Sunday Morning Book Thread 02-24-2019

Rijksmuseum Research Library, Amsterdam

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, snark, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, writing, 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 make you think, hey, maybe she'd better ease off a bit on the lunch-time burritos.

Pic Note

From the Cuypers Library web page:

The Cuypers Library is the largest and oldest art historical library in the Netherlands. Visitors, students and art historians alike are welcome to use the library to delve deeper into the Rijksmuseum collection. iPads are available for general use and there is free WiFi access both in the library and throughout the museum.

Click on the photo to see a much larger version.

(h/t Hank Curmudgeon)

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

If you’re PHILOZOIC then you love animals.

Usage: I'm not carnivorous, I'm philozoic.

Homeless in Seattle

When I was a young conservative, I read Excluded Americans: Homelessness and Housing Policies (it was one of the first books I ordered from the Conservative Book Club) that presented statistical evidence correlating homeless rates with the presence of laws enforcing some sort of rent control. I forget if he was also arguing causation, but, using New York City as an example. the author described how rent control messes up housing markets so that renters tend to grab whatever housing they can, especially the rent-controlled units, and hold onto them rather than going with the natural ebb and flow of a free market. Housing becomes less available and the prices of non-controlled housing goes up. He had examples of people living in the same apartment for 25-30 years because the rent was fixed at an absurdly low level, like $125 per month, and they weren't about to give that up.

I was convinced that all we had to do was get rid of rent control and the homeless problem would take care of itself. Of course, I was being hopelessly naive. And the homeless problem has gradually gotten worse and now in many urban areas, it is completely out of hand.

All of this came to mind when I was reading this long City Journal article, Seattle Under Siege, the main point of which is this:

At the same time, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal, the Seattle metro area spends more than $1 billion fighting homelessness every year. That’s nearly $100,000 for every homeless man, woman, and child in King County, yet the crisis seems only to have deepened, with more addiction, more crime, and more tent encampments in residential neighborhoods. By any measure, the city’s efforts are not working.

I guess every major urban area has got a homeless tent camps now. I've heard that the one in Los Angeles stretches on for miles and miles. We've even got one here where I live in Oregon, and one of my friends has had her house broken into several times after the camp sprung up went up a mile or two away.

The City Journal piece references a book as "the definitive book on homelessness", A Nation in Denial: The Truth About Homelessness, written in 1993

Homelessness is a condition of disengagement from ordinary society—from family, friends, neighborhood, church, and community.... Poor people who have family ties, teenaged mothers who have support systems, mentally ill individuals who are able to maintain social and family relationships, alcoholics who are still connected to their friends and jobs, even drug addicts who manage to remain part of their community do not become homeless. Homelessness occurs when people no longer have relationships; they have drifted into isolation, often running away from the support networks they could count on in the past.

Causes not on this list: poverty, injustice and access to affordable housing. Including rent control. I was making the same mistake the poverty pimps were making, i.e. all we have to do is to ~~pass~~ repeal some laws and the problem will go away.

Yeah, no.

Because even if they're not addicts or mentally ill, they're bums. I've worked with bums and I can tell you that once the bum attitude sets in, it is dang near intractable. Some guys simply prefer that itinerant, low-responsibility lifestyle. In the past, these guys tended to be few and far between, but now, their numbers are legion.

The best way to prevent homelessness isn’t to build new apartment complexes or pass new tax levies but to rebuild the family, community, and social bonds that once held communities together. As Richard McAdams, a recovered addict and current outreach worker for the Union Gospel Mission, told me: “There are 6,000 people on the streets in Seattle. I know 3,000 of them by name and know their stories. It’s not a resource issue in this city, it’s a relational issue. The biggest problem is broken relationships.”

Which is not what progressives want. They don't want strong families or churches or self-governing communities. What they want is a bunch of atomized individuals, all dependent on the almighty State. So these broken relationships are a feature, not a bug, of progressive ideology, and the homeless tent cities are the broken eggs of the progressive urban omelet.

A Scathing Review:

Moron Recommendations

Erich, a book thread lurker, e-mails one in:

America Through the Spectacles of an Oriental Diplomat by Wu Tingfang. The auther was Minister to the US, Spain and Peru for the Q’ing dynasty 1896-1902 and 1907-1909. He was also the first ethnic chinese admitted to the British Bar (1876). He served as Foreign Minister for the RoC under Sun Yat-Sen till he died in 1922. The book is available on Project Gutenberg and Librivox though I very much prefer my 1914 first edition.

One Kindle edition is available for FREE. The Gutenberg edition, also free, looks like it has fewer errors.

Also:

Bootleg by Alex Shearer (a manga adaptation was done under the title “Chocolate Underground”). It is about Britain ruled by the Good For You Party, which would be very funny except...

Yeah, I can see how that might hit a bit too close to home. Specifically:

The Good for You Party is improving the health of the nation. Fruit and vegetables are compulsory and chocolates are banned. When best friends Smudger and Huntly discover an overlooked stock of cocoa and sugar, their secret chocolate-making business takes off fast. Can they stay ahead of the law?

The book is out of print, I think. But used copies are available.

___________

No one expects the Spanish Civil War!

I have two [recommendations]. Begin with this six part BBC documentary available on YouTube:

https://bit.ly/2SHXfrc

Then Stanley Payne's The Spanish Civil War.

Caution: It does rhyme with today and is therefore scary as hell.

I recommend the YouTube first to get an overview on the incredibly complex political situation with numerous acronymed parties you may have difficulty keeping track of such as the "Radical Republicans" who were, in fact, a law abiding center right party.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 17, 2019 11:13 AM (+y/Ru)

The Spanish Civil War (Cambridge Essential Histories) by Paul Stanley

This book presents a new history of the most important conflict in European affairs during the 1930s, the Spanish Civil War. It describes the complex origins of the conflict, the collapse of the Spanish Republic and the outbreak of the only mass worker revolution in the history of Western Europe. Stanley Payne explains the character of the Spanish revolution and the complex web of republican politics, while also examining the development of Franco's counter-revolutionary dictatorship. Payne gives attention to the multiple meanings and interpretations of war and examines why the conflict provoked such strong reactions at the time, and long after. The book also explains the military history of the war and its place in the history of military development, the non-intervention policy of the democracies and the role of German, Italian and Soviet intervention, concluding with an analysis of the place of the war in European affairs, in the context of twentieth-century revolutionary civil wars.

Or, if $13.30 is too much, the Kindle edition of The Spanish Civil War: A Very Short Introduction can be had for only $6.15.

___________

I also read Loki's Child by Fenris Wulf about a metal rock band with... unsuspected depths. It begins as a marvelous expose of how the pop music hit sausage gets made and moves on in fun, convoluted, and unexpected ways. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at February 17, 2019 09:55 AM (1pQvR)

Löki's Child sounds like a real wild one. It claims to be

...a tale of music, revolution, and revenge. A pagan dystopian paean to chaos, a libertarian manifesto, and a scathing insider's critique of the music industry, this is a book that Robert Anton Wilson might have written if he had known how to play electric guitar. This is a book so metal that even the consonants require umlauts. This is a book that will make you first question the author's sanity, and then the sanity of the society in which you live.

$4.99 to drive yourself screamingly insane sounds like a real bargain.

___________

132 I read that the Brits had made a TV series from a book called A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. I usually don't like tv made from books as much as I like books, but it does mean that a lot of people liked the book. Picked up a well worn copy at the library and immediately was completely fascinated by it. A lot of paranormal romance books are pretty formulaic but this one creates an earth populated by witches,vampires and demons integrated into society but invisible to humans. It opens in Oxford, England in a library(of all places!) with a woman researcher studying old books on alchemy which is her specialty. She asks for an old manuscript to be retrieved from the archives which turns out to be a magically spelled book that all three creatures,as they call themselves, have been looking for for generations as it has hidden itself waiting for the one person who could open it. She immediately becomes a target. So, there is a mystery, sexual tension, history, poetry, and lots and lots of references to real historical books. Can't wait to read the next two in the trilogy. Enjoy!

Posted by: Sharon at February 17, 2019 10:09 AM (QzF6i)

In addition to that, the Amazon blurb for A Discovery of Witches says

Harkness has created a universe to rival those of Anne Rice, Diana Gabaldon, and Elizabeth Kostova, and she adds a scholar's depth to this riveting tale of magic and suspense. The story continues in book two, Shadow of Night, and concludes with The Book of Life.

$10.99 on Kindle.

___________

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

___________

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

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

Posted by: OregonMuse at 09:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Good morning, book people!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 08:58 AM (kQs4Y)

2 1st? Well, it's some ordinal number.

Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 08:58 AM (ECylE)

3 Morning!

Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at February 24, 2019 08:59 AM (438dO)

4 Finished David Web's Out of Dark, LL's Man From Skibbereen, and Robert Heinlein's juvenile book Time for the Stars this week.

Currently reading Dale Brown's 'The Moscow Offensive' which I thought I had read before but I am not seeing it now. It was published in June of 2018 so I know I had not read it before but Amazon had it priced at 1.99 and it is still at that price so it wasn't a daily deal.

Great book, so far and the 'absolutely evil' female American President is modeled exactly like Scankles. And boy is she a witch in the book, but the shoe fits. If you like military thrillers this and other Dale Brown books starting with the first one Flight of the Old Dog are good books. Unfortunately Flight of The Old Dog is not available in the Kindle format. I have no idea why not.

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 08:59 AM (mpXpK)

5 Hello, bookies!

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:00 AM (fuK7c)

6 Finished all my authors series that I read. Hope the spring brings some new books! Really like Ben Rehder.

Posted by: Bhussein at February 24, 2019 09:01 AM (JFO2v)

7 That library looks familiar. Have we seen it before?

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:01 AM (mpXpK)

8 Good morning, book people!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta
________

Good morning and Happy Sunday!

I like the "Michigangsta" part of your handle. I wish I were from Idaho so that I could claim myself as the "IdahOG" but alas, I'm from New York.

Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 09:01 AM (ECylE)

9 I was convinced that all we had to do was get rid of rent control and the homeless problem would take care of itself

I always thought the bums on the street were the result of the ACLU's civil suit that caused them to dump all the alcoholics out on the street.

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:03 AM (mpXpK)

10 Hiya!

This week I read the slim paperback The Greatest Salesman In the World, by Og Mandino. I'm not in sales (but in reality, we all are), but when it showed up on my Book Bub list, it looked intriguing. This little gem was a five-star beauty. Issued in 1968, the work is part parable, part mythology, heavy Christian principles, it's considered an institution.

A young man intent on improving his lot in life asks the wealthiest merchant he knows how to become a successful salesman so he can win the hand of his beloved. His mentor provides a small set of leather scrolls for the young man to read daily. If he commits to the spirit of the scrolls and takes them to heart, he will be successful in sales (or anything else).

With the recent push for infanticide, I was especially struck by this this section of a scroll titled, "I am nature's greatest miracle."

Since the beginning of time never has there been another with my mind, my heart, my eyes, my ears, my hands, my hair, my mouth. None that came before, none that live today, and none that come tomorrow can walk and talk and move and think exactly like me. All men are my brothers yet I am different from each. I am a unique creation. I am nature's miracle.

Posted by: SandyCheeks at February 24, 2019 09:03 AM (tGSHk)

11 Tolle Lege
I got nothing new yet
: (

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (/rm4P)

12 A bookstore find was Shoot to Kill by Brigadier Richard Miers. Published in 1959, it is an account of the South Wales Borderers when he commanded them from about 1955-58 during the Malayan Emergency. Very interesting book and Miers doesn't just write about himself. He gives plenty of space to various actions by his officers and men against the Communist Terrorists; the books gives context to a conflict that I knew happened but actually knew very little. Miers makes the claim that the CT were Chinese attempting to export Communism to Malaya.

The book gets its title from the fact that, by this stage of the Emergency, fighting was very brief since the small bands of CT would retreat into the jungle on contact; therefore, the Commonwealth troops had to put an emphasis on quick, accurate shooting in order to kill or wound 1 or 2 CT before the rest fled into the brush. This a quick read and the author has a self-deprecating sense of humor and obvious affection for his men.

I highly recommend this book, lots of details about how the British Army operated during the Malayan Emergency and it's a pretty quick read. Rating = 4.5/5.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (5Yee7)

13 Reading the last novel in a series can be bittersweet even when you’ve read them a dozen times. I remember how crushed I was as a kid when I discovered that C.S. Lewis had been dead for years. No more Narnia books! 

The Last Battle begins with the end in sight: “In the last days of Narnia, far up in the west beyond Lantern Waste and close beside the great waterfall, there lived an ape.” This is a Narnia long distant from the Golden Age where Aslan was present and interceded in affairs. The faithful still worship him, but as an abstract. It is easy for like the ape Shift to perpetuate fraud in Aslan’s name, and for his Calormene masters to claim Aslan and the bloodthirsty god Tash are one and the same.

Things get real when Aslan is afoot in the land again, and the vile spirit of Tash him-/itself flies north to confront the unbelievers who invoked him!

Heavy stuff for a children’s story.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (kQs4Y)

14 about my MIL

https://5newsonline.com/2019/02/15/ bentonville-library-to-hold-massive-used-book-sale-after-receiving-estate-donation/

Posted by: Bhussein at February 24, 2019 09:05 AM (JFO2v)

15 Rijksmuseum Research Library, Amsterdam
________

Wow! I drive past the Amsterdam Library every day, and I knew they were doing renovations, but that's amazing.

Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (ECylE)

16 damn mooslem sox

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (JFO2v)

17 I had no idea there were duck f**k books. Is it illustrated?
Asking for a friend.

Posted by: the duck at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (UdKB7)

18 This week I read the slim paperback The Greatest Salesman In the World, by Og Mandino

Heh. I read that as a teenager when I was a Fuller Brush salesman.

I did not become the world's greatest salesman. What I remember is you were supposed to say "I love you" with your eyes or something.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (fuK7c)

19 "about my MIL "

Linky seems stinky

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (cqNba)

20 But have watched some YouTube history programs so maybe that BBC documentary might be up my ally later on today.

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (/rm4P)

21 9 I was convinced that all we had to do was get rid of rent control and the homeless problem would take care of itself

I always thought the bums on the street were the result of the ACLU's civil suit that caused them to dump all the alcoholics out on the street.
Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:03 AM (mpXpK)

I was told it's all Reagan's fault!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:08 AM (kQs4Y)

Posted by: Those ducks are gonn get it. at February 24, 2019 09:08 AM (8iiMU)

23 Those ducks are gonna get it.
(LOL, post fail.)

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (8iiMU)

24 Greetings from Kuwait. On the authorial front, my novel The Mountain Throne will be in Kirkus's "Indie Books Worth Discovering" this year. It's released in a few weeks.

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (2eXPd)

25 "about my MIL "

Linky seems stinky
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (cqNba)

Remove the space before bentonville.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (TDyHc)

26 What a fool the duck reviewer is. Everyone knows geese are the real threat.

Posted by: Pep at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (T6t7i)

27 Secrete Square, I put down my response to your financial question in the EMT thread, look at comment 301

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 09:10 AM (mUa7G)

28 Read "The Day of the Triffids" by John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (shortened to John Wyndham so it would fit on a book cover). Published in 1951 it's not the typical apocalypse book for it's time. No nuclear war or an attack from space aliens, it was a meteor shower and those who watched it went blind, which was almost everyone. Triffids existed long before the blinding event and are bioengineered plants that can walk, communicate, kill, and are carnivorous. And like a lot of apocalypse books it raises ethical and moral questions about what is the right thing to do. I liked it.

Currently re-reading "The Giants Novels" by James P. Hogan. They are; Inherit The Stars, The Gentle Giants of Ganymede, and Giants' Star. The books have some fantastic imagery; a dying soldier on the moon watching the Earth's destruction (but is it Earth?), a huge alien spaceship buried beneath the ice on Ganymede that's full of long dead and extinct critters, and the Giants' spaceship pitted, scorched, and streaked by debris as it traveled through space for a really long time. One of my favorite syfy series.

Some head music:

Ludovico Einaudi - Night
https://youtu.be/k9NM-yK1C2I

Metallica - No Leaf Clover
https://youtu.be/Sh5S3OxiE-s

Roberta Mancino - High Fashion
https://youtu.be/b89_PDSMf3I

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at February 24, 2019 09:10 AM (TDyHc)

29 Linky seems stinky
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 24, 2019 09:07 AM (cqNba)

tada

https://tinyurl.com/yylu838q

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:11 AM (JFO2v)

30 21 I was told it's all Reagan's fault!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:08 AM (kQs4Y)

Yeah I remember that too, until people started responding with ACLU with proof and then they shut up.

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:11 AM (mpXpK)

31 Library complete with safe zone for shooting up ??

Posted by: User of public resources at February 24, 2019 09:12 AM (RZ6R1)

32 I was told it's all Reagan's fault!
Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:08 AM (kQs4Y)

Carter end insane asylum funding and the MSM blames results on Reagan

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:12 AM (JFO2v)

33 The n-umlaut in the author's name is the first clue that Loki's Child is an over-the-top blend of heavy-metal music and libertarian ideology. Well worth checking it out.

This week I read Morgan Newquist's Heroes Fall: A Heroes Unleashed Novel (Serenity City Book 1) - a must-read for anyone interested in the superhero genre. The world-building alone is amazing. Newquist's superhero novel takes the genre seriously and examines the fascinating implications of a society in which superheroes are real: how are they identified, trained, and groomed for their place in the hierarchy of society's guardians? What happens to those with super powers who don't quite make the cut? How can the pressure of superpowers make good people turn bad? On the surface, Heroes Fall is an engaging pulp adventure. The deeper moral and philosophic questions it examines leave me eager to read more books set in this universe.

I also re-read Heinlein's excellent Time for the Stars and realized how much I'd subconsciously modeled Uncle Rob from my own Hidden Truth series after the protagonist's Uncle Steve in Time for the Stars. As always, any Heinlein juvenile is a great read, and Time for the Stars is the novel that introduced me to the implications of special relativity while I was still in elementary school. Check it out, particularly if you have never read it before.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at February 24, 2019 09:12 AM (1pQvR)

34
I'm very much in favor of animal husbandry. Why should women be restricted to marriage only with men?

Posted by: Alexandria Occasional Cortex at February 24, 2019 09:13 AM (jYje5)

35 Book Morons note that Amazon has the first Mary Poppins Kindle book on sale today for $1.99. It is the one that the movie is based on.

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:13 AM (mpXpK)

36 If you DIAMOND ICON HERE re PHILOZOIC then you love animals.

Comma, and there's a limit.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:13 AM (0ogxh)

37 About reading since I have to read the subtitles.

I recently started watching the Chinese version of anime (based on the Chinese version of manga called manhwa) and generally have been enjoying it. I don't know what dialect they're in, but you know the thing about the Greeks/Romans thinking foreign language sounded like "Bar-bar-bar"? Yeah. There are a surprising number of very throat-clawing "ar" sounds.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 09:13 AM (uquGJ)

38 a huge alien spaceship buried beneath the ice on Ganymede that's full of long dead and extinct critters,

Damn! What is that old scifi where the aliens ship in the london underground and a psychic can read their dead thots???

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:14 AM (JFO2v)

39 Causes not on this list: poverty, injustice and access to affordable housing. Including rent control. I was making the same mistake the poverty pimps were making, i.e. all we have to do is to pass repeal some laws and the problem will go away.

Very good. That is exactly the reason (well, one of the reasons) I didn't go libertarian/classical liberal. The idea that with the right laws, everything is going to work, is just a fantasy. It's where the two aforementioned ideologies resemble others with "lib" in their names.

I even recall hearing, in HS, how good the Soviet Constitution was, as written. I did look at it, and was less impressed, But there was no doubt that it, had it described the actual USSR, would have been a lot better than what they got.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM (VaN/j)

40 Not a book, but a good read.
When not calling Trump supporters "Nazis" as a means to dehumanize us, the establishment media like to whine about the lack of civility in American politics, even as they cover up, ignore, downplay, or straight- up approve of the wave of violence and public harassment we are seeing against supporters of President Trump.
It is open season on Trump supporters, and the media is only fomenting, encouraging, excusing, and hoping for more...
https://tinyurl.com/yxmbhxwf

Posted by: mikeyG at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM (LL1Be)

41 Not nassi, just millennial journamilism:

@KPRC2

NYPD investigating Nazi drawings found at an elementary school http://bit.ly/2E7BxCY

( pic of hammer and sickle )

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM (0ogxh)

42 Hey! Those are my pants.

Posted by: I never liked the OC at February 24, 2019 09:16 AM (Mb5QW)

43 Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (5Yee7)

It sounds like these would be the "British in Malaysia in the 50s" O mentioned. No wonder he thought they were horrible if they were opposing communism.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 09:17 AM (uquGJ)

44 If you're PHILOZOIC then you love animals.

Usage: I'm not carnivorous, I'm philozoic.

