Sunday Morning Book Thread 02-21-2016: The Original Jurist [OregonMuse]

Livraria da Vila in São Paulo, Brazil

Good morning to all of you morons and moronettes and bartenders everywhere and all the ships at sea. And to all you young lovers wherever you are, we hope your problems are few. 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.

I am an addict of books. You can have all the newspapers, periodicals, movies, radio (and TV). The enduring culture of mankind is in books.
--Morris Ernst

Welcome

So I would like to extend a laurel -- and hearty handshake -- to all the n00bs who have come here to this Smart Military Blog™ (that's an "in" joke) within the last few days. By way of background, ace's Friday and Saturday nights are usually spent out late, hobo hunting, quaffing ValuRite/Pine-Sol cocktails, or both, and so on weekends, he likes to "sleep in". And since nature abhors a vacuum, content never sleeps, and blogs gotta blog, this gave rise to a number of topical threads posted in his absence by ace's cob loggers or others, like me, who've managed to finagle the keys to the blog from ace. So on weekends, you'll see a food thread, a gardening thread, maybe a gun thread, a college football thread (seasonal, of course) and an NFL thread or two (also seasonal) on Sundays. And I've heard that there's even a pet thread now.

And then there's this one, the AoSHQ Sunday Morning Book Thread, which has been a tradition since - oh, I don't know, I think since about 2009. I, OregonMuse, am your host and I've been the proprietor of the book thread since 2012. I usually post it no later than 9am Eastern Time.

With that in mind, there are some rules you need to remember. They're tough, but fair:

1. Pants: Wear 'em. Unlike the more relaxed standards elsewhere on AoSHQ, I run a classy joint, so that means pants. And no fair trying to sneak by with tutus or assless chaps. And whatever you wear must not frighten small children.

2. Books: Read 'em. The life of the SMBT resides chiefly in the comments, and the material I provide is for the facilitation of book discussions. I encourage discussion of all aspects of the written word, books, poetry, plays, and the writing of same. And even though you'll run into a number of actual, published authors, the book thread is not for writers only. Most of the on-topic comments are about books that are being read, recommended, and reviewed. So what you do is to read a book, and write a comment about it. If you like it, praise it. If you don't, complain about it. Or you can just skim the comments looking for good recommendations.

3. Trolls: Don't feed 'em. This is easy, because we hardly ever get any on the book thread. I think this is mostly because they're still hiding under the bed so their Mom won't drag them off to church. And most of our low-watt trolls can't read, anyway, so they generally like to be elsewhere.

The book thread e-mail address is included at the bottom of every book thread in a visually "encrypted" format. This is in order to escape detection by robot e-mail address scoopers used by spammers. I can be contacted via that address.

And so, enough intro. Let's get started.

The Mold Is Broken

The news of Antonin Scalia's death came last Saturday after the SMBT was finished and in the can, so I didn't get the chance to mention it. All I will say about his passing is that the news hit me in the gut like Andrew Breitbart's did, a double whammy, not only the pain of losing a good man and a valiant warrior, but also with the additional sadness that I just don't see how any judge with anything close to his views and intellectual acumen will ever again be confirmed to the Supreme Court, not in my lifetime.

When it came to interpreting the constitution, Scalia was an "originalist", which definition wikipedia lists as "the view that interpretation of a written constitution or law should be based on what reasonable persons living at the time of its adoption would have declared the ordinary meaning of the text to be." There are actually more than one variety or originalism, but I'm not going to split the hairs that finely. The truth is, Scalia was one kind, and not another. But for the purposes of this discussion, I will just say that Scalia was an originalist and call it good. The wiki page on originalism contains a good discussion of its fine points.

Scalia explains how this view applies to legal interpretation in his book A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law, in which he

...proposes that we abandon the notion of an everchanging Constitution and pay attention to the Constitution's original meaning. Although not subscribing to the "strict constructionism" that would prevent applying the Constitution to modern circumstances, Scalia emphatically rejects the idea that judges can properly "smuggle" in new rights or deny old rights by using the Due Process Clause, for instance. In fact, such judicial discretion might lead to the destruction of the Bill of Rights if a majority of the judges ever wished to reach that most undesirable of goals.

As far as I'm concerned, another term to describe Scalia's view is "common sense". It's the way we interpret pretty much any other text. Like if Mrs. Muse writes me a note telling me to pick up a dozen eggs and a quart of milk on the way home from work, I can't walk in the door with two pounds of hobo jerky and a gallon jug of ValuRite and claim I did what she asked. Her note wasn't a "living document". It had a specific, fixed meaning, and was written with the assumption that it could be understood by the recipient. So why should the United States Constitution be any different?

As I said, "originalism" is simply the method everybody uses every day to communicate. But here's the funny part: even when liberal jurists are denying originalism, they're actually relying on originalism in order for their words to be understood by everyone else. Ironic, no? So if someone like Justice Stephen Breyer writes a book that proposes an alternate method of constitional interpretation, whatever he thinks it should be doesn't matter, because what it inevitably boils down to is "originalism for me, but not for thee."

It's only when we get into the realm of constitutional law that the original meaning suddenly gets thrown overboard like it's some sort of unattainable or inconvenient ideal. My challenge to the "living document" crowd is, try this with the IRS. If the tax guys ever call you in because there's some questions about yout 1040, tell the agents that your tax return is a "living document", that it doesn't have a fixed meaning, and that it needs to be interpreted according to the exigencies of the present moment. Go on, try it. See how far you get. If you're lucky, they may laugh heartily as they call for the bailiff with the handcuffs.

The "living constitution" view can best be described by another term, "making stuff up."

Of course Scalia was a superb writer, trenchant, witty, and always interesting, especially in his dissenting opinions. Some of these have been collected and published as a book, called, appropriate enough, Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court's Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice. These were compiled by Kevin Ring, former counsel to the U.S. Senate's Constitution Subcommittee, who also provided helpful background on the opinions and a primer on Justice Scalia's judicial philosophy.

A couple of the one star reviews complain that you have to be a lawyer to understand what Scalia is saying, but another reveiwer says

Ring has taken selected issues and presented them at three levels: The first level, the issue itself i.e. Abortion or Free Speech etc. and is his own words describes the issue. At the second level he has taken the specific case that relates to the issues and explains, in plain easy to understand language, the essence of the particular case. Finally he lets Scalia speak for himself with the actual text of Scalia's opinions written for the specific decision. You do not have to be a Constitutional Scholar to gain an understanding of the issues, the Supreme Court cases or Scalia's decisions.

On a related note, are you all familiar with the author E. D. Hirsch? He is best known for his series of "cultural literacy" books, starting with Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, where he argues that Americans are losing their ability to communicate with each other because universal knowledge of certain core items has disappeared, and this needs to be recovered (hence his follow-up books, Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, What Your First Grader Needs to Know, What Your Second Grader Needs To Know, etc.). Even though he cultural literacy thing hit the big-time around 1988, I was actually familiar with this author prior to that, because one of the required texts for a biblical interpretation class I took in 1985 was his earlier book, Validity In Interpretation. This is more of an academically-oriented book that argues that a text can only mean what its author intended it to mean, and that there is a difference between the "meaning" of a text and its "significance" for an individual or community -- which may go beyond the author's original intent. Once those two things are understood, you can avoid the postmodernist hookah fumes, and, by extension, all the "living document" crapola.

However, I do think it's kind of weird that somebody has to write a book just to defend common sense.

The Tomorrows of Yesterday

So I was watching Blade Runner the other night and you remember how it opens, with that panoramic view of future dystopian Los Angeles (and really, is there any other kind?) spotted with what appear to be oil wells, out of which burst random exploding gouts of flame, and then, out from the center left of the screen comes... a flying car! A FLYING CAR! Holy crap, it's 2016, why aren't we all jetting around in flying cars? Ones with glass domes, like the cities are supposed to have? Come on, people, it's 2016 already, what are we waiting for?

So with that in mind, I ask you, where's all the cool stuff?

I was surprised to discover there's a number of books that deal with these topics. For those of us who read every issue of "Popular Mechanics" back in the day, especially articles like "What Will The World Be Like In... 1975?" (because 1975 seemed so far away. Really, it did).

Between 1903 and 1969, scientists and other experts made hundreds of predictions in Popular Mechanics about what the future would hold. Here are the very best of them, complete with the original, visually stunning retro art plus chapter introductions by astrophysics professor, science-fiction author, and former NASA advisor Gregory Benford.

Aluminum clothing, glass cities with multiple underground levels, personal vehicles with vertical take-off, now that's what I'm talking about!

There's also Where's My Jetpack?: A Guide to the Amazing Science Fiction Future that Never Arrived by Daniel Wilson, very much in the same vein.

And then Your Flying Car Awaits: Robot Butlers, Lunar Vacations, and Other Dead-Wrong Predictions of the Twentieth Century by Paul Milo is a hilarious compendium of stuff that didn't happen:

Paul Milo's fascinating book examines predictions and prognostications made during the early to mid twentieth century, analyzes the thinking behind the people who made them, and summarizes where the thinking went wrong or where things got off track. Sometimes the predictors were just overly enthusiastic, like the many who thought we'd have moon colonies and be making Mars expeditions by now. Other times cooler heads prevailed, as with the fortunate realization that using nuclear bombs to dig canals and build highways through the Amazon rainforest wasn't such a good idea. And sometimes things didn't work out the way the predictors thought because of unforeseen developments, like the collapse of the Soviet Union.

This book is not so much about cool stuff, but rather about predicted trends and events. And yes, the fearless prognostications of Paul Ehrlich, one of the original ''Wizards of Smart", are covered.

And, on a final note, does anyone remember the date that is displayed at the beginning of Blade Runner? Heh. It's November, 2019. Yeah, that's right. In just 3 short years, Los Angeles will look like a dismal, high-tech sewer and flying cars will be zipping by overhead. I can hardly wait.

Who Dat

I've never really paid much attention to the various incarnations of the Dr. Who series, but moron commenter CBD showed me The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who. So for you Dr. Who fans:

With commentary that explores the possibilities of time travel, life on other planets, artificial intelligence, parallel universes and more, Simon Guerrier and Dr. Marek Kukula show how Doctor Who uses science to inform its unique style of storytelling—and just how close it has often come to predicting future scientific discoveries.

This book is your chance to be the Doctor's companion and explore what's out there. It will make you laugh, and think, and see the world around you differently.

Note that this book features every incarnation of the Doctor. As a non-fan, I've always been amused that the fact that there have been various actors who have played the Doctor role gets interwoven into the Whoniverse (Ha! I thought up that word just now but it sounded too good not to already exist, so I Googled it -- and, just as I thought, it turns out to be already invented and already in widespread use). So I'm going to shut up now, because I'm a completely n00b on this subject.

R.I.P.

A famous author has passed:

Author Nelle Harper Lee, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 for her book, "To Kill a Mockingbird," passed away in her sleep Friday morning at the age of 89, her family has confirmed.

Hank Conner, Lee's nephew and a spokesman for the family, said in a statement Friday morning..."Ms. Lee passed away in her sleep early this morning. Her passing was unexpected. She remained in good basic health until her passing."

Lee's TKAM follow-up novel, To Set A Watchman, was released a few months ago.

You know what other author has passed? Umberto Eco:

The Italian writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose, has died aged 84.

His family says he passed away late on Friday at his home. No further details were given.

The Name of the Rose was made into a film in 1986 starring Scottish actor Sean Connery.

I enjoyed reading The Name of the Rose back in the day. Didn't much like the movie adaptation, though.

___________

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

___________

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

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

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:59 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 1st?

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 08:58 AM (l+OuH)

2 No I'm doing that again,
Only a few more percent of the Aubrey /Maturen The Post Captain to go. I see why it might be hard to make these into more movies, but really wish someone would.

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 09:01 AM (l+OuH)

3 Ah book thread:

Was working on the Song of Albion collection by Steven Lawhead. This is the three book collection all on one Kindle file. Got down to about 2/3 of the way through the second book and gave it up for now. I just got bored with it. I may go back to it later.

Went back to an old favorite from David Eddings until something else comes along.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:01 AM (t2KH5)

4 I just got up, powered up the 'puter, loaded AoS, saw that there was the book thread already, and I thought, oh, shoot, how far behind am I already?

One comment. (Hi, Skip.)

Well, missed the morning thread, yeah, but, one comment? Not so far behind.

G'mornin', bookish ones.

Posted by: mindful webworker - oh at February 21, 2016 09:02 AM (dGKUu)

5 Feed me.

Posted by: Troll at February 21, 2016 09:03 AM (oVJmc)

6 Sorry folks! Book Thread's closed.

Muse out front should've told ya!

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 09:04 AM (NeFrd)

7 This is easy, because we hardly ever get any on the book thread. I think
this is mostly because they're still hiding under the bed so their Mom
won't drag them off to church. And most of our low-watt trolls can't
read, anyway, so they generally like to be elsewhere.

We had a troll on the morning thread calling for a revolution and stirring shit. The ban hammer has already been wielded this morning

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:04 AM (t2KH5)

8 ...managed to finagle the keys to the blog from ace.

So, "finagle" - that's what they're calling picking the pockets of a sleeping drunk these days?

Posted by: mindful webworker - roll roll roll the ewok... at February 21, 2016 09:04 AM (dGKUu)

9 Remember those appalling crime stats that came out of Germany last week, that said there were over 200k crimes committed by "migrants" in Germany in 2015? Turns out the numbers were significantly understated. They didn't include Germany's most populous state, which is also the state that contains the most "migrants." The real number is more than 400k -- and those are just the "migrant" crimes that were reported to police and solved, not the actual number of crimes committed by "migrants."

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7470/germany-migrants-crime

Posted by: TrivialPursuer at February 21, 2016 09:06 AM (df5V4)

10 Maturin as in Dr. Is spelled wrong above, I've corrected it in my dictionary.
As you all were,

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 09:07 AM (l+OuH)

11 It's November, 2019. Yeah, that's right. In just 3 short years, Los Angeles will look like a dismal, high-tech sewer and flying cars will be zipping by overhead.

So there is still time yet.
Don't give up hope.

Posted by: Alfrud Wreckmaker at February 21, 2016 09:08 AM (BwMBB)

12 Aluminum clothing, glass cities with multiple underground levels,
personal vehicles with vertical take-off, now that's what I'm talking
about!

Well we actually do have glass cities with underground levels now.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:10 AM (t2KH5)

13 This week I read two books which are very different in scene, but similar in theme: a rebel within a supposed utopian world. The first is We by Yevgeny Zamatin. Previously recommended here, it was written in 1920-21 and is a powerful critique of the Communist state and foreshadowed the worst excesses of Soviet Russia. It was a forerunner of Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World. After more than 60 years of repression, it was first published in Russia in 1988.

The second book is The Golden Age by John C. Wright. Set 10,000 years in the future, Wright has woven a fantastic future where machines do all the work and humans are immortal. At first it was hard for me to get into this book, but I'm glad I stayed with it. The hero, Phaetheon, discovers that 250 years of his memory have been erased and that he agreed to have it done. He embarks on a quest to find out what has been erased and why he agreed. After his memories have come back, he fights to be able to leave the solar system and establish colonies in other star systems. A great story of individual freedom versus the established state.

Posted by: Zoltan at February 21, 2016 09:12 AM (JYer2)

14 All right Morons, speaking of books:

From this date in 1944, VI Corps Artillery HQ, Anzio

Feb 21, 1944 - The EZ Dog Journals
The quietest day in a week. Warm and sunny. Little action on the front. Sporadic arty fire. An air raid caught Paul and I in the bath room. We crouched under two big GI cans of boiling water. Of course we didn't realize it till later - - BUT!! That was SOME place to be.
Cannoneers have been getting jittery because of "Benzene Betty", a Gerry plane, who comes flying low over their positions dropping AP bombs at night. Can't say I blame them.

Cannoneers = artillery soldiers
AP bombs = antipersonnel bombs

The novelized version is called "To Save Us All From Ruin". I haven't been pimping it actively lately, so please indulge me today. The story takes you in between the lines of my Dad's daily journal entries deep into the recesses of my odd little mind as I spin a (mostly) fictional tale of brothers in a time of war. It's got the beautiful Giannina Marie...and pie! Available on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle (special priced at $1, this week only). Use Ace's link if you go the paperback route, unfortunately the Amazon Kindle store doesn't permit the AOSHQ link.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 09:12 AM (NeFrd)

15 Remember those appalling crime stats that came out of Germany last week, that said there were over 200k crimes committed by "migrants" in Germany in 2015? Turns out the numbers were significantly understated. They didn't include Germany's most populous state, which is also the state that contains the most "migrants." The real number is more than 400k -- and those are just the "migrant" crimes that were reported to police and solved, not the actual number of crimes committed by "migrants."

But they only people who are getting arrested are the people speaking the truth about the savages.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 21, 2016 09:13 AM (45oDG)

16 If a won a gazillion dollars I'd do the library tour of all the book thread heading pictures, it would be like visiting every baseball stadium only one would get more out of it.

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 09:15 AM (l+OuH)

17 I am halfway through AllenG's book and am enjoying it greatly.

Posted by: AnthonyB at February 21, 2016 09:15 AM (5VEXA)

18 Looking at these pictures you put up of these libraries and book stores I often wonder how people get to those upper levels. It makes me want to tour the place. I also wonder where you find these little gems.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:16 AM (t2KH5)

19 RE: The Science Fiction future that didn't arrive.

In the magazine "Analog : Science Fiction and Fact" the Amazon Kindle was described perfectly in everything but name sometime in the seventies or early eighties. In the story two college roommates talk about it; one American, the other a Japanese exchange student.

The American tries to get US industry interested in the idea only to have it rejected every where he goes. The Japanese fellow goes back to Japan where he designs one and gets it build. The story ends as the young engineer formally presents the first 'Kindle' off the production line to the President of the Company who approved the idea.

Going back further, in the fifties, computers had 'valves', and input/output was punched paper tape.

Posted by: Alfrud Wreckmaker at February 21, 2016 09:17 AM (BwMBB)

20 Hey Muldoon, I really enjoy reading the diary entries. Just curious though. How old was your Dad when he was writing those?

Posted by: HH at February 21, 2016 09:18 AM (DrCtv)

21 personal vehicles with vertical take-off,

*****

Trebuchet.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 09:18 AM (NeFrd)

22 Yay, Book Thread!
I was on a Jane Austen kick last week- read Emma, Sense and Sensibility, and Pride and Prejudice within four or five days. I'm not usually a chick-lit kind of person, but it's refreshing to read about characters who are not on a mission to save the world; their problems are a little closer to home.
But I don't want my brain to atrophy completely, so I've been doing a fair bit of writing (the sequel has 63,000 words as of this morning!) and I also picked up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand. Just a little light reading to kill some time, ya know?
I have to go and be social now, but I'll check back later for my weekly book recommendations. What are the rest of the Morons reading this week?

Posted by: right wing whippersnapper- quietly rebellious at February 21, 2016 09:19 AM (26lkV)

23 Just curious though. How old was your Dad when he was writing those?

Posted by: HH at February 21, 2016 09:18 AM (DrCtv)

****

He was 24 years old (artillery Captain) when he landed at Anzio.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 09:19 AM (NeFrd)

24 Scalia's death hit me unexpectedly hard, almost to the point of despair. As I said last week, the Old Testament doesn't help at times like this. The Gospels of John was a good start.

I watched Scalia's funeral mass yesterday. His son's eulogy was one of the most beautiful I've ever heard: warm, heartfelt, with humor and love. It was also one of the finest testaments to the benefits of faith I've encountered.

That, in turn, leads me to more by CS Lewis.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 09:21 AM (FvdPb)

25 I'm reading Seamus Muldoon's To Save Us All From Ruin this very week - and enjoying it.
The bit about training hamsters, though ... that is just demented enough to have really been tried.

