Sunday Morning Book Thread 12-09-2018

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, and everybody who's holding your beer. Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, and publishing by escaped oafs who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's these pants, which do have one virtue in that at least match the rest of the suit.

WARNING: The Sunday Morning Book Thread May Be Hazardous To Your Wallet, Bank Account, Or Credit Rating.

Pic Note

Thomas Mann was an author, and social critic. Born and raised in Germany, he beat feet for Switzerland in 1933 when ~~Donald Drumpf~~ Adolf Hitler rose to power. His best known novel is probably his first one, Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family, which is considered a modern classic. It also earned him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1929.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

The use of a male pseudonym by a female writer is called PSEUDANDRY.

Usage: MSNBC's pseudandrous fussypants Don Lemon collapsed yesterday from an estrogen overdose.

The Joys of Reading

(click for larger version)
(h/t hogmartin)

Stocking Stuffers

In one of ths morning threads earlier this week, we were discussion bad Christmas music. MP⁴ offered:

There's a great book, I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You've Ever Heard, which puts "The Christmas Shoes" right up there in the category of awfulness.

https://tinyurl.com/y7g3c3zw

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at December 04, 2018 11:43 AM (kqsXK)

So, in the context of the title, I Hate Myself and Want to Die: The 52 Most Depressing Songs You’ve Ever Heard

Funny thing about this book is that, in the intro which you can read in the Kindle sample, the author describes the music that his parents played on the stereo that he, naturally, also had to listen to. And it is almost exactly the music my own parents listened to. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Mantovani. Ray Coniff. Mitch Miller. I guess if you lived in the suburbs in the 60s, this was the stuff your parents listened to. I can still see the vinyl albums in the metal rack in the closet with the stereo that no-one except my dad was allowed to touch.

Lists like this are pretty subjective. My reactions while I waa going through the list were "that's bad","oh yeah, that one is really bad","why is this on the list?", "why did ever get air time?" and "oh gods, I had forgotten all about that one, why did you have to remind me?"

The same author has another compilation, Touch Me, I'm Sick: The 52 Creepiest Love Songs You've Ever Heard.

The Kindle edition of both books goes for $4.99. From the samples, they look like amusing reads for an afternoon when you've got nothing else to do.

___________

Of course you know that Ramen noodles are a favorite among college students, but did you know that they're a highly sought after by the criminal population doing time? According to the "unique and edgy" cookbook, Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars,

Instant ramen is a ubiquitous food, beloved by anyone looking for a cheap, tasty bite—including prisoners, who buy it at the commissary and use it as the building block for all sorts of meals. Think of this as a unique cookbook of ramen hacks. Here’s Ramen Goulash. Black Bean Ramen. Onion Tortilla Ramen Soup. The Jailhouse Hole Burrito. Orange Porkies—chili ramen plus white rice plus ½ bag of pork skins plus orange-flavored punch. Ramen Nuggets. Slash’s J-Walking Ramen (with scallions, Sriracha hot sauce, and minced pork)

This cookbook contains

...more than 65 ramen recipes and stories of prison life from the inmate/cooks who devised them, including celebrities like Slash from Guns n’ Roses and the actor Shia LaBeouf.

Shia LaBeouf is in prison? Right.

There's a forward by Samuel L. Jackson, but it isn't much.

The Kindle edition goes for $7.78. For the incarceration-challenged individuals in your life.

I liked this bit about the authors:

Coauthors Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez and Clifton Collins Jr. are childhood friends—one an ex-con, now free and living in Mexico...

Heh. This suggests that he checked himself out of the prison early.

Moron Recommendations

271 Thank you to the Moron who recommended Richard Feynman's the Pleasure of Finding Things Out.

Feynman was the father of nanotechnology and was a member of the research team for the Manhattan Project, among other accomplishments...like winning the Nobel Prize in Physics and investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

The book was a fun, quick read of a collection of his speeches and interviews over the years. He had an interesting take on science and scientists...going so far as to say things like, 'there is quite a considerable amount of intellectual tyranny in the name of science'. He didn't like honors, despite winning the Nobel; He was an original thinker.

I highly recommend this book.

Posted by: squeakywheel at October 28, 2018 11:56 AM (0vKHu)

The Amazon blurb for The Pleasure of Finding Things Out: The Best Short Works of Richard P. Feynman

The Pleasure of Finding Things Out is a magnificent treasury of the best short works of Richard P. Feynman—from interviews and speeches to lectures and printed articles. A sweeping, wide-ranging collection, it presents an intimate and fascinating view of a life in science-a life like no other. From his ruminations on science in our culture to his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, this book will fascinate anyone interested in the world of ideas.

Feynman is an old-school scientist who says embarassing old-school sciencey things such as:

First you guess...Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn’t matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, it’s wrong.

Pretty sure that's WhiteSupremacy™.

___________

Think politics are bad now?

20 Just started The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman.

It was a violent time, what with westward expansion, Indian uprisings, and the fight over slavery. Politics was also rough. “There was hand-to-hand combat and rioting at polling places. At one memorable occasion in Washington in 1857, three nativist gangs – the Plug Uglies, the Chunkers, and the Rip-Raps—joined forces to terrorize immigrants casting votes, causing a riot.”

Fun fact: “In 1837, when a representative insulted the Speaker during a debate, the Speaker stepped down from his platform, bowie knife in hand, and killed him. Expelled and tried for murder, he was acquitted for excusable homicide and reelected, only to pull his knife on another legislator during debate, although this time the sound of colleagues cocking pistols stopped him cold.”

And of course the most famous incident, the caning of abolitionist senator Charles Sumner in 1856. Did not know: Alaska Republican Don Young threatened John Boehner with a knife right in the House Chamber. Boehner stared him down and they parted, the matter ended (they later became friends). Even better: Young angrily shook the penis bone of a walrus at an Interior Department official who wanted to restrict hunting.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 02, 2018 09:48 AM (kQs4Y)

But, as the Amazon blurb says:

These fights didn’t happen in a vacuum. Freeman’s dramatic accounts of brawls and thrashings tell a larger story of how fisticuffs and journalism, and the powerful emotions they elicited, raised tensions between North and South and led toward war. In the process, she brings the antebellum Congress to life, revealing its rough realities—the feel, sense, and sound of it—as well as its nation-shaping import. Funny, tragic, and rivetingly told, The Field of Blood offers a front-row view of congressional mayhem and sheds new light on the careers of John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and other luminaries, as well as introducing a host of lesser-known but no less fascinating men. The result is a fresh understanding of the workings of American democracy and the bonds of Union on the eve of their greatest peril.

The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War advertises itself as the "previously untold story of the violence in Congress that helped spark the Civil War."

Therefore, from history we know that civil wars are proceeded by beatings, knifings, and shootings in the national legislature. Not sure how that's going to work out nowadays when one side doesn't believe in gun ownership. Fortunately for us, it's the other side.

On the other hand, other countries tolerate a considerable level of violence in their legislative bodies You can watch videos on YouTube of bench-clearing brawls in the Taiwanese and SoKo parliaments. They're actually kind of fun to watch.

Books By Morons

Moron author scrood e-mails:

My FIVE Kindle eBooks including “Let’s Hack Diabetes”, "Let's Hack Heart Disease", “Let’s Hack Mental Illness” will be free Sunday, Dec 9th!

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 *OregonMuse snorts awake on a prison transfer bus*

"The Book Thread!"

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:15 AM (kQs4Y)

2 *luxuriates in roomy thread*

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:16 AM (kQs4Y)

3 Hello books.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:16 AM (lwiT4)

4 Threefer?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:16 AM (kQs4Y)

5 hiya

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 09:19 AM (l4OMA)

6 Books!

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 09:19 AM (QfXC4)

7 Had mentioned in a previous thread that I liked CJ Box's Joe Pickett series and someone mentioned trying William Kent Krueger. Had picked up the first books in the Cork O'Connor series and liked it, but had kind of winced at buying other books new- especially since there are so many of them (which can be a very good thing if the series holds up). Found one of the later books used, so picked it up. Probably am missing some background since I have not read all of the books before it, but still found it was pretty solid and left me wanting to read more. It was called Vermillion Drift and the mysteries (old and new) were tied together via families and the mine. It was almost a study in grief and memories as well with Cork's parents part of the mystery. Will certainly be on the lookout for more of the books.

Posted by: Charlotte at December 09, 2018 09:20 AM (HVtAI)

8 I just finished Joanne B. Freeman’s “Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War”! It is a hoot.

This is the era of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun, and highfalutin oratory was big entertainment back in those days. When these worthies were due to speak the place was packed to the rafters. And like fans at a hockey game, they were hoping a fight would break out. Luckily there were occasionally real hate- and alcohol-fueled donnybrooks! One contemporary cartoon showed blood, teeth, and a toupee flying. Too bad we can’t have Time Travel C-SPAN!

Reporting on the many, many incidents was often spotty as a lot of the Washington newspapers were dependent on government printing contracts, and Congress granted those contracts. And if a reporter was too diligent in recording an insult or mishap, he himself might get tangled up in an honor dispute and be hounded by the offended congressman! Luckily Freeman had the inside scoop from the diaries of House clerk Benjamin Brown French, who knew everybody.

We talk about a national divorce and Two Americas, but it really was like worlds colliding. I’m surprised we still have a republic.

I see Joanne Freeman has also written “Affairs of Honor: National Politics in the New Republic”, which has a cover showing two founding fathers literally going at it hammer and tongs.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:21 AM (kQs4Y)

9 Howdy Book Nerds,

After weeks reading 'A History of the Vikings' by Gwyn Jones I finally finished it. Originally published in 1968 and updated in 1984 it's probably the most comprehensive history of the Vikings one can read. Due to Jones' attention to detail it is at times overwhelming, and at times a mind-numbing slog, but well worth the read.

He includes Viking mythology, and my favorite myth is about the goddess Freyja. She takes half of the Viking battle dead to her realm Folkvangr (Odin takes the other half to Valhalla) and flies around in a cart/chariot pulled by two cats, probably Norwegian Forest cats, which is really cool.

The Norwegian Forest Cat
https://tinyurl.com/p3462ju
https://tinyurl.com/y846xgyo

They must have eaten a lot of silly shroom appetizers along with their mead and beer to have come up with their goofy myths.

Some head music.

Viking Music - Folkvangr
https://youtu.be/VHxjyBtKxpM

Hans Zimmer - Time (Live in Prague)
https://youtu.be/X8emPcVRhuc

Led Zeppelin - The Battle of Evermore
(Lord of the Rings Version)
https://youtu.be/UUmd6lujmuE

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:21 AM (vJVIn)

10 Still on the Sword of Truth re-read on book three now. Will probably stop after this one and move on. I would like something new but all the new ones out by the authors like are still above my imposed limit of $10.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 09:22 AM (mpXpK)

11 Hi everyone, looks like the day all us Create Space authors have been dreading for months has finally arrived.... logged in to my account this morning and all the titles were no longer listed....said I had to log into KDP. Which I did, but they only show 5 of the 20+ titles I've done through them. Why on earth did they have to do this right before Christmas, when I was seeing steady sales of my CS books? Arrggh...

Posted by: Secret Square at December 09, 2018 09:24 AM (9WuX0)

12

Has The Media Become The Nation's Human Resources Department?

Posted by: Soothsayer SLX Pro Series II Platinum Turbo at December 09, 2018 09:24 AM (/+P5n)

13 Just found out Ralph Lauren is from the Bronx and his name is Ralph Lipshitz. Sounds right for a tie salesman at Bloomingdale's.

Posted by: Les Kinetic at December 09, 2018 09:24 AM (+fPHo)

14 That's got to be a wicked goddess who can get cats to do something useful.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 09:25 AM (fuK7c)

15 Books I have bought for Christmas gifts this year:

Louise Penny: Box Set of first three novels
Elizabeth George: First two in her Thomas Lynley Series
Sergeant York Biography
Hiking the Appalachian Trail
How Things Work
Healing Oils of the Bible
Anne of Green Gables
Essential Oils Cocktail Recipes
The Greatest Golf Game Ever Played
The Gourmet Guy Cookbook
Danubia: History of Hapsburg Europe

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:25 AM (lwiT4)

16 I guess if you lived in the suburbs in the 60s, this was the stuff your
parents listened to. I can still see the vinyl albums in the metal rack
in the closet with the stereo that no-one except my dad was allowed to
touch.

I lived in town and listed to all that. AND still do today.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (mpXpK)

17 If anyone's wondering why I didn't move my titles to KDP earlier, it's because they are mostly public domain titles with introductions or afterwords added, which KDP does not accept, and will threaten to suspend your account if you even try to submit them.

Posted by: Secret Square at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (9WuX0)

18 "If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science."

It's really sweet that xe thinks so.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (Ndje9)

19 I got a stack of tasty books from the library for a grey day just like today. One on the Katyn massacre, one on the secret history of Star Trek, another with cut scenes from Star Trek (yeah, I'm a TrekHead), and other fluff.

Also, a bunch of Captain Marvel comix. I have absolutely no sense of who Carol Danvers is, so how can I hate on a movie if I don't know the source material?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (kQs4Y)

20 Yeah, Feynman's work on the Challenger investigation was classic.

"Hey, guys? I stuck a chunk of O-ring material in a bucket of ice water and it became hard and brittle. Think that might have had something to do with the explosion?"

Now that's how you do Science. No expensive apparatus or government grant necessary.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (sdi6R)

21 My book group read Mann's Magic Mountain a few years ago. Bored the fuck out of me and I ultimately just stopped reading it. Maybe it was a bad translation.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (y7DUB)

22 Good morning, fellow Book Threadists!
Busy all this week with preparing batches of gourmet fudge to give as gifts to neighbors and clients for Christmas, so, not much going in the way of reading. I did finish Lucy Worsley's "Queen Victoria" biography, but still working on the review. (It's a series of essays about various significant/important days in the long life of the Queen; quite readable.)
For the month of December only, we put the price of the first three books of the Luna City series at .99 cents - hey, the first couple of hits are free, or nearly so!
There was a chapter of the sixth book that I wrote as a short story "Radio Silence" last year after Pearl Harbor day, that I posted at Chicagoboyz for the anniversary on Friday -https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/58554.html

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (xnmPy)

23 Almost done with War & Peace. The French have reached Moscow.

Tolstoy starts the chapter about the Battle of Borodino with a whole long exposition about how it isn't the great men but the blind forces of history and the actions of millions of individuals who shape events. True enough as far as it goes . . . except when it isn't. The French people didn't roll into Moscow on their own; Napoleon led them there.

One can imagine it might be "historically inevitable" for France to dominate Spain, or come into conflict with Austria over influence in Germany and Italy at the time. But Russia? You need a Great Man to herd a million Frenchmen all the way across Europe.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (TPL4d)

24 He includes Viking mythology, and my favorite myth is about the goddess
Freyja. She takes half of the Viking battle dead to her realm Folkvangr
(Odin takes the other half to Valhalla) and flies around in a
cart/chariot pulled by two cats, probably Norwegian Forest cats, which
is really cool.

Google the artist John Bauer. He was a Swedish illustrator who did some nice artwork of Freyia in the early 20th century. I believe he died in a canoe accident, no joke.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (lwiT4)

25 I got a 25% off coupon from Barnes & Noble, and picked up the newly released "Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita and The Battle of Manila" by James M. Scott. WWII in the Philippines seems to be a somewhat ignored subject, so I was glad to get this book.

Posted by: josephistan at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (Izzlo)

26 This week I read Uncompromising Honor by David Weber. This is the latest in the Honor Harrington series. The war between the Manticore-led Star Kingdom Grand Alliance and the Solorian League comes to a head while the puppet masters of the Mesan Alignment remain in hiding, pulling strings across the universe. Lots of political intrigue and a space battle or two.

I also read the quirky, interesting novel, On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. This is the first book in the five-book series Incarnations of Immortality. The author describes the book as a "fun fantasy," but it also is a satiric look at contemporary society. The main character, Zane, attempts to commit suicide, but end up killing Death. Unfortunately, he must now assume the office of Death. After an often humorous learning period, Zane ends up fighting Satan for the life of the woman he loves. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 09, 2018 09:29 AM (fQijm)

27 Here's some cool mood music for perusing SF - Dynatron's "Dust of Saturn":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ud5yDjM63I

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:30 AM (kQs4Y)

28 Good morning fellow Book Threadists. For those in the snow zones I hope you have plenty of books to read now that the shelves are emptied of milk, eggs, and bread.

