Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-04-2021

University of Bristol Library, Bristol, England

He is Risen!

Good morning to all you 'rons, 'ettes, lurkers, and lurkettes, wine moms, frat bros, crétins sans pantalon (who are technically breaking the rules). Welcome once again to the stately, prestigious, internationally acclaimed and high-class Sunday Morning Book Thread, a weekly compendium of reviews, observations, snark, witty repartee, hilarious bon mots, and a continuing conversation on books, reading, spending way too much money on books, writing books, and publishing books by escaped oafs and oafettes who follow words with their fingers and whose lips move as they read. Unlike other AoSHQ comment threads, the Sunday Morning Book Thread is so hoity-toity, pants are required. Even if it's-- holy crap, it looks like Brian Stelter here would not be allowed on the book thread because of-- well, you know. No. Just no. Not allowed. Ahem. Let's just move on, shall we?(go ahead and click that link. I double-dog dare you!)

Pic Note:

There wasn't much of anything about the history of the library on the University of Bristol's web site and I got tired of having to plow though a bunch of woke crap looking for information, so I gave up.

It Pays To Increase Your Word Power®

I can accept this. Unless there are exceptions.

108 Reading is fundamental: fun and mental!

Posted by: Joe Biden at February 07, 2016 10:07 AM (UBS9M)

Every Picture Tells a Story

Last Week Was International De-Lurk Day -- And I Forgot

Yeah, that's right, I screwed it up. A couple three of you delurked, which was great, but I suspect there were some that didn't. Sorry for not announcing it, my bad. ANyway, if you're holding back a review of recommendation, now is the time to post it in the comments. Please.

Some New Book Sites:

Last week, 'ette author Sabrina Chase wrote:

There is YOBS up, (yet another book site), and it looks pretty good. Bookbinge.com, currently still in beta, but it looks to me like a true second generation book site. Really nice layout, graphics, and behind-the-scenes coding (I can tell, I am a QA engineer in the daytime), and it looks like they are in the process of setting up forums and discussion groups. The true key to providing Amazon with competition will be the direct downloads, but we have the technology. Just a matter of time now.

Posted by: Sabrina Chase at March 28, 2021 09:57 AM (BSV0x)

Having never heard of it before, I bopped on over to http://bookbinge.com/, and, according to their 'about us' page, the site has been around since 2007. So, not really new, but maybe they've had some sort of recent site makeover so they look new. Anyway, it's run by a consortium of bibliophiles who read and review (mainly) romance novels. If you're an author, they have have a submissions page with contact info if you would like them to review one of your books.

Also, moron authors Max Cossack and Ammo Grrll have thrown in together (I didn't even know they were married) with their own site, VWAM Books to sell dead tree editions of their books, here, and here.

They also sell some Jewish music CDs.

Also,

To celebrate the store opening, there’s a special 20% DISCOUNT for ACE readers.

To receive the 20% discount, morons (or anyone else) can enter ACEDISCOUNT (one word, all CAPS) at checkout.

Max and Susan just want to provide their readers an alternative to Big Tech for book purchases.

Who Dis:

(click to enlarge)
(Last week's 'who dis' was the incomparable French actress Brigitte Bardot.

Addendum to 'The Transgender Industrial Complex'

Last week I mentioned that this book sounded like an interesting read. About that, I have some good news and some bad news. After I lamented the dead tree edition's high cost and lack of an e-book version, 'ette Tonestaple e-mailed and said, yes, there is actually an e-book version. For only $4.99. Which is a steal compared with the $47 price for the hardback.

So that's the good news.

The bad news is that the publisher appears to specialize in books extolling white nationalism and white nationalists, and by white nationalists, I don't mean Hugh Hewitt and Dinesh D'Souza or whichever conservatives are currently center-screened on the progressives' radar. I mean *actual* white nationalists (and anti-Semites) of the sort you never hear about because hardly anybody reads them. I had never heard of any of the authors of the books on that site. Of course, I probably should've realized this was a clue for me to do some further investigation.

Anyway, this guilt-by-association doesn't mean that The Transgender Industrial Complex is to be summarily discarded. Despite its dubious provenance, it still could be making a solid case based on reasonable arguments backed up with actual evidence. If that's the case, then it stands on its own.

Although if it claims that the transgender movement is being funded by a shadowy cabal of Jewish bankers, I'd be inclined to give it a pass.

Books By Morons

Got this e-mail from Joe Greer lurking author, back at the end of February:

Just discovered your Ace of morons blog via the Sunday Morning Book Thread. My book series, Portals of Yahweh, rolls right up your alley to split the pins.

The blurb for the first installment in the series, Roswell Boneyard, says this:

A gritty Sci-fi story of action, adventure, and poly romances. Not a book for prudish old women!! Real world, modern characters courageously drive the story farther and farther into the black void.

So there is a certain amount of action of the 'R' rated variety, iykwim.

The Eversole brothers develop a technology that will change the course of human history. But like all disrupting technologies, the weight of nations and greedy corporations that are eager to maintain their hegemony must be overcome. China is the most dangerous since they have decided it is their destiny to rule the world. They are the new Nazis.

There are still people of honor in the world’s militaries who understand all too well the corruption of the power elite. They throw their lot in with the Eversole crew to make something better.

Finding evidence of previous space faring peoples in our solar system is an ominous sign. The crew knows it is only a matter of time before there is a collision of civilizations and redouble their effort to promote Earth unity. Marco and Ariel who fought the Chinese in the South China Sea, now build a nascent military force for the coming storm. These will be starship troopers in the truest sense.

The Kindle edition is available for $3.99. The sequel is called Ghosts of Atlantis.

___________

Lurkette author 'Loretta the Prole' has just released her latest "Catholic aesthetic" urban fantasy, Rosita and the Beautiful Game. She tells me:

It’s about a law school student entangled in a doomed love triangle between a vampire and a lycan. It’s funny. It’s non-PC. There’s a tiny bit of lesbianism that goes nowhere. This is not a “story arc” novel like I’ve done. This is short and sharp and tight.

The Kindle edition is $3.00.

___________

Lurkette author Kerrie Noor is back with her latest sci-fi comedy, The Rise Of Manifesto The Great: A Sci Fi Comedy Where Women Wear The Trousers:

Manifesto the Great comes from a dynasty of leaders who treat women like breeding machines. When his father dies, he must take over as leader, but will he be able to keep control of the women?

The Rise Of Manifesto The Great is the first of three prequels to the Planet Hy Man science-fiction comedy series. If you like high-mileage heroines, fast-paced satire, and meticulously crafted universes, then you'll love Kerrie Noor's otherworldly farce.

Right now, the Kindle edition is on sale for 99 cents.

___________

Moron Recommendations

Given the day, this seemed an appropriate rec to start off with:

30 Thank you to the moron who suggested

Left to Tell

It's a survivor's first-hand true story of finding and trusting God during the Rwandan genocide. I'm not usually much on religious-leaning books, nor one where people hack each other to pieces with machetes just because their skin is more or less dark than someone else's, but this one is fantastic.

Coming soon to an America near you, btw.

Posted by: Lysenko -Official dot gov Wyoming COVID vaccination card link, should be 4.25x3.5 at March 28, 2021 09:19 AM (bm04m)

Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust was written by Immaculée Ilibagiza, a woman who

...grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.

Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them. It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculée discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God.

She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers. The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.

I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to endure a hellscape like this. And then to forgive those who murdered your family. It frightens me that that's an absolute requirement of the faith I profess.

The Kindle edition is $9.99.

___________

Also this one:

250 Lurker here. I just finished Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife by Ariel Sabar.In 2012, Karen King, a professor at Harvard Divinity School, made a splash by revealing an early Christian papyrus that referred to Jesus having a wife. Ariel Sabar embarked on an investigation into the provenance of the document. His search led him to a German-Floridian forger with pagan, possibly occult, connections. The Harvard professor comes off even worse. By the end of the book, she's exposed as a postmodernist feminist "scholar" who actually believes in neither facts nor history. It's an impressive feat of investigative journalism, and Sabar's takedown of the postmodern rot in academia is devastating.

Posted by: Linnet at March 28, 2021 10:55 AM (l8fD3)

Nothing I can add to this comprehensive description and review. Other than that the Kindle edition of Veritas: A Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus's Wife is a bit spendy at $14.99. But I may just shell out the bucks for it.

This reminds me of a similar incident that happened some years ago when the anti-Christian propagandist Elaine Pagels started bruiting about the heretical Gospel of Thomas as if it was some amazing new discovery that would revolutionize (i.e. destroy) what we knew about early Christian history. Of course, there's nothing new about the Gospel of Thomas: one of the early church fathers, I think it may have been Irenaeus, who compiled an extensive list of the crap "gospels" the Gnostics were promoting, and, the GoT was, get this, on the list. So it was something the Church had been aware of for centuries. Of course, Pagels isn't a scholar seeking truth, she's an advocate with an agenda.