And on another note - my daughter and I talked about bringing out the sequel to the Chronicles of Luna City in April, perhaps May. I have at least a third written, and everyone is asking about the cliffhanger ending, so ...might as well. Thanks to all the 'rons and 'ronettes who have downloaded the eBook version, and to those people who have written reviews of it. Only five reviews so far -- but all of them five-stars, and we don't know any of these people personally, either.

Posted by: CeliaHayes at February 21, 2016 09:21 AM (95iDF)

26

Going back further, in the fifties, computers had 'valves', and input/output was punched paper tape.

'valves' = UK term for vacuum tubes

Posted by: Troll at February 21, 2016 09:21 AM (oVJmc)

27 Currently reading "Stealing America" by Dinesh D'Souza. It's about his time in jail and his realization that Democrats have a lot in common with the criminal element.

I'm convincedhis was a political prosecution by the Obama administration.

Posted by: Darth Randall at February 21, 2016 09:22 AM (6n332)

28 27 I'm convincedhis was a political prosecution by the Obama administration.

Posted by: Darth Randall at February 21, 2016 09:22 AM (6n332)

Of course it was.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:23 AM (t2KH5)

29 I watched Scalia's funeral mass yesterday. His son's eulogy was one of the most beautiful I've ever heard: warm, heartfelt, with humor and love. It was also one of the finest testaments to the benefits of faith I've encountered.

That, in turn, leads me to more by CS Lewis.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 09:21 AM (FvdPb)

In a country seemingly overrun with trash like Obama, Clinton and the Hollywood scum, hearing Scalia's son eulogy was a beautiful ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy situation the country is in

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 21, 2016 09:24 AM (45oDG)

30 Oh, Happy Sunday Morning, ~~Fapp~~ Readers!

The top picture says "foreign literature" in Brazilian, so I shall work that into my good morning statement.

I had the pleasure of a visit from a book and book store lover last weekend. We went to a couple of book stores of note.

The Yellow Umbrella in Chatham, MA exceeds the quaint quotient even for the Quaint Capital of New England. It has all sorts of books on local interest, general interest, historical books, old books, used paperbacks. It's a tiny narrow store, so to achieve that range it has to be remarkably well curated and also have shelves that reach way up high where no one can reach them.

There I purchased Vol. V of Biographies and Legends of the New England Indians. It's a pamphlet, really, by an amateur historian from 1976. I have another one from the series, The Viking and Indian Wars, which has fascinating Viking lore and also stories about King Phillip's War.

This one seems to be mostly about King Phillip's War. I used to live in Scituate, MA. There was a plaque by an old building down by the pond which referenced its role in King Phillip's War. I was puzzled. I had heard of Kings named George and Henry and such, but never Phillip.

It turns out that Massasoit had two kids, Metacomet and Miacomet, and Phillip was the Christian name of the one who went rogue and started a consequential war with both the white settlers and the native tribes who pissed him off.

Gah! There is so much history I don't know. I have exceeded my allotted word count. I'll mention Literatura Estrangeira in my next comment.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 21, 2016 09:24 AM (1xUj/)

31 Re: robot butlers.

We have them; they're called "voicemail."

Posted by: Annalucia at February 21, 2016 09:25 AM (a5bF3)

32 OM, Thanks for mentioning those books by Scalia. More to add to the list of future reading.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM (FvdPb)

33 Muse out front should've told ya!

Oh, well played.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM (1xUj/)

34 It's very interesting that this morning's book thread mentioned science fiction, because I have a question about a specific novel from the genre. I have never posted here before, but someone on the new HotGas blog clued me in about this weekly thread when I posted a question over there a few days ago. Anyhoo...here goes nothin'.

When I was a junior in high school (mid-70s) I was the English teacher/librarian's student aide (small rural school, one aide). Because I was a very fast and avid reader, from time to time she would ask me to review a new book that had been donated to the school library, then render an opinion on the book's worthiness to remain in the school's collection.

One such book I was assigned to review was a science fiction novel similar to Orwell's 1984. The story-line went something like this. Sometime in the not-too-distant future when world overpopulation threatened the very existence of humanity, governments collectively declared that all humans were immediately banned from procreating. To ensure compliance, the daily use of home abortion machines by sexually active women was mandatory. Couples who desired a family would go "shopping" at the local clone store to pick out a child who most closely resembled their ideal progeny. Anyone caught (through the all-seeing eye of Big Brother installed in each home's tv screen) rebelling against the government's mandate of forced abortion would be swiftly and summarily sentenced to death by starvation/suffocation under an impenetrable dome placed over the family's residence, cutting off all contact with the outside world and their access to food/water/air.

I won't spoil the suspense by giving the book's entire plot away, but you can probably guess where it was headed. Being a very naive teenager who grew up in a very sheltered, religious farming town of under 1,000 residents, I thought the entire premise of the book was absolutely ludicrous and wasted no time in sharing my thoughts with my teacher. There was no way on earth such a farcical scenario would ever happen, and anyone reading the book would simply be wasting their time.

Fast forward to the present day, and this scenario doesn't sound so implausible, does it? In fact, it's almost eerily prophetic. I would dearly love to read the book again from the perspective I've gained over the last 40 years. Unfortunately, I cannot remember the author or title. Numerous Google searches of book titles from that era have come up dry. I have considered contacting my old teacher to see if she might remember, but she'd have to be in her 70s or 80s by now, and it's not likely the book made enough of an impression with her that she would recall the details this many years later (especially since her "brilliant" student aide recommended trashing the book).

If anyone is familiar with this novel, I'd be eternally grateful if you'd give me a shout.

Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM (xRh6i)

35 Related to Vic's wonderings: If you ever visit the Oxford University Press bookshop in Oxford, be forewarned--the place is a TARDIS. It's bigger on the inside. (I had to bail before I could spend all kinds of money I didn't have.)

Nothing terribly exciting on the reading front here at the moment. For class: Canterbury Tales last week; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl, and Sir Orfeo this week; Malory on deck for next week. But my mom has read, and heartily recommends, The Lost Airman by Seth Meyerowitz with Peter F. Stevens and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at February 21, 2016 09:27 AM (vRQPU)

36 Yes but a voicemail won't fetch you another gin and tonic.

Posted by: Hillary1!1! at February 21, 2016 09:27 AM (WVsWD)

37 My grandfather subscribed to Popular Mechanics. My cousins and I started reading through them in the 1950s. My mechanical talents begin and end with hammers (bigger the better) and pry bars. But I loved those predictions. Talk about faith and optimism for the future.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 09:30 AM (FvdPb)

38
The bbc is doing a 6 episode series on The Night Manager staring Tom Huddleson and Hugh Laurie. I read the book about 20 years ago and cant remember a damn thing about it.

I'm not a huge LeCarre fan. He's just an anti American ahole and exemplifies why the brit secret service was such a joke.

Anyway, starts tonight but wont air in the US until april. But of course, you shd be able to find and view it now on the internet. Not a fan of these once a week airings. Either do it in one day or over several days.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 09:31 AM (iQIUe)

39 >>>>voicemail won't fetch you another gin and tonic<<<<

That is what your genetically engineered puppybabymonkey homunculus is for.

Posted by: the guy that moves pianos for a living at February 21, 2016 09:32 AM (tEDMc)

40 I forgot that I am still reading "The Arabs" by David Lamb. This one was published during the Reagan administration and maybe Republicans make Lamb a bit dyspeptic because he doesn't seem to like Israel even a tiny little bit. The chapter I just started, on the Palestinians (read "Arabs") is titled something like "The Twice-Sold Land" and Lamb seems to think that, since the diaspora, Jews have only been in Israel since 1948 when they forced the poor, pathetic Arabs out. In short, unlike his rather nice book on Africa which made some sense, Lamb has lost what sense he may have ever had and gone full-tilt-boogie for the poor pitiful Arabs.

I realize that, particularly since 9/11, we are much more knowledgeable about the Arab world and the religious AND political aspects of Islam, but the Koran and hadith were there for the reading so if Lamb was going to cover the Arab world, wouldn't you think he might have had a teensy bit of intellectual curiosity and read some of this material and learned .... Never mind.

Anyway, in "Back To Blood" two of the previously introduced characters have met up so there is now a faint hint of a plot. I'm very excited. Also, I'm wondering if a murder might be about to take place.

And "Jesus: a biography by a believer" is continuing to be very, very good. Highly recommended. One thing that has kept me from just reading the Bible is a complete lack of background knowledge. It's hard to read a book with absolutely no context. This book definitely helping build me some context.

Posted by: Tonestaple at February 21, 2016 09:33 AM (+cU8r)

41 I guarantee that I'm not the first to quote this:

"However, I do think it's kind of weird that somebody has to write a book just to defend common sense."

And cite this: http://tinyurl.com/jqb59xf

Amazon. Thomas Paine. Common Sense.

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at February 21, 2016 09:33 AM (OQ9R7)

42 Pants? Robe OK?

Posted by: Jean at February 21, 2016 09:34 AM (cXiMR)

43 "Pants? Robe OK?"

As long as you're man parts are not showing, you're ok.

Posted by: Caitlyn J. at February 21, 2016 09:35 AM (WVsWD)

44 It turns out that Massasoit had two kids, Metacomet
and Miacomet, and Phillip was the Christian name of the one who went
rogue and started a consequential war with both the white settlers and
the native tribes who pissed him off.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 21, 2016 09:24 AM (1xUj/)

Mary Rowlandson was captured during King Phillip's War and actually met Phillip once. Her captivity narrative is a very interesting read, and it's also widely anthologized, so it should be easy enough to find (the one we used when I took Colonial American Lit was Puritans among the Indians, edited by Alden T. Vaughan and Edward W. Clark).

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at February 21, 2016 09:36 AM (vRQPU)

45 To repurpose Chris Rock:

"Want to save your comment thread? Write about books. 'Cause Trolls don't read!"

Posted by: SDN at February 21, 2016 09:36 AM (NG7bb)

46 ...no fair trying to sneak by with tutus...

Oooh, O'Muse, you'll probably hear from the Sugar Plum Fairy about that one!

I actually got a "robot butler" as a gift, back in the 1980s... a remote-control platform about the size of a Roomba, with a balloon "butler" body. Came with a "tuxedo" t-shirt and a tray with two plastic cups that velcro'd to the tray stuck to the stumpy balloon "arms." Yeah, we tried using it to serve something approximately once. Wobble wobble wobble splish splash. Rosie Jetson it weren't. I might still have the t-shirt somewhere...

Posted by: mindful webworker - more Flintstone than Jetson at February 21, 2016 09:37 AM (dGKUu)

47 A great article about the parallels between Islam and fascism.

http://tinyurl.com/jzk2c77

Posted by: steevy at February 21, 2016 09:37 AM (B48dK)

48 I also wonder where you find these little gems.
Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:16 AM (t2KH5)

I just Google for library/bookstore images. But there are only so many out there, and my big fear is that I'm going to run out at some point and will be forced to do repeats.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 09:40 AM (hQq14)

49 I'm not a huge LeCarre fan. He's just an anti American ahole

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 09:31 AM (iQIUe)

Thanks for the tip on The Night Manager!

John le Carre wasn't always such an anti-American ahole. He used to be more evenhanded about seeing the faults of both communism and capitalism. But he completely lost it after 9/11 and the Iraq war and hasn't been the same since. His earlier writing is well worth reading, particularly the Karla trilogy (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy / The Honourable Schoolboy / Smiley's People).

Posted by: cool breeze at February 21, 2016 09:40 AM (ckvus)

50 "Remember those appalling crime stats that came out of Germany last week, that said there were over 200k crimes committed by "migrants" in Germany in 2015? Turns out the numbers were significantly understated. They didn't include Germany's most populous state, which is also the state that contains the most "migrants." The real number is more than 400k -- and those are just the "migrant" crimes that were reported to police and solved, not the actual number of crimes committed by "migrants."

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/7470/germany-migrants-crime"

It isn't just Germany. Read this book and two others by Colin Flaherty: 'Don't Make the Black Kids Angry'

http://tinyurl.com/h6e7ovz

Posted by: SDN at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (NG7bb)

51 About Harper Lee's death.

This line from the New York Times story:

"It included several scenes in which Atticus expresses conservative views
on race relations seemingly at odds with his liberal stance in the
earlier novel."

Right, everyone? A racist horror that was virtually 100% Democrat was "conservative."

Posted by: iforgot at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (YOxw1)

52 I totally, entirely and unreservedly enjoyed my recent re-reading of Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks. Different things delight me on different readings. This time it is the sly Gilbert & Sullivan reference:
A wand'ring minstrel I,
a thing of rags and zatches

Posted by: sinmi at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (Kg6HL)

53 I always seem to miss the trolls. Either I'm too late to a thread or I go to bed before they show up. Damn.

Taylor Caldwell's "Dear and Glorious Physician" was mentioned here so I purchased it and started reading last night. I'm enjoying it immensely.

Posted by: Tuna at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (JSovD)

54 Part II of last weekend's book store tour took us to the Yale University Bookstore, which is also a Barnes and Noble. It wasn't a B&N back when I did a summer course there way back when, but what remains the same is that the foreign language books are in the basement.

Usually I look forward to that because there are precious few ways to get foreign language books here (or weren't until Kindle) because shipping from, say, Germany is prohibitively expensive.

This time it hit me that the canon is relatively unchanged from when I was a German major thirtymumble years ago. Last time we were there, No. 1 Son insisted on getting me Steppenwolf, which he had loved and I refused to read in translation. He's a college student. College students are idiots. Steppenwolf turns out to be about roughly the same guy as Klingsor (also by Hesse) whose death couldn't come fast enough for me.

So I pondered all the titles, read many of the dust jackets, and realized that nearly everything would just annoy me.

So I bought Grass' "Katz und Maus", which I've already read, but at least I know I like it and it's sometimes interesting to see how you react to something at ten or fifteen year intervals.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 21, 2016 09:43 AM (1xUj/)

55 LeCarre was always about moral equivalence between the Soviets and the West.The tired and now cliched idea that both sides were the same.

Posted by: steevy at February 21, 2016 09:43 AM (B48dK)

56 I'm reading "Indian Wars - The Campaign for the American West" by Bill Yenne. Refreshing in that it does not portray the injuns as innocent victims.

I am constantly amazed at how far and how quickly we have devolved from the rugged sort of individual who shaped our nation.

Posted by: Weasel at February 21, 2016 09:43 AM (e3bId)

57 Mary Rowlandson was captured during King Phillip's War and actually met Phillip once. Her captivity narrative is a very interesting read,

Oh, thank you!

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 21, 2016 09:44 AM (1xUj/)

58 When will we be free of the dead hands of Thurgood Marshall and Earl Warren?

Posted by: Grump928(C) says Free Soothie! at February 21, 2016 09:44 AM (rwI+c)

59 Here is a library I would love to visit (NSFW).
http://www.nickscipio.com/pod/2016/02/21/reference-library/

Posted by: RoadRunner at February 21, 2016 09:45 AM (49Dk2)

60 Mornin', Book Thread! Welcome newbies. This is a good thread to try your first wobbly Ace O' Spades steps, since the more boisterous members of our little imaginary world are either asleep in a drunken stupor or have their noses in a book. You can almost hear yourself think here.

All book-related questions are indeed welcome. Furthermore, we of the authorial persuasion frequently advise newbie authors, or those curious about the riotous, booze-and-hooker-rich writing lifestyle. (I am one of said author-types). There should be an author spotting guide somewhere around here. Maybe at the front desk, if Bannion didn't steal them all to make paper airplanes with. Again.

reading status: struggling through the "Spaceship Blackbeard" omnibus. Cool space battles, unfortunately everybody in the book has an anime-level understanding of politics, logistics, and military organization. Even the deus ex machina has a deus ex machina.

writing status: final revisions of One Blood in progress! Probable publishing date early-mid May.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at February 21, 2016 09:46 AM (GG9V6)

61 48 I just Google for library/bookstore images. But
there are only so many out there, and my big fear is that I'm going to
run out at some point and will be forced to do repeats.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 09:40 AM (hQq14)

You'll be where I am on the "This day in history stuff". I go back one year and see what I used then and try to find something different. But I only go back one year.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 09:46 AM (t2KH5)

62 "I always seem to miss the trolls. Either I'm too late to a thread or I go to bed before they show up. Damn."
-Posted by: Tuna at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (JSovD)

I know you were being facetious, but enjoy That!

Posted by: Slapweasel, (Cold1) (T) at February 21, 2016 09:47 AM (OQ9R7)

63 Almost finished the "Blood Gospel" by James Rollins. It is very good: non-stop action and an intriguing premise slowly revealed. I'm glad I have the two following books in the trilogy. But it isn't restful.

So I switched to "The Treble Wore Trouble", the 11th of the Liturgical mysteries by Larry Schweizer. I do have to be sure not to read it in public since I break into roaring laughter every few pages. This makes people nervous. (Mrs. JTB is used to it by now.) There are just two more in the series I haven't read so I hope he keeps them coming. I'll re-read the books if necessary rather than go without.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 09:49 AM (FvdPb)

64 "Common Sense---the least common of all senses." Don't know who said it first, but always thought it made some sense.

Posted by: Semilitterate at February 21, 2016 09:52 AM (lliHL)

65 >>This one seems to be mostly about King Phillip's War. I used to live in Scituate, MA. There was a plaque by an old building down by the pond which referenced its role in King Phillip's War. I was puzzled. I had heard of Kings named George and Henry and such, but never Phillip.

The high school in Wrentham, MA is named The King Phillip Regional High School and you will find numerous references to him in Southeastern MA and RI. King Phillip's War had an enormous impact on both the native American population which was devastated by the war as well as the fate of the early settlers. After the war, GB started turning the screws on the colonists.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 21, 2016 09:52 AM (/tuJf)

66 Sorry I'm late! Headache today.

It is Erma Bombeck' s birthday today, I did a mini blog on her (link in nic)

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 09:53 AM (cbfNE)

67 OT-Just popping in with prayer requests for the prayers before I go church. Hopefully I'll be able to get to the book thread later .

Insomniac is depressed as is Mary Poppins PP. I'm not sharing anything out of school because they both shared it on the board on Friday. MPPP chooses not to post on weekends to "save his sanity" but Insomniac seem to be sinking into that hole where he avoids contact with people that depressed people all know of. IS needs a job. Both need healing. I'm sure they would be grateful for your continued prayers.

Thx.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 21, 2016 09:54 AM (w4NZ8)

68 Still muddling my way through Seamus's Book. Can't get the image of the hamster parachuting out of the *HGAS before impact.

So far I am only about 2/3 done but Seamus gets a five star review from me.

*HGAS Hamster Guided Artillery Shell.

Posted by: Tim in Illinois. Blah, blah,blah at February 21, 2016 09:54 AM (WVsWD)

69 Didn't get a lot of book reading done this week, but I continue to enjoy Washington Irving's Sketch Book.

The short, stand-alone articles are like reading blog posts, so I can pick it up, read a "sketch," and be done, as opposed to plowing through some novel. Fits my reading schedule lately.

Especially recommended to book threaders, readers and book-lovers, yes, but especially writers, is "The Art of Book-Making" (1819) - which has neither to do with the creation (printing) of volumes, nor the modern usage as of gambling, but with the art of writing, at least as Irving discovered it going on in the great library of the British Museum. Most amusing.

...I found that these mysterious personages, whom I had mistaken for magi, were principally authors, and were in the very act of manufacturing books....

Found a copy online here (scroll down a ways):
http://bit.ly/irving-book-making

Posted by: mindful webworker - more Flintstone than Jetson at February 21, 2016 09:55 AM (dGKUu)

70 49
I agree about the Karla trilogy. Very much worth reading. Those non baby boomers out there will get a feel for Cold War espionage in all its non technological glory. BTW, some years ago PBS broadcast the serialized versions of Tinker, Tailor...and Smiley's People. The casting was superb with Alec Guinness as George Smiley and a host of the finest British character actors you'll see in one production. A young Patrick Stewart even makes a small appearance as Smiley's Russian nemesis, Karla.