[OT] Philozoists devouring each other: Google posts logo commemorating Steve Irwin, gets attacked by PETA. Then PETA faces backlash on twitter for being assholes.

Posted by: Steve and Cold Bear at February 24, 2019 09:18 AM (/qEW2)

45
( pic of hammer and sickle )

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM

Here you go... ☭

( ☭ )

Posted by: Alexandria Occasional Cortex at February 24, 2019 09:18 AM (jYje5)

46 "NYPD investigating Nazi drawings found at an elementary
( pic of hammer and sickle )"

And so the left has gone full circle, spiralling in to a maelstrom of insanity.

Posted by: freaked at February 24, 2019 09:18 AM (UdKB7)

47 I think I've seen some philozoic Pornhub channels...

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 09:19 AM (2eXPd)

48 That "ducks" review made my morning.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 09:19 AM (t+qrx)

49
I like the "Michigangsta" part of your handle. I wish I were from Idaho so that I could claim myself as the "IdahOG" but alas, I'm from New York.

Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 09:01 AM (ECylE)

You could go with "New Yorkie".

Everyone loves terriers!

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:19 AM (CRRq9)

50 Blow the whistle and ring the bell: it took over 720 pages of sub mediocre prose to get there but with the Pearl Harbor attack (or specific to the guys in the book, Wheeler Field) From Here to Eternity finally got good. Or less bad. Either way he captured the absolute chaos of being under attack and how natural leaders rise to the occasion pretty effectively; not as good as Tolstoy but nobody else reaches that level. Anyway, I'll be done with it in the coming week and you won't have to listen to me whine about it any more.

I did finish Sidney Powell's Licensed to Lie: Exposing Corruption in the Department of Justice in record time. I need someone to design a Clockwork Orange type application whereby Sleepy Jeff can be forced to read this and that moon faced fuck endure an appropriate torture for doing less than the necessary minimum to clean out this deep state shithole for two goddamn years. Powell lays out chapter and verse into how the place is an anti constitutional pile of trash running roughshod over completely innocent people.

My only complaint about the book is that Powell needed an editor to tighten up her prose. I found myself rolling my eyes at her descriptions of these majestic federal courtrooms while thinking they probably smell like old post offices reeking of urine, stale cigars and old people's body odor. Likewise her semi bitchy descriptions of people who deserve to be set on fire. Maybe I'm more conditioned to the invective of Hurricane Camille and Ol' Yeller, and frankly the Horde, to accept this B team effort. Too bad because I've heard her speak and she's very effective. Anyway don't let my quibbling get in the way of reading this.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:20 AM (y7DUB)

51 Good morning, book threadists! Mostly taken up with the ongoing bathroom renovation this last week - nearly done, BTW - just a few more finishing touches and waiting for the glass shower doors to arrive - which means the writing has been minimal and the reading slightly less so...
Working on a series about the 1745 Jacobite rebellion: a series of six books by one Julia Brannan. Engaging characters, interesting premise, a good deal of research into the lead-up to Bonnie Prince Charlie's arrival in Scotland ... slightly marred by the occasional ahistorical clanger. The author almost has a sense of the time, so the small goofs and modern turn of phrase are otherwise are a bit jarring.
I promise - as soon as the bathroom is finished, I will get back to writing Luna City, and the Civil War adventure...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at February 24, 2019 09:20 AM (xnmPy)

52 "(Progressives) don't want strong churches or strong families or self-sufficient communities)"

In the last few days I've been seeing online reviews for a new book titled "Alienated America" by Timothy P. Carney, a writer for the Washington Free Beacon. The premise of the book
seems to be that communities in which strong family, social and religious connections still exist were LESS supportive of Trump (at least at the primary stage) in 2016 -- because they did not have the same sense of alienation and desperation that prompted others to look to him as a sort of political savior.

Yes, I know it may sound like yet another "lefty journalist ventures into the dangerous wilds of Trump country" book, but I think he's onto something there. It would be supremely ironic if this book finally got some lefties to admit that maybe attacking family, religion and self-sufficient communities was not a good thing and is exactly how they got Trump..

Posted by: Secret Square at February 24, 2019 09:21 AM (9WuX0)

53 Everyone loves terriers!

Is this the pet thread or the food thread?

Posted by: A Certain Ex--President at February 24, 2019 09:22 AM (fuK7c)

54 This week I finally got around to reading Sgt. Mom's "Luna City Chronicles," which I bought in December when it was on sale. I'm hooked!! Fun characters, some laugh-out-loud parts, and just good entertainment throughout. I think outsiders will be surprised to see how Mexican tradition is so much an integral part of Texan identity, even for Anglos. No enforced muliti-culti BS, just the way we all grew up.

Posted by: Art Rondolet of Malmsey at February 24, 2019 09:23 AM (S+f+m)

55 Is this the pet thread or the food thread?
Posted by: A Certain Ex--President at February 24, 2019 09:22 AM (fuK7c)

I like dog!

Posted by: Bhussein at February 24, 2019 09:23 AM (JFO2v)

56 I see Vic snagged Heinlein's Time for the Stars, too. It's only $2.99 on Kindle as is Heinlein's Double Star. Get 'em while they're cheap.

Posted by: Hans G. Schantz at February 24, 2019 09:24 AM (1pQvR)

57 Damn! What is that old scifi where the aliens ship in the london underground and a psychic can read their dead thots???
Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:14 AM (JFO2v)

Are you thinking of the movie? I can't remember the name though.

Posted by: Jake Holenhead at February 24, 2019 09:25 AM (TDyHc)

58 I'm not at all a serious reader as the rest of the nerds here so my recommendation reflects my intellect -

How to Pick Up Women With a Drunk Space Ninja

Trilogy (of course) available on Kindle.

Posted by: weirdflunky at February 24, 2019 09:25 AM (GwY6O)

59 But there was no doubt that it, had it described the actual USSR, would have been a lot better than what they got.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM (VaN/j)

Was it Yahoo Serious who said 'Sure the American and Russian constitutions both guarantee speech, assembly, etc. It's just that the American constitution guarantees freedom *after* speech, assembly, etc.'?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 09:25 AM (uquGJ)

60 What a fool the duck reviewer is. Everyone knows geese are the real threat.

Posted by: Pep at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (T6t7i)

Yes....the geese.

Posted by: Puffins at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (CRRq9)

61 Seems the socialist in Ven ran out of money for food but they found some funds for ammo

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (JFO2v)

62 Hello fellow book-threadists!

I have good news at long last. DoD has APPROVED my manuscript for publication so within the near future "Three Weeks with the Coasties" will be coming to an Amazon store near you.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

63 Possibly to atone for how much I hated "The Imperial Cruise", Mommy and Sister Cousin sent me two new books on Teddy Roosevelt.

One is a biography I haven't heard of by Henry Pringle. The other is "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough.

Anyone have any experience with these?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (fuK7c)

64 What a spectacular library picture! And I spent fifteen minutes reading and clicking the links in OM's intro essay. Thank you OM!

Posted by: Huck Follywood, prole at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (Z216Q)

65 A fellow on another blog recommended sienkowitz s the deluge, the first of a three volume series on the northern wars in the 17th century, after thr time of troubles that pitted Russia and against the polish and Lithuanian confederation. One of the first successful wars by one of the Ivan's.

Posted by: Admiral marcus at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (/iWqA)

66 Are you thinking of the movie? I can't remember the name though.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at February 24, 2019 09:25 AM (TDyHc)

I cheated and went to IMDB 5 million years to earth It is part 3 of a 3 series scifi.

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:27 AM (JFO2v)

67 I'm still on a Spanish Civil War kick and this week I'm reading General Escobar's War by Jose Luis Olaizola. Although described as a novel, it lacks many characteristics of a novel. There are no chapters, it's only generally chronological with many digressions and leaps through time, and it is not written in a literary style. It purports to be the musings of a Republican; i.e., commie general as he waits in his cell after the war for his court martial and expected execution and is based on a real person. He has no hope of avoiding execution and is writing not to justify his actions nor to tell the truth about the war as he has been urged to do but primarily to pass the time and to practice his handwriting of which he is inordinately proud. The writing style matches such a document written by such a man.

The General is an honorable man in a dishonorable time. Although he is quite religious, contemplating becoming a monk after retirement, he serves a regime that persecutes the Church, largely because he swore before God to serve the government. He attempts to remain apolitical and walks a tightrope between the Nationalist rebels on one hand and the extremist anarchists and communists on the other as he strives to preserve order and civility. This is not an easy task as one of his sons and two of his brothers fight for the other side.

A theme of the novel is based upon a comment made by a son following a soccer game in which he played. When asked how the game was he replied, "I don't know. I was in it." Everybody laughed and it became a family joke. Apparently, the reason for court martial and execution is that on the day the war began, he did not immediately break his oath and join the rebels as one of his sons and two of his brothers did. But he was in it and didn't know how it was.

I'm quite enjoying this book but it is no wonder it didn't become a best seller here in the US. (It did make a splash in Spain.) First it assumes a level of knowledge about the war that Spaniards may have but few Americans do and second there is no sex and daring do. Although the General was considered a war hero, he does not talk much about combat because he does not wish self aggrandizement and the subject is painful for him. There is much pathos, however, as he tries to navigate his way through a chaotic world.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 09:27 AM (+y/Ru)

68 http://bit.ly/2E7BxCY

( pic of hammer and sickle )
Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:15 AM (0ogxh)

I followed the link and there is a small swastika in the upper left-hand corner of the photo. The hammer and sickle seem to have been purposely put into a painted area (basketball court?) so that the hammer and sickle are crossed-out and there is a slogan, "NO ~~JEWS~~..."[there is a label that 'helpfully' obscures the rest of the slogan]. My quick guess is that it is associating Jews with Communism, but don't know.

Yeah, whatever news-being wrote the article made a hash of explaining what happened.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:27 AM (5Yee7)

69 hiya

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:28 AM (oNaUD)

70 Is imperial cruise better edited than fly boys that was not only ideological dreck but terribly written.

Posted by: Admiral marcus at February 24, 2019 09:28 AM (/iWqA)

71 I just started a new book by William Forstchen, of "One Second After" fame, called "48 Hours".

The earth has already reeling from being hit by a Coronal Mass Ejection, which has caused power outages. The electrical grid was shut down to prevent permanent damage. Now they are bracing for another CME, but hot on its heels is something even worse, a solar proton event that will bathe the planet in deadly radiation. It will be an Extinction Level Event.

I am really enjoying this so far. Our main protagonists are the NASA Goddard scientist who discovered "Sauron's Eye" on one of the solar monitoring satellites, and a former military man who is now chief security officer at a huge underground facility in Missouri that is suddenly seeing an uptick in visitation by top brass.

Disaster porn!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:28 AM (kQs4Y)

72 12
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (5Yee7)

Haven't seen that one. A book that covers a bit of that, and a lot more, is A Fighting Retreat, by Robin Nellands. It's an unapologetic chronicle of the Brit army post WWII. There was also a book by a Brit officer written during the Vietnam war giving his view on how to handle the commies. I think the author's name was Thompson.

BTW, isn't the South Wales Borderers the Rorke's Drift unit (though it wasn't called that then)?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:28 AM (VaN/j)

73 Damn! What is that old scifi where the aliens ship in the london underground and a psychic can read their dead thots???
Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:14 AM (JFO2v)

Are you thinking of the movie? I can't remember the name though.
Posted by: Jake Holenhead at February 24, 2019 09:25 AM (TDyHc)

If it's a movie. It's probably-

"Five Million Years to Earth"

or as it's known in Limeyland-

"Quartermass and the Pit"

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:29 AM (CRRq9)

74 How did Paul Stanley get in there?

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at February 24, 2019 09:29 AM (l9m7l)

75 The kids lined up behind me are philozoic.

Posted by: Rabid Moroccan Donkey at February 24, 2019 09:29 AM (nDe2U)

76 I highly recommend this book, lots of details about
how the British Army operated during the Malayan Emergency and it's a
pretty quick read. Rating = 4.5/5.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:04 AM (5Yee7)

Another good book is Fighting Mad, One Man's Guerilla War by Michael Calvert. He was with the Chindits in pushing the Japanese back and commanded the airborne landing in the Japanese rear. He was a madman only matched, probably, by Orde Wingate. He led a bayonet charge against the Japanese at one point.

He was brought back to Malaysia during the Emergency because of his experience is fighting the Japanese in the same area. He stated that he probably trained and commanded some of the guerillas he was fighting against.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 09:30 AM (mUa7G)

77 Posted by: Rabid Moroccan Donkey at February 24, 2019 09:29 AM (nDe2U)

AOC, is that you?

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:31 AM (CRRq9)

78 Thanks for the tip kindltot!

Posted by: Secret Square at February 24, 2019 09:31 AM (9WuX0)

79 One is a biography I haven't heard of by Henry Pringle. The other is "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough.

Anyone have any experience with these?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (fuK7c)
---
Ooh, start with "Mornings on Horseback", it will be a nice palate cleanser. Such a good book. It's a look at the Roosevelt family history and the parts on Teddy's father and mother (inspiration for Scarlett O'Hara?) are fascinating.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:31 AM (kQs4Y)

80 or as it's known in Limeyland-

"Quartermass and the Pit"
Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:29 AM (CRRq9)

I see there were 3 stories and was made into a live tv event on 2005. may need to find

Posted by: rhennigantx at February 24, 2019 09:32 AM (JFO2v)

81 35 Book Morons note that Amazon has the first Mary Poppins Kindle book on sale today for $1.99. It is the one that the movie is based on.
Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:13 AM (mpXpK)

Isn't that racist?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:33 AM (VaN/j)

82 7 That library looks familiar. Have we seen it before?

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:01 AM (mpXpK)

I agree it does look familiar, but I've never posted a pic of any library in Amsterdam before.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 09:33 AM (npVLc)

83 I'm still on a Spanish Civil War kick

I was doing a deep dive on Robert Capa this week and his possible charlatanism when I came across an amazing fact.

He and his girlfriend photographer were trying to get to a frontline that was supposed to be too dangerous, but "fortunately they arrived during the two hours that each side ceased fighting during the day".

That's right. The belligerents in the Spanish Civil War respected each other's siestas.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:33 AM (fuK7c)

84 I guess every major urban area has got a homeless tent camps now. "

Actually, no - that should read "every major urban area ON THE WEST COAST". Seriously.

When you incentive something, you get more of it. Here in Texas I'm strongly in favor of giving every homeless person and every illegal $200 in cash and a one way bus ticket to either LA or Seattle. Plus a brochure, in Spanish, on every free government program they can apply for as soon as they get there.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 09:33 AM (V2Yro)

85 It sounds like these would be the "British in Malaysia in the 50s" O mentioned. No wonder he thought they were horrible if they were opposing communism.
Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 09:17 AM (uquGJ)

The British Security Forces campaign during the Malayan Emergency was a generally successful "small war" that defeated Communism in Malaya. The British granted independence to Malaya in [I think] in 1959 and suddenly the Commie Terrorists didn't have any legal justification for their continued depredations. The native Malayans got tired of their $h!t and either killed them or drove them into exile to China.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:34 AM (5Yee7)

86 I am reading "From Here to Eternity". It's good so far, but I think it's going to take me three months to read it at the current rate of progress.

Posted by: roamingfirehydrant at February 24, 2019 09:34 AM (THS4q)

87 Yay book thread!

Doing a page hop on FB to support a friend. Three free Smashwords copies of Loyal Valley: Assassination up for grabs, plus a Rafflecopter giveaway on her page. Still trying to get health and work on a more even keel to get back to other projects.

Reading: Book of the Duchess last week for class prep; Piers Plowman coming up this week. Editing project on the Septuagint continues apace. Also need to try to finish Disruptive Witness so I can finally get it back to the library.

*waves to all and sundry*

Posted by: Elisabeth G. Wolfe at February 24, 2019 09:35 AM (R3HPb)

88 Morning, all.

Not reading anything at the moment, but am listening to Linda Ronstadt's Lush Life. Not as good as her first "Great American Songbook" album What's New?, even though both have the saving grace of Nelson Riddle.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (Ki5SV)

89 The OK Go video in the sidebar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWGJA9i18Co

I feel the need to quibble on a point. They didn't do this video all in one take. Those big jets that simulate zero-g can only go for 30 seconds at a time before they run out of altitude. Not a problem for Tom Hank's Apollo 13 where each cut is much shorter ... but in this video they used very clever compositing and editing to splice together four or five descents.

Of course I could not say how many rehearsals and how many takes were needed. But they seem to put huge effort into all of their (real) one-take videos.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (rnAwa)

90 I have good news at long last. DoD has APPROVED my manuscript for publication so within the near future "Three Weeks with the Coasties" will be coming to an Amazon store near you.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

Give me a heads-up near the publication date so I can give it proper pimpage.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (npVLc)

91 46 "NYPD investigating Nazi drawings found at an elementary
( pic of hammer and sickle )"

And so the left has gone full circle, spiralling in to a maelstrom of insanity.
Posted by: freaked at February 24, 2019 09:18 AM (UdKB7)

Was it Ace who coined "stupid is easy and easy is holy"?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (VaN/j)

92 And a Happy Belated Birthday to Mike Hammer and AOP !

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:37 AM (oNaUD)

93 Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (VaN/j)

Yes.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 09:38 AM (uquGJ)

94 BTW, isn't the South Wales Borderers the Rorke's Drift unit (though it wasn't called that then)?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:28 AM (VaN/j)

Yes, and Brigadier Miers mentions that the Regimental Museum had a bouquet of flowers given the Regiment by Queen Victoria during an awards ceremony after the Zulu War still preserved in the Regimental Museum (as of 1959).

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:38 AM (5Yee7)

95 Ooh, start with "Mornings on Horseback", it will be a nice palate cleanser.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta

Thank you, darling. And now I'm off on a bagel quest. BBL.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 09:39 AM (fuK7c)

96 Through the looking glass:

"A federal judge in Texas has declared that the all-male military draft is unconstitutional, ruling that "the time has passed" for a debate on whether women belong in the military."

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:39 AM (0ogxh)

97 You could go with "New Yorkie".

Everyone loves terriers!

Posted by: naturalfake
________

I'm a terrier
A rhyming harrier
My state's home to Carrier
I'm a rocker
An appleknocker
An original New York knickerbocker
I'll say it with glee
I'm from New York
I drink Genesee
And I eat with a spork.

Peace!

Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 09:40 AM (ECylE)

98 Regarding the Spanish Civil War, reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia was an exercise in not knowing what the fuck was going on at any given time. Which was I guess the point of the book unless I was being dense about it...

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:41 AM (y7DUB)

99 I found the "How we did it" video on OK Go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnTqZ68fI7Q

Posted by: BourbonChicken at February 24, 2019 09:41 AM (rnAwa)

100 I laughed entirely too much at that duck book review. Thanks for brightening up my morning OM.

Posted by: J. Random Dude at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (Clx8H)

101 "the time has passed" for a debate "

That could have been written by Obama.

And women might have a place in the military, but they don't belong in the Army or Marines. So said to me 5 female soldiers at Goodfellow AFB in 2007.

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (2eXPd)

102 an account of the South Wales Borderers when he commanded them from about 1955-58 during the Malayan Emergency.

-
What about the British in Malaysia in the 1950?!

Posted by: A Former High Government Official and Wakanda Warrior at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (+y/Ru)

103 You could go with "New Yorkie".

Everyone loves terriers!

Posted by: naturalfake
________

I'm a terrier
A rhyming harrier
My state's home to Carrier
I'm a rocker
An appleknocker
An original New York knickerbocker
I'll say it with glee
I'm from New York
I drink Genesee
And I eat with a spork.