A good antidote for Pagels' twaddle is Hidden Gospels: How the Search for Jesus Lost Its Way by Philip Jenkins, who argues that

...far from being revolutionary, such attempts to find an alternative Christianity date back at least to the Enlightenment. By employing the appropriate scholarly and historical methodologies, he demonstrates that the texts purported to represent pristine Christianity were in fact composed long after the canonical gospels found in the Bible. Produced by obscure heretical movements, these texts have attracted much media attention chiefly because they seem to support radical, feminist, and post-modern positions in the modern church.

And no one is going to find some big secret locked up inside a hidden vault down in some Vatican basement. Dan Brown hardest hit.

Also, it reminds me of a documentary Mrs. Muse and I just finished watching on Netflix, Murder Among the Mormons, which is about what happened when a supposed historical document concerning early Mormon history called "the White Salamander Letter" came to light in the 1980s. The events surrounding the discovery, including the process of determining the authenticity of historical documents (and how fake documents can be produced that look old) is discussed in detail and it was quite fascinating.

So if any of you still subscribe to Netflix, I would recommend this 3-part documentary.

___________

14 This week I read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Morgenstern has crafted a fantasy world deep below the surface of the Earth. It is a world of tunnels and rooms filled with books . . . filled with stories. There are stories within the story. The book is a love story, a mystery, and so much more. Quite unlike any other book that I've read before.

Posted by: Zoltan at March 28, 2021 09:10 AM (qb8uZ)

The Amazon blurb for The Starless Sea is quite lengthy and difficult to abridge, so I'm just going to leave it at that. But it does sound like an interesting read.

$11.99 on Kindle.

Captain Hate recommends the same author's other novel, The Night Circus. Le Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams) has come to town and strange things are afoot. First, it is only open at night. Also:

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway: a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them both, this is a game in which only one can be left standing. Despite the high stakes, Celia and Marco soon tumble headfirst into love, setting off a domino effect of dangerous consequences, and leaving the lives of everyone, from the performers to the patrons, hanging in the balance.

I like the Captain's somewhat back-handed compliment he gave to the author:

She has a gift for writing about things that other authors irritate me with, only she makes them interesting and compelling.

___________

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 Hot Coffee...The Good Book!!!

Posted by: qmark at April 04, 2021 08:01 AM (emnp2)

2 Audrey

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:02 AM (ONvIw)

3 Anyway was that pic from Charade?

Happy Easter!

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:02 AM (ONvIw)

4 Boker Tov
Happy Easter

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 04, 2021 08:03 AM (85Gof)

5 Tolle Lege!

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 08:03 AM (PiwSw)

6 The Early Morning Peeps have been summoned!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at April 04, 2021 08:03 AM (gtatv)

7 Back to the Jack Ryan series.

Posted by: Vic at April 04, 2021 08:03 AM (mpXpK)

8 Remember that today, it was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.

In MCMLXXXIV.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:04 AM (49Dnm)

9 Tolle Lege
Into final 100 pages of W.G.F. Jackson's The Battle of North Africa 1940-43. Operation Torch is starting.
As I often do start looking at maps, this time Google Earth and am sure revetments can be seen in the El Alamein area. Would make sense as who is about to go put the Sahara back to its original condition.

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:05 AM (Cxk7w)

10 I'm reading, and should finish today, Notes from Underground.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:07 AM (ONvIw)

11 Nice thread, I am not sure at this point that Zhou can read well, I am certain he does not comprehend anything.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:07 AM (Lzpvj)

12
g'mornin', book-ish 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at April 04, 2021 08:11 AM (DUIap)

13 I want that corner with the chair, books and light. And $100,000,000 so I can quit my job and read for days and days and days...

Happy Easter!

Posted by: Rosasharn at April 04, 2021 08:11 AM (PzBTm)

14 I read Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury. The book has been described as an alternative history thriller. An ex-ISIS fighter, Rasheed, acquires and incantation which allows him to travel in time. He goes back to 1683 and helps Mehmed IV, the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, capture the city of Vienna. The Empire then expands to all of Europe. After being made a governor of a province and ruling for years, Rasheed travels back to 2017 Paris to have a heart valve replaced. The Empire still exists and Ottoman flags fly over all of Europe. It's up to a small group to solve the puzzle that this mystery man carries, and go back in time to undo what Rasheed has done. A good read, but not exceptional.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 04, 2021 08:12 AM (kiyX4)

15 Good Morning, Bookies.

Posted by: Zombie Pascal at April 04, 2021 08:13 AM (DRw+m)

16 Clever book arranging. It does indeed have something topical to say.

That aside, one of the books is On The Beach, a book which once upon a time made a big impression on my young teenage self.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:14 AM (BjGw6)

17 I truly appreciate foreigners who put the time and effort into learning English, it is tough to learn compared to most other languages.

English also shapes the thought process and helps to civilize those savages.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 04, 2021 08:15 AM (EZebt)

18 started The Last Battle...despite the real story...it's chilling and reminiscence of our current times...How swift and violent the subjugation of Austria was...

Posted by: qmark at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (emnp2)

19 That aside, one of the books is On The Beach, a book which once upon a time made a big impression on my young teenage self.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:14 AM (BjGw6)

Yep, it was powerful when I was young. Now if I had to choose my favorite Shute book, it would be A Town Like Alice.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (ONvIw)

20 "Colleges everywhere are getting rid of their libraries"

said my college President before he got rid of our library. That was over decade ago. We live in stupid times.

Posted by: torabora at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (JPUh6)

21 Happy Easter Book Horde !

Posted by: JT at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (arJlL)

22 hiya

Posted by: JT at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (arJlL)

23 Finishing up Six Frigates and going to start on Catch-22 later today. The Joseph Heller book sounds like 2020 & 2021 combined.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:17 AM (jvt6t)

24 I don't think the pants guy owns a weedwhacker (if you catch my drift)

Posted by: JT at April 04, 2021 08:17 AM (arJlL)

25 Good morning, all - busy with renovations to the front bedroom this week, but a writer friend of mine from California (who was the one who walked me through writing my first historical - To Truckee's Trail) sent me a copy of one of his more recent projects, "Hard Boiled Surf Pulp Fiction" - a collection of short stories (lavishly illustrated!) in the old pulp-fiction style.
https://tinyurl.com/9v2zstkv
The front cover illustration is very much in that tradition. I can't see that he has a follow-up issue yet, and the issue itself is a bit spendy, but if you like that sort of thing -- and surfing! -- it might be worth it.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 04, 2021 08:18 AM (xnmPy)

26 20 Posted by: torabora at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (JPUh6)

The stupidity is by choice from top and bottom. The parting gift of the WW2/Boomer generation was a system that allowed the free exchange of data, ideals, and opinion. Karen the Wine Mom decided what it was for was kitty pics and Doug the Dude t*tty pics.

Five hundred years from now the survivors of whatever idiotic thing leads to this current civilization imploding will shake their heads at us.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:19 AM (Lzpvj)

27 Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:14 AM (BjGw6)

I recently read On The Beach, about 6-8 months ago. It still sends chills.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:19 AM (jvt6t)

28 Happy Easter!

I know that my Redeemer lives! What comfort this sweet sentence gives.

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 08:19 AM (4I/2K)

29 Happy Easter, everyone! Imaculee (I can never spell her last name right) also speaks for groups. Friends of mine went to one of her talks a few years ago and absolutely raved about her. It's amazing what good can come of such evil.

At moron recommendation, I read A Canticle for Leibowitz. I finished it in one day, interrupted periodically by the need to stir the rendering lard. Highly recommended!

Posted by: Catherine -- who generally doesn't curse. at April 04, 2021 08:20 AM (3xOfR)

30 Amazon Will Give 50% Discounts On Prime Membership To People On Welfare

How about 75% off for the US Military?

Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 04, 2021 08:20 AM (85Gof)

31 I also read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. The book begins with a famous actor dying on stage in a play in Toronto. The same night, a flight from Moscow to Toronto brings the Georgian flu virus to North America. A virus that will soon wipe out most of the world's population. The book jumps forward fifteen years and a woman who was on that stage that night as a child actor is now an actress with the Traveling Symphony, a troupe that moves between small settlements in this altered world, performing music and Shakespeare. The book goes back and forth in time, giving the back stories of the characters. A well-written interesting book.

Posted by: Zoltan at April 04, 2021 08:22 AM (kiyX4)

32 20 "Colleges everywhere are getting rid of their libraries"

said my college President before he got rid of our library. That was over decade ago. We live in stupid times.
Posted by: torabora at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (JPUh6)

This is s big part of the reason I am still buying physical books. Not having them is insane. It would be pretty easy to selectively edit e-books into what the oligarchy wants. They are increasingly masterful at cancelling and altering reality. Having great books and anthologies seems important now.

I would love that horsey little library corner, except I'd deck it out with doggos.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:22 AM (ONvIw)

33 Not exactly a book, but fellow Tolkien enthusiasts may enjoy Sauron's Blog. Start at the bottom of the page with post #1.https://tinyurl.com/5vn65xxj

Posted by: davidt at April 04, 2021 08:22 AM (DRw+m)

34 When working at Villanova Library a few years ago they were dumptering books but the dumpter load, but in theory after they were digitized. Only casual looked once and didn't see anything I wanted and didn't have time to look more than that once.

