less of the establishment in him than you do.....
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:53 AM (Zu3d9)

Don't forget Ann Coulter and Dinesh were a pair @ Dartmouth for a short time

Posted by: Voter/ConsumerUnit#985731 at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (pxwEr)

183 For those of you who don't know, my father appeared in Dinesh D'Souza's movie 2016: Obama's America. He was one of the old Kenyans interviewed.

I was supposed to be in the movie, but I ended up on the cutting room floor. In hindsight, this was a blessing, especially after I saw what happened to Dr. D'Souza.

Posted by: baldilocks at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (ys2UW)

184 Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 10:26 AM (MNgU2)

I enjoyed Captains Courageous as a girl. Read it a couple times of my own free will.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (GDulk)

185 I'm planning to restart Michael Connelly's *The
Black Echo* this week and alternate reading that with *The Tunnels of
Chu-Chi*. A big no prize for anyone who can guess why I plan to
alternate between these two books...

Posted by: Dwight Brown at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM

I've been reading Connelly's books and I've enjoyed them, but I've kind of had to skip around because my small town library is pitifully inadequate. Tunnels are kind of a theme.

OT, I live in the Texas Panhandle where we are experiencing a "historic" blizzard. We have blizzards periodically. We've had blizzards before Thanksgiving, at Christmas, in all the winter months and, when I was in high school, a blizzard on May 1st. I'm interested in what makes this one historic, but the author of the news story does not say.

Posted by: huerfano at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (NSb9d)

186 We have the obligatory teevee screens blaring CNN at work (volume off, thank God) and occasionally someone will switch channels to Al Jazz. It's better than CNN and actually covers world news, not just What Trump Said. Every time I look up, Rectangular Glasses Twt is shaking her head in sympathy and making Concerned Face. Ghaahhh!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:29 AM (jR7Wy)

187 Last week, I read John Varley's Millennium, a 1983 time travel yarn. It starts out slow, mainly because he goes into a lot of detail on the steps involved in a airline crash investigation. What's novel about the book is he uses bits and pieces from a veritable Who's Who of other time travel yarns, plus there are a few neat twists at the end.

It is a decent read. I like his novel Steel Beach better, and his gaean world building trilogy Titan, Wizard, and Demon.

Currently reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson and it's keeping me interested as I near the halfway point. Well, I'm a fan though so that isn't really a surprise.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 27, 2015 10:29 AM (gyKtp)

188 Finally wending my way through the nigh book-length post.

Did "M-W editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski" really call him "Bernie 'You kids get off my lawn!' Sanders"? That's funny.

Posted by: mindful webworker - Constitutional repubican at December 27, 2015 10:30 AM (Rt8Uf)

189 D'Souza always believed the Left negotiated in bad faith. It's in all his previous writings and docs. He is just writing it now in even a more harsh description and the realization that the previous strategy not working and we need a 'surge'.

I've already posted here, when "2016" came out, that D'Souza as a Third-Worlder himself had Obama's number from the start. That is why Obama himself wanted to cripple him.

But yes, D'Souza did exude an air of fresh-off-the-boat idealism. He admits that much in his new book.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 10:30 AM (6FqZa)

190 Uh oh! [i/]

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:31 AM (jR7Wy)

191
Prisoners are always filing law suits. When it gets too bad the federal court declares them a vexatious litigant and they must get permission before filing anything in court.

The worse was when Thomas Bittacker who liked to kidnap, rape, torture, and murder young girls sued because the cookie they served him for lunch (custody cookie) was broken.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (iQIUe)

192 Accidentally put Meet the Press on and Bernie Sanders mumbling something about "65 degrees at Christmas!" with spinach stuck in his teeth,or something.

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (8HTq1)

193 Polliwog that's really cool and would have signaled to me that you would have ended up on the Right side of the political spectrum.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (MNgU2)

194 Hey that was me! I got my first mention in a post at the HQ! Stardom here I come! More exclamations!
Seriously though, the boy actually read a book after that.
Posted by: Burn the Witch at December 27, 2015 10:24 AM (Wckf4)

I would've given you name credit if I had been able to find your dang comment. Since I couldn't, I had to wing it from memory. I'm just glad I didn't misremember too many of the details.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (EmQQu)

195 *pat-pats All Hail Eris*

Have you filed an EEOC complaint on that yet?

This could get dangerous.
http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/selection-du-weekend-172-39.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (trblM)

196 Accidentally put Meet the Press on and Bernie Sanders mumbling something about "65 degrees at Christmas!" with spinach stuck in his teeth,or something.
Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (8HTq1)

For the record I am NOT his Dentist...wish I were though, because I'd tack on my usual left wing surcharge for liberals.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:33 AM (DUoqb)

197 Did "M-W editor-at-large Peter Sokolowski" really call him "Bernie 'You kids get off my lawn!' Sanders"? That's funny.
Posted by: mindful webworker - Constitutional repubican at December 27, 2015 10:30 AM (Rt8Uf)

Uh, that bit may have been added.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:34 AM (EmQQu)

198 Dwight - Harry Bosch, the protagonist of "The Black Echo," was a tunnel rat in Vietnam Nam.

Posted by: Butch at December 27, 2015 10:34 AM (hXu8T)

199 When I talked with Dr. D'Souza back in 2008, I asked him if it was possible the Barack Obama had merely been given an Ivy degree without having attended any classes or even being present. D'Souza, an Ivy grad, absolutely rejected the idea. I'm guessing that his experience--his persecution--has caused him to reconsider that opinion.

BTW, he's a fine man, and I continue to pray for him.

Posted by: baldilocks at December 27, 2015 10:35 AM (ys2UW)

200 ...If you have any residual optimism about human nature, this book will help to cure that...

Read stuff about the Revolutionary war. It's usually sanitized but the victors striped the corpse of the British commander and pissed on it at King's Mountain. (The British commander had published an edict to submit to the King or be executed.)

Women wanted to marry a gentleman back then because you had to be wealthy to be gentle. Rough country rough people.

After a few volleys battles became hacking and stabbing contests.

Posted by: hasn't changed much at December 27, 2015 10:35 AM (PGh+Q)

201 154 I don't think they need lawyers to submit to the courts.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 10:06 AM (Zu3d9)

Dang you and your facts.

You're probably right, though. The suit was filed by a couple of jailbirds, and I know that some prisoners like to sit around all day reading law books, so it seems likely that this is a DIY suit.

"Jailhouse lawyers" and all that.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:15 AM (EmQQu)

People can pursue legal action on their own behalf ("pro se") without a lawyer. It violates the right to access the courts not to. However, it is not uncommon for there to be limitations placed on people who abuse this right.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:35 AM (kpqmD)

202 An alleged jihadist arrested in June on charges that he plotted to blow up Times Square may also be the fiend who stabbed a 9 year-old Staten Island boy in the neck five months earlier in what some investigators now believe was a botched ISIS audition.

But NYPD detectives investigating the Jan. 9 knife attack have been frustrated by the feds, who wont give them access to terror suspect Fareed Mumuni, said a source familiar with the probe.

Mumuni, 21, lived only 600 yards from Jermaine Culver, who was stabbed as he walked to school in the Mariners Harbor section of Staten Island.

Isn't that nice?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:36 AM (DUoqb)

203 What is the fate of the DOJ guys who used mafia tactics? Worst case scenario, Cruz is elected, and they lose their jobs. Then they get hired on to an unrelated cushy job by a liberal admirer.
It's as if the punishment for robbing a bank is to give back only what was stolen.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at December 27, 2015 10:36 AM (VdICR)

204 Accidentally put Meet the Press on and Bernie Sanders mumbling something about "65 degrees at Christmas!" with spinach stuck in his teeth,or something.

That's actually a leftover part of the child he ate for breakfast.

And re this new Keurig coffee machine I got for Christmas: is your heart supposed to sound like a weedeater?

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:36 AM (LUgeY)

205 Well, one chore done. Had to pump up all fours tires on car.

Weird, why would all four get low?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:36 AM (jJRIy)

206 156 ... I've never been a girl or identified as one, but I'll make a few suggestions for your daughter's eventual reading.

Treasure Island with the NC Wyeth illustrations

Winnie the Pooh and Wind in the Willows with the original illustrations

Sherlock Holmes with the Sidney Paget drawings

EB White's 3 children's books: Trumpet of the Swan, Charlotte's Web, and Stuart Little, again with illustrations

Back in the 50s, the little girls in my neighborhood all liked Black Beauty and the Nancy Drew books. Never read them, so I'm just mentioning something from the previous century.

I keep mentioning the illustrations because I assume they help the child as she reads or they are something to show her as you read to her.

Great idea to build up a library of classics for her to delve into.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 10:37 AM (FvdPb)

207 Weird, why would all four get low?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:36 AM (jJRIy)
---
You have many enemies, Nip.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:37 AM (jR7Wy)

208 Too many words.

Posted by: I Hate Words at December 27, 2015 10:37 AM (aRUb8)

209 Tyre Gremlins?

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:38 AM (trblM)

210 A 20-year-old man distracted by an electronic device fell off a San Diego cliff that is a popular gathering spot to watch the sunset and plunged 60 feet to his death, officials said Saturday.

I guess Darwin was right

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:38 AM (DUoqb)

211 So, did you morons get anything good this Christmas in the way of books

Just Bill O'Bloviate's Reagan book, bought for me by a family member who obviously thought "that's what Conservatives would read."

Um, no. But I guess I'll skim it since I have nothing new to read.

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at December 27, 2015 10:39 AM (HMt16)

212 I've already posted here, when "2016" came out, that D'Souza as a Third-Worlder himself had Obama's number from the start. That is why Obama himself wanted to cripple him.

We have pastors in my church's denomination from Eastern Europe and the old USSR and they're all, like,"What are you Americans doing to your country? Don't you idiots know we tried that path already and IT DOESN'T WORK??"

A very refreshing perspective from guys who have been there, done that, and don't even have a T-shirt to show for it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:39 AM (EmQQu)

213 You have many enemies, Nip.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:37 AM (jR7Wy)

No doubt. I figure it must be the sensors all leaking a bit and the service guy didn't check them last visit.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:40 AM (jJRIy)

214 Nip Sip @ 205 - Duh, the Joooooos.

Posted by: Butch at December 27, 2015 10:40 AM (hXu8T)

215 213 Climate Change!

Posted by: steevy at December 27, 2015 10:40 AM (8HTq1)

216 Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 10:37 AM (FvdPb)
---
Agree on the illustrations. The Narnia series without Pauline Baynes' drawings is unthinkable to me.

Margery Sharp's Miss Bianca series is delightful and has drawings by Garth Williams, who also illustrated a favorite of my childhood, "The Gingerbread Rabbit".

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:41 AM (jR7Wy)

217 213 Climate Change!

Boosh!

...pikers...

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:41 AM (LUgeY)

218 214
Nip Sip @ 205 - Duh, the Joooooos.

Posted by: Butch at December 27, 2015 10:40 AM (hXu8T)

I am not touching that, already have NGU mad at me.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:42 AM (jJRIy)

219 OregonMuse, you need to do another thread on favorite childhood reads!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 10:42 AM (jR7Wy)

220 He was probably looking at the cheerleaders from yesterdays football thread. Poor guy. Those elbows will get ya' killed if yer not real careful.

Posted by: goon at December 27, 2015 10:43 AM (gy5kE)

221 "2. Socialism in Israel is thoroughly discredited, and is rapidly shrinking.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 09:57 AM (Zu3d9)"

Is this really true? I know that there was a heavy overlap between socialists and early 20th century Zionists and that while the kibbutz was the early ideal for how Israelis would live, they were never all that popular compared to living like ordinary people live in their own home with their own possessions.

Still, has that early sentiment now become that thoroughly discredited? Certainly, I can see how the arrival of people from the Soviet Union who had experienced the full weight of no holds barred socialism for their whole lives would go a long way towards discrediting socialism in Israel.

Nevertheless, is Israel less socialistic than, for example, Sweden?

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 27, 2015 10:43 AM (QHgTq)

222 212 I've already posted here, when "2016" came out, that D'Souza as a Third-Worlder himself had Obama's number from the start. That is why Obama himself wanted to cripple him.

We have pastors in my church's denomination from Eastern Europe and the old USSR and they're all, like,"What are you Americans doing to your country? Don't you idiots know we tried that path already and IT DOESN'T WORK??"

A very refreshing perspective from guys who have been there, done that, and don't even have a T-shirt to show for it.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 10:39 AM (EmQQu)

And yet, people don't listen.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:43 AM (kpqmD)

223 Just finished "The Girl With All the Gifts," which I slogged through over Christmas. My advice? Don't do it. As if the country isn't depressing enough, this one made it doubly so over what's s'posed to be a joyous time of year. Unless you're a hardcore zombie addict, it's rather bleak all 'round. "The Girl" is a hybrid zombie/human who's able to hang with both populations, hence "the gifts."

*waves to Miss Tammy* Happy New Year, girl!

If you missed D'Souza's interview with Beck (I think you could do a search for it on The Blaze.com), it was amusing. Once he got up the nerve to talk to the other inmates, they were amazed that he was jailed for using HIS OWN money. They couldn't wrap their heads around that.

When he described to them how the Obamacare scam was sold (but how it really works) by using "marks," they were stunned. He furthered the cause by telling them that this is how all the programs of the Left work. I think he actually did us a service by, if not getting convicts to vote dem maybe to get them to refrain from voting, period.

Thanks again for a swell forum and for all your hard work, OM. (If Ace didn't okay your doing the book thread, how did you ever get the keys to start the blog on Sunday mornings?)

Posted by: RushBabe at December 27, 2015 10:43 AM (/NEnw)

224 However, it is not uncommon for there to be limitations placed on people who abuse this right.

"Vexatious litigation" is the term.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 10:44 AM (6FqZa)

225 I am not touching that, already have NGU mad at me.
Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:42 AM (jJRIy)

I'm not mad. Just trying to be a good Editor and fact checker. And remember Friends don't let Friends drive drunk or say stupid things.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:44 AM (DUoqb)

226 Re #31---that is too easy, Bosch was a tunnel rat. Connelly is one of my favorite authors.

I got a Paperwhite for my birthday back in Sept, it does what it is designed to do, and I use it quite a bit. BUT for some reason I still like books in the dead tree form.

For gifts this year my wife gave me carte blanc to buy a books for the ereader. I bought 3 (count 'em 3), Neal Stephenson bricks: Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon and Reamde.. I like to read in bed before sleep but the heavy books (like these) are problematic---they make a loud noise hitting the floor when I fall asleep reading them, so these a perfect for the Kindle.