Posted by: JTB at December 09, 2018 09:30 AM (bmdz3)

29 Worst love songs?"I want my Baby Back" >Jimmy Cross<

Posted by: obsidian at December 09, 2018 09:30 AM (7+yqP)

30 I also read the quirky, interesting novel, On A Pale
Horse by Piers Anthony. This is the first book in the five-book series
Incarnations of Immortality. The author describes the book as a "fun
fantasy," but it also is a satiric look at contemporary society. The
main character, Zane, attempts to commit suicide, but end up killing
Death. Unfortunately, he must now assume the office of Death. After an
often humorous learning period, Zane ends up fighting Satan for the life
of the woman he loves. Looking forward to reading the rest of the
series.

Posted by: Zoltan at December 09, 2018 09:29 AM (fQijm)

That first book in the series was good, but like most series it starting slowing down bad after the 2nd and 3rd.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 09:31 AM (mpXpK)

31 Google the artist John Bauer. He was a Swedish illustrator who did some nice artwork of Freyia in the early 20th century.
Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM (lwiT4)

Oh, cool, thank you. He's one of those artists you recognize immediately when you see one of his works, even if you don't know who it is by name.

Posted by: hogmartin at December 09, 2018 09:32 AM (t+qrx)

32 Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 09:26 AM (sdi6R)

IIRC, the manufacturer told them they wouldn't guarantee the O-rings below a certain temperature, and NASA basically ignored them.

Posted by: Vanya at December 09, 2018 09:32 AM (7PLM4)

33 First you guess...Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesnt matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, its wrong.

This is the fundamental problem with climate alarmists. They have these big beautiful computer models, we spend billions helping them refine the models, and the models do not match the data. Do they adjust the models to match they data? They do not.

They go back in and hide the decline (Michael Mann), correct the data so that the 1930s are colder than recorded, and adjust the data so that the warming pause of the last 20 years is...just gone.

Feynman would have been a climate change skeptic, and treated just like Freeman Dyson is today - a pariah.

Posted by: motionview at December 09, 2018 09:33 AM (pYQR/)

34 Bibliophybians.

Posted by: Kindltot at December 09, 2018 09:33 AM (mUa7G)

35 I loved Clifton Collins Jr. in The Boondock Saints II.
I had no idea he was an author.

Posted by: Downcast at December 09, 2018 09:34 AM (mLqs6)

36 IIRC, the manufacturer told them they wouldn't guarantee the O-rings below a certain temperature, and NASA basically ignored them.

Posted by: Vanya at December 09, 2018 09:32 AM

They had millions of school children across the nation waiting to watch the 'first teacher in space'! Teachable moment!!!

The show must go on!

Posted by: Embedded in my Pre-Frontal Cortex and Colonized by Patriarchy at December 09, 2018 09:35 AM (e7O7B)

37 There was a brawl on the House floor that ended when one of the participants lost his toupee, picked it up, and put it back on the wrong way. The fight ended because everyone else was laughing at him. I think it was in the late 1800s.

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:35 AM (tT986)

38 Killer legislatures ... oh yeah the Japanese before they decided to try and bring the Eight Corners of the World Under One Roof.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 09:36 AM (rRM1E)

39 Yay books! Currently re-reading John Sanford's "Prey" Novels (mysteries?). Following my wife as she reads them in order. I finally got her to read the Virgil Flowers series and she was hooked on Sanford. Also reading Reamde, by Neil Stephenson. One of my favorite author's. Probably make a pretty good action movie.

Posted by: Semilitterate at December 09, 2018 09:36 AM (91baw)

40 I should send Oregon Muse a picture of our public library. It was designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright's students, and sits on the lakeshore. The one side is all glass, so at this time of year you can sit in one of those mid-century modern chairs and watch the skaters go by as you read.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:36 AM (lwiT4)

41 There was a brawl on the House floor that ended when one of the participants lost his toupee, picked it up, and put it back on the wrong way. The fight ended because everyone else was laughing at him. I think it was in the late 1800s.
Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:35 AM (tT986)

Representatives can be so cruel.

Posted by: hogmartin at December 09, 2018 09:37 AM (t+qrx)

42 The show must go on!
Posted by: Embedded in my Pre-Frontal Cortex and Colonized by Patriarchy at December 09, 2018 09:35 AM (e7O7B)

"...And that, children is why we read the directions."

Posted by: Vanya at December 09, 2018 09:37 AM (7PLM4)

43 I read Mr. Adam by Pat Frank. Published in 1946, it is a satire of how the U.S. Government would react if a big nuclear powerplant exploded and sterilized all men (except for the one geologist a mile underground in a lead mine). The author postulates that U.S. Government would end up creating competing federal bureaucracies, lose track of the mission (have the guy artificially inseminate as many women as possible) and have endless meetings to grow their organizations and secure funding. Generally, a rather amusing story and Frank has some trenchant commentary based on first-hand experience. Rating = 4.5/5. A popular story when published, Frank is now best remembered for his post-nuclear apocalyptical novel, Alas Babylon.

I also read Prologue to Analog; edited by John Campbell it was published around 1962 and was an anthology of ten short stories that appeared in Astounding Science Fiction before the magazine became Analog. All but one of the stories are excellent and includes one of my favorite H. Beam Piper stories, "Omnilingual" (which is about Earth archiologists looking for a Rosetta Stone that will allow them to start translating the writings of the extinct Martian civilization). It also contains Christopher Anvil's amusing "Pandora's Planet" (the Planetary Integrator has trouble with pesky Earthlings). The only story I didn't like was the one in which a mental patient builds a low-yield nuke from clay while in a mental institution because the denouement doesn't explain how he accomplished it and just feels like hand-waving away the problem that the author wrote himself into. Rating = 4.9/5.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 09:37 AM (5Yee7)

44 I finally got her to read the Virgil Flowers series and she was hooked on Sanford.

I am smitten with Virgil. Rev is reading the series now too.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:37 AM (lwiT4)

45 Could be captain, alternately Mann just could be a really unengaging writer.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 09:39 AM (x+C/t)

46 Actually Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" series made it all the way to Book Seven - And Eternity in which G-d is replaced.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 09:39 AM (rRM1E)

47 Google the artist John Bauer. He was a Swedish illustrator who did some nice artwork of Freyia in the early 20th century.
Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:27 AM

Seems he preferred his Freyja with fake boobies instead of real ones.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:41 AM (vJVIn)

48 Good Sunday morning, horde!

I finished the latest Longmire, and it was entertaining enough if not entirely plausible. I forget which of you Morons calls this kind of reading potato chip reading, but that's what it is. Delicious, but it won't stick with you.

Posted by: April at December 09, 2018 09:42 AM (OX9vb)

49 Just finished A Soldier of the Great War by Mark Helprin. Wonderfully written, a tale of finding love and seeing beauty in the midst of tragic loss. I am tempted to pick up another of Helprin's other novels (Winter's Tale, In Sunlight and in Shadow, Paris in the Present Tense, or Refiner's Fire) but I will wait as I am already reading:

John Toland's No Man's Land. It's the story of the German Spring Offensive in 1918 and how close to defeat the Allies came, as their incompetent, back-stabbing, hopelessly corrupt (Clemenseau and Lloyd George, in particular) jackass leaders and generals whine and bitch and moan and jockey for political position and survival as hundreds of thousands of men are killed and maimed waiting for their leaders to pull their collective heads out of their asses.

Also just started JRR Tolkien: Author of the Century, by Tom Shippey. Promises to be an interesting read.

And next up long novel will be The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky. I have been listening to a lot of talks by Dr. Peter Kreeft and he keeps telling me it is the Greatest Christian Novel ever, so I will dive into that pool and explore.

Good morning, Most Excellent Book Nerds!

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 09:42 AM (2eKoI)

50 Seems he preferred his Freyja with fake boobies instead of real ones.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:41 AM (vJVIn)

In Freyja and Svipdag, she looks soooo drunk.

http://tinyurl.com/yc3eys4t

Posted by: hogmartin at December 09, 2018 09:44 AM (t+qrx)

51 Declan Finn did it again. I just finished Death Cult, Book #2 in his Saint Tommy, NYPD series. The premise is a police officer discovers he has a supernatural ability to smell out evil at a time when literal demonic evil is on the move in New York City. Part supernatural urban fantasy, part police procedural, Finn's series is outstanding for any reader who like clear-cut good and evil with fast-paced action.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at December 09, 2018 09:45 AM (1pQvR)

52 I'm also reading Ron Rash's collection of short stories, Something Rich and Strange. I read a couple of stories at bedtime. They are beautifully written. I live in sort-of Appalachia, in the poorest county in Ohio, and these characters could be straight out of my neighborhood.

Posted by: April at December 09, 2018 09:45 AM (OX9vb)

53 51 Declan Finn did it again. I just finished Death Cult, Book #2 in his Saint Tommy, NYPD series. The premise is a police officer discovers he has a supernatural ability to smell out evil at a time when literal demonic evil is on the move in New York City. Part supernatural urban fantasy, part police procedural, Finn's series is outstanding for any reader who like clear-cut good and evil with fast-paced action.
Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at December 09, 2018 09:45 AM (1pQvR)

That sounds pretty cool.

Posted by: josephistan at December 09, 2018 09:45 AM (Izzlo)

54 37 There was a brawl on the House floor that ended when one of the participants lost his toupee, picked it up, and put it back on the wrong way. The fight ended because everyone else was laughing at him. I think it was in the late 1800s.
Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:35 AM (tT986)
---
That's the one! It's the Keitt-Grow rumble. I can't find a link to the cartoon but it was lampooned mercilessly in the rags at the time.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:46 AM (kQs4Y)

55 Wait, is that author saying that knifing a politician might be justifiable homicide?

*ponders*

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 09:46 AM (4bd7D)

56 Had mentioned in a previous thread that I liked CJ Box's Joe Pickett series
Posted by: Charlotte at December 09, 2018 09:20 AM

If you haven't read his other books you might try them. They're pretty good.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:46 AM (vJVIn)

57 Thanks to cfomom's recommendation I got "Polk: the Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America" for my own Mom for Christmas.

Huzzah for the book thread.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 09:46 AM (fuK7c)

58 As far as my reading this week, it has been a challenge with one eye. So I checked out some large print Agatha Christie novels. Easy reading, nothing that requires any work, but enjoyable. I have not read her books since high school, so I have no problem not remembering who-done-it.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:47 AM (lwiT4)

59 And of course the most famous incident, the caning of abolitionist senator Charles Sumner in 1856.

Representative Preston Brooks considered the previous speech given by Sumner to be a mortal insult to his family. Don't forget that duels were still going on in those days. But supposedly they were only conducted between gentlemen. Brooks considered Sumner to be common rabble and therefore not eligible for a duel. Hence he beat in very badly with the silver headed cane.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 09:47 AM (mpXpK)

60 When I was a kid we had to go to a weird Japanese import store on Astoria Blvd to get ramen. It was rare and exotic and only came in one flavor.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 09, 2018 09:48 AM (EZebt)

61 Eris, a Secret History of Star Trek?

Is that like the Illuminati version?

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 09:48 AM (rRM1E)

62 Grammie, can't believe yer not readin' Treasure Island!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:48 AM (kQs4Y)

63 I also read the quirky, interesting novel, On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony. This is the first book in the five-book series Incarnations of Immortality. The author describes the book as a "fun fantasy," but it also is a satiric look at contemporary society. ...
Posted by: Zoltan at December 09, 2018 09:29 AM (fQijm)

That is a really good read. Unfortunately, I lost interest in the series at some point and just stopped reading them.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 09:48 AM (5Yee7)

64 58 As far as my reading this week, it has been a challenge with one eye. So I checked out some large print Agatha Christie novels. Easy reading, nothing that requires any work, but enjoyable. I have not read her books since high school, so I have no problem not remembering who-done-it.

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:47 AM (lwiT4)

Since high school? That was just about (hmm; 29-18 =) 10 years ago.

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 09:49 AM (QfXC4)

65 In Freyja and Svipdag, she looks soooo drunk.
http://tinyurl.com/yc3eys4t
Posted by: hogmartin at December 09, 2018 09:44 AM

Well, she is considered a party gal.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:49 AM (vJVIn)

66 Grammie, can't believe yer not readin' Treasure Island!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:48 AM (kQs4Y)

I should! LOL

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:49 AM (lwiT4)

67 I just finished "Omar Bradley General at War"

by Jim Defelice/

Pretty good book.

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 09:49 AM (l4OMA)

68 Mike Hammer, the phrase you are looking for is "practicing politician."

The story is Lone Star Planet/A Planet for Texans by H Beam Piper.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 09:50 AM (rRM1E)

69 Had mentioned in a previous thread that I liked CJ Box's Joe Pickett series
Posted by: Charlotte at December 09, 2018 09:20 AM

If you haven't read his other books you might try them. They're pretty good.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead

Agreed

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 09:51 AM (l4OMA)

70 This is sort of bookish. No. 1 Son announced that he's going to get his first tattoo this weekend.

Which, fine, he's 26 and living on his own and making his own money. But he's sort of an idiot, so I cringed a little.

He's getting the JRRT logo on his arm, and a circle of elvish writing around it (unless the circle is too expensive). That's not a bad choice.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (fuK7c)

71 And of course the most famous incident, the caning of abolitionist senator Charles Sumner in 1856.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 02, 2018 09:48 AM

I used to work with a guy who was related to Sumner. Whenever a civil war would break out about the Civil War it was always a hoot to hear him go after the southern boys.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (vJVIn)

72 Representative Preston Brooks considered the
previous speech given by Sumner to be a mortal insult to his family.
Don't forget that duels were still going on in those days. But
supposedly they were only conducted between gentlemen. Brooks considered
Sumner to be common rabble and therefore not eligible for a duel. Hence
he beat in very badly with the silver headed cane.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 09:47 AM (mpXpK)

Of all 4 people involved (Brooks, the fellow congressman who held senators back as Brooks was beating Sumner, the senator and relative whose honor Brooks was defending, and Sumner) only Sumner survived past the Civil War. He was instrumental in getting the Alaska Purchase through Congress.

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (tT986)

73 > In 1837, when a representative insulted the Speaker during a debate, the Speaker stepped down from his platform, bowie knife in hand, and killed him.

Maybe a state house? The speaker of the U.S. House in 1837 was James Knox Polk (who later became President), and who apparently never killed anyone.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (ftLC8)

74 The other thing I've noticed in Tolstoy is how he kind of palms a card, historically, about the serfs vis a vis Napoleon.

Historically, the serfs (some of them, at least) looked upon the French as liberators. The French thought so, too. No coincidence that after the war the Tsar cracked down good and hard, rolling back all his earlier reforms.

Anyway, Tolstoy alludes to the restiveness of the peasants a little, but since he wants his story to be about how the superior national feeling of the Russian people defeated the invaders, he kind of has to downplay the way a lot of the Russian people thought their rulers were fools/bastards and hoped a foreign ruler might be better.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 09:53 AM (TPL4d)

75 A few eeks ago someone mentioned "Revolution: Mapping the Road to American Indepenence". Luckily, our local library had it. The book deals with two of my favorite topics: history and maps. It's a fun read. There were several maps of my hometown from the period and some of the buildings are still there and recognizable. I was surprised to see some early examples of topo maps. I know the one about my hometown were accurate.

The book is pretty expensive but I would get a used copy if the price was right.

Posted by: JTB at December 09, 2018 09:54 AM (bmdz3)

76 As far as my reading this week, it has been a challenge with one eye.
Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:47 AM

Do you by any chance keep a food diary? Quite a few of these auto-immune flare ups can be traced to something in the diet. Can you remember something about the day/days prior?

Anyway, perhaps I'm strange I'll admit, but I buy 4 X 6 index cards and list everything I eat every day along with guesstimated calories. Also whatever chores or projects I'm working on or accomplished.

Posted by: Embedded in my Pre-Frontal Cortex and Colonized by Patriarchy at December 09, 2018 09:54 AM (e7O7B)

77 Mike Hammer -

How was yer snowstorm ?

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 09:54 AM (l4OMA)

78 Talkin' music, I don't know if everyone has already seen this, but my son just sent me this link to Elton John Lewis' Christmas ad.

Made it a bit dusty in here.