Peace!
Posted by: FireHorse at February 24, 2019 09:40 AM (ECylE)

You go, dawg!!!!

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (CRRq9)

104 52 "(Progressives) don't want strong churches or strong families or self-sufficient communities)"

In the last few days I've been seeing online reviews for a new book titled "Alienated America" by Timothy P. Carney, a writer for the Washington Free Beacon. The premise of the book
seems to be that communities in which strong family, social and religious connections still exist were LESS supportive of Trump (at least at the primary stage) in 2016 -- because they did not have the same sense of alienation and desperation that prompted others to look to him as a sort of political savior.

Yes, I know it may sound like yet another "lefty journalist ventures into the dangerous wilds of Trump country" book, but I think he's onto something there. It would be supremely ironic if this book finally got some lefties to admit that maybe attacking family, religion and self-sufficient communities was not a good thing and is exactly how they got Trump..
Posted by: Secret Square at February 24, 2019 09:21 AM (9WuX0)

They're not very bright, are they. Does it occur to the author that it is precisely those in places where the institutions have declined badly who see the danger most clearly?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (VaN/j)

105 98
Regarding the Spanish Civil War, reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia
was an exercise in not knowing what the fuck was going on at any given
time. Which was I guess the point of the book unless I was being dense
about it...

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:41 AM (y7DUB)

---
I need to read it again, now that I've learned more about the history of the war and also what was going on in the UK.

I think Orwell took for granted that people were up to speed on the situation because he wrote it so close to events.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)

106 I have two [recommendations]. Begin with this six part BBC documentary available on YouTube:

https://bit.ly/2SHXfrc
...

Caution: It does rhyme with today and is therefore scary as hell.

I watched the BBC documentary last weekend, and while it was interesting, I didn't see any parallels to present-day America. It's entirely possible that I'm just dense.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 09:43 AM (sdi6R)

107 The real answer for "homelessness" aka bummery was well known by previous generations, but we're too "advanced" (squeamish) to admit it now.

Vagrancy laws and work camps. You get a job with a home, you can leave. Otherwise you stay, and are subject to camp rules. Throw everyone who wants to stage a public "protest" in those camps, as well. Yeah, that's my inner Franco talking, but I'm sick of all the crap, and just about ready to do what's needed to make it stop.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 09:45 AM (V2Yro)

108 If liberals were capable of leaving people alone, then who would ever need to be conservative?

Posted by: BourbonChicken at February 24, 2019 09:45 AM (rnAwa)

109 30 21 I was told it's all Reagan's fault!

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:08 AM (kQs4Y)
-----

Yeah I remember that too, until people started responding with ACLU with proof and then they shut up.
Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 09:11 AM (mpXpK)
---

I watched about five minutes of "Deadly Class", set in 80's New York (but filmed, of course, in Vancouver) and the lead kid blames Ronnie Raygun for the homeless problem. So the lie is still being promulgated.

Posted by: All Hail Eris, Michigangsta at February 24, 2019 09:45 AM (kQs4Y)

110 Re-reading the old Fred Saberhagen series of Dracula novels. After 30 years they seem new to me again. Never did like Dr. Seward.

Posted by: That Deplorable SOB Van Owen at February 24, 2019 09:45 AM (wZ9cV)

111 "I didn't see any parallels to present-day America."

A radical movement that wants to take over the state, impose centralized control of basically everything, destroy organized religion, and rule forever? That doesn't ring any bells?

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 09:45 AM (2eXPd)

112 "NYPD investigating Nazi drawings found at an elementary
( pic of hammer and sickle )"

-
If I had a hammer and sickle I'd hammer and sickle in the morning
I'd hammer and sickle in the evening
A!l over this land!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 09:46 AM (+y/Ru)

113 That's a combustible lemon, for use in burning life's house down.

Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (NWiLs)

114 Been watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and have mixed feelings but binge watching it anyways. It says it is based on a comic book. Anybody else watching and what do you think?

Posted by: Sharon at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (QzF6i)

115 92 And a Happy Belated Birthday to Mike Hammer and AOP !
Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:37 AM (oNaUD)
---
And now, the spankings!

Posted by: Wicked, wicked Zoot at February 24, 2019 09:48 AM (kQs4Y)

116 Hello fellow book-threadists!

I have good news at long last. DoD has APPROVED my manuscript for publication so within the near future "Three Weeks with the Coasties" will be coming to an Amazon store near you.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:26 AM (cfSRQ)

I got to read it prepublication.

It's a good slice o'military life novella.

Give it a whirl.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:48 AM (CRRq9)

117 I need to read it again, now that I've learned more about the history of the war and also what was going on in the UK.

I think Orwell took for granted that people were up to speed on the situation because he wrote it so close to events.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:42 AM (cfSRQ)

Speaking anecdotally, Brit socialists can be extremely obsessive over their pet causes.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:48 AM (y7DUB)

118 I read Chiefs, the first novel by Stuart Woods. He has since gone on to write thirty-three more. This is the story of police chiefs in Delano, Georgia and covers from 1920 to 1963. There is a serial killer involved and plenty of southern small-town and state politics. An exciting and interesting book.

Posted by: Zoltan at February 24, 2019 09:48 AM (qJzsk)

119 Greetings from Kuwait. On the authorial front, my
novel The Mountain Throne will be in Kirkus's "Indie Books Worth
Discovering" this year. It's released in a few weeks.

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 09:09 AM (2eXPd)

---
So here's a question to the Moron authors who use Kirkus:

Is it worth it?

My writing started as a hobby and also somewhat of a vanity project. I'd always talked about writing a book but never did it. Whether it sold was besides the point.

Now that my seventh novel is finished, sales is starting to interest me. The price of a Kirkus review was a non-starter a few years ago, but now I've got some spare cash and could consider it.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:49 AM (cfSRQ)

120 Congrats on the manuscript, AH Lloyd.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:50 AM (y7DUB)

121 Give me a heads-up near the publication date so I can give it proper pimpage.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 09:36 AM (npVLc)

---
Will do. I think this could be my biggest seller simply because the guys in my Guard unit will likely snap it up - if for no other reason than to see if they're in it!

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:50 AM (cfSRQ)

122 I didn't see any parallels to present-day America. It's entirely possible that I'm just dense."

Really? I think we're living in Spain of the early 30's every day now. The populace has split 50/50, one side wants to eradicate all religion and institute socialism, the other side is determined to fight back, no one is willing to compromise, all hell breaks loose. In the end, the most successful military commander after the slaughter starts ends up in charge of everything.

It's also very similar to what happened in England from 1641 - 1649. Enough centuries have passed that we've forgotten that our ancestors have been through all of this before.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 09:50 AM (V2Yro)

123 Thanks to the Morons that gave recommendations on books covering the British Army post-WWII. They sound interesting and I put them on my Horde-Recommended Book list; the only down-side of the Book Thread is that it is hard on my wallet.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (5Yee7)

124 112
If I had a hammer and sickle I'd hammer and sickle in the morning
I'd hammer and sickle in the evening
A!l over this land!
Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 09:46 AM (+y/Ru)

You missed an opportunity to use a Pete Seeger sock.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (sdi6R)

125 Read "Living in an RV" this last week. Very easy read and the author gives some good information/ideas about RV living.

The author, Alyssa Padgett, and her husband, live full time in an RV, but, don't let that keep you from reading the book if you're interested in RV'ing.

Ms. Padget does a good job of laying out what it takes to live in an RV, information that is relevant even for those of us just planning on being weekend warriors.

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (WEBkv)

126 I was told it's all Reagan's fault!

-
Everything can be pigeonholed into two boxes: Reagan's fault and Obama's accomplishments.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (+y/Ru)

127 One thing you frequently read when the homeless are interviewed is they refuse to go to shelters because "too many rules." Tends to support the hypothesis.

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (UKVPl)

128 123 Thanks to the Morons that gave recommendations on books covering the British Army post-WWII. They sound interesting and I put them on my Horde-Recommended Book list; the only down-side of the Book Thread is that it is hard on my wallet.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (5Yee7)
--------------

Yeah, as I've mentioned in the past, I've had the book thread turn a $50 gift card into $100 worth of books.

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 09:52 AM (WEBkv)

129 Thanks
to whoever it was last Sunday who recommended Nick Petrie's "Light it
Up." I can't hardly put it down when life interfers with my reading
time. It's a fast paced, well written romp into theft within the legal
Colorado marijuana business. Petrie has three other books featuring his
hero, Peter Ash including one just released in January according to
fantasticfiction.com.

FF is a great website to keep up with all things books, too.

(I mistakenly posted on chess thread)

Posted by: KathyP at February 24, 2019 09:53 AM (lVtvs)

130 And now, the spankings!

LOL !

Hiya Eris !

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:54 AM (oNaUD)

131 122
Really? I think we're living in Spain of the early 30's every day now. The populace has split 50/50, one side wants to eradicate all religion and institute socialism, the other side is determined to fight back, no one is willing to compromise, all hell breaks loose. In the end, the most successful military commander after the slaughter starts ends up in charge of everything.
Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 09:50 AM (V2Yro)

OK. Maybe I was hung up on the part where the Church had tremendous power and the rural farmworkers lived in near feudal conditions.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 09:54 AM (sdi6R)

132 Makes more sense to spell it

philoZOOic

Posted by: rld77 from way down south at February 24, 2019 09:54 AM (Y9HWH)

133 Been watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and have mixed feelings but binge watching it anyways. It says it is based on a comic book. Anybody else watching and what do you think?

Posted by: Sharon at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (QzF6i)

I'm about halfway through.

I like it well enough. But, I'm not binging like a coked up tapir.

The comic book guy who wrote this also wrote some of the "Doom Patrol" comics I believe.

It has that vibe though not as well done.

Based on that, I think I know how this will end more or less now.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:54 AM (CRRq9)

134 DUCKS!!!!!

YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!

Posted by: yosemite saaaam at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (BJlbN)

135 Regarding the Spanish Civil War, reading Orwell's
Homage to Catalonia was an exercise in not knowing what the fuck was
going on at any given time. Which was I guess the point of the book
unless I was being dense about it...
Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 09:41 AM (y7DUB)

Part of it was fog of war, and the rest was due to suppression of facts and overt propaganda swamping out actual news.

His discussion of the Catalonia riots and the suppression and jailing of the Anarchists was pretty chilling. The event was alluded to in a number of books I have read, but Orwell makes it immediate and personal.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (mUa7G)

136 Seattle has *long* had a problem with the homeless. The term "Skid Row" came from there - the bums would aggregate in Pioneer Square around Yesler Way - the old "Skid Road" to the Yesler sawmill from her earliest days.

Frankly, like anyone else, they go where the money is. Between the nature of the economy there (first Boeing, now high-tech) and the nature of the people (nice and wanting to help) there has always been a supporting and frankly enabling infrastructure for the homeless. At $100K per head it's become an *attractor* for the problem instead of a solution to it.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (q7IoS)

137 I searched Amazon but can't find the book by Robert Kraft titled "A Gentleman's Guide to Asian Massage Parlors & Spas".

Must be out of print.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 24, 2019 09:57 AM (Z+IKu)

138 Ever since the Sad Puppies campaign, I have added a new staple to my sci-fi book store browsing ritual: if I see an interesting new book cover, I immediately check to see if it is published by Tor. If it is, I pass on the book. They do everything possible to silence non-leftist writers, and promote absolute crap sci-fi as long as it propels the Narrative. I refuse the give the enemy $. (And until that campaign, I would have said opponent, not enemy).

So, after successfully skipping Tor, I somehow managed to buy a book dedicated to Gardner Dozois. Now dead, Dozois was an early and dedicated leader in the movement to destroy sci-fi and remake it as sjw-fi. I would never buy an anthology edited by him, but I was caught unaware and bought a collection of short stories Tomorrow Factory, Rich Lawson. You know how sometimes you are really getting into a short story, an interesting combination of military and alien worlds and new tech, and suddenly the main male characters decide to fondle each other? It was like that.

0/5. Kicking myself for buying this dreck.

Posted by: motionview at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (pYQR/)

139 Really? I think we're living in Spain of the early 30's every day now. The populace has split 50/50, one side wants to eradicate all religion and institute socialism, the other side is determined to fight back, no one is willing to compromise, all hell breaks loose. In the end, the most successful military commander after the slaughter starts ends up in charge of everything.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 09:50 AM (V2Yro)

I generally agree, but do quibble on the "unwilling to compromise" premise: why is there any need to compromise with a group that wants a hard reset to Year Zero? That's the goal of the Leftists in their attacks on various aspects of American heritage and their campaign to de-legitimatize the Founders and Confederate statues.

The Leftists have decided that there will be Civil War 2.0. It will be asymmetrical and ugly.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (5Yee7)

140 @RyanMaue 8m

By 10 AM, the center of the powerful "bomb cyclone blizzard" will head into Ontario ... and already at 977 mb. Observations around Michigan show barometric pressures in the low-980s:
Traverse City: 980 mb
--> Blizzard warning
--> Wind gusts pick up > 55 mph

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (0ogxh)

141 My wife has decided that we've finally got to get our books in order. It's a massive task. It actually cuts into reading anything prolonged, but a lot of bits and pieces.

We have the eternal dispute here, in that I want to sort as we go, she wants to clear up. But then, hers run much more to fiction than mine.

She also wants to get rid of a bunch. While I know she's right, I have trouble with the concept.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (VaN/j)

142 Question about the Paul Stanley Spanish Civil War book: Is it a good general history?

I read Hugh Thomas' dense account and frankly he went so far into the weeds my eyes glazed over at times.

He was also clearly in sympathy with the Republic, though that wanted as they started doing such awful things to each other.

It's fascinating for me to see how many historians fall back on "they meant well," as a way of excusing Communist atrocities, while basically condeming Franco for far less.

I get it, he accepted German help. He subsequently told Adolf to go pound sand and joined NATO. He also modernized Spain in a way the Commies never would, yet the guy gets zero credit.

Anyway, there's so much romantic bullshit about the International Brigades, etc., it would be nice to read a history that is fact-based.

I'm particularly interested in the intricacies of the military operations, which also seem to get little attention. Division organization for example. What was it like? I've got some of those Osprey books, but even they are a little vague on how the Nationalists organized things.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:00 AM (cfSRQ)

143 I generally agree, but do quibble on the "unwilling to compromise" premise: why is there any need to compromise with a group that wants a hard reset to Year Zero? That's the goal of the Leftists in their attacks on various aspects of American heritage and their campaign to de-legitimatize the Founders and Confederate statues.

The Leftists have decided that there will be Civil War 2.0. It will be asymmetrical and ugly.
Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (5Yee7)

Saying we cannot compromise isn't much different from saying we are unwilling to do so. Not that I disagree that we cannot. But the one does entail the other.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (VaN/j)

144 Hiya Eris !
---
How did you know it was me?

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (kQs4Y)

145
She also wants to get rid of a bunch. While I know she's right, I have trouble with the concept.
Posted by: Eeyore

Pick out the most valuable stuff in the minimum, and let the rest go.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (0ogxh)

146 My wife has decided that we've finally got to get our books in order. It's a massive task. It actually cuts into reading anything prolonged, but a lot of bits and pieces.

What do you mean "getting them into order?" I used to work in a bookstore, so most of my books - especially the ones in the dining room and parlor - are arranged by subject: here are the Nazi books, here the English history, here the mediaeval history, here the Revolution and so on.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (Ki5SV)

147 "Is it worth it? [...] The price of a Kirkus review was a non-starter a few years ago, but now I've got some spare cash and could consider it.

Anyone have thoughts on this?"

It depends on what they say. My review was pretty good and compared me to George R.R. Martin. I've milked the absolute hell of out of that. People's eyes light when I say I've been compared to him. Probably half of my sales are due to that review. And it fed my confidence, which as a first time writer was needed.

But there's no guarantee the review will be good. Kirkus won't publish it without your permission, though, so if it's bad no one ever has to know.

Posted by: Apostate at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (2eXPd)

148 OK. Maybe I was hung up on the part where the Church had tremendous power and the rural farmworkers lived in near feudal conditions."

Except it was the rural farmworkers who were still the strongest supporters of the Church. It was the upwardly mobile City Elites who wanted to overthrow the old ways, generally speaking. One of the most pervasive doctrines of Marxism and all of its permutations (socialism, communism) is the complete eradication of all forms of religion, and the creation of the New Socialist Man. Marx shall allow no other gods before him.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (V2Yro)

149 114 Been watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and have mixed feelings but binge watching it anyways. It says it is based on a comic book. Anybody else watching and what do you think?

Posted by: Sharon at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (QzF6i)

Hubby and I watched the first episode. When it was over we looked at each other and went 'WTF did I just watch?'

Didn't watch the 2nd episode.

Posted by: Tami at February 24, 2019 10:03 AM (cF8AT)

150 "So these broken relationships are a feature, not a bug, of progressive ideology, and the homeless tent cities are the broken eggs of the progressive urban omelet."

Similarly, for Democrats, Open Borders are not a problem, but the solution to a problem.

I think I'll just have the grapefruit.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at February 24, 2019 10:03 AM (Ndje9)

151 133 Been watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and have mixed feelings but binge watching it anyways. It says it is based on a comic book. Anybody else watching and what do you think?

Posted by: Sharon at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (QzF6i)

I'm about halfway through.

I like it well enough. But, I'm not binging like a coked up tapir.

The comic book guy who wrote this also wrote some of the "Doom Patrol" comics I believe.

It has that vibe though not as well done.

Based on that, I think I know how this will end more or less now.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 09:54 AM (CRRq9)

I watched it, and I'm not sure of the whole thing. It's alright, but very nihilistic. It tries to hard to be "The Watchmen" I think.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 10:04 AM (q7IoS)

152 His discussion of the Catalonia riots and the suppression and jailing of the Anarchists was pretty chilling. The event was alluded to in a number of books I have read, but Orwell makes it immediate and personal.
Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (mUa7G)

Yeah I'd agree with that and the fog of war part too. I'm sure it was an accurate accounting of how the war was an incomprehensible mishmash of shifting coalitions that was like trying to catch smoke.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 10:04 AM (y7DUB)

153 I generally agree, but do quibble on the "unwilling
to compromise" premise: why is there any need to compromise with a group
that wants a hard reset to Year Zero? That's the goal of the Leftists
in their attacks on various aspects of American heritage and their
campaign to de-legitimatize the Founders and Confederate statues.

The Leftists have decided that there will be Civil War 2.0. It will be asymmetrical and ugly.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (5Yee7)

---
In the years before the war broke out, there was a pattern where one side would win a majority in parliament and then go full-on crazy. This would then cause them to lose the next election and the winners would then go as far to the opposite as possible.

Imagine if Congress oscillated between Pelosi and Rand Paul calling the shots. Or even further apart. Each coalition government catered to its farthest fringe instead of trying to appeal to the center.

The voters tried to punish the politicians by voting the bums out, but as I said, the winners then went to the opposite extreme.

No one was looking to win a stable, 70-percent moderate electoral victory. It was all or nothing.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:05 AM (cfSRQ)

154 When I was a kid maybe third grade, my friend and I decided to draw Swastikas on such of our classmates who wanted them. We knew nothing of Nazism other than that was the symbol the bad guys in the movies and shows we liked acted under, sort of the Darth Vader of the day. The teacher just told us to not do it anymore. Today there'd have been chalk outlines and crime scene tape all over the place.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 10:06 AM (+y/Ru)

155 book report:

so from my Book Thread goal - I read (but skimmed through the middle) of Ghost Soldiers.
The start - the shocking massacre of US POWs in Palawan, I was unaware of. The end, the rescue of the Bataan "ghosts" was very affecting. The middle was a bit bogged down in military stuff for me though.

The strange thing is that I remember my Mom saying "No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam" acerbically at certain times in my childhood and not realizing it came from Bataan:

We're the Battling Bastards of Bataan,
No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam,
No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,
No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces,
And nobody gives a damn!

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 10:06 AM (BJlbN)

156 As regards the homeless, my experience is that they fall in to one of three types, with maybe some crossover in to multiple categories

a) genuinely down on their luck, or somehow unequipped to manage their own lives.
b) drug addicts
c) on the run from the law.

Sometimes the homeless hit all 3.

Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 10:07 AM (w7KSn)

157 So here's a question to the Moron authors who use Kirkus:

Is it worth it?