I also got three dead tree variety paperbacks by WEB Griffin to complete my collection of the "Honor Bound" series. These are, to my way of thinking, pretty good looks at the OSS and later the early CIA, in a fictional universe to be sure but reasonably accurate portrayals. Griffin is another of my favorite writers. Guy porn some wag call his books but so be it

J. D. Robb might be among the first with the billionaire bit with her "In Death" series and the reformed bad guy (subject to significant relapse) Roarke and his police detective wife, Eve Dallas. Fun reads set in a future NYC

Posted by: Semilitterate at December 27, 2015 10:45 AM (jM8eB)

227 If you want to cry sweet tears over the love and devotion of a little (stuffed) buffalo's devotion to his friends read ...
Toy Dance Party by Emily Jenkins

Posted by: child at heart at December 27, 2015 10:45 AM (PGh+Q)

228 Saying "hello" per the goodreads instructions for strict lurkers.....

Posted by: jd at December 27, 2015 10:46 AM (4idZW)

229

has anyone one heard from Ricardo Kill? Bit worried about him and the storms last night near Dallas

Posted by: ThunderB at December 27, 2015 10:47 AM (zOTsN)

230 Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 27, 2015 10:43 AM (QHgTq)

There is only one party left in Israel that could accurately be described as "socialistic" in bend and that is the Meretz Party and they only hold 5 seats in the Knesset and are mostly irrelevant.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:47 AM (DUoqb)

231 DaveS, I don't know if a young girl would enjoy it but the best book I read as a young boy was Captains Courageous.
Posted by: Max Rockastansky

"Courageous" don't mean what it used to. That book's in need of a rewrite. Then the girls will love it.

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at December 27, 2015 10:47 AM (B3EeS)

232 Anyone who still thinks the American justice system is still just hasn't been touched by it.
Posted by: Asscheeks of Saturn at December 27, 2015 10:06 AM (msVAP)

That was probably D'Souza's biggest revelation -- that there were people in jail who didn't deserve being there. Malicious prosecution and all that.

Posted by: RushBabe at December 27, 2015 10:48 AM (/NEnw)

233

Germans should teach Hitlers book and rip it to shreds. be a nice way of confronting the belief systems of their new immigrants as well

Posted by: ThunderB at December 27, 2015 10:48 AM (zOTsN)

234 Here's a YT video of a DeSouza/Ayers debate. Not sure if it's the same one, but I remembered seeing it whilst searching for something else there. Haven't watched it yet. I doubt if there's anything Ayers could say that I'd be interested in: the term "FoS" springs immediately to mind.

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

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:48 AM (LUgeY)

235 Well,

Checked on line, it is the damn tire sensors.

Shit.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:49 AM (jJRIy)

236 has anyone one heard from Ricardo Kill? Bit worried about him and the storms last night near Dallas

Posted by: ThunderB at December 27, 2015 10:47 AM

he was in the thread downstairs earlier

Posted by: AltonJackson at December 27, 2015 10:49 AM (ZQfW9)

237 Thank you Alton! what a relief!

Posted by: ThunderB at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (zOTsN)

238 Also RK said he was out of town, missed all of it.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (jJRIy)

239 "For the record I am NOT his Dentist...wish I were though, because I'd tack on my usual left wing surcharge for liberals.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:33 AM (DUoqb)"

Are there any radios available that are tiny enough to be fit into somebody's fillings? Supplying Bernie with one of those would probably be worth offering him a discount.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (QHgTq)

240 @201 "People can pursue legal action on their own behalf ("pro se") without a lawyer. It violates the right to access the courts not to. However, it is not uncommon for there to be limitations placed on people who abuse this right."

(redacted)

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (yfAPD)

241 Well just discovered another after-effect of my account profile on the netbook spontaneously corrupting... had to delete the profile after copying all the information. Then create a new profile and now Scrivener has asked for a license.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:51 AM (trblM)

242 Are there any radios available that are tiny enough to be fit into somebody's fillings? Supplying Bernie with one of those would probably be worth offering him a discount.
Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (QHgTq)

Yeah LOL

I think old Bernie already hears voices

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:52 AM (DUoqb)

243 Are there any radios available that are tiny enough to be fit into somebody's fillings? Supplying Bernie with one of those would probably be worth offering him a discount.

Too much competition with the many other voices in his head, IMO. The echo must be awful.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 10:52 AM (LUgeY)

244 What's playing inside Bernie's cranium?

Probably Lawrence Welk, he certainly has enough bubble-brain ideas.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 10:54 AM (trblM)

245 I finished reading "The Blind Side" and it was ok.....seemed to be a little pandering but that's just me.

I would like to see a book about an affluent white kid who gets taken in by a ghetto mamma and learns to play basketball like Mike and gets a full ride to Duke but leaves after one year for the NBA and greatness and mo' money.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 27, 2015 10:54 AM (ej1L0)

246 Just received a nice Christmas gift- the book about Vietnam, in a narrative format by Michael Herr.

Called 'Dispatches'

It's a bit hard to read at first. He writes exactly like that photog in the movie 'Apocalypse Now' talks. It's almost stream-of-consciousness. Certainly '60's slang-ish, even though it was written in the mid-'70's.

I figure if it's half as good as Mark Baker's 'Nam' it will be worth the read.

Posted by: Mr Wolf at December 27, 2015 10:55 AM (cjgnX)

247 ...Weird, why would all four get low?...

High pressure front moved in?
Drove high speed on bumpy road?
All 4 valve stems made poorly in China?

Posted by: not enemy action at December 27, 2015 10:55 AM (PGh+Q)

248 John Varley's Steel Beach. What a fantastic opening few paragraphs.

"In ten years the penis will be extinct." Then a yawn from the narrator, who's heard that before.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 27, 2015 10:55 AM (u82oZ)

249 Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 10:50 AM (yfAPD)

Don't use his name here. Seriously.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:56 AM (kpqmD)

250 All 4 valve stems made poorly in China?

Posted by: not enemy action at December 27, 2015 10:55 AM (PGh+Q)

It's a Equus, Korean MB. I think just was time, or the sensor have gone bad. We'll see. No sweat off me, they will come and get the car and leave me a loaner and fix it free.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 10:57 AM (jJRIy)

251 248 John Varley's Steel Beach. What a fantastic opening few paragraphs.

"In ten years the penis will be extinct." Then a yawn from the narrator, who's heard that before.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 27, 2015 10:55 AM (u82oZ)

It's not extinct, it's just...dormant.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 10:57 AM (kpqmD)

252 "a pretense to morality that camouflages the remorseless acquisition of power"

as many have said above, in various forms, Democrats at the top are communists, only changing their language to adapt to the American environment where liberty still has roots, as they bide their time. The masses must be deceived with the same Soviet style five year plans, pretense to show the dictators/oligarchs/mob bosses "really care". But they crave full control over US, not a government of/by/for the people. We are just their cattle.

Roosevelt liked his commie friends and we got that New Deal, which extended the depression. Dems/commies surrendered our gains in S Vietnam when they entirely shut down resupply to our allies, who then were slaughtered by the commies. Sorta like Obama's bugout from Iraq and failure to mow down ISIS as they rolled in to fill the power vacuum. And we shouldn't forget Obama fighting for narco dictator wannabe Zelaya, against their democratic process. His Chicago church supported the Sandinistas/commies in the 80's, for crying out loud. We elected a friggin commie, straight up.

The multi-culti diversity BS is warfare against "the ties that bind" US together. The commie takeover is orchestrated, as the father of conservatism Buckley saw in the colleges right after WW2. Obama/Clinton make clear that identity politics is about cleaving off the base support from strong American ideals, as they claim that "evil America" is all about hating the "other".

We are pretty close to "fascism with a smiley face", as Jonah Goldberg put it. But a treacherous Queen Hillary would not smile with us, she would cackle while abusing the raw power of her throne, castrating her political foes with a smile, purging any resistance. I see only Trump really rallying US behind what his foes call "nationalism", as if the alternative of open borders commie globalism is a real choice.

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 27, 2015 10:58 AM (5Gpe2)

253 "The Jungle Book" by Rudyard Kipling.

My favorite as a kid was 'Just So Stories' -- great for read-alouds and then they just pick up words because you have been using funny voices and they are following along. 'Along the great, grey-green greasy Limpopo river all set about with fever trees.'

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 10:58 AM (MIKMs)

254 doug Ace has asked the horde never to discuss this particular thing or guy and its his place so we follow that. Like not sticking your face in a propeller kind of advice

Posted by: ThunderB at December 27, 2015 10:58 AM (zOTsN)

255 There was also implied pedophilia in the Cthorr series which made me very uncomfortable, particularly considering the semi autobiographical "Martian Child" detailing Gerrold's adoption of a young boy.

Given the proclivities of Samuel R Delaney and Marion Zimmer Bradley, when there's smoke around Sci if writers I start getting suspicious.

Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at December 27, 2015 10:59 AM (0x5gJ)

256 Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 10:32 AM (MNgU2)

What funny is by nature I'm an idealist who desperately *wants* the unicornss and lollipops to be real and a satisfactory outcome for everyone. I credit my parent's firm moral stance as to absolute truth and the value of every life (and the necessity of consequences for bad choices) as the thing that inoculated me against what the left *claims* to provide. Access to my dad's Alister MacLean and Helen McIness books about individuals doing what they could to fight statism probably didn't hurt either.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 10:59 AM (GDulk)

257 Bernie, this is Allah, and I love you. Now here's what I need you to do the next time you and Hillary are onstage...

Posted by: Bernie's fillings at December 27, 2015 11:00 AM (B3EeS)

258 212 OregonMuse

When I was walking the 2009 9/12 March on Washington the most fervent guys were the Eastern Europeans and Russians. They even had their own float.

They sure yelled loudly at the media atop the Newseum.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 27, 2015 11:00 AM (u82oZ)

259 Failing the blessed arrival of SMOD , one hopes that President Clinton uses her pen and phone to 'enact' commonsense gun control , i.e. confiscation , so that we may have a good cleansing Civil War . BTW , my paperwork has cleared and I pick up my Model 70 this week : the "Arsenal of Democracy " is now complete .

Posted by: jay hoenemeyer at December 27, 2015 11:01 AM (uvj0z)

260 One of my favorite memories of being in elementary school was the monthly? catalogue of paper back books you could order. Checking off the boxes for the books you ordered, the anticipation waiting for them to arrive and the day they arrived are feelings I wish I could recreate as an adult.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 11:01 AM (MNgU2)

261 This Christmas, California GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher is promoting a bill he introduced in November granting priority refugee status to Christians and Yazidis two minorities targeted for genocide by the Islamic State.

Weasel Zippers

I am sure the libs/dems will call this racist ?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 11:01 AM (DUoqb)

262 @254 - Sorry, I didn't know abut Ace's wishes. Not interested in inciting anything.

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 11:02 AM (yfAPD)

263 No, Bernie; don't listen to those voices in your head. There's something else I need you to do instead -

Posted by: Bernie's dog at December 27, 2015 11:03 AM (6FqZa)

264 Book Thread Beg: My boss has me researching non-print library services, from e-books to streaming movies to 3D printers to libraries that loan out chainsaws. Anything your local libraries are doing? What digital services does your library provide, and do you like them? What would you like your library to be able to loan out?

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:03 AM (/ciMI)

265 OregonMuse & fellow commenters, thanks for another great Book Tread.

Duty calls, or something.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at December 27, 2015 11:03 AM (u82oZ)

266 Hey I read there was an attempted car jacking in your town??

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 10:25 AM (DUoqb)

No shit?

That's great. Essex county comes to Ridgewood.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 11:04 AM (Zu3d9)

267 TF: My library (and a lot of others in No Illinois) have rooms to rent out for meetings. Free for cardholders, but still much less than a hotel for smaller meetings. Very handy for legal depositions or job interviews as a central meeting point.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 11:06 AM (MIKMs)

268 Now go up to Mr. Reid and say, "I know what you have in your basement". Then turn your back to him and walk away slowly.

Posted by: Bernie's fillings at December 27, 2015 11:06 AM (B3EeS)

269 I am getting the feeling I should never read the Chtorr series again... or are you reading different books?

None of this twitched with me. Absolutely no inkling of what you are talking about. Things like Jim giving his badly wounded CO a grenade to off himself. Enterprise beasts. Or Jim going Chtorr native for bit. Humans looking to retreat to space as they realize they are loosing the Earth to the Chtorr. Or the psychological chit-chat with the creator of the Solomon Short bits. Jim and Lizard getting married. That I remember.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 11:07 AM (trblM)

270 Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 11:01 AM (MNgU2)

What was the name of the company? Scholastic Books?

That was great...getting the books during school, and running home to read them.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 11:07 AM (Zu3d9)

271 Greetings, O Book Thread and all the fine literary Morons in attendance!

Santa was very good to me in the book department.See, it pays to police the crime scene and spritz everything with bleach to break up the DNA. He never suspected it was me.

Got the Digger omnibus (pragmatic wombats! prophetic snails! *Mostly* dead gods!), the Cook's Meat Book for my carnivorous eating habit, more of the Space Captain Smith ebooks, and the rest of the extant Troy Rising Ringo ebooks. My commute has been saved from boredom for at least a month.

The statistics about print books and ebooks coming from Nielsen and the publishers are about as credible as Cold War Soviet tractor part factory numbers. Nielsen isn't anywhere close to 85% of sales, and *none* of that includes Amazon ebook sales. So, just a smidgen off in the accuracy department.

I hope everybody on the Book Thread got *something* good to read. It just wouldn't be right otherwise.

And I have taken my vacation time to make great progress on the current book--up over 80k now! It's a race for time to see if our heroes can shut off the prison energy barrier before the evil aliens show up to bomb the snot out of the Space Neanderthals! (I hope the good guys win...)

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 27, 2015 11:08 AM (GG9V6)

272 Its purpose -- not its unintended consequence but its aim -- is to seize the wealth and power of achievers.

Do tell.

Posted by: Ayn Rand at December 27, 2015 11:08 AM (sdi6R)

273 I went through a period in college where I read through "source books" in an attempt to get to the truth of what I was being told vs what I was experiencing.

(Yeah, I'm a nerd. Don't judge me!!!)

F'rinstance, the term Nazi was always being applied to Republicans/Conservatives and what I knew of the Nazis didn't seem to comport with them in the least.

So, I read "Mein Kampf" to see what that was all about.

Spoiler: What coherence there was in that book lined up almost exactly with Democrats/liberals/progressive/commies and their beliefs and methods. You know, there's a reason nazis were national socialists.

I read the Koran for much the same reason. What I was being told about muslims and islam didn't seem to line up with any of the muslims I met at all.

Any who, the main point of all of this-

is that the two books that I read during this period that seemed very similar, and in some ways almost the same though obviously approaching the world from different starting points were "Mein Kampf" and the Koran.

The same incoherence, the same hate, the clarity of division among the elect and the unhumans, the same stupidity of the writing, the boring repetition and pedestrian thought, the personal grievance blown up to epic proportions.. Bleh!