Posted by: Tuna at February 21, 2016 09:58 AM (JSovD)

71 FenelonSpoke: ...popping in with prayer requests for the prayers before I go church....

I foresee another regular AoS weekend thread topic. FenelonSpoke's Sunday Worship Service... believers and non-believers alike invited.

(Pets? Food? Gardening? Books? What has happened to Ace's schmardt militarious and pollitickle blog?)

Posted by: mindful webworker - prayers welcomed, generally at February 21, 2016 10:00 AM (dGKUu)

72 52 I totally, entirely and unreservedly enjoyed my recent re-reading of Thurber's The Thirteen Clocks. Different things delight me on different readings. This time it is the sly Gilbert Sullivan reference:
A wand'ring minstrel I,
a thing of rags and zatches
Posted by: sinmi at February 21, 2016 09:42 AM (Kg6HL)

If I remember correctly, there's also a poem in there that goes like this:

Hark, hark, the dogs do bark
The Duke is fond of kittens
He likes to turn their insides out
And use their fur for mittens

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 10:00 AM (hQq14)

73 "...I'm going to run out at some point and will be forced to do repeats."

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 09:40 AM (hQq14)

The cheerleader photos for the football threads were a nightmare. Were it not for NDH's tireless work we would have been looking at the same six cheerleaders for the last half of the season.

Maybe mix in a few Moron library photos? Stacks of books in the corner, tilting precariously, with a cat sleeping on top?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 21, 2016 10:04 AM (Zu3d9)

74 I agree about the Karla trilogy.///some years ago PBS broadcast the serialized versions of Tinker, Tailor...and Smiley's People. The casting was superb with Alec Guinness as George Smiley and a host of the finest British character actors you'll see in one production. A young Patrick Stewart even makes a small appearance as Smiley's Russian nemesis, Karla.

Posted by: Tuna at February 21, 2016 09:58 AM (JSovD)

Yes, which is why I didn't like the movie version that came out a few years ago. I could tell Gary Oldman was just copying Alec Guinness, and it simply didn't work.

And you know who else shows up in a bit part in the old miniseries? Alan Rickman. You only see him for a few seconds, but he looks like he's about 18 years old.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 10:06 AM (hQq14)

75 We're through the looking glass here, people. An audio coloring book.

http://tinyurl.com/hjkztqk

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 10:07 AM (Nwg0u)

76 "There is nothing less common than common sense."

I really wish I knew who made the original quote.

I'm currently re-reading "Princess of Wands" by John Ringo. What happens when an average soccer mom (although her dad trained her to take care of herself) discovers evil incarnate in the Louisiana swamps?

Great book.

Posted by: RoadRunner at February 21, 2016 10:07 AM (49Dk2)

77 I doubt know if it counts in the lofty company of this horde, but I'm listening to Edger Rice Burroughs John Carter series right now. As far as I can tell John Carter never wore pants while on Barsoom.

Posted by: WI-granny at February 21, 2016 10:09 AM (OYvRq)

78 Please also pray for my hubby' s job. On the edge again. And for his emotional health - this is very taxing.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:09 AM (cbfNE)

79 Gotta love the NYT saying that the southern democrats were conservative.

Posted by: Geoffrey at February 21, 2016 10:13 AM (LoRcb)

80 Thurber's Thirteen Clocks is a *terrific* book!

"I am the Gollux, and not a Mere Device!"

"en garde, you musty sofa!"

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at February 21, 2016 10:13 AM (GG9V6)

81 This week I listened to Heller's Catch 22, which I'd read long ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Arkin film is very good but the book goes on more with the craziness.

Also heard Eddings' Castle of Wizardry, which was good but the weakest of the series so far as it's a setup for the final book. All these books have chess-y titles ("Pawn", "Queen", etc.) and this book especially makes the point that everyone's a pawn doing their fore-ordained actions, which drains it of drama. Hope it ends with a satisfactory bang.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 10:13 AM (oAK6v)

82 It is Erma Bombeck' s birthday today, I did a mini blog on her (link in nic)

Posted by: @ votermom

My Mom knew Erma Bombeck, they were both Girl Scout Cookie Captains back in the '60's. Or as Erma would call the Girl Scouts, Consolidated Cookie Pushers.

Somewhat later in life when Erma moved to Centerville (the suburbs, and fodder for "The Grass is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank") she was next door neighbor to Phil Donahue, before Phil went total SJW and nutso. He was actually an entertaining guy at one time, but a lapsed Catholic, and had kinda grown to hate the Church even then (late '60's early 70's).

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 10:16 AM (+1T7c)

83
Every college/university has a library which has to have photos online. You shouldnt run out of images.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 10:18 AM (iQIUe)

84 Milady read aloud to me the following from "Go Set a Watchman." I thought I'd pass it along for reasons that the quote should make obvious -- sorry if it's overlong for a comment.

«

Dr. Finch got up and poured more coffee. Jean Louise watched him. Good Lord, she thought, my own grandfather fought in it. His and Atticus's daddy. He was only a child. He saw the corpses stacked and watched the blood run in little streams down Shiloh's hill....

"Now then, Scout," said her uncle. "Now, at this very minute, a political philosophy foreign to it is being pressed on the South, and the South's not ready for it - we're finding ourselves in the same deep waters. As sure as time, history is repeating itself, and as sure as man is man, history is the last place he'll look for his lessons. I hope to God it'll be a comparatively bloodless Reconstruction this time."

"I don't understand."

"Look at the rest of the country. It's long since gone by the South in its thinking. The time-honored, common-law concept of property - a man's interest in and duties to that property - has become almost extinct. People's attitudes toward the duties of a government have changed. The have-nots have risen and have demanded and received their due - sometimes more than their due. The haves are restricted from getting more. You are protected from the winter winds of old age, not by yourself voluntarily, but by a government that says we do not trust you to provide for yourself, therefore we will make you save. All kinds of strange little things like that have become part and parcel this country's government. America's a brave new Atomic world. And the South's just beginning its Industrial Revolution. Have you looked around you in the past seven or eight years and seen a new class of people down here?"

"New class?"

"Good grief, child. Where are your tenant farmers? In factories. Where are your field hands? Same place. Have you ever noticed who are in those little white houses on the other side of town? Maycomb's new class. The same boys and girls who went to school with you and grew up on tiny farms. Your own generation."

Dr. Finch pulled his nose. "Those people are the apples of the Federal Government's eye. It lends them money to build their houses, it gives them a free education for serving in its armies, it provides for their old age and assures them of several weeks' support if they lose their jobs - "

"Uncle Jack, you are a cynical old man."

"Cynical, hell. I'm a healthy old man with a constitutional mistrust of paternalism and government in large doses. Your father's the same - "

"If you tell me that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely I will throw this coffee at you."

"The only thing I'm afraid of about this country is that its government will someday become so monstrous that the smallest person in it will be trampled underfoot, and then it wouldn't be worth living in. The only thing in America that is still unique in this tired world is that a man can go as far as his brains will take him or he can go to hell if he wants to, but it won't be that way much longer."

»

Posted by: mindful webworker - it won't be that way much longer at February 21, 2016 10:21 AM (dGKUu)

85 77 ... The John Carter series and anything by ERB is definitely worth mentioning on the thread. I have almost everything he wrote and dip into it for sheer pleasure when the mood hits. Same with H. Rider Haggard, Jules Verne, Conan Doyle, etc., etc. You get the idea. Fun stories written by people who could use the language.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 10:22 AM (FvdPb)

86 74
Alec Guinness really was a fine actor. He could convey more meaning with one sideways glance than most of the Hollywood pretty boys can in their whole career on screen.

Posted by: Tuna at February 21, 2016 10:23 AM (JSovD)

87 81 Also heard Eddings' Castle of Wizardry, which
was good but the weakest of the series so far as it's a setup for the
final book. All these books have chess-y titles ("Pawn", "Queen", etc.)
and this book especially makes the point that everyone's a pawn doing
their fore-ordained actions, which drains it of drama. Hope it ends
with a satisfactory bang.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 10:13 AM (oAK6v)

I am on that series right now for the umpteenth time. It is one of my favorites. The Illium I think is his best. But through some quirk of a legal fight among his children on who owns the copyrights you can only get these series for the Kindle at Amazon UK and they WILL NOT sell them to US residents.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 10:23 AM (t2KH5)

88 William McCants, "The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State" is a must read.

McCants does Western-Islamic relations at the Brookings Institution, which institution is liberal and lame, and "Islamic relations" always makes me itch, so I didn't expect much at the time. But then Islamic scholars were telling me "no, go read this" so I did.

McCants tells us a lot about ISIS's early days (but not as much about Zarqawi). We learn that al-Qaeda under Bin Laden was weak and prevaricating - they were awaiting more internal Islamic support for a caliphate. Al-Qaeda also didn't want to fight Shi'a. ISIS seized the moment quite against al-Qaeda's will. And they've always hated the Shi'a.

McCants makes clear that ISIS is the Charles Manson version of Islam. But he doesn't let the source material off the hook - everything ISIS does is according to the worst possible way it can interpret the texts. Those texts are apocalyptic hadiths like in Nuaym bin Hammad's Fitan.

So we learn about the origins of the jihadist black flag (Proto-ISIS invented it, based on a seal in Topkapi Palace) and about slavery. You know that Jewish prophecy on how a maiden child will give birth and the child will be Emmanuel (heralding the messianic age)? the one the Christians interpret about Jesus? Well, the Islamic version of that is the slave girl will give birth to her master. If there's no slavery, that can't happen. So ISIS has given God a hand and ensured there are plenty more slave girls for that.

What the Islamic State doesn't say much about is about that messianic age; the so-called Mahdi. That is because they already gots a caliph. So they're mainly looking forward to Jesus. If Jesus gets here tomorrow then Ibrahim al-Baghdadi will - retroactively - be mahdi. Otherwise it might be his successor. Whichever.

What McCants intends to do about all of this... well, there he lives up to his name because he serves up some McCan'ts at the ending. But to be fair we really can't do much. We could keep ISIS out of the West, but McCants would probably get fired from Brookings if he said that. If you can't say what you need to, then you shouldn't bring up the topic.

Otherwise, excellent book.

"ISIS Apocalypse" should be read alongside Spencer's "Complete Infidel's Guide to ISIS". McCants has stuff that Spencer doesn't, especially on the role of apocalyptic literature in ISIS. And vice versa: Spencer brings ISIS up to 2015 and includes more of its English-language propaganda.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 10:23 AM (6FqZa)

89 Bossy Conservative, that is so cool!

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:24 AM (cbfNE)

90 What's just as interesting to me is what these experts didn't predict. How about a communication system of 149 characters for angry shallow people?

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at February 21, 2016 10:25 AM (MNgU2)

91 Lots of travel last week, meant lots of book progress. Tore through Ian Toll's Six Frigates, about the very early history of the U.S. Navy. Great read if you're looking for non-academic history.

Started a little slow with the construction of the ships and some finer details on how they were designed and the controversies involved in funding them, but then moves on to Tripoli and 1812. Very engaging, thoroughly recommend.

Now looking for a new history book. Ideally something in the same era (1790-1820), but we'll see what catches my eye.

Posted by: Massena at February 21, 2016 10:25 AM (Dsg20)

92 Thinking of writing a draft for a book on a family dynamic / split when the United States is peacefully divided into two separate Countries.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at February 21, 2016 10:29 AM (MNgU2)

93 Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 10:23 AM (t2KH5)

I gave up waiting for US e-books and went with the audiobooks which are very good. For some reason only e-books seem affected by the copyright mess.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 10:30 AM (oAK6v)

94 ...she was next door neighbor to Phil Donahue, before Phil went total SJW and nutso. He was actually an entertaining guy at one time, but a lapsed Catholic, and had kinda grown to hate the Church even then (late '60's early 70's).

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 10:16 AM (+1T7c)

Somewhere on YouTube there's a clip of Phil interviewing Milton Friedman, and it goes like this: he asks Friedman a question, he waits until he finishes his long answer, does not interrupt, and then asks a follow-up. The questions are the usual BS crap you would expect an ignorant liberal to ask, but he is very respectful towards Friedman.

Compare Donahue's style with the sound-bite shouting that goes on today on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox, and you start to have a new appreciation for him.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 10:31 AM (hQq14)

95 I learned there are several books of quotations from CS Lewis' works. The one I'm reading now is "Words to Live By: A Guide For the Merely Christian". Great for those odd moments when there isn't time to read more than a page or two. Also, it points me to some of his books I haven't got to yet.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 10:31 AM (FvdPb)

96 Thinking of writing a draft for a book on a family dynamic / split when the United States is peacefully divided into two separate Countries.

Bushtopia and Clintonistan?

Yeah, not this year. Sorry.

Posted by: Your Literary Agent at February 21, 2016 10:31 AM (1xUj/)

97 Seamus Muldoon
I read your book. I enjoyed it immensely.
I learned a fair deal about the Italian campaign, and enjoyed the way you weaved in the three brothers.

Posted by: Cicero Skip at February 21, 2016 10:32 AM (FIrEF)

98 Posted by: Your Literary Agent at February 21, 2016 10:31 AM (1xUj/)

Haven't you heard. I don't need you anymore.

Posted by: Max Rockatansky at February 21, 2016 10:34 AM (MNgU2)

99 84 Wow.
So is Go Set A Watchman pro small govt?

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:34 AM (cbfNE)

100 read a fantastic book called Churchill Style: the Art of Being Winston Churchill. Fascinating book that captures how Winston became the man he is. Covers his love of food, booze, clothing and cigars. Highly recommended!

Posted by: Dana- author of Outward Frontier, a military sci fi novel at February 21, 2016 10:35 AM (eTvJc)

101 Reading Dr Zhivago. Just finished an Audible course on Russian Lit, and am trying to rekindle (no pun) my reading life, I have had trouble staying with a book for a year or so now, when I used to devour them. Can't figure out if its needing reading glasses, the Kindle platform, or too much internet reading and my attention span is shot. Or a combination of all. Or just me. Anyway.

So, why not jump into a huge Russian novel where eveyrone has 5 different names. Because logic. Dr Zhiv is pretty good so far. Also watched the movie last night. How I wish the SJWs and Bernie fans would read a fucking history book.

And Jackstraw-South Shore High Five! I grew up in Duxbury, a hop and a skip from King Philips Path. We had to learn all about that war in 6th grade ("The Duxbury Unit") social studies. But I bet they don't do that local stuff anymore.

Oh, and fuck politics in particular. We are off the freaking rails.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 10:37 AM (pOgVG)

102 Reminder: we are reading "Amy Lynn" by esteemed Moron Jack July for March on goodreads.

Reminder, to join the goodreads group, either have an established commenter Inc here or post on this thread before clicking the join group in goodreads.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:38 AM (cbfNE)

103 >>And Jackstraw-South Shore High Five! I grew up in Duxbury, a hop and a skip from King Philips Path. We had to learn all about that war in 6th grade ("The Duxbury Unit") social studies. But I bet they don't do that local stuff anymore.

I lived in Duxbury for a while. Beautiful town and chock full of history.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 21, 2016 10:38 AM (/tuJf)

104 Hey Max... I left a message for you on the last thread.

Posted by: redbanzai at February 21, 2016 10:39 AM (NPofj)

105 Btw today is when Marx published his pile of BS known as the Communist Manifesto.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:40 AM (cbfNE)

106 101 Reading Dr Zhivago.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 10:37 AM (pOgVG)

So am I. I am about half-way through, and it's pretty good. Holding off on re-watching the movie until I finish the novel.

There was a 2002 Masterpiece Theater remake I've downloaded, so at some point, I'll be watching that, too.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 10:41 AM (hQq14)

107 Good morning.

Thank you OM. Another great thread.

Reading the 2014 essay collection What should we be worried about? : real scenarios that keep scientists up at night edited by John Brockman. It has some of my favorite SF authors and a lot of futurists.

Lots of good stuff, but what resonates is having all democracies turn into overlapping crime syndicates preying on their citizens and how society, with the exception of the author and some of his scientific peers, is getting more and more stupid.

On deck: How to win friends & influence people by Dale Carnegie. Because I need it.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 21, 2016 10:41 AM (u82oZ)

108 Jackstraw-it sure is. Parents still live there, the beach is one of the prettiest in the country. Though I love Scituate too-my best friend lives right near Humarock and I am down in that area all the time. She saw Steven Tyler at the polls last time she voted!

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 10:42 AM (pOgVG)

109 When I was a kid, there was a newspaper at school - published by Xerox - I believe, which had a story about the underwater cities of the future. The concept appealed to me much more back then than it does now.

Posted by: Pete in Texas at February 21, 2016 10:43 AM (5MjAM)

110 .....and so on weekends, he likes to "sleep in".

Weekends....Week days....Holidays.....

Posted by: Tami at February 21, 2016 10:44 AM (v0/PR)

111 Posted by: Cicero Skip at February 21, 2016 10:32 AM (FIrEF)

****

Hey, thanks! I'm truly glad you enjoyed it.

Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 10:44 AM (NeFrd)

112 I always had the feeling Harper Lee wasn't the pious SJW that To Kill a Mockingbird suggested. That she didn't publish anything else, and stayed out the media, was one clue. SJWs insist on themselves - look at Stephen King.

I hope there's more Lee manuscripts on other topics hidden in a trunk somewhere.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 10:45 AM (6FqZa)

113 OregonMuse-That was my strategy too! But I needed something to watch last night-I'll get to the PBS remake one of these days. Movie is good but LONG. Alec Guiness was a nice surprise, I forgot he was in it. And Strelnikov! And Julie Christie is otherwordly gorgeous.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 10:45 AM (pOgVG)

114 John le Carre isn't one of my favorite authors, though as mentioned about he has some good stuff .

However,

he is absolutely brilliant at one thing.

And this thing, I believe is what made him a best selling author.

There are other people who write just as well and craft just as good a spy story-

for example, "Kolymsky Heights" by Lionel Davidson.

(Hardback available for $0.01 on amazon)

But, who aren't big best sellers.

Why?

Look at that title of Davidson's book....It literally evokes nothing, except maybe a ski-slope in Russia.

Now, look at a selection of Le Carre's titles...

almost every single one of them evoke a question or promise something, for lack of a better word, philosophically beyond a simple spy novel: a riddle to be solved.

Who is "The Honorable Schoolboy"? Why is he both "Honorable" in the game of spies and a "Schoolboy" what is he learning?

With almost every title the same sorts of questions can be asked.

Even "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" in it's presentation of "spy" as a workaday job or is "spy" perhaps just as archaic a profession as "tinker"?

Anyway, you get the point.

also, note that Le Carre is not such a hack that his next novel was titled-

"Butcher, Baker, Candlestick-Maker, Assassin!"

or some such shit.

Each title was tied to the book's overall theme.

Maybe not a great point but one i think about often as I'm trying to come up with a title for the novel i'm working on.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 21, 2016 10:45 AM (KUa85)

115 There was a rumour floating around that To Set A Watchman was the book Lee actually wrote, and that To Kill A Mockingbird was mostly Truman Capote's fanfiction prequel.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 10:47 AM (6FqZa)

116 >>She saw Steven Tyler at the polls last time she voted!

I used to go to the town hall meetings when I lived in Duxbury because of course you go to the town hall meeting. My first time I was shocked to see how many surviving descendants of the original Pilgrim families were in attendance sitting right down front looking all prim and proper and Pilgrimy.

As I was walking in to one of the meetings I was holding the door for the guy coming in behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw that it was Steven Tyler and I got a "thanks man".

He was there to support his wife who was working on the town library project. So, topical!

And yea, Duxbury Beach is fantastic save for the Piping Plovers.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 21, 2016 10:48 AM (/tuJf)

117 also, note that Le Carre is not such a hack that his next novel was titled-

"Butcher, Baker, Candlestick-Maker, Assassin!"

or some such shit.