My writing started as a hobby and also somewhat of a vanity project. I'd always talked about writing a book but never did it. Whether it sold was besides the point.

Now that my seventh novel is finished, sales is starting to interest me. The price of a Kirkus review was a non-starter a few years ago, but now I've got some spare cash and could consider it.

Anyone have thoughts on this?
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 09:49 AM (cfSRQ)

Here are my Kirkus reviews for "Wearing the Cat":

WTC Vol 1:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hd-woodard/wearing-cat1/

WTC Vol 2:

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hd-woodard/wearing-cat/

My only complaint is that Kirkus wouldn't read the two vols of WTC and review them together.

So, the Vol 1 review is weaker because the reviewer couldn't see where the novel was going and how it all fit together.

The same guy reviewed Vol 2 and it's a much stronger review because he can see all the parts clicking together from beginning to end.

Anyway, read both reviews. They're very representative of the Kirkus style, and, I think overall fair.

I don't think that they're a guarantee of more readers though.

And you may not get a positive review for your money. There are some pretty negative ones on the Kirkus site.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 10:08 AM (CRRq9)

158 Just to clarify, I'm not talking our usual American form of politics, either. Imagine if a Pelosi-led government shut down churches, banned religious schools, imposed a gun registry, imposed New York abortion law, etc.

Then the GOP wins, and bans PUBLIC schools, re-opens religious ones and makes them the only option, imposes the death penalty on abortion, etc.

There was no effort to appeal to the middle.

Don't get me wrong, the left was the aggressor, but the right had a number of monarchists who wanted a royal restoration. Some parallels to today, but not nearly as bad.

Yet.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:08 AM (cfSRQ)

159 But, I'm not binging like a coked up tapir.
---
I never thought about it before, but they are uniquely designed to snort lines like a machine, aren't they?

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:09 AM (kQs4Y)

160 Saying we cannot compromise isn't much different from saying we are unwilling to do so. Not that I disagree that we cannot. But the one does entail the other.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (VaN/j)
-----------------

I don't think it's an unwillingness to compromise because the right has compromised, well, moved to the left, and once that happens, the left tries to push things even further.

I think it's more a matter of the right saying "this far and no further" which, of course, the left interprets as "unwilling to compromise."

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 10:09 AM (WEBkv)

161 Been watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and have mixed feelings but binge watching it anyways. It says it is based on a comic book. Anybody else watching and what do you think?

Posted by: Sharon at February 24, 2019 09:47 AM (QzF6i)

enjoyed it except for Ellen Page, who makes Kristen Stewart seem talented. What a drip

KTYs favorite characters are Klaus and Number 5

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 10:10 AM (BJlbN)

162 Saying we cannot compromise isn't much different from saying we are unwilling to do so. Not that I disagree that we cannot. But the one does entail the other.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (VaN/j)"

It depends on the nature of the opposition - for instance, an example of this is the Isreali and the Palestinian who meet face to face. The Pali says "I'm going to shoot you twice!!" The Israeli says "why don't we just both go our separate ways?" And the Pali says "okay, I'll compromise. I'll only shoot you once."

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 10:10 AM (V2Yro)

163 His discussion of the Catalonia riots and the suppression and jailing of the Anarchists was pretty chilling. The event was alluded to in a number of books I have read, but Orwell makes it immediate and personal.
Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (mUa7G)

Funny part of "Homage" was when Orwell wrote that the Spanish still were more civilized than their German/Italian or Russian counterparts and when the Commies tossed his hotel room looking for evidence they ransacked through everything but did not remove the bed/mattress his wife was laying on out of respect for her. They did find his copy of "Mein Kampf" which caused lots of excitement but he wrote that he could have had weapons and ammo under the bed which they would have completely missed.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at February 24, 2019 10:11 AM (Z+IKu)

164 What do you mean "getting them into order?" I used to work in a bookstore, so most of my books - especially the ones in the dining room and parlor - are arranged by subject: here are the Nazi books, here the English history, here the mediaeval history, here the Revolution and so on.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (Ki5SV)

Sort of like that. But there are problems. One thing I do is divide history into age of sail and later, because that fits my interests. (And Navarino fits the change in culture as well as any other date.)

But with literature and philosophy it gets tougher. At the moment the main piles are hers, mine, and ours.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:12 AM (VaN/j)

165 My only complaint is that Kirkus wouldn't read the two vols of WTC and review them together.

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 10:08 AM (CRRq9)

---
After I found your book, I looked at their pricing and you can ask for them to do a series all at once. Of course Man of Destiny would be in excess of $1,000 to review, and I'm not sure I'll make that back.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:12 AM (cfSRQ)

166 binging like a coked up tapir

That is a delightful turn of phrase, and should make its way into the AoSHQ lexicon somehow.

I had to look up tapirs at Wikipedia and found this:

In the prehistoric sequences of the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, tapirs appear alongside primitive hominids in Africa. There is no evidence indicating that tapirs ever existed in Africa, so it is likely they were added simply for their "prehistoric" appearance.

I had been wondering what those animals were. Now I know.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 10:13 AM (sdi6R)

167 Does anyone have a take on Bujold's Vorkosigan saga? I have never read any of her books, but they sound interesting.

Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)

168 We're the Battling Bastards of Bataan,

No Mama, No Papa, No Uncle Sam,

No aunts, no uncles, no cousins, no nieces,

No pills, no planes, no artillery pieces,

And nobody gives a damn!

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 10:06 AM (BJlbN)

---
The Bataan veterans had a very different war. Not a lot of love for MacArthur, either.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:16 AM (cfSRQ)

169 Orwell was in favor of the Republic. He didnt understand the opposition in other than material terms. The insight about the three superstate center from fmr trotskyist James Burnham who write the machiavelluamd in 1941, atch he predicted a nazi victory which wasnt far fetched at the time.
But he saw these regimes in terms of power justification, Burnham would later be a consultant to the nascent company and strategy editor for national review

Posted by: Admiral marcus at February 24, 2019 10:18 AM (/iWqA)

170 So, after successfully skipping Tor, I somehow managed to buy a book dedicated to Gardner Dozois. Now dead, Dozois was an early and dedicated leader in the movement to destroy sci-fi and remake it as sjw-fi.
Posted by: motionview at February 24, 2019 09:59 AM (pYQR/)

Thanks for the warning. I knew Tor was a publishing house to avoid (pretty much the only Current Year sci-fi I buy is put out by Baen) but didn't know about Dozois. I have seen some anthologies edited by him but hadn't purchased any.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at February 24, 2019 10:18 AM (5Yee7)

171 Everyone knows the Dutch can't read.

That's just a metric fuckton of tulip receipts.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 10:18 AM (5aX2M)

172 And a Happy Belated Birthday to Mike Hammer and AOP !
Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:37 AM (oNaUD)

Ah, thank you. I didn't have much to say about it at the time. Birthdays happen. It's when they stop that you know you have a problem.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 24, 2019 10:19 AM (nPGq2)

173 148 OK. Maybe I was hung up on the part where the Church had tremendous power and the rural farmworkers lived in near feudal conditions."

Except it was the rural farmworkers who were still the strongest supporters of the Church. It was the upwardly mobile City Elites who wanted to overthrow the old ways, generally speaking. One of the most pervasive doctrines of Marxism and all of its permutations (socialism, communism) is the complete eradication of all forms of religion, and the creation of the New Socialist Man. Marx shall allow no other gods before him.
Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 10:02 AM (V2Yro)

Also beware of the word "feudal". Like so many others, the BS meaning that Marx put on it has made it a garbage word in most contexts.

It's one of my bugaboos, how much Marx's model seeps into everyone's thought. The whole notion of class struggle as the engine of history is perhaps the worst. Or maybe it's the notion that all ideas but his are "superstructure" and not really to be taken seriously enough to refute. (What Lewis called "Bulverism".) Or hell, the whole notion that there is an underlying message and order to history.

That commie rat bastard was as murderous of thought as of thinkers. The only use I can see for him is to, whenever you see yourself using one of his categories, stop and correct yourself.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:19 AM (VaN/j)

174 "NYPD investigating Nazi drawings found at an elementary ( pic of hammer and sickle )"

False alarm: it was just di Blasio's kids just mimicking what they had seen lying around the mansion. He put the drawings on the refrigerator next to AOC's Green Dream.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at February 24, 2019 10:19 AM (Ndje9)

175 167 Does anyone have a take on Bujold's Vorkosigan saga? I have never read any of her books, but they sound interesting.

Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)

They are good fun. I have read them all and am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 10:20 AM (q7IoS)

176 Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)

*Don't* read her last one! Reports from fans say she generally undercut her entire universe, possibly because she was sick of the series but contractually obligated to write more.

I generally like them. My first one was "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" which is pretty much 'Georgette Heyer in space with sex' and was rollicking. It comes pretty late in the series though.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 10:21 AM (uquGJ)

177 I had to look up tapirs at Wikipedia and found this:

In the prehistoric sequences of the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, tapirs appear alongside primitive hominids in Africa. There is no evidence indicating that tapirs ever existed in Africa, so it is likely they were added simply for their "prehistoric" appearance.

If you watch the Lugosi Dracula, you'll see a similar example, as there are a couple of armadillos - which are not native to Transylvania - wandering about the Count's castle. Director Tod Browning just thought they would add the right note of creepiness to the shot.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 10:21 AM (Ki5SV)

178 I had been wondering what those animals were. Now I know.
Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 10:13 AM (sdi6R)

Like the inclusion of the armadillo in the Hammer Films' Dracula.

'Cause there are a lot of armadillos is Romania and Transylvania.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 10:21 AM (mUa7G)

179 I can't remember nothing about films., Sheesh.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 10:22 AM (mUa7G)

180 "'Cause there are a lot of armadillos is Romania and Transylvania."

You just need to know where to look.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at February 24, 2019 10:23 AM (cqNba)

181 176 Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)

*Don't* read her last one! Reports from fans say she generally undercut her entire universe, possibly because she was sick of the series but contractually obligated to write more.

I generally like them. My first one was "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" which is pretty much 'Georgette Heyer in space with sex' and was rollicking. It comes pretty late in the series though.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 10:21 AM (uquGJ)

"Gentleman Jole and The Red Queen" was quite different than any of the earlier ones and was a disappointment to me. It can be ignored as it's largely self-contained and has no significant effect on any of the rest of the universe.

Captain Vorpatril's Alliance is simply a lot of fun, but it too is largely self-contained.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 10:24 AM (q7IoS)

182 lol.. love the cartoon!

Posted by: Jewells45 at February 24, 2019 10:25 AM (dUJdY)

183 One thing you frequently read when the homeless are interviewed is they refuse to go to shelters because "too many rules." Tends to support the hypothesis.
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (UKVPl)

They find the rules against using alcohol or drugs particularly galling.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 24, 2019 10:25 AM (nPGq2)

184 A quick look at that library pic reminded me of the 5th dimensional library created in Interstellar.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 10:26 AM (2DOZq)

185 Besides the upthread listing of reasons for homelessness, add in the initial problem of mental illness or illness that comes on during the stress of financial and family changes.

I am acquainted with the person who wrote the following first hand account of how she went from a journalist and business owner to numerous years of homelessness and mental illness. The link takes you to her well written story that was published in the Washington Post last fall. Good read

http://tinyurl.com/yydtghxl

Posted by: Jen the original at February 24, 2019 10:26 AM (qQ5Xs)

186 160 Saying we cannot compromise isn't much different from saying we are unwilling to do so. Not that I disagree that we cannot. But the one does entail the other.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (VaN/j)
-----------------

I don't think it's an unwillingness to compromise because the right has compromised, well, moved to the left, and once that happens, the left tries to push things even further.

I think it's more a matter of the right saying "this far and no further" which, of course, the left interprets as "unwilling to compromise."
Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 10:09 AM (WEBkv)

But how does "this far and no further" NOT mean "unwilling to compromise?

Again, I not saying it's the wrong position - it isn't. But that does mean I am "unwilling to compromise." I don't like the left's way of avoiding words and phrases because they don't like the way they sound. If I were a political actor I might agree (rhetoric does matter). But I'm not, and I prefer accuracy.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:26 AM (VaN/j)

187 TBF, I'm pretty sure there aren't too many vampires running around in Transylvania, either. I think they all moved to the Beltway.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (5aX2M)

188 re: homelessness epidemic

Theodore Dalyrymple's Life at the Bottom outlines at least some of his arguments regarding what he calls the underclass. Of course he is referring to that underclass in the UK, but the premise can be applied here.

Part of his theory is the general decay of societal standards; we've seen that here in spades.

Another part is that the underclass simply doesn't know how to live. This is a very interesting point, one which he really dives in to.

I'm not much for social science writings as I think a lot of it is crap, but this book showed a different side than the normal bleeding heart lib approach. Dalyrymple (a pseudonym for Anthony Daniels) is not unkind or unfeeling for the plight of what he calls the underclass, but he is conservative and practical in his thoughts on the causes of their problems.

Posted by: squeakywheel at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (HVwtx)

189 Also beware of the word "feudal". Like so many
others, the BS meaning that Marx put on it has made it a garbage word in
most contexts.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:19 AM (VaN/j)

---
The Church provided the original social safety net. In his History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Churchill points out that when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, he was forcing the poor out onto the street.

The same was true in Spain. Rural communities depended upon the Church for charity, feeding the poor, etc. Unwanted children ("foundlings") would be placed at the church and taken care of. Unlike welfare, the poor taken in would be given tasks to do, maybe learn trades, and thereby contribute to the community as a whole.

This of course destroyed the desire of the workers to rise up, so the Church had to be vilified and portrayed as a predatory organization in business only for itself.

And yes, those areas that were supposedly most "victimized" by the Church were its biggest supporters.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (cfSRQ)

190 There used to be a lot of tapirs at Grateful Dead concerts.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (sdi6R)

191 My favorite part of 2001: A Space Odyssey were the ducks.

Posted by: JuJuBee at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (4KIAS)

192 And here we are - armadillos in Dracula -

https://tinyurl.com/yxojdmlu

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 10:28 AM (Ki5SV)

193 Following up on BourbonChickens comment about the OK Go video, there was a shortish documentary about the making of the video, I think it was on Netflix, that was reasonably interesting.

Posted by: J. Random Dude at February 24, 2019 10:29 AM (Clx8H)

194 Good morning book people. I have kind of a non-standard request for recommendations. I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication.

Heart disease is the obvious concern

No worries on how the intended target will take it. FiL, who if you remember, we moved in with recently to help with MiL medical needs. The goal is to change diet for an active person to both lose weight and improve heart health and longevity.

There is so much quackery in the world of nutrition and diet, and I would appreciate recommendations based in sound medical and scientific practice and evidence to help wade througn it.

Another goal is to help select a professional nutritionist based on increased knowledge from such book(s).

Thanks, book people.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 24, 2019 10:29 AM (t6MX/)

195 Yes, the bishop who declared all records of abuse were destroyed Reinhardt Marx has said they owe Marx the church's social doctrine theory it's more complicated than that of course.

Sacred spaces by burleigh is much clearer on the sources of the civil war.

Posted by: Admiral marcus at February 24, 2019 10:30 AM (/iWqA)

196 Does anyone have a take on Bujold's Vorkosigan saga? I have never read any of her books, but they sound interesting.
Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)

It is a very good series, I recommend them to everyone.

The first two, Shards of Honor and Barryar are kind of rocky, Cordelia and Aral are bit much at times, and the world building was not thought out, but the rest are quite interesting, well paced and very well written.

Even Shards of Honor and Barryar have their shining moments, so they are very much worth reading.

A Civil Campaign and Captain Vorpatril's Allliance are the most fun. Bujold earned the Hugo with Mirror Dance, but I found it very intense to read.

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 10:32 AM (mUa7G)

197 Question about the Paul Stanley Spanish Civil War book: Is it a good general history?

-
There are plenty of weeds, particularly the unending forming, reforming and internecine battles between the plethora of parties as they attempt to form or defeat coalitions. For example, there were two communist parties, one Stalinist and one Trotskyite, two Anarchist parties, one "pure" and one trade unionist, two monarchist parties, one supporting the recently deposed king and one supporting the losing pretender to the throne during a nineteenth century schism. And every flavor in between. It was chaos until Franco brutally and dishonestly imposed order. (I say dishonestly because when a power vacuum occurred, Franco pretended to be the new Fascist party when, in fact, he wasn't a Fascist.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 10:33 AM (+y/Ru)

198 How did you know it was me?

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:01 AM (kQs4Y)

The identical hash gives it away.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 10:33 AM (npVLc)

199 My favorite part of 2001: A Space Odyssey were the ducks.
Posted by: JuJuBee at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (4KIAS

--------

My favorite part was when that black frame with the white type pops up that says "This film was directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick."

Too bad it took a friggin' eternity to get there, though.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (5aX2M)

200 Hard to get to the truth of the Spanish Civil War through all of the pro-Republican propaganda in Spain and the rest of the West.

Guernica, for instance. I'd always heard it was a horrific terror bombing. It was actually a legitimate military target, and the number of deaths was somewhere around 150.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (j4zcI)

201 183 One thing you frequently read when the homeless are interviewed is they refuse to go to shelters because "too many rules." Tends to support the hypothesis.
Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at February 24, 2019 09:51 AM (UKVPl)

They find the rules against using alcohol or drugs particularly galling.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 24, 2019 10:25 AM (nPGq2)

True enough, but there's more to it than that, I think. Read Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London. The London part is the relevant one here. As he describes it, you were much better off poor in France. They didn't do shit for you, but at least it was a human existence.

And except for the forced movement between cities, the life of the bums hadn't changed that much two generations later, if Michael Gilbert's End Game (aka The Final Throw) is any indication.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (VaN/j)

202 189
The Church provided the original social safety net. In his History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Churchill points out that when Henry VIII closed the monasteries, he was forcing the poor out onto the street.

The same was true in Spain. Rural communities depended upon the Church for charity, feeding the poor, etc. Unwanted children ("foundlings") would be placed at the church and taken care of. Unlike welfare, the poor taken in would be given tasks to do, maybe learn trades, and thereby contribute to the community as a whole.

This of course destroyed the desire of the workers to rise up, so the Church had to be vilified and portrayed as a predatory organization in business only for itself.

And yes, those areas that were supposedly most "victimized" by the Church were its biggest supporters.
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:27 AM (cfSRQ)

Thanks for the very informative comment.

From what I've read about Henry VIII confiscating Church property, it would make present-day Communists go "whoa, dude".

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (sdi6R)

203 Theodore Dalrymple's Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass is one of my foundational books to understand what mechanisms are underlying behavior.

It is a very sad book.

Note this was a collection of essays in City Journal, which still is the top of the line of explanatory magazines. J.J. Sefton links them often.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (u82oZ)

204 180
"'Cause there are a lot of armadillos is Romania and Transylvania."

You just need to know where to look.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

You won't find them. They're being hidden by the geese.

Posted by: pep at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (T6t7i)

205 Good morning!

Let's smile and be happy and strike fear in the heart of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Huzzah for Internet connectivity after a blizzard.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:35 AM (u82oZ)

206 Good morning book people. I have kind of a non-standard request for recommendations. I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication.

Heart disease is the obvious concern

No worries on how the intended target will take it. FiL, who if you remember, we moved in with recently to help with MiL medical needs. The goal is to change diet for an active person to both lose weight and improve heart health and longevity.

There is so much quackery in the world of nutrition and diet, and I would appreciate recommendations based in sound medical and scientific practice and evidence to help wade througn it.

Another goal is to help select a professional nutritionist based on increased knowledge from such book(s).

Thanks, book people.
Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 24, 2019 10:29 AM (t6MX/)

I think I would start with The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. At least I think that's the author's name.

Posted by: Northern Lurker, irritable, so very irritable. Have I mentioned I'm irritable? at February 24, 2019 10:36 AM (JgA4k)

207 OK, time to run. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at February 24, 2019 10:36 AM (Ki5SV)

208 Salty, agreed. Life at the Bottom is very sad. So much so that I haven't decided whether or not to pursue other Dalyrymple writings just yet. But it was eye opening.

Posted by: squeakywheel at February 24, 2019 10:37 AM (HVwtx)

209 In the EMT, Vic commented on the Senates vote for additional federal monuments, taking millions of acres of land under permanent Federal control. Vic indicated that there were no reports of who did and did not vote for it.