So, that "Mein Kampf" is a best seller in the Middle East isn't a huge surprise.

But, take into account that this was the thinking of young, collegiate naturalfake, when he was a BMOC strutting around in his raccoon skin coat and playing his ukulele for the dollies.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 27, 2015 11:09 AM (KUa85)

274 Tammy al-Thor (#59):
"Princes are rather thin on the ground now, and a million doesn't go as far as it used to, so now we have billionaires."

That's the main point. I would just add that 10 million is still a lot of money, and 100 million should certainly cover any woman's needs, including flying off to lunch anywhere, any time in a private plane, but there's no convenient pronounceable word for someone with a net worth of 8 or 9 digits: 'decimillionaire'? 'centuplimillionaire'? 'hemidemisemibillionaire' (worth 125 million)? Good luck coming up with something both clear and easy to say (and spell).

Posted by: Dr Weevil at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (8rAUf)

275 Oh, I forgot to mention that my son got me NYT Sunday Crossword books. I have been pining for new ones. Bless him for that.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (MIKMs)

276 NRO will boot out D'Souza if he gets too radical, you know, all e plebnista.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (MQEz6)

277 Sleeting and snowing and windy here in good ole OKC this morning. Yeah, it's coming for you east-coasters.

Posted by: Soona at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (Fmupd)

278 >>> ot utv with trax stuck in 4 feet of bottomless powder snow 10 miles up a mountain road.

Got a neighbor with a similar vehicle or snowmobile? Bring a heavy rope and a shovel.

Posted by: fluffy at December 27, 2015 11:11 AM (AfsKp)

279 Given that a) David Gerrold was one of the main cheerleaders of the Hugo Meltdown last year, and b) when I asked him a question when he was on a Heinlein-Commemorative panel at a con I attended some years ago, and he was an absolute asshole in response, I personally wouldn't take a glass of water from the guy, let alone read a book he'd written.

I don't often hold grudges, but when I do, they're doozies.

Your mileage may vary, however.

Posted by: filbert at December 27, 2015 11:11 AM (s5o+q)

280 P.S. to 274:
Any invented Latinate word referring to 8 or 9 "digits" of wealth ('octodigitaire') will tend to look like it means someone who's lost a finger or two in an industrial accident or crime.

Posted by: Dr Weevil at December 27, 2015 11:12 AM (8rAUf)

281 Late to the thread - slept in this morning, after an exhausting day yesterday trying to clear a blockage in the pipes that was making my kitchen sink drain slowly. (Tried to clear it ourselves with a rental plumbing snake, but had to settle for a pro.)

Recovering from a horrible cold/cough/flu over last weekend, so didn't have as good a sales at the Boerne Christmas market as hoped - but Christmas passed very nicely, and my daughter gave me a copy of The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the 1800s, which may prove useful for those aspects I am not well-versed in...

Sarah Hoyt gave me a pair of links on Instapundit to Sunset & Steel Rails, and to Chronicles of Luna City, which most pleasingly bumped up sales - and that made up for a disappointing time at the Christmas Market. A belated Merry Christmas to all you 'rons and 'ronettes.

I am reading Rutherford's novel "London" - on kindle, BTW. About halfway through. This is a new frontier for me, because I usually only read the Kindle when stuck waiting for an appointment.

Posted by: CeliaHayes at December 27, 2015 11:12 AM (95iDF)

282 Global warming schemes fall fully within this explanation. It is a massive scheme of theft of wealth from energy producing regions to line the pockets of those who produce nothing. Tax, regulation, "permission" to use energy, transfer of ownership, etc is all a means to power which to them is money. Their schemes will result in the death of millions but that is dandy so they don't have to share. Progressives are monsters.

Posted by: Lester at December 27, 2015 11:13 AM (2UPXV)

283 He furthered the cause by telling them that this is how all the programs of the Left work.

What could possibly go wrong with pointing out to violent criminals where the big money scams are?

Posted by: DaveA at December 27, 2015 11:14 AM (DL2i+)

284 Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:03 AM (/ciMI)

Houston area does Overdrive e-lending with a local library card. Very long waits for even vaguely popular books and pretty much just the best seller list from established publishers (I.e. 3 month wait for a Brandon Sanderson title and *no* John Ringo or Larry Corriea tirles at all). Wish they had more e-title access for small name aurhors like those of the Horde.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 11:15 AM (GDulk)

285 I got a Paperwhite too. I've wanted one since they came out with them. I started by getting a few Ebola through the library. I started with "The Most They Ever Had" by Rick Bragg. It's about textile mill workers in Alabama. He's one of my favorite authors as he has a way of showing the dignity and hard work of these very poor people. I will likely get a dead tree copy of it.

Husband hasn't tackled the book that I got for him: Irish Gangs and Stick Fighting. He carries a shillalegh so I thought he'd enjoy it. He just doesn't read much.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 11:16 AM (Lqy/e)

286 276 NRO will boot out D'Souza if he gets too radical, you know, all e plebnista.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (MQEz6)

Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:16 AM (EmQQu)

287 @264 "What digital services does your library provide, and do you like them? "

- Overdrive book loans via Amazon -- excellent, works on eInk Kindle. Also Overdrive eAudiobooks, which I have not tried.

- Axis360 book loans via Adobe -- kind of buggy, works on phones and tablets. Does not work on eInk Kindles and is not an Amazon supported Fire app (may be sideloaded)

- Zinio magazines -- never been a fan. Slow unless you have a very fast device and Internet connection.

- TumbleBooks for ages 3-10

Also, I applaud them for the helpful info on the web site:
- Device compatibility chart
- How To flyer and video links
- Customer tech support links for library & vendors
- List of free ebook & eaudiobook web sites
- "Mobile Device Drop-In Days for hands-on config help
- "Suggest a Title" link, which I've found to work surprisingly well. Generally, it seems to result in a physical book, rather than ebook.

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 11:17 AM (yfAPD)

288 TF: My library (and a lot of others in No Illinois) have rooms to rent out for meetings. Free for cardholders, but still much less than a hotel for smaller meetings. Very handy for legal depositions or job interviews as a central meeting point.

Posted by: mustbequantum

Cool. How big are the rooms? We have study rooms that anyone can use for free for two hours that can hold 6-8, and big rooms that hold 50+ that cost $70/hr. We have federal agents interview witnesses in the study rooms sometimes--hard not to try to guess the story.

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:17 AM (/ciMI)

289 but who the hell are PewDiePie, Tyler Oakley, and Shane Dawson?

I'm with you. How much celebrity can they be if I've never even heard of any of them? Like that lunatic woman that bathed on Froot Loops; who? Now she gets an interview with president Obama??

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:18 AM (39g3+)

290 Next year is going to be a doozy.

Trump and Cruz vs. the Imperial Uniparty.

Well, I hope those two guys are really against the IU.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:19 AM (MQEz6)

291 I'm with you. How much celebrity can they be if I've never even heard of any of them? Like that lunatic woman that bathed on Froot Loops; who? Now she gets an interview with president Obama??

I volunteer to drink Lindy Booth's bathwater. Who do I get to meet?

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 11:19 AM (LUgeY)

292 Energy Barrier -> so easy a Space Neanderthal can handle it..

Good luck Sabrina, sounds interesting that story. And 80K, wow.

Probably should crank out some words before that copy of Scrivener turns to pixy dust. Need to move a scene and tweak it to make the character a bit more amoral. Plus keep writing the rest of the story.

To all who have contributed to my GoFundMe, again thank you so much.
https://www.gofundme.com/8k4zdgw9

If anyone wants to read for free, today is the last day for Princess Who Caused Fear.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 11:19 AM (trblM)

293 I was supposed to be in the movie, but I ended up on the cutting room floor. In hindsight, this was a blessing, especially after I saw what happened to Dr. D'Souza.

Posted by: baldilocks at December 27, 2015 10:28 AM (ys2UW)

Interesting. I was going to watch this movie later on today, it is a free offering on one of my Roku channels ("TubiTV"). Which one is your father, baldilocks? Drop me an email if you're not comfortable sharing this information publicly.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:20 AM (EmQQu)

294 Merry Christmas, and much gratitude for the Book Thread, OM.

Posted by: Anonymous-9 at December 27, 2015 11:20 AM (vmHHv)

295 re this new Keurig coffee machine I got for Christmas: is your heart supposed to sound like a weedeater?

Switch to chicken soup, or at least green tea.

Posted by: DaveA at December 27, 2015 11:22 AM (DL2i+)

296 John Varley is one of those men who wishes he could be a woman. His books are inventive and well written and fascinating but brutally flawed by bizarre sexual content and continual humiliation of completely inferior males by super-competent women.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:23 AM (39g3+)

297 Houston area does Overdrive e-lending with a local library card. Very long waits for even vaguely popular books and pretty much just the best seller list from established publishers (I.e. 3 month wait for a Brandon Sanderson title and *no* John Ringo or Larry Corriea tirles at all). Wish they had more e-title access for small name aurhors like those of the Horde.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette

Overdrive has three limitations--the library has to purchase individual digital copies of the titles (they cost somewhere in between a paperback and hard copy), and since they don't wear out, libraries don't like to buy lots of copies of the same title. Also, even though titles are available through Overdrive, your library might just not purchase it. Finally, there are multiple publishers that will not sell e-books to libraries (including two big publishers).

Most libraries have a "request for purchase" feature on their website--I would encourage every 'ron and 'ette to ask their library to purchase Hordebooks.

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:24 AM (/ciMI)

298 O/T - Dave Barry's "Year in Review" column -- http://bit.ly/1ORPrp4

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 11:25 AM (yfAPD)

299 275 Oh, I forgot to mention that my son got me NYT Sunday Crossword books. I have been pining for new ones. Bless him for that.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 11:10 AM (MIKMs)

Heh. I got Mrs. Muse 2 NY Times crossword puzzle books and the daily crossword puzzle tear-off calendar, also NYT.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:26 AM (EmQQu)

300 Trey Gowdy for some incomprehensible reason is campaigning for Rubio. I think these guys get so deeply immersed in Washington DC they lose sight of the forest.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:26 AM (39g3+)

301 O/T - Dave Barry's "Year in Review" column --

Never not funny.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 11:27 AM (LUgeY)

302 Anyone see the Pope wrote a letter to the newspaper The Independent saying if an atheist follows their conscience and doesn't believe in God, they will still be let in Heaven when they die.

goo.gl/WPvJ6f

I honestly don't understand how any Christian can follow the Catholic Church. At what point to be people say "enough"?

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:27 AM (A3kYV)

303 When I was young and reading Ian Fleming's James Bond books I never dreamed that I would live to see real world Bond Super Villains like George Soros and Osama Bin Laden. Perhaps Fleming knew more than most thought.

Posted by: An Observation at December 27, 2015 11:27 AM (JVyuG)

304 Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

Congratulations! May she know every possible joy in life.

Books I think are must-haves, based solely on the fact that I devoured them as a child, and still re-read regularly

Louisa May Alcott (Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, of course, but also An Old Fashioned Girl, Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom)

LM Montgomery The entire Anne of Green Gables series, but also the Emily of New Moon series, and the two Pats, plus Jane of Lantern Hill

Elizabeth Enright The Saturdays, Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five, plus Thimble Summer, Gone Away Lake

CS Lewis Narnia series

The Harry Potter series

Absolutely the Pooh stories, hardbacks if possible, because my God.

Random books I loved in no particular order as far as age goes:

Caddie Woodlawn, Witch of Blackbird Pond, Johnny Tremaine, Swamp Fox, Swiss Family Robinson, Pippy Longstocking, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Harriet the Spy, The Mouse and the Motorcycle ( Beverly Cleary in general, although I truly don't remember every single one, so I don't want to vouch for all of them) The Borrowers, Amelia Bedelia, the original 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith, and all of hers are delightful... so so so many books. We should do a Children's books thread and archive it, for reference!

But keep in mind, she may not ever be a reader. I think some people can be coaxed into it, but I believe most readers are born that way.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 11:28 AM (vUcz/)

305 Olive Garden is charging $400 a person for NYE dinner

NY Post

Well I guess there is an idiot born every minute?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 11:28 AM (DUoqb)

306 I see Dave Barry is well into 'looks like an aging lesbian' territory.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 27, 2015 11:30 AM (oVJmc)

307 Posted by: doug

Zinio recently came out with an update that's supposed to drastically improve performance, but I don't read magazines and my wife gave up on Zinio a couple of years ago out of frustration, so I don't know how much better it is from before.

The library system I work in doesn't have Tumblebooks, but it looks like a cool feature kids--I'm definitely going to be recommending that one.

As far as getting a physical copy after requesting, I know several systems that don't have drop-down format option allow you to simply put the desired format in parentheses after the title. "Monster Hunter International (e-book)"

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:30 AM (/ciMI)

308 Dave Barry's "Year in Review"

The first 4-5 months echo 2012's immediately becomes Republican front-runner gag.

Posted by: DaveA at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (DL2i+)

309 I then point out the general collapse of Venezuela and associated human misery.

-
You can have my toilet paper when you pry it from my cold, dirty finger.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (Nwg0u)

310 the Pope wrote a letter to the newspaper The Independent saying if an atheist follows their conscience and doesn't believe in God, they will still be let in Heaven when they die.

Actually, what he said was "if they do good deeds and right things long enough, they will be led to Christ and hence welcome in heaven" from what I understand.

Olive Garden is charging $400 a person for NYE dinner

Wow. Gotta eat a lot of bread sticks and salad to make that worthwhile. Their Italian food is so bad I'd be embarrassed to work in one.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (39g3+)

311 A woman who six times failed the physical test to become an FDNY firefighter is being given another chance and this time, critics say, the fix is in.

Shell graduate, no question, said an FDNY member. The department does�nt want another black eye.

Wendy Tapia was allowed to conditionally graduate from the Fire Academy on May 17, 2013, even though she had failed the running test.

After swearing her in, the FDNY gave Tapia five more chances to run the required 1.5 miles in 12 minutes or less, but she couldnt do it. She quit never having worked a tour of duty.

Now Tapia, 34, is getting yet another chance to join The Bravest. Shes among a group of emergency medical technicians promoted to probationary firefighters and set to start the 18-week training academy Monday.

And Navy Seal Standards will not change also. And i will not cum in your mouth

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (DUoqb)

312 >>Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 11:28 AM (vUcz/)

I'm sort of rereading the secret garden! I loved that book as a little girl. Something about being outside and fresh air healing everything including the two broken children was just lovely to me.