--

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:48 AM (cbfNE)

118 I am reading a somewhat timely book. Supreme Power by Jeff Shesol.

It is about the political battle between the court and FDR over the New Deal and court packing, etc. It really gets behind the scenes a bit. It is pretty good.

Posted by: Nick in South Bend at February 21, 2016 10:48 AM (a7FXx)

119 *waves at Goldilocks*

Wasn't lucky enough to grow up there, but I spent the best dozen years of my life in Scituate.

And since you started it, I shall name drop. Tyler's and a couple of other Aerosmith kids went to the Montessori school with my boys. I had never been an Aerosmith fan, but seeing Tyler show up at all the school plays, drop the kids off in his station wagon in the morning, and generally be a dad gave me respect for him.

I remember the year he did the Super Bowl in a pink feather boa, then a few days later he was bringing the kids to school. I thought, "oh, being a rock star is just his day job".

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 10:48 AM (1xUj/)

120 Opps, I meant Joe Perry not Steven Tyler.

Need more coffee.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 21, 2016 10:49 AM (/tuJf)

121 This is easy, because we hardly ever get any on the book thread.

But, if you do, could you send them our way? It's lonely over here!

Posted by: HotAir at February 21, 2016 10:49 AM (Z58Xa)

122 And yea, Duxbury Beach is fantastic save for the Piping Plovers.

*murders all the plovers in his mind*

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 10:50 AM (1xUj/)

123 Wow.
So is Go Set A Watchman pro small govt?

-
That book was savaged by the critics but I quite liked it. It's theme is the falling out between Scout and Atticus occasioned by their differing reactions to a SCOTUS opinion, apparently Brown v. Board of Education. The resolution concerns the way liberal Scout is able to reconcile with conservative Atticus.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 10:51 AM (Nwg0u)

124 Lots of good stuff, but what resonates is having all democracies turn into overlapping crime syndicates preying on their citizens

---

Yeah, no kidding.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:53 AM (cbfNE)

125 The communist Manifeto.
Boy, back when I was in a Chicago Community college
We read that for a sociology class. back then the prof most have been a conservative, because he always added the truth in between readings. I think that was a result of him having George McGovern for an advisor when he was in college.

Posted by: Cicero Skip at February 21, 2016 10:54 AM (FIrEF)

126 That book was savaged by the critics but I quite liked it.

--

Gonna put it on my to read list then. I was afraid it was SJW cant

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 10:55 AM (cbfNE)

127 Compare Donahue's style with the sound-bite shouting
that goes on today on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox, and you start to have a new
appreciation for him.

Posted by: OregonMuse

When I was a child in Dayton in the early '60's, Phil had a radio show on at 1 pm everyday, called "Conversation Piece" (on WHIO radio, AM, CBS affiliate), where he would interview famous or not so famous interesting people, and you could call in and ask questions.
Due to a falling out with management (they hated him), he went to WLW-D (NBC affiliate) and started a TV talk show a few years later (1965?).
He had Madalyn Murray O'Hare on a lot, because he wanted to tweak religious people. But he also had on Bob Hope, Milton Friedman, Ayn Rand, and a host of frequently interesting people. And Phil knew how to interview, and was usually patient and polite with guests. And this show was pretty good and got syndicated, and he got popular. It was only later when he went to Chicago that he really went off the deep end. It was the money and fame talking.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 10:55 AM (+1T7c)

128 Started re-reading HMS Ulysses by Alstair MacLean.

Procrastinating on John Cleese's So Anyway. He forgot the lessons of his comedy to be concise.

I'm using reading as avoidance of the real world. A doomed convoy in the Artic is more inspiring than the world of politics and culture. we get bombarded with.

Posted by: Long Running Fool at February 21, 2016 10:56 AM (L0bUn)

129 And Strelnikov! And Julie Christie is otherwordly gorgeous.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 10:45 AM (pOgVG)

And that awesome soundtrack.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 10:57 AM (hQq14)

130 Max Rockatansky: What's just as interesting to me is what these experts didn't predict. How about a communication system of 149 characters for angry shallow people?

Ah, yes. Thanks for reminding me about / giving me a hook for this poster webwork I did back in June 2013..

No One Expects the Future
http://bit.ly/no-one-expects-the-future

Posted by: mindful webworker - maybe sometimes at February 21, 2016 10:57 AM (dGKUu)

131 The future sure ain't what it used to be.

Yogi Berra

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 11:00 AM (7qAYi)

132 Posted by: Massena at February 21, 2016 10:25 AM (Dsg20)

Solid book! I especially loved the descriptions of looking for just the right oak for those ships in the Carolinas....

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 21, 2016 11:01 AM (Zu3d9)

133 Oh, and another book I just got around to finishing was Vox Day, "SJWs Always Lie".

Conservatives need to read it. Liberals who aren't SJWs need to read it more. The book needed some external editing (Beale is too close to the events, which means he takes some of this personal). Besides that, it is an essential manual to navigating the West's ongoing Permanent Revolution.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 11:02 AM (6FqZa)

134 And, on a final note, does anyone remember the date that is displayed at
the beginning of Blade Runner? Heh. It's November, 2019. Yeah, that's
right. In just 3 short years, Los Angeles will look like a dismal,
high-tech sewer and flying cars will be zipping by overhead. I can
hardly wait.

On the other hand, it will rain a lot, so there is that.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 11:03 AM (q2o38)

135
Yeah, that's right. In just 3 short years, Los Angeles will look like a dismal, high-tech sewer and flying cars will be zipping by overhead. I can hardly wait.

You can get the same experience from Los Angeles right now, sans the flying cars of course.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at February 21, 2016 11:03 AM (o98Jz)

136 To whoever is requesting to join the goodreads group as "Kim":

If you are not using a recognizable Horde nick, you need to post something here and/or make your goodreads profile public. You can't be unrecognizable and have your goodreads profile set to private and so locked down that we can't even send you a message.

Posted by: cool breeze at February 21, 2016 11:04 AM (ckvus)

137 93 I gave up waiting for US e-books and went with the
audiobooks which are very good. For some reason only e-books seem
affected by the copyright mess.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 10:30 AM (oAK6v)

What I found odd was you can all the book on paper in the US and you can get some of the books on kindle in the US but not many. But you can ALL of them in the UK. It has to have something to do with Mickey Mouse.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 11:06 AM (t2KH5)

138 100 read a fantastic book called Churchill Style: the Art of Being Winston Churchill. Fascinating book that captures how Winston became the man he is. Covers his love of food, booze, clothing and cigars. Highly recommended!
Posted by: Dana- author of Outward Frontier, a military sci fi novel at February 21, 2016 10:35 AM (eTvJc)

Does it have anything about his art? I have a book of his paintings - he was a remarkable artist.

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 11:06 AM (7qAYi)

139 OregonMuse: Compare Donahue's style with the sound-bite shouting that goes on today...

Although Mark Levin is wont to shout down and over some of his dumber callers, he has that respectful interviewer's attitude toward his guests. Heard Dr. Carson on there not long ago, and was glad he was given his chance to speak. You could hear Levin start to say something, get half a syllable out before realizing Carson was still talking, and shut up and let Carson run.

I wish Carson's attitude toward, say, Cruz, was as calm and erudite as he seems discussing issues on Levin.

Posted by: mindful webworker - cruzin' on a Sunday afternoon... at February 21, 2016 11:07 AM (dGKUu)

140 McGovern was what they called a liberaltarian in 2008, or what earlier generations called a useful-idiot. (See also: Gary Hart.) He wasn't a SJW and wasn't, at heart, a socialist. But he was happy to lend his name to the Left because the Right is Nazi.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 11:09 AM (6FqZa)

141 Love those books about the formation and battles of the fledgling American Navy like "Six Frigates". Besides general interest, they often involve my home town in RI and many of the landmarks are still there. Adds some extra fun to good reading.

They used to teach about King Philip's War and other local history in early grade school. (This was during the Eisenhower presidency.) We were too young for all the gory details, of which there were plenty, but at least we knew about the events. I really doubt that those lessons have continued.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 11:11 AM (FvdPb)

142 @86 Agree about Guinness -- also Michael Kitchen (Foyle's War)

Reading Robert Crais' "The Promise." Very good.

Posted by: doug at February 21, 2016 11:11 AM (CoRdt)

143 @votermom: Wow.
So is Go Set A Watchman pro small govt?

Now, see, here's a problem quoting a book Milady read and I didn't. She should answer that one.

Although I see others have chimed in.

Milady says, "Somewhat (pro small gov) but mostly about the main character - who I assume is somewhat autobiographical but I don't know - finding her own voice and opinions instead of her father's."

Posted by: mindful webworker - telephonically at February 21, 2016 11:12 AM (dGKUu)

144 If Blade Runner is correct, then AT&T and Atari are set to make a big comeback. Also, you'll be able to smoke in bars again.

Posted by: PabloD at February 21, 2016 11:12 AM (c9t4Y)

145 OK, knocked the dust off Bartlett's 14th ED "Common sense is not so common". Dictoinnaire Philosophique (1764) Self Love

Posted by: Semilitterate at February 21, 2016 11:16 AM (lliHL)

146 40 McGovern...wasn't a SJW and wasn't, at heart, a socialist. But he was happy to lend his name to the Left because the Right is Nazi.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 11:09 AM (6FqZa)

I read an amusing article in the WSJ about him some years ago. Seems that he had started or acquired a bed-and-breakfast place and had written about what a burden it was to meet payroll with the minimum wage requirements and to comply with all the other regulations that govern the operation of such establishments, all of which, the WSJ helpfully noted, McGovern was in favor of when he was in office.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:17 AM (hQq14)

147 McGovern was a bomber pilot (I think, he flew in bombers) in WWII.

He's one of the last of the generation in which Democrats were also patriots.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 11:19 AM (1xUj/)

148 Good day to all the bibliophiles reading this thread.

Speaking of Blade Runner, Pris' incept date was Feb 14th of this year.

Working still on the disaster story, so progress is being made there. Still mulling over the sequels to Golden Isis.

For those wondering what Golden Isis[/i[ is, well I call it my Indiana Jones story. It is available on Kindle or in dead tree version. Here is the link via the AoS store - http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/B014BTSEYO

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:21 AM (fZ8hA)

149 uh oh...

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:21 AM (fZ8hA)

150 Trebuchet.
Posted by: Seamus Muldoon at February 21, 2016 09:18 AM (NeFrd)

Nah, that's the weapon of war with the thing that goes up.

A friend gave me Medieval Siege Weapons (1) and (2) from Osprey. Siege crossbows, trebuchets, traction catapults, siege towers and rams, and pretty much everything else I can think of.

The Osprey books are pretty good information books on militaria, I mostly see the ones for uniform and kit for various armies at various eras. Both well made color plates and as many pictures or illustrations as possible.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 11:21 AM (q2o38)

151 Milady says, "Somewhat (pro small gov) but mostly about the main character - who I assume is somewhat autobiographical but I don't know - finding her own voice and opinions instead of her father's."

Posted by: mindful webworker - telephonically at February 21, 2016 11:12 AM (dGKUu)

The manscript for Lee's "new" novel had been sitting around for 50 years before she decided to go ahead and publish it. So any SJW crap would pretty much have to be added in later. Perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that it's more conservative than expected.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:23 AM (hQq14)

152 Still wallowing in the complete works of Rudyard Kipling. Midway through "Stalky and Company" and reaffirming my conviction that I was born about a century too late.

Posted by: That SOB Van Owen at February 21, 2016 11:24 AM (Zd3Kw)

153
Lot's of stabbing attempts in Israel this morning. 17 year old female arrested. In a second incident a 14 y/o male arrested. And in a final incident, age unknown, a male terrorist was shot dead.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:24 AM (iQIUe)

154
Big news: Boris Johnson is going to campaign for the UK to leave the EU.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:26 AM (iQIUe)

155 Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:17 AM (hQq14)

OM. McGovern's WSJ op-ed was entered into the Congressional Record. Scroll down for the text.

1.usa.gov/1Vx1f4T

Posted by: Golfman at February 21, 2016 11:27 AM (oxcYa)

156 OK... so has anyone else read Warlock by Oakley Hall?

Despite its name, it is not sci-fi. Its more of a Greek morality play set in the old west.

It is one of the books that I read at least once a year but is kind of obscure. It would be a very good book club book but I am wondering if any of you already know it.

Posted by: redbanzai at February 21, 2016 11:27 AM (OrI3J)

157 If you like scifi, The Black Fleet trilogy is a good read.

Good pacing and interesting.

Posted by: RoyalOil at February 21, 2016 11:27 AM (fQ/0p)

158 The converse of all the 'Hey where is my flying cars' caterwauling is to look at some of the older science fiction to see what technology was used to get to the stars. An example is H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising in which we find humans still using slide rules but they discovered faster-than-light travel.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:28 AM (fZ8hA)

159 For those of you who dont know who Boris is, here he is in one of his many memorable moments:

Boris Johnson gets stuck on a zip wire in London's Victoria Park

https://goo.gl/rGEVZQ

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:29 AM (iQIUe)

160 >> Big news: Boris Johnson is going to campaign for the UK to leave the EU.

That's something beyond big.

If 'Leave' wins, Cameron gets no-confidenced out of leadership, Osborne can't survive being super-glued to Dave's butt on this, so it's down to Boris or maybe Gove as presumptive next PM.

Posted by: JEM at February 21, 2016 11:30 AM (o+SC1)

161
I watched Scalia's funeral mass yesterday. His son's eulogy was one of
the most beautiful I've ever heard: warm, heartfelt, with humor and
love. It was also one of the finest testaments to the benefits of faith
I've encountered.

***

I watched that too. It was a very moving eulogy.

Posted by: Infidel at February 21, 2016 11:30 AM (WCNOM)

162 Still wallowing in the complete works of Rudyard
Kipling. Midway through "Stalky and Company" and reaffirming my
conviction that I was born about a century too late.

Posted by: That SOB Van Owen at February 21, 2016 11:24 AM (Zd3Kw)

I love Rudyard Kipling... his poem If is one of my favorite poems even though poetry is not what he is known for.

Posted by: redbanzai at February 21, 2016 11:31 AM (OrI3J)

163 An example is H. Beam Piper's Uller Uprising in which we find humans still using slide rules but they discovered faster-than-light travel.
Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:28 AM (fZ8hA)

I know, right? My favorites are those old sci-fi stories where they have computers using vacuum tubes.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:31 AM (hQq14)

164 This week I listened to Heller's Catch 22, which I'd read long ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Arkin film is very good but the book goes on more with the craziness.

-
One of the themes of that novel (that I don't remember from the movie) was that the presentation of a thing was more influential than the thing itself. For example, Yossarian doesn't want to bomb a particular target so he sneaks into the operations but and moves the red ribbon representing the front lines such that the target is now friendly territory. T he mission is called off. Compare to the manipulation of the unemployment rate today. The number is good so Obozo is an economic genius, real human suffering doesn't count, and mere reality can't change that.

It was funnier when Heller did it.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 11:32 AM (Nwg0u)

165 BTW, the poster I linked to earlier, No One Predicts the Future, was one page out of a month-long series I did as part of my Daily Doodles series (which lasted a year).

Not exactly a book, but with our host's indulgence...

Transport Future - Getting from here to there - is the result of a lifelong interest in transport systems in general, and my past flirtations with - and later disenchantment with - ideas about automated and mass transport.

The Doodles series was, generally, packed into one-panel cartoons, and so some of the pages are kind-of cramped. I meant to, started to, re-format Transport Future into a somewhat more readable form, but there's a lot there and I didn't get very far... yet. Sommmeday...

So, you can read the series as-was, starting at the link below. Looking back, I'd say it took a few days to get its pace, but I think it's some of my better work, which may not be saying much - still seems interesting and funny to me. Maybe will to you, too.

http://bit.ly/here2there-01

Free to read. No ads or popups or scurrilous scripts. But there's a PayPal button on every page which theoretically works, should you feel inclined to contribute to ye creator.

Posted by: mindful webworker - teleportishly at February 21, 2016 11:32 AM (dGKUu)

166 Flying cars?

Posted by: Geoffrey at February 21, 2016 11:33 AM (LoRcb)

167 Good morning from Mountain Standard Time!

This morning, I had a voice mail from Charles' father, telling him that he had a matter of some urgency, and could he please come over. I don't know who Charles is, but his elderly parents frequently call me by accident. When it happens, it strikes me as mysterious and intriguing, and I wonder what they need.

Lately, I've thought the situation might be a good book premise--maybe a romantic comedy or drama, where the recipient of the calls meets Charles, or maybe a mystery or suspense novel where the parents are in some kind of trouble but they've called the wrong person....many possibilities.

But I hardly have time to read, and have never aspired to writing novels. Maybe one of you morons could take it and run with it.

Now, off to read the rest of the comments before you all move on to food.

Posted by: April at February 21, 2016 11:34 AM (79ZSg)

168
My father, Antonin Scalia

On Wapo. I cant tiny link it bc I have to open it in an incognito window on my browser. Nice op ed and appalling comments by the usual suspects.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:35 AM (iQIUe)

169 OM. McGovern's WSJ op-ed was entered into the Congressional Record. Scroll down for the text.

1.usa.gov/1Vx1f4T

Posted by: Golfman at February 21, 2016 11:27 AM (oxcYa)

Thank you, sir, that's the piece I was talking about.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:35 AM (hQq14)

170 Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:31 AM (hQq14)

Or one old enough that the "computer" was a *person* (Planet X, I think). Confused the heck out of me when the book described the computer as moving under its own power (and I was an adult at the time).

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 11:37 AM (GDulk)

171 Anyone who thinks the Constitution is a "living" document should play poker in a casino that uses a "living" Book of Hoyle.

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 11:40 AM (7qAYi)

172
Oh, noesssss! George Galloway, spit, is also supporting the UK out of EU.

Guardian heads exploding!

http://goo.gl/rOopQi

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:41 AM (iQIUe)

173 OT - Hot Gas is melting down. I remember when a post had to have at least 100 comments before it got put in the "Top Picks" column. Poppin' Fresh put his lame "Sunday Reflections" thread, where he normally fellates the Commie Pope, directly into that column. Zero comments.

Their South Carolina primary thread didn't even break 200 comments. In the old days there would have been a couple of thousand. Look at the number of comments here!

Posted by: VidOmnia at February 21, 2016 11:43 AM (r630q)

174
I know, right? My favorites are those old sci-fi stories where they have computers using vacuum tubes.
Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:31 AM (hQq14)

Piper had integrated circuits and laminated lighting circuits, but everything else was electro-mechanical.

My favorite was George O Smith's Venus Equilateral where engineers were running an orbital relay station to maintain radio traffic between Earth and Venus during the time they were hidden by the sun. Everything was tubes. (Smith worked on the development of AA proximity fuses during WWII, which were also tubes)

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 11:43 AM (q2o38)

175 Thanks to OregonMuse and Golfman for reminding me of that George McGovern piece,"A Politician's Dream Is a Businessman's Nightmare"

Another lefty mugged by reality.

He went bankrupt and blames government regulation and frivolous lawsuits.

Posted by: cool breeze at February 21, 2016 11:44 AM (ckvus)

176 Speaking of Futures that Never Was, this one looks to be vanishing likes tears in the rain.

http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/selection-du-weekend-180-75.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:44 AM (fZ8hA)

177 Was enjoying a conversation on hot gas yesterday when the topic of a book similar to 1984 came up. One of the commenter's mentioned a book similar with the following synopsis:
One such book I was assigned to review was a science fiction novel similar to Orwell's 1984. The story-line went something like this. Sometime in the not-too-distant future when world overpopulation threatened the very existence of humanity, governments collectively declared that all humans were immediately banned from procreating. To ensure compliance, the daily use of home abortion machines by sexually active women was mandatory. Couples who desired a family would go "shopping" at the local clone store to pick out a child who most closely resembled their ideal progeny. Anyone caught (through the all-seeing eye of Big Brother installed in each home's tv screen) rebelling against the government's mandate of forced abortion would be swiftly and summarily sentenced to death by starvation/suffocation under an impenetrable dome placed over the family's residence, cutting off all contact with the outside world and their access to food/water/air.