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:22 AM (Cxk7w)

35 27 Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:19 AM (jvt6t)

I reread "Alas Babylon" same thing, for a better understanding of where we are headed you can replace "nuclear exchange" with "retarded leadership and an unserious population" and get a lot of the same "fun rollercoaster ride."

The post-electricity era will kill a lot of people.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:22 AM (Lzpvj)

36 The movie does no justice to Joseph Heller's book

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:24 AM (Cxk7w)

37 This may be a nit, but if you're going to bookbinge.com, please use https://bookbinge.com, not http. It's more secure.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM (PiwSw)

38 Nice Lieberry!

Those pants....forget about it.

The Who Dis is Hillary Diane Rodham in that 5 minute span during her lifetime when she was actually attractive and before she began having people whacked.

Posted by: Hairyback Guy at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM (R/m4+)

39 "A hospital bed is a parked taxi with the meter running."

- Groucho Marx, counting the minutes

Posted by: BackwardsBoy - Psychos Rule! No, really. They're in charge now. at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM (HaL55)

40 Morning all! Thanks Oregon Muse! hiya Sgt Mom and AH Lloyd!

My book Combat Engineer is officially released tomorrow. When I asked the publisher what that actually meant, as it's been available for order, and they have been printing and shipping it already, he admitted it's more of a traditional term with little specific meaning. LOL

Posted by: goatexchange at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM (bDyGY)

41 "Colleges everywhere are getting rid of their libraries"

said my college President before he got rid of our library. That was over decade ago. We live in stupid times.
Posted by: torabora at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM (JPUh6)

Nothing says independent thinking like the herdlike behavior in the old folks home at the kollidge.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM (y7DUB)

42 I am sorry Elaine Pagels has had so much go wrong in her life. Perhaps she would have ended in a different place in her scholarship had those events not happened.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:27 AM (BjGw6)

43 30 Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 04, 2021 08:20 AM (85Gof)

Bwahaha I will charge you 100% more.

//Jeffy

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:27 AM (Lzpvj)

44 Dang. Some good recommendations already after only 36 comments. Going to Half Price Books today.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:27 AM (jvt6t)

45 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:30 AM (u82oZ)

46 Lots of people struggle with the difference between affect and effect.

***

Ineffectual - a limerick

An influencer tries to affect
The outcome to have an effect
But if your affect is your mien
You can effect a change of scene
This language is utterly fecked!

Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 08:30 AM (m45I2)

47 Delurking! I recommend Kurt Schlicter's Kelly Turnbull five book series about the breaking up of America into Red and Blue states. As he states "This wasn't meant to be a how-to manual." Also, I've always been partial to the Archer Mayor Joe Gunther books set in Vermont, especially "Bellows Falls".

Posted by: Rodent at April 04, 2021 08:30 AM (A3Tmb)

48 Morning, 'rons and 'ronettes. Happy Easter!

Reading These Are The Voyages, the first volume of a three-volume series covering the history of Start Trek through the original series' three seasons. Light reading, though with a lot of research behind it. My mind's not in a place for anything heavy just now.

Watched part of The Bible last night on the History Channel, mostly the bit about Jesus. Was amazed at the reverent take on it; it sad when you end up surprised that a TV show takes your faith seriously. The leading man, Diogo Morgado, is of course, your stereotypical "white" Jesus, but had a lot of presence.

The Passion was very much a small-screen version of Gibson's movie, IMO, and that made it painful to watch. And they had one of my most heart-breaking bits, the cry of the good thief Dismas that Jesus remember him.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:33 AM (2JVJo)

49 He is risen!

I am awake.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 08:34 AM (Zszf3)

50 Those invisible pants are fine.

Posted by: Guy tat has extraordinarily bad ideas at April 04, 2021 08:34 AM (vjNa+)

51 Speaking of old books, i cleaned out my attic this week and one of the books I found was The Tontine by Thomas Costain. I have it on my nightstand pike to reread. My memory is it was a character driven Dickens-like story of 19th century England and very entertaining. I need some light reading right now.

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:35 AM (BjGw6)

52 Slow, slow, day with the holiday, which I hope is being happily celebrated. I have friends planning to attend physical services, and I applaud this.

I have some more literature anthologies arriving tomorrow.
I seem to be craving a physical collection. My husband is a e-book fiend who trusts the publishers and Bezos.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:36 AM (ONvIw)

53
I recently read On The Beach, about 6-8 months ago. It still sends chills.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:19 AM (jvt6t)

---
I watched some of the movie when I still had access to TCM. It seemed like a fictionalized version of Berlin in 1945.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:36 AM (llXky)

54 Nothing really backhanded in my praise for Erin Morgenstern who is a very talented writer able to hold my interest in areas that others fail miserably at. It's a rare gift. It started on the first part of The Night Circus when she described a lonely little girl who was able to make inanimate objects do things. Lesser writers would make me roll my eyes and put the book permanently down but she was able to not only make me stay interested but actively wonder what happens next.

Happy Easter OM and thanks for the latest iteration of my favorite thread.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 08:37 AM (y7DUB)

55 I've read "Veritas", and I can underscore Linnet's fine review. The book is old-fashioned shoeleather journalism at its best; the real "veritas" ("truth", for the 'rons and 'rettes in Rio Linda) is author's willingness to follow the evidence wherever it lead. The "revolutionary" text that Dr King placed so much faith in, was a crude forgery made by a German immigrant whose day job was running a "horny wives" porn site. Like every good forger, he tailored his forgery to what he knew the mark most wanted to find. "Veritas" is a story of the perils of wokeness, and the credulity of those who believe in it; but it's also a parable for all of us, not to let our vision be clouded by our hopes and desires. A very good book, well worth reading.

Posted by: Nemo at April 04, 2021 08:37 AM (S6ArX)

56 How about 75% off for the US Military?
Posted by: Nevergiveup at April 04, 2021 08:20 AM (85Gof)

Those warmongers? The military should be disbanded. The military is a disgusting organization. If you want to spend a single penny on stupidities like national defense, you are a warmonger.

Posted by: Michael Berry at April 04, 2021 08:37 AM (49Dnm)

57 Still rereading To Lose a Battle: France 1940[i/] by Alistair Horne.

The German 2nd Panzer Division is at the English Channel. The best French Army and the BEF are cut off from the rest of France.

All of the four French Armored Divisions, with better tanks but not better communications and leadership, have been destroyed in detail. Colonel De Gaulle failed in his poorly supported and executed counterattack with the 4th Armored Division to sever the supply lines of the distant panzers.

Lots of what-ifs to ponder. There are a few wargames that explore that, but special rules are needed for the French. Because they were that stupid. Retrospective knowledge can stop the Germans cold. Alas.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:38 AM (u82oZ)

58 The Passion was very much a small-screen version of
Gibson's movie, IMO, and that made it painful to watch. And they had
one of my most heart-breaking bits, the cry of the good thief Dismas
that Jesus remember him.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:33 AM (2JVJo)

---
I'm not a fan of Gibson's movie. My wife bought it on DVD and for a few years we watched it during Holy Week but I find a better movie to be Risen, which is not only more accessible to non-believers, but a superior film overall.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:38 AM (llXky)

59 Yikes. Thank you Pixy.

I'll still saunter over to the Barrel for a bit.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (u82oZ)

60 A shorter Book Shelf:

"After Many a Summer"

"A Confederacy of Dunces'

"Poison"

"Life in the West"

Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (dWwl8)

61 THese are NOT the racist youre looking for!

Governor Phil Scott

If you or anyone in your household identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC), including anyone with Abenaki or other First Nations heritage, all household members who are 16 years or older can sign up to get a vaccine!

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (yrol0)

62 I suggest we stop calling it the C-19 pandemic and call it what it really has become.
The Fauci/Birx Genocide

Per WHO and OxFam the Fauci/Birx Genocide is number 3 in the list and is rocketing up the charts. The Fauci/Birx Genocide should pass Hitler by mid summer and then Mao later in the year for the number 1 spot.

Posted by: Mark at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (82kOd)

63 Given how many of you read science fiction, an International De-Lurk Day appears planetist, if not galaxyist. Open your minds, people. Don't bogart your spaciotemporal relationship with the Multiverse!

Posted by: Lazarus Long at April 04, 2021 08:40 AM (DMUuz)

64 I also found Ray Stannard Baker/David Grayson's books on Project Gutenberg.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:40 AM (ONvIw)

65 Michael Berry

If that is what you think, then what of the Chinese Military? They are evil, and serve evil leaders without hesitation.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:40 AM (u82oZ)

66 That photo of book titles makes me want to be a fly on the wall at the meetings/calls where titles are decided.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 08:40 AM (Zszf3)

67
Reading These Are The Voyages, the first volume of a three-volume series covering the history of Start Trek through the original series' three seasons. Light reading, though with a lot of research behind it. My mind's not in a place for anything heavy just now.