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

Posted by: cfo mom at December 09, 2018 09:55 AM (RfzVr)

79 I like the comic....I often dress in jacket and white tie to wander around the house.

Posted by: BignJames at December 09, 2018 09:55 AM (cxHbL)

80 In 1837, when a representative insulted the Speaker
during a debate, the Speaker stepped down from his platform, bowie knife
in hand, and killed him.

Maybe a state house? The speaker of the U.S. House in 1837 was James
Knox Polk (who later became President), and who apparently never killed
anyone.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (ftLC

Yeah, can't be the U.S. House. Closest anyone came to dying on the House floor was when it was shot up in the 1950s by Puerto Rican independence fighters (same group that had a shootout with the Secret Service while Harry Truman was watching from a window at Blair House).

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:55 AM (tT986)

81 Speaking of my book group, we got started on From Here to Eternity. Although there are many things that irritate me about it, some of which I'll mention here, it's at least interesting enough that I won't put it down and read something else while complaining to the homo who selected it that it was a terrible choice and he should have his head examined for inflicting it on us when others, particularly me, have come up with much better selections. Anyway James Jones has this annoying habit of when his characters say something like "would have" writing it as "would of". Every time I see that it's like someone put a cattle prod on my spinal cord. I don't know if he's trying to portray the people saying that as a bunch of brainless hicks that he's poking fun at (he also uses "soljer" a lot) but EVERY FUCKING BODY TALKS THAT WAY. I can't imagine readers when this first came out, who were much more grammatically knowledgeable than the current crop of dolts upchucked from the union propaganda mills, not reacting similarly. Anyway, the characters are interesting enough that I'll keep going through it but I have no idea how this, at best, middlebrow fare made it on to so many lists of great books, other than the people contributing to the lists are irritating fuckheads.

In more pleasant news, I'm nearing the end of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Spoiler alert: Constantinople fell to the Turks. You'd think that would be the end of things but there are three more chapters for Gibbon to solidify his anti Christian cred by bitching about the Popes. At least that's the way it looks.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (y7DUB)

82 Although I'll add that then-Congressman John Quincy Adams keeled over while giving a speech against slavery in 1848 and 3 days later died in what was then the Speaker's office.

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (tT986)

83 Do you by any chance keep a food diary?

LOL I don't even cook. My diet is pretty much fish, cheese, fruits and veggies. Sometimes I'll have a steak or a hamburger. Nothing out of the ordinary food-wise leading up to the paralysis. I blame the snow shoveling. Not planning on doing that again

Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (lwiT4)

84 Yes Tolstoy's uncle was a rather ruthless interior minister, who had authority over the okrana the successor to the third section that crushed the decembrists who were the victors over napoleon in part.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (x+C/t)

85 Hrothgar

Left you some links at the bottom of the EMT.
(#35

Sorry for the disruption.

(Backs and bows out of the book thread)

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (cqNba)

86 I learned aboout Ramen noodles from a Cambodian family I was teaching English to. They would pound bits of chicken and some spring onions and I don't know what all in a mortar, and toss that over dry heat before stirring it up into the noodles. Yum.

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (QfXC4)

87 74
Historically, the serfs (some of them, at least) looked upon the French as liberators. The French thought so, too. No coincidence that after the war the Tsar cracked down good and hard, rolling back all his earlier reforms.
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 09:53 AM (TPL4d)

In 1941, the Ukrainians regarded the *Nazis* as liberators.

Think about that.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (sdi6R)

88 Good morning Horde, my favorite virtual people.

Been working toward this moment for more than SIX MONTHS:

I finished Forgotten Man, by Shlaes. Good book. my disgust and antipathy toward all things FDR is higher than ever, and confirmed.

Next: Cruise of the Lanikai, by Tolley. this odd book provided the foundation for one of the quirkiest movies and TV series, and one of my favorite stories: The Wackiest Ship in the Army.

Onward, Horde.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (iBmJc)

89 Anna, it's not sooper seekrit, it's "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, from The Next Generation to J.J. Abrams", by Mark Altman and Edward Gross. It is "compete, uncensored, and unauthorized".

We'll see if there's any good dirt. I think this was in a previous book thread.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 09:59 AM (kQs4Y)

90 I blame the snow shoveling. Not planning on doing that again
Posted by: grammie winger, church pirate at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (lwiT4)

Leave the snow shoveling to the ramen.

https://stoatnet.org/ramen.jpg

Posted by: hogmartin at December 09, 2018 10:00 AM (t+qrx)

91 Anyway James Jones has this annoying habit of when his characters say something like "would have" writing it as "would of".

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (y7DUB)

I'm assuming he had an editor?

Posted by: BignJames at December 09, 2018 10:00 AM (cxHbL)

92 "Hey, guys? I stuck a chunk of O-ring material in a bucket of ice water and it became hard and brittle. Think that might have had something to do with the explosion?"
------------

From what I read, the shuttle was using better material for the O-rings, but, since it wasn't gaia friendly, NASA switched to a different formulation.

Posted by: Blake - tis the season for grinching at December 09, 2018 10:01 AM (WEBkv)

93 In 1941, the Ukrainians regarded the *Nazis* as liberators.

Think about that.

Yep and if the Nazis had curbed their fetish for exterminating All Sub-Humans they could have added Ukrainian units to their order of battle for the push to Moscow and Stalingrad all the way to the oil fields. And then once the Soviet bear was dead, turn on their allies.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:02 AM (rRM1E)

94 78 Talkin' music, I don't know if everyone has already seen this, but my son just sent me this link to Elton John Lewis' Christmas ad.

Made it a bit dusty in here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbSgMEZ_Tw
Posted by: cfo mom at December 09, 2018 09:55 AM (RfzVr)

Omigoodness, have the Kleenex ready.

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 10:02 AM (QfXC4)

95 First you guess...Then you compute the consequences. Compare the consequences to experience. If it disagrees with experience, the guess is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn't matter how beautiful your guess is or how smart you are or what your name is. If it disagrees with experience, it's wrong."

The only problem with this is that he refers to "experience" as if it was some simple thing that can be objectively known. It can't - data is usually pretty complex and people interpret it through pre-existing paradigms. The end result is that two people can look at the same set of data and come to radically different conclusions, with often (not always) no clear way of telling whose conclusion is correct (or at least closer to the truth). We all know this to be true, but you'd be surprised how many people on the Right don't seem to want to admit it.

As I keep trying to tell people here, Postmodernism may be antirational, but it is isn't actually irrational; which is to say that while it may end up rejecting reason the way it gets there is (ironically enough) quite logical. Outside of formal religious beliefs there simply isn't a competitor.

Posted by: Grey Fox at December 09, 2018 10:03 AM (bZ7mE)

96 Doh. Typo. Elton John/John Lewis.

That's what I get for not proofreading.

Posted by: cfo mom at December 09, 2018 10:03 AM (RfzVr)

97 There is so much truth packed into those three panels of "Wondermark." Reminds me of being a kid and exploring the Old Man's private libray (he snorts derisively at the thought of owning only 1000 books). That's where I read Karl Marx (where my 14 year old self figured out that Communism was patent bull$h!t), Machiavelli, Raymond Chandler, Jane's Fighting Ships and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Only thing I disagree with David Malki is the idea that a library would preserve those books. All it takes is a librarian to decide that they are "unnecessary" and POOF out the books go.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 10:03 AM (5Yee7)

98 > Yeah, can't be the U.S. House.

Found it. It was Arkansas (which was my second guess after Texas, but Texas wasn't yet a state in 1837).

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:04 AM (ftLC8)

99 Well if your read Fannie, its not that surprising , james Jones was from Illinois, so it might have been his linguistic tick. Of course it was made into the film which Sinatra played a smal role which became a plot point in the Godfather.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 10:04 AM (x+C/t)

100 Of all 4 people involved (Brooks, the fellow
congressman who held senators back as Brooks was beating Sumner, the
senator and relative whose honor Brooks was defending, and Sumner) only
Sumner survived past the Civil War. He was instrumental in getting the
Alaska Purchase through Congress.

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (tT986)
Of all 4 people involved (Brooks, the fellow
congressman who held senators back as Brooks was beating Sumner, the
senator and relative whose honor Brooks was defending, and Sumner) only
Sumner survived past the Civil War. He was instrumental in getting the
Alaska Purchase through Congress.

Posted by: Vendette at December 09, 2018 09:52 AM (tT986)

Only the good die young

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 10:04 AM (mpXpK)

101 To meet regulations if memory serves, the rubber O-ring compound was later formulated to not use asbestos. Those O-rings were used on Challenger's SRBs.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:05 AM (rRM1E)

102 You are correct sir. The stabbing occurred in the Arkansas House in 1837. Unsurprisingly.

(Don't hate, I'm half Arkansan.)

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:05 AM (kQs4Y)

103 Currently reading 'Roosevelt's Secret War, FDR and WWII Espionage', Persico. Very interesting so far, lots of info from sundry records, letters, memos, first hand accounts, etc.

Also, 'Engineers of Victory', Kennedy. Subtitled 'The Problem Solvers Who Turned the Tide in the Second World War'

Lots of interesting facts, though most already pretty well known to students of WWII. As an example, I certainly did not know that the Reds had provided a T-34 to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1942, apparently seeking improvements.

In the queue: 'Japan at War', Cook. This is a compendium of interviews with Japanese soldiers recounting their war time experiences.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:05 AM (ZMWtN)

104

ooops.

Posted by: Grey Fox at December 09, 2018 10:06 AM (bZ7mE)

105 Red famine, dang autocucumber, the book is said to be more unsparing in its violence than the film, a little like the short timers to full metal jacket.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 10:06 AM (x+C/t)

106 88 I finished Forgotten Man, by Shlaes. Good book. my
disgust and antipathy toward all things FDR is higher than ever, and
confirmed.

Next: Cruise of the Lanikai, by Tolley. this odd book
provided the foundation for one of the quirkiest movies and TV series,
and one of my favorite stories: The Wackiest Ship in the Army.

Onward, Horde.

Posted by: goatexchange at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (iBmJc)

that was a great book.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at December 09, 2018 10:06 AM (mpXpK)

107 Anne Cleeland is starting to serialize another historical (for free) on her website AnneCleeland.com

A Death in Sheffield is set in 1814. Fulll book will be published June 2019, but the free serialization will continue. Hope you enjoy!

Posted by: artemis at December 09, 2018 10:06 AM (AwPyG)

108 Regarding Feynman: his autobiography "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" goes into some of the backstage maneuvering for his little demonstration with the O-rings.

Being a good scientist, he tested his hypothesis in advance, and then staged the demo at the hearing as a way to blow up some of the ass-covering NASA bafflegab. His secret helper in all this was fellow Rogers Commission member General Kutyna, who knew a bit more about how to game the Washington bureaucratic/media environment (and apparently was getting inside info from Sally Ride about the known O-Ring issue).

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 10:07 AM (TPL4d)

109 There's a very good graphic novel edition of "The Forgotten Man", which is how I read it.

https://tinyurl.com/y9rw5rbc

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:08 AM (kQs4Y)

110 Anyway James Jones has this annoying habit of when his characters say something like "would have" writing it as "would of".

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 09:57 AM (y7DUB)

I'm assuming he had an editor?
Posted by: BignJames at December 09, 2018 10:00 AM (cxHbL)

I know he did because I'm reading the new uncensored version that supposedly puts the use of "cunt" back in the text, even though I haven't read it yet. Anyway, I assume editors can only make suggestions which the writer can accept or reject; and if the writer is a known money maker for the publisher he probably has carte blanche to tell the editor to go away.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:08 AM (y7DUB)

111 I am partial to "The Magic Mountain"

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at December 09, 2018 10:09 AM (FTPVM)

112 Omigoodness, have the Kleenex ready.

At first I was yeah it's a touching song but it's been forty years so how can it...

and then Wow.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 10:09 AM (fuK7c)

113 ...ass-covering NASA bafflegab.

Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 10:07 AM (TPL4d)

So descriptive! I can hear it in my mind.

Posted by: BignJames at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (cxHbL)

114 The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War by Joanne B. Freeman.

So, you're saying there's still a chance that we will see -

Commie Hypocrite Bernie Sanders horsewhipped on the floor of Congress?

Yay!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (CRRq9)

115 Just about finished with "The Smear" by Sharyl Attkisson.

Good enough, but, I think she tends to conflate smear and legitimate campaign issues. Though, I'll have to give her a pass, because I think she's trying to cover her hiny just a bit.

Anyway, fascinating if a somewhat sickening look at how incestuous the relationship between government Democrats and the press has become. She really lifts the lid on the fact the press has become monumentally lazy and is more than happy to present as "news" copy conveniently provided by the DNC.

I do recommend the book, but only if one has stable blood pressure.

Oh yeah, Mrs. Attkisson lists all of the attacks President Trump had to weather. Sharyl admits that most candidates would have melted under the constant attacks.

Posted by: Blake - tis the season for grinching at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (WEBkv)

116
In 1941, the Ukrainians regarded the *Nazis* as liberators.

Think about that.
Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (sdi6R)

===

My father's father was born in what is now southern Poland, and he told that as a child he saw the whole town celebrate when the Germans ejected the Russians in WWI.

Obviously the Nazis were regarded differently. But they would have retained Ukrainian support if only they had put aside their racial ideology for a moment and stopped slaughtering the population.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (EZebt)

117 Anna - In reading about the sequence of events that led to the replacement of the Allison engine in the P-51 with the Rolls-Royce, I cannot but wonder if the same change might not have made the P-39 into a far more versatile aircraft.

Too bad it wasn't given a go. I gather that dimensionally the engines were nearly the same.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (4bd7D)

118 Doh. Typo. Elton John/John Lewis.

That's what I get for not proofreading.
Posted by: cfo mom

Eh, we still love ya.

Glad you're making progress on slaying your giant.

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (l4OMA)

119 The Foreword to The Magic Mountain is peak brilliance

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (FTPVM)

120 I can still see the vinyl albums in the metal rack in the closet with the stereo that no-one except my dad was allowed to touch.

We had the floor cabinet version with a built in album storage bin. It's still downstairs posing as a cabinet. Not sure who blew out the woofer 30+ years ago.

Posted by: DaveA at December 09, 2018 10:12 AM (FhXTo)

121 Snowed in today, no church. That means I get to read the Book Thread in real time...to the extent that AoSHQ Time is real time.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:12 AM (4bd7D)

122 Mike Hammer, the phrase you are looking for is "practicing politician."

The story is Lone Star Planet/A Planet for Texans by H Beam Piper.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 09:50 AM (rRM1E)

If H. Beam Piper were alive today, he would definitely be a Moron in good standing. Except for a faith in the United Nations organization (more experience would have disabused him of that error), his writing is almost always outstanding and sympatico with the political views of much of the Horde. It is too bad that he commited suicide after a nasty divorce and believing himself to be a failure as an author.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 10:12 AM (5Yee7)

123 > Of course it was made into the film which Sinatra played a smal role which became a plot point in the Godfather.

What? That character was based on Sinatra?

Next you'll be telling us that Jack Woltz was based on Harry Cohn.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (ftLC8)

124 60 When I was a kid we had to go to a weird Japanese import store on Astoria Blvd to get ramen. It was rare and exotic and only came in one flavor.

I had never heard of ramen until I went to college. Had never had a bagel before then, either. So deprived!

Posted by: April at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (OX9vb)

125 I'm also reading Ron Rash's collection of short stories, Something Rich and Strange. I read a couple of stories at bedtime. They are beautifully written. I live in sort-of Appalachia, in the poorest county in Ohio, and these characters could be straight out of my neighborhood.

Posted by: April at December 09, 2018 09:45 AM (OX9vb)

I'm glad you're enjoying the stories. Adams county?

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (y7DUB)

126 Eris, any book that leads from Trek to JJ Abrams Drek is not a book for me.

Bjo Trimble's Star Trek Concordance 2d Edition also covers Next Generation.

Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens.

Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda.

Lost Voyages of Trek and the Next Generation by Bill Planer.

The World of Star Trek: The Show the Network Could Not Kill by David Gerrold.

The Making of Star Trek: What it is - How it happened - How it works! by Stephen E. Whitfield and Gene Roddenberry.