Does anyone know the name of this book? Want to find it if possible.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:49 AM (LouuX)

178 Lightning circuits? I don't recall those. I do recall in the second Fuzzy novel Diamond accidentally playing with the pretty blinking lights of the Charterless Zarathustra Company's main computer. So Diamong might be the first computer hacker in science fiction, not bad for an ET with a luxurious fur coat and dubious culinary tastes.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:50 AM (fZ8hA)

179 McGovern was a bomber pilot (I think, he flew in bombers) in WWII.

He's one of the last of the generation in which Democrats were also patriots.

-
McGovern was a bomber pilot and a legitimate American hero who didn't exploit it for political purposes. America's book The Wild Blue Yonder covers him in some detail.

Incidentally, in that book Ambrose interviewed Catch 22 author Joseph Heller who told him that during his war service he never met a bad officer. Pretty astounding statement from the guy who gave us General Dreedle, Milo Minderbinder, Colonel Cathcart, Lt. Scheisskopf and the rest. It causes me to wonder if Catch 22 is not mischaracterized as an anti-war novel. It's hard to imagine that Jew Heller thought we had no business fighting Hitler. I suspect the novel was more anti-bureaucracy and the military is the most extreme bureaucracy particularly given that the issue is life or death.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 11:50 AM (Nwg0u)

180 158 ... Anna, I haven't really needed a slide rule since high school three or so centuries ago, but I keep one handy for a fun and nostalgia. I swear I understood math better using one than with a calculator. I'm not knocking calculators or computers but I think they take knowledge of the processes of math away from the students. Or maybe I'm just getting older and grouchier. A definite possibility. When I see one used in a sci-fi story like the Skylark series, I just smile.

Posted by: JTB at February 21, 2016 11:50 AM (FvdPb)

181 @164, one of the nutty things in Catch 22 was one of the generals telling the pilots that they should try to make all their bombs hit the same spot. The fact it would have no military impact was irrelevant to him.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 11:51 AM (oAK6v)

182 @162:
Although Kipling's prose would be sufficient to place him in the ranks of the world's best authors, so does his poetry. As one example I refer you to a Horde favorite, "The Gods of the Copybook Headings".

Posted by: That SOB Van Owen at February 21, 2016 11:51 AM (Zd3Kw)

183 Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM (xRh6i)

---

Ahh. There you are. Glad you made it.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:51 AM (LouuX)

184 http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/selection-du-weekend-180-75.jpg
Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:44 AM (fZ8hA)

You know, that pic looks mighty rapey to me.

Seriously, that phallic shuttle looks like it's about to plunge into a giant hoohah. Feminist critical theorists would go nuts over this.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 11:51 AM (hQq14)

185 Autocucumber strikes again! Ambrose's book, as in Stephen Ambrose.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 11:52 AM (Nwg0u)

186 Oregon Muse, FemiNazis doth project too much.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:52 AM (fZ8hA)

187 @173 I've noticed since their "upgrade" that comments can't be seen on Hot Air's mobile site, something they need to fix.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 11:55 AM (oAK6v)

188 Two deaths have affected me this year. Two totally different people who probably had nothing in common and probably wouldn't have liked each other if they met, yet both saddened me for entirely different reasons, Antonin Scalia and David Bowie.

But I did come across this interesting quote from Bowie about America. He said he had "America-mania" as a kid and after dismissing "McDonald's and Disney"--which he felt were not true representatives of the US--he said,
"What makes America great is it's pioneer, independent spirit, not it's corporate 'togetherness'"

I like that.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 11:55 AM (nTqL+)

189 Anyone who thinks the Constitution is a "living" document should play poker in a casino that uses a "living" Book of Hoyle.

-
Inalienable right is trumped by living document.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 11:56 AM (Nwg0u)

190 I'm reading "Blood Meridian," by Cormac McCarthy, and while I am only about 1/3 of the way through the book I can recommend it.

His style is odd, his vocabulary and grammar take some getting used to, but it is a pleasure to read.

And the story is great!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 21, 2016 11:56 AM (Zu3d9)

191 It was not Morrissey's or AP's choice or any of the other HA writers idea to go facebook. They are not Salem. I assume Salem thinks it will take some time for comments to build up. So far all I see are mostly leftards and scandi teenagers posting.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 11:57 AM (iQIUe)

192 I see Hot Air's added another writer. They were at their best when it was just AP and Ed.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (oAK6v)

193 OT - Hot Gas is melting down. I remember when a post had to have at least 100 comments before it got put in the "Top Picks" column. Poppin' Fresh put his lame "Sunday Reflections" thread, where he normally fellates the Commie Pope, directly into that column. Zero comments.

Their South Carolina primary thread didn't even break 200 comments. In the old days there would have been a couple of thousand. Look at the number of comments here!
Posted by: VidOmnia at February 21, 2016 11:43 AM (r630q)

-----

That would be hot air. Hot gas is an entirely different site where refugees from hot air went to get away from the GoPe.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (LouuX)

194 Umberto Eco was an interesting man. The Name of the Rose is really a good book, and it's follow-up, Focault's Pendulum, though somewhat of a free-wheeling mess, is still worth reading. Dan Brown read it and turned it into the appalling The Da Vinci Code.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (nTqL+)

195 19
Going back further, in the fifties, computers had 'valves', and input/output was punched paper tape.

Even better, one of the key bits of technology that made Simulacron 3 work was the personality grid.

(and if I have to explain what a grid is, get off my lawn!)

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:01 PM (o78gS)

196 I spot no fewer than 3 foxes and at least one potential in the Sao Paolo bukhinist.....

I've met more than a few charming young ladies in such establishments....

Guess it's time to learn Portuguese, eh?

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at February 21, 2016 12:01 PM (lutOX)

197 >>Oregon Muse, FemiNazis doth project too much.

I know, right? I blame their mothers.
Cigar, anyone?

Posted by: Sigmund Freud at February 21, 2016 12:02 PM (NOIQH)

198 I watched the hbo doc on James Foley. I admit I was pretty irritated by him. He had been captured and held once before and put his family and friends thru hell to get him out. And what does he do when he is released? Go back to another ME hellhole and kidnapped again. But at the end in the video where he is forced to recite some bullshit he looks very brave. Granted he may have thought they werent going to kill him bc they had done that so many times before. But I think he knew even tho he hoped against hope...

Was his work important? No. Not to me at least. No one knows who the good guys and the bad guys are. And atrocities are common. Let the locals cover the news. Not worth westerners risking their lives.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 12:02 PM (iQIUe)

199 That would be hot air. Hot gas is an entirely different site where refugees from hot air went to get away from the GoPe.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (LouuX)

Yes. And for all of those interested, that would be: http://hotgas.net/

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 12:02 PM (hQq14)

200 One of the books I was thinking of this week was the Cyberiad by Stanislav Lem. Lem wrote it as a series of stories about two "constructors" who traveled the universe and built things, generally to someone's discomfort.

One of the stories was about using Brownian motion to pull information out of the universe for a pirate with a PhD that held them for ransom.
Another was a machine that would create anything that started with the letter N, but only in English.
The one I was thinking about was about a planet that was threatened by a horrible monster, so they created a bureaucracy for the monster get entrapped by the forms and petty regulation and finally strangle to death on the red tape. And then the constructor dismantled his bureaucracy completely and disintegrated it totally.
When asked if the planet could keep part of the bureaucracy because it seemed so useful if controlled he told them it was deadly dangerous and would destroy them all, since there was no way to control its growth.

In an interview Lem said that he thought Philip K Dick was the best science fiction writer ever. Dick thought Lem was a fiction, developed for propaganda by the Soviets

http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/0156027593

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 12:02 PM (q2o38)

201 dismissing "McDonald's and Disney"--which he felt were not true representatives of the US

Disney, no. IIRC Disney's original vision for Disneyland was to be an ongoing worlds-fair and/or what Singapore and Dubai are today: artificial corporate citystates under a benevolent master.

EPCOT was a reboot of this vision:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 12:03 PM (6FqZa)

202 Bandersnatch, are you aware of Schoenhof's Foreign Books in Cambridge? They supply local universities, but also have a fairly large selection of non-academic books, and they have a website now:

http://tinyurl.com/mqo8n6

Free shipping on orders over $50.
I've found them helpful also in ordering items they don't have in stock

Posted by: Trotsky w/a thesis in his headwound at February 21, 2016 12:03 PM (Y4Gwv)

203 This week I read Sam Walton's autobiography "Made In America."
It was a pretty good follow up to the last book I read, Atlas Shrugged.
Sam talks about "enlightened self-interest" and explains that while the Walton family gives quite a bit to charity (mostly anonymously) he doesn't think Walmart should be in the business of giving money to charity because that drives up the cost of their products.

One of my favorite parts is where he talks about being opposed to bureaucracy and that (I can't find the quote right now) basically, bureaucracy will naturally build up and you have to go in every year and cut it down. Always.

Also a funny part quoting an article describing Walton's hunting ranch in Texas as "all things not Trump."

Anyway, it's a nice little read, informative and interesting and I highly recommend it.

Posted by: Sugar Plum Fairy # 176-671 at February 21, 2016 12:04 PM (hnCis)

204 Re FB / Twitter, on goodreads some of the small government group are trying out MeWe which seems to be a social media site where one can be pseudonymous. I am.planning to look into it.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 12:04 PM (cbfNE)

205 187 @173 I've noticed since their "upgrade" that comments can't be seen on Hot Air's mobile site, something they need to fix.
Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 11:55 AM (oAK6v)

Or not. Heh.

Posted by: Golfman at February 21, 2016 12:05 PM (6dxOB)

206 Finished The Post Captain, it would surprise no one that while the ship Polychrest was a made up ship, the Lively is a real 32.
What to read next?

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 12:09 PM (l+OuH)

207 Trotsky - I recall with great fondness that place.

years ago, i bought "miloslavsky's short, practical Russian grammar" there, and met a most charming young lady from Uzbekistan in the process.....

Too bad they don't ship those, too, eh?

Posted by: Your Decidedly Devious Uncle Palpatine, Still Accepting Harem Applicants at February 21, 2016 12:10 PM (lutOX)

208 Does anyone know the name of this book? Want to find it if possible.
Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:49 AM (LouuX)

Was it "The Little Red Book" also known as "Quotations from Chairman Moose Dung" published in 1964 I believe?

Should be available from Amazon or some such.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 21, 2016 12:10 PM (ej1L0)

209 I liked both the book and film Name of the Rose, although the book is much better, as usual. Foucault's Pendulum I didn't like nearly as much. Its a super, super dense story that basically pulls together every conspiracy story ever into one mega narrative and was unsatisfying to me.

I really liked To Kill A Mockingbird, but its odd to me that Harper Lee got a massive literary career out of one book. Huge sales, movies, a stellar reputation, lectures, lifetime of profits. One book.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:10 PM (39g3+)

210
Umberto Eco was an interesting man. The Name of the Rose is really a
good book, and it's follow-up, Focault's Pendulum, though somewhat of a
free-wheeling mess, is still worth reading. Dan Brown read it and turned
it into the appalling The Da Vinci Code.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (nTqL+)
____________
An ongoing question for me is how much of his popularity is due to his first translator. His later books were a slog for me as quasi-philosophical nonsense, but his earlier translations were excellent. I think he used his philosophy of Semiotics somehow that just did not translate to English.
Oh, well. 'Interesting Italians' indeed.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 21, 2016 12:11 PM (MIKMs)

211 Oh, and I am re-reading Xenophon's Anabasis. (My translation is The Persian Expedition translated by Rex Warner)

The thing that hits me every time is that when things are going tough, the Greek mercenaries pull together, look after each other and win brilliantly. When things go their way, they bicker, fight and split up and start getting defeated. Then they start the cycle all over again.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 12:11 PM (q2o38)

212 Just downloaded a Raymond Feist book from Amazon. Notified by Bookbub for .99 today only.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 12:12 PM (t2KH5)

213 Christopher Taylor, back when Lee's book was published Sturgeon's Law applied to a far smaller pool of published books. The signal to noise ratio has since gotten much worse.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:12 PM (fZ8hA)

214 We seem to be living through the tower-of-babel incident in the bible. I always wondered how it happened. Takes 30 to 40 years of political hubris.

Posted by: scorecard at February 21, 2016 12:12 PM (CRXed)

215 EPCOT was a reboot of this vision:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EPCOT_(concept)
Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 12:03 PM (6FqZa)

Fascinating. Disney was a transnational progressivist?

"it's a small world after all..."

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 12:13 PM (hQq14)

216 "171-Anyone who thinks the Constitution is a "living" document should play poker in a casino that uses a "living" Book of Hoyle.
Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 11:40 AM (7qAYi)"

I'm stealing this.

Posted by: Chuck C at February 21, 2016 12:13 PM (h99GH)

217 183

Ahh. There you are. Glad you made it.
Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 11:51 AM (LouuX)

Thanks for the head's up, NJRob. Hope someone here has the answer.

Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 12:14 PM (xRh6i)

218 *pauses*

A "living" Book of Hoyle? I think that exists, its called Fizz-Bin and was invented by one James Tiberius Kirk.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:14 PM (fZ8hA)

219 I thought Harper Lee was in bad health?

"In recent years, Harper Lee had experienced declining health after a stroke left her partially paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. She also had lost 95 percent of her vision, according to a 2011 interview with Alice Lee in the Press-Register."

It appears she was. Anyway, RIP.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 12:15 PM (iQIUe)

220 I see Hot Air's added another writer. They were at their best when it was just AP and Ed.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 11:59 AM (oAK6v)

I thought they were at their best when it was just Allahpundit. Ed was always too preachy and didn't bring a lot to the table otherwise.

Posted by: cool breeze at February 21, 2016 12:15 PM (ckvus)

221 Not particularly literature, but Marvel Comics is putting out a Gambit/Deadpool series. Their business model since the late 80s has been "put out books with popular characters" rather than quality writing.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:16 PM (39g3+)

222 136
To whoever is requesting to join the goodreads group as "Kim":

What I don't understand about goodreads is this: I've not logged into it in years (well, I did once a few months ago to see if maybe I'd been hacked), but every now and then I'll get a message from goodreads saying "You are now friends with [name]". Every now and then, they'll send me messages about what [name] and the other friends they've decided I need are up to.

It's like goodreads has judged my social life, decided I need more friends, and set their mind to improving my social life for my own good.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:16 PM (o78gS)

223 I really liked To Kill A Mockingbird, but its odd to me that Harper Lee got a massive literary career out of one book. Huge sales, movies, a stellar reputation, lectures, lifetime of profits. One book.

-
Similar, maybe more extreme: Margaret Mitchell and Gone With the Wind.

Posted by: The Great White Snark at February 21, 2016 12:16 PM (Nwg0u)

224 Hitlery Clinton a woman of privilege thinks she will be president. Bernie Sanders thinks he will be president.

Posted by: Geoffrey at February 21, 2016 12:17 PM (LoRcb)

225
Speaking of gas, 2.899999999999999/gal. in Los Angeles.

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 12:18 PM (iQIUe)

226 Also on Bookbub: Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess

As an old-school radio nerd, I'm predisposed to like a novel where the heroine is named Agatha Heterodyne.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 12:18 PM (hQq14)

227 The Great White Snark - or Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was a narrative to peddle.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 12:19 PM (6FqZa)

228 208

----
Funny. Not what I'm looking for. This is a dystopian novel in the same vein as 1984 and Brave New World. Probably written in the 60s or 70s. The big brother, forced abortions do sound like chairman moose though.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 12:19 PM (LouuX)

229 Some of you know I'm an author (along with a good dozen or so other horde members) and if you click on my name you get to a blog that has a prominent ad for my books at the top.

I've written 3 novels and a bunch of gaming books, but the current project is a serious work on the Lord's Prayer which has been a challenge. Writing novels is a matter of making stuff up, but writing non fiction requires significantly more concern about accuracy and truth. Particularly a theological work. Its a bit nerve wracking. I'm nearly done with the first pass through on the main body of the book at least.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:19 PM (39g3+)

230 Well how is Agatha's polarization Oregon Muse?

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:19 PM (fZ8hA)

231 225, $1.42 in New Jersey. And we don't have to get out to pump it....

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 12:19 PM (nTqL+)

232 No such thing as assless chaps, all chaps are assless

Posted by: Cindy Munford at February 21, 2016 12:20 PM (7Lm22)

233 I'll probably start reading the articles in Playboy now.

So there's that.

Posted by: jsg at February 21, 2016 12:20 PM (ClnSh)

234 Sure would be a good time for Ace to pull out his Floaty Thread.

Posted by: Troll at February 21, 2016 12:20 PM (oVJmc)

235 Fascinating. Disney was a transnational progressivist?

"it's a small world after all..."
Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 12:13 PM (hQq14)

In that the American way is so good and productive it should be spread widely, and the other cultures have successes that should be reviewed for adoption.

WWI and WWII were deeply involved with that viewpoint: who won and why. Also how to avoid it in the future.

so, not really a Transnazi, but today he would be considered a cultural neo-colonialist.
Which is a Hell of a thing to call someone who wanted people to be happy and productive.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 12:21 PM (q2o38)

236 odd to me that Harper Lee got a massive literary career out of one book.

...and lived.

All you have to do to have a "lifelong" reputation as a one-hit writer is die.
Especially if you can manage a suicide.
I give you, John Kennedy Toole. And, Sylvia Plath.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:22 PM (xq1UY)

237 And yes mindful, yes, my entire name was formed in protest of the no tutus rule! Tutued people can still read!

But I promise no man parts are showing... cuz I don't have them. Naturally!

Free the tutued bookworm!

Posted by: Sugar Plum Fairy # 176-671 at February 21, 2016 12:23 PM (hnCis)

238 This past week I re-read one of my favorite books as a kid, Weaveworld by Clive Barker, wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did when I was a kid, but it holds up pretty well, worth a read if you like fantasy and haven't read it already.

Posted by: All Teh Meh at February 21, 2016 12:24 PM (AfES1)

239 As an old-school radio nerd, I'm predisposed to like a novel where the heroine is named Agatha Heterodyne.

The Girl Genius stories are terrific, I recommend that online comic to everyone here:

http://tinyurl.com/yno95o

If you like fun, steampunk fantasy, or just wild adventure, this has all you're looking for. Its by Phil and Nancy Foglio, cartoonists that started with The Dragon way back.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:24 PM (39g3+)

240 Bandersnatch, are you aware of Schoenhof's Foreign Books in Cambridge?

Was familiar with them but completely forgotten. Thanks!

I've bookmarked the page.

It's been ten years since I've lived near Boston and Schoenhof's completely slipped my mind.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 12:28 PM (1xUj/)

241 As far as I can tell John Carter never wore pants while on Barsoom.

It was the style on Mars

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:28 PM (39g3+)

242 109
about the underwater cities of the future.
The concept appealed to me much more back then than it does now.

Yeah, but now you've seen the episode of Futurama in which Fry is looking for an apartment.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:28 PM (o78gS)

243 Weekend with all the special threads would be the best time for a floaty thread, that is of course unless a Gun thread showed up.

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 12:28 PM (l+OuH)

244 241
As far as I can tell John Carter never wore pants while on Barsoom.

It was the style on Mars

But where does he attach the belt from which he can hang onions? Enquiring minds want to know.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:29 PM (o78gS)

245 Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 12:18 PM (iQIUe)

$149.9/gal. in Northern NJ.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 21, 2016 12:29 PM (Zu3d9)

246 Disney was...one of those guys. Like Henry Ford, one foot planted firmly is his own supposed past, creating a future he thought meant one thing but got away, and being bent and shaped by current affairs into something of a caricature of himself. And, years after death, us-all still arguing about What It All Means.