I assume he is talking about S47, and its 92-8 vote. I recommend this useful site to answer all your Congressional voting questions:

https://www.congress.gov/roll-call-votes

which points in this case to:

http://tinyurl.com/yxj25b2q

The only ones voting against this extension of federal control were
Cruz (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Johnson (R-WI)
Lankford (R-OK)
Lee (R-UT)
Paul (R-KY)
Sasse (R-NE)
Toomey (R-PA)

Posted by: Old Toby at February 24, 2019 10:38 AM (DFPku)

210 Oh, and prayers for your endeavor krakatoa.

Posted by: Tonypete at February 24, 2019 10:40 AM (Y4EXg)

211 Huzzah for Internet connectivity after a blizzard.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:35 AM (u82oZ)

How bad did you get hit? We ended up with nothing praise the Lord! Yesterday the sun was out and it started hailing pea size hail! Lasted about 20 seconds. Weird.

Posted by: Jewells45 at February 24, 2019 10:40 AM (dUJdY)

212 The identical hash gives it away.
Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 10:33 AM (npVLc)
---
Yeah, I was joking OM.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:42 AM (kQs4Y)

213
Making Ducks Pay - a limerick

There was a shopkeeper named Phil
Who sold Chapstick to ducks, if you will
"Will that be cash or check?"
The duck said, "What the heck?
Neither one. Just put it on my bill"

Posted by: Muldoon at February 24, 2019 10:45 AM (m45I2)

214 Humans get used to being take of just like animals in a zoo.
They lose all the innate survival skills.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 10:46 AM (2DOZq)

215 Yeah, I was joking OM.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:42 AM (kQs4Y)

Heh. And another joke goes right over my head.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 10:46 AM (npVLc)

216 Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (u82oZ)

The intro to Life at the Bottom made me so heartsick I couldn't finish *it* much less read the entire book.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 10:46 AM (uquGJ)

217
This week I read "The Franchise Affair" and "Brat Farrar" both by Josephine Tey

Both are very good little mystery books. Highly recommend them... I will have to get the rest of her novels in future.

....just started "The Scramble for Africa" by Thomas Pakenham...all about the European exploration and exploitation of Africa...it's gonna take a while to finish this monster.

Posted by: Some Guy in Wisconsin (thought leader) at February 24, 2019 10:49 AM (u95+k)

218 Jonathan Kirsch, "A History of the End of the World" - about John's acid trip at Patmos.

Kirsch's own book is good but incomplete and outdated in its first chapters; but too-often devolves into rant, especially at the end.

If you like reading about how horrible Derby, Scofield, and Moody are, then, by all means, go read Bruce Bauer's "Stealing Jesus" and Tim Callahan's "Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment?" instead. For my part I already read those books and didn't need to read it again.

Kirsch has a raging red boner for Ronald Reagan especially. Remember how all those commie symps in the media wet themselves every time Reagan said something Christiany in the 1980s? Remember how they mostly gave up after it was proven Reagan was right, especially about the evil Soviet empire? Not all of them could give up that sweet, sweet Reagan-hate; and Kirsch in 2006 is one of them.

Kirsch is a paranoid hater with no sense of nuance. Kind of ironic given his subject.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 24, 2019 10:49 AM (ykYG2)

219 Neither one. Just put it on my bill"
Posted by: Muldoon at February 24, 2019 10:45 AM (m45I2)

You know, as soon as I saw that pic and decided to put it on the book thread, I thought, I'll bet Muldoon will be able to do something with this.

Ducks buying chapstick, though, never entered my mind.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 10:50 AM (npVLc)

220
194

I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication. . .

Heart disease is the obvious concern . . .

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 24, 2019 10:29 AM (t6MX/)

*****

Lies My Doctor Told Me by Dr. Ken Berry. He's an MD here in rural Tennessee.

Then spend time with his YouTube channel. He's an advocate of Keto and carnivore diet. He has lots videos on specific topics and speaks of how his patients have reversed diabetes and other diseases through cutting out sugar and carbs and adding fat to their diets.

I have lost 40 pounds over the last 6 months on a carnivore diet by following his advice and feel better than I have in 20 years.

He also is a big proponent of Intermittent Fasting that we often see discussed on Ace's gainzz posts.

Also, beware the Keto Diet quacks out there. Keto diets are fantastic, but their popularity has caused a lot people to try and cash in with dubious advice and money making schemes.

Posted by: Elinor, Who Usually Looks Lurkily at February 24, 2019 10:50 AM (NqQAS)

221 If you like reading about how horrible Derby, Scofield, and Moody are, then, by all means, go read Bruce Bauer's "Stealing Jesus" and Tim Callahan's "Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment?" instead. For my part I already read those books and didn't need to read it again.

"My hope is built on nothing else
Than Scofield's Notes and Moody Press..."

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 10:52 AM (npVLc)

222 Oarfish are beaching themselves in Japan.

The Japanese are concerned this is a warning of an earthquake or tsumami.

No Kaiju sightings as of yet.

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y5vt7oq7

Posted by: Kindltot at February 24, 2019 10:53 AM (mUa7G)

223 Went to our local annual library sale Friday night. We belong to the Library Society, so we got early dibs on the books and CDs.

It's like the running of the bulls in a small area. Spent too much. At this rate I need a separate stand-alone library.

Got some good stuff, like What If by Randall Munroe (of xkcd fame), Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come To Be As They Are by Harvey Molotch, and Robert Conquest's The Great Terror: Stalin's Purge of the Thirties.

SF was very hard to find. I did pick up hardback editions of by Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver and The System of the World. They had been mis-categorized. If I see large cockroaches, these tomes would be ideal to crush them.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:54 AM (u82oZ)

224 In (I think) "Life at the Bottom", Dalrymple talks about the lack of simple life skills like cooking. There are multiple generations of people from the rougher areas don't know how to prepare a meal that isn't prepackaged, and don't really care enough to learn. Thus when the nannies talk about "food deserts", it's because fresh fruits and vegetables simply don't sell in those areas. But in poorer areas with Indian and Caribbean populations, the little markets with good produce thrive.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:54 AM (kQs4Y)

225

The Trump Administration recognized Black History Month.

Here's a video. The people in this video have YT channels with good content. You can support them by watching their vids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht413-G2Ti4

Posted by: Soothsayer -- Fake Commenter at February 24, 2019 10:54 AM (ApM8l)

226 A few weeks back, Oregon M mentioned an anthology about asteroids? It inspired me to write an asteroid story. Is that still in the off8ng?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at February 24, 2019 10:56 AM (jn7FC)

227 Thanks for the very informative comment.

From what I've read about Henry VIII confiscating Church property, it would make present-day Communists go "whoa, dude".

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 10:34 AM (sdi6R)

---
Yeah, a lot of what we think we know is just propaganda. For example, one of the reasons the Reformation wanted to break up the monasteries and nunneries was to put those people to work.

There's a myth that these people were completely useless, spending all day praying and otherwise mooching off of the hard-working peasants.

It's utter rubbish. One reason why people went into convents and monasteries was that there was nowhere else to go. Another was that they saw the good works being done and that thought gave meaning to their lives.

They still worked hard, because they had to in order to feed everyone. Not only that, they could offer their surplus to others in need. It wasn't perfect, but it worked.

But then the Reformation came along, claiming GOD TOLD THEM to shut down these communities and transfer everyone into the regular workforce. Now people were at the mercy of secular rulers for charity. I mean it wasn't as though the abbeys were divided among the peasants - oh no, the rich and powerful bought them off of the sovereign, who combined his greed with self-righteousness.

In time, the state began to step in because there were still poor and they still needed help. It's like how "government relief" destroyed fraternal organizations.

Now it's true that many abbeys and monasteries had fabulous wealth, and that was because their patrons saw it as a way to showcase their piety. This also provided employment for artisans to showcase their skill and what they did was amazing.

The zealots who urged that stuff be melted down always run into the problem that you can't eat gold. Food was finite in the Middle Ages, so if you sold off all the art to buy it, you'd just drive up the price.

It's not a big leap to go from "The Church has too many beautiful artifacts" to "let's make everyone live in grim, tiny concrete apartment blocks."

Well, everyone except the Ruling Class. They get the good stuff.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:56 AM (cfSRQ)

228 Ah, thank you. I didn't have much to say about it at the time. Birthdays happen. It's when they stop that you know you have a problem.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon

Yeah, nobody wants to spank a cadaver.

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 10:56 AM (oNaUD)

229 Does anyone have a take on Bujold's Vorkosigan saga? I have never read any of her books, but they sound interesting.
=====

Don't hate on me, but I think Bujold is a better short story writer. Finally read the Captain book and was unimpressed by the self-conscious 'literary' structure. Oh well, different strokes. I think she and Steven Donaldson (of Thomas Covenant) were almost in competition for how many awful situations they could invent.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 24, 2019 10:58 AM (MIKMs)

230 Good Morning Horde

I just finished reading Sources of the River by Jack Nisbet.
It's the true story of David Thompson, who, as a 14 year old boy in London was hired from the orphanage that raised and educated him, by the Hudson's Bay Co for the Canadian fur trade.
His long goal was to locate and navigate the length of the Columbia River from source to the Pacific.
He was an astronomer, map maker and literate and assiduous record keeper. His management of a profitable fur trading operation while not being killed by the Indians, nor, did he ever lose a man to any reason, is fascinating.
Nisbet, has several other books which are now on my list to read. He also manages to do a good job of keeping himself out of the story though he does have several asides. 4/5

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at February 24, 2019 10:58 AM (vVLnV)

231 Oarfish are beaching themselves in Japan.

The Japanese are concerned this is a warning of an earthquake or tsumami.

No Kaiju sightings as of yet.

-
One word: Godzilla.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 10:58 AM (+y/Ru)

232 Jewels45

Not so bad, only about 2 inches. Only whiteout conditions for a bit. Salina, where my broadband originates, was hit hard, with 10"of global warning and the high winds of a big blizzard.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:58 AM (u82oZ)

233 Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 10:54 AM (kQs4Y)

One of the Brit tv chefs, Jamie Oliver I think, started a program teaching young adults in one of the Brit cities how to do basic home cooking (it may have included good purchasing techniques and other home ec skills too). Participants were *thrilled* at having a useful skill as well as at the money they were saving by not eating restaurant, even cheap restaurant, food every day.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (uquGJ)

234 Another foot of global warming. Blizzard warning with 50 MPH gusts. Happy Sunday!

Posted by: Muad'dib at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (TbjbO)

235 Hiya Eris !
---
How did you know it was me?
Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris

( sings in a Dean Martin voice)

"I've grown accustomed to your mace......"

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (oNaUD)

236 David Thompson, who, as a 14 year old boy in London was hired from the orphanage that raised and educated him, by the Hudson's Bay Co for the Canadian fur trade

Was he that hairy?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (ykYG2)

237 Thanks for the feedback on The Umbrella Academy. I'm 6 episodes in and very confused. I have this bad feeling that the ending is going to be a cliffhanger and not explain anything. I also like Klaus and I think the actor playing no. 5 is incredible.Also, know what a tapir looks like but did not get the reference til someone explained it. Amazing what you can pick up from the book thread.

Posted by: sharon at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (QzF6i)

238 226
A few weeks back, Oregon M mentioned an anthology about asteroids? It
inspired me to write an asteroid story. Is that still in the off8ng?

Posted by: Victor Tango Kilo at February 24, 2019 10:56 AM (jn7FC)

---
Cutting it close.

https://orenlitwin.com/lagrangebooks /calls-for-submissions/call-for-submissions-asteroids -science-fiction-anthology/|

remove the double spaces to use the URL.

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 11:03 AM (cfSRQ)

239 Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 10:58 AM (u82oZ)

Well glad you escaped fairly unscathed. Sunny here today but cold as hell and windy.

Posted by: Jewells45 at February 24, 2019 11:04 AM (dUJdY)

240 224 Wicked, Wicked Eris

Like the new nic!

Dalrymple has deep insights. It is really about short-term gratification, no long-term vision, and being the target of deliberate learned helplessness.

I would add that drugs are now a funding mechanism for police, and seem to be used as a poor proxy for soma as in Brave New World by Huxley.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 11:04 AM (u82oZ)

241 227
Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 10:56 AM (cfSRQ)

Very good comment. They were also extremely efficient, more so than many secular organizations. (They invented double entry bookkeeping, btw.) Not that they weren't prone to the same vices the society at large was; they were. But there was one thing keeping them a bit less inept. An idiot eldest son, you're stuck with. An idiot abbot can be dealt with.

But there is one important fact about all such organizations: if there is a standard, exterior to themselves, that they have to avow, there is a greater chance of reform. But Marx cannot see this, because he assumes all such standards are in fact generated by self-interest.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 11:04 AM (VaN/j)

242 Interesting little article about the last witch burned in Norway:

https://tinyurl.com/y4s8wpma

Sad, sad story. Followed the links to the book. Alas, it's in Norwegian. Still, worth a look at the article. Norway as involved in the witchcraft hysteria as other countries.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:05 AM (jm1YL)

243 Are there other male movie stars that lived linger than Ronald Reagan ?

Idk, was just wondering

There's several old female stars still living and many who lived longer than Ronnie.

Just saw Nancy Gates on the tube, born in Dallas 1926, still kicking

Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:05 AM (RZ6R1)

244 . I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication.

Tell him to fast for four days, begin hallucinating, break the fast with a Chinese food binge, feel remorse, and recommence the fast.

I read about it on a smart keto blog.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:06 AM (fuK7c)

245 Greetings:

I grew up in the Bronx of the '50s and '60s in a rent-controlled apartment in a small lower middle and working class neighborhood in which, as my Father liked to put it, you didn't see menfolk during the work day.

My parents had lived there since they married right after my Father got home from WW II. By the early '60s, multicultural diversity started arriving noticeable by burglaries, muggings, and dope fiends. By the end of that decade, the Dresden-lite campaign was in full swing and my parents moved to some higher ground while I was doing my military duties.

During my mid-70s attempt at a college education, I took a course in Urban Economics taught by a Marxist but excellent (never missed one of his classes) professor. Rent control was a prime evil in his analysis too. I disagreed not loudly but often.

For me the greater cause was the attack on "ethnocentrism", a word that no longer seems to get mentioned. Our neighborhood was plenty multicultural but maybe not racially. The Jews had the grocery stores, the Irish had the bars, the Eye-ties the pizza parlors, etc. The (forced) arrival of Negroes and Puerto Ricans was the death nell. A decades old, stable neighborhood disintegrated in less than an decade.

Obviously, I'm still disturbed by what happened as blocks and blocks of substantial housing were burned to the ground as shown in movies like "Fort Apache: The Bronx" and "Wolfen". That this atrocity is pretty much never mentioned these enlightened progressive days is why I have little to no hope that America can actually be made "Great" again. It will continue but probably like a frozen pizza compared to the real deal.

Lastly, the accepted bum-rush technique in our neighborhood was to give him 15 cents (for the subway), point him toward the Bowery, and tell him don't come back.

Posted by: 11B40 at February 24, 2019 11:07 AM (evgyj)

246 They were also extremely efficient, more so than many secular organizations.

-
We ought to create a new oxymoron, a Clinton charity.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 11:08 AM (+y/Ru)

247 Ducks buying chapstick, though, never entered my mind.
Posted by: OregonMuse.

*******

That's an oldie of a joke that just begged to be put in limerick form.

Posted by: Muldoon at February 24, 2019 11:08 AM (m45I2)

248 Just bought Remodern America, by Richard Bledsoe. Am just starting it so don't know how it will go but I find it encouraging that that there are people trying to swim against the tide of "modern" art as presented by contemporary "artists".

Posted by: Lirio100 at February 24, 2019 11:09 AM (JK7Jw)

249 Certainly already been said...

Ducks, and how to make them pay:

IT'S A COOK BOOK!!

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:09 AM (cY3LT)

250 ''One word: Godzilla.'

This. Saw the preview for the new Godzilla movie when we saw "They Shall Not Grow Old" a couple of weeks ago. All I can say is Earth is in for a beat down.

Funny, the movie has a ton of well known actors. I'm guessing they had to bid to act in it. They must have had a blast making it.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:10 AM (jm1YL)

251 Tell him to fast for four days, begin hallucinating, break the fast with a Chinese food binge, feel remorse, and recommence the fast.

I read about it on a smart keto blog.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:06 AM (fuK7c)
----
Ha! Don't forget the verbal abuse!

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 11:11 AM (kQs4Y)

252 Cuz.. the authors name is...

Anyhoo, time to read up.....

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:11 AM (cY3LT)

253 Duck and chopsticks, OTOH, go well together.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 24, 2019 11:11 AM (nPGq2)

254 244 . I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication.

I've got an old Pritikin Book, you can have it.

Someone gave it to me when in the mid 70's or so. Don't remember

FYI Pritikin committed suicide

Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:11 AM (RZ6R1)

255 Eat less, move more.

Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 11:12 AM (w7KSn)

256 Are there other male movie stars that lived linger than Ronald Reagan ?

Kirk Douglas

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (2DOZq)

257 256 Are there other male movie stars that lived linger than Ronald Reagan ?

Kirk Douglas
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (2DOZq)

Forgot about him

Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (RZ6R1)

258 ''Just saw Nancy Gates on the tube, born in Dallas 1926, still kicking''

Isn't the beautiful Olivia DeHavilland still with us? I think she must be over 100.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (jm1YL)

259 bth!

Hah! No, he was a clerk for the company, later the Northwest Fur Co., a bitter rival based in Montreal. Then, the Astorians came along and who were roundly hated by everyone. His record keeping was amazing. Hardships that would kill most people. He became expert at building canoes and snowshoes. Never lost any guns in the canoes though. I have about 5" of global warming to shovel this morning and it's still falling.
So much for the predicted 1-3" from the weather guessers.

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at February 24, 2019 11:14 AM (vVLnV)

260 167 Dr Alice

It is a good arc. Some books are better than others. But the protagonists are well characterized, and the plots are tight. There are many great stories told, and I have to not reread just one, as then I want to keep going. One of my all-time favorite series. Avoid the last book.

Reading them in chronological order leads to wonderment. The amazing humor in A Civil Campaign: A Comedy of Biology and Manners would be lost otherwise.

Avoid the last book.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at February 24, 2019 11:15 AM (u82oZ)

261 Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (RZ6R1)

I believe Ernest Borgnine also was over 90. Attributed his long life to daily fapping.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:15 AM (2DOZq)

262 Good morning book people. I have kind of a non-standard request for
recommendations. I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone
who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood
pressure medication.

Heart disease is the obvious concer.
Northern Lurker
----
NL, I've had good results with the program pushed by Dr. Annette Bosworth MD (Dr. Boz). She wrote "Any way you can". She is an internist and her mother was dying of cancer. The good Dr. used a Keto diet to help halt her Mom's decline.

I'm following it as I was/am overweight, pre-diabetic, HPB, and intermittent afib.
Lost 25 lbs so far - two months. I've had to readjust my BP meds (take much less) and my afib is pretty much gone. My blood glucose is where it should be.

My 2 cents. Good luck.

Posted by: Tonypete at February 24, 2019 11:15 AM (Y4EXg)

263 258 ''Just saw Nancy Gates on the tube, born in Dallas 1926, still kicking''

Isn't the beautiful Olivia DeHavilland still with us? I think she must be over 100.
Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (jm1YL)

Yes, she's one my favs

For me, the best performance by a female of all time, The Heiress

Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:16 AM (RZ6R1)

264 In the 1980s I was friends with a kid who hailed from Madrid's elite. The Fascist party paid for his education in exchange for his loyalty. His family revered Franco. I lost touch with him, don't know how the Spanish right wing currently defines itself.

Posted by: kallisto at February 24, 2019 11:16 AM (KNycr)

265
I am looking for a good nutrition/diet book for someone who needs to lose weight, mostly belly fat, and who takes high blood pressure medication.

I remember reading 'Fit for Life' back in the 80's. Both my wife and I have adhered to the concepts through all these years and neither of us rely on any medications whatsoever. Long story short, it's about making permanent adaptations to eating and activity levels. It's worked well for us.