And from the above list I am about all Trek'd out.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (rRM1E)

127 93
Yep and if the Nazis had curbed their fetish for exterminating All Sub-Humans they could have added Ukrainian units to their order of battle for the push to Moscow and Stalingrad all the way to the oil fields. And then once the Soviet bear was dead, turn on their allies.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:02 AM (rRM1E)

Ukraine is the classic example of being between a rock and a hard place.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (sdi6R)

128 > If H. Beam Piper were alive today, he would definitely be a Moron in good standing.

One of many things for which John Scalzi needs to be held accountable is writing an "updated" version of Little Fuzzy in which Holloway is a friggin' SJW.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:14 AM (ftLC8)

129 Regarding Feynman: his autobiography "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" goes into some of the backstage maneuvering for his little demonstration with the O-rings.
---------

Good book.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:15 AM (4bd7D)

130 Yes he want a major character like ray or lancasters, but it was his debut film.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 10:16 AM (x+C/t)

131 Tolle Lege
Finished James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans and while it was very good can say the movie which is in my top 10 is only similar in that Magua kills Uncas and Magua does die.
Well glad I did read it.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:16 AM (/rm4P)

132 Bloodlands explains why the Nazis were regarded as liberators in Ukraine. Those people had been reduced to cannibalism by Stalin trashing the productivity of the farms and exporting all the reduced output.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:17 AM (y7DUB)

133 For those who read "The Forgotten Man" I highly recommend "Coolidge" by same author, Amity Schlaes.

Posted by: Blake - tis the season for grinching at December 09, 2018 10:18 AM (WEBkv)

134 Why Tim sbnyder, before tds called it the bloodlands, vollmans Europe central offers vignettes of the period a bloody plutarch of the times.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 10:18 AM (x+C/t)

135 In 1941, the Ukrainians regarded the *Nazis* as liberators.
Think about that.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 09:58 AM (sdi6R)

Yep and if the Nazis had curbed their fetish for exterminating All Sub-Humans they could have added Ukrainian units to their order of battle for the push to Moscow and Stalingrad all the way to the oil fields. And then once the Soviet bear was dead, turn on their allies.
Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:02 AM (rRM1E)

But then the result, would have been a strong, united Reich that could throw everything it had into the west war. So perhaps the actual outcome, a long war of attrition in the east that the Nazis eventually lost, was actually the best outcome. By a hair.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (rA5AC)

136 stopped slaughtering the population.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (EZebt)
There were many Ukranian-manned death squads that specialized in killing Jews. Let us not romanticize....

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (wYseH)

137 Ukraine is the classic example of being between a rock and a hard place.
Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (sdi6R)

And Poland, Estonia, Lithuania...

I think people forget that when you're squeezed between Hitler and Stalin you don't get to say, "Hey, I'm neutral." Well, you can, but it won't do you any good.

Posted by: Vanya at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (7PLM4)

138 Feynman was always a social liberal, and I don't really know his politics, but later in life while traveling he reached an interesting conclusion about poor/chaotic countries.

I'm not going to look it up in order quote verbatim, but it went something like, "I realized that they don't need our stuff, they need their own stuff."

See: Honduras

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (2qPhT)

139 Thanks JT. Eating that elephant one bite at a time.

Posted by: cfo mom at December 09, 2018 10:20 AM (RfzVr)

140 The Foreword to The Magic Mountain is peak brilliance

Hmmph. I've downloaded some free Thomas Mann on my kindle so I went to see if I could go read that forward right now so as to have something fresh for the book thread, but it's not available.

I have Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice, and Tonio Kroeger.

Tonio Kroeger is the only one I've read and it helped me get laid once. Tonio is a dark hued wormy little guy and he's intimidated by the big blonde Nordic types, particularly one Hans Hansen. A girl I worked with had a boyfriend but was crushing on a Nordic type and I asked her how things were going with her Hans Hansen and she was impressed.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 10:20 AM (fuK7c)

141 I'm looking at clips of fights in the Taiwan legislature. Water balloons, chair throwing, air horns -- they make us look like pikers!

My favorite is the girl fight with hair pulling and shoes thrown. No way I would risk my Fluevogs!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:21 AM (kQs4Y)

142 Not reading anything seriously now, still have my heart set on continuing the Aulbrey/ Maturin series ( The Yellow Admiral), thinking of Sharpe series and really want a copy of Hell in a Small Space.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:22 AM (/rm4P)

143 Tolstoy starts the chapter about the Battle of Borodino

-
When I first read War and Peace, I was very disappointed in this. It all leads up to this great battle then Prince Andre is mortally wounded by a shell while waiting behind the battleground to be called into action. No desperate, sabers slashing cavalry charge. No deeds of daring do. It's like waiting at the DMV then a shell explodes . . .

Speaking of Borodino, this week I heard Brian Setzer's swing band version of the 1812 Overture. That guy has real musical sense of humor. Another of his musical jokes I love is his sampling of the theme from Route 66 in his version of the standard Route 66. Of course, you have to be of a certain age to get that.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:22 AM (+y/Ru)

144 Commie Hypocrite Bernie Sanders horsewhipped on the floor of Congress?
Yay!
Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (CRRq9)

I would like to see Alexandria Occasional-Cortex tarred and feathered.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 10:22 AM (rA5AC)

145 funny how trump is to be held accountable for political violence because of his tweets, but hollywood's bears no responsibility for gun violence despite thousands of movies extolling illegal and irresponsible use of firearms.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at December 09, 2018 10:23 AM (Pg+x7)

146 > Ukraine is the classic example of being between a rock and a hard place.

Yeah, they've been screwed nearly as often and as hard as Poland over the centuries.

Some ignorant commie was blathering about how Poland was "xenophobic" with respect to the "refugees" that are flooding Europe.

It's not like Poland has ever been invaded before, right?

At least if you don't count the Romans, Vikings, Russians (multiple times), Germans (multiple times), Mongols, Huns, Magyars, Avars, Turks, Tatars...

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:24 AM (ftLC8)

147 Anna, those are my kind of Trek books too. I especially liked the David Gerrold books with illustrations by Tim Kirk.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:24 AM (kQs4Y)

148 Yrs there is that twist, petlura the predecessor nationalist want personally antisemitic but some of his men certainly were . enough for the kgb blood libel thug got him killed.

Posted by: admiral marcus at December 09, 2018 10:24 AM (x+C/t)

149 One of many things for which John Scalzi needs to be held accountable is writing an "updated" version of Little Fuzzy in which Holloway is a friggin' SJW.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:14 AM (ftLC

From his writing, it is quite apparent that H. Beam Piper was familiar with Lefties and had little patience with their bull$h!t. I've heard enough about Scalzi to stay away from his writing. I've pretty much stopped reading any science fiction written after about 1986 (except for stuff published by Baen).

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 10:24 AM (5Yee7)

150 Mike Hammer -

How was yer snowstorm ?
Posted by: JT
----------

Continuing. Maybe 4" or 5" so far, a bit wet and heavy, large limb down in the front yard. No plows or salt spreaders around here yet, so, I'm not going anywhere.

Power good, so far, but I can hear a generator running somewhere in the distance. I have a feeling that I'm one of the few houses in the neighborhood with power, as there is no evidence of lighting in the houses around me.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:24 AM (2qPhT)

151 Bander, that cracks me up. Thomas Mann is definitely not known for scoring sex.

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (FTPVM)

152 I think people forget that when you're squeezed between Hitler and Stalin you don't get to say, "Hey, I'm neutral." Well, you can, but it won't do you any good.
Posted by: Vanya at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (7PLM4)

Yes, being in an occupied country limits your career choices.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (y7DUB)

153 they don't need our stuff, they need their own stuff."

See: Honduras

-
Particularly their own population.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (+y/Ru)

154 91: Many people have that same annoying habit and don't realize that they're using the contraction "would've". When they write they use "would of". I see this all the time, so IMO Jones just lets his character speak in their own voices

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (U7k5w)

155 Greetings, O Book Thread!

Sent out Soul Code to beta readers and artist! It is my great fortune to have a cover artist that likes my books, because then he can read them and decide what image to use. Highly necessary in this case, for while there is plenty of action it is predominately the kind that is hard to display cinematically.

And speaking of books, last week I volunteered at an elementary school for an evening program-NOT, strangely enough, about writing-where they sent us volunteers off to various classrooms to assist kid with coding. My kids knew what to do on their own so I snooped around the classroom, having not been in one for *mumble* years and hearing horror stories.

Books. Books EVERYWHERE. In bins. On every available surface. Scattered like confetti. On a table was a pile of books on the Revolutionary War and they were not "White male oppressors destroy Boston Harbor ecosystem with tea whilst culturally appropriating First Nation traditional costumes" but real books that would interest kids. You know, battles and spies and the like. Oh, and the elementary teacher? A man, and clearly much loved by his students. There is hope. (He needs help with his science fiction, though. The offerings were sparse and not very interesting. Wondering how I can ninja in there and leave a few volumes of Piper.)

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (6CK26)

156 144 Commie Hypocrite Bernie Sanders horsewhipped on the floor of Congress?
Yay!
Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 10:11 AM (CRRq9)

I would like to see Alexandria Occasional-Cortex tarred and feathered.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 10:22 AM (rA5AC)

Hey, hey, let's not forget wagging walrus penis bones in faces! See, there's no need to escalate to firearms when so many no-kill options are available.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (kQs4Y)

157 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (/rm4P)

158 The Allison V-1710 inline engine could be argued is a prime example of a government throwing money at a project and not really getting a good return on investment. The planes that performed best with that engine had two of them, the P-38 and the P-82.

The Allison equipped P-51s and P-39s might have performed better if the superchargers were installed but even here the American engine was only equipped with a single-speed supercharger as opposed to the Merlin's two-speed.

The Rolls-Royce Merlin in US service was called the V-1650. Width wise it was slightly more narrow than the V-1710 but was a taller engine as the NAA and RAF Mustang X Merlin conversions showed. They actually put V-1650s in some models of the P-40 but there was no appreciable improvement in performance because it was the airframe itself that was the biggest problem.

It's just with the very clean aerodynamic shape of the Mustang mated with the Merlin that created the fighter that broke the Luftwaffe's back

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (rRM1E)

159 Power good, so far, but I can hear a generator running somewhere in the distance. I have a feeling that I'm one of the few houses in the neighborhood with power, as there is no evidence of lighting in the houses around me.

I've still got power too. So far a good-sized snow for the region, but nothing like the snowpocalypse that was predicted.

Posted by: Grey Fox at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (bZ7mE)

160 There were many Ukranian-manned death squads that specialized in killing Jews. Let us not romanticize....
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2018 10:19 AM (wYseH)

===

Agreed, I didn't say the Ukrainians had clean hands. But, few of the europeans had clean hands.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 09, 2018 10:27 AM (EZebt)

161 I feel very lazy today, and can only manage a baked chicken for dinner. It's been a shitty week.

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 10:27 AM (U7k5w)

162 142 Skip, the Sharpe series is good, but not quite in the same league as Aubrey/Maturin.

Posted by: Balrog of Morgoth at December 09, 2018 10:27 AM (FTPVM)

163 I'm glad you're enjoying the stories. Adams county?
Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:13 AM (y7DUB)

Perry

Posted by: April at December 09, 2018 10:28 AM (OX9vb)

164 Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:22 AM

I am going to look that up Right Now.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:28 AM (/rm4P)

165 Ukraine is the classic example of being between a rock and a hard place.

Yeah, they've been screwed nearly as often and as hard as Poland over the centuries.

-
Bloodlands by Timothy D. Snyder is primarily about Poland and Ukraine.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:28 AM (+y/Ru)

166 > Hey, hey, let's not forget wagging walrus penis bones in faces!

Oosiks are big enough and heavy enough to be a serious weapon. The Natives used them as war clubs, back in the day.

Posted by: Rodrigo Borgia at December 09, 2018 10:28 AM (ftLC8)

167 Sabrina Chase,

Do you have a release date for Soul Code?

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 10:30 AM (vJVIn)

168 Feynman loved mocking bureaucracies and their inhabitants. NASA was/is a hideous bureaucracy.
But, hey... we got moon rocks and Tang.

Posted by: Burger Chef at December 09, 2018 10:30 AM (RuIsu)

169 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.
Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (/rm4P)

Russians that spent too much time occupying Germany were sent to the gulag because they realized that what was bombed out was still better than the workers paradise.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 10:30 AM (y7DUB)

170 > Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.

Ask me how I know.

Posted by: Ivan Denisovich at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (ftLC8)

171 The Allison V-1710 inline engine could be argued is a prime example of a government throwing money at a project and not really getting a good return on investment. The planes that performed best with that engine had two of them, the P-38 and the P-82.

-
You're going to make me do it, aren't you?

https://youtu.be/WQP0IHH3FTs

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (+y/Ru)

172 A little over halfway through Kurt Schlicter's Kelly Turnbull novel Wildfire. Entertaining, as were the first two. I get a chuckle out of his historical asides, like Jeff Bezos being branded a capitalist criminal and exiled to the nation of Grenada, which he bought outright in 2025.

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (wZ9cV)

173 Can you imagine if these Millennials saw a shuttle explode when it launched, I remember the Pope and Regan getting shot. I still believe the Commies were behind the Pope's assassination attempt.

I can't remember the name of the book about the Pope, the President and Thatcher helped take down the Soviet Union.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (dKiJG)

174 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.

-
Even Stalin's own son.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:32 AM (+y/Ru)

175 Oosiks really are the Eskimeaux shillelaghs. I see now that I need one for my arsenal, if only to say that I foiled a break-in with a walrus penis bone.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:32 AM (kQs4Y)

176 few of the europeans had clean hands.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at December 09, 2018 10:27 AM (EZebt)

Like the Dutch....

[scum]

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2018 10:33 AM (wYseH)

177 For rewriting Little Fuzzy, Scalzi needs to die by Damnthing.

I actually tried to read some of it. Jack Halloway as a disbarred shady lawyer from Earth. Prospecting on Zarathustra. And he has a pet dog that he lets detonate explosives.

When I read that last part, I was shocked that Piper did not rise from his grave the beat the living daylights out of Scalzi.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:33 AM (rRM1E)

178 As this is the Book Thread, maybe the Horde cookbook will save lunch.

Mann's library sort of has a depressing quality to it, like most of his work. Buddenbrooks was well written, but I found it relentlessly sad. Nobody in that family could thrive. As for Death in Venice, it seems that you are to feel a bit sorry for the pedo. I couldn't.

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 10:33 AM (U7k5w)

179 https://youtu.be/CK15gqQ6FXw
1812 Overdrive

Bravo!

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:33 AM (/rm4P)

180 I can't remember the name of the book about the Pope, the President and Thatcher helped take down the Soviet Union.
Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (dKiJG)
---
Great book! The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister by John O'Sullivan.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (kQs4Y)

181 Continuing. Maybe 4" or 5" so far, a bit wet and heavy, large limb down in the front yard. No plows or salt spreaders around here yet, so, I'm not going anywhere.

Power good, so far, but I can hear a generator running somewhere in the distance. I have a feeling that I'm one of the few houses in the neighborhood with power, as there is no evidence of lighting in the houses around me.
Posted by: Mike Hammer

Glad you're ok.

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (l4OMA)

182 157 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.
Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (/rm4P)

See Al Stewart's "Roads to Moscow", possibly his greatest song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_ZG6tRGMYk

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (sdi6R)

183 CBD - Well its true the Dutch did invent Keel Hauling as a punishment.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (/rm4P)

184 Oh, and the elementary teacher? A man, and clearly much loved by his students. There is hope. (He needs help with his science fiction, though. The offerings were sparse and not very interesting. Wondering how I can ninja in there and leave a few volumes of Piper.)
Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (6CK26)

Perhaps you could reach out to this teacher and say you would like to donate some science fiction? Some of Heinlein's "juveniles", some Piper (see if you could sneak in "Lone Star Planet") and some of the space opera stuff from the 1950s would be a nice "red pill" for the kids. Since you are an author yourself and volunteered there already, perhaps he would be receptive.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (5Yee7)

185 Hey -- I should be reading books.

BBL.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:35 AM (kQs4Y)

186 Mentioned this on several threads yesterday. I can go weeks or more checking the Kindle Daily Deals and find nothing of interest. (Although if you like totally predictable romances, usually involving a cowboy or Highlander, there are plenty of choices.)

But yesterday they had most of JRR Tolkien' books for $2.99 each. I have them all in hardcopy but this was an inexpensive way to have a convenient backup.

Too bad it for one day only.