I never was much for Star Trek. I tried seeing TOS as a kid and always came away with "WTF?" My parents brought home Star Trek: TSMP and Star Trek: The Wrath of KHAN!!!! back in te day and I thumbed my nose at them. (Although I have fond memories of seeing IV in middle school one day...)

But all my knowledge of the series comes from Star Trek: History of the Future. Are those books anything like that?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:41 AM (49Dnm)

68
If you or anyone in your household identifies as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color (BIPOC), including anyone with Abenaki or other First Nations heritage, all household members who are 16 years or older can sign up to get a vaccine!

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (yro

They are welcome to my share of the RNA "vax"

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:41 AM (ONvIw)

69 Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:39 AM (u82oZ)

It is Easter. You are forgiven.

Posted by: The Barrell at April 04, 2021 08:42 AM (jvt6t)

70 Let's see, what else?

Waiting to hear from a publisher about my second Theda Bara book.

Some of you might remember last week I mentioned a story about a woman who got a letter from Jesus saying he was coming over to dinner. I got most of the details wrong, but some of you were kind enough to say you like my version better. Yesterday, I had ideas of how the story could be "opened up" and made into a small film, which is something I have never done. So I'm putting that as a future project, sketching out some ideas and then seeing if I can figure out how to write a screenplay.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:42 AM (2JVJo)

71 I've put Livy back on the shelf for a while. I know the Hannibal story pretty well, and I'll come back to it. I was more interested in the gaps in my Roman history. Now that I've reached familiar territory I want something different.

So I'm diving into Chinese history. Bought a bunch of Osprey books, which are a great way to hop around picking up tidbits. Easier to digest than a doorstop-sized tome.

I did this to fill out my knowledge of the Spanish Civil War and it seems a good way to go. If I get a bigger book, these will help inform my choice of what to get via not just their knowledge but their own bibliographies.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:43 AM (llXky)

72 65 Michael Berry

If that is what you think, then what of the Chinese Military? They are evil, and serve evil leaders without hesitation.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:40 AM (u82oZ)

On his radio show he bitches constantly about "warmongers". His is the Ron Paul attitude towards national defense and international relations. (Though to his immense credit he DOES support veterans. Still doesn't take away from his foolishness concerning the military.) And oddly, for a self-described libertarian, he worships the police in a way that is the walking definition of "obsequious".

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:43 AM (49Dnm)

73 "I recently read On The Beach, about 6-8 months ago. It still sends chills."

Neville Shute is largely forgotten nowadays, but he is a marvelous writer. I strongly recommend "The Trustee From the Toolroom" as a story of a man uses all of his enormous skill as a craftsman to fulfill a promise.

By the way, in his day job, Shute (full name: Neville Shute Norway) was an aeronautical engineer. His autobiography "Sliderule" has a long section on his work on the privately built R-100 airship, its competition with the government-designed R-101, and the catastrophe that resulted. Outstanding reading, especially for those interested in the history of aeronautics.

Posted by: Nemo at April 04, 2021 08:43 AM (S6ArX)

74 Read Next To Last Stand by Craig Johnson. Latest in Walt Longmire series, it was a solid, comfortable walk with the characters. Not his best book, but certainly not a time waster. Focused on a famous painting of Custer's Last Stand.

Posted by: Charlotte at April 04, 2021 08:44 AM (Ak/GS)

75 It is Easter. You are forgiven.
Posted by: The Barrell at April 04, 2021 08:42 AM (jvt6t)

--------------

Thread winner

Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:44 AM (BjGw6)

76 But all my knowledge of the series comes from Star Trek: History of the Future. Are those books anything like that?
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:41 AM (49Dnm)

I have no idea; I've never read that. This is a history of the show, how it was produced and how the stories were written and shot. It doesn't take place in the world of the Federation at all.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:44 AM (2JVJo)

77 Happy Easter!
I mentioned the "History for Atheists" blog and podcast last week. Tim O'Neill is an Aussie atheist but he's also a historian with integrity who has contempt for the New Atheist twisting of historical truth. He completely demolishes New Atheist myths (ie, the Christians destroyed classical learning; the Church hated science and unjustly persecuted Galileo; "Hitler's Pope"). He points out that a lot of the garbage began in the Reformation, when Protestants were unwilling to admit the monks had ever done anything good. During the Enlightenment, what had started as an attack on Catholicism broadened to attacks on Christianity itself. Centuries later, the anti-theists still cling to Gibbons' smears.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 08:45 AM (HabA/)

78 So I'm diving into Chinese history. Bought a bunch of Osprey books, which are a great way to hop around picking up tidbits. Easier to digest than a doorstop-sized tome.

For something of interest: Frank Dikotter's "The Cultural Revolution: A People's History 1962-1976" is highly recommended. It's the last in a trilogy of books coverning Mao's China.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:45 AM (49Dnm)

79 Slow, slow, day with the holiday, which I hope is being happily
celebrated. I have friends planning to attend physical services, and I
applaud this.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:36 AM (ONvIw)

---
This is the first in-person Easter Mass our diocese has held in two years. The Good Friday service was packed, despite being at 12:15 in the afternoon.

With the social distancing, I anticipate seating being tough, so we're leaving half an hour early.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:45 AM (llXky)

80 The Barrell

Thank you. I intend to straighten up and fly right.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:46 AM (u82oZ)

81 If you stop forking out money to Disney, Coca Cola, the NBA, the MLB, Delta, etc., please don't start feeding white nationalists, even if their ebook "intersects" (which is how they entice you) with your ideals. Thank you.

Posted by: Biden's Dog at April 04, 2021 08:46 AM (9clAr)

82 The Passion was very much a small-screen version of Gibson's movie, IMO, and that made it painful to watch. And they had one of my most heart-breaking bits, the cry of the good thief Dismas that Jesus remember him.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:33 AM (2JVJo)

I have very good friend 7th day. His wife died and I spoke and said she was in Paradise this very day. They think people just sleep until resurrection.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:46 AM (yrol0)

83 Reached the part of Thucydides (book 5) where after Brasidas had turned the momentum against Athens, both major players decided on a truce. Which was fine from their perspective but a lot of their client states said "fuck that we've got work to do". So it was kind of a truce with each side telling the other to keep their underlings from stirring the shit. Mostly...

Reached the point in VDH's companion book, A War Like No Other (helpfully suggested by NaClyDog) where he talks about how heavy metal Hoplite battles, steeped in the Greek concept of honor on the open field, began being replaced by more nimble warriors being able wreak more havoc in all settings. Too bad more things haven't been supplanted, like the current fake Olympics run by international grifters and cocksuckers containing zero honor.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 08:47 AM (y7DUB)

84 let me send out a qualified note about William H Boyd's book, Term Life, which is kinda a spin on the Faust story, from a network security, Catholic, Austin Texas perspective.

For me, Bill writes incredibly realistic dialog and that moves the story along even though he told me when i mentioned that i thought the ending was weak that he had trouble figuring out the ending.

as far as the "Austin, TX" perspective, there's lots of local spots mentioned. Since i'm not a resident, i only assume some of them are real.

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 08:47 AM (N7mou)

85 NYT PANIC PORN

At the moment, most vaccines appear to be effective against the variants. But public health officials are deeply worried that future iterations of the virus may be more resistant to the immune response

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:47 AM (yrol0)

86 79:Good! I hope you enjoy the service and the day. A friend was telling me he's planning to get to church very early too to be sure to get a seat.

IIRC a lot of Catholics used to get to Church early for Midnight masses on Christmas. I know some of them were beautiful with the choirs and music.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:49 AM (ONvIw)

87 Good morning and Blessed Easter fellow Book Threadists. I hope everyone had a great week of reading.

Posted by: JTB at April 04, 2021 08:49 AM (7EjX1)

88 Wrong? No. But I could be mistaken.

Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 08:50 AM (AwYPR)

89 I love that photo of the reading corner. Somebody had the right idea.

Posted by: JTB at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (7EjX1)

90
IIRC a lot of Catholics used to get to Church
early for Midnight masses on Christmas. I know some of them were
beautiful with the choirs and music.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:49 AM (ONvIw)

---
We still do. The Easter vigil Mass is somewhat of an endurance contest, but this is when new people are welcomed into the Church. Very moving.

Plus, you get to sleep in the next day.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (llXky)

91 Nemo

I am a Nevil Shute completist. His books are favorites of mine. He puts work and characters at the center of the tale. And very rarely there is a sorta villain. But mostly average people carrying on.

For Easter, I recommend Round the Bend. On the surface, it is a tale of an aviation business setting up after WWII. But it is much more. I think it is his best book. Has a powerful religious punch.

The Trustee From the Toolroom is heartwarming. A very good story, and one of his last after many novels.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (u82oZ)

92 Public health officials are deeply worried that the public might develop immunity to their threats. Anxiety kills.

Posted by: klaftern at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (RuIsu)

93 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:45 AM (llXky)

Hope everyone can attend services today, if able.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (jvt6t)

94 For something of interest: Frank Dikotter's "The
Cultural Revolution: A People's History 1962-1976" is highly
recommended. It's the last in a trilogy of books coverning Mao's China.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 08:45 AM (49Dnm)

---
I will have to look into that. Thanks!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:53 AM (llXky)

95 Posted by: goatexchange at April 04, 2021 08:26 AM

Definitely interested

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:53 AM (Cxk7w)

96 91 Nemo

I am a Nevil Shute completist. His books are favorites of mine. He puts work and characters at the center of the tale. And very rarely there is a sorta villain. But mostly average people carrying on.