I just looked on Amazon. There are more updated versions of the book, but people who read the original all appear to be disappointed by the newer versions. The original is still available. I'd check out the reviews.

https://www.amazon.com/Harvey-Diamond-Marilyn-Fit-Life/dp
/B004S2XNO6/

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:16 AM (jYje5)

266 I finally made it to volume 3 of The Gulag Archipelago. I had to take a break and read other books along the way, including We The Navigators about the Polynesian mariners and their traditional methods for finding their way across the Pacific (an interesting but somewhat dryly technical book at times).

GA is a slog, but if you want deep insights into the mindset of our Progressive enemies it's well worth the effort.

Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:17 AM (M1hAb)

267 Kirk Douglas
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:13 AM (2DOZq)

Forgot about him

Never forget, never forgive. That fucker got to see Farrah Fawcett's tit's when he was like seventy years old. Save some for the young folk, huh?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:17 AM (fuK7c)

268 ''Ducks buying chapstick, though, never entered my mind.
Posted by: OregonMuse. ''

Sounds like the theme of a sad love song. Call it "It Never Entered My Mind".

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:18 AM (jm1YL)

269 Frankly, like anyone else, they go where the money is. Between the nature of the economy there (first Boeing, now high-tech) and the nature of the people (nice and wanting to help) there has always been a supporting and frankly enabling infrastructure for the homeless. At $100K per head it's become an *attractor* for the problem instead of a solution to it.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (q7IoS)

$100k? What!?
There must be 5000 homeless young adults in the u district alone. No wonder Seattles taxes are they the roof.

I have brought food to kids in the tent cities a few times. The only thing stopping most of them from a job and normal life is themselves.

Posted by: LASue at February 24, 2019 11:18 AM (wMHPW)

270 259
I have about 5" of global warming to shovel this morning and it's still falling.
So much for the predicted 1-3" from the weather guessers.
Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at February 24, 2019 11:14 AM (vVLnV)

What are you, some sort of science denier?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 11:18 AM (VaN/j)

271 The homeless problem has nothing to do with housing or alcoholism or any of the left's pat answers.

It has everything to do with the Supreme Court's O'Connor v. Donaldson decision, which essentially mandated that we release the mentally ill from hospitals if they don't want to remain.

No amount of money will fix the problem.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 24, 2019 11:19 AM (wYseH)

272 Never forget, never forgive. That fucker got to see Farrah Fawcett's tit's when he was like seventy years old. Save some for the young folk, huh?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:17 AM (fuK7c)

I'm 67 and goal oriented

Posted by: REDACTED at February 24, 2019 11:20 AM (RZ6R1)

273 Eyeore
Why yes, yes I am.
Since my cataract surgery I have begun believing my lying eyes.
/S

Posted by: Winston a dreg of society at February 24, 2019 11:20 AM (vVLnV)

274 Trump is rocking Twitter this morning. "Breadline Bernie" is his name for Sanders.

An instant classic.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:22 AM (npVLc)

275 ''For me, the best performance by a female of all time, The Heiress''

She was, quite simply put, Talented!

One my favorite of her movies is "'Hold Back the Dawn'' with Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and a slew of wonderful character actors. She was simply adorable in that one.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:22 AM (jm1YL)

276 His family revered Franco. I lost touch with him, don't know how the Spanish right wing currently defines itself.
=====

Look at pix of Assad from Syria and King Spain. Separated at birth. I have the same problem with Jarrett and Rice in the US.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 24, 2019 11:23 AM (MIKMs)

277 A tiny despot is still, nonetheless.

Posted by: Jeff Harris at February 24, 2019 11:23 AM (ELmNB)

278 A bar in New Orleans where I ran a little sports league, was across the street from the Contemporary Arts Center. Catty corner was a spot where the illegals and homeless would get picked up for day work. Quite a mix.

When the Sheriff Department team would show up, they'd tell all the bums to "move along". I didn't really notice, but one boss guy told me "yeah, didn't you notice all the bums are gone when we show up?" (I had some regular cops playing too, but that team was mostly working the prison ... and were mostly "power drinkers").

Long after I moved on, two days before Katrina, the owner of that bar was murdered by some woman he "took in" ... not sure if she was homeless or not, but they did catch her. I don't recall New Orleans having any big areas of homeless people ... times may have changed.

The NOLA area strikes me as having more community oriented attachments ... there are always festivals, lots of Mardi Gras groups, and big tourism would be hurt by homeless bums. There are plenty of drunks peeing in the alleys to supply the stench, don't need homeless to do that job.

Posted by: illiniwek at February 24, 2019 11:23 AM (Cus5s)

279 With the tee ups on this blog I could sock puppet all day. Only problem is they seem to be saved forever on my tablet as I have no idea how to delete them.

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 11:24 AM (/rm4P)

280 Never forget, never forgive. That fucker got to see Farrah Fawcett's tit's when he was like seventy years old.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:17 AM (fuK7c)

Wha-? How did he manage that?

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:24 AM (npVLc)

281 Eat less, move more.
Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 11:12 AM (w7KSn)

Indeed. That has to work, eventually. It's simple thermodynamics. After all, how does one become fat? By eating more, and moving less, no? Problem is, it may have taken 20 to 40 years of eating more, moving less, to arrive at the state of overweight that causes one to become alarmed. And it might take 20 to 40 years of moving more, eating less to reverse it. Alas, people are impatient, and they look for that magic bullet. And I think that one reason "eat less, move more" seems to fail is that people deceive themselves about how much they eat and how much they move.

It's really funny how many exercise machines show up at Goodwill, or the dump.

I think the big attraction of low-carb and/or keto diets is that you can still eat tasty meat and fats. Carbs themselves are often pretty bland, and need some sauce or fat to make make them palatable, e.g. a simple slice of bread goes much better with butter.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at February 24, 2019 11:24 AM (nPGq2)

282 I've had very little snow this winter. A few snowfalls with less than 3" accumulation. I've never had to use my snowblower.

Therefore, I have anecdotal evidence that global warming is real.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:25 AM (sdi6R)

283 256
Are there other male movie stars that lived linger than Ronald Reagan ?

Kirk Douglas

Abe Vigoda says hi.

Posted by: pep at February 24, 2019 11:25 AM (T6t7i)

284 As for the homelessness thing, yeah... it's as complex and dynamic as anything. Having worked with the homeless for many years, sometimes directly in homeless services, relationships are a significant problem for these folks. And it's certainly not always a direct cause/effect. Some people have family structures that are intact and reasonably healthy, and the individual is the one who won't connect.

Then you have the two twin towers: substance abuse and mental illness. It isn't always present, but it's always the exception when it's not, and then you have prison records, physical health, political bullshit... all these factors...

And the bottom line is, you are't going to solve homelessness by... well you aren't going to SOLVE homelessness at all. But no amount of funding for services is going to change it much, except to make the people who work in homeless services a little more comfortable and happy.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:25 AM (cY3LT)

285 ''Trump is rocking Twitter this morning. "Breadline Bernie" is his name for Sanders.''

OMG. I love my president. hope he writes a book after his terms of office are over. Something like "'The Wit and Wisdom of PDT".

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:25 AM (jm1YL)

286
Trump is rocking Twitter this morning. "Breadline Bernie" is his name for Sanders.

An instant classic.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:22 AM

"Breadline Bernie" is perfect. But I've refreshed twice and it's not there? Twitter take it down? Most recent tweet is from an hour ago.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:26 AM (jYje5)

287 242
Interesting little article about the last witch burned in Norway:

https://tinyurl.com/y4s8wpma

Sad, sad story. Followed the links to the book. Alas, it's in
Norwegian. Still, worth a look at the article. Norway as involved in
the witchcraft hysteria as other countries.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:05 AM (jm1YL)

---
Here again irony abounds.

The Reformation was supposed to destroy the "mindless superstition" of the Medieval Church.

And so they turned to burning witches.

Aren't people funny?

Posted by: A.H. Lloyd at February 24, 2019 11:26 AM (cfSRQ)

288 Wha-? How did he manage that?

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor

In the movie Saturn 3 they were an age mis-matched couple on a terraforming thing in spaceland when Harvey Keitel showed up to android at them.

She had flashed a very little bit in Myra Breckinridge, and even notably in Charlies Angels ("Angels in Chains" episode), but the first time she really just threw off her shirt on screen was in front of an aged Kirk Douglas.

Fucker.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:27 AM (fuK7c)

289 I believe Ernest Borgnine also was over 90. Attributed his long life to daily fapping.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:15 AM (2DOZq)

I think there's a youtube video where he says this. It's funny af. Borgnine leans over and says it quietly (or so he thinks) to the gal interviewing him, doesn't realize it's being broadcast.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:28 AM (npVLc)

290 256 Are there other male movie stars that lived linger than Ronald Reagan ?

Kirk Douglas"

Both George Burns and Bob Hope lived to be 100.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 11:29 AM (V2Yro)

291 ''She had flashed a very little bit in Myra Breckinridge, and even notably in Charlies Angels ("Angels in Chains" episode), but the first time she really just threw off her shirt on screen was in front of an aged Kirk Douglas. ''

I'm guessing old Kirk has seen more than his share of movie star titties on and off screen.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:29 AM (jm1YL)

292 The homeless problem has nothing to do with housing or alcoholism or any of the left's pat answers.

It has everything to do with the Supreme Court's O'Connor v. Donaldson decision, which essentially mandated that we release the mentally ill from hospitals if they don't want to remain.

No amount of money will fix the problem.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at February 24, 2019 11:19 AM (wYseH)

Except the cliche about mental hospitals being nightmare institutions, where people could be parked for decades, with no chance of getting out, and nothing remotely resembling treatment going on... the pain of having homeless on the loose is almost certainly much less morally repulsive than locking them up, out of sight, to suffer in silence for their whole lives.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:29 AM (cY3LT)

293
There is so much quackery in the world of nutrition and diet, and I would appreciate recommendations based in sound medical and scientific practice and evidence to help wade througn it.

Posted by: flounder, rebel, vulgarian, deplorable, winner at February 24, 2019 10:29 AM (t6MX/)

Honestly haven't found a book that doesn't have questionable sections.

Reading I've found interesting, on carnivory:
(delete space)

anecdotal story of this guy on how he recovered from a full intestinal transplant (warning graphic medical images)

http://roarofwolverine.com/ wolverine

also anecdotal, interview with one of the first carnivore families

https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7tyctrm

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 11:29 AM (BJlbN)

294 271 - but if you ask a Progtard, to a man, woman, or gender non-specific individual, they'll tell you it's all Reagan's fault. Never mind that the decision was handed down in late 1975, too late for Reagan to effectively do anything as California's governor and 5 years before he became President.

Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:30 AM (M1hAb)

295
I see what it is... The "Breadline Bernie" is from Donald Trump Jr.

Not the President. OM fake news-ed me.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (jYje5)

296 Trump is rocking Twitter this morning. "Breadline Bernie" is his name for Sanders.

An instant classic.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:22 AM

Given that Bernie has zero chance of being nominated, some of our betters are going to accuse the Donald of punching down again.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (cY3LT)

297 "Breadline Bernie" is perfect. But I've refreshed twice and it's not there? Twitter take it down? Most recent tweet is from an hour ago.
Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:26 AM (jYje5)

Alas, it's actually DJTjr who said it:

https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1099322912232873984

Still funny, though.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:32 AM (npVLc)

298 ''I believe Ernest Borgnine also was over 90.''

He seemed like a happily normal guy. I saw a little on the road interview with him. I can't remember where but he had a big RUV that he loved to take out and travel the highways and byways of America. He said he just loved meeting and talking to people.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (jm1YL)

299
Except the cliche about mental hospitals being nightmare
institutions, where people could be parked for decades, with no chance
of getting out, and nothing remotely resembling treatment going on...
=====

What the heck is 'treatment' and how efficacious is it? Would probably ruin an entire medical industry -- right there with bloodletting and humors.

Posted by: mustbequantum at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (MIKMs)

300 Not the President. OM fake news-ed me.
Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (jYje5)

Sorry. I saw "Trump" and "Breadline Bernie" and didn't read the rest carefully enough.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (npVLc)

301
Ya gotta watch OM. He'll go back in and 'stealth edit' his comment.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (jYje5)

302 Fit for Life program is great for losing weight and addressing health issues. Interesting that some of its tenets dovetail with kosher dietary law

Posted by: kallisto at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (KNycr)

303
"Diatribes may represent the unbridled ravings of fools. They may also represent the serious protests of the learned. I hope this work proves to be more of the latter than the former."

/R.C. Sproul, "Not a Chance"

One should always consider this before hitting "Post"

Posted by: Muldoon at February 24, 2019 11:34 AM (m45I2)

304 ''Still funny, though.''

Hope PDT starts using it. Seems like father/son have similar senses of humor.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:34 AM (jm1YL)

305 Given that Bernie has zero chance of being nominated, some of our betters are going to accuse the Donald of punching down again.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (cY3LT)

--------

Meh. Just because a punk also happens to be a loser is no reason to not punch him.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 11:34 AM (5aX2M)

306 I have to deal with Takers everyday in my job. It beats you down because by law you are basically required to enable their behavior.

Posted by: Can't resist temptation at February 24, 2019 11:35 AM (2DOZq)

307 @245 I grew up in The Bronx maybe 15 years later.

I highly recommend The Bronx is Burning, which is a history of The Bronx in 1977. Part of the story is White Flight in Brooklyn; The Bronx was largely gone.

My Da once lived on 149th Street, That block is now still totally abandoned with the exception of a new pharmacy building.

Junkie crime from heroin was a big factor in the fall of The Bronx. Drug dealer Frank Lucas did untold damage in Harlem and The Bronx. Cloward-Pliven had left the Columbia U lab. If Blacks as a group had any sense they dig these people up and hang them in effigy. But aggreavment is a powerful emotion, if well cultivated.

First Jews, then the Irish, mostly fled, partly in fear of falling housing prices and crime. The Italians mostly stayed, which is why there are still white enclaves. Woodlawn had good natural borders, and is still Irish. Riverdale was never really Bronx.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:36 AM (1UZdv)

308 294 271 - but if you ask a Progtard, to a man, woman, or gender non-specific individual, they'll tell you it's all Reagan's fault. Never mind that the decision was handed down in late 1975, too late for Reagan to effectively do anything as California's governor and 5 years before he became President.
Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:30 AM (M1hAb)

Among older people who work within the Homeless Industrial Complex, the "It's Reagan's fault" myth may still be present, but honestly, there aren't that many of those people left, and they're not in charge of everything.

Mental hospitals are not a viable answer to the problem, for a variety of reasons, not least of all because the hospitals mostly don't exist anymore, and nobody thinks it's a good idea to just pluck people off the streets for being a nuisance, and plopping them behind walls for decades at a time.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:36 AM (cY3LT)

309 Seems you guys have forgotten what the term "compromise" means to the Democrats.

To them compromise means "heads we win tails you lose". Every one of these so-called compromises that the Republicans have agreed to as been a sell-out.

As for a real compromise why should you agree to a "little bit of death"?

Posted by: Vic at February 24, 2019 11:36 AM (mpXpK)

310 I'm reading "An Empire Not Two Republicans" by Kamala Harris' dad.

It will be a movie if they can get the surveillance camera angles.

Posted by: The Gipper Lives at February 24, 2019 11:38 AM (Ndje9)

311 Never forget, never forgive. That fucker got to see
Farrah Fawcett's tit's when he was like seventy years old. Save some
for the young folk, huh?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:17 AM (fuK7c)

Right? She finally bares them, and its front of a dude old enough to be her grandfather. Fuck it, at least we all got to see them.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division at February 24, 2019 11:38 AM (9Om/r)

312 Given that Bernie has zero chance of being nominated, some of our betters are going to accuse the Donald of punching down again.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (cY3LT)

--------

Meh. Just because a punk also happens to be a loser is no reason to not punch him.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 11:34 AM (5aX2M)

That's what I'm saying. The Don won in '16, to a certain extent, because he was willing to punch anyone who got in his face, opponents and media idiots alike.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:38 AM (cY3LT)

313 I dont get the happy lemon in the satanic ritual

Posted by: Drer Brererd at February 24, 2019 11:39 AM (vtd+q)

314 Right? She finally bares them, and its front of a dude old enough to be her grandfather. Fuck it, at least we all got to see them.

Posted by: Berserker-Dragonheads Division

We understand each other.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:39 AM (fuK7c)

315
Fit for Life program is great for losing weight and addressing health issues. Interesting that some of its tenets dovetail with kosher dietary law

Posted by: kallisto at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM

I remember reading it and thinking ''this is more of a psychology book then anything else''. But I can say that it 'took' for both my wife and I. Not that we were ever really overweight, just that when you're at a certain age and gaining a few pounds every decade, that progression line is bad.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:39 AM (jYje5)

316 Weight loss is a tough problem. I have had my issues with it over the years. The best option is don't put on the weight on in the first place.
Wife was gaining weight, despite strict diet and exercise. I told her she was eating in her sleep. This I knew because I would get up in the morning before she did and I cleaned up her midnight snacking messes. She didn't believe me.
So I videoed her doing it. Getting out of bed, in her jammies, going to the fridge, pigging out, then back to bed. All while asleep.
And then teh fight started...

Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM (w7KSn)

317 Given that Bernie has zero chance of being nominated, some of our betters are going to accuse the Donald of punching down again.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:31 AM (cY3LT)

--------

Meh. Just because a punk also happens to be a loser is no reason to not punch him.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at February 24, 2019 11:34 AM (5aX2M)

Exactly. Sometimes playing basketball you run into punks with big mouths who, if there's nobody better to play against, you can advance humanity by humiliating.

Posted by: Captain Hate at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM (y7DUB)

318
I dont get the happy lemon in the satanic ritual

Posted by: Drer Brererd
----
The sorcerer read it wrong due to cursive. He summoned a "lemon", not a "demon".

Posted by: Tonypete at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM (Y4EXg)

319 I'm thoroughly confused. Who gets "The Breadline Bernie" attribution? PDT, DJT, Jr., or OM?

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM (jm1YL)

320 And then teh fight started...

Holy shit. Are you still married?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:41 AM (fuK7c)

321 ''The sorcerer read it wrong due to cursive. He summoned a "lemon", not a "demon".''

A cute little lemon at that.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:41 AM (jm1YL)

322 Re: pants. I've heard of upscaling jeans, but this somehow outside the word "upscale"...

Posted by: sinalco at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (yODqO)

323 and nobody thinks it's a good idea to just pluck people off the streets for being a nuisance, and plopping them behind walls for decades at a time."

I dunno, I think that every time I see an Antifa mob.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (V2Yro)

324 Married 42 years now.

Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (w7KSn)

325
I'm thoroughly confused. Who gets "The Breadline Bernie" attribution? PDT, DJT, Jr., or OM?

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM

Yes.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (jYje5)

326 Biden will be the plurality front runner, as he'll have the non-Commie lane to himself, but the Ds will vote majority crazy. So a good chance of a contested convention, where Superdelegates can vote after the first vote.

To preempt, Biden should cut a deal with Beto, who needs a job else his billionaire FIL will kick him out of the house.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:43 AM (1UZdv)

327 Ya gotta watch OM. He'll go back in and 'stealth edit' his comment.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (jYje5)

Actually, I won't. If I make a spelling error, I'll do a stealth-edit. If I say something stupid, I'll leave it up. As a warning to others.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:43 AM (npVLc)

328 323 and nobody thinks it's a good idea to just pluck people off the streets for being a nuisance, and plopping them behind walls for decades at a time."

I dunno, I think that every time I see an Antifa mob.
Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (V2Yro)

You're charitable. My thoughts are... darker.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (sdi6R)

329 319 I'm thoroughly confused. Who gets "The Breadline Bernie" attribution? PDT, DJT, Jr., or OM?
Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 11:40 AM (jm1YL)

DJTjr.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (npVLc)

330 I'm coming in late here, but if anyone wants a really good book, try Philip J. Sampson's Six Modern Myths about Christianity and Western Civilization. The six chapters are on Galileo, Darwin, environment, the human body, missionaries, and the witch craze. Really an outstanding resource.

Posted by: Jim S. at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (ynUnH)

331 Biden/Chompers 2028

Posted by: Slow Uncle Joe Biden at February 24, 2019 11:45 AM (Tyii7)

332 why is Beto even a candidate?