There's a spooky documentary about Disney's triumphal visit to South America. It made a beautiful (Disney) feature they way the story was told, but basically his studio was on strike and the government needed him to hell off the scene for a while, there being a war on and all. That's two. Then, young S.A. artists inspired by his shapes and colours grew up to be very un-Disneylike in their world views.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:29 PM (xq1UY)

247 236, yes, but Harper Lee lived for another 56 years after writing that ONE book--and didn't do anything else --except help out Capote on In Cold Blood. That's all I'm aware of anyway.

O'Toole and Margaret Mitchell died young, and O'Toole did have another posthumously released novel, The Neon Bible. He was only 32 when he died, one year younger than Lee when she wrote Mockingbird.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 12:30 PM (nTqL+)

248 I just finished "Ivan The Terrible: A Military History" by Alexander Filjushkin. Fascinating, if a little dry at times. 16th Century Russia was a time & place unlike anything else.

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 12:31 PM (7qAYi)

249 Other authors that show up here:

Sabrina Chase (sci fi)
Anna Puma (pulp adventure)

Give their stuff a shot. If you're sick of leftist ideology being rammed down your throat by fiction, one way to fight that is to stop buying their work. Independent is about the only outlet for more conservative minded authors.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:31 PM (39g3+)

250 225

Speaking of gas, 2.899999999999999/gal. in Los Angeles.

2.599 here in the high desert. It's hard for me to believe we're cheaper than LA; that never happens.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:31 PM (o78gS)

251 Where I live, there is a small gas station about a mile off I-20 where 87 octane is $1.39. On I-20, the Chevron charges $1.79 for 87 octane.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:33 PM (fZ8hA)

252
Thanks OregonMuse for your semi-digression on common sense and constitutional "interpretation" at the outset. You've basically said it - though much more gently and indirectly than I can manage.

The very concept of a "living" constitution completely eviscerates the entire constitutional structure, renders it moot, and substitutes whim and bigotry for rule of law. As a practical matter, especially now in full flower when there is simply no shame or restraint in abuse of itsusurped power, this situationsubstitutes a 9-person junta for both representative, accountable branches of govt.

The collapse of integrity extends even beyond that, however. As in Burwell (the SCOTUS "marking up" the ACA after the fact to allow the govt. to do thingsdirectly counter to the statute), even non-constitutional matters are now treated with contempt for plain (uncontestable) meaning. Roberts, apparently gripped with some bizarre concept of "his" court's "legacy", debases it and the country further and further.

Don't see any chance of systematic repair, i.e. return to common sense and words meaning what they mean. The whole ludicrous made-up framework of "scrutiny" for abridging fundamental rights (i.e. ignoring the constitution instead of amending it), with its jaw-dropping concept of "compelling state interest", is a self-sustaining self-referential synthetic reality. And most people, even constitutionalist/common sense people, seem to accept it. It's like reading old Soviet economic analysis wherein all the concepts and data and standards are made up nonsense, and everyone mud-wrestles within that false framework (yielding, as we all know, idiocy waste and eventual collapse).

Posted by: rhomboid at February 21, 2016 12:33 PM (QDnY+)

253 There really should be a racing thread this time of year. I mean, the Daytona 500 runs today. I know, NASCAR is SJW'ing its self to the ash heap of history but still, a lot of people like driving fast and turning left.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:33 PM (39g3+)

254 @247 Yes. I am agreeing with you. Guess E.Bronte belongs in the gang too? It is extremely rare for an author to find success, and then just go back to living. Someone who needs a PhD badly should look into that.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:34 PM (xq1UY)

255 In my neck of the woods gas is all over the place, anywhere from $1.49 to over $2, all within a 15 mile radius. I always wonder who the hell is buying it for $2 when you can drive 10 minutes and get 50 cents off.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at February 21, 2016 12:34 PM (0LHZx)

256 If you want to be a trend setter in reading Horde written books, there is AoS' own AllenG's newly published little fantasy novel to peruse and enjoy.

http://astore.amazon.com/aoshq-20/detail/B01B3YB4L0

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:34 PM (fZ8hA)

257 233 I'll probably start reading the articles in Playboy now.

So there's that.
Posted by: jsg at February 21, 2016 12:20 PM (ClnSh)

It's a cliche to say "I read Playboy for the articles" but back when they did used to publish good short fiction. Even the lower tier "gentleman's magazines" would publish short stories. Stephen King first got published in those types of magazines.

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 12:35 PM (7qAYi)

258 Harper Lee and JD Salinger are conflated in my mind as one-hit wonders.

Further to upthread, when I was young, I wanted to live in Stalky's world. Sometimes Kipling really hit the ball out of the park (wicket?). Just So Stories is one of my go-tos when I am down.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (MIKMs)

259 There's a spooky documentary about Disney's triumphal visit to South America. It made a beautiful (Disney) feature they way the story was told, but basically his studio was on strike and the government needed him to hell off the scene for a while, there being a war on and all

There are so many weird stories surrounding the icons of the 20th century.

I saw a fascinating documentary about a rubber factory in the Brazilian jungle set up by Henry Ford. He thought the only way to make enough tires for his cars was to control the rubber making itself.

It was a huge operation. He transplanted Americans, American schools, stores, organizational systems, and culture, including racism. The invention of nylon among other things killed it.

The ruins are in the absolute middle of nowhere decaying in the jungle.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (1xUj/)

260 The idea of the "living" constitution guts reading comprehension entirely. I know the left is big on this, since absolute truth and objective reality blows their entire worldview to tatters, but its ridiculous. Words mean what they say.

This is why everyone gets so annoyed with literature professors who try to read something deeper and more meaningful into everything. When the author wrote "he opened the door" he meant the guy opened a damn door, not some metaphor for personal exposure or moving to a new epoch in his life.

They know this. But they can't admit it, and at some bizarre alternate level of sub-sane thinking, they are able to compartmentalize their knowledge that words have specific meanings and at the same time believe that words mean different things to different people and you read things through a narrative.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (39g3+)

261 Was To Kill a Mockingbird actually a good novel? I know it was good in the SJW, make the world a better place sense. But literally speaking was it well written? I read it in high school and don't remember it as good or bad, just that it taught us all a very important lesson, much like an ABC after school special.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (0LHZx)

262 Gas is getting to be so cheap I might fill my tank up with premium just for the hell of it.

Posted by: Josephistan at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (7qAYi)

263 I read Truckee's trail last week. Enjoyed about 80% of it but strongly feel the author really blew it with having the starvation theme for the women and children, to the point where it left a bad taste in my mouth and ruined the otherwise good book. The number of butchered oxen should have seen them through just fine.

The story either needed to throw in some wolves, Indians or something stealing most of the meat to at least account for insufficient food + men who made it not worried sick about their kin starving or better yet to write a bit of the more believable battles they would have had of digging out of snowbanks to get out of the tiny cabins after each storm, struggle to get water during a few cold spells when everything would have frozen, makeshift roofs having to be cleared so they wouldn't collapse etc.

For some novels I can accept things like a hamster surviving artillery shell G-forces but for me historical fiction is supposed to feel like it might have actually happened not leave me going NFW. I'll take a break from this author for a bit, and probably come back since the other book of hers I read was good and the lack of knowledge about amount of food an ox would provide and pitfalls of snow probably don't ruin the feel of the other stories.

Posted by: PaleRider at February 21, 2016 12:38 PM (chkUd)

264 There are so many weird stories surrounding the icons of the 20th century.

_____

Icons of any century are going to be a little off. You don't become Henry Ford or Steve Jobs or Walt Disney by being normal.

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at February 21, 2016 12:38 PM (0LHZx)

265 Go Set A Watchman actually really surprised me with it's sort of sympathy towards small government and especially state autonomy. It didn't really go how I expected it to and it was much better and more reasoned that I thought it would be.

I can see why they wouldn't let her publish it for years....

Posted by: Sugar Plum Fairy # 176-671 at February 21, 2016 12:38 PM (hnCis)

266 Oregon Muse just stumbled across this.

Uncanny Magazine has open submission until February 29th.

http://uncannymagazine.com/submissions/

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 12:39 PM (fZ8hA)

267 75
We're through the looking glass here, people. An audio coloring book.

Your concern is ableist; coloring books should be accessible to all. Check your privilege.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 21, 2016 12:39 PM (o78gS)

268 ugh not literally...literarily

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at February 21, 2016 12:39 PM (0LHZx)

269 261, Mockingbird was very well-written. It's a good book. But it was overpraised because of the time it was written and published. It might not have been published ten years before;ten years later , it wouldn't have had an impact. The timing was perfect.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 21, 2016 12:39 PM (nTqL+)

270
Finishing Kempowski's "Swan Song" - a rambling and occasionally dizzying assemblage of short excerpts from diaries, letters, documents, and memoirs about the last days of WWII in Europe. Everyone from civilians fleeing the russkis in East Prussia to private messages from Churchill to the diaries of various adjutants in the Fuhrerbunker. Good.

Starting first volume of Ian Toll's Pacific War trilogy.

Posted by: rhomboid at February 21, 2016 12:40 PM (QDnY+)

271 Harper Lee and JD Salinger are conflated in my mind as one-hit wonders.

At least she deserved her success.

I saw a fascinating documentary about a rubber factory in the Brazilian jungle set up by Henry Ford. He thought the only way to make enough tires for his cars was to control the rubber making itself.

It made sense at the time, it just was bad timing with the advance of technology. The end of Henry Ford's life makes sense of his entire intent and understanding of the world.

He never set out to change the world, he just wanted to do it more efficiently and effectively. He figured cars would help people work harder and faster. Efficiency dominated his entire life. He built essentially a city where you brought raw materials in one side and cars rolled out the other: rubber, iron ore, everything. It was completely self sustained and that made perfect sense.

And other auto manufacturers, being slaughtered by Henry Ford, sued him for... I'm not exactly sure, being too efficient and logical? And won because he wouldn't pay the bribes and play politics as well as they did. So he had to bust up the whole operation.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:40 PM (39g3+)

272 Hah! You got your NASCAR thread.

And with that I'm off to do off-season trout stream scouting.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 12:41 PM (1xUj/)

273 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:33 PM (39g3+)

Yeah, there was even a Moron NASCAR fantasy league a few years ago, weird seeing Gordon in the broadcast booth this year.

Posted by: All Teh Meh at February 21, 2016 12:41 PM (AfES1)

274 This is why everyone gets so annoyed with literature professors who try to read something deeper and more meaningful into everything. When the author wrote "he opened the door" he meant the guy opened a damn door, not some metaphor for personal exposure or moving to a new epoch in his life.

They know this. But they can't admit it, and at some bizarre alternate level of sub-sane thinking, they are able to compartmentalize their knowledge that words have specific meanings and at the same time believe that words mean different things to different people and you read things through a narrative.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (39g3+)

______

It would put an entire industry out of business. If all he meant was open the door, then nobody in the english lit department would have a job. And 80% of the book reviewers would be laid off as well.

Just like music. Most songs have no meaning other than "shit, I need something that rhymes with raindrop, anyone?".

Posted by: Monsieur Moo Moo at February 21, 2016 12:41 PM (0LHZx)

275 Like Joe F at #247 - I'm also finding it hard to believe that Harper Lee had this massive reputation based on one book. Yes, a lovely, evocative and well-written book - but just the one?
She didn't have more stories, more characters, more words in her?
Margaret Mitchell, IIRC had a ton of other materiel and a couple of practice unpublished novels and articles to show.

Posted by: CeliaHayes at February 21, 2016 12:41 PM (95iDF)

276 I can see why they wouldn't let her publish it for years.

I read she didn't want to publish it at all, but they managed to do it anyway to cash in on her name. No idea if that's true or not.

And yes, To Kill A Mockingbird is actually very good. One of my favorite bits in any book is Atticus teaching Scout that courage means more than standing up to fear. He taught her moral courage of doing what she didn't want to or like to do, because it was the right thing to do.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:43 PM (39g3+)

277 Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Qualifying Professional Market.

MiniTrue Approved.

Posted by: Rumpoled the Slav at February 21, 2016 12:43 PM (2THCd)

278 Jack Straw and Bandersnatch -love the Duxbury-Marshfield-Scituate stories! We have had a lot of Joe Perry and Steven Tyler random sightings over the years there being the only local celebs of note, and that area being about as UN-rock star lifestyle as you could possibly imagine. My sister lived right next to Joe P on Rt 3A and my mother used to see him all the time around town with his kids. My BF sees Steve Tyler all over the place too.

Duxbury was a great town to grow up in-One stoplight (still), 4wd beach, old school town halls for the airing of the local grievances. Kids, dogs, boats and beach. So fun.

I went to catholic high school in Hingham (iyou probably know it) and half of my clas was from Scituate-will probably go back to Mill Wharf on Mother's Day, love that whole area.

The piping plover thing-do not even get me started. 2/3 of the 4WD beach is shut down for those bastards.

Posted by: Goldilocks at February 21, 2016 12:44 PM (pOgVG)

279 Sugar Plum Fairy: Tutued people can still read!

I have a vision of the book thread, where all the partici-pants, not accustomed to wearing pants, are standing around the bookshelves, sitting around the reading tables, in an odd mix of attire -- parachute pants, pajama bottoms, suit pants while otherwise casually outfitted, ragged blue jeans, coveralls, capri pants, those short pants the Founding Fathers wore (what were they called? breeches?), pantaloons, riding pants, yoga pants, tights, those puffy short things worn on the outside like superhero costumes back in Shakespear's day... and tutus...

Posted by: mindful webworker - panta loony at February 21, 2016 12:45 PM (dGKUu)

280 Hah! You got your NASCAR thread.

I'm not even a racing fan, but I know a lot of rons and ettes here are. how much longer, we'll see. They keep bubble wrapping and SJW'ing NASCAR more and more. I wouldn't be surprised if a competitor circuit showed up and half the drivers went there.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:45 PM (39g3+)

281 I'm currently reading The Hanging Judge by Elmer Kelton. I like his earlier books best, but his stuff is all pretty good. He is a bit too in love with Texas for me to really appreciate though, it gets a bit too affectionate for the history and land sometimes in his later books.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:47 PM (39g3+)

282
Uber driver, 45, arrested after 'killing six people including an eight-year-old child during random shooting spree from his cab while he picked up fares in Michigan'

Posted by: Bruce With a Wang! at February 21, 2016 12:48 PM (iQIUe)

283 I just finished reading the last of Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books, at least those that have been published so far. I've really enjoyed every one of them so far, and I like that he's actually got a release plan for further books instead of the "next book... eventually... maybe... get back to me in 5 or 10 years" that's all too common in SciFi/Fantasy authors.

I'll have to find my copy of State of Fear... that sounds like a fun re-read.

Posted by: Dan G at February 21, 2016 12:49 PM (lpiWq)

284

news from the TX GOP front

Cruz's wife says he is in it for the long haul

GOPe is hoping for a Rubio/Kasich ticket. Cause he would bring in Ohio, and the need to appeal to moderates, electability, blah blah blah

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 12:50 PM (zOTsN)

285 Uber driver, 45, arrested after 'killing six people including an eight-year-old child during random shooting spree from his cab while he picked up fares in Michigan'
Posted by: Bruce With a Wang!

that must be that Dalton guy, the Kalamazoo shooter

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 12:51 PM (zOTsN)

286 I didn't enjoy State of Fear as much as I did earlier Crichton books, it was really really talky. But at the same time, the kick in the sweets of environmentalist doomslingers was pretty enjoyable.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:52 PM (39g3+)

287 @259 This somehow concerns the British in Malaya, you know.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:53 PM (xq1UY)

288 Flying cars are just two years away.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/jmp3qou

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at February 21, 2016 12:53 PM (FkBIv)

289 @285 Uber driver, hmm. In the city that produced the Checker Marathon.
I'm sensing the involvement of Big Yellow Taxi here.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:54 PM (xq1UY)

290 Bruce w/aW!: Uber driver, 45, arrested after 'killing six people including an eight-year-old child during random shooting spree from his cab while he picked up fares in Michigan'

That kind of thing is sure to downgrade your Uber reviews....

Posted by: mindful webworker - sigh at February 21, 2016 12:56 PM (dGKUu)

291 OK we're done talking books, if Kasich is here. Other Ahines may chime in, but I for one would not count on Kasich guaranteeing anyone's win in Ohio.

Oh, and flying cars? #twoweeks.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:57 PM (xq1UY)

292 Speaking of review: if you read an independent author, leave a review. Leave any review, as long as its not "this was awesome!" or "this sucked!"

You don't have to be some kind of expert at analyzing books, just say what you thought of the work and why. Maybe a note on a particular part that meant something to you or you thought was good, and any critique.

Because word of mouth and reviews are what drives book sales and authors need them, badly.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 12:58 PM (39g3+)

293 so Dalton killed four old ladies in their 60s at the cracker barrel, a father and son at a kia dealership, and amoung the critically wounded is a 14 year old girl from the cracker barrel

any way they can make this about race?

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 12:58 PM (zOTsN)

294 The piping plover thing-do not even get me started. 2/3 of the 4WD beach is shut down for those bastards.

*waves at Goldilocks again*

OK, I really am leaving the thread now, but a parting observation.

One of my favorite beaches is Nauset. I had an oversand permit years ago, I was going to get one with a buddy again last year. The plover restrictions made it unfeasible, the point was to go fishing at night and that's completely banned.

So you know what read has been the success of two decades of increasingly restrictive "conservation"?

26 nesting pairs.

I am an actual conservationist, I've spent hundreds of hours on watershed protection, stream restoration, and fish conservation, but closing off a way of life to protect birds too dumb to not nest in tire tracks is just a waste.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 12:59 PM (1xUj/)

295 @293 Dutch Reformed Jihadi.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 12:59 PM (xq1UY)

296 Continue to slog through 'Counterinsurgency: Exposing the Myths of the New Way of War'. The author knows his topic, and it is a very interesting read, though one must constantly remind oneself that the author has his own biases.

I find it rather difficult to actually read , however. The author is, in my opinion, desperately in need of an editor. Run-on sentences and ambiguous antecedents are the order of the day. That is unfortunate, because the topic is timely and interesting. The work provides a substantial review of how world powers have consistently botched the job of interacting with third world situations.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 21, 2016 01:01 PM (RrDm2)

297
When I was a junior in high school (mid-70s) I was the English teacher/librarian's student aide (small rural school, one aide). Because I was a very fast and avid reader, from time to time she would ask me to review a new book that had been donated to the school library, then render an opinion on the book's worthiness to remain in the school's collection.

One such book I was assigned to review was a science fiction novel similar to Orwell's 1984. The story-line went something like this. Sometime in the not-too-distant future when world overpopulation threatened the very existence of humanity, governments collectively declared that all humans were immediately banned from procreating. To ensure compliance, the daily use of home abortion machines by sexually active women was mandatory. Couples who desired a family would go "shopping" at the local clone store to pick out a child who most closely resembled their ideal progeny. Anyone caught (through the all-seeing eye of Big Brother installed in each home's tv screen) rebelling against the government's mandate of forced abortion would be swiftly and summarily sentenced to death by starvation/suffocation under an impenetrable dome placed over the family's residence, cutting off all contact with the outside world and their access to food/water/air.

Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM (xRh6i)

REPOST.

Anyone have any clue what book this is? Inquiring minds need to know.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 01:01 PM (LouuX)

298 ThunderB: among the critically wounded is a 14 year old girl...

Saw a comment said she died.

Posted by: mindful webworker - sigh at February 21, 2016 01:02 PM (dGKUu)

299 police said reports of her death were not true

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 01:03 PM (zOTsN)

300 NASCAR thread up

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 01:03 PM (t2KH5)

301 Because word of mouth and reviews are what drives book sales and authors need them, badly.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor
-------------

That was awesome. ;-)

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 21, 2016 01:03 PM (RrDm2)

302 My mom read a sci fi book set in a time in the future when homosexuality was compulsory to keep the population down, and the government used artificial insemination to breed women with eugenic principles. They'd use brain surgery and psychological treatments in youth to enforce homosexual behavior and the book was about a young couple (boy and girl) that fell in love, finally got caught, and went under the knife.