Posted by: Lea at December 27, 2015 11:32 AM (FbLkA)

313
302 Anyone see the Pope wrote a letter to the newspaper The Independent saying if an atheist follows their conscience and doesn't believe in God, they will still be let in Heaven when they die.

goo.gl/WPvJ6f

I honestly don't understand how any Christian can follow the Catholic Church. At what point to be people say "enough"?
Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:27 AM (A3kYV)

Starting now or is Heaven already filled with Atheists?

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:32 AM (MQEz6)

314 Most federal prosecutors aren't typical "govt lawyers." They have plenty to do. Aside from the Civil Rights Division, the typical fed prosecutor tends to be pretty damn conservative. Some even post on conservative message boards!

Posted by: mnwxyz at December 27, 2015 11:33 AM (NiHAc)

315 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (39g3+)

That makes more sense.

Otherwise somebody needs to buy the Pope a Bible.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:34 AM (MQEz6)

316 Dave S.

If you consider putting Jules Verne books (I like him MUCH better than HG Wells), be sure to get good translations. Many of the English translations were horrible to begin and the errors, deleted parts, etc., were seldom corrected. The last few years have seen careful scholarship in the matter and make a world of difference and improvement. It's worth hunting for the good versions.

Verne conveyed a sense of wonder along with adventure in his writing that is still enjoyable over a century later.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 11:34 AM (FvdPb)

317 Beta chicks have sex with millionaires. Alpha chicks have sex with billionaires.

And in an age where a no-talent can become an alpha female with a (poor) sex tape, who are you to tell these chicks they aren't capable of becoming an alpha female?

Posted by: Oschisms at December 27, 2015 11:35 AM (ZsN9X)

318 Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:03 AM (/ciMI)

One of the things I like about the Overdrive audiobooks is that I can return them as soon as I am done with them, whereas the ebooks stay in my account until they expire.

I have to say that I don't love Overdrive's navigation either as I always have to go to "advanced search" if I want a specific author or title and scrolling through pages of miscellaneous books with no way to skip pages when just browsing is a nuisance.

All that being said. I certainly prefer Overdrive to nothing at all and have gotten a fair amount of use from it since finding it 6 months ago.
Although I should specify that it is the app on my Kindle Fire I use most. Because the audiobooks won't play in a minimized window on my desktop I use the desktop to browse and borrow and the tablet to read or listen.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 11:36 AM (GDulk)

319 >>> 309 I then point out the general collapse of Venezuela and associated human misery.

They promoted party loyalty over competence in the oil industry. In 2008 they had to buy oil from Russia to meet delivery contracts.

Posted by: fluffy at December 27, 2015 11:36 AM (AfsKp)

320 Actually, what he said was "if they do good deeds and right things long enough, they will be led to Christ and hence welcome in heaven" from what I understand.

____________________

It's amazing how often this Pope is "misunderstood" compared to previous Popes, and the Pope himself almost never "clarifies", it's other people, some might say "apologists".

Any Pope worth his salt could have easily answered the question about how an atheist gets into Heaven. Stop being an atheist is step 1.

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:36 AM (A3kYV)

321 "Trump and Cruz vs. the Imperial Uniparty.

Well, I hope those two guys are really against the IU" eman

O'Reilly is an old friend of Trump .. they hang out. Their discussions lead me to believe Trump is mostly good, not a commie climber that uses and is fully dependent on maintaining raw power of government to sell influence. He made his billions already by making things function profitable, which ain't easy.

Maybe he has bought some influence, but I at least have hope that Trump sees America as a positive entity. He has seen the corruption from another side. But sure, he might disappoint. But he is breaking some eggs of big people that thought only the little people get their eggs broken. or something

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 27, 2015 11:37 AM (5Gpe2)

322 Anyone have any favorites they remember that they would recommend? I'd appreciate anything. Will be stepping away for a few hours, but will check back in later on to see if anyone responds.
Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

Congrats on the little one! I have two daughters I started reading to as soon as we came home from the hospital. It's never too early!

When they're this tine, you can read anything and everything to them. Introduce them to all the sounds of English vocabulary. As for baby books, enjoy the cuddles while slowly and gently turning the pages, so she learns how to treat books.

My sister the schoolteacher bought my girls the best books. I remember the board books of "The Hungry Caterpillar" and a smallish, board book that was a tactile deal, that had a yellow duckling on the cover, with the torso done in soft fuzz. Each page featured a different creature and how they felt. (The shark was sandpaper.)

When the kids were in middle school and we took six-hour car trips to see the grandparents, we listened to audio books like Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events," which is a 13-installment set. They're v. funny and introduce kids to vocabulary words they'd never hear anywhere else. (Nothing off-color!) They're also fun for parents to listen to. Tim Curry narrates some of them, and his are the best.

Roald Dahl's "The Witches," and "The Twits" are two more audio books that are a scream and well worth listening to.

Posted by: RushBabe at December 27, 2015 11:37 AM (/NEnw)

323 Beta chicks have sex with millionaires. Alpha chicks have sex with billionaires.

What do women want? A dump truck full of chocolate covered money.

BTW, I've never had a woman disagree with that.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 27, 2015 11:37 AM (LUgeY)

324 Sword of Honor...... David Kirk good Feudal Japan read

Posted by: qmark at December 27, 2015 11:37 AM (wkUEj)

325 It's amazing how often this Pope is "misunderstood" compared to previous Popes

I think this pope's problem is that he tries to have it both ways. He'll say something very radical and dumb followed up with something orthodox, leaving me to wonder if the translation is up to snuff or if he even really understands what he's saying.

I do strongly suspect that his radical leanings make the press really want him to commit to a certain perspective and leap on anything he says that is along those lines.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (39g3+)

326 308 Dave Barry's "Year in Review"

The first 4-5 months echo 2012's immediately becomes Republican front-runner gag.
Posted by: DaveA at December 27, 2015 11:31 AM (DL2i+)

I've often wondered if Dave Barry is a closet conservative.

In those 'Year in Review' things he does, it seems to me that he goes after Democrats more than he does Republicans. That's just my impression, and I could be wrong.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (EmQQu)

327 The Federalist has put out a post about notable 2015 book releases with some commentary:

http://tinyurl.com/gllqdw4

which some here may find to be of some use.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (gyKtp)

328 My husband is friends with a bunch of wooden boat guys. Throughout the year, they have "messabouts", where they take their boats to different locations. In February, when the weather is bad, we have a library messabout. We rent a room at the Multnomah library in Portland and request a bunch of the old boat books they have as Reference books. One of the guys brings a laptop with a scanner, just to copy articles

Most libraries have some great reference books that seldom see the light of day. I'd recommend getting together with friends and requesting access to some of them.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (Lqy/e)

329 The cleric acting as spokesman for the San Bernardino mosque where terrorist Syed Rizwan Farook worshipped claims he barely knew Farook and didnt know his terrorist wife at all. But phone records and other evidence uncovered by federal investigators cast suspicion on his story.

The FBI has questioned the cleric, Roshan Zamir Abbassi, about his phone communications with Farook including a flurry of at least 38 messages over a two-week span in June, coinciding with the deadly Muslim terrorist attack on two military sites in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Abbassi, a Pakistani, insists he had nothing to do with the shooting at a San Bernardino County government building five miles from the mosque. While he confirms the text messages with Farook, he claims they were merely discussing food donations for his Dar-al-Uloom al-Islamiya of America mosque.

Abbassi maintained at a press conference that he didnt know Farook any better than he knew the reporters in the room. But members of the mosque say Farook was a fixture there. He had been coming to pray and study at least three times a week for two years. In fact, he memorized the Koran at there, something you cannot do without learning Arabic, a subject Abbassi teaches.

Weasel Zippers

hey let's let more muslims in to the USA when they answer the simple question: "Are you a Terrorist?" NO, ok, you can come in. Top vetting by Top men. Sigh

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 11:40 AM (DUoqb)

330 I'm a multi thousandaire - does that count?

Posted by: Weasel at December 27, 2015 11:40 AM (e3bId)

331 Posted by: Lea at December 27, 2015 11:32 AM (FbLkA)

Good lord, how could I forget that??? And Wind in the Willows!

You getting pretty wet? We haven't been too stormy,thank God, but it's coming down steady. Had some tornadoes touch down a few miles form here right before Christmas.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 11:41 AM (vUcz/)

332 Book reading taking a hit next few weeks. I just discovered the Hamilton musical soundtrack. About 2 1/2 hours and it gets better everytime I listen (3 so far). How did I not know about this? (Based on the Chernow biography) I'm even thinking of a trip into NYC.

Posted by: PA Lurker 1139 at December 27, 2015 11:41 AM (bWQw6)

333 Fact is that NO ONE in the Repub establishment came to D'Souza's aid...

No one had his back... no one with political clout would use it on his behalf, which ALLOWED the DOJ to persecute him.

When only ONE side plays politics with the Justice system, and does so successfully... then the common man is screwed, because there is no check and balance on Federal Power EXCEPT the Federal Government itself.

Posted by: BB Wolf at December 27, 2015 11:41 AM (f7rv6)

334 Starting now or is Heaven already filled with Atheists?
Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:32 AM (MQEz6)

Filled with ex-atheists, you mean.

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:42 AM (EmQQu)

335 RushBabe!

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at December 27, 2015 11:43 AM (vUcz/)

336 Will you go for "positive net worth"?

Posted by: chemjeff at December 27, 2015 11:43 AM (FlPNt)

337 336 Will you go for "positive net worth"?
Posted by: chemjeff at December 27, 2015 11:43 AM (FlPNt)

Unless you've got Bill Gates money, Brad Cooper looks and John Holmes dick these days you don't get a second look. Hell, you don't even get a first look.

Posted by: Insomniac - Pale Horse/Death 2016 at December 27, 2015 11:45 AM (kpqmD)

338 I do strongly suspect that his radical leanings make the press really want him to commit to a certain perspective and leap on anything he says that is along those lines.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor

____________

This is the excuse I hear over and over, and I blame the Pope, not the media. You can easily set the record straight.

Instead, the Pope has embraced his "progressive hero" status and only seems to keep doubling down.

A Pope is not supposed to be a heretic in order to get the Left to love him.

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:45 AM (A3kYV)

339 There's a site, likemotherlikedaughter.org , that has some good recommendations for a home library for kids.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 11:45 AM (Lqy/e)

340 >>you getting pretty wet? We haven't been too stormy,thank God, but it's coming down steady. Had some tornadoes touch down a few miles form here right before Christmas.
Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at Decemb

Sporadically! It's been raining for an hour or so. Luckily the tornados have been elsewhere.

Posted by: Lea at December 27, 2015 11:45 AM (FbLkA)

341 I'm a big tent kinda guy. I try to word things in such a way as to make everyone feel like a Catholic, while maintaining plausible deniability. It ain't easy.

Posted by: Pope Frank at December 27, 2015 11:46 AM (B3EeS)

342 Returning Overdrive ebooks -- I do that from the Amazon site.

My preference for Overdrive is partly due to supporting eInk Kindle and the fact that virtually anything Adobe touches (Axis360) is likely to be buggy and have security issues. Here's hoping Adobe Flash is finally dead in 2016 on all platforms.

Overdrive website human factors are pretty crappy. Search, filters, everything.

Re: Zinio speed improvements. I haven't tried it recently. I do occasionally check out the ARRL's "QST" magazine on their web site. (don't remember who supports that ezine) and find it usable on a DSL connection and low-end laptop.

O/T, but interesting story on Fox News site: "Graham leaving GOP puts key evangelical vote at risk for Republican presidential candidates." (That's Franklin Graham, not Lindsey -- didn't want to get your hopes up!) ;-)

Posted by: doug at December 27, 2015 11:47 AM (yfAPD)

343 Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM

Multnomah County Library is one of the systems I was asked to research--they offer some great things to the community. Have you ever used Hoopla?

Posted by: Turd Ferguson at December 27, 2015 11:48 AM (/ciMI)

344 328 My husband is friends with a bunch of wooden boat guys. Throughout the year, they have "messabouts", where they take their boats to different locations. In February, when the weather is bad, we have a library messabout. We rent a room at the Multnomah library in Portland and request a bunch of the old boat books they have as Reference books. One of the guys brings a laptop with a scanner, just to copy articles
=======

The Texas fishing village where I vacation had a wooden boat festival in October, and the museum has a workshop where you can learn to build them. My reading lately has been two little books of local history and life on the island. They're of mainly only local interest, but I've found them charming and interesting. They have some great fishing tips too.

Posted by: stace at December 27, 2015 11:48 AM (CoX6k)

345 Fact is that NO ONE in the Repub establishment came to D'Souza's aid...

______________

My only issue with the D'Souza thing is the guy admitted to everything and he clearly knew campaign law.

I have no doubt he was punished more severely than he should have been, but it's hard to defend someone that does that

I honestly think he was trying to be a martyr in order to raise his profile.

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:49 AM (A3kYV)

346 I haven't read his books, but D'Souza's "2016" movie (which came out in 2012) had the best description and explanation of Obama's mindset I've seen.

And baldilocks' father is easy to identify if you know her real name. I won't repeat it here, since she prefers to comment with a pseudonym, but it's not too hard to find.

Posted by: rickl at December 27, 2015 11:49 AM (sdi6R)

347 I don't really understand what women like. They lie when asked, because the funny, sweet, romantic guy they can trust always gets passed over for the jerk who is exciting and abuses them.

One thing I do know they don't like is a poor guy with bad health and no job.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:49 AM (39g3+)

348 , it seems to me that he goes after Democrats more than he does Republicans. That's just my impression, and I could be wrong.

Reality leans right so comedy leans on leftists.

Posted by: Hank Johnson at December 27, 2015 11:49 AM (DL2i+)

349 Bought the new 10" Kindle Fire on sale. I'm reading neuroscience textbooks, so I needed the larger, color screen for diagrams, pictures and X-rays. (Dating myself with that last one.)

I am very pleased so far. Much lighter than the last generation Fires. And faster.

Of course, I'm also using it to avoid getting up off the couch during football Sundays, when I want to check Twitter or the Football Thread here. In fact, that's probably what's going to put the most miles on it.

Posted by: Oschisms at December 27, 2015 11:50 AM (ZsN9X)

350 The National Parks Service loves it some Banastre Tarleton. General Cornwallis wouldn't have written such a glowing biographical note before Cowpens let alone after. To follow their logic would require Lt Calley to receive the Medal of Honor.

Posted by: shocked at December 27, 2015 11:51 AM (PGh+Q)

351 207 All the tire pressures get low in the winter because the outside temperatures have dropped. Ideal gas law or whatever... it's the primary reason 80K tires never last 80K

Posted by: MAx at December 27, 2015 11:52 AM (LAliD)

352 I honestly think he was trying to be a martyr in order to raise his profile.

Or he knew he messed up and was honest and had enough integrity to admit it.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:52 AM (39g3+)

353 All the tire pressures get low in the winter because the outside temperatures have dropped. Ideal gas law or whatever... it's the primary reason 80K tires never last 80K

Posted by: MAx

EXACTLY!