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 11:46 AM (BJlbN)

333 Except the cliche about mental hospitals being nightmare
institutions, where people could be parked for decades, with no chance
of getting out, and nothing remotely resembling treatment going on...
=====

What the heck is 'treatment' and how efficacious is it? Would probably ruin an entire medical industry -- right there with bloodletting and humors.
Posted by: mustbequantum at February 24, 2019 11:33 AM (MIKMs)

Treatment is haldol and ECT. It's also cruel psychopaths working the floors, beating people, having sex with them, isolating them in dank cold rooms for days at a time, festering in their own shit.

This stuff is the stuff of horror movies, and it also happens to have been real.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:47 AM (cY3LT)

334 You're charitable. My thoughts are... darker.
Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (sdi6R)

Same here, I'm sorry to say. Mine involve mini-guns mounted on the back of pickup trucks.

I call it "urban renewal."

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 11:47 AM (npVLc)

335
I've been waiting for the day that Twitter would face off with PDT and pull one of his tweets or give him a time-out. Community standards and all that crap.

I thought for a minute there the thin-skinned leftists had taken offense at the 'Breadline Bernie' tweet. You know that one is gonna leave a mark.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 11:47 AM (jYje5)

336 The Berkeley grad I keep up with (who has been in Europe/MENA for 30 years) expressed some admiration for the dams Franco built.

Lara Logan stated that most things are shades of gray, not hard line left/right or whatever. There are probably many cases where a "good" dictator is (marginally?) better than a bad "democratically elected" president. (Chavez/Mandela)

South Africa is falling apart. After several attempts to push more blacks into farm ownership for 20 years, they found the blacks would largely either fail or sell the land back. It seems likely the Apartheid regime was harsh by Western standards, but probably better than electing racist warlords who are ready for genocide of white farmers.

Egypt and Morsi another example ... or Iraq and the purple finger of failure. America itself has gone through some "progressions", as that "Birth of the Fifth Republic" article points out well.

https://tinyurl.com/y5f9gyf4

Posted by: illiniwek at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (Cus5s)

337 and nobody thinks it's a good idea to just pluck people off the streets for being a nuisance, and plopping them behind walls for decades at a time."
-------------------
I dunno, I think that every time I see an Antifa mob.
Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 11:42 AM (V2Yro)

Well now, that's... a different animal right there.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (cY3LT)

338 Beto is dreamy. He gets the young girl Berniebot vote. Like the Igno-Daughter. Which is balanced by the Igno-Son who's "based" to the right of Pinochet.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (1UZdv)

339 245 - agree. I grew up in the Lower east side inthe 50's and 60's - mostly eastern europeans, Germans, Jews and Italians. It was a tight neighborhood that defined "poor but honest." anyone who had to resort to 'home relief" was whispered about because of the shame.

Well the 60's came along with a ton of diverse people who wanted the free ride and not assimilating. I remember my mom coming off the bus after work and hearing "diverse" young men laugh at her and say "you're working to support me!"

Posted by: vivi at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (11H2y)

340 315. I was not able to stay on it longterm, but I do adhere to the rule of 'no eating after 8pm'

Posted by: kallisto at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (KNycr)

341 BurtTC - In my line of work, I and my coworkers deal with quite a few mentally ill people. Those same coworkers, most of whom are too young to remember Reagan as President, will regurgitate the same lines their teachers spat out about the reason we have mentally ill people roaming the streets.

And while nobody should be institutionalized for being a nuisance, the current system is set up to make it next to impossible to civilly commit someone before they do something horrible. I've represented several people who were well-known to the police, yet nothing could be done until my clients stuck a knife into someone - with fatal results, in at least one case.

Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

342 Just because a punk also happens to be a loser is no reason to not punch him.

-
I think that's a Ghandi quote.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (+y/Ru)

343 If you can eat dinner earlier, then no more food until breakfast, your odds of losing weight are better.
We eat around 5pm then nothing until breakfast the next day (clandestine nocturnal gustatorial adventures notwithstanding).

Posted by: navybrat, sometime commentater at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (w7KSn)

344 why is Beto even a candidate?
Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 11:46 AM (BJlbN)

In my more conspiratorial moments, I assume the "declared candidates" have all been given marching orders... go out there and take the first wave of fire from Trump, scatter across the battlefield, taking casualties and making the enemy use up his ammo.

And then when the tide of battle seems lost... the REAL candidate emerges. And that real candidate is????

Wait for it

I still say Oprah is the best guess.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (cY3LT)

345 You're charitable. My thoughts are... darker.
Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (sdi6R)
-----------------------

Yep.

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 11:53 AM (WEBkv)

346 339
I remember my mom coming off the bus after work and hearing "diverse" young men laugh at her and say "you're working to support me!"
Posted by: vivi at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (11H2y)

My late uncle went down to New Orleans after Katrina with a church group to help them rebuild. He told a similar story.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:53 AM (sdi6R)

347 269 Frankly, like anyone else, they go where the money is. Between the nature of the economy there (first Boeing, now high-tech) and the nature of the people (nice and wanting to help) there has always been a supporting and frankly enabling infrastructure for the homeless. At $100K per head it's become an *attractor* for the problem instead of a solution to it.
Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 09:56 AM (q7IoS)

$100k? What!?
There must be 5000 homeless young adults in the u district alone. No wonder Seattles taxes are they the roof.

I have brought food to kids in the tent cities a few times. The only thing stopping most of them from a job and normal life is themselves.

Posted by: LASue at February 24, 2019 11:18 AM (wMHPW)

When I was a kid in the early 80s going to school at Blessed Sacrament, there were a few homeless/pandhandlers in the U District, but not like it is now. I saw a huge encampment under the 45th street bridge just across I-5 in Wallingford back in 2013.

Posted by: Jeff Weimer at February 24, 2019 11:54 AM (q7IoS)

348 If Biden falters, Kerry or Gore may jump in.

Third look at Hillary?

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:54 AM (1UZdv)

349 No one expects the Spanish Civil War!

I have two [recommendations]. Begin with this six part BBC documentary available on YouTube:

I watched that last weekend and found it to be too pro-commie for my tastes. Most of the interviews are with the commies. Oh sure, there are a few extremists on the left making the glorious workers' revolution look bad but the "republic" was soooooo much better than the EVIL right in Spain. One interesting part was they said that Franco really wasn't a fascist. He said it to get help from Germany and Italy but he really was a monarchist, traditionalist and Catholic who hated what the left was doing to his country and the Church.

Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 24, 2019 11:54 AM (SiINZ)

350 BurtTC - In my line of work, I and my coworkers deal with quite a few mentally ill people. Those same coworkers, most of whom are too young to remember Reagan as President, will regurgitate the same lines their teachers spat out about the reason we have mentally ill people roaming the streets.

And while nobody should be institutionalized for being a nuisance, the current system is set up to make it next to impossible to civilly commit someone before they do something horrible. I've represented several people who were well-known to the police, yet nothing could be done until my clients stuck a knife into someone - with fatal results, in at least one case.
Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

Yes, there are those cases, and I'm not minimizing the risk.

I don't have the answers. I just don't think there's any way to go back to the way it was, nor should we want to.

And I guess that's true, there are idiot kids joining the ranks who have been fed the narrative. I suspect those folks tend to either outgrow that mentality...

or they become managers *rim shot*

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (cY3LT)

351 Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 09:37 AM (oNaUD)
---
And now, the spankings!
Posted by: Wicked, wicked Zoot at February 24, 2019 09:48 AM (kQs4Y)

And after the spankings?

Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (NWiLs)

352

Bill Maher ridiculed red state voters in a segment about Amazon's HQ2 locations, saying that the rich and educated people of America live in blue states.

"That's why red state voters are so pissed off. They don't hate us, they want to be us," the Real Time host said on Friday night. "They want to go the party. It's like we're the British royal family and they're Meghan Markle's dad."

Maher quoted Hillary Clinton, who has said that during the 2016 election she won the "places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product." Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (aKsyK)

353 I mean seriously, did NOBODY upthread note the author's name?

It's Cook!

So the duck thing... it's a Cook book!!

Sheesh, you people.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 11:56 AM (cY3LT)

354 If Biden falters, Kerry or Gore may jump in.

Third look at Hillary?
Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:54 AM (1UZdv)

I'm 100% sure Hillary! will ride to the rescue after the first or second wave of clowns go down.

She'll say something along the lines of-

"I tried to stay home, but I see no one who can unite us for victory and is electable,

so I'm running."

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 11:57 AM (9X624)

355 "So the duck thing... it's a Cook book!! "

How to serve man

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:58 AM (1UZdv)

356 I believe Ernest Borgnine also was over 90. Attributed his long life to daily fapping.
Posted by: Can't resist temptation

"Prew...if they throw you in the stockade...watch out for Fatso....."

Posted by: JT at February 24, 2019 11:58 AM (oNaUD)

357 So the duck thing... it's a Cook book!!

And it's by Willie Cook.

So, will he?

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:58 AM (fuK7c)

358 Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

Moving forward towards the gulags. Heh.

Posted by: Zombie Uncle Joe Stalin at February 24, 2019 11:59 AM (Tyii7)

359 "I tried to stay home, but I see no one who can unite us for victory and is electable,

so I'm running."

Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 11:57 AM (9X624)
-------------

Think she'll be able to gasp that out between fits of coughing?

Posted by: Blake - used bridge salesman at February 24, 2019 11:59 AM (WEBkv)

360 "...I see no one who can unite us for victory and is electable,

"so I'm running."
Posted by: naturalfake at February 24, 2019 11:57 AM (9X624)

The two statements are not mutually exclusive.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 11:59 AM (t+qrx)

361 352
"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (aKsyK)

We're gonna need more lampposts.

Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:59 AM (sdi6R)

362 POLL: BERNIE SANDERS LEADING DEMOCRATS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Bern 27

Biden 25

Harris 12

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:00 PM (MAstk)

363 Bill Maher ridiculed red state voters in a segment about Amazon's HQ2 locations, saying that the rich and educated people of America live in blue states.

"That's why red state voters are so pissed off. They don't hate us, they want to be us," the Real Time host said on Friday night. "They want to go the party. It's like we're the British royal family and they're Meghan Markle's dad."

Maher quoted Hillary Clinton, who has said that during the 2016 election she won the "places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product." Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (aKsyK)

What an utter fool he is.

I don't know where to begin, so I'll just say, in part, he's right.

Yes, there are those who crave to BE members of the elite. They DO go to Washington and New York and Californica, longing to be accepted into that class. Or they stay in their red states, souring to the fact that everything they love and long for is happening in Bill's happy blue paradise.

So yeah, I'm sure he encounters those folks ALL the time. And they already vote for your shitty leftwing candidates, Bill. Your contempt for them is telling.

The rest of us though? The vast majority who voted in Trump? Yeah, no. We DON'T want your shithole blue paradise world, Bill. Not at all.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:00 PM (cY3LT)

364 330 I'm coming in late here, but if anyone wants a really good book, try Philip J. Sampson's Six Modern Myths about Christianity and Western Civilization. The six chapters are on Galileo, Darwin, environment, the human body, missionaries, and the witch craze. Really an outstanding resource.
Posted by: Jim S. at February 24, 2019 11:44 AM (ynUnH)

Looked that up. Amazon (spit!) does let you read a few pages. Some he cites are "historians" claiming the Medieval Church insisted the earth was flat.

That's one of the sure signs you are reading a fraud. Another is anyone who used "Dark Ages" to cover the period 500 - 1500.

There's a good (long) coverage of Galileo here:
http://tinyurl.com/yxw3eb23

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:01 PM (VaN/j)

365 361 352
"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."
Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 24, 2019 11:55 AM (aKsyK)

We're gonna need more lampposts.
Posted by: rickl at February 24, 2019 11:59 AM (sdi6R)

Go long on hemp.

Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 12:01 PM (NWiLs)

366 Go long on hemp.
Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 12:01 PM (NWiLs)

And then short it.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:02 PM (t+qrx)

367 Nationwide, Biden is at 28%, Bernie 17% and Kamala at 10%.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:02 PM (1UZdv)

368 "So the duck thing... it's a Cook book!! "
------------------------
How to serve man
Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:58 AM (1UZdv)

I can't believe I was the first to point it out. 200 and something comments in.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (cY3LT)

369 338 Beto is dreamy. He gets the young girl Berniebot vote. Like the Igno-Daughter. Which is balanced by the Igno-Son who's "based" to the right of Pinochet.
Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:48 AM (1UZdv)

Another argument against the 19th Amendment.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (VaN/j)

370 BurtTC - I'm blessed with a boss who is not a leftie, which is rare among lawyers. One thing to keep in mind in this debate is that there have been amazing advances in medication since the days of straight jackets and ECT. About 85 percent of schizophrenics can be treated with medication, IF you can keep them on the pills. What we need is a stop-gap between the street and the state hospital where we can keep people who are somewhat short of the imminent danger threshold, get them stabilized, and connect them with resources.

The future is bleak for this country regarding mental illness. The boom in Marijuana legalization coincides with new research showing an increase in schizophrenia among young, heavy users. Again, this is something I've seen first-hand.

Me, I'm going long on canned food and 5.56mm.

Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (M1hAb)

371 Here's a pdf of "Ducks, and How to Make Them PAY" by William Cook:

https://archive.org/details/ cu31924003102971/page/n6

(remove space after the slash)

Look at the chapters:

Water or No Water
Freaks of Nature
Sharp grit for ducks -- let it be sharp!

This is one angry dude hellbent on revenge.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (kQs4Y)

372 And while nobody should be institutionalized for being a nuisance, the current system is set up to make it next to impossible to civilly commit someone before they do something horrible. I've represented several people who were well-known to the police, yet nothing could be done until my clients stuck a knife into someone - with fatal results, in at least one case.
Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

Americans aren't good at the whole doing things by half measures thingy. The deinstitutionalization movement started due to very real, very horrible abuses.

So, instead of making some kind of moderate response, we got rid of involuntary commitment unless someone has gone all stabby, decided that people should not be medicated against their will including actual schizophrenics who, once medicated, decided they were better, and let out people who cannot take care of themselves.

I've mentioned before I had a friend who did art therapy in the LA County public school system for a school for the kids who were too troubled for the LA County public school system. Ponder that level of troubled.

She made it three years, which is a long time for that school, and she quit the day that the one 13 year old boy who was a budding serial killer (bedwetter, pyromaniac, animal abuser) was told by a naive social worker that the only way that he would be committed was to harm a person, honey, so you're fine. All the other teachers were freaking out at her because this kid was also very bright. His response was of okay so to get locked up, I have to hurt people, got it.

My friend walked out of the meeting, into the principal's office, and said, yeah, I'm out.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at February 24, 2019 12:04 PM (GbPPJ)

373 So the duck thing... it's a Cook book!!
------------------------------

And it's by Willie Cook.

So, will he?
Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 11:58 AM (fuK7c)

His fiance wrote a sequel, you'll have to read that one to find out.

Her name is Betty Dont.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:04 PM (cY3LT)

374 since we ate OT now and there was no movie thread, I would like to complain about how imdb ratings fooled me twice yesterday:

Velvet Buzzsaw 5.8 on imdb so I expected a dud
actually quite satirically funny horror, liked it

Galveston 6.2 on imdb so I expected a decent action movie
uuughhh slow dull and depressing - hated it

one more - just saw Girl in the Spiders Web - I liked it well enough - imdb gives it a 6.1
That's just a tad lower than I would've given it(maybe a 7)

I feel I've fallen out of sync with imdb ratings - what's a better review system if any?

Posted by: votermom pimping NEW Moron-authored books! at February 24, 2019 12:05 PM (BJlbN)

375 You underestimate a lemon at your own peril.

Posted by: Fritz at February 24, 2019 12:05 PM (wxZSX)

376 366 Go long on hemp.
Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 12:01 PM (NWiLs)

And then short it.
Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:02 PM (t+qrx)

Markets are tricky. You never know when the floor can fall right out from under you.

Posted by: Insomniac at February 24, 2019 12:06 PM (NWiLs)

377 341 BurtTC - In my line of work, I and my coworkers deal with quite a few mentally ill people. Those same coworkers, most of whom are too young to remember Reagan as President, will regurgitate the same lines their teachers spat out about the reason we have mentally ill people roaming the streets.

And while nobody should be institutionalized for being a nuisance, the current system is set up to make it next to impossible to civilly commit someone before they do something horrible. I've represented several people who were well-known to the police, yet nothing could be done until my clients stuck a knife into someone - with fatal results, in at least one case.
Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

There's a difference between committing people like that, and permanently warehousing them as we did until the 70s.

It's not a simple matter. But what was done then was a symptom of the unbelievable trust most Americans had in institutions and whatever "expert" theories were floating around.

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:06 PM (VaN/j)

378 Alright, I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade! Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons; what am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down... with the lemons! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that burns your house down!

Posted by: Cave Johnson at February 24, 2019 12:07 PM (NWiLs)

379 All the other teachers were freaking out at her because this kid was also very bright. His response was of okay so to get locked up, I have to hurt people, got it.

My friend walked out of the meeting, into the principal's office, and said, yeah, I'm out.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around.

Oh I'd forgotten that story. I mean, I remember it. I mean thanks for reminding me.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 12:07 PM (fuK7c)

380 >>POLL: RACISM DEFINES HOPES OF DEMOCRATS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

Old White Men - 52

Minority Woman - 12

Posted by: garrett at February 24, 2019 12:07 PM (Lo9Qr)

381 Another argument against the 19th Amendment.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (VaN/j)
---
Sorry, I need to keep my vote so that I can counteract the stupid politics of some my male coworkers who are

Male! Military/Ex-military! STEM! Logical!

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 12:07 PM (kQs4Y)

382 Just joining the goodreads club. :-)

Posted by: riw777 at February 24, 2019 12:07 PM (w4hcU)

383 349---One interesting part was they said that Franco really wasn't a fascist. He said it to get help from Germany and Italy but he really was a monarchist, traditionalist and Catholic who hated what the left was doing to his country and the Church.
Posted by: TheQuietMan at February 24, 2019 11:54 AM (SiINZ)
------------------------------------
This is true --- and I'm surprised that a left-leaning program would admit it.
Franco did like some of the aesthetic trappings of Italian Fascism but he was NOT an ideological man.

The first thing he did after consolidating power was to reduce the Falangists to a social club. There would be no party rule.

Posted by: Margarita DeVille at February 24, 2019 12:08 PM (Rxduq)

384 Bill Maher ridiculed red state voters in a segment about Amazon's HQ2 locations, saying that the rich and educated people of America live in blue states.

"That's why red state voters are so pissed off. They don't hate us, they want to be us," the Real Time host said on Friday night. "They want to go the party. It's like we're the British royal family and they're Meghan Markle's dad."

Maher quoted Hillary Clinton, who has said that during the 2016 election she won the "places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product." Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."

-
Compare and contrast to the stats the other day that if you remove a half dozen Donk cities (that are big gun grabbers) from the statistics, the US is one of the least violent countries but add back those cities and we're horrible.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (+y/Ru)

385 BurtTC - I'm blessed with a boss who is not a leftie, which is rare among lawyers. One thing to keep in mind in this debate is that there have been amazing advances in medication since the days of straight jackets and ECT. About 85 percent of schizophrenics can be treated with medication, IF you can keep them on the pills. What we need is a stop-gap between the street and the state hospital where we can keep people who are somewhat short of the imminent danger threshold, get them stabilized, and connect them with resources.

The future is bleak for this country regarding mental illness. The boom in Marijuana legalization coincides with new research showing an increase in schizophrenia among young, heavy users. Again, this is something I've seen first-hand.

Me, I'm going long on canned food and 5.56mm.
Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 12:03 PM (M1hAb)

It's funny, when people complain we don't do things like moon landings anymore. We don't do ANYTHING grand and big anymore!

Noot often got criticized for that, but the point is valid: We're a nation of micromanagers now. Nobody is looking big picture, so yeah, something like a way station for the unstably mentally ill would be a great way to go.

There are models of outpatient programs now that are somewhat successful, but they're limited, and they can't often address the problems around homelessness. And violence.

Still, if we were going to strive to solve THIS problem, it would take a national will, which we don't have right now.

Right now we're more worried about where guys in drag go to pee and poo, and when they're in video game stores, somebody might call them "sir."

That's who we are.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (cY3LT)

386 Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

I'm not dead yet.

Posted by: Zombie Generalissimo Francisco Franco at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (Tyii7)

387 It's Duck season! NO, it's rabbit season!
https://youtu.be/9-k5J4RxQdE

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (/rm4P)

388 367 Nationwide, Biden is at 28%, Bernie 17% and Kamala at 10%.
.....