It scared the hell out of her and she's never read sci fi again. I never have known what the title was or who wrote it.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:04 PM (39g3+)

303 This somehow concerns the British in Malaya, you know.
Posted by: Stringer Davis
-------------

See: 296

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 21, 2016 01:05 PM (RrDm2)

304 Started reading War and Peace. I'm about 200 pages into it, so only like 15% through. It's terrific so far. Just wish I knew more history about Napoleon before starting, though the historical endnotes in the Pevear translation are really helpful.

Posted by: unclelancey at February 21, 2016 01:06 PM (w8zJt)

305 I remember a Popular Science article from imho 1953 called "How You'll Fly in 1975." The accompanying illo was of a canard double-delta only slightly less sophisticated aerodynamically than the Concorde.

Oh, sure, I was a passenger on a Concorde in 1975. Riiiiiightt.

Posted by: grayishpanther at February 21, 2016 01:06 PM (ty9Ew)

306 ...In an interview Lem said that he thought Philip K Dick was the best science fiction writer ever. Dick thought Lem was a fiction, developed for propaganda by the Soviets...

To me PKD writes dreams. Read Clans of the Alphane Moon. Enjoyed it. But it isn't exactly fantasy and it really has little science in it.

What I have read of Lem would be the opposite of USSR propaganda. The Invincible is a Science Fiction mystery story with an interesting resolution. Works as a story.

I've seen two of the Solaris movies and thought they were bad. Read the English translation of the French translation and liked it. (that version) Solaris the book worked as a psychological drama. Later read that Lem hated both translations and would have done his own. Couldn't for legal reasons.

Lem wrote some excellent satire. At least one thing I read of his he crapped on other SF writers. Didn't like. I couldn't finish Fiasco. Might have been a bad translation. Incoherent to me.

Posted by: scorecard at February 21, 2016 01:06 PM (CRXed)

307 >>OK, I really am leaving the thread now, but a parting observation.

Go outside. Just got back from a walk on the beach with the dog. Mid-50s in February in New England is a treat not to be missed.

Posted by: JackStraw at February 21, 2016 01:06 PM (/tuJf)

308 @285
So did Charles Johnson the old ponytailed slut just orgasm in his pants over this yet?

Posted by: Geoffrey at February 21, 2016 01:07 PM (LoRcb)

309 My favorite part of 'To Kill a Mockingbird' is when Atticus Finch shoots the rabid dog.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 21, 2016 01:07 PM (RrDm2)

310 Phillip K Dick is a terrific writer, but I dunno best. There was a generation of writers (Clarke, Herbert, Asimov, Bradbury, etc) that were all incredibly great. Not really much out there these days, sadly. Only a small handful of decent sci fi authors and a host of just lousy crap.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:09 PM (39g3+)

311 Very interesting story, of course the milieu appeals to me which helps.

http://uncannymagazine.com/article/lotus-face-and-the-fox/

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 01:10 PM (fZ8hA)

312 He built essentially a city where you brought raw
materials in one side and cars rolled out the other: rubber, iron ore,
everything. It was completely self sustained and that made perfect
sense.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor

I visited the River Rouge plant as a child, and it was pretty incredible. That's the way we thought the world was going to work then. Massive, efficient (or so it appeared to a child) and powerful.
What collapsed it was that the culture was changing under our feet as lived, and most people didn't even know it at the time.
This is the peril of America and any possible future. What we think we know or understand could unravel in a year or a generation because people don't have much immunity to stupid ideas, which sometimes seem like really good ideas until they become real.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 01:10 PM (+1T7c)

313 cant be sure but it looks like the four old ladies were white, and I think the father and son were also white

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 01:10 PM (zOTsN)

314 I'm also finding it hard to believe that Harper Lee had this massive reputation based on one book. Yes, a lovely, evocative and well-written book - but just the one?
---------------

Not seeing the problem.

Posted by: Boris Pasternak at February 21, 2016 01:10 PM (RrDm2)

315

oh my

Jason Brian Dalton identified himself as a "Progressize" on his Facebook page

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 01:12 PM (zOTsN)

316 Never mind then Charles Johnsonless will be silent as usual.

Posted by: Geoffrey at February 21, 2016 01:14 PM (LoRcb)

317 310 Phillip K Dick is a terrific writer, but I dunno best. There was a generation of writers (Clarke, Herbert, Asimov, Bradbury, etc) that were all incredibly great.

--

PKD was the dystopian one, so his visions are more in sync with our current mood, I think.

Rare to read upbeat SF these days.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 01:14 PM (cbfNE)

318 They know this. But they can't admit it, and at some bizarre alternate level of sub-sane thinking, they are able to compartmentalize their knowledge that words have specific meanings and at the same time believe that words mean different things to different people and you read things through a narrative.
Posted by: Christopher Taylor
-----------------

You just have not been properly ~~indoctrinated~~ trained in Deconstruction Theory.

Posted by: Stanley Fish at February 21, 2016 01:15 PM (RrDm2)

319 Yeah Phillip K Dick was a paranoid lunatic, so that was his vision of the world. It fits really well with sci fi: most of the best science fiction is cautionary. The author spots a theme or a technology, or a cultural trend and plays it out in their mind seeing where it can lead, then writes a story about that future. Dick was great at that, because he saw horror and darkness in everything.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:17 PM (39g3+)

320 I remember a Popular Science article from imho 1953 called "How You'll Fly in 1975." The accompanying illo was of a canard double-delta only slightly less sophisticated aerodynamically than the Concorde.

Articles like that are less about accurately forecasting 1975 than they are about selling magazines in 1953.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at February 21, 2016 01:18 PM (oVJmc)

321 when Atticus Finch shoots the rabid dog.

Posted by: Mike Hammer

We'll have to have a Dogs and Books thread. Inside of a dog...
Of Mice and Men, To Build a Fire (PhD on London's Dogs?), Old You-Know-Who, The Argos Mythos...

Dogs seem to do a lot of dyin' in Lithrachoor.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 01:18 PM (xq1UY)

322 I love retro future stuff. The whole rocket ship ray gun story is loads of fun. What will the future be like? The Jetsons!! Turns out its just a kid sitting in his underwear moving his fingers over a little phone and typing angry comments with his thumbs.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:20 PM (39g3+)

323 I found PKD hard to read. His main themes seem to be mental illness and fiddling with reality.
The problem with fiddling with reality is, once you have done it, how can you tell when you've stopped?

Lem also dealt with fiddling with reality, in The Futurological Congress, the main character discovers that all the utopian advances are actually hallucinations caused by intentional application of psychotropic drugs to hide the grim present.
The denouement is pretty grim. However, the scene where the main character meets and assaults himself due to the use of a time machine is pretty funny.

Dick, by the way, was kind of paranoid. Brilliant by all reports, but a bit paranoid.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 21, 2016 01:21 PM (q2o38)

324 FWIW, just finished "Crooked Man" by Tony Dunbar, first in the Tubby Dubonnet series. Very reminiscent of the "Better Call Saul" lawyer with slightly more of a conscience but set in NOLA. Entertaining light read!

At one time it was free on Amazon Kindle, but I will probably go buy the next book although so far the preview chapter doesn't really seem as good as the first book.

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 21, 2016 01:23 PM (wYnyS)

325 You just have not been properly indoctrinated trained in Deconstruction Theory.
Posted by: Stanley Fish at February 21, 2016 01:15 PM (RrDm2)

As I explained to my kid a couple years ago, deconstruction is where you start out with your own agenda, then fit the book into it.

Like watching a tv show and fan-wanking it to explain how it really means that your one true ship is really really getting together next season despite all on-screen evidence to the contrary.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 01:25 PM (cbfNE)

326
Dick, by the way, was kind of paranoid. Brilliant by all reports, but a bit paranoid.

Heavy drug-user, too.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel at February 21, 2016 01:25 PM (oVJmc)

327 selling magazines in 1953.

Posted by: Pappy O'Daniel

I'm working my way through a trove. All the stuff from the old family place that we tore down a few years ago got unceremoniously stacked into the clear spots of the big garage. Now I have to clear that place out, and there are stacks of business records, advertising, and periodicals from right around when I was born. Lots of problematic predictions there, not to mention ominous foreshadowings.

The tear-jerker so far has been the breathless RD article on the awesomeness that is the brandy-new SS United States. Yes, she's just my age, and if lucky may get converted into a ~~cruise ship~~ floating whorehouse with norovirus. Know how that makes me feel? Right.

Posted by: Stringer Davis at February 21, 2016 01:25 PM (xq1UY)

328 302
My mom read a sci fi book set in a time in the future when homosexuality
was compulsory to keep the population down, and the government used
artificial insemination to breed women with eugenic principles. They'd
use brain surgery and psychological treatments in youth to enforce
homosexual behavior and the book was about a young couple (boy and girl)
that fell in love, finally got caught, and went under the knife.

It scared the hell out of her and she's never read sci fi again. I never have known what the title was or who wrote it.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:04 PM (39g3+)

A similar book is The Forever War by Joe Haldeman has a main character who due to relativity ages slowly while time on Earth passes. Over time he finds out that Earth is now completely gay, anyone not gay gets 're-educated', the government uses forced gayness to solve their overpopulation problem.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 01:25 PM (5lVZz)

329 Haven't read all of PKD but liked Ubik the best, trippy but an interesting story and characters.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 01:28 PM (5lVZz)

330 I vaguely remember reading Forever War as a kid. Don't remember the gay thing (maybe I skilled over it).
That was around the time I read the Ringworld (Niven) books. The concept of breeding fir luck blew my mind. Poor Teela.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 01:28 PM (cbfNE)

331 Christopher Taylor: ...word of mouth and reviews are what drives book sales and authors need them, badly.

I'm a non-entity who self-publishes all my articles, stories, comics, videos only on my own website. Twenty year anniversary coming up next month.

My publisher (myself) is useless at promotion - the occasional self-mention on some friendly website - meaning here, one or two other places - if there's a "hook" I can hang something on. But I don't like to clutter up nice places with self-horn-tootin'. Wouldn't know where to advertise if I even had a budget for it!

Once in a long while I'll get a comment back on the site I've mentioned something, but while I have comments open on most pages, I practically never get any. Lots and lots of spam, though!

A couple of morons and others have linked to my website in their blogrolls. One more in a crowd. Don't know that I get any traffic from any of those.

Admittedly, my site is a weird, cluttered mixed bag of stuff. I got one review a long time ago: "Please don't take it personally, but your site kinda sucks." -logprof

I treasure that.

A few times, a political video webwork has been picked up on, like, Moonbattery, and I'll get a big, sudden, but brief spike in YouTube hits, but it doesn't spill over into the website or hits on other videos.

I have PayPal donation buttons everywhere - I think they work....

Good thing I just do it all for love of doing, not a career.

Not complaining, or bragging, just saying. And I don't really know why I'm mentioning all this. But I did.

Off to help watch Milady get brunch together. Have a day, and keep on readin' ... at least "until you need glasses."

Posted by: mindful webworker - has a fool for an editor, too at February 21, 2016 01:32 PM (dGKUu)

332 http://www.ufunk.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/selection-du-weekend-180-75.jpg

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 11:44 AM (fZ8hA)

Heh. I don't think a shuttle about to dock with a space station would be firing its main engines at that point in the approach.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 21, 2016 01:34 PM (afR/C)

333 Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 01:10 PM (+1T7c)

My take is that humans live every day as though it will be much like yesterday and in the expectation that tomorrow will be much like today. This works just fine until that day arrives when it is no longer true, and that day always arrives!

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 21, 2016 01:39 PM (wYnyS)

334 Over time he finds out that Earth is now completely
gay, anyone not gay gets 're-educated', the government uses forced
gayness to solve their overpopulation problem.

Posted by: waelse1

But, it did have kind of a happy ending, no?

Haldeman was actually kind of a wanker as a writer and a person. He has a lot in common with John Scalzi.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 01:39 PM (+1T7c)

335 ...Not really much out there these days...
The issue is that SF and Fantasy goes so many directions today.

The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (PKD + mystery)
A Talent for War by Jack McDevitt (mystery + stupid protagonist + brilliant protagonist + interesting concepts)

Top rated Warhammer 40K books are better than I thought they would be. Struggle against evil while part of an evil empire that may be necessary for survival. Ciaphas Cain books (also Warhammer 40K) are comic relief. Memoirs of a self proclaimed lucky rascal.

Posted by: scorecard at February 21, 2016 01:41 PM (CRXed)

336
A few times, a political video webwork has been picked up on, like, Moonbattery, and I'll get a big, sudden, but brief spike in YouTube hits, but it doesn't spill over into the website or hits on other videos.

Yeah I noted the same thing with my blog. I hit a wall of maximum eyeballs, then I'd get spikes once in a while from a big site, then it would go back to that level. I even found out that how often I post doesn't change anything.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:41 PM (39g3+)

337 Not really much out there these days...
The issue is that SF and Fantasy goes so many directions today.

Part of it might be that there's so much instant analysis and writing on any given topic that cautionary novels are sort of old hat and passe. Yeah, we all talked about that last year.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:45 PM (39g3+)

338 Tool Of The Trade by Haldeman was interesting. Starts out strong then gets muddled in my opinion. Major plot device is a mind control device.

Posted by: scorecard at February 21, 2016 01:46 PM (CRXed)

339 OK we're done talking books, if Kasich is here.
Other Ahines may chime in, but I for one would not count on Kasich
guaranteeing anyone's win in Ohio.

Posted by: Stringer Davis

Ditto that, as someone who actually lives in the same neighborhood as Kasich.
He has kind of alienated the Republican base of his party, and you can't expect Democrats to vote for him on a ticket when they have Hillary! to vote for.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 01:46 PM (+1T7c)

340 We're never done talking about books here.

Have any of the candidates besides The Donald written any books? And by written I mean talked to some guy who wrote for them?

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:48 PM (39g3+)

341 I am reading this book. "Overcoming Sinful Anger' by Reverend T.G. Morrow-How To Master Your Sinful Emotions and Bring Peace to Your Life because it was at a rummage sale for 25c cents and thats what I had in my pocket. I can get angry, of course, I don't think it's out of control most of the time anyway. However maybe the reason I found it was because of the chapter, "Turn Your Anger at God into Praise" In that chapter another book is mentioned "From Prison To Praise" by Merlin R Carothers who apparently was a bitter soldier in WWII and through coming to thank God in everything his life was transformed, he accepted Christ and became a military chaplain. Sounds like a radical book of trust in God. It's available as a PDF so I'll have to see if I can get it that way..

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at February 21, 2016 01:48 PM (w4NZ8)

342 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:48 PM (39g3+)

Carson has written a number of books and Cruz released one recently. Don't know about the others.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 01:53 PM (GDulk)

343 C Taylor, you should use the Amazon search, unless you're asking for reviews here, in which case just say so :^)

Rubio wrote "American Son" and is sure to get hammered for the little revelations he let loose in it. It's probably ghostwritten. I read some of it.

Cruz wrote "A Time for Truth", with (I suspect) less ghostwriting but with more focus-testing. I didn't read any of it.

Kasich wrote "Courage is Contagious" and "Stand for Something".

The titles are all self-aggrandising pap, and if maybe some of our moron commenters can complain about Trump being a showboating egomaniac, none of these candidates have any such leg to stand on.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 01:54 PM (6FqZa)

344 A whole bunch of Rara Avises in the Republican Party!?

It was amazing to me, and still confusing how anyone could remotely believe Obama wrote his own book. He's too lazy and selfish to take that kind of time and effort. I can believe he started to, got bored, and gave it to his neighbor to write, but himself? Ridiculous.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:55 PM (39g3+)

345 Have any of the candidates besides The Donald written any books?

The whole Ben Carson campaign has been little more than a thinly disguised book tour.

Posted by: cool breeze at February 21, 2016 01:56 PM (ckvus)

346 Speaking of political books, I don't understand why the e-books are always in the $15 range. I grit my teeth and pay that much only for Jim Butcher novels.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 01:57 PM (oAK6v)

347

Trump wrote : "I'm Yuuuuuge"

(An old MST3K meme)

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at February 21, 2016 01:58 PM (FkBIv)

348 Over time he finds out that Earth is now completely gay, anyone not gay gets 're-educated', the government uses forced gayness to solve their overpopulation problem.

Noticed this among SJWs too. I've mooted that governments that care about preserving their own people will encourage heterosexuality. One rebuttal I've had, besides that I'm a bad person, which I already know, is that very overpopulation argument.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 01:58 PM (6FqZa)

349 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 01:55 PM (39g3+)

I suspect that writing a book also requires a level of focus that O just doesn't have.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 01:58 PM (GDulk)

350 Starts out strong then gets muddled in my opinion. Major plot device is a mind control device.

Posted by: scorecard

That's kind of Haldeman in a nutshell. He starts out with a good story, and then it gets muddled because he can't figure out how to wind it up.

"Mindbridge" and "All My Sins Remembered" come to mind.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative...now older and senile at February 21, 2016 01:59 PM (+1T7c)

351 I review Ted Cruz' s book here
http://www.bookhorde.org/2016/02/a-time-for-truth-by-ted-cruz.html

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 02:00 PM (cbfNE)

352 Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 01:58 PM (6FqZa)

It seems like a lot (a *lot*, a lot) of "future-y" since I'm not sure they all really count as sci-fi, books from the 70's and 80's deal with forced homosexuality as a bureaucratic answer to population/environmental concerns.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 02:03 PM (GDulk)

353 What's the goodreads URL?

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 21, 2016 02:03 PM (wYnyS)

354 To Jeb Bush's credit, when he wrote a book saying that whites and blacks were meh and we need to become more diverse, like Mexico, at least this was a substantive case to set before the American people.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 02:03 PM (6FqZa)

355 I don't understand why the e-books are always in the $15 range.

Its too high, but the big publishing house has settled on that as their ebook price. Its great for them: they get massive profit off the book since it costs virtually nothing to produce.

In my opinion, an ebook is never worth more than 5 bucks, but that's just me.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:03 PM (39g3+)

356 ^ I'm referring to Jeb Bush's "Immigration Wars". Co-written with Clint Bolick.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 21, 2016 02:04 PM (6FqZa)

357 Goodreads url
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/175335-aoshq-moron-horde

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 02:06 PM (cbfNE)

358 A great read is the series Frontlines by Marko Kloos. It is in the vein of Starship Troopers but with much more depth and description.

Posted by: tankkiller69 at February 21, 2016 02:06 PM (71ysr)

359 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:03 PM (39g3+)

I think the goal is to "prove" that people don't buy e-books, when the case is that they don't buy $15 e-books unless it's something they really want.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 02:06 PM (GDulk)

360 Sci Fi military has become a pretty big genre lately, lot of interesting stuff being written there, although... it is in danger of becoming a bit cliche'd with the evil alien who has no more motivation than just wanting humanity dead.

Starship Troopers did a great job of making the aliens really alien and inscrutable.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:08 PM (39g3+)

361 I'd be more apt to pay the $15 if I knew the author was getting the biggest cut, but since I don't believe that to be the case, I will not do it.

Posted by: prewittlassie at February 21, 2016 02:09 PM (WjuJ3)

362 Hey y'all

I just finished Emil and the Detectives-a children's book from 1933 about a little boy who has adventures in Berlin. It has the child, apparently around 10, dealing with his father's death, mother's need to work to support them, traveling alone and dealing with adults who take advantage of kids. All without crying to someone that it's not fair, and I should be supported.

The author was hounded by the Nazis, later in life, but managed to escape and lived in England until his death.
It's an interesting glimpse into childhood in mid war Europe, is not profane, and might be fun for kids to read, primarily because it's not about vampires, witches or magical unicorns.