For Easter, I recommend Round the Bend. On the surface, it is a tale of an aviation business setting up after WWII. But it is much more. I think it is his best book. Has a powerful religious punch.

The Trustee From the Toolroom is heartwarming. A very good story, and one of his last after many novels.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (u82oZ)

Beach Party Bingo>>On the Beach

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (yrol0)

97 Public health officials are deeply worried that the con is up.

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (4I/2K)

98 Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (u82oZ)

I have a pad next to my laptop that is quickly filling up with titles/authors. Gonna have to break the piggy bank open.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 08:55 AM (jvt6t)

99 I finished Tom Holland's "Dynasty" - a wonderfully entertaining read about the Caesars from Augustus through Nero. I have loved everything I've read by him so far. Right now, though, I've started "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman, about the first month of WWI. The Germans are pissing me off big time - thanks for ruining the 20th century, you blockheads. All the Great Powers were stupid in their own way though - the Russians thought their superior manpower would make up for lack of ammo and new-fangled gadgets like artillery, the frogs wore highly visible red pants into battle because gray and khaki fatigues were so drab and boring. So they made themselves nice targets. They also thought the Germans would mainly come plowing through Alsace and Lorraine and not though that nice flat Belgian countryside to the north. The Brits hewed and hawed and dithered.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (HabA/)

100 Public health officials are deeply worried that the con is up.
Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (4I/2K)

Statist Fear States Statement Will Be Counterstated

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (yrol0)

101 97 Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (4I/2K)

The Asian doctor saying the quiet part out loud that "if we open back up we have no stick to enforce compliance."

Honey, I am old enough to remember when bints like you though the vaccine was an unsafe Trump plot.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (Lzpvj)

102 Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 08:47 AM

At TMP a thread was started on VDH's ancient history, not into ancients hardly but keeping a eye on it as politics while frowned upon, Leftists will try to get their opinions in.

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (Cxk7w)

103 97; The "pandemic' must never end

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (ONvIw)

104 Posted by: Rosasharn at April 04, 2021 08:11 AM (PzBTm)

Happy Easter! It's goid to "see" you. Are you doing okay?

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (1lKRm)

105 Last week someone mentioned Peter J. Kreeft's book "The Philosophy Of Tolkien". Turns out I had a copy on the shelf but I had forgot about it. Started it and it makes pleasing and informative reading. I'll have more to say when it's finished.

Posted by: JTB at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (7EjX1)

106 UK police raid Seder supper!
https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/
1378422576846938116

Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (1yPl/)

107 96 Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (yrol0)

They both end up in the same place....

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (Lzpvj)

108 Good Morning to all my grey box friends! He is Risen!!

May God bless you and keep you, now and forever.

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 04, 2021 08:58 AM (9etX0)

109 He points out that a lot of the garbage began in the
Reformation, when Protestants were unwilling to admit the monks had
ever done anything good. During the Enlightenment, what had started as
an attack on Catholicism broadened to attacks on Christianity itself.
Centuries later, the anti-theists still cling to Gibbons' smears.

Posted by: Donna

---
Yeah, it's weird how those broadsides got redirected back at Protestants. Weirder how so many seem to agree with them.

The funny thing is, if you actually apply the standard neo-Marxist analysis, the Reformation basically becomes the crown and aristocracy making themselves more powerful by taking all the church lands. Which of course they did.

And the notion of separation between church and state was never about Catholicism, because it was always separate from the state. It was about the state churches set up by Protestants, specifically the C of E, which was basically a martyr factory for decades.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:58 AM (llXky)

110 Public health officials are deeply worried that the con is up.
Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (4I/2K)

They've got the hook so securely set on DeWine that there's no way that walleye will ever shake it until we the people rip it out.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 08:58 AM (y7DUB)

111 Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt

Glad you are liking that book.

Victor Davis Hanson got his big hit in a detailed examination of Hoplite battles, The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece (1989). I am going through it in my copious spare time.

He wrote the ground-breaking Warfare and Agriculture in Classical Greece in 1983 with a 2nd ed. in 1998.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 08:59 AM (u82oZ)

112 MP4 --

I read a book about the making of ST:TOS. One of its authors was Robert Justman, the associate producer of the show.

Shatner comes off as a jerk, once starting a fistfight with a film editor who dared to criticize his acting. At a party, no less. He is also alleged to have stolen toupees.

Roddenberry, too, for his casting of his mistress Majel Barrett and his cheating on her as well as his wife.

Even Lucille Ball takes some shots for her worrying about who was taking the gas station's green stamps and her abrupt, brief notice when she sold Desilu.

Fun reading. I'll have to find the books you mentioned.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 08:59 AM (6Mz9v)

113 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 08:51 AM (llXky)

I went to a Vigil Mass last evening and I thought it might last until the Second Coming. Two and a half hours - that's a record for me!

My Orthodox priest cousin would laugh if he heard that.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 08:59 AM (HabA/)

114 112 Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 08:59 AM (6Mz9v)

Gene Coon was the spine of Star Trek, without Coon it never gets coherent enough to have a following and it would be no better revered than Lost in Space.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:01 AM (Lzpvj)

115 ah, Tuchman's Guns of August. It and her The March of Folly used to be on my 10 best books, always worth reading. Though my opinon of her choice of examples in TMoF has declined somewhat. Her perspective on gov'ts that do what is contrary to their best interests seems particulary relevant now.

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 09:01 AM (N7mou)

116 Happy Easter Book thread, Horde!

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:01 AM (GBZnB)

117 Salty - since reading WWII history right after the fall of France started looking into period tanks. Found a excellent series on YouTube The Chieftains Hatch where a tour in and out of these tanks is given. Probably seen 7 of them since Friday.

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 09:02 AM (Cxk7w)

118 I just picked up Delia Owen's Where the Crawdads Sing. Haven't cracked the cover yet, but am hopeful for a good read.

I'm a sucker for Southern Gothic novels, or really anything set in the wilds of the south. Always feels close to home, naturally.

Which makes me wonder - author's choose location, location, location for a reason. Each location is meant to impart a visual feel, a style, a mindscape to the reader.

How often that takes place in a city, or a particular region of the country is something I find interesting.

Like, what does setting your book in Omaha, NE impart upon the reader? NYC? North Carolina? Arizona?

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 04, 2021 09:02 AM (9etX0)

119 At TMP a thread was started on VDH's ancient history, not into ancients hardly but keeping a eye on it as politics while frowned upon, Leftists will try to get their opinions in.
Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (Cxk7w)

Early in the book VDH told the reader to think of Athens like the USA trying to export self governance of a sort in ways that not every place was receptive to. Reading that during the four glorious years of the Golden Scalpweasel made me much more receptive to that concept.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:03 AM (y7DUB)

120 Right now, though, I've started "The Guns of August"
by Barbara Tuchman, about the first month of WWI.

Posted by: Donna
---
It's an excellent read, though I think some of her narrative events have been modified with new research.

The big lesson I took from it is that prolonged peace makes people bored which in turn makes them stupid.

And here we are.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:04 AM (llXky)

121 Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 08:56 AM (HabA/)

If you liked Holland's Dynasty, you should read his Millenium, which is about the world leaing up to (and including) the year 1000. I liked it a lot.

And as far as WWI, I'm more pissed at the Austrians than the Germans. Sure, both General Staffs wanted war, but it was the Austrians wanting to kick the shit out of Serbia for years that, IMO, was the real spark that set things off. For all his bluster and sword-rattling, Wilhelm II didn't want a war.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:05 AM (2JVJo)

122 120 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:04 AM (llXky)

I gathered a similar appreciation for idiocy during the Edwardian Age myself. The difference is that the leadership class of every nation in "Guns of August" loved their nation and wanted their country to thrive. Ours does not.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:06 AM (Lzpvj)

123 ah, Tuchman's Guns of August. It and her The March of Folly used to be
on my 10 best books, always worth reading. Though my opinon of her
choice of examples in TMoF has declined somewhat. Her perspective on
gov'ts that do what is contrary to their best interests seems
particulary relevant now.

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 09:01 AM (N7mou)

---
Her book on the 14th Century, A Distant Mirror had good parts but was awful in others. She's a classic second wave feminist and also a legacy Protestant, so her discussion of the Church and social structure was both ignorant and condescending. She's better when she just follows the flow of events.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:06 AM (llXky)

124 I have no idea; I've never read that. This is a history of the show, how it was produced and how the stories were written and shot. It doesn't take place in the world of the Federation at all.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 08:44 AM (2JVJo)

Gotcha.

"History of the Future" is just about how the world of Star Trek came to be, and is done with research of TOS and I believe TNG (I read this in 1994). That's how I made sense of the Star Trek world. I'm no Trekkie, but I don't hate the show either. For me it's just "meh".