Posted by: Tom Brady at December 27, 2015 11:53 AM (/ciMI)

354 Most federal prosecutors aren't typical "govt
lawyers." They have plenty to do. Aside from the Civil Rights
Division, the typical fed prosecutor tends to be pretty damn
conservative. Some even post on conservative message boards!

Posted by: mnwxyz at December 27, 2015 11:33 AM (NiHAc)

Conservative state and federal employees, however, do not make policy and only have limited access to decisions of what to pass on and what to pursue how far. And as such are, on the whole, irrelevant.

Think Bob Parr working in the insurance company.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 11:54 AM (q2o38)

355 337 uh oh.

Posted by: Weasel at December 27, 2015 11:54 AM (e3bId)

356 I've often wondered if Dave Barry is a closet conservative.

In those 'Year in Review' things he does, it seems to me that he goes after Democrats more than he does Republicans. That's just my impression, and I could be wrong.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (EmQQu)

I think I've read that he's libertarian.

Posted by: stace at December 27, 2015 11:54 AM (CoX6k)

357 >>>Interesting. I was going to watch this movie later on today, it is a free offering on one of my Roku channels ("TubiTV"). Which one is your father, baldilocks? Drop me an email if you're not comfortable sharing this information publicly.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:20 AM (EmQQu)

No worries. My father is Philip Ochieng. You'll know him by our resemblance and by his Israel hate. No, we are not close.

Posted by: baldilocks at December 27, 2015 11:54 AM (ys2UW)

358 Elbows???

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 11:56 AM (jJRIy)

359 A good Mein Kampf story from an out take (included on the DVD) from the BBC's classic documentary, The World At War. An ordinary German housewife had the habit of claiming after the fact that she had predicted some event. (There ought to be a word for that. My wife has a touch. Perhaps pseudoItoldyousoitis.) After the July 29, 1944 attentat on Hitler's life, she was all I-knew-it-would-happen. This caused the Gestapo's ears to perk up. They went over to have a little chat with her. When they arrived, the Hausfrau was out but her friend was there. The friend was scared to death that Hausfrau would disappear into the Nacht under Nebel. She chatted with the Gestapo agents while waiting for the suspect to arrive. There was a large stack of books one of which had a red cover similar to the official version of Mein Kampf. Although the title could not be seen, one of the agents mistook it for Mein Kampf. It was actually a cook book or something. The friend saw an opportunity and fed them a line of bullying about how all the pseudo-seer ever did was read Mein Kampf morning and night. The Gestapo agents were impressed and left without waiting for the Hausfrau.

Outside of Dachau, a book is woman's best friend. Inside it's too dark to read.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 11:56 AM (Nwg0u)

360 I've often wondered if Dave Barry is a closet conservative.

In those 'Year in Review' things he does, it seems to me that he goes after Democrats more than he does Republicans. That's just my impression, and I could be wrong.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:39 AM (EmQQu)

I think I've read that he's libertarian.
Posted by: stace at December 27, 2015 11:54 AM (CoX6k)

Often, the expressed title of "libertarian" is code in some locations that are overfilled with lefties, for "conservative."

You say it so you don't have to be the spokesman for George Bush, Faux Nooz, and now Donald Trump.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 11:57 AM (Dj0WE)

361 John Varley is one of those men who wishes he could be a woman.�

The phrase "man who wishes he could be a woman" is an oxymoron. That person simply is a woman. To paraphrase Yoda, there is no "wish", only "be".

Posted by: Caitlyn Jenner at December 27, 2015 11:57 AM (B3EeS)

362 This could get dangerous.
http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/ selection-du-weekend-172-39.jpg

I'm pretty sure that violates some ordinance regarding dispensing deadly weapons in vending machines.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, hither and yon at December 27, 2015 11:58 AM (m9V0o)

363 I haven't used Hoopla for reasearch. Husband may have used it while researching Clyde Dillabaugh. One of our guys helps out at the Toledo boathouse on the Oregon coast. He's also participated in the Texas 100 a few times. He's known for burning his boat after the race

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 12:00 PM (Lqy/e)

364 I woke up this morning to the news of the death of Joe Strauss, a sportswriter for the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

I know that would sound like "oh, there goes another lefty," but that wasn't Joe. I don't know his politics.

Read that again: I DON'T KNOW HIS POLITICS.

In other words, he left it out of his work. He was a wry, sarcastic, often cynical, straightforward writer who was both entertaining and informative.

I didn't know he was sick. Leukemia.

Last year, the Post lost another terrific writer, Bryan Burwell. Everyone knew Bryan's politics, and often I avoided his columns because of it.

I looked on Amazon, I see no titles with Joe's name on it. Apparently he's not one of those columnists who needed to put his work into a book. He was very good at his job. He will be missed, and those who knew him personally are deeply saddened today.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 12:01 PM (Dj0WE)

365 You know, I never read to my kids much, although the house is full of books. In fact, my rule was that they should read to me. My youngest was going along with the daycare system of not reading because they said she was too young, but she wanted her own Nintendo GameBoy Color. I said Santa would do it, but she had to prove that she could read to follow the game directions. It worked.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 12:02 PM (MIKMs)

366 I was gifted a Lovecraft hardcover, an amfm transistor radio, andq other goodies. Was hoping for .22 or ammo, but hey, it's tough to find, at least cci.

Posted by: ceraphym at December 27, 2015 12:03 PM (1P77v)

367 Hello always been a lurker but would like to join good reads ace group. Have found previous book suggestions at this thread very helpful and would like more

Posted by: stellabystarlight at December 27, 2015 12:03 PM (JaOVL)

368 "He was trying to arrange donations to help one of his friend's long-shot senate campaign, but ended up going over the personally-allowed $10,000 maximum."

That's an overly generous description of D'Souza's conduct, which involved getting two friends to give a total of $20,000 to the campaign - money that he then reimbursed out of his own pocket.

He didn't carelessly "end up going over" the maximum; he conspired to break the law. And the judge was pretty lenient; federal sentencing guidelines recommend 10-16 months, but D'Souza got 8.

It sounds as if, rather than taking responsibility for a remarkably stupid decision, he's shifting the blame to other people. Kind of Obamaish, I'd say.

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 12:03 PM (jfFvP)

369 And in an age where a no-talent can become an alpha female with a (poor)
sex tape, who are you to tell these chicks they aren't capable of
becoming an alpha female?

We used to call those "alpha females" something else entirely, back in the day. Ain't PC to call 'em that these days I guess.

Posted by: Brother Cavil, hither and yon at December 27, 2015 12:04 PM (m9V0o)

370 ELBOWS??? Come on now.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:05 PM (jJRIy)

371
334 Starting now or is Heaven already filled with Atheists?
Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 11:32 AM (MQEz6)

Filled with ex-atheists, you mean.
Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 11:42 AM (EmQQu)

No, that is not what I meant.

I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 12:05 PM (MQEz6)

372 1. Progressives don't care about ideas but only the acquisition of power
2. Progressives never argue in good faith
3. Progressives (and the Democratic Party in particular) are just another criminal gang

This kind of thing annoys me. Its what Ann Coulter does all the time: all people in a group are identical to its worst membership. There are people who are leftists for all sorts of reasons and ideas.
There's the kid (or someone who never grew up) that simply wants people to be nicer.
There's the hard core radical that wants to overthrow the government.
There's the one-issue leftist who is not very leftist on everything except their pet topic (abortion, homosexual marriage, etc).
There's the anti-Republican leftist who doesn't know much about anything except that he doesn't like the GOP based on what he's heard from Jon Stewart.
There's the guy who is leftist because everyone else he knows is and knows nothing about politics.
...etc

There are tons of different kinds of people out there in any group, and none of them agree on everything.

Further, what he's identifying as soulless, evil corruption usually isn't that so much as such an alien mindset, a worldview so distorted and insane that it can't be understood by a non-leftist, that it seems horrific and deliberately destructive.

Every bad guy thinks he's the hero in his own story. All the worst dictators and monsters in the world though they were doing the right thing.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:06 PM (39g3+)

373 I honestly think he was trying to be a martyr in order to raise his profile.

Or he knew he messed up and was honest and had enough integrity to admit it.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor

______________

If he was honest and had integrity, why do it in the first place?

Again, I really think he did this hoping he would be some sort of "Mandela" for conservatives

Everyone knows you can't give that amount, including him, he took steps to go around it and got caught. Why? Seems like it was a publicity stunt

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:06 PM (A3kYV)

374 I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.

Sure, but one would presume standing in the presence of God would sort of put a dent in the insistence that he does not exist.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:07 PM (39g3+)

375 Oh, I forgot to mention that the Kindle Fires, while Android based, only allow you to buy Amazon-approved apps.

So, while Silk isn't the best tablet based internet browser, it is what you'll be using.

Posted by: Oschisms at December 27, 2015 12:07 PM (ZsN9X)

376 Lot of names I don't recognize here attacking D'Souza, I wonder why that might be?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:09 PM (39g3+)

377 376
Lot of names I don't recognize here attacking D'Souza, I wonder why that might be?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:09 PM (39g3+)

thinking the same thing.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:10 PM (jJRIy)

378
374 I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.

Sure, but one would presume standing in the presence of God would sort of put a dent in the insistence that he does not exist.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:07 PM (39g3+)

Sure, but they are permitted to approach while they still Atheists.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 12:10 PM (MQEz6)

379 For Christmas I got The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. Can't wait to start!

Posted by: FCF at December 27, 2015 12:11 PM (kejii)

380 He's also participated in the Texas 100 a few times. He's known for burning his boat after the race
Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 12:00 PM (Lqy/e)

Is that the Texas Water Safari? 260 miles of extreme unpleasantness.

Posted by: stace at December 27, 2015 12:11 PM (CoX6k)

381 Posted by: stellabystarlight at December 27, 2015 12:03 PM (JaOVL)

Start at this link!

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 27, 2015 12:11 PM (Zu3d9)

382 "if an atheist follows their conscience and doesn't believe in God, they will still be let in Heaven when they die."

I don't know what he said, but there is Bible talk of a resurrection of the just, and one of the unjust. Then there is some kind of gathering of the saints, which often is thought to be those "born again" kind of Christians that make Jesus Lord.

And there is some verse that says even the Gentiles that had not the law, do by nature the things in the law in accusing or excusing each other ... and so on, as Paul debated the Jews. I just don't see clear Bible evidence that says good people are "damned". Being "just" gets them to some kind of heaven in my book, though it may not be as a "joint heir with JC" as their brother. Ace will be somewhere with the just, while some evil judgmental folks pretending to be "Christian" maybe will be raised with the unjust to face the second death sentence.

I don't read or "believe" the Bible much now but looked up that phrase and found this interesting from Romans 3:8. "and not rather as we be slanderously reported and as some affirm we say, let us do evil that good may come, whose damnation is just."

That was written pre Islam, but Mohammad said by terror he conquers. Not slanderously reported ... They really DO evil, allegedly that good may come. Like Democrats, bad people always are looking for an excuse for their evil deeds. The good never arrives from them, always just lies.

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 27, 2015 12:12 PM (5Gpe2)

383 No, that is not what I meant.
I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.
Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 12:05 PM (MQEz6)

Oh, I know, but by the time they get to heaven, they'll no longer be atheists, since they'll be able to see the God they used to think didn't exist.

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

384 Anyway, I was thinking that I would like to use the gift to help build up a collection of classics for our daughter.

-
Take this advice at your own risk because it stretches the definition of classic. There are numerous word-free books for toddlers about Carl the Rottweiler. I think they give kids the idea of "reading" for fun.

http://tinyurl.com/j4x9z2h

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:15 PM (Nwg0u)

385 I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.

Sure, but one would presume standing in the presence of God would sort of put a dent in the insistence that he does not exist.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor

That's essentially the idea of universal salvation. That in the end, everyone gets to go to Heaven.

That's certainly not Catholic doctrine or the doctrine for probably 99% of Christianity, especially considering all the talk about Hell and gnashing of teeth

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:16 PM (A3kYV)

386 I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.
Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 12:05 PM (MQEz6)

Pope Frankie thinks he is all cool and hip with this nonsense.....back in the day, when he was a young commie, it was called Marxist dialectics.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at December 27, 2015 12:16 PM (ej1L0)

387 347 I don't really understand what women like. They lie when asked, because the funny, sweet, romantic guy they can trust always gets passed over for the jerk who is exciting and abuses them.

One thing I do know they don't like is a poor guy with bad health and no job.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 11:49 AM (39g3+)

I know there are women like that because I read about it, but I honestly don't know any women who would put up with any abuse or disrespect from any man for more than 30 seconds.
I only hang out with nice, intelligent people, though, so I guess my experience is limited.

Posted by: stace at December 27, 2015 12:17 PM (CoX6k)

388 It's the inconsistency in the prosecution of campaign violations that is my concern as is the same for any number of issues. There is no doubt you could come up with 10 stories of campaign finance shenanigans with liberals for every one for conservatives.

Hell, the Clinton Foundation is a hundred times more corrupt and more obvious than anything D'Souza did.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 12:17 PM (MNgU2)

389 kind of Obamaish, I'd say

Concern status: elevated

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 12:18 PM (vCyy6)

390 Don't know if it's the same as the Texas Water Safari. Might be a shorter version of the same. I do know that it's "challenging". Andrew has done it several times now.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at December 27, 2015 12:18 PM (Lqy/e)

391 OK if we don't get some elbows soon I might cancel my premium membership.

Enough!

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:18 PM (jJRIy)

392 D'Souza was an invited speaker about four years ago to the university I work at and we had an overflow crowd. One of the first times I have seen them have to scramble and bring in more chairs. I was very impressed especially in how he handled questions.

Received Rick Bragg's A Southern Journey for Christmas, a collection of his short articles from various magazines. He really does an excellent job painting pictures from the South he grew up in. About halfway through and highly recommend it so far.

Posted by: Charlotte at December 27, 2015 12:20 PM (AdaBL)

393 @385

If you don't accept Christ, you are not going anywhere but hell.

Sorry, just the facts.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:20 PM (jJRIy)

394 Lot of names I don't recognize here attacking D'Souza, I wonder why that might be?
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:09 PM (39g3+)

I think D'souza is alright, but I'm not his biggest fan. Yeah, I think he's a bit iffy on some things, and frankly I do think he's carved out a nice financial niche for himself.

I don't understand campaign finance law, and I don't want to. Part of the problem is we have people trying to tell others what they can and cannot do with their own money. For good reasons or bad.

The problem with THIS case, D'souza being convicted, is he WAS very likely pursued because of politics. How many countless people do exactly what he did, and never get pursued?