Posted by: JTB at December 09, 2018 10:36 AM (bmdz3)

187 My late Dad wrote a novel before he passed in 2016 and I would like to get it published, but have limited resources to do so.

Any publisher reps in the comments today? I know I have seen several here in the past. If so, please leave me some contact info and I will get in touch with you.

Thx.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 10:36 AM (2eKoI)

188 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.
Posted by: Skip
-----------

Forced Repatriation. Stalin et al regarded all Russian POW's as traitors, and demanded their return to Russia. It's a VERY ugly story. Synopsis: https://preview.tinyurl.com/ya6r2pg5

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:36 AM (2kj6M)

189 yay book thread!

sorry I'm late, I was amusing myself by transferring flowers from bouquet to vase. It's more work than you'd think LOL

I read a book recently just because of the title - The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson.

It's actually pretty good. It's a self help book by a famous blogger I've never heard of; and it is horde-adjacent, imo.

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 10:38 AM (XZ3Gp)

190 Any publisher reps in the comments today?

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 10:36 AM (2eKoI)

Weasel did an incredible job with the cookbook. I'll bet he could give you some excellent advice.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2018 10:38 AM (wYseH)

191 Jake Holeinhead -- release date for Soul Code is probably early March. Editors, whaddyagonnado?

Alert to other Moron Authors using KDP:
One of my earlier books got a one-star review recently complaining about horrible formatting, sentence fragments, etc. This is a book that has been up, unmodified, for years with no issues and the Kindle Preview also shows no signs of errors. The Passive Voice blog mentioned something similar (and fortunately transient in that case) but thought I should mention it so people can keep an eye out. Not sure what the cause was but Amazon was reportedly doing some back end changes around that time.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 09, 2018 10:39 AM (6CK26)

192 Retired Buckeye Cop -

Last week on Jeopardy a retired Pittsburg cop won over $100,000

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 10:40 AM (l4OMA)

193 XP-82s and P-82Bs were equipped with V-1650 engines. USAAF demanded they be replaced with the V-1710 because they were tired of paying a royalty to Rolls-Royce for each engine. The 1710s in the Twin Mustang had issues like the oil actually foaming that were never quite eradicated.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:40 AM (rRM1E)

194 grammie, do you like audiobooks? your local lib may have downlodable ones

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 10:41 AM (XZ3Gp)

195 from wikipedia:

it has been argued that adam's "rib" in the genesis story of the origin of eve is actually a mistranslation of a hebrew euphemism for baculum (i.e. the male penis bone found in placental animals besides humans).

huh.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at December 09, 2018 10:41 AM (Pg+x7)

196 Eris, read books? I probably should get back to writing. Gotten about 2,000 words written in the past couple days.

Want me to send you a very very short story to peruse?

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:43 AM (rRM1E)

197 Sabrina Chase,

Thanks for the info. And if possible ignore those types of reviewers. They've got sheet for brains.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 10:43 AM (vJVIn)

198 rickl - Never heard that before, thanks for the tip.
It is a common theme in movies about Russians behind German lines.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:45 AM (/rm4P)

199 You're going to make me do it, aren't you?

https://youtu.be/WQP0IHH3FTs

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:31 AM (+y/Ru)

Thank you. That's a great vid. So did they make it to Oshkosh this year? Visiting the EAA Fly-In is on my bucket list.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at December 09, 2018 10:46 AM (qc+VF)

200 Great book! The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister by John O'Sullivan.
Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:34 AM (kQs4Y)

Thanks I couldn't remember the name of that book meant to read it so, off to Amazon.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 10:46 AM (dKiJG)

201 https://librivox.org
Audio books to download, passing on from someone reading War and Peace

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:47 AM (/rm4P)

202 But then the result, would have been a strong, united Reich that could throw everything it had into the west war. So perhaps the actual outcome, a long war of attrition in the east that the Nazis eventually lost, was actually the best outcome. By a hair.

-
I read a similar thought this week in The Seven Days by Clifford Dowdey. He describes the shots fired by unknown soldiers that wounded Joseph E. Johnston causing Robert E. Lee to be elevated to command as the most unfortunate shots of the war. But for those shots, McClellan would have taken Richmond and won the war thus saving hundreds of thousands of lives. But if that had happened, the war would probably not ended slavery.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:47 AM (+y/Ru)

203 Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:43 AM (rRM1E)

I'm too lazy for focused reading right now, Anna. I have fuzzbrain bad today.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 10:48 AM (kQs4Y)

204 So did they make it to Oshkosh this year?

-
I don't know.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 10:48 AM (+y/Ru)

205 Unfortunately, Stalin did not suffer nearly enough before he died.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 10:49 AM (2eKoI)

206 Fuzzy brain?

"Extee Three!"

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:51 AM (rRM1E)

207 "Revolution: Mapping the Road to American Indepenence"

I just finished my copy. It should be read with a magnifying glass nearby. The level of detail on those old maps is remarkable. I don't know they were able to do that so well.

What's your hometown JTB? The closest I am to any of the places in the book is Savannah.

Posted by: freaked at December 09, 2018 10:52 AM (UdKB7)

208 Last week on Jeopardy a retired Pittsburg cop won over $100,000
Posted by: JT
-------

Heh, the guy with the Fu Man Chu 'stache. Self-described as 'Looking like a homeless guy'.

Which reminds me, we have an under cover Sheriff's deputy who works security for the church. He came in one evening in his alter-persona. Wigged a few people out, as he was unshaven, had sleeve tats (fake) and chemically-induced bloodshot eyes. The personification of a meth-head.

I was hugely amused, as very few people in the church even know that he is there usually, and he's normally obscure and unnoticed. I had to calm a couple of folks down.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:52 AM (fZcn6)

209 Unfortunately, Stalin did not suffer nearly enough before he died.
Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 10:49 AM (2eKoI)

That reminds me. He's up for his turn on The Rotisserie.

Posted by: Satan at December 09, 2018 10:53 AM (7PLM4)

210
John Malkovich as Poirot in "The ABC Murders."
Well, this looks like fun!
There's a short piece at agathachristie.com.

Posted by: BJM at December 09, 2018 10:54 AM (O74hG)

211 New from Ronco - The Satanic Rotisserie.

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:54 AM (rRM1E)

212 https://librivox.org
Audio books to download, passing on from someone reading War and Peace

Posted by: Skip

There is a version of The Count of Monte Cristo read by David Clarke on LibriVox that is extraordinarily good.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (2eKoI)

213 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago. I'm brought to comment because the idea of horsewhipping and beating some sense into the idiots who jumped into that giant clusterfuck has a great appeal. The Kaiser should've been smothered with a pillow. The French and Austrians were tied to strongly, as of course, the Germans to a theoretically sound plan that depended upon the enemy doing what you decided it should do. Italy at least acted in its own best interests at first. The Turks would've stayed out had the British not seized, without compensation, the two dreadnoughts they'd already paid for. A lot of current history would've been different.
Way too much stupid and no ability to look beyond immediate consequences.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (+TuXx)

214 I saw an Allison powered "tractor" at a pull about 20 years ago. Ears still ring.

Posted by: Burger Chef at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (RuIsu)

215 The XP-82 did not make Oshkosh because the Airworthiness Certificate was issued on the Sunday before the event thus not allowing enough time to get the flight hours or check ride.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/yc42khco

Posted by: Anna Puma (HQCaR) at December 09, 2018 10:58 AM (rRM1E)

216 There is a series (Britannia's Fist) about what would have happened if the British entered the Civil War on the South's side, I haven't read it but it sounds interesting.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 10:59 AM (dKiJG)

217 Talkin' music, I don't know if everyone has already seen this, but my son just sent me this link to Elton John Lewis' Christmas ad.

Made it a bit dusty in here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNbSgMEZ_Tw
Posted by: cfo mom at December 09, 2018 09:55 AM (RfzVr)

I must be a completed heartless bastage, because all I could think was how much buggering he got out of that piano.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:01 AM (cY3LT)

218 I finished "Cult City" by Daniel Flynn.
It was a compelling read, but a tough read.
So much local San Francisco history.
It all leads inevitably to the 900+ deaths at Jonestown.
Jim Jones was a sick bastard, and it was a shame how all the local pols sucked up to him.
Followed by Dan White, a Democrat, and Diane Feinstein protoge running on a gun control platform, goes all shooty at City Hall.
$9.99 on kindle.

Posted by: navybrat, obtuse by nature at December 09, 2018 11:02 AM (w7KSn)

219 I saw an Allison powered "tractor" at a pull about 20 years ago. Ears still ring.
Posted by: Burger Chef
-

There's an Aussie who installed a Merlin into a '55 Chevy. I believe that one of the principles at Rolls had a Merlin engine installed in a large Rolls Phaeton, or some such. In the case of the Rolls, there was plenty of room under the bonnet. The Chevy, not so much.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:05 AM (2qPhT)

220 And I don't know why anyone would write a book about songs.

This is the 21st century. Seems like it's time for a multimedia project, but I guess you have to have rights for that sort of thing. So I guess you can't.

Anyhoo, sad songs, yeah, most of them I don't know, and don't care. He pulled "Love Will Tear It Apart" from the entirety of Joy Division's career, when you could put pretty much ALL of Joy Division's career on such a list... and also have a list of some of the greatest songs written in the rock era. With the aforementioned "LWTIP" perhaps at the top spot.

Also see Cure, The. Just one of their songs? And that one??

I got some artists I could introduce the guy to, who he's obviously never heard of.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:06 AM (cY3LT)

221 213 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago.
Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (+TuXx)

Her description of the Archduke's assassination is almost hilarious. To hear her tell it, there was hardy anyone in Sarajevo who *wasn't* trying to kill him.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 11:06 AM (sdi6R)

222 I see via PJM that Steve Bannon has leased a 13th Century Carthusian monastery in Italy that comes complete with a 36,000 volume library.

He and his associates are setting up an institute to restore Christian values and fight against Antipope Francis.

https://tinyurl.com/bannonmonastery

Posted by: Ivan Denisovich at December 09, 2018 11:07 AM (ftLC8)

223 207 ... ""Revolution: Mapping the Road to American Indepenence"

I just finished my copy. It should be read with a magnifying glass nearby. The level of detail on those old maps is remarkable. I don't know they were able to do that so well.

What's your hometown JTB? The closest I am to any of the places in the book is Savannah."

Freaked, My hometown is Newport, RI. It has one of the best natural harbors on the eastern seaboard which made it an valuable port from the time it was founded about 20 years or so after Plymouth.

And I did keep a magnifying glass handy when reading it. Good suggestion.

Posted by: JTB at December 09, 2018 11:07 AM (bmdz3)

224 216: I can't see them doing that except as a divide and conquer strategy.

As much as I (sometimes) enjoy alternative history fantasy, I wish that we could concentrate on the here and now and the threats we face.

My husband, a retired academic, remains stuck on the 30s and 40s and how WWII and the rise of Hitler could have been prevented. In the meantime, he brushes off the increased anti-Semitism in the universities, especially in his beloved Columbia. Maybe he and his friends should stop reliving the 30s and try to prevent another disaster by not being so damned PC about the muz and the left (but if you see the left through the lens of a 20th century socialist Jewish lens, you can't see reality)

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 11:08 AM (U7k5w)

225 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago. I'm brought to comment because the idea of horsewhipping and beating some sense into the idiots who jumped into that giant clusterfuck has a great appeal.
----
Consider reading Churchill's first-of-six WWII memoirs, "The Gathering Storm". Most disturbing, are the contemporary parallels.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:09 AM (2qPhT)

226 157 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.
Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 10:26 AM (/rm4

"And now they ask me about the time I was caught behind the lines and taken prisoner.
'They only held me for a day,
A lucky break', I say
They turn and listen closer.

"I'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line from all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia..."

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:10 AM (rA5AC)

227 To meet regulations if memory serves, the rubber O-ring compound was later formulated to not use asbestos. Those O-rings were used on Challenger's SRBs.

-
Back in law school, we discussed a case in which several people were injured when a single tree broke overturning a wagon. (A single tree is a type of wagon hitch in which a single pole goes between two horses to which the horses are attached allowing them to pull the wagon.) So the professor asked a girl what a single tree was. She replied, "Kind of a low tech O ring."

Well, I thought it was funny.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:10 AM (+y/Ru)

228 Russians caught at anytime, anyway behind Nazi battle lines were treated as suspects by the Communists during WWII after they returned to the Communist side.
It was assumed they were turned or simplistic to the Nazis.
Posted by: Skip
-----------

Forced Repatriation. Stalin et al regarded all Russian POW's as traitors, and demanded their return to Russia. It's a VERY ugly story. Synopsis: https://preview.tinyurl.com/ya6r2pg5

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 10:36 AM (2kj6M)

Well then I guess it's a good thing most Russian POWs in German control, died rather than return.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:10 AM (cY3LT)

229 224 -->225

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:10 AM (2qPhT)

230 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago.
Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (+TuXx)

Her description of the Archduke's assassination is almost hilarious. To hear her tell it, there was hardy anyone in Sarajevo who *wasn't* trying to kill him.
Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 11:06 AM (sdi6R)

Picture it fast-forwarded, set to Benny Hill music.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:12 AM (cY3LT)

231 Alert to other Moron Authors using KDP:
One of my earlier books got a one-star review recently complaining about horrible formatting, sentence fragments, etc. This is a book that has been up, unmodified, for years with no issues and the Kindle Preview also shows no signs of errors. The Passive Voice blog mentioned something similar (and fortunately transient in that case) but thought I should mention it so people can keep an eye out. Not sure what the cause was but Amazon was reportedly doing some back end changes around that time.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at December 09, 2018 10:39 AM (6CK26)

Sorry, to hear that Sabrina, but there's pretty much nothing to be done if someone wants to write a malicious or stupid or maliciously stupid or stupidly malicious review of your book. Even some morons do that.

KDP has been very weird for me because they've never published on Amazon the 4-5 reviews of "Wearing the Cat" that were 4-5 stars given by people who actually read the whole book.

I've tried to reach out to them, bu-u-u-ut nothing.

I hope your efforts, as you are a known author yield better results.

And now.....work, work, work awaits.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:12 AM (9X624)

232 There is a series (Britannia's Fist) about what would have happened if the British entered the Civil War on the South's side
Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 10:59 AM

Early in the war they kinda sorta did. Ever read about the CSS Alabama? Built in Britain, as were a few other raiders. The officers were Confederate, but among the crew they were mostly Brits. They rampaged in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Pacific, and the Indian Ocean, and never docked at a southern port. A really cool story.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at December 09, 2018 11:12 AM (vJVIn)

233 229: I agree completely, but so many people I know are too busy looking backward to see this and the ones who see current problems truly believe they can be fixed "it we Americans would just be less focused on our privilege and embrace diversity" (our rabbi, who is retiring and favors an SJW successor was very busy with helping moslems build mosques in places where zoning forbade it)

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 11:14 AM (U7k5w)

234 Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:10 AM (rA5AC)

An Al Stewart fan in the house!

I also really like "Modern Times" which is relatively unknown but contains some of his strong songs.

Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:14 AM (9X624)

235 So cool to see my comment from October posted in the Moron Recommendations section!

I'm reading Gustav LeBon's Psychology of Socialism right now. About half way through this book, which was written in 1899, and it could have been written today.

Yikes was he prescient.

One quote that is pretty funny is about philanthropists...he says whether they are social, religious, or political, they all belong to the same family. They regard themselves in good faith as the friends of humanity, and have always been its most pernicious enemies. They are more dangerous than wild beasts.

Awesome.

Posted by: squeakywheel at December 09, 2018 11:15 AM (g/cxV)

236 Well then I guess it's a good thing most Russian POWs in German control, died rather than return.
Posted by: BurtTC
--------

They might well have been lucky, compared to life (while it lasted) in the Gulag. Nasty time all around. Unimaginable for contemporary Americans, you know, the 'oppressed'.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (2qPhT)

237 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago. I'm brought to comment because the idea of horsewhipping and beating some sense into the idiots who jumped into that giant clusterfuck has a great appeal.
----
Consider reading Churchill's first-of-six WWII memoirs, "The Gathering Storm". Most disturbing, are the contemporary parallels.

Not sure about the comparison. I've read Guns once and the Churchill cycle twice. Churchill is crying in the wilderness, the wolf is at the door, but the wolf is a wolf and the wolf is evil and must be fought.