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:06 AM (49Dnm)

125 And as far as WWI, I'm more pissed at the Austrians
than the Germans. Sure, both General Staffs wanted war, but it was the
Austrians wanting to kick the shit out of Serbia for years that, IMO,
was the real spark that set things off. For all his bluster and
sword-rattling, Wilhelm II didn't want a war.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:05 AM (2JVJo)

---
Austria-Hungary hadn't won a war in a long time so they figured they were due. Oops.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:08 AM (llXky)

126 107 96 Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 08:54 AM (yrol0)

They both end up in the same place....

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 08:57 AM (Lzpvj)

Death by Ferrari?

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:08 AM (yrol0)

127 ---
Her book on the 14th Century, A Distant Mirror had good parts but was awful in others. She's a classic second wave feminist and also a legacy Protestant, so her discussion of the Church and social structure was both ignorant and condescending. She's better when she just follows the flow of events.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:06 AM (llXky)

I never read that Tuchman was a Protestant.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:08 AM (ONvIw)

128 Her book on the 14th Century, A Distant Mirror had good parts but was awful in others. She's a classic second wave feminist and also a legacy Protestant, so her discussion of the Church and social structure was both ignorant and condescending. She's better when she just follows the flow of events.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:06 AM (llXky)

I'm a mediaevalist, so I wanted to like Mirror, but it was one of the most tedious books I've evre struggled through. I don't even think I made it all the way to the end. I finally tossed it when I realized it was taking up shelf space I could use for a book I enjoyed.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (2JVJo)

129 I've had a copy of "On the Beach" on the shelf for years without reading it, but recently tried watching the movie.
Boring like a soap opera. Hoping the book is better.

Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (vuisn)

130 121 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:05 AM (2JVJo)

The Russians have their part in the fun as well. Realistically a World War was doomed to happen. The German staff understood demographic realities as well as they understood why they could beat the hell out of Fwance. Fwance had a military age male problem that led to French draftees having to serve extra time to make up the difference.

Russia was making huge headways into operational and strategic mobility and the OHL understood that by 1921 standing against the Fwench and Wussians would be an impossibility which would have altered the diplomatic balance unacceptably.

Had Prussia been thinking clearly they would have started WW1 in 1902.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (Lzpvj)

131 #106 Sorry, U.S. police raid!

Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (1yPl/)

132 126 Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:08 AM (yrol0)

High speed object at any rate.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:10 AM (Lzpvj)

133 @118 --

In a Spider-Man story in the '80s, Peter Parker received a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan.

Of course he didn't take it -- NYC uber alles -- but it's a source of "what if" speculation for me.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 09:11 AM (6Mz9v)

134 RE: Star Trek, I have an old copy of The Making of Star Trek, from the 1960s co-authored by Gene Roddenberry. It's got lots of behind the scenes info, but none of the juicy stuff.

While a fan of TOS, I can't imagine making that much of a deep dive into a TV show.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:11 AM (llXky)

135 I never read that Tuchman was a Protestant.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:08 AM (ONvIw)

---
I don't know her religion, but she absolutely evidences believing the lazy anti-Catholic Protestant tropes referenced upthread.

Nothing is more damning than a historian who doesn't bother to know the actual history and instead relies on bigoted "common knowledge."

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (llXky)

136 Skip

I pretty much avoid Utube, but that campaign shows that tanks that were poorly designed but in good communications with their other tanks and the odd 88 mm anti-tank gun can beat better tanks without support and comms.

Some French tanks were hit over 25 times without being stopped. The tracks had to be targeted.

I will look into your recommendation.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (u82oZ)

137 135: Anyway, she was Jewish

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (ONvIw)

138 134 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:11 AM (llXky)

Star Trek is indirectly responsible for the economic magic thinking extant I believe. TOS had "federation credits" and miners and an actual economy. Gene decided sometime in the build up to TNG that "golly we all have everything we want forever because replicators."

I called that out when it premiered and my best friend was as big a TNG fan as we were TOS fans I walked away.

The moonbats took over the fandom.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (Lzpvj)

139 'm a mediaevalist, so I wanted to like Mirror,
but it was one of the most tedious books I've evre struggled through. I
don't even think I made it all the way to the end. I finally tossed it
when I realized it was taking up shelf space I could use for a book I
enjoyed.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (2JVJo)

---
I finished it, but did not keep the book either.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (llXky)

140 I am reading Gun Runner by Larry Correia and John D. Browning. It's a real page-turner, but Larry Correia really likes putting lots of horror elements into his books, and I'm not a big fan of horror.

This particular book tells the story of a far future interstellar smuggler, who really likes smuggling arms to deserving souls. I'm about halfway through and they've just delivered a shipment of arms to a warlord and, well, if the foreshadowing is to be believed, it's about to go sideways.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (17UTy)

141 I've had a copy of "On the Beach" on the shelf for years without reading it, but recently tried watching the movie.
Boring like a soap opera. Hoping the book is better.
Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (vuisn)

There are 2 movie versions. The one with Anthony Perkins runs truer to the book though the book is better.

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (4I/2K)

142 it was the Austrians wanting to kick the shit out of Serbia for years that, IMO, was the real spark that set things off.

When I read Bridge on the Drina, the Austrians showing up was a WTF moment. The Serbs and muz lived together in an equilibrium of mutual distrust now that the Ottoman empire had bugged out permanently when all of a sudden the fucking Austrians show up just because they could. What was the source of the animosity?

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (y7DUB)

143 I've just discovered an AMAZING library-related short film from 1954 called "Freedom To Read" directed by Julian Roffman, a classroom film about the importance of having a variety different viewpoints available in the library so people can make up their own minds. A man brings a list of books to the librarian that he wants removed because the authors are "known Communists" (but it could be ANY unpopular viewpoint and be just as relevant today). We then follow the librarian through the racks passing volumes by Voltaire, John Milton, Thomas Jefferson, etc. while relevant quotes are read. Finally she attends a library council meeting and makes a compelling argument for free inquiry and against censorship ("On our shelves you will find the disputes of many cultures... those who spoke for slavery and those against, those who spoke for Hitler and those against...it has always been our tradition that Americans have the right to read all sides.") It IS on YouTube (for now... it may only be a matter of time before it gets flagged for wrongthink) WATCH IT NOW

Posted by: Harrison Bergeron at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (ljXWV)

144 Another book I am reading is Thomas Weber's Hitler's First War, which is a re-evaluation of his WWI service and how he used and re-wrote it in the years leading up to 1933.

It's a very dense book (IMO, Weber's Becoming Hitler is a much easier read), going deeply into the numbers about the List Regiment, their casualty rate, their socio-economic background, the level of war spirit and so on.

Weber's conclusion is that Hitler was no more or less an anti-Semite than anyone else in the regiment (meaning he wasn't one at all), that he was so politically malleable that he might have ended up supporting the Weimar Republic had things gone his way and that, far from being the brave front-line dispatch runner of Mein Kampf, the real frontline soldiers of the regiment called him a "rear-echelon pig" and despised HQ pets like himself.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (2JVJo)

145 I've had a copy of "On the Beach" on the shelf for years without reading it, but recently tried watching the movie.

Boring like a soap opera. Hoping the book is better.
Beach Music was pretty good for what it was. I don't recall, "on the beach".
now after looking it up, it looks interesting. I still read 10 to 1 non fiction, but there are always good times to read a great novel.

Posted by: Quint at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (2veAp)

146
When I read Bridge on the Drina, the Austrians showing up was a WTF moment. The Serbs and muz lived together in an equilibrium of mutual distrust now that the Ottoman empire had bugged out permanently when all of a sudden the fucking Austrians show up just because they could. What was the source of the animosity?
Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (y7DUB)

Territorial ambition. The Austrians were looking to expand.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (49Dnm)

147 Anyway, she was Jewish

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (ONvIw)

---
Right, and that's why I was careful to say she had what appeared to be "legacy Protestant" beliefs - the kind common in mid-century American elite culture.

"Hah, look at the superstitious Catholics with their fake relics and dumb rituals!" Not a good look for a historian.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:17 AM (llXky)

148 In a Spider-Man story in the '80s, Peter Parker received a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan.

*****

Like a Fish Out of Water - a limerick

Move to Kansas? That gives me the vapors!
I need a place where I can do my capers
The feed store down on Main
And the silo filled with grain
Are not what I'd consider skyscrapers!

Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 09:17 AM (m45I2)

149 Posted by: Dr. Varno at April 04, 2021 09:09 AM (vuisn)

It's definitely a character study of how people deal with The End. The movie has an incredible race scene. The last Grand Prix ever held.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 09:17 AM (jvt6t)

150 Amazon Will Give 50% Discounts On Prime Membership To People On Welfare

How about 75% off for the US Military?
Posted by: Nevergiveup

100% for old farts!

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (VVEnO)

151 144 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (2JVJo)

Darth Shicklegruber is a guy that is hard to get a good historical read on because he is properly demonized.....wish the left allowed the same for Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and Ho Chi Minh.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (Lzpvj)

152 I called that out when it premiered and my best friend was as big a TNG fan as we were TOS fans I walked away.

The moonbats took over the fandom.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (Lzpvj)

---
I hated TNG when it came out. Still do. I hate all the new Star Treks, actually.