If you know the answer to that question, you know to what extent how and why this Administration is fascist.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 12:21 PM (Dj0WE)

395 When I talked with Dr. D'Souza back in 2008, I asked him if it was possible the Barack Obama had merely been given an Ivy degree without having attended any classes or even being present. D'Souza, an Ivy grad, absolutely rejected the idea. I'm guessing that his experience--his persecution--has caused him to reconsider that opinion.

BTW, he's a fine man, and I continue to pray for him.
Posted by: baldilocks at December 27, 2015 10:35 AM (ys2UW)

I'm with you, Baldi. I think the Saudis paid for his sheepskin and he never showed up to ANYTHING.

Posted by: RushBabe at December 27, 2015 12:21 PM (/NEnw)

396 Posted by: FCF at December 27, 2015 12:11 PM (kejii)

I enjoyed that one (which I listened to via Overdrive) and would like to see more from that world. Sanderson is very good at creating unusual magic systems, but I'm concerned that Tor seems to be doing to him what they did to Jordan (giant books in multiple long series) and I'd hate for it to end the same way.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 12:21 PM (GDulk)

397 It's the inconsistency in the prosecution of campaign violations that is my concern as is the same for any number of issues. There is no doubt you could come up with 10 stories of campaign finance shenanigans with liberals for every one for conservatives.

Hell, the Clinton Foundation is a hundred times more corrupt and more obvious than anything D'Souza did.
Posted by: Max Rockastansky

_______________

Oh I completely agree, but when a guy purposely breaks the law and admits to it, it's hard to really rally around him.

I believe in tax reform, but if I purposely hide income in order to lower my taxes, not sure if I'm best guy to represent tax reform.

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:22 PM (A3kYV)

398 Sure, but one would presume standing in the presence of God would sort of put a dent in the insistence that he does not exist.
Posted by:�Christopher Taylor

Read the parable of the sheep and the goats. Once you stand before the judge, it's too late to not commit your crimes. Justifying faith comes before death. Universalism and Mormonism are heresies.

Posted by: Mt 25 at December 27, 2015 12:23 PM (B3EeS)

399 Universalism and Mormonism are heresies.
Posted by: Mt 25 at December 27, 2015 12:23 PM (B3EeS)

Yay! Let's point out the damned! What a fun way to spend a Sunday morning.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 12:24 PM (Dj0WE)

400 I see we have returned to the Inferno and the antechamber to Hell where the just pagans/unbelievers and un-Baptized babies are stashed.

Was it JPII or Benedict who said that those who lead a just life, even having never heard of Christ in life, can still gain entry to Heaven?

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 12:24 PM (trblM)

401 If Universal Salvation is true, then who ends up in Hell?

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:25 PM (A3kYV)

402 Lots of humans, here on Earth, seem to think they speak for God.

If you've been there, and come back, I'll listen to what you have to say. If you haven't, your word means next to nothing.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 12:25 PM (Dj0WE)

403 401
If Universal Salvation is true, then who ends up in Hell?

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:25 PM (A3kYV)

Mohammedans?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:27 PM (jJRIy)

404 Take this advice at your own risk because it stretches the definition of classic. There are numerous word-free books for toddlers about Carl the Rottweiler. I think they give kids the idea of "reading" for fun.

http://tinyurl.com/j4x9z2h

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:15 PM (Nwg0u)
__________

When my kids were little we had a rottie. I have been so surprised at how anti big dog people are now. Charming picture books and I can't look at them now without getting all allergy-stricken.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 12:28 PM (MIKMs)

405 I don't really understand what women like

-
Is that a checkbook in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:29 PM (Nwg0u)

406 I will never pretend to know who God will not give entry into heaven. I know who he will and that is all I need to be concerned with. The same should go for the Pope.

Posted by: Max Rockastansky at December 27, 2015 12:29 PM (MNgU2)

407 405
I don't really understand what women like

-

Is that a checkbook in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:29 PM (Nwg0u)

They don't either.

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:29 PM (jJRIy)

408 I have been so surprised at how anti big dog people are now.

-
My dog, who is the sweetest baby in the world, weighs in at 110.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:31 PM (Nwg0u)

409 NYC Will Fine You $250,000 For Misgendering A Transsexual

Breitbart

The NYC Human Rights Commission is very much like the Gestapo.

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 12:33 PM (DUoqb)

410 My dog, who is the sweetest baby in the world, weighs in at 110.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:31 PM (Nwg0u)

We call that a goat.

Posted by: The Goat fucker, Mohamad at December 27, 2015 12:33 PM (jJRIy)

411 Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 12:15 PM (Nwg0u)

Ha! I *did* recognize the name Carl the Rottweiler. At the bottom of that link are the books by Maggie Sefton (cosy mysteries involving my favorite yarn shop in Ft. Collins) whose main character has a Rottweiler named Carl.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 12:34 PM (GDulk)

412 I believe the judge in DSouza's case also ordered him to see a psych. I think he was able to fight that.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 09:30 AM (iQIUe)

If I recall, the judge not only ordered him to see a psychiatrist but ordered him to change psychiatrists when the first one reported that DSouza was not suffering from a mental defect that needed curing. The judge apparently was convinced that anyone who didn't like Obama was very obviously crazy and in need of therapy and possibly meds.

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 12:35 PM (NPofj)

413 This BMW? Lots of maintenance. Have to take it to Church once a week, confess your sins, not covet any other car before it, etc.

And you know what, it gets you to the same places as this hassle-free Volkswagen!

Posted by: What does the Pope have to do to get you into a car today? at December 27, 2015 12:35 PM (ZsN9X)

414 Is this the football thread???

HINT HINT

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:35 PM (jJRIy)

415 NYC Will Fine You $250,000 For Misgendering A Transsexual

Breitbart

The NYC Human Rights Commission is very much like the Gestapo.
Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 12:33 PM (DUoqb)

Please define your terms: What's misgendering? Is that when you call somebody he when he prefers to be called she?

Or do I actually have to do something mean, like make them use the boys room when they really really want to pee in the girls bathroom?

Posted by: BurtTC at December 27, 2015 12:35 PM (Dj0WE)

416 (looks around for pointy elbows)

Posted by: WhatWhatWhat? at December 27, 2015 12:37 PM (HMt16)

417 Why billionaires? I am given to understand that woman do, in fact, frequently fantasize about acquiring expensive material possessions.

Try to contain your shock...

Posted by: Lawrence Person at December 27, 2015 12:37 PM (Jm+BD)

418 Kick off 15 minutes. HELLO?

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:39 PM (jJRIy)

419 Just finished the NYT bestseller about the Dust Bowl, "The Worst Hard Times."

FDR was reelected in 1936, second term, and got somewhere around 60 percent of the popular vote, with the electoral college vote something like 500 to 6.

He finally visited the Dust Bowl region in a trip to Amarillo, TX, in 1938, and gave a speech from the train during a downpour, no umbrella, water dripping off his glasses and nose.

Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 27, 2015 12:39 PM (U6f54)

420 My experience has been that big dogs are much better with children than smaller dogs. The big ones have no fear and are willing to do the 'herding' to keep the kids in line. My big old rottie used to push the kids into separate chairs when they got out of line/hyper. Rotties and Shepherds are my favorites when it comes to little kids and babies. Gentle, no-nonsense and intelligent.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 27, 2015 12:39 PM (MIKMs)

421 I'm beginning to think the Pope is in the wrong line of work.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 27, 2015 12:40 PM (oVJmc)

422 Tschuss komerads. Back to writing I go.

And oh Slimer, Dr. Peter Venkman would like to speak you. Stand still please.

Posted by: Anna Puma at December 27, 2015 12:40 PM (trblM)

423 @393

Re comment about accepting Christ, one of my dearest drinking buddies, a lapsed Catholic, simple refused to give it back up.

He died last year and I'll never get to see him in heaven.

Very sad

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:41 PM (jJRIy)

424 412
If I recall, the judge not only ordered him to see a psychiatrist but ordered him to change psychiatrists when the first one reported that DSouza was not suffering from a mental defect that needed curing. The judge apparently was convinced that anyone who didn't like Obama was very obviously crazy and in need of therapy and possibly meds.
Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 12:35 PM (NPofj)

Any suggestion that the Obama administration is like the old Soviet Union is complete poppycock.

If you disagree, take your meds. Or else.

Posted by: rickl at December 27, 2015 12:42 PM (sdi6R)

425 Posted by: Lawrence Person at December 27, 2015 12:37 PM (Jm+BD)

The problem with expensive material possessions is that they have to be cared for, which is no fun. This then requires enough money to hire other people to do the stupid, boring stuff and then you've added other people (and temptation) to the family circle. It's just not worth it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 12:42 PM (GDulk)

426 Everyone knows you can't give that amount, including
him, he took steps to go around it and got caught. Why? Seems like it
was a publicity stunt
Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:06 PM (A3kYV)

Name me three democrats supporters that have done that time for that crime and then we can talk.

"I think", "I Feel" and "everyone knows" are not sufficient basis for an argument.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 12:44 PM (q2o38)

427 Elbowdern bork!

Posted by: The Swedish Chef at December 27, 2015 12:45 PM (LUgeY)

428 Football thread broke

Posted by: Nip Sip at December 27, 2015 12:46 PM (jJRIy)

429 302 Anyone see the Pope wrote a letter to the newspaper The Independent saying if an atheist follows their conscience and doesn't believe in God, they will still be let in Heaven when they die.

Makes me think of CS Lewis from The Last Battle, to the good calormene: "child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me"

Posted by: bebe's boobs destroy at December 27, 2015 12:47 PM (YuIHf)

430 SPIKE LEE: AMERICANS DON'T CARE ABOUT CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE BECAUSE 'IT'S NOT SANDY HOOK'

-Breitbart

Bwahahahahah!

Posted by: MFM at December 27, 2015 12:48 PM (B3EeS)

431 Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 27, 2015 12:39 PM (U6f54)

I just couldn't finish that one. Egan managed to take the area I grew up in and make it cimpletely alien. I'm willing to concede that time and technology have made that big of a difference, but I suspect that it's because he was looking for a certain type of story that wasn't as representative of the area as he thought.

On the other hand, I was struck by how familiar Seamus Muldoon's characters and Weld county setting were in To Save Us All From Ruin.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at December 27, 2015 12:49 PM (GDulk)

432 Albany has really blown it tax revenues from cigarettes are up in smoke.

New York state cigarette tax collections have plunged by about $400 million over the past five years, according to figures and estimates from the office of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

And New York has also lost $1.3 billion in uncollected state cigarette taxes each year from alternative sales, according to a separate study.

The state is taxing far fewer packs, as smokers evade taxed packs, shop across state lines or buy smokes from Native American merchants to avoid punitive NY taxes. A typical pack in New York costs $10.60 or more, including the nations highest state excise tax, $4.35.

Economics 101...something most liberals never took or never passed

Posted by: Nevergiveup at December 27, 2015 12:49 PM (DUoqb)

433 SPIKE LEE: AMERICANS DON'T CARE ABOUT CHICAGO GUN VIOLENCE BECAUSE 'IT'S NOT SANDY HOOK'

-Breitbart

Or because it's thugs killing thugs (and bystanders).

And we're not supposed to speak ill of the Thugfrican American community.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 27, 2015 12:52 PM (oVJmc)

434
The late not so great and will never be missed, Samir Kuntar:

https://goo.gl/dpEXle

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 12:53 PM (iQIUe)

435 Ms Shyning got a Kindle Paperwhite from our daughter, and has it set up.

We signed on to the free 30 day trial of Kindle Unlimited, but it is looking like the selection, while almost 30 percent of the entire Kindle library offering, is pretty mundane. Very few of the best sellers, and most all the big publishing houses are not on this Unlimited list.

I've a monster of a Kindle library and Ms S can go through it on the laptop, mine, our only PC, and choose which titles she wants on hers. I already put a few on I though she'd like.

So now we have the Kindle content on two iPhones, her iPad, her new Paperwhite, my ancient Kindle, and all can be managed from my laptop.

Anybody have a good Kindle recommendation?

My recommendation for you all, and I have recommended this one before, is "Feed" by M T Anderson. Teenage love story set in the future, one in which the interwebz feed comes to all not via a device, but into YOU, through a chip implant done when you reach the age at which you learn speech.

Rampant consumerism, pop culture gone nuclear, a celebrity as president. Sounds like our future, right?

Posted by: the littl shyning man at December 27, 2015 12:53 PM (U6f54)

436 Spike sounds pissed that everyone is ignoring his little movie.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at December 27, 2015 12:54 PM (oVJmc)

437 Spike Lee is a jerkoff. When we DO bring up gun violence in cities like Chicago, we get accused of racism. When we DON"T we get accused of racism.
It's all about them setting the terms of the debate--just to hit us with the racism bat at all times.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 12:56 PM (Mi9/D)

438 Please define your terms: What's misgendering? Is that when you call somebody he when he prefers to be called she?

Or even when xie wants to be called xie. It's all quite simple, if you put your mind to it.

Posted by: Caitlyn at December 27, 2015 12:58 PM (B3EeS)

439 248 John Varley's Steel Beach. What a fantastic opening few paragraphs.

"In ten years the penis will be extinct." Then a yawn from the narrator, who's heard that before.

the Golden Globe is also excellent, set in that world (and including a cameo by Hildy). I wish he'd write more in the "Eight Worlds" continuity.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at December 27, 2015 12:58 PM (E1IKf)

440 Name me three democrats supporters that have done that time for that crime and then we can talk.

"I think", "I Feel" and "everyone knows" are not sufficient basis for an argument.
Posted by: Kindltot

_____________

Of course, but the Democrats were smart enough to not admit to it.

Want to know why Petraues got convicted and Hillary hasn't? Petraues admitted guilt

More honorable, but a prosecutor can have his way with you then

D'Souza seemed to try and commit a dumb crime that would easily be discovered and then admitted to it. Seems like he was working an angle to me, but I'm 100% convinced that he was made an example out of

The fact that we're talking about it is probably why he did it

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:59 PM (A3kYV)

441 "Name me three democrats supporters that have done that time for that crime and then we can talk."

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 12:44 PM

Here's one. A top donor to Harry Reid went to prison for two years for the same kind of crime:

http://is.gd/RleWcS

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 12:59 PM (jfFvP)

442 Economics 101...something most liberals never took or never passed
Posted by: Nevergiveup

liberals firmly believe they can squeeze people forever.

I'm still amazed California hasn't completely collapsed

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:00 PM (A3kYV)

443 And btw, Spike Lee movies entirely suck now. His first few -- where he wore his Scorsese influence on his sleeve--were watchable. They are awful now. I saw Old Boy last year and it was one of the ugliest movies I ever watched.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 01:01 PM (Mi9/D)

444 Here's another Democrat who went to jail for "straw donor" shenanigans:

http://is.gd/KrgAb8

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 01:05 PM (jfFvP)

445 I honestly don't understand how any Christian can follow the Catholic Church. At what point to be people say "enough"?