Guns of August is about pure bloody idiocy. French military doctrine was that "elan" was the decisive force in battle, even though everyone had had observers at our Civil War and at the Russo-Sino war in '05 and everyone should have known what industrial war would look like.

WWII was good and evil, freedom and tyranny. WWI was pointless generational slaughter.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (fuK7c)

238 There was a brawl on the House floor that ended when one of the participants lost his toupee, picked it up, and put it back on the wrong way. The fight ended because everyone else was laughing at him. I think it was in the late 1800s.

-
Ah. The Maxine Waters maneuver.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (+y/Ru)

239 218 I finished "Cult City" by Daniel Flynn.
It was a compelling read, but a tough read.
So much local San Francisco history.
It all leads inevitably to the 900+ deaths at Jonestown.
Jim Jones was a sick bastard, and it was a shame how all the local pols sucked up to him.
Followed by Dan White, a Democrat, and Diane Feinstein protoge running on a gun control platform, goes all shooty at City Hall.
$9.99 on kindle.
Posted by: navybrat, obtuse by nature at December 09, 2018 11:02 AM (w7KSn)

And ( *plonk* ) goes another one on my stack. Which is getting more precarious than a genja tower.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (rA5AC)

240 *sigh*

Slight delay in starting.

*drums fingers on desk*

Ah!

That thriller I was talking about on the movie thread is streaming on Amazon for $2.99.

Your Holiday thriller awaits!

Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (9X624)

241 on book #3 by AJ Stewart on Miami Jones PI

pretty good stuff

stuck on book #2 of the CS Lewis Space Trilogy

Posted by: rhennigantx at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (JFO2v)

242 I'm just starting Guns of August. Sounds fun.

Posted by: freaked at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (UdKB7)

243 An Al Stewart fan in the house!

On a morning from a Bogart movie
In a country where they turn back time...

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (fuK7c)

244 An Al Stewart fan in the house!

I also really like "Modern Times" which is relatively unknown but contains some of his strong songs.

-
Between the Wars is my favorite (although I mentally add On the Border because it's about between the wars as well).

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (+y/Ru)

245 Uh....that thriller would be-

"The Silent Partner" (197

Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:19 AM (9X624)

246 Your Holiday thriller awaits!
Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (9X624

title?

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:19 AM (XZ3Gp)

247 I also really like "Modern Times" which is relatively unknown but contains some of his strong songs.
Posted by: naturalfake at December 09, 2018 11:14 AM (9X624)

Saw Al at a small venue here about 10 years ago. His voice still sounded like it did in the 70s.

He sang a bunch of his "happy" songs. No 'Roads To Moscow' or 'The Dark and Rolling Sea.'

Great concert nonetheless.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:20 AM (rA5AC)

248 Russo-Sino war in '05

Belay that. Russian - Japanese War '05.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:20 AM (fuK7c)

249 ot mr dog can smell liverwurst from the other side of the house, while napping

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:20 AM (XZ3Gp)

250 Ah. The Maxine Waters maneuver.
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (+y/Ru)
--

We need a good de-weaving on the House floor. It will be our Sumner caning moment.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 11:21 AM (kQs4Y)

251 "In 1837, when a representative insulted the Speaker during a debate, the Speaker stepped down from his platform, bowie knife in hand, and killed him..."

A key bit of info was left out of this -- This was the Speaker of the Arkansas House, not the US House of Representatives.

James K. Polk was the Speaker in 1837 and he went on to be elected President, the only SotH to do so.

Posted by: GnuBreed at December 09, 2018 11:21 AM (Z4rgH)

252 Uh, oh. Sat signal just went out. Probably means more snow headed this way.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:22 AM (2qPhT)

253 How is HammerCat handling all this?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 11:22 AM (kQs4Y)

254 This seems like the place to announce that I finished my NANORIMO (or whatever it is) book last Thursday.

I hadn't planned to participate (since I was trying to finish another book) but Anna Puma made it sound like so much fun that I sped through the last 2 chapters of book A and started book B November 4, and now have an 80,000 word rough draft of which 2 words are THE END!

Thanks, Anna.

Posted by: Wenda (sic) at December 09, 2018 11:23 AM (fCE6j)

255 I just finished "Lethal White" by J. K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. If you can ignore a giant glaring error near the end, it's pretty good.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 09, 2018 11:24 AM (THS4q)

256 Do you read the preface and or forwards to books? Do you think it taints the story?

Posted by: freaked at December 09, 2018 11:24 AM (UdKB7)

257 Could be wrong that Ron Pearlman's character in Enemy at the Gates was one behind German lines. Only saw it once in its entirety and that was quite a few years ago.

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 11:24 AM (/rm4P)

258 Here late so don't know if already mentioned: Philip K. Dick's wife Tessa was interviewed on Noory last nite. They keep fresh interviews available on their website for a month, I think. Then you need to subscribe for access.

Posted by: kallisto at December 09, 2018 11:24 AM (wZxsP)

259 I've seen Al Stewart live a few times in recent years. I totally recommend seeing him if you can.

His voice still sounds exactly like it did in the 70s.

I bought a ticket to see him October of last year, but then ended up in the hospital.

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 11:26 AM (sdi6R)

260 I see Gavin McInnes is no longer on CRTV or the BlazeTV, they never should have merged with the Blaze.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at December 09, 2018 11:27 AM (dKiJG)

261 Sort of book-related. USAJobs shows that the Library of Congress is advertising for 2 Historians for their Manuscripts section.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at December 09, 2018 11:27 AM (bmdz3)

262 And ( *plonk* ) goes another one on my stack. Which is getting more precarious than a genja tower.
Posted by: OregonMuse
--------

Thus, the cartoon strip which you posted.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:27 AM (YvUf/)

263 Congrats Wenda (sic)!!!

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:29 AM (XZ3Gp)

264 I bought a ticket to see him October of last year, but then ended up in the hospital.

And let that be a warning to you!

Have a good day, bookies. Off to attempt some minimal accomplishments for the day.

Posted by: Bob the Bilderberg at December 09, 2018 11:29 AM (qc+VF)

265 There was a brawl on the House floor that ended when
one of the participants lost his toupee, picked it up, and put it back
on the wrong way. The fight ended because everyone else was laughing at
him. I think it was in the late 1800s.

Ah. The Maxine Waters maneuver. Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:16 AM (+y/Ru)
=====

Not really a book, but wasn't there a song about 'Tumblin, tumbleweaves' - because according to youngest, stray bits of hair are called 'tumbleweaves'.

Posted by: mustbequantum at December 09, 2018 11:29 AM (MIKMs)

266 I'm just starting Guns of August. Sounds fun.
Posted by: freaked at December 09, 2018 11:18 AM (UdKB7)

Heh, fun.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:29 AM (cY3LT)

267 How is HammerCat handling all this?
Posted by: All Hail Eris
--------

Same way the dog is, 'zzzzzzzz'.

Dog was very upset this a.m. because she could not go out. Finally made a pooh on a pet pad.

TMI?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:30 AM (YvUf/)

268 Do you read the preface and or forwards to books? Do you think it taints the story?

Afterwards, if I like the book.

Unless it's a known book and the forward can be expected to shed light.

I'm thinking of the recent edition of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast edited by his son Patrick.

Patrick explains how fourth wife Mary had edited the book poorly, to make herself look better and downplay the "good wife" Hadley, and what steps and sources Patrick used to restore the book as written.

That made re-reading the book more interesting.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:30 AM (fuK7c)

269 Sort of book-related. USAJobs shows that the Library of Congress is advertising for 2 Historians for their Manuscripts section.
Posted by: Mrs. JTB at December 09, 2018 11:27 AM (bmdz3)

Oh my! Time to fake up my resume.

When the time comes, Ima gonna need three of you for references. And when the background checkers come, all y'all are going to have to lie about what a nice guy I am.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:31 AM (cY3LT)

270 Heh, fun.
Posted by: BurtTC
----------

A trench here, a whiff of mustard gas there...

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:31 AM (YvUf/)

271 Could be wrong that Ron Pearlman's character in Enemy at the Gates was one behind German lines. Only saw it once in its entirety and that was quite a few years ago.
Posted by: Skip
------
The character had been sent to German sniper school (by the Soviet government) during the period of the Ribbentrop-Molotov pact. After tge German invasion, the character was then accused (by the Soviet government) of therefore being a German spy and tortured. He was a little cynical by the time we meet him.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at December 09, 2018 11:32 AM (tfbws)

272 Thanks, Votermom!

Posted by: Wenda (sic) at December 09, 2018 11:32 AM (fCE6j)

273 Another life ruined by literacy.

USA Today Goes After Heisman Trophy Winner For Tweets Made When He Was 15

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at December 09, 2018 11:33 AM (+y/Ru)

274 Sort of book-related. USAJobs shows that the Library of Congress is advertising for 2 Historians for their Manuscripts section.
Posted by: Mrs. JTB
--------

Wasn't one of Baldacci's 'Camel Club' characters in that job?

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:33 AM (2kj6M)

275 Do you read the preface and or forwards to books? Do you think it taints the story?
----------------------------------

Afterwards, if I like the book.

Unless it's a known book and the forward can be expected to shed light.

I'm thinking of the recent edition of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast edited by his son Patrick.

Patrick explains how fourth wife Mary had edited the book poorly, to make herself look better and downplay the "good wife" Hadley, and what steps and sources Patrick used to restore the book as written.

That made re-reading the book more interesting.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:30 AM (fuK7c)

I always read them. Depending on who writes them, they certainly can be insightful. Often, it the work was published long ago, the forward helps me understand the context better than I might, as long as the writer of the forward isn't some self-serving douche. Which can and does happen sometimes.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:35 AM (cY3LT)

276 Ooooooooo. Sat signal has gone all color confetti/smears, attempting error correction. What's weird is that it is a B&W movie. Truly psychedelic.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:35 AM (2kj6M)

277 Does this pseudandry make my teefs look big?

Posted by: Little Lupe at December 09, 2018 11:36 AM (Tyii7)

278 Heh, fun.
Posted by: BurtTC
----------

A trench here, a whiff of mustard gas there...
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:31 AM (YvUf/)

The whistles of shells, it's like... birds in springtime.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:37 AM (cY3LT)

279 108 Regarding Feynman: his autobiography "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman" goes into some of the backstage maneuvering for his little demonstration with the O-rings.

Being a good scientist, he tested his hypothesis in advance, and then staged the demo at the hearing as a way to blow up some of the ass-covering NASA bafflegab. His secret helper in all this was fellow Rogers Commission member General Kutyna, who knew a bit more about how to game the Washington bureaucratic/media environment (and apparently was getting inside info from Sally Ride about the known O-Ring issue).
Posted by: Trimegistus at December 09, 2018 10:07 AM (TPL4d)

Thanks for this recommendation. I have just found it online, and now am on p. 33 before I remembered to come back and say thanks! It's here:

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y9jvdtn3

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 11:37 AM (QfXC4)

280 There is a series on YouTube called "Fresh out" by a former federal convict called Big Herc, and he covers all kinds of topics about prison life (holding nothing back) but some of the best sequences are the ones on cooking in prison. Technically you're not supposed to, but they do it and it gives them some flexibility in diet and even money making (they sold pizzas, for instance -- made with tortilla crusts).

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:37 AM (39g3+)

281 I also re-read "The Last Hours of Jesus: From Gethsemane to Golgotha" by Fr. Ralph Gorman, which I think was recommended here. It needed a re-read since I visited Jerusalem in October.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 09, 2018 11:37 AM (THS4q)

282 My defense of the commander in chief is waning.Ever since he won in '16, the loathsome ground-pounding grunts have beaten the noble, honest midshipmen.Three times running now.

Posted by: Captain Comic at December 09, 2018 11:38 AM (EtWw5)

283 Latest book I've read is Prize Money by Adam Hardy, part of the Fox series of sea novels. These are almost forgotten despite being quite good, and I've been slowly collecting them for more than a decade.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:39 AM (39g3+)

284 I like to jump right in and skip the forwards. Sometimes I'll look at the pictures first.

Posted by: freaked at December 09, 2018 11:40 AM (UdKB7)

285
The whistles of shells, it's like... birds in springtime.
Posted by: BurtTC
--------

The mellifluous song of shrapnel whistling by.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:40 AM (U2TY5)

286 Half way through Max Hastings' "The Secret War", a long and sweeping look at just about all intel, code-breaking, and special operations activities by all major belligerents in WWII.

Good for a newcomer to those topics, and fine for those who've already explored them a bit. Only 3 spots where I'd question, or reject, what he writes.

Posted by: rhomboid at December 09, 2018 11:42 AM (QDnY+)

287 Also I'm reading The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, which is making me a fan of the author. He tells a good suspense story without thinking he needs to make it 5000 pages long which far too many of these authors fall prey to. Also, he's telling the story largely from the German POV which is interesting because the guys are likable and you almost find yourself rooting for their mission to kidnap Winston Churchill but know they are actually the bad guys. One of them is even an IRA killer but a really charming one. Higgins does seem to have a problem with the British, but that might just be the POV speaking rather than the author.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:43 AM (39g3+)

288 I just got Schlicter's novel, the first one, from the lib. People's Republic, I think.

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:45 AM (XZ3Gp)

289 My defense of the commander in chief is waning.Ever since he won in '16, the loathsome ground-pounding grunts have beaten the noble, honest midshipmen.Three times running now.
Posted by: Captain Comic at December 09, 2018 11:38 AM (EtWw5)

Do we still have a Navy? Aren't most of them chicks these days? Sailing their boats into each other, whilst texting and/or putting on makeup...

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:46 AM (cY3LT)

290 Frankly I'd rather congressmen were at each other's throats and fought. This "collegiality" lie is annoying and false.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:46 AM (39g3+)

291 Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:43 AM (39g3+)
-----
The movie they made of the book was pretty good. Michael Caine played the lead German character. Donald Sutherland needed to work on his Irish accent, though.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at December 09, 2018 11:47 AM (tfbws)

292 282 capt. comic:

the line was army -7 and army won 17-10.

so it was a wash.

Posted by: musical jolly chimp at December 09, 2018 11:48 AM (Pg+x7)

293 Here's some cool mood music for perusing SF - Dynatron's "Dust of Saturn":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ud5yDjM63I

Posted by: All Hail Eris

Noice.

Have you played Far Cry: Blood Dragon?

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 09, 2018 11:48 AM (ZejZP)

294 The movie they made of the book was pretty good. Michael Caine played the lead German character. Donald Sutherland needed to work on his Irish accent, though.

I wouldn't have cast him for Devlin but he was big at the time and that mattered a lot more back then than quality in the role. I'll have to see that some day.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:50 AM (39g3+)

295 My defense of the commander in chief is waning.Ever since he won in '16, the loathsome ground-pounding grunts have beaten the noble, honest midshipmen.Three times running now.
Posted by: Captain Comic
-----------

Well, you'll always have sodomy. So there's that.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:51 AM (2qPhT)

296 282 My defense of the commander in chief is waning.Ever since he won in '16, the loathsome ground-pounding grunts have beaten the noble, honest midshipmen.Three times running now.
Posted by: Captain Comic at December 09, 2018 11:38 AM (EtWw5)

He's paving the way for the Space Force/Colonial Marines to rush out at halftime and Beat Army.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 11:53 AM (kQs4Y)

297 271 good to know, guess my memory and attention span are still intact

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 11:53 AM (/rm4P)

298 The whistles of shells, it's like... birds in springtime.
Posted by: BurtTC
--------

The mellifluous song of shrapnel whistling by.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:40 AM (U2TY5)

I can feel a song coming on....

Chest wounds roasting, on an open fire;
Head Lice nipping at your nose.
Mule screams wail, exploding in mire,
And Krauts shot up like pesky voles...

Everybody knows, that Turkey and the missile toll,
Set to make the British blight.
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas, to you*.

*I think it works better to not change the last two lines.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:53 AM (cY3LT)

299 Snow whinging:

ARRRGGHHH WHITE FLAKES OF DEATH FROM THE SKKKKYYYYY

There's at least eight inches or so of snow by me though it's hard to tell with the drifting.

I'm heading out about once an hour to shovel right in front of my door so I can open it. You can't tell I've shoveled it.

It's supposed to keep snowing heavily through late afternoon, then snow some more and then, then, some ice!

Hurray!