Posted by: Moki at February 21, 2016 02:09 PM (7q2ch)

363 Also, Gavin Smith has an outstanding series....Veteran. It really goes into detail about a future with soldiers getting implants to enhance combat capability.

Posted by: tankkiller69 at February 21, 2016 02:11 PM (71ysr)

364 I've enjoyed the first three Kloos Frontline books. The humans are often pretty awful, fighting each other while aliens are attacking. It's suggested more than once maybe we should pull for the aliens to put us out of our misery.

Posted by: waelse1 at February 21, 2016 02:14 PM (oAK6v)

365 so the shooter says on facebook that he is progressive

and progressives are insisting it means he works for Progressive Insurance, or once worked for Progressive Insurance, or knows someone who works for Progressive Insurance

Posted by: ThunderB at February 21, 2016 02:14 PM (zOTsN)

366 I'd be more apt to pay the $15 if I knew the author was getting the biggest cut, but since I don't believe that to be the case, I will not do it.

Oh no. Oh, my no. The author gets about 20%, of which his agent takes 10%. The publisher gets the biggest slice, followed by Amazon or whatever site is selling.

I think publishers are terrified at the huge drop in profits they've seen over the last 10 years or so, and are hoping ebooks can help keep them in those sweet Manhattan parkside penthouse apartments.

They'd see better sales at 10 bucks but good luck convincing angry leftist literary types about how economics works.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:16 PM (39g3+)

367 When I first got my Kindle I made it my policy that I would not pay more than $10 for an e-book unless it was a multi-volume set. And I have lived by that. $15 for a normal e-book is pure gouging.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 02:18 PM (t2KH5)

368 Baen used to be the best at prices and even had an extensive free library of their authors to introduce people to them. But then Jim Baen died and things started going downhill.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 02:20 PM (t2KH5)

369 Baen was a great place for unique and creative stories, too. They were willing to take chances and try the unproven with great success. Too bad to hear they've lost that edge.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:21 PM (39g3+)

370 Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 02:06 PM (cbfNE)

Thanks!

Posted by: Hrothgar at February 21, 2016 02:24 PM (wYnyS)

371 I can't figure out how to get all the different ebook formats, so I've never done Baen.

I have a Kindle, which I think is mobi? But then there is epub and all the others and being a bit of a Luddite, it kornfuzes the hell out of me.

Posted by: prewittlassie at February 21, 2016 02:24 PM (WjuJ3)

372 Christopher, what percentage do self published writers keep from Amazon kindle books?

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 02:25 PM (cbfNE)

373 Christopher, what percentage do self published writers keep from Amazon kindle books?

It depends on the price. Over 1.99 you get 70%. Under that you get 30%. Either way: way better than from a traditional publisher. And since you have to do the publicity yourself either way...

Posted by: Barney Frank at February 21, 2016 02:29 PM (39g3+)

374 Also agree that 15 bucks is gouging, and that 10 would generate more sales.

My guess is that they're hoping the younger generation doesn't find $15 out of the ordinary; given that it's less than two movie tickets and you get to keep it, maybe they won't.

Posted by: prewittlassie at February 21, 2016 02:30 PM (WjuJ3)

375 These days, 15 bucks is one movie ticket

Posted by: Barney Frank at February 21, 2016 02:36 PM (39g3+)

376 371
I can't figure out how to get all the different ebook formats, so I've never done Baen.

I have a Kindle, which I think is mobi? But then there is epub and
all the others and being a bit of a Luddite, it kornfuzes the hell out
of me.

Posted by: prewittlassie at February 21, 2016 02:24 PM (WjuJ3)

All you have to do at Baen is log on and hit the download button. I used to do it from my computer and then transfer the book to the Kindle from the computer.
Amazon is also pretty easy but there I log on from Galaxy Tab 2 directly and download to it.
Here is a link to the Baen Free Library.
http://tinyurl.com/hcp277f

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 02:36 PM (t2KH5)

377 Pixy strikes again. I had three hard returns between those paragraphs.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 02:37 PM (t2KH5)

378 I am gonna just stop doing sock puppets

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:38 PM (39g3+)

379 Oh and yes, Kindle is the mobi format.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 02:38 PM (t2KH5)

380 378 I am gonna just stop doing sock puppets

--

That's ok, Bawney.

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 02:41 PM (cbfNE)

381 Middlest Kidlet has started reading Schlock Mercenary since the author was mentioned (or maybe did a guest spot) on Brandon Sanderson's YouTube writers class. She already reads Girl Genius, so is familiar with decade-spanning web comics.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 02:42 PM (GDulk)

382 Thank you, Vic.

Posted by: prewittlassie at February 21, 2016 02:45 PM (WjuJ3)

383 When it first came out, I sent Glenn Reynolds a copy of my book Old Habits and he posted

"IN THE MAIL: From Christopher Taylor, Old Habits."

And that's it. I saw zero sales from it that I could track. Now, I get he has no compulsion to write anything more and its kind of him to mention it but... free book, the least he could do was say something about it. I'm glad he put a link in but still, it was disappointing, since other books he's put mentions about.

Of course, they were from girls...

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:53 PM (39g3+)

384 16
If a won a gazillion dollars I'd do the library tour of all the book
thread heading pictures, it would be like visiting every baseball
stadium only one would get more out of it.

That is a wonderful idea! I like to travel and when I do, I try to check out a library or cool bookstore everywhere I go. But a tour of libraries... be still my heart.

Read Richard Zoglin's bio of Bob Hope that I borrowed from a friend. Not a great bio (Zoglin's writing style and I did not match up well), but a solid one,

Posted by: Charlotte at February 21, 2016 02:56 PM (2POpX)

385 Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 02:53 PM (39g3+)

That's a shame. I really liked Old Habits. Enough to actually reread it.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 02:57 PM (GDulk)

386 The entire Popular Mechanics archive is online here:

https://tinyurl.com/zpo8mjy

One of my favorite articles is in the July 1952 issue. It's about the Air Force Missile Test Center, better known as Cape Canaveral. It's not a prediction of the future, but rather a description of the present, years before they were thinking about putting satellites in orbit. As such, it's a fascinating time capsule of that era.

https://tinyurl.com/jl7jm4p

Posted by: rickl at February 21, 2016 03:00 PM (sdi6R)

387 I just found Old Habits on a free download site. I sent a request that they take it down as a copyright violation but in a way its kind of a compliment. People only steal what they think is worth having

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 03:01 PM (39g3+)

388 I'm glad to see people reading Seamus Muldoon's book, its a lot of fun and interesting and heartwarming and gut gripping all at once. Plenty of fascinating inside historical details and heart of America apple pie 40s reality. I recommend his book to everyone here.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 03:07 PM (39g3+)

389 I'm a little bit surprised that the kerfuffle over Ctrl-Alt-Revolt! hasn't been brought up yet:

http://tinyurl.com/jqayytv

The author, Nick Cole, received a nastygram from his editor over the intro to his latest book, in which he suggests that our tolerance (as a society) for abortion is the catalyst for some self-aware machines' deciding to eliminate the threat we might pose them. After HaperCollins decides to drop him as one of their authors, he self-publishes through Amazon.

Larry Correia picked up the story early on:

http://tinyurl.com/j6o4fkt

Our own head Ewok ran a story last Tuesday:

http://minx.cc:1080/?post=361567

The book over which some lefty SJW twat at HarperCollins had a case of the vapors ended up rising to #1 in multiple categories at Amazon:

http://amzn.to/1VxwNI0

It's still #2 in cyberpunk for both Kindle and dead-tree editions, and #9 in Kindle technothrillers, and the Kindle edition is still just 99 cents. So far, it's been a good read.

Posted by: salfter at February 21, 2016 03:10 PM (bwtGi)

390 Ace had an entire weekday thread (with links to the book's purchase page) earlier this week.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 21, 2016 03:13 PM (GDulk)

391 Yeah the Ctrl-Alt-Revolt story brings up another reason to self publish these days. The entire industry is run by leftists, and they're even more political than usual these days.

There's always been little dumb reasons that books wouldn't get published in the past: too much sex, you have one of those icky minorities in it, I don't like cats, whatever. But these days its all political, and if you violate their checklist, well give up your career.

Well, you would give up your career, except self publishing lets you keep going anyway and keep more of the cover price. Which throws a huge monkey wrench into the entire publishing business. They lost their monopoly, but are getting more obnoxious rather than less.

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 03:15 PM (39g3+)

392 mom210js at February 21, 2016 09:26 AM

I think you are looking for "The Edict" by Max Simon Ehrlich, its a novelization of a movie called ZPG: Zero Population Growth which was in turn ,based on one of Paul Ehrlich's books, "The Population Bomb."

Posted by: bob in houston at February 21, 2016 03:15 PM (b7AU3)

393 Anybody still here? Christopher Taylor, I signed up for the kindle unlimited at $9.99 a month so I could read more economically. Does that affect how much an author earns?

Posted by: April at February 21, 2016 03:23 PM (79ZSg)

394 393
Anybody still here? Christopher Taylor, I signed up for the kindle
unlimited at $9.99 a month so I could read more economically. Does that
affect how much an author earns?

Posted by: April at February 21, 2016 03:23 PM (79ZSg)

My wife signed me up for Prime so I could get free shipping and those free loan books and movies. Well I was able to find the movies but there was little I wanted see, and besides my cable is so slow it would not support it. I still haven't been able to find books available for loan.

Posted by: Vic-we have no party at February 21, 2016 03:29 PM (t2KH5)

395 I'm still reading Barbara Tuchman's "A Distant Mirror". The 14th c. in Europe was the war of all against all. Civil war, popular uprising, nation vs. city-state, nation vs. nation, free companies vs. everybody, guilds vs. cities... ad infinitum.

Anyways, all those civil war, apocalypse, revolutionary war, militia theoreticians should read this book and see how it all turns out. 100 years, everybody loses. 200 years later, they chose up sides and played the game over. Same result.

Oh yeah, and the Black Death.

Posted by: Alo89 at February 21, 2016 03:30 PM (xLrSa)

396 Vic, I have had prime for a while (I live in the middle of nowhere, WY, so free shipping has long since paid for it), but also found that free loan books are few. That's why I signed up for the kindle unlimited. I still come across books I want to read that aren't eligible for free reading, but I find enough of them to keep me in constant reading.

Posted by: April at February 21, 2016 03:41 PM (79ZSg)

397 389 I'm a little bit surprised that the kerfuffle over Ctrl-Alt-Revolt! hasn't been brought up yet:

--

Yeah, I blogged about it after the thread here. A couple of readers bought it off my link.

http://www.bookhorde.org/2016/02/another-banned-book.html

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 03:45 PM (cbfNE)

398 Happy to join the book club. Looking forward to a cornucopia of books to read and ponder.
JohnD

Posted by: john d at February 21, 2016 03:58 PM (zh88w)

399 Okay, another author here. My Terran Empire series is available free on Gutenberg.org (search for author Ann Wilson) and my Skyrim fanfic is also free, on fanfiction.net/game/elderseries and search on Author Empire1003

Or don't bother. If you do, I hope you enjoy.

Posted by: Empire1 at February 21, 2016 04:06 PM (nbkjj)

400 While never read Dr Zhivago I've seen it many many times. It's on TMC now. It is a sad showing the of communist revolution. It should be shown in every leftist class how their revolution will turn out.

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 04:28 PM (l+OuH)

401 Empire1, are these it?
Which is book.1?
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/7375

Posted by: @votermom at February 21, 2016 04:31 PM (cbfNE)

402 This past week I finished reading "Stand Against The Storm"
by Peter Grant.

There isn't much to say. If you like the other Maxwell Saga novels then you'll like this too.

I plan to read "CTRL ALT Revolt!" by Nick Cole next. I saw the story about Cole on Larry Correia's blog and consider reading this book an official poke in the eye to Cole's former douchbag liberal editor.

Posted by: BornLib at February 21, 2016 04:33 PM (zpNwC)

403 Well another visit with writer and some payment. Now got a 10,000 word chapter to trim down a bit.

Posted by: Anna Puma at February 21, 2016 04:45 PM (DMWVF)

404 Votermom: Yes, that's them.

The first story in the timeline is New Year's Wake. The Concordance has the entire timeline, including which story or novel goes where.

Posted by: Empire1 at February 21, 2016 04:48 PM (nbkjj)

405 Anna - good luck

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 05:00 PM (l+OuH)

406 Back from church, nice to see the book thread still going.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 05:09 PM (nS2Ob)

407 If somebody buys a Kindle ebook or a Createspace paper book, the author makes a 30% or 70% percentage of the sales price as royalties. (Unless they are traditionally published, in which case the publisher and agent grab most of the Amazon royalties, and the writer only gets whatever is in the publisher contract, minus whatever the agent's commission is.)

If somebody reads a Kindle Unlimited book as part of their subscription, the author gets paid so many cents per Kindle page read. (One page of text = 250 words = about 2 Kindle pages. Many authors actually get paid more money on subscriptions, if readers read the whole book, than what the book would cost outright.) The amount paid per page changes slightly every month; Amazon increases or keeps the same the available "pool" of money every month, based on how many pages that subscription readers are reading. (Again, traditionally published writers are bound by their contracts, so they don't get most of this money.)

So yes, you should read lots of books every month on your Kindle Unlimited subscription (if you have one) because every author you read will benefit, and theoretically so will the entire "pool" of authors.

Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM (ZJVQ5)

408 400 While never read Dr Zhivago I've seen it many many times. It's on TMC now. It is a sad showing the of communist revolution. It should be shown in every leftist class how their revolution will turn out.
Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 04:28 PM (l+OuH)

I like the scene where all these riff-raff types are in the Zhivagos' home fighting over who's going to be in what room and also who's going to take stuff, and everything is yelling and screaming and utter chaos - then the camera focuses on big-ass people's commissar Alec Guinness as he slowly raises his arm and snaps his fingers once, just once, whereupon immediately there is complete silence as everyone stops what they're doing.

I thought that was the USSR in a nutshell.

Posted by: OregonMuse at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM (nS2Ob)

409 392 I think you are looking for "The Edict" by Max Simon Ehrlich, its a novelization of a movie called ZPG: Zero Population Growth which was in turn ,based on one of Paul Ehrlich's books, "The Population Bomb."
Posted by: bob in houston at February 21, 2016 03:15 PM (b7AU3)

Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!

Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM (xRh6i)

410 Suburbanbanshee, thank you! Win/win!

Posted by: April at February 21, 2016 05:26 PM (79ZSg)

411 For example, Yossarian doesn't want to bomb a particular target so he sneaks into the operations but and moves the red ribbon representing the front lines such that the target is now friendly territory. T he mission is called off. Compare to the manipulation

that was "The Great Big Siege of Bologna "
For weeks, they were to bomb Bologna, and there was such anticipated flak that no one thought they would survive the mission.
Yossarian solved the problem by moving the piece of red yarn one night so that it seemed
Bologna had been captured.

Posted by: JT at February 21, 2016 05:52 PM (o3hxU)

412 Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM (xRh6i)

------
Was that the right book?

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 07:29 PM (uPFf3)

413 Finished book 3 of Sanderson's new Mistborn series and I'm currently reading Ctrl Alt Revolt and the 8th book in the Dresden series. Then on to the ebook mistborn book and who so many others on my Kindle that I need to read.

Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 07:31 PM (uPFf3)

414 I forgot to end my book with the video from the movie of the two playing Boccirini until now.
Good night horde

Posted by: Skip at February 21, 2016 08:17 PM (l+OuH)

415 Does that affect how much an author earns?

Its kind of complicated, but the short answer is "no."

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at February 21, 2016 08:37 PM (39g3+)

416 "I saw a fascinating documentary about a rubber
factory in the Brazilian jungle set up by Henry Ford. He thought the
only way to make enough tires for his cars was to control the rubber
making itself.

It was a huge operation. He transplanted Americans, American
schools, stores, organizational systems, and culture, including racism.
The invention of nylon among other things killed it.

The ruins are in the absolute middle of nowhere decaying in the jungle.

Posted by: Bandersnatch, Opus/Bill the Cat 2016 at February 21, 2016 12:36 PM (1xUj/)"

If you are interested in the subject of rubber during the interwar period when the United States was transitioning from horses to cars and trucks before the rest of the world did, I recommend the book "Growing America's Rubber" which goes into detail about what caused Henry Ford to look for alternate sources and how Thomas Edison got involved as well as what this led to during the Second World War.

Essentially what happened was this. In the early days of the 20th century, as cars were first changing from curiosities to commodities, most of the rubber used for tires came from Malaya, which was a British colony. When World War I started, the British government set priorities for British shipping and that priority mainly involved transporting stuff from the United States and Canada, as well as other British colonies to England. Transporting rubber from Malaya to the United States was really low on the priority list.

British plantations in Malaya continued to produce rubber throughout WW I but it sat in warehouses until the warehouses were full, then it sat on the docks and it sat around on the plantations. When the war ended and ships could go back to whatever trade was profitable, rubber was really cheap in Malaya. Ships would load up with cheap rubber and sell it in the US for a considerable markup because the demand in the US was great to make tires for new cars and to replace the tires that had been nursed through the last few years. In any event, the British were horrified at the low prices so they created an official government rubber cartel to force the price of rubber higher, although by the time they got the cartel in place, most of the stockpiled rubber in Malaya had been shipped and the price started rising naturally. There was an enormous demand for cars, and consequently for tires as the Roaring Twenties was getting started.

At any rate, the British rubber cartel enraged Harvey Firestone and his best customer Henry Ford. Henry Ford, Harvey Firestone and Thomas Edison all lived next door to each other a their winter homes in Fort Meyers, Florida. They all agreed that the British were trying to mulct the Americans and they were not going to sit by quietly while that happened. Thomas Edison started looking for alternative plants that could produce rubber. There actually are a surprising number of plants that produce usable amounts of latex. Henry Ford had his unfortunate Fordlandia experiment in Brazil. Probably the biggest problem with the Brazil venture was that he put a manufacturing engineer in charge rather than an agronomist who actually knew something about rubber trees. Amazingly enough, plants are not the same as machines. Harvey Firestone made a deal with the government of Liberia to obtain control of thousands of acres in which rubber trees were planted and which eventually provided an alternative to Malayan rubber. One of the byproducts of the deal between Harvey Firestone and the Liberian government is that it ended a deal that Marcus Garvey had come close to negotiating to create an area where thousands of American blacks who were part of Garvey's Back To Africa movement were going to move to.

There is lot's more but you should read the book.

Posted by: Obnoxious A-Hole at February 21, 2016 08:41 PM (QHgTq)

417 412 Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!
Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM (xRh6i)

------
Was that the right book?
Posted by: NJRob at February 21, 2016 07:29 PM (uPFf3)

YES!!! Thanks so much for the tip!!

Posted by: mom210js at February 21, 2016 09:46 PM (xRh6i)

418
Ceasing lurk mode to say "Hi" as directed reengaging lurk mode.

Posted by: DoverPro at February 21, 2016 10:35 PM (wN82N)

419 mom210js at February 21, 2016 05:14 PM

Awesome!, glad to have helped!

Posted by: bob in houston at February 21, 2016 10:41 PM (b7AU3)

420 Watching the movie is, as always, different than reading the book. Omitted from the Zhivago movie are these lines in the closing moments:

Engineer: If they were to give me two more excavators, I'd be a year ahead of the plan by now.

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: You're an impatient generation.

Engineer: Weren't you?

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Yes, we were, very. Oh, don't be so impatient, Comrade Engineer. We've come very far, very fast.

Engineer: Yes, I know that, Comrade General.

Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago: Yes, but do you know what it cost? There were children in those days who lived off human flesh. Did you know that?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at February 21, 2016 11:01 PM (RrDm2)

421 Lighthouse Libraries:
http://tinyurl.com/jcd3pjq

h/t Kathy Shaidle:
http://tinyurl.com/grpxf7r

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at February 22, 2016 01:45 PM (R+30W)

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