Now get. off. my. lawn.

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (llXky)

153 Star Trek is indirectly responsible for the economic magic thinking extant I believe. TOS had "federation credits" and miners and an actual economy. Gene decided sometime in the build up to TNG that "golly we all have everything we want forever because replicators."

I think what got to me was a scene early in Wrath of Khan where Kirk and Spock are talking in a Starfleet hallway and behind them is a janitor cleaning the floor. My immediate thoughts were two-fold:

- in the 23rd century, they don't have janitorial robots?
- if you have replicators that can make anything you want, why on earth would anyone work as a janitor?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (2JVJo)

154 Reading Ilona Andrews' Blood Heir, which is about Kate McDaniel's adopted kid Julie, now all grown up. The big bad is Moloch, and Inreally suspect that this husband & wife writung team are closet conservatives.

Also got to borrow a copy of The Naked Socialist. Just a few pages in but I think I'm gonna take notes

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (GBZnB)

155 Well, that's all for this week. Happy Easter!

Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (llXky)

156 152 Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (llXky)

Of all the new Treks the only one that is acceptable at all is "Enterprise."

I actually hate watched 1/2 of season one of Discovery it was so bad I could not let go.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:20 AM (Lzpvj)

157 "Hah, look at the superstitious Catholics with their fake relics and dumb rituals!" Not a good look for a historian.
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:17 AM (llXky)

I couldn't agree more.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (ONvIw)

158 Had Prussia been thinking clearly they would have started WW1 in 1902.
Posted by: sven

I rate this as "maybe". Germany came close to war in 1907 and 1909, but the country was not united behind the Kaiser then. The Prussians did not think clearly. The High Seas Fleet was a strategic mistake and ultimately a waste of resources. Two extra Army Corps would have made the difference in East Prussia in 1914.

The ones pulled from France got there too late, and hurt the effort against the French.

And for long term prosperity, Germany did not need WWI or WWII. It was all futile.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (u82oZ)

159 I had the oddest dream last night. I dreamt that I was still in the Navy and had been assigned to watch *Biden for his official tour of the base.

But, *Biden wouldn't wait and set out on his own, so I kept trying to guide him back to the proper path. Yet, every time there was a clear shot back, he'd take the wrong direction and kept falling into mud or knocking buckets of paint all over himself. He kept getting trapped in corners with that stupid senile look on his face. At one point, he couldn't figure out how to walk around a bucket. All the while, the people we met kept telling *Biden how great he was and telling me what a great job I was doing even as *Biden kept getting covered in more and more mud and paint and shit. all I could think was that this idiot was going to get me court-martialed.

Finally, we met up with the official greeting party in the Commissary, where *Biden had got stuck in a rack of white dresses and was smearing them with mud and shit, etc.

Everyone said what a great job, *Biden was doing with the dresses. And then *Biden came over and told me, what a great job I did, and shook my hand and told me he was going to make me a General.
FIN

Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (dWwl8)

160 148 In a Spider-Man story in the '80s, Peter Parker received a job offer from a research lab in Emporia, Kan.
Like a Fish Out of Water - a limerick

Move to Kansas? That gives me the vapors!
I need a place where I can do my capers
The feed store down on Main
And the silo filled with grain
Are not what I'd consider skyscrapers!
Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 09:17 AM (m45I2)

Only real bad guy in town is the beer joint owner that lets in 18 YO girls with fake ID and short enuf skirts.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (yrol0)

161 153 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (2JVJo)

"Well see that janitor finds his work to be emotionally fulfilling and consequently he expresses his admiration to the human endeavor through his mop."

//Gene Rod after snorting some promo powder

Seriously you knew as a fan the gig was up when Gene instead of being happy FASA had made a best selling RPG based on his IP freaked out decried it as warmongering and nuked it.

He was a hack who got lucky.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:22 AM (Lzpvj)

162 Good Morning. Thought I'd missed a whole lot but it seems we are something other than Eastern time.

I read Quiet In Her Bones by Nalini Singh. This book is a departure from her numerous paranormal books of which I am a huge fan.
The story is a dark Murder mystery set in New Zealand. As Singh is a native New Zealander, her detail about the setting adds a layer of interest as she describes the deep forests and black sand beaches. But it is her knowledge of the customs and culture of the different people who populate her story, Indian, Maori, New Zealnders, which makes it different from your average mystery story as she drops clues to what is really happening.
The jacket blurb calls it a thriller and it is an apt description. Great read. Highly recommended.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 04, 2021 09:22 AM (sd8p8)

163 Everyone said what a great job, *Biden was doing with the dresses. And then *Biden came over and told me, what a great job I did, and shook my hand and told me he was going to make me a General.
FIN
Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (dWwl

So you dreamt you were Jen Psaki?

Posted by: AlaBAMA at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (9etX0)

164 Gene decided sometime in the build up to TNG that "golly we all have everything we want forever because replicators."

-
I will launch a $10 trillion Replicators For All initiative!

Posted by: Broken Brain Biden at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (VVEnO)

165 Weber's conclusion is that Hitler was no more or less an anti-Semite than anyone else in the regiment (meaning he wasn't one at all), that he was so politically malleable that he might have ended up supporting the Weimar Republic had things gone his way and that, far from being the brave front-line dispatch runner of Mein Kampf, the real frontline soldiers of the regiment called him a "rear-echelon pig" and despised HQ pets like himself.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (2JVJo)

Robert Barnes did a recent clip on Hitler where he called him a tool of the professional class, that he never had much support at all in the working class and that the "nationalism" rationale was a crock. Kind of like our current derp state tyranny of the phony experts. A lot of our companies, like IBM, were in his corner.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (y7DUB)

166 And for long term prosperity, Germany did not need WWI or WWII. It was all futile.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (u82oZ)

Had Kaiser Wilhelm II just stuck with Herr von Bismarck's thinking on things Germany would have been better off. But no, he had to go out on his own...

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (49Dnm)

167 Independent UK has PDT on the rocks

Trump White House opened black-market barbershop during pandemic

Trump ridiculed for still owing an ex-bodyguard $130 for a McDonalds order in 2008

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:24 AM (yrol0)

168 Muldoon

*Golf clap*

I ask the students which building in Manhattan, Kansas has the most stories. We have some 10 story building in town. And a few grain silos within view. But they miss the real answer, the library. Dad jokes keep school kids in line.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:24 AM (u82oZ)

169 Salty I do get your point. At Inside the Chieftains Hatch he is a experienced tanker and shows good and bad flaws in them.

Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 09:24 AM (Cxk7w)

170 164 Posted by: Broken Brain Biden at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (VVEnO)

I hereby sign this executive order saying EVERYONE gets a billion dollars a year!

//Joey Plugz deep economic thinker

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:24 AM (Lzpvj)

171 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:05 AM (2JVJo)

I intend to read everything by Holland. He's become my favorite historian.

There's a great clip of him on YouTube debating anti-theist philosopher and sourpuss A.C. Grayling. Grayling asks Holland for just one unique contribution Christianity has made. Holland promptly rattles off 7. It reminded me of that scene in "Life of Brian" "What have the Romans ever done for us?" "Well, there's the aqueducts." "Besides that!" "The roads..."

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:25 AM (HabA/)

172 I second Linnet and Nemo's comments on "Veritas." I also got the feeling that some of the journalistic rigor was the author striving to convince himself that King had been taken in so easily. I think he started out with a great deal of skepticism that someone of her academic reputation could be so willfully gullible.

Oh, and picture of Audrey is from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The highlights in her hair are a tell.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at April 04, 2021 09:25 AM (fTtFy)

173 .....wish the left allowed the same for Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and Ho Chi Minh.
Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (Lzpvj)

Nothing Bad Happens On The Left.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:26 AM (49Dnm)

174 Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:05 AM (2JVJo)

I have a slightly different take.

From my reading, it wasn't so much the Austrians chomping at the bit to smash Serbia that wrecked everything: somewhat the opposite. Austria waited too long to start hostilities, because they wanted to be assured of German support. The assassination was not well regarded in most of Europe, and the Serbs had been on most of the powers' naughty list for a while (that tends to happen when you kill your own royal family). If Austria had retaliated at once, even Russia might have given them a pass; but they waited and waited, and everyone else got nervous and started checking their alliance cards, and that's where the trouble started.

John Keegan's The First World War has some interesting things to say on the matter. Just my two cents, anyhow.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:26 AM (wmcC8)

175 Ah, Vmom, have a question about Blood Heir. I've read all of Ilona Andrews books, but as I started reading that one, it felt like I had missed something. Went to her site and read the prequel but it really didn't help. They filled in some blanks as the story progressed but still felt like there should have been a book before this one. What did you think?

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 04, 2021 09:27 AM (sd8p8)

176 Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at April 04, 2021 09:25 AM (fTtFy)

Of course. I see her now.