*piles all the blankets on me*

This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:54 AM (GbPPJ)

300 287 Also I'm reading The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins, which is making me a fan of the author. He tells a good suspense story without thinking he needs to make it 5000 pages long which far too many of these authors fall prey to.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 11:43 AM (39g3+)

These day, it would be written as a 19-part series.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:55 AM (rA5AC)

301 Have you played Far Cry: Blood Dragon?
Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 09, 2018 11:48 AM (ZejZP)
---
Sorry, not much of a gamer.

Unless this is of the Most Dangerous Game ilk.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 11:55 AM (kQs4Y)

302 Bull Meechum: "Hell, I could hold off half the Navy with just a slingshot and six pissed-off, well-trained oysters on the half shell."

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:55 AM (2qPhT)

303 here's at least eight inches or so of snow by me though it's hard to tell with the drifting.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:54 AM (GbPPJ)

Isn't that about the height of your forehead?

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:56 AM (rA5AC)

304 The Eagle Has Landed is a great book and movie.

I believe the Very Delicious Jenny Agutter plays a role in the movie.

Bunk.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 11:57 AM (2eKoI)

305 There's at least eight inches or so of snow by me though it's hard to tell ~~with the drifting~~ because I can't see over it.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around.

Fixt

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 11:57 AM (fuK7c)

306 This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.
Posted by: alexthechick
-----

Not sure where you are, but the blizzard of '93 pretty well eclipsed this, by a large margin, in W. NC.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:57 AM (/dN1M)

307 OT we have new neighbors across the street
one of them has a really bad cough - like I hear it and I think it's someone in our house coughing.

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:57 AM (XZ3Gp)

308 This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.
Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:54 AM (GbPPJ)

So, clearly due to CO2 and Global Warmering!

Posted by: Don Q at December 09, 2018 11:58 AM (NgKpN)

309 stay safe AtC

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 11:58 AM (XZ3Gp)

310 Fixt
Posted by: Bandersnatch
-------

If you head out now , the raptors will be slowed by the snow, and you might make the border...not that it will matter in the end.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 11:59 AM (/dN1M)

311 This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.

Posted by: alexthechick

Caused, no doubt and of course, by The Magic of GoreBull Warmening(tm).

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 11:59 AM (2eKoI)

312 Isn't that about the height of your forehead?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:56 AM (rA5AC)

NO!

*smacks Bander in the non-happy fun way*

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:59 AM (GbPPJ)

313 See if you can spot the Christmas ~~wood~~ tree in the pants photo above.

Posted by: Fritz at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (Z9C5C)

314 I can feel a song coming on....

Chest wounds roasting, on an open fire;
Head Lice nipping at your nose.
Mule screams wail, exploding in mire,
And Krauts shot up like pesky voles...

Everybody knows, that Turkey and the missile toll,
Set to make the British blight.
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas, to you*.

*I think it works better to not change the last two lines.
Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 11:53 AM (cY3LT)

Oh crap, I missed a line.

Here, after British blight:

Russian sots, with their limbs all aglow,
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
They know that Satan's on his way,
He's filled with lots of ghoulish deadies on his sleigh,
And every nation's spies are going to try,
To see if shrapnel really causes heads to fly.

And now you can put in the rest of the song, starting with "And so," all the way to the "Merry Chrsitmas" line.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (cY3LT)

315 Isn't that about the height of your forehead?
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at December 09, 2018 11:56 AM (rA5AC)

Please. That's her buttock-popliteal length.

(Don't kill me AtC! My Girlfriend is 4'10" and needs me to get things off the top shelves)

Posted by: Kindltot at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (mUa7G)

316 There's at least eight inches or so of snow by me though it's hard to tell with the drifting.

I'm heading out about once an hour to shovel right in front of my door so I can open it. You can't tell I've shoveled it.

It's supposed to keep snowing heavily through late afternoon, then snow some more and then, then, some ice!

Hurray!

*piles all the blankets on me*

This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.
Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:54 AM (GbPPJ)

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

Score! ~~work from home~~ day off tomorrow!

Posted by: Calm Mentor at December 09, 2018 12:01 PM (ffYR/)

317 I don't know if I'd call Guns of August, "Fun", it is interesting because of the mad stupidity exhibited by so many of the then, "Best and Brightest". The Smartest People in the Room. spit

Rigid adherence to THE PLAN!!!!! Or else. The British were barely useful and pretty much had to be shamed into the battle of the Marne.

The entire system was pretty rotten from Russia across Europe and into England. And, yeah. The Powers all ignored the lessons of the US Civil War and the Russo Japanese War. It makes me think that at times, perhaps, stupidity is worse than evil intent.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 12:02 PM (+TuXx)

318 Alex! How long until civilization collapses and you revert to savagery?

Or are we too late?

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 12:02 PM (kQs4Y)

319 Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (cY3LT)
-----
You are a sick individual.

You remind me of me.

Posted by: Captain Obvious at December 09, 2018 12:02 PM (tfbws)

320

Greetings fappers and fappees.

That video of the XP-82 upthread was great. Thanx.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy at December 09, 2018 12:05 PM (HaL55)

321 Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (cY3LT)
-----
You are a sick individual.

You remind me of me.
Posted by: Captain Obvious at December 09, 2018 12:02 PM (tfbws)

I don't know what came over me. Must be the holiday spirit!

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:05 PM (cY3LT)

322 These day, it would be written as a 19-part series

The bloat in suspense novels in particular is very real. Even Clancy would pad his books with multiple subplots and extra characters. You can see it in the books, over and over this happens with authors: the first couple books are fairly to the point, and each book gets longer and longer. JK Rowling is the classic example, but Hunt for the Red October is 163,461 words, but Executive Orders is 462,282.

I lost patience with doorstops years ago, and if a book is too long I tend to just pass on it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 12:05 PM (39g3+)

323 Unless this is of the Most Dangerous Game ilk.
Posted by: All Hail Eris,

No, it's a first person shooter game, but the theme is 'sci-fi 80's ' with heavy dose of parody. The sound track is all retro-wave, and the player character is voiced by Michael Biehn. It does get repetitive, but the concept was fun.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at December 09, 2018 12:06 PM (ZejZP)

324 Eris, I have begun my rein of terror.

Seriously, though, there is the potential for like 15 inches of snow by me which is apocalyptic level down here.

And, yeah, I'm not going to work tomorrow. Don't really care whether the office is officially closed or not, I won't be there.

(Don't kill me AtC! My Girlfriend is 4'10" and needs me to get things off the top shelves)
Posted by: Kindltot at December 09, 2018 12:00 PM (mUa7G)

Random youtube watching led me to this and now I want it like burning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNzDz9emAE

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 12:06 PM (GbPPJ)

325 Mr. Hammer, Yes, the character you are referencing worked in the rare books section of the Library of Congress.

Posted by: Mrs. JTB at December 09, 2018 12:08 PM (bmdz3)

326 Redneck Rampage.

Discuss.

Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 12:08 PM (2eKoI)

327 Redneck Rampage

Hilarious, but it cranked up the difficulty level of Duke Nukem by about 11

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (39g3+)

328 Finished Guns of August. A re-read from long ago.
Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 10:55 AM (+TuXx)

Her description of the Archduke's assassination is almost hilarious. To hear her tell it, there was hardy anyone in Sarajevo who *wasn't* trying to kill him.
Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 11:06 AM (sdi6R)

Since Barbara Tuchman was not an historian, but someone who carelessly glanced over other people's work and then synthesized her own, "jazzier" (and wrong) version, I am not surprised. To understand the run-up to World War One and the opening campaign in the west, you could hardly do worse than Babs. My favorite demolition of The Guns of August (and the author with it), in an article titled "That Terrible Tuchman Woman", is here:

https://tinyurl.com/y9g4jr97

There are many, many books which are highly readable and yet provide a much clearer picture of why the war started and how its opening campaigns (in the west, and just as significantly, in the east) were fought. For a longer look at the period before the war, The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark is excellent, and for the events in July of 1914 (from the assassination to the outbreak of war), I particularly like July 1914 by Sean McMeekin.

For the war in the west an interesting book is Inventing the Schlieffen Plan by Terence Zuber, and for the east there is a whole series of books by Prit Buttar which describes each of the major campaigns.

World War One was not pointless; every one of the major participants had good reasons (at least in their own minds) for doing what they did. The results were not what anyone expected, and for almost 100 years the analysis of the causes of the war were distorted by the need to justify the Treaty of Versailles, but eventually more rational heads prevailed and some serious scholarship was done. By a lot of people NOT named "Tuchman".

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (G8YYJ)

329 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNzDz9emAE

That is actually cool as fuck. And it goes both ways!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 12:10 PM (kQs4Y)

330 stay safe AtC

seconded

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 12:10 PM (l4OMA)

331 Just a light dusting of snow here in Central WA. Haven't checked the mountain pass cams yet.
Two years ago some friends moved to their present house from their old place at Snoqualmie Pass. The week after they moved the Pass received 100" of snow in seven days.

They laughed a lot. The new owners, not so much.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 12:10 PM (+TuXx)

332 326 Redneck Rampage.

Discuss.
Posted by: Sharkman at December 09, 2018 12:08 PM (2eKoI)
--
Loved it.

Ahm gonna gitcha!

I'm sure it would be problematic in this sensitive age.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 12:11 PM (kQs4Y)

333 Mr. Hammer, Yes, the character you are referencing worked in the rare books section of the Library of Congress.
Posted by: Mrs. JTB
-------
Ah! Looked it up, Caleb Shaw.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 12:11 PM (/dN1M)

334 By a lot of people NOT named "Tuchman".

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (G8YYJ)

I agree. Her other work is also suspect. "A Distant Mirror" is a good read, but a little cavalier with the facts and the interpretations...

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at December 09, 2018 12:11 PM (wYseH)

335 I have the feeling that my Sat dish is full of snow.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 12:12 PM (/dN1M)

336 Captain Hate I'm interested in your review of FHTE. I read it yrs ago, only some of it is embedded in my hippocampus.

Posted by: kallisto at December 09, 2018 12:12 PM (wZxsP)

337 290: But even that looks stagey these days. Ou government is very false

Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 12:12 PM (U7k5w)

338 I don't read books unless they're Greats, as recommended by Oprah. Like Marx, Engels, Lenin, Mao or JK Rowling.

Posted by: Joyless Behar Is More Virtuous Than You at December 09, 2018 12:12 PM (a0H8G)

339 World War One was not pointless; every one of the major participants had good reasons (at least in their own minds) for doing what they did. The results were not what anyone expected, and for almost 100 years the analysis of the causes of the war were distorted by the need to justify the Treaty of Versailles, but eventually more rational heads prevailed and some serious scholarship was done. By a lot of people NOT named "Tuchman".
Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (G8YYJ)

Yeah, no thanks.

Much of what is wrong with our understanding of history is being done by people with an axe to grind. Sometimes the participants, who lie to justify their actions, and their defenders who do the same.

But these days "scholarly research" is at best a suspect thing.

I'll take an amateur over a pro any day.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:13 PM (cY3LT)

340 I'm sure it would be problematic in this sensitive age.

Aww land!

It made fun of white hicks, so probably would go over just fine. You can make exaggerated caricatures of white people and people cheer.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (39g3+)

341 Leftism NOOD

Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (/rm4P)

342 (Don't kill me AtC! My Girlfriend is 4'10" and needs me to get things off the top shelves)
Posted by: Kindltot

When Lee Child was writing his first novel were grocery shopping and he got something down from the shelf for his wife (in England, where they're from) and she said, "If the writing doesn't work out, you can be a reacher in the grocery)

And that became the name of his character.

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (l4OMA)

343 World War One was not pointless; every one of the major participants had good reasons (at least in their own minds) for doing what they did. The results were not what anyone expected, and for almost 100 years the analysis of the causes of the war were distorted by the need to justify the Treaty of Versailles, but eventually more rational heads prevailed and some serious scholarship was done. By a lot of people NOT named "Tuchman".
Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (G8YYJ)

The real winners of WW1? The Banks.

Note, the US finally got a Central Bank, the Fed Reserve bank in 1913. Took a few years to really get running...

And then, we suddenly generate war debt to? the Banking system... by entering WW1.

What a coincidence...

Posted by: Don Q at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (NgKpN)

344 335 I have the feeling that my Sat dish is full of snow.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 12:12 PM (/dN1M)

The XM42 flamethrower certainly has the reach to hit the sat dish. Just be very precise.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 12:16 PM (kQs4Y)

345 But these days "scholarly research" is at best a suspect thing.

I'll take an amateur over a pro any day.

There was a story -- maybe here? -- in the last couple of months about students not being allowed to cite "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" because Shirer was not an historian.

He only lived in pre-War Germany, spoke fluent German, and had access to all of the captured German documents on which he did ten years of research.

But not a member of the Guild.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 12:16 PM (fuK7c)

346 Germans and British were mostly motivated by "wow check out these new bitchen weapons!" and national pride gone too far. WWI was the worst war ever.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at December 09, 2018 12:17 PM (39g3+)

347 Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:09 PM (G8YYJ)

The real winners of WW1? The Banks.

Note, the US finally got a Central Bank, the Fed Reserve bank in 1913. Took a few years to really get running...

And then, we suddenly generate war debt to? the Banking system... by entering WW1.

What a coincidence...
Posted by: Don Q at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (NgKpN)

Yeah, I don't believe Mrs. Tuchman said the war was pointless. She said the reasons why it was fought were mostly stupid and rotten.

Which they were.

I can't imagine anyone believing otherwise.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:17 PM (cY3LT)

348 HTL
I agree that all of the people at the start of WW I had what they thought were good reasons to jump in. But thinking they did and being able to look at alternative outcomes is where the breakdown happened.
No one had been educated or trained to be the naysayer of these plans. Rigidity in thinking was praised. The few generals, on both sides who did act on their own instincts were quickly fired and tossed aside. The grand envelopment by the Germans failed. The French Army, mostly, was willing to let Paris fall for some field advantage. The British thought that they could essentially make a show of force and get the Germans to retreat.
The Treaty of Versailles only lit the fuse for the second act.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 12:20 PM (+TuXx)

349 Just a point of clarification on the FHTE - Godfather tie-in. The Johnny Fontane storyline was based on H'wood lore of how Sinatra got the coveted part of Maggio. Sinatra was done. He saw the Maggio role as his chance to come back. Good thing for him, he was mobbed up 'cause studio bosses wanted nothing to do with him.

Posted by: kallisto at December 09, 2018 12:23 PM (wZxsP)

350 Much of what is wrong with our understanding of history is being done by people with an axe to grind. Sometimes the participants, who lie to justify their actions, and their defenders who do the same.

Posted by: BurtTC
---------

Sowell comments on that extensively in 'Black Rednecks and White Liberals'. A sample:

"Reaching conclusions after the fact is not the same as taking sides before the facts, even if those conclusions reflect credit or discredit on different individuals or groups to differing degrees. The historian is the agent of the reader. That is whose side is supposed to be served and it is a conflict of interest to set out to serve some other cause while pretending to be informing the reader."

There's much more, and the book certainly merits a read.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at December 09, 2018 12:23 PM (U7Mh9)

351 Just finished the audio version of "Hemingway in Love" by A.E. Hotchner- who had written the fascinating biography of Hemingway "Papa Hemingway."
The audio book was a quick listen, so I suspect Morons can thumb through the book in a few days. Overall, it tells the juicy and sometimes salacious parts of Hemingway's times in France while writing "The Sun Also Rises." It showed how much Hemingway regretted losing his first love, Hadley, and the effect it had on his son and him. For a man who lived such high adventure, rubbed elbows with the in crowd and who had recognition status right there with Picasso, Hemingway had much regret, tragedy and sorrow in his life- much attributed it to his own conduct, the latter I suspect to his depression. He, however, boils it down to his supreme first failure that set the tone for the remainder of his life- loving two women at the same time and thinking he can make it work. And as F. Scott Fitzgerald later told him, "You'll lose em both." And that he did. Toward the end of his life, Hemingway suffered from severe paranoia- he was determined that the IRS was auditing his bank accounts and that the FBI had been surveilling him. Hotchner, who had met with Hemingway at the Mayo Clinic while he was undergoing electro-shock therapy, tried to convince Hem that he was imagining it. After Hemingway's death and many decades later, when Hotchner was writing the book, he submitted a FOIA request to the DOJ for records on Hemingway. Turns out that J Edgar Hoover HAD ordered Hemingway to be surveilled- and that an active surveillance operation had been in place even when Hemingway was at the Mayo Clinic. Hoover was convinced that Hemingway might have been a commie for living in Cuba (and probably covering the Spanish Civil War). Anyway, good book all around for the Horde members who like Hemingway.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel at December 09, 2018 12:25 PM (AwcOy)

352 341 Leftism NOOD
Posted by: Skip at December 09, 2018 12:14 PM (/rm4P)

Bleecchh!
Not your fault, Skip.