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 11:27 AM (A3kYV)

The Catholic Church has had its share of "bad" popes. I consider Frankie one of them. At least he doesn't have a wife and kids stashed somewhere. The "Mafia" of the Vatican brag about engineering Benedict's retirement and knowing who the next pope would be six months before the white smoke hit the air.

Scandalized Catholics like myself are just trying to wait him out -- and hope there's a real pope to follow him. Lots of feeling that he could be the last, and that thundering sound you hear are the Four Horsemen.

Posted by: RushBabe at December 27, 2015 01:05 PM (/NEnw)

446 Weird, why would all four get low?

Did you fill them up on a warm day and now it's freezing?

Posted by: t-bird at December 27, 2015 01:06 PM (ZxmMG)

447 Another case. That makes three!

http://is.gd/JvDprB

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 01:07 PM (jfFvP)

448 A musical where the woman deny sex is not exactly a serious approach to gun violence in Chicago.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 01:09 PM (iQIUe)

449 @437 Yes, you can't win, can you? Sometimes they are so obnoxious, so vile, it ceases to anger and just makes one laugh, like laughing at Beavis and Butthead, or Hitler in Danger 5.

Posted by: MFM at December 27, 2015 01:10 PM (B3EeS)

450 302, no organized religion is without it's share of flawed human beings in positions of power.
Francis is misguided and even if his intentions are good and his heart is in the right place ( as I grudgingly believe), he's been a disaster. Still, he's only the current Pope. There will be another. And another after that.
Being a member of a 2,000 year old institution with it's fingerprints all over Western Civilization and Culture forces the faithful to take the long view....

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 01:11 PM (Mi9/D)

451 I was referring to the Pope allegedly saying Atheists could get in by being good folks.

Sure, but one would presume standing in the presence of God would sort of put a dent in the insistence that he does not exist.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at December 27, 2015 12:07 PM (39g3+)

Sure, but they are permitted to approach while they still Atheists.

Posted by: eman at December 27, 2015 12:10 PM (MQEz6)

I may be wrong because I am Southern Baptist and so may not be up on all the "rules" of popedom, but I don't think the pope gets to contradict the Bible on this issue:John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 01:12 PM (NPofj)

452 The Catholic Church has had its share of "bad" popes. I consider Frankie one of them. At least he doesn't have a wife and kids stashed somewhere. The "Mafia" of the Vatican brag about engineering Benedict's retirement and knowing who the next pope would be six months before the white smoke hit the air.

Scandalized Catholics like myself are just trying to wait him out -- and hope there's a real pope to follow him. Lots of feeling that he could be the last, and that thundering sound you hear are the Four Horsemen.
Posted by: RushBabe

________________

I would honestly have a lot more "good will" towards a corrupt Pope that say had a mistress on the side than I would one that it telling the world atheists will go to heaven.

It's not just the Pope, the entire Vatican leadership seems to have been hijacked

At some point, they need to be called out as heretics and people vote with their feet

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:15 PM (A3kYV)

453
The fact that we're talking about it is probably why he did it

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 12:59 PM (A3kYV)

Logic fail. Nice try though. Go back to S___thing A___ul

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 01:17 PM (q2o38)

454 So just to recap ...

"Name me three democrats supporters that have done that time for that crime and then we can talk."

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 12:44 PM

#1: http://is.gd/RleWcS

#2: http://is.gd/KrgAb8

#3: http://is.gd/JvDprB

D'Souza's case involved less money than these three, but his crime was the same - using "straw donors" to evade the $10,000 cap. As for penalties, #1 got two years in prison and a $50,000 fine. #2 got a $500,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service, though no prison time. #3 faced a possible one year in prison, but I can't track down what the actual sentence was.

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 01:18 PM (jfFvP)

455 451. "popedom" Lol.

Seriously, I understand what you saying, and not that I'm an expert either, but I think it has to do with "outreach." Maybe Francis believes that if he doesn't rail against them, threatening fire and brimstone, he'll move atheists closer to Christ, closer to his (Francis') church. I don't agree with this; it't like Obama wanting Muslims to to say to themselves, "Hey,these infidels aren't so bad! Let's not kill them." I'm not comparing the friendly atheist next door to Islamic terrorists. Just saying that in both cases the extended olive branch will be refused....

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 01:21 PM (Mi9/D)

456 So just to recap ...

"Name me three democrats supporters that have done that time for that crime and then we can talk."

Posted by: Kindltot at December 27, 2015 12:44 PM

#1: http://is.gd/RleWcS

#2: http://is.gd/KrgAb8

#3: http://is.gd/JvDprB

D'Souza's case involved less money than these three, but his crime was the same - using "straw donors" to evade the $10,000 cap. As for penalties, #1 got two years in prison and a $50,000 fine. #2 got a $500,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service, though no prison time. #3 faced a possible one year in prison, but I can't track down what the actual sentence was.
Posted by: sauropod

_________________

Obviously we should rally around these clowns for breaking the law according to Kindltot

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:22 PM (A3kYV)

457 Seriously, I understand what you saying, and not that I'm an expert either, but I think it has to do with "outreach." Maybe Francis believes that if he doesn't rail against them, threatening fire and brimstone, he'll move atheists closer to Christ, closer to his (Francis') church. I don't agree with this; it't like Obama wanting Muslims to to say to themselves, "Hey,these infidels aren't so bad! Let's not kill them." I'm not comparing the friendly atheist next door to Islamic terrorists. Just saying that in both cases the extended olive branch will be refused....
Posted by: JoeF

Unbelievers are always welcome into Christ, that has been a central teaching of Christianity

The idea though that somebody gets to go through their whole life as an athiests and then gets Heaven after death is a dangerous teaching that will probably lead to more people simply ignoring religion altogether because according to the Pop, there is no consequences

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:24 PM (A3kYV)

458 @451, Catholics do not believe sola scriptura is possible, so they could in theory be required to believe an infallible pronouncement from the pope even if it seemed to contradict the Bible on its face. Infallible is a Catholic term of art, so I'm not sure if this pronouncement qualifies.

I do find it revealing that under this pope, conservative Catholics must retreat to the position that the church (ie RCC) is necessary for salvation, even if there are occasional "bad" popes.

Posted by: sola at December 27, 2015 01:25 PM (B3EeS)

459 not necessarily the same "no man comes to the Father", where JC as son will be at the right hand of God. That would seem the best position, in the immediate "family" with JC as brother. There are even movies about those souls being taken while others remain for tribulation of some such. But there is still a resurrection of the just and one for the unjust.

And what about our pets ... do they get a special dispensation crossing the rainbow bridge? ha. Well ... buying indulgences won't get one in, but maybe running a blog that fights evil ... the justice league all get in some sort of good afterlife, or in paradise? JC told one guy on the cross next to him he'd be in paradise ... he wasn't a Christian ... not sure if he was a jew, or just a good guy.

Posted by: Illiniwek at December 27, 2015 01:28 PM (5Gpe2)

460 457---I agree with you on that. That's why I believe Francis is a bad pope. He's not thinking this through. They are operating under false assumptions that being "nice" will increase membership. All it does is drive the traditionalists away--or insane.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 01:29 PM (Mi9/D)

461 Fact is that NO ONE in the Repub establishment came to D'Souza's aid...
----------------

Heh.

Posted by: Scooter Libby at December 27, 2015 01:29 PM (oFSUK)

462 Seriously, I understand what you saying, and not
that I'm an expert either, but I think it has to do with "outreach."
Maybe Francis believes that if he doesn't rail against them,
threatening fire and brimstone, he'll move atheists closer to Christ,
closer to his (Francis') church. I don't agree with this; it't like
Obama wanting Muslims to to say to themselves, "Hey,these infidels
aren't so bad! Let's not kill them." I'm not comparing the friendly
atheist next door to Islamic terrorists. Just saying that in both cases
the extended olive branch will be refused....

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 01:21 PM (Mi9/D)

I understand what you are saying but, as with condonation of homosexual behavior by some churches (cough Episcopal cough), I do not think the church does sinners any favors by encouraging them to persist in sin. In fact, I think they are putting people's souls in danger by doing this.

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 01:30 PM (NPofj)

463 I do find it revealing that under this pope, conservative Catholics must retreat to the position that the church (ie RCC) is necessary for salvation, even if there are occasional "bad" popes.
Posted by: sola

_____________

Atheists can go to heaven after they die, but only those that are in good standing with the Catholic Church can have salvation.

Glad I don't have to do those mental gymnastics

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:31 PM (A3kYV)

464 I honestly don't understand how any Christian can follow the Catholic Church.

Are you a former Catholic/ If not, I'm curious why would you ask that. It seems a rather provocative thing to ask. I'm not a RC but I'll tell you why the people I know who are Catholics do. Because they believe Popes come and go, that Christ founded the church, that Peter was the first Pope and the only valid method of receiving the real presence in the Lord's supper is in the eucharist-through duly ordained clergy in the RCC. What Pope Francis says about Global warming or immigrant does not effect the efficacy of or the Eucharist or the benefits received through confessions. They also like the high place given to Mary.

But please, let's not beat up fellow Christians in the body of Christ.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 01:33 PM (qES5k)

465 sauropod, Harvey Whittemore was a lobbyist who was either trying to buy a powerful sitting Senator, or else trying to buy him off.

D'Souza was a childhood friend of his Senatorial candidate, and expected little in return if she won besides a hug.

Where's curious the gotham-princess? At least her trolling bullshit was fun to read at times

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 01:36 PM (vCyy6)

466
Had a itty bitty earthquake. Been having a lot of those lately. Meaningless...

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at December 27, 2015 01:36 PM (iQIUe)

467 But please, let's not beat up fellow Christians in the body of Christ.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 01:33 PM (qES5k)

Seriously... Francis is no more an everyday Catholic's fault than Tammy Fay Bakker is the fault of an average fundamentalist Protestant.

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 01:38 PM (NPofj)

468 But please, let's not beat up fellow Christians in the body of Christ.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

__________

Sorry, but since when are Christians not allowed to call people out for saying heretical things?

It's a big news story and pretty major sea change for pope to say something like that.

if it offends certain Catholics to contradict the Pope, tough shit

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:39 PM (A3kYV)

469 Seriously... Francis is no more an everyday Catholic's fault than Tammy Fay Bakker is the fault of an average fundamentalist Protestant.
Posted by: redbanzai

The difference is, people are allowed to leave her Church

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:39 PM (A3kYV)

470 In practice the Pope rarely invokes infallibility. "With great power comes great responsibility" - the book of Spiderman, 2:4

Benedict XVI was a full-on theologian before slipped into those sandals. Whenever he said something about doctrine he could back it up.

But he was always humble enough to say "this is just my interpretation"; he never rammed it through Canon Law.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 01:40 PM (vCyy6)

471 The difference is, people are allowed to leave her Church

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 01:39 PM (A3kYV)

I haven't noticed the Catholic Church putting people to death for apostasy as the muslims do so maybe you could back off the over the top hyperbole.

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 01:43 PM (NPofj)

472 Thanks to OM for a year's worth of pleasure. I'll be dropping off the radar for a couple of months as I make a trip to Kenya. With luck, I'll be able to get to the book thread - and at a very reasonable 5PM, if so.

Happy New Year to all the 'rons and 'ettes!

Posted by: Long Running Fool at December 27, 2015 01:45 PM (x/Yak)

473 God speed in Kenya, Fool. Let us know if you find a village that's missing its idiot, it'll explain some stuff in DC

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 01:47 PM (vCyy6)

474 You didn't "call out" anyheresy, or if you were you were doing a poor job of it, Slimer You were saying, Why would anyone follow the Catholic Church?" What "heresy" were you critiquing as to all the faithful Catholics who post here. Are you saying they have to agree with everything the Pope says "off the cuff" If you are, that isn't RC doctrine.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 01:51 PM (qES5k)

475 The difference is, people are allowed to leave her Church

People leave the church all the time They are neither beheaded nor excommunicated.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 01:53 PM (qES5k)

476 An that article is a poor rendition, i expect. of what Pope Francis said, but since I don't read Italian I can't read the original article

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 01:55 PM (qES5k)

477 Seriously... Francis is no more an everyday Catholic's fault than Tammy Fay Bakker is the fault of an average fundamentalist Protestant.
Posted by: redbanzai

The difference is, people are allowed to leave her Church
Posted by: Slimer

I haven't noticed the Catholic Church putting people to death for apostasy as the muslims do so maybe you could back off the over the top hyperbole.
Posted by: redbanzai

____________________

If 1.2 billion Protestants were members of tammy faye bakker's "church" I would say it absolutely is representative of Protestants

And the Catholic Church tells its people that that leaving the Catholic Church has eternal consequences, ever heard of excommunication?

Posted by: Slimer at December 27, 2015 02:01 PM (A3kYV)

478 This book thread has taken some very strange turns.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 02:08 PM (jR7Wy)

479 This book thread has taken some very strange turns.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Literate Savage at December 27, 2015 02:08 PM (jR7Wy)

It has kinda turned from the book thread to the Book thread:-P

Posted by: redbanzai at December 27, 2015 02:10 PM (NPofj)

480 Staggering in after a bday lunch out with family where I think I ate my weight in deep fried food.
Just have to say this before I slip into a post-glutton coma:
the book thread is the best

Posted by: @votermom at December 27, 2015 02:14 PM (cbfNE)

481 469, people can and do leave the Catholic Church every day. Some come back--sometimes after decades.
No one is going to the stake.
Come on, all Christians are brothers in Christ. We're all the same on the most important points. There are just differences in style. Some like the fire and brimstone preachin'; some like the pageantry, ceremony and history that the RCC offers.
I respect all believers.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 02:23 PM (Mi9/D)

482 477--excommunication is possible for those who leave the Church. But you have to go above and beyond to actually receive that penalty. If you simply stop going to Church, no one's going to bother you. The door is always open.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 27, 2015 02:26 PM (Mi9/D)

483 What did I get for Christmas? Well, I got fired from my hotel job after working there 14 years. It was a combination of ignorance on my part (after doing everything I knew what to do with what I had at the time) which led to a misunderstanding between me and one of our more important clients, which he complained about for several more days until I got the old heave-ho, despite my offer to make amends, financially speaking. I had also asked our general manager if I could work in another department instead, since I've helped out in just about every department at the hotel, but no go. Not in the budget, he said.