Where do Biden supporters go if he doesn't run?

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (MAstk)

389 Trump

Where are the new Texts between Agent Lisa Page and her Agent lover, Peter S? We want them now!

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:12 PM (MAstk)

390 So, instead of making some kind of moderate response, we got rid of involuntary commitment unless someone has gone all stabby, decided that people should not be medicated against their will including actual schizophrenics who, once medicated, decided they were better, and let out people who cannot take care of themselves.

Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at February 24, 2019 12:04 PM (GbPPJ)

Yeah, thanks a pantload, Thomas Szasz.

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 12:12 PM (npVLc)

391 BTW, has anyone heard from the happy pair?

Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:12 PM (VaN/j)

392 >>Nationwide, Biden is at 28%, Bernie 17% and Kamala at 10%.

Where are the Female Secret Service Agents to #MeToo old Lunch Pail Joe?

Posted by: garrett at February 24, 2019 12:12 PM (Lo9Qr)

393 Greetings, Ignoramus:

307 - Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 11:36 AM (1UZdv)

If you can handle a bit of a brain tease at this hour, how about:

"White Flight" versus "Ethnic Cleansing" compare and contrast.

Posted by: 11B40 at February 24, 2019 12:13 PM (evgyj)

394 the Falangists

-
One of the things I learned was the derivation of the word "falange". It means phalanx as in the Ancient Greek spear-based battle formation.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 12:13 PM (+y/Ru)

395 Holy crap they fed horseflesh to ducks back in the day.

This is one savage creature.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 12:14 PM (kQs4Y)

396 Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

There's a difference between committing people like that, and permanently warehousing them as we did until the 70s.

It's not a simple matter. But what was done then was a symptom of the unbelievable trust most Americans had in institutions and whatever "expert" theories were floating around.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:06 PM (VaN/j)

And yes, the people who are now stably inside mental "hospitals" that are more like housing programs, with locks, they got there because of violent incidents.

Often the folks inside these places are docile and successfully medicated and otherwise rational human beings. They long to get out, but because of a violent crime, they probably never will. They don't really deserve that either.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:14 PM (cY3LT)

397 BTW, has anyone heard from the happy pair?

Bozo checked in yesterday. So at least one of them has survived this far.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 12:14 PM (fuK7c)

398 Biden's support is not the kind that will crawl over broken glass for Joe uber alles. It's more a default vote for someone who's not Commie Crazy and a sense that he has a shot at beating Trump.

These potential will only turnout lightly for a Bernie or Kamala.

But if the Ds pick a Biden, they're Commie Crazy voters stay home in the general.

Which is why Trump can't lose, except for targeted voter fraud.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:16 PM (1UZdv)

399 Holy crap they fed horseflesh to ducks back in the day.

This is one savage creature.

Posted by: Wicked, Wicked Eris at February 24, 2019 12:14 PM (kQs4Y)

I would call a duck savage if it killed its own horses.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 12:16 PM (fuK7c)

400 Posted by: alexthechick - Superelite Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at February 24, 2019 12:04 PM (GbPPJ)

Am I correctly understanding that the kid *wanted* to be committed (and was willing to do whatever it took to insure he was)?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at February 24, 2019 12:16 PM (phT8I)

401 367 Nationwide, Biden is at 28%, Bernie 17% and Kamala at 10%.
.....

Where do Biden supporters go if he doesn't run?
Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (MAstk)

Good question. It's hard to find a politician who will grope your children.

Anthony Weener is out of prison now though.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:17 PM (cY3LT)

402 I hope they have a wonderful time together. East St. Louis is a great value this time of year.

Posted by: Jinx the Cat at February 24, 2019 12:17 PM (VLfxt)

403 Trump's got this.

Posted by: Putin at February 24, 2019 12:18 PM (Lo9Qr)

404 BTW, has anyone heard from the happy pair?

---------------------------
Bozo checked in yesterday. So at least one of them has survived this far.
Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 12:14 PM (fuK7c)

He better not kill and eat her, or else there will NEVER be another pairing of AoSHQers again.

Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:19 PM (cY3LT)

405 He better not kill and eat her, or else there will NEVER be another pairing of AoSHQers again.
Posted by: BurtTC at February 24, 2019 12:19 PM (cY3LT)

If he checked in, shibumi's just fine. On account of she's made of a special metal fro space and is invincible.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:20 PM (t+qrx)

406
So, instead of making some kind of moderate response, we got rid of
involuntary commitment unless someone has gone all stabby, decided that
people should not be medicated against their will including actual
schizophrenics who, once medicated, decided they were better, and let
out people who cannot take care of themselves.

alexthechick
-----
I think I've related this tale before: My late wife, even with a diagnosis of bi-polar/schizophrenia would never sign a commitment order or agree to involuntary treatment, even though it was desperately needed and necessary. She also did not sign any forms allowing me to be privy to her medical records either.

What finally got her into a locked down psychiatric ward from a kindly judge was a knockdown, dragout fistfight with a cop and me in the front yard in front of my kids. She had disarmed the cop and the cop and I were both fighting for our lives. She was a small woman but was, I believe, truly possessed and her strength and viciousness was unworldly.

So, my view on involuntary commitment of the truly insane, may be colored a bit.

Posted by: Tonypete at February 24, 2019 12:20 PM (Y4EXg)

407
It's kind of interesting, and sad, how just a couple of Hollywood movies changed the public's perception so completely. I offer:

The China Syndrome
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The repercussions of these two movies are still felt to this day, decades later.

Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 12:20 PM (jYje5)

408 396 Posted by: PabloD at February 24, 2019 11:51 AM (M1hAb)

There's a difference between committing people like that, and permanently warehousing them as we did until the 70s.

It's not a simple matter. But what was done then was a symptom of the unbelievable trust most Americans had in institutions and whatever "expert" theories were floating around.
Posted by: Eeyore at February 24, 2019 12:06 PM (VaN/j)

When thinking about pre-1970's treatment of the mentally ill, think about what the Kennedy's did to their inconvenient child, Rose. That was the preferred way for rich families to deal with relations who caused trouble.

Posted by: Tom Servo at February 24, 2019 12:20 PM (V2Yro)

409
BTW, has anyone heard from the happy pair?

We've heard from the sour lemon.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at February 24, 2019 12:21 PM (aKsyK)

410 So I suggest at most negligent marital manslaughter and the Horde goes immediately to murder cannibalism.

I love this place.

Posted by: Bandersnatch at February 24, 2019 12:23 PM (fuK7c)

411 The bigger and more important question than who the D nominee will be, is will Schultz run?

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:24 PM (MAstk)

412 ""White Flight" versus "Ethnic Cleansing" compare and contrast."

Inner city blacks often benefit from cheap rents because they tolerate a level of crime that inner city whites won't. This is true in the suburbs too. Witness parts of Yonkers, and Mt Vernon to a lesser degree.

So crime drives out whites, and lowers rents. Di Blasio is a front for Brooklyn real estate owners and developers.

I haven't seen this in any academic research. Is it out there? I expect it'd double plus ungood in academic circles.

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:24 PM (1UZdv)

413 I offer:

The China Syndrome
Posted by: Newest Nic at February 24, 2019 12:20 PM (jYje5)

So true. This dumb flick did more damage than the actual TMI-2 incident.

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:25 PM (t+qrx)

414 I offer:

Silkwood

Posted by: garrett at February 24, 2019 12:25 PM (Lo9Qr)

415 Schultz won't run if Biden does. If there's an empty center, Schultz will go for it

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:25 PM (1UZdv)

416 167 Does anyone have a take on Bujold's Vorkosigan saga? I have never read any of her books, but they sound interesting.
Posted by: Dr Alice at February 24, 2019 10:15 AM (lBBGI)
They're excellent but I second the recommendation to stop before the last (jolie and the red queen). Guys should start with "The Warrior's Apprentice" which begins Miles' story. Gals should start with Cordelia's story "Shards of Honor". Ignore the hideous covers. They were chosen by Bujold and I strongly disagree with her art sense.

Posted by: gingeroni at February 24, 2019 12:26 PM (/XPvv)

417 Green Nood Deal

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:26 PM (t+qrx)

418 Our judges also would have accepted "Green nood eel"

Posted by: hogmartin at February 24, 2019 12:27 PM (t+qrx)

419 Give to Amy Klobuchar.

https://bit.ly/2EdrdJU

This is a parody. I hope.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 12:27 PM (+y/Ru)

420 367 Nationwide, Biden is at 28%, Bernie 17% and Kamala at 10%.
.....

Where do Biden supporters go if he doesn't run?
Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (MAstk)

KamelToe has locks.

The MSM will see to it.

Along with the ballot manufacturing cartel.

Posted by: Golfman at February 24, 2019 12:28 PM (OE84+)

421 415 Schultz won't run if Biden does. If there's an empty center, Schultz will go for it
...

That's a good guess.

Biden and Holder said they would announce by the end of Feb, which is this week.

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:30 PM (MAstk)

422 " a tight neighborhood that defined "poor but honest." anyone who had to
resort to 'home relief" was whispered about because of the shame.
Well the 60's came along with a ton of diverse people who wanted the free ride and not assimilating" vivi

yup, maybe it was "Critical Theory" that criticized away all that useful shame. "Tune in, turn on, drop out" was the 60's phrase, engineered to destroy America's traditional family society. Being a beatnik (?) on the streets was cool. That was revisited with Occupy Wall Street, with their street poopers and tent rapists and those damn drums. The world must notice and embrace their "freedom".

Posted by: illiniwek at February 24, 2019 12:30 PM (Cus5s)

423 Thread open about 150 minutes. Comment total: nearly 400.

The Book Thread is like a drag race. The flag waves, and everybody takes off.

As to books:

1) Progressing through "Circus," with a pause to crack open

2) "The Monster Wheel Affair," a "Man From U.N.C.L.E." story I've owned for years, one of the David McDaniel entries, and interrupted by

3) The fourth trade collection of "Justice League Dark," which has been imaginative and enjoyable until now, when the title switched writers and rushed into incomprehensibility. I may abandon this in mid-story.

I feel like a juggler.

Posted by: Weak Geek at February 24, 2019 12:30 PM (PWPy3)

424 Klobuchar came out for legalizing weed.

Kamala was asked how she would pay for all her programs and she told the reporter it's not about costs.

Posted by: HA at February 24, 2019 12:31 PM (MAstk)

425 Kamala will lose many, many current Biden voters.

Biden will lose many, many current Kamala/Bernie/Liz voters.

It's a wonderful thing, no?

Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:31 PM (1UZdv)

426 PDT just tweeted

"So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!''

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 12:32 PM (jm1YL)

427 ''Biden and Holder said they would announce by the end of Feb, which is this week.''

Same week as PDT is talking to Little Kim in Vietnam.

Posted by: Tuna at February 24, 2019 12:34 PM (jm1YL)

428 Reading some old SF this weekend: a collection of Poul Anderson short stories, The Horn of Time the Hunter. That's also the title of the lead story. It's pretty grim, actually: most of them are After The Bomb stories, about human societies trying to rebuild (or failing). One's about a failed colony in a distant star system.

It's kind of startling, nowadays, to realize that pretty much ALL science fiction -- even the "optimistic" stuff like Star Trek -- assumed there'd be a nuclear war in the near future.

Posted by: Trimegistus at February 24, 2019 12:38 PM (wScFY)

429 Bill Maher ridiculed red state voters

I'm actually not so sure Maher did. I think he was trying to be funny about the not-funny subject of Red State whites losing hope and shooting heroin. And about the inequality and - more to the point - the snobbishness of the rich [neo]liberals.

At least Maher noticed that there's a white underclass now.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at February 24, 2019 12:38 PM (ykYG2)

430 "Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at February 24, 2019 12:10 PM (+y/Ru)

Remember when Republicans were the "party of the rich" and owned everything? And when liberals and Democrats were "for the little guy?"

Good times.

Posted by: JoeF. at February 24, 2019 12:46 PM (NFEMn)

431 Bill Maher ridiculed red state voters in a segment about Amazon's HQ2 locations, saying that the rich and educated people of America live in blue states.

I'm curious to how silent he will be if Amazon announces that they decided against NYC and preferred Nashville, TN.

"That's why red state voters are so pissed off. They don't hate us, they want to be us," the Real Time host said on Friday night. "They want to go the party. It's like we're the British royal family and they're Meghan Markle's dad."

Which may explain why net migration from these cultural party spots to live among the losers, flotsam and jetsam in fly-over country.

The fastest growing areas of the country were once semi-conservative, but after a decade of migration from NY, IL, CA et al these cities are showing the signature rot and decay that characterized their former homes.

Maher quoted Hillary Clinton, who has said that during the 2016 election she won the "places that represent two-thirds of America's gross domestic product." Clinton has also boasted that she won over voters in areas that are "optimistic, diverse, dynamic, moving forward."

I think I understand "diverse", but a definition of "dynamic" and "moving forward" would certainly help make sense out of this statement. (Yes, I know, these words don't have any particular meaning, they are emotional trigger words to engage the obliviots that compose her sycophantic following.)

"Maybe that has something to do with why Trump voters are obsessed with 'owning the libs.' Because the libs own everything else," Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."

Maher is citing the Never Trumpers (e.g. Abigail Shapiro's brother, Jonah Goldbrick, Capt'n Cuck) who use "owning the libs" as a shtick to score food pellets in Maher's universe.

Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at February 24, 2019 12:48 PM (lD3vL)

432 Maher quipped. "The blue parts of America are having a big prosperity party while that big sea of red feels like their invitation got lost in the mail."

So when every single Democrat Politician opens their yap about how much they care for the "working" or "working poor", they are dedicating to improving the lives of every Trump Voter?

I'm so confused.
I did not know that inner-city gang bangers and their welfare queen mothers were in Forbes 500.

Posted by: Blue Bird of F'ing Joy at February 24, 2019 12:54 PM (lD3vL)

433 Bill Maher is one of those folks who are so insufferable that I literally pretend they do not exist.

Been reading "The Great War and Modern Memory," by Paul Fussell. I started it, & by God I'm going to finish it-- grinding it out one page at a time.

I was somewhat surprised to discover that virtually every famous English writer I've ever heard of was either homosexual; bisexual; or a repressed homosexual (eg., Gerard Manley Hopkins).

Posted by: strawdog at February 24, 2019 01:09 PM (Cssks)

434 Discovery of Witches was enjoyable, the following two less so, in my humble opinion, but overall the series wan't bad. The author is or was a wine critic for the LA Tines, iirc, and there is a little virtue signalling about the oppression of gays, but still and all not a bad read, if you're into the genre.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 24, 2019 01:50 PM (f332R)

435 Biden/Beto=Gropey/Dopey.

Posted by: LASue at February 24, 2019 01:56 PM (wMHPW)

436 399 I would call a duck savage if it killed its own horses.

duck savage? i've read a few of those. good fun.

Posted by: Anachronda at February 24, 2019 02:07 PM (Nto2L)

437 @114 --

I read the first "Umbrella Academy" trade and found it imaginative but not intriguing.

Didn't know it had come to TV until yesterday, when I was doing Netflix/Hulu housekeeping. (All my '70s shows are gone!) I added it to the list on just the name alone.

Glad to see some reviews. Thanks, Morons.

Now -- any reaction to "Doom Patrol," on the DC app? I rarely use apps, but if this show is good, I can try it.

Posted by: Weak Geek at February 24, 2019 02:20 PM (HrZZ/)

438 Watched first two installments of the Spanish civil war documentaries

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 02:26 PM (/rm4P)

439 425 Kamala will lose many, many current Biden voters.

Biden will lose many, many current Kamala/Bernie/Liz voters.

It's a wonderful thing, no?
Posted by: Ignoramus at February 24, 2019 12:31 PM (1UZdv)

Ah, but they'll come together in 2020 for the All Important Duty of defeating Trump.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V. at February 24, 2019 02:28 PM (d6Ksn)

440
I was somewhat surprised to discover that virtually every famous English writer I've ever heard of was either homosexual; bisexual; or a repressed homosexual (eg., Gerard Manley Hopkins).
Posted by: strawdog at February 24, 2019 01:09 PM (Cssks)

Waugh? Dickens? Orwell?

Posted by: Donna&&&&&&V. at February 24, 2019 02:29 PM (d6Ksn)

441 A bookstore find was Shoot to Kill by Brigadier Richard Miers.
Published in 1959, it is an account of the South Wales Borderers when he
commanded them from about 1955-58 during the Malayan Emergency. Very
interesting book and Miers doesn't just write about himself. He gives
plenty of space to various actions by his officers and men against the
Communist Terrorists; the books gives context to a conflict that I knew
happened but actually knew very little. Miers makes the claim that the
CT were Chinese attempting to export Communism to Malaya.

The book gets its title from the fact that, by this stage of the
Emergency, fighting was very brief since the small bands of CT would
retreat into the jungle on contact; therefore, the Commonwealth troops
had to put an emphasis on quick, accurate shooting in order to kill or
wound 1 or 2 CT before the rest fled into the brush. This a quick read
and the author has a self-deprecating sense of humor and obvious
affection for his men.

I highly recommend this book, lots of details about how the British
Army operated during the Malayan Emergency and it's a pretty quick read.
Rating = 4.5/5.
Retired Buckeye Cop,
That sounds like an interesting book in an area of history that I will freely admit I know very little about. Sounds like you got a great deal- ABE has copies but in the $20-30 dollar range and local library does not. Will have to put that on my watch our for list.

Posted by: Charlotte at February 24, 2019 03:31 PM (JwHYp)

442 434 Discovery of Witches was enjoyable, the following two less so, in my humble opinion, but overall the series wan't bad. The author is or was a wine critic for the LA Tines, iirc, and there is a little virtue signalling about the oppression of gays, but still and all not a bad read, if you're into the genre.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at February 24, 2019 01:50 PM (f332R)

Mrs. Muse and I sat down to watch the first episode. Got to the scene with the lesbians in bed, and that was the end of that. We'll find something else to watch..

Posted by: OregonMuse. AoSHQ Thought Leader & Pants Monitor at February 24, 2019 04:06 PM (Kb0pz)

443 The Spanish Civil War by Paul Stanley was so much better than The Boxer Rebellion by Gene Simmons, but they were overshadowed by Ace Freyley's acoustic version of Beth.

Posted by: Minuteman at February 24, 2019 05:22 PM (Mb0P5)

444 443 The Spanish Civil War by Paul Stanley was so much better than The Boxer Rebellion by Gene Simmons, but they were overshadowed by Ace Freyley's acoustic version of Beth.
Posted by: Minuteman at February 24, 2019 05:22 PM (Mb0P5)

Boo

Posted by: weirdflunky at February 24, 2019 05:51 PM (GwY6O)

445 129
Thanks

to whoever it was last Sunday who recommended Nick Petrie's "Light it

Up." I can't hardly put it down when life interfers with my reading

time. It's a fast paced, well written romp into theft within the legal

Colorado marijuana business. Petrie has three other books featuring his

hero, Peter Ash including one just released in January according to

fantasticfiction.com.

FF is a great website to keep up with all things books, too.

(I mistakenly posted on chess thread)
Kathy P-
Most welcome. This book thread has recommend some great books that I otherwise would not have read. Life is interfering with me reading the latest one.

The legal/illegal drug side of things should be great fodder for mystery and thriller writers. Anyone have suggestions on books that plot around marijuana industry dealing with being legal in states, but not federally. Lots of cash and opportunities for plots there I would think.

Posted by: Charlotte at February 24, 2019 06:00 PM (JwHYp)

446 Down 4 episodes of that BBC Spanish civil war documentaries

Posted by: Skip at February 24, 2019 06:41 PM (/rm4P)

447 If you're into investigatory books, I always pint to Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston. Either the Agent Pendergast novels of one of their "supernatural series." My first endeavor was "he Cabinet of Curiosities," where I was first introduced to FBI Agt. Pendergast.

For older horror, there is H. P. Lovecraft. One of my favorites is the Strange Case of Dexter Ward. It is an investigatory tale, where the main character digs yp the past in his family history. Absorbing! His tales are akin to the supernatural, and gripping.

Posted by: Psycho Chicken at February 25, 2019 01:50 AM (RE8Ho)

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