Posted by: Jak Sucio at April 04, 2021 09:27 AM (jvt6t)

177 Yesterday's terror inducing teen girl question....
Mom will you cut my hair?

Today's terror inducing teen girl question.....
Will you take me for a driving lesson?

Thank God today's question wad directed at her dad.

Posted by: Madamemayhem (uppity wench) at April 04, 2021 09:27 AM (Vxu+H)

178 172: I missed those! Yeah it was what we kids called "the skunk look" when our moms copied the pale blonde streak!

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 09:28 AM (ONvIw)

179 rhennigantx & muldoon

Emporia, Kansas is a well run town. They have some good values for a town of their size. Seems once a town gets over 30,000, the quest for Federal dollars takes over, and the administration in infiltrated by commies. Manhattan, Kansas has that problem.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:29 AM (u82oZ)

180 Territorial ambition. The Austrians were looking to expand.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:16 AM (49Dnm)

That makes sense because they just show up one day saying "we're here to help make things better" as the Bosnian locals roll their eyes and quietly say "here we go again". The Serbs weren't about to knuckle under, though...

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:29 AM (y7DUB)

181 I am reading the latest Acton and Doyle book, "Murder in Unsound Mind" by 'ette author Anne Cleeland.. I usually go for sci fi/fantasy for my enjoyment reading, but this murder series is really worth a look if you aren't already reading it. And if you aren't...why not?

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde in traveling pants at April 04, 2021 09:29 AM (kvgdN)

182 From my reading, it wasn't so much the Austrians chomping at the bit to smash Serbia that wrecked everything: somewhat the opposite. Austria waited too long to start hostilities, because they wanted to be assured of German support. The assassination was not well regarded in most of Europe, and the Serbs had been on most of the powers' naughty list for a while (that tends to happen when you kill your own royal family). If Austria had retaliated at once, even Russia might have given them a pass; but they waited and waited, and everyone else got nervous and started checking their alliance cards, and that's where the trouble started.

Strike first, march into Serbia, make everything fait accompli before any alliances get into motion to do anything about it. Tell Russia "sorry guys, we don't WANT to pick on the Slavs but they DID whack members of our royal family." Interesting.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:30 AM (49Dnm)

183 I don't believe I ever noticed or thought about the economics of Star Trek TOS. You didn't watch the show to see Kirk go shopping, but to fight the Gorn or the Kingons and sweet talk space babes.

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (HabA/)

184 Gave up on Season 3 of "Man in the High Castle".

It went back to the slowness of Season 1 and didn't hold my interest.

About to finish the book, which is quite a bit different as you might expect, and quite a bit better at presenting daily life in that alt history setting.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (dWwl8)

185 Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:26 AM (wmcC

Thanks for your thoughts. I've read a bit on the leadup to the war, but once the guns start firing, my interest wanes (I'm the same way with WWII; Germany 1920-1939 interests me, not so much beyond that).

One good book on the pre-war situation I liked was Miranda Carter's George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I. Obviously more of a social history than a straight miliary read, but an interesting look at the fatal delusion that a general world war was impossible because of the intermarriage of so many European royal houses.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (2JVJo)

186 I finally finished reading the comic book adaptation of "Queen of the Black Coast" (one of Robert E Howard's Conan the Barbarian stories). It was originally a short story with a three year time-jump, and the comic decided to fill out that time jump in real time, stretching the original story out for 40 issues. I actually enjoyed the comic-only filler better than the original prose. I found Belit (the titular queen) was irredeemably vile in the original story, but the comic actually made here interesting.

I should re-read all the original stories sometime soon, to see how they compared to the comic adaptations...

Posted by: Castle Guy at April 04, 2021 09:32 AM (Lhaco)

187 >>>I got tired of having to plow though a bunch of woke crap looking for information, so I gave up.

Amen. I do this 267 times a day.

Posted by: m at April 04, 2021 09:33 AM (TZgEk)

188 183 Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (HabA/)

Listen....Ms Donna V....those Romulan Ales cost credits...and it had to be....smuggled in...babe.

//Kirk, James T Kirk

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:33 AM (Lzpvj)

189 That makes sense because they just show up one day saying "we're here to help make things better" as the Bosnian locals roll their eyes and quietly say "here we go again". The Serbs weren't about to knuckle under, though...
Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:29 AM (y7DUB)

That's my reading from everything I have read on WWI. You're exactly right: the Serbs had spent, what, 500 years or so under the thumbs of the Ottomans and were liberated as the Ottomans retreated due to their empire crumbling? They were free at last and then the Austrians were wanting to move in...yeah, I can see and understand the Serbs saying "nah, bro".

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:33 AM (49Dnm)

190 170 164 Posted by: Broken Brain Biden at April 04, 2021 09:23 AM (VVEnO)

I hereby sign this executive order saying EVERYONE gets a billion dollars a year!

//Joey Plugz deep economic thinker
Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:24 AM (Lzpvj)

New Venezuela 500,000 bill worth about 52 cents.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (yrol0)

191 John Keegan's The First World War has some interesting things to say on the matter. Just my two cents, anyhow.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:26 AM (wmcC

I remember reading that years ago and thinking it was a complete diplomatic communications breakdown and that hostilities started for no good reason other than people thinking that if it happened it would be over almost immediately. Oops.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (y7DUB)

192 Time to help prepare for guests. It's a lovely day out there.

Have a good Easter horde and, as always, thanks to OM for the Book Thread!

Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (HabA/)

193 143 I've just discovered an AMAZING library-related short film from 1954 called "Freedom To Read" directed by Julian Roffman, a classroom film about the importance of having a variety different viewpoints available in the library so people can make up their own minds. ...WATCH IT NOW
Posted by: Harrison Bergeron at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (ljXWV)

Do you have a link for this? I'm looking on YouTube, not coming up with much.

Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (NoXqO)

194 What did you think?
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 04, 2021 09:27 AM (sd8p

I feel the same way. Like I missed a whole book in between.
What's the prequel title?

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:35 AM (GBZnB)

195 Obviously more of a social history than a straight miliary read, but an interesting look at the fatal delusion that a general world war was impossible because of the intermarriage of so many European royal houses.

They just needed to observe any of my family gatherings. Scuffles amongst kin can, and do, happen.

Posted by: Night Moves at April 04, 2021 09:35 AM (LY6Ds)

196 Oops.
Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (y7DUB)

===

The late U.S. is the only modern state to start a war without intending to win it.

Posted by: San Franpsycho at April 04, 2021 09:36 AM (EZebt)

197 188 183 Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (HabA/)

Listen....Ms Donna V....those Romulan Ales cost credits...and it had to be....smuggled in...babe.

//Kirk, James T Kirk
Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:33 AM (Lzpvj)

And that green ho crotch disease cost a months credits in space penicillin.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:36 AM (yrol0)

198 Austria was also concerned about keeping hold of their majority-Slav regions. Having an independent (and, to be honest, seriously dickish) Slavic state on the border was trouble -- see Northern Ireland for a similar example.

So the Austrians figured, hey, what if we just beat up Serbia and either put in a friendly regime or outright annex the place? Problem solved! (Except that it wouldn't, of course. Then they'd just have a larger and much unhappier Slav population ready to rebel.)

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 09:36 AM (QZxDR)

199 You didn't watch the show to see Kirk go shopping, but to fight the Gorn or the Kingons and sweet talk space babes.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (HabA/)

Kirk: Oh. MY. Look, Spock! These Gornian heels. ARE. to. die for!

Spock: Yes, Captain. Manolos from Gorn are the finest in the universe. It is only logical that you should purchase them. They will look most dishy with your uniform.

Posted by: "Shoe Trek": TOS at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (dWwl8)

200 Listen....Ms Donna V....those Romulan Ales cost credits...and it had to be....smuggled in...babe.

//Kirk, James T Kirk
Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:33 AM (Lzpvj)

Another really nerdy TOS thing - apparently, Romulan ale is so forbidden because of its potency and because the Romulans (at the TOS time) were not Federation allies, but there existed an entire world (Wrigley's Pleasure Planet) where every desire could be gratified. You could just go there and get as swacked on the ale as you wanted, couldn't you?

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (2JVJo)

201 I rate this as "maybe". Germany came close to war in 1907 and 1909, but the country was not united behind the Kaiser then. The Prussians did not think clearly. The High Seas Fleet was a strategic mistake and ultimately a waste of resources. Two extra Army Corps would have made the difference in East Prussia in 1914.

The ones pulled from France got there too late, and hurt the effort against the French.

And for long term prosperity, Germany did not need WWI or WWII. It was all futile.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:21 AM (u82oZ)

In my view, the Germans' greatest failure was being so wedded to the Schlieffen Plan. Whether it could have worked or not is an interesting question--personally, I'm a "no" on that--but the total lack of flexibility built into the plan, and the high command's unwillingness to consider alternatives, is a major strike against them. I can forgive a lot where the Germans are concerned, but not even having a backup plan on hand? Dude.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (Vgw1E)

202 Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing

Thank you for the recommendation of Weber's Becoming Hitler. On my to get list.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (u82oZ)

203 183 I don't believe I ever noticed or thought about the economics of Star Trek