Which really hurts because for about the last 10 years or so, I've been the unofficial historian of the hotel. While it's on the National Register of Historic Places, nobody has seen fit to research the hotel's history -- except me. I've collected a lot of historical artifacts over the years, including keys, menus, silver service, postcards, and more. If any guest wanted to know the hotel's history, I could give it to them at the drop of a hat. But despite my pleas over the years, I could never get the management to take an interest in preserving the history of the hotel, not even the sales staff.
One time, I got our head chef interested enough to prepare a period menu from my hotel menus of the 1880s and 1890s on the hotel's anniversary, but again, management just wasn't interested.

In a way, this happened at the best possible time, because not only did I get my last (partial) paycheck at the end of last week, but also my bonus and four weeks of vacation time I hadn't used. Ironically, a long time back I had put in a vacation request for this coming week (one of my favorite times of the year), so I'm going to make it a kind of working vacation.

How? Well, since the beginning of this year (OK, around the end of February and beginning of March), I've been working on a book about my 14 years in the hotel business. (Tentative title: The Wedding Psycho, The Nude on the Staircase, And Other Hotel Stories.) Progress has been sporadic but steady up till now, and I've been going to the local library and writing about 3-4 hours nearly every day. I've been able to accomplish a lot in the last week, and if I can keep up my current pace, I think I should have enough for a book around the end of next February, about a year after I started.

I have also considered writing and publishing a kind of souvenir book on the history of the hotel on my own, illustrated with my historical artifacts. I also have a couple of ideas for shorter articles about the hotel as well, maybe as part of a larger book about the historic hotels in our area.

But please don't forget I am also looking for another job at any hotel that will have me. I've already received a few leads from some friends and co-workers (who have also stepped up to provide references for me, God bless them). So I also ask you, my fellow Morons, for your prayers and advice, not only for my job search, but for my future writing ventures.

I was hoping to tell you more about my current historical reading experiments, but this post has gone on long enough. I'll save those for later.

Posted by: DynamiteDan at December 27, 2015 02:51 PM (BaDMP)

484 Catholic dogma is very - I don't know the word - voluminous? And the weight of written and unwritten tradition spans millenia. From Peter to the current Pope and the local Parish priest it is an unbroken line.
So, the current Pope, he's kind of a hippy dippy, eh. We had a couole of very good Popes in a row so we were kind of due for a not so good one.
I still think Benedict's abdication and Francis installation was a coup.

Posted by: @votermom at December 27, 2015 02:54 PM (cbfNE)

485 This book thread has taken some very strange turns.

Heh.

I make no claim to be any good as a theologician nor scriptural scholar, but I've read the Gospels. Also, I sure don't want to argue either about the Pope's latest mumblings, nor argue with those on here who Absolutely Know the Truth Without Question. And FenelonSpoke seems to have the Catholic question under control, so I leave that to FS.

Yet I can't help chiming in with my 2 mites' worth on the question of salvation and Jesus.

Jesus plainly said, no one comes to the Father except by him, but he wasn't long on explanation of exactly what that meant. Some folks believe it means you have to "believe in" Jesus in this life in order to be saved. And by "believe in," they mean this, that, and the other. Okay, that's one interpretation.

However, I notice that when Jesus was asked, what must one do to be saved, he gave a proper Jewish reply: keep the commandments. Nothing in the commandments about how one has to "believe in" Jesus, much less the other basics of Fundamentalism. That top commandment is pretty clear, though.

Talking about judgment, though, Jesus said things like, by their fruits will you know them, and we are forgiven as we forgive, and we are judged not by our words or deeds but by what's in our hearts.

In the confusion in which so many children of God on this out-of-kilter earth are trapped, who will judge the heart of another? Who can say what it really means to be a believer? Most of the atheists with whom I've talked, when they explain why they don't believe, I have to agree, I wouldn't believe in that God either.

There may be true, unsalvagable atheists who don't want to know, who don't want to go, and who thus suffer the fate of the grave, but many, perhaps most, may be more what we would call agnostics, could we see their true heart - people who might believe and follow truth and righteousness if they only heard it presented to them clearly, with all their confusing sophistry somehow kept at bay.

Salvation, seems t'me, is a choice given to God's free-will children, but in this life, many must not be able to make the clear, fully-informed choice of eternal salvation - they simply haven't been presented with the truth in a clear way to make their full-hearted choice possible. What loving, forgiving parent would eternally condemn the child for being, not willfully iniquitous, but sinning and erring in confusion of understanding?

This brings up a necessary kind of purgatorial afterlife, where that maximal question can be properly presented to a surviving soul, and the final choice be freely made. That would also mean the candidate for Paradise is not in Paradise yet, but some lesser "heaven" where the errors of mortal life can be ironed out. There's the reason for the conjecture of a transitional stage.

Frankly, I hope there's some post-graduate level, because for all my belief, my own faith seems less than a quark, much less a grain of mustard seed. I can't say I've qualified - indeed, with all acceptance of forgiveness, I seem to myself grossly unworthy. I need more training-up. If you don't, well, good for you.

Rather than searching for some grand conclusion to these armchair noodlings, let me just quote from the Book of Only the Punchline:

"Shh! They think they're the only ones here."

Posted by: mindful webworker - the o logically at December 27, 2015 02:56 PM (Rt8Uf)

486 DynamiteDan prayers and good luck.
Look me up for a review when you are ready to publish.

Posted by: @votermom at December 27, 2015 02:57 PM (cbfNE)

487 DynamiteDan, sounds like your book is a great idea. Good luck with that, and on the job search. I suppose some interim magazine articles could help fund the book writing as well.

Posted by: mindful webworker - his torically hys terical at December 27, 2015 03:04 PM (Rt8Uf)

488 239
Are there any radios available that are tiny enough to be fit into somebody's fillings?

Sure. They're a major plot point in one episode of the well-known documentary series NCIS and a minor one in the well-known documentary film Real Genius.

Posted by: Anachronda at December 27, 2015 03:32 PM (o78gS)

489 Campaign violation or no, has anyone been court-ordered to get their head 'straightened' for a conviction like this? Anyone normal?

I think the world of D'Souza. Too bad he didn't get the full impact of David Horowitz's pamphlet he published in '09. It really all is about power, and in order to gain it all in this country, America must be hollowed out and then crumbled. Glad he's getting it now.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/Rules%20for%20Revolution%20%282%29.pdf

Posted by: RosalindJ at December 27, 2015 03:34 PM (RDenq)

490 I think I'll write a series of books about a cool as a cucumber African American private eye. I'll call him Black Ice, the Slippery Detective.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at December 27, 2015 03:38 PM (Nwg0u)

491 ANACHRONDRA.
HAVE YOU BEEN TOUCHING YOURSELF?

Posted by: GOD at December 27, 2015 03:39 PM (vjWed)

492 43 I like Alistair Begg very much.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at December 27, 2015 09:21 AM (qES5k)
================================================

There's something about his Scottish lilt and phrasing, his use of poetry and musical lyrics as illustrations, that really make the presentation of familiar passages be seen in a fresh way. I always come away feeling like I've been challenged to think, really think, about the Scriptures.
Posted by: grammie winger, Unto us a Son is given at December 27, 2015 09:25 AM (dFi94)

================================

I have the great good fortune to get to listen to Begg's sermons every morning commuting to my day job, followed by John MacArthur's. Begg is a great exhortationist, while MacArthur is one of the core Reform Baptist theologians working today.

Anyone looking for a Bible to study over the upcoming year would do well in obtaining a MacArthur Study Bible, he is noted primarily as a NT theologian, but his OT commentary is excellent as well. It's available in several different translations; I wen through his NKJV this year, and my Christmas gift to myself was the ESV to study next year.

Posted by: John the Baptist at December 27, 2015 04:16 PM (MPH+3)

493 66 Pam Geller in a bikini. I must admit,I have no idea what the article is about.

http://tinyurl.com/hqng748

Holy crap. She is 57 years old.
Bravery, brains, and smoking hot to boot.

Posted by: Bigsmith at December 27, 2015 04:24 PM (m4vcY)

494
#1: http://is.gd/RleWcS
#2: http://is.gd/KrgAb8
#3: http://is.gd/JvDprB

D'Souza's case involved less money than these three

That's putting it mildly. All of these involved more money than D'Souza by a factor of 10. They're not even remotely comparable.

And I wonder if any of these donors were ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation?

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 05:03 PM (EmQQu)

495 My son gave me "The Martian" for Christmas. Now I won't have to waste time or $$ in a movie theater. I always knew he is a good kid.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at December 27, 2015 05:51 PM (O4NI/)

496 I think that picture was taken of Ms Geller when she was 45ish. I think it's from that infamous "for our troops" video she did then.

But yes - hot.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 06:23 PM (6FqZa)

497 Posted by: Dave S. at December 27, 2015 10:17 AM (mhkbv)

My oldest loved reading until our wonderful school system showed him how to make reading tedious, boring, empty, and meaningless. The "Animorphs" series were what finally got him interested again. Kid heroes (boys and girls), crime fighting, low-level sci-fi. I read 'em too, just because, and they weren't bad. A couple were actually kinda good.

Posted by: Late to the party, but I got beer at December 27, 2015 06:24 PM (O4NI/)

498 I still haven't figured out how to convert the tini url thing so just googled Pamela to find her picture at Britbart, don't know what Muzzies are in arms about there is nothing wrong with her.

Posted by: Skip at December 27, 2015 06:53 PM (C1Suc)

499 So since this is the book thread and while I'm watching the movie series and have read all the books anyway don't the kids know in the Harry potter series that to destroy a horcrux all they need to do to destroy magic is throw It into a volcano.

Posted by: Skip at December 27, 2015 06:57 PM (C1Suc)

500 Dave S,
Hope the suggestions for your daughter's future library are helpful. Let us know what you think of them.

You mentioned Dickens in your original post. Try to avoid David Copperfield as an intro to his works. We had to read it in 4th grade with little context or explanation. It was deadly dull and turned me off to Dickens for the better part of 40 years. His Christmas stories would be a better place to start.

Posted by: JTB at December 27, 2015 07:25 PM (FvdPb)

501 Dave S., sorry I'm late to the party, but I can pretty well second all the recs so far. Thorton W. Burgess is another classic children's author whose works are well worth adding--kind of similar to The Wind in the Willows, but full of good short stories and scientific fact mixed in with the fiction. And for introducing Dickens, I'd also suggest his The Life of Our Lord as long as you're willing to talk through some of the points Dickens, as a Victorian with (realistic and justified) concerns about social welfare, leaves out or presents in a way that could lead to a prog interpretation.

Also good for young readers: Encyclopedia Brown and Hank the Cowdog.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at December 27, 2015 07:45 PM (iuQS7)

502 Books for the kids (obviously the young kids), Dr. Seuss.

Posted by: weirdflunky at December 27, 2015 07:52 PM (HGHz1)

503 Late to the party: The "Animorphs" series were what finally got him interested again. Kid heroes (boys and girls), crime fighting, low-level sci-fi. I read 'em too, just because, and they weren't bad. A couple were actually kinda good.

All three of our kids enjoyed the series, and Milady and I read them, too, "just to see what they were reading," and because, yes, there was some good stuff.

Avoid the final book, though. Looks like the author either resented being told to end the series, came to hate the characters, or just gave up on it. In any case, we all wished we'd not read it. YMMV

Posted by: mindful webworker - satisfied gastric exhalation at December 27, 2015 08:02 PM (ACs58)

504 499 don't the kids know in the Harry
potter series that to destroy a horcrux all they need to do to destroy
magic is throw It into a volcano.

The fire in Mt. Doom only worked on the One Ring because it was the fire from whence it came. Throwing the ring into some other fire would only encase it in rock until some future archaeologist excavates it, Pompeii-like, and unleashes the evil once again.

Horcruces presumably work the same way.

Posted by: Anachronda at December 27, 2015 08:03 PM (o78gS)

505 465: "Harvey Whittemore was a lobbyist who was either trying to buy a powerful sitting Senator, or else trying to buy him off. D'Souza was a childhood friend of his Senatorial candidate, and expected little in return if she won besides a hug."

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 01:36 PM

Whatever the motive, the crime was the same. The law doesn't distinguish between using straw donors to help a childhood friend and using them to buy off a senator. There's no "good intentions" clause in the statute.

494: "All of these involved more money than D'Souza by a factor of 10. They're not even remotely comparable."

Posted by: OregonMuse at December 27, 2015 05:03 PM

I don't think the amount of money is relevan. Bank robbery is equally illegal whether you get away with $1,000 or $100,000.

Kindltot asked for three Dems who used straw donors and were punished. I found three within a couple of minutes (just Google "straw donor"). This destroys D'Souza's self-serving narrative. I still like some of his books, but he needs to take responsibility for his own actions.

Posted by: sauropod at December 27, 2015 08:04 PM (jfFvP)

506 491
ANACHRONDRA.

HAVE YOU BEEN TOUCHING YOURSELF?

Posted by: GOD

Always. But, then, you knew that already.

Posted by: Anachronda at December 27, 2015 08:05 PM (o78gS)

507 Books for the kids (obviously the young kids), Dr. Seuss.
Posted by: weirdflunky
------------

Any Golden Book published prior to 1960 or so. Just last week, I re-read the tattered copy of the Golden Book 'The Night Before Christmas'. Been in the family since ~1950. Lavishly illustrated.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 27, 2015 08:33 PM (n22zQ)

508 "Mein Kampf" is objectively a "well written" book in that it achieves its intended effect. It makes people crazy in just the way the author was hoping. So too the Koran. Both are "The Testament of Doctor Mabuse."
Billionaires are free men. Millionaires and multimillionaires are potentially not. If a billionaire is hanging out with you it's because he wants to, not because he's secretly trying to do some sort of social climbing. that's the psychological hook, I think.

Posted by: Ben Ghazzara at December 27, 2015 08:36 PM (n02lQ)

509 "Mein Kampf" is objectively a "well written" book in that it achieves its intended effect. It makes people crazy in just the way the author was hoping. So too the Koran. Both are "The Testament of Doctor Mabuse."

Or the "King In Yellow". Or the "Kitab al-Azif li-Abd Allah al-Hazred" which was never meant for the land of the living.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at December 27, 2015 09:10 PM (6FqZa)

510 I didn't read the comments, so I'm not commenting on them. I don't believe that reading teaches us how to talk. I believe reading teaches us how to read and how to write so that readers will understand us. I believe that talking as we learn to read and understand will lead to ass whoopin's from the majority of society. The vernacular of intellectuals (or those of us that pretend to be) is irritating at best and in infuriating at worst to the average reading human. If you don't believe that you could possibly be putting on airs, you definitely are. We should take for granted that most, if not all, of our society can read. And we should accept that most will read things that they wouldn't begin to say. But we should also know that if you teach your child to talk as the people they read talk, they will be forever nerds in adolescent society. The worst time to be that.In adulthood, you can choose to be a nerd or not. Let them choose their ass whoopin.

Posted by: ralph at December 27, 2015 10:51 PM (KqnY1)

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