Posted by: m at December 09, 2018 12:26 PM (QfXC4)

353 Anyway, good book all around for the Horde members who like Hemingway.

Interesting, thank you.

Hemingway's letters were published ten or so years ago and they were a heartbreaking view of his decline after the two airplane crashes and the electroshock.

His mind didn't work any more and he could tell. It was the first time I understood his suicide.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 12:28 PM (fuK7c)

354 154 91: Many people have that same annoying habit and don't realize that they're using the contraction "would've". When they write they use "would of". I see this all the time, so IMO Jones just lets his character speak in their own voices
Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (U7k5w)
----------------------------------------
Yep.
Still, Jones doesn't get a pass on this. If he were making up a note, letter, something WRITTEN by a character, he might spell 'VE as OF, the way he imagines his character would.

But in SPOKEN English, 'VE and OF after c/w/should are virtually indistinguishable.

You see this in young writers who try to do dialog. If they are the kind who have read far more than they have actually listened, they don't grasp that it's all AURAL.
Thus you'll see them have characters say "there" for "they're" or "hear" for "here" to show a lack of education or whatever!

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at December 09, 2018 12:29 PM (Rxduq)

355 Yeah, I don't believe Mrs. Tuchman said the war was pointless. She said the reasons why it was fought were mostly stupid and rotten.

Which they were.

I can't imagine anyone believing otherwise.

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:17 PM (cY3LT)

Since you refuse to do any further reading on the subject, you are basically taking the word of a liberal New York journalist over the accumulated weight of evidence presented by other more serious authors, and impugning their reputations and work on the basis that you have read Tuchman's book and that was good enough for you. Well, OK then.

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:30 PM (G8YYJ)

356 Here late so don't know if already mentioned: Philip K. Dick's wife Tessa was interviewed on Noory last nite. They keep fresh interviews available on their website for a month, I think. Then you need to subscribe for access.
Posted by: kallisto

"How do you like being Mrs. Dick?"

Posted by: JT at December 09, 2018 12:30 PM (l4OMA)

357 Bandersnatch-
Hotch goes into detail on the plane crash- that massive concussion and burns Hemingway suffered did set the stage for his descent. And you're absolutely right- Hemingway knew death was coming for him and the frustration that he was unable to write or recall past memories was agonizing.
A fascinating section is when Hemingway talks to Hotchner about those who chase death- he was speaking about past experiences (war) and people that believed he wanted to commit suicide. He denied it, talking at length about how she (death) eventually grips you- and those that have danced with her and lived don't seek it out.
But he ended up seeking death and finding her.
I found that passage very thought provoking.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel at December 09, 2018 12:35 PM (AwcOy)

358 Random youtube watching led me to this and now I want it like burning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkNzDz9emAE

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 12:06 PM (GbPPJ)

When my GF built her house she had standard size cabinets and counters put in for "resale" but she had to open the floor level cupboards and step up on them to get to the upper cabinets.

That is an exceptionally cool idea

Posted by: Kindltot at December 09, 2018 12:35 PM (mUa7G)

359 "These pants" remind me of one of Don Cherry's jackets. Yesterday's jacket was bright red with snowman images all over it.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at December 09, 2018 12:36 PM (fDU8w)

360 Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:17 PM (cY3LT)

Since you refuse to do any further reading on the subject, you are basically taking the word of a liberal New York journalist over the accumulated weight of evidence presented by other more serious authors, and impugning their reputations and work on the basis that you have read Tuchman's book and that was good enough for you. Well, OK then.
Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:30 PM (G8YYJ)

I've read other books, genius.

And no, I'm not taking your word, because your word is suspect. And your "appeal to authority" argument is about as suspect an argument as there is.

There. Happy?

Posted by: BurtTC at December 09, 2018 12:42 PM (cY3LT)

361 HTL. I agree that all of the people at the start of WW I had what they thought were good reasons to jump in. But thinking they did and being able to look at alternative outcomes is where the breakdown happened. No one had been educated or trained to be the naysayer of these plans. Rigidity in thinking was praised. The few generals, on both sides who did act on their own instincts were quickly fired and tossed aside.

The Treaty of Versailles only lit the fuse for the second act.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at December 09, 2018 12:20 PM (+TuXx)

In my opinion, it is not just that they all thought they had good reasons; in fact their reasons were all quite sound. Certainly as good as the reasons used to justify any previous war in history. Where pre-war planning failed utterly was in understanding the implications of massive mobilization when combined with the relatively recent innovations military technology, which raised the cost of fighting an order of magnitude beyond what it had previously been in 1866, 1870, and even during the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913.

France, Britain and Russia all achieved their pre-war objectives, although the cost was far higher than they expected (in the case of the Tsar, it was a fatal error -- although her goal of dismantling Austria-Hungary in favor of a south Slav superstate was realized, he was no longer around to benefit).

Just as during the war Germany kind of went crazy and started upping her war objectives (she went in trying to save Austria and wound up thinking she would annex Belgium, Poland and everything else that wasn't nailed down), Britain and France were so appalled at their horrendous losses that they felt they had to try and recoup as much as possible in the peace. The result was the Treaty of Versailles, which of course did not work out at all as they had expected.

So were the reasons good? Yes. Were they worth the ultimate cost? Absolutely not. Even France, the only country that actually still benefits from the achievement of her goals (the re-occupation of Alsace and Lorraine), might seriously consider trading them back if in exchange she could have back the millions of dead (and their offspring) that she lost in The First Global Unpleasantness.

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 12:55 PM (G8YYJ)

362 So were the reasons good? Yes.

No, the reasons were stupid.

Europe was living with a set of interlocking and contradictory treaties which had been engineered by Bismarck, as strong Chancellor under a weak Kaiser. Bismarck, while in power, was able to pull strings like a marionette to keep the balance.

With Bismarck gone Europe was left with untenable treaties and obligations to go to war for each other and no Bismarck to stop them.

Stupidly, they all honored their stupid treaty obligations whether or not it was in their national interest.

It was stupid from the jump and stupidly fought.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at December 09, 2018 01:00 PM (fuK7c)

363 Because I am bored and reading comments, I'll add my two cents for books regarding WW I that I had to read for Army Command and General Staff College:

1. Makers of Modern Strategy
2. The Cambridge History of Warfare
3. The Dynamics of Military Revolution

The books offer interesting perspectives; a series of miscalculations, advent of railroad enabled logistics that facilitated quick mobilizations, pride, country lines redrawn, poor communications.

BLUF: Instructors and authors at Ft. Leavenworth still analyze the causes of WWI.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel at December 09, 2018 01:05 PM (AwcOy)

364 Feynman is a marvel. The biography of him, "Genius" by James Gleick, is excellent, well worth reading.\\
His "Six Easy Pieces" consist of six lectures he made at Caltech in the 1960s, when he taught the freshman physics class, which are accessible to laymen. If you can, listen to the audio recordings of those lectures. Hearing Feynman speak in his broad "Noo Yawk" accent is a delight.
His contribution to the Challenger investigation, which he did by the simple experiment of dunking a sample of the O-ring sealant into the glass of ice water that was sitting by his microphone, was decisive in pointing to what went wrong.That was his final gift to our nation: he participated in the panel, even though he knew he was dying of cancer.

Posted by: Brown Line at December 09, 2018 01:05 PM (S6ArX)

365 WW1 is a good example why "letting things cool" is sometimes a bad idea.
What I mean by that is if Austria Hungary had just gone off half-cocked and attacked Serbia out of red hot anger and revenge for the murder of the Archduke--THE heir to the Hapsburg throne--the "war" probably wouldn't have lasted as long as it did once Austrian bloodlust was satiated and the bigger European powers rushed in to get a cease fire. It would have probably been no bigger a war than the Balkan Wars of 1912-13

But they hesitated--waiting for Germany to give them a blank check and letting Wilhelm rattle his saber making France and Russia nervous and slowly putting things into motion --while every one armed up and sought rationales and justifications (based on old grudges and hatreds) to commence the slaughter.....

Posted by: JoeF. at December 09, 2018 01:07 PM (NFEMn)

366 299
I'm heading out about once an hour to shovel right in front of my door so I can open it. You can't tell I've shoveled it.

It's supposed to keep snowing heavily through late afternoon, then snow some more and then, then, some ice!

Hurray!

*piles all the blankets on me*

This will likely be the most snow we've had in nearly 100 years.
Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at December 09, 2018 11:54 AM (GbPPJ)

I remember a storm like that a couple of years ago. D)

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 01:19 PM (sdi6R)

367 This week I read The Hunger by Alma Katsu. It is kind of an alternative history of the Donner Party, with some supernatural additions to the rank incompetence of the teams leading to all of the deaths. Not quite as scary as I might have hoped for but some interesting characters and the plot moved along nicely. 3.5/5

Posted by: motionview at December 09, 2018 01:21 PM (pYQR/)

368 What went wrong?

D)

Posted by: rickl at December 09, 2018 01:21 PM (sdi6R)

369 WW1 is a good example why "letting things cool" is sometimes a bad idea. What I mean by that is if Austria Hungary had just gone off half-cocked and attacked Serbia out of red hot anger and revenge for the murder of the Archduke--THE heir to the Hapsburg throne--the "war" probably wouldn't have lasted as long as it did once Austrian bloodlust was satiated and the bigger European powers rushed in to get a cease fire. It would have probably been no bigger a war than the Balkan Wars of 1912-13.

Posted by: JoeF. at December 09, 2018 01:07 PM (NFEMn)

An interesting point. However, one of the biggest reasons for Austrian delay was not waiting for Germany, it was trying to get Hungary on board. Because of the peculiar structure of the Dual Monarchy, the Hungarian half had effective veto power over the foreign policy of the entire State, at least as far as military action was concerned, and they were initially not at all in favor of either punishing Serbia or, g*d forbid, annexing territory and bringing more Slavs into the Monarchy.

It probably didn't help that Franz Ferdinand (the late heir to the throne) hated the Hungarians and they returned the sentiment with interest.

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 01:28 PM (G8YYJ)

370 Mr. RFH has corrected me on my assumption, so there's not a glaring error in "Lethal White". I would say to Christopher K. Taylor that he probably wouldn't like it, it is long. Probably could have been a good bit shorter without Strike complaining about his leg.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at December 09, 2018 01:39 PM (THS4q)

371 However, one of the biggest reasons for Austrian delay was not waiting for Germany, it was trying to get Hungary on board. Because of the peculiar structure of the Dual Monarchy, the Hungarian half had effective veto power over the foreign policy of the entire State, at least as far as military action was concerned, and they were initially not at all in favor of either punishing Serbia or, g*d forbid, annexing territory and bringing more Slavs into the Monarchy.

It probably didn't help that Franz Ferdinand (the late heir to the throne) hated the Hungarians and they returned the sentiment with interest.
Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 01:28 PM (G8YYJ)

That's very true. The Hungarians were looking out for their own interest.
Christopher Clark goes into this with his excellent "The Sleepwalkers."

Posted by: JoeF. at December 09, 2018 02:18 PM (NFEMn)

372 Hello, longtime lurker, first time commenter. I just wanted to say how much I look forward to and enjoy the book thread every week.

Posted by: Cincinnatus61 at December 09, 2018 02:31 PM (QqIfn)

373 Just finished Kurt Schlicter's Wildfire. I enjoyed it but I liked People's Republic better.
Now reading M.R. Carey's The Boy on the Bridge. Enjoyed The Girl with all the Gifts so much that I eventually read all of his Felix Castor series (written as Mike Carey). Only about a third into The Boy on the Bridge, so the jury's still out.

Posted by: jix at December 09, 2018 03:32 PM (Xx3z8)

374 Hello Cincinnatus61!

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at December 09, 2018 03:42 PM (XZ3Gp)

375 That's very true. The Hungarians were looking out for their own interest. Christopher Clark goes into this with his excellent "The Sleepwalkers."

Posted by: JoeF. at December 09, 2018 02:18 PM (NFEMn)

Currently I am working my way through the final chapters of Mommsen's History of Rome (which only covers the Republic), which I re-read periodically mostly because I find his opinions of Pompey "Magnus" (frankly and frequently expressed) to be hilarious (as well as accurate). However, when I am done I may go back and re-read both Clark and McMeekin, because the run-up to World War One is so intricate and dependent on certain things happening on certain dates and for certain reasons it bears revisiting, because new details are sure to leap out.

When it comes to the start of World War One, there is more than enough blame to go around, although an opinion I expressed in a paper back in the 1970's (which is mine and belongs to me, which is probably why I am so fond of it) was that too little weight had been given to Russian culpability, given that they were the only Great Power actually embarked on a long-term policy the end result of which would have been the destruction of another Great Power (Austria). Many years later, that turns out to have been part of McMeekin's thesis, too, although he marshals a lot more evidence in support of his arguments than I ever did.

Posted by: HTL at December 09, 2018 03:48 PM (G8YYJ)

376 If anyone (not here, of course) thinks books aren't a mental health necessity, I offer the following:

When we moved from Delaware to Texas four years ago, our only cargo transport was a 5x8 U-Haul trailer and what we could cram into the Crown Vic along with Mr. Empire, me, the cat and the dog.

So most of my thousand-plus (very plus!) collection got disposed of, and I was reduced to the very few I was able to bring along. Space is very limited in this new space, compared to where we were, so my only bookcase is a tiny three-shelfer from Wal-Mart. (The old ones were self-built to fit office and hallway walls ... 6' tall, and maybe 10' long. Maybe bigger. Plus in the "storage" bedroom, and tucked in elsewhere as available.)

Given those, I've spent most of four years dependent on my Kindle PaperWhite. Great for carrying around, but ... otherwise lacking.

Well, last week my middle sister brought over a couple of bags of books, 'cause I was complaining about not being able to get (sometimes just afford!) Kindle copies of older books. To accommodate the ones she brought over, I had to clear the junk off the shelves of the tiny bookcase so I could put actual BOOKS there.

Dear God, what a difference in my mental state it makes to have actual BOOKS to look at and select from! Some of what she brought over are old friends, some I've never read -- but will, now.

Thank you, dear Toni. You may never know just how much this means, but I thank God every day for the blessing you gave me.

Posted by: empire1 at December 09, 2018 04:07 PM (HKYMf)

377 154 91: Many people have that same annoying habit and don't realize that they're using the contraction "would've". When they write they use "would of". I see this all the time, so IMO Jones just lets his character speak in their own voices
Posted by: CN at December 09, 2018 10:25 AM (U7k5w)
----------------------------------------
Yep.
Still, Jones doesn't get a pass on this. If he were making up a note, letter, something WRITTEN by a character, he might spell 'VE as OF, the way he imagines his character would.

But in SPOKEN English, 'VE and OF after c/w/should are virtually indistinguishable.

You see this in young writers who try to do dialog. If they are the kind who have read far more than they have actually listened, they don't grasp that it's all AURAL.
Thus you'll see them have characters say "there" for "they're" or "hear" for "here" to show a lack of education or whatever!
Posted by: Margarita DeVille at December 09, 2018 12:29 PM (Rxduq)

I just saw this now so this probably won't get read but I'll do it in case it does: the biggest problem with Jones doing it is he's not consistent; he uses have and of interchangeably on the same page. It strikes me as sloppy and rushed work that was poorly edited. And yes, it's impossible to tell the difference when listening to people.

Posted by: Captain Hate at December 09, 2018 06:55 PM (y7DUB)

378 Gun thread is up.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 07:11 PM (kQs4Y)

379 Whoops! Wrong thread.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, She-Wolf of the 'Ettes 'Ettes at December 09, 2018 07:11 PM (kQs4Y)

380 376 ... empire1,

I understand completely. The various e-readers offer conveniences and, often, a big savings. But the best reading is from a book held in your hands. There is a satisfaction, physical and spiritual, in books that no e-reader can match.

Posted by: JTB at December 09, 2018 08:04 PM (bmdz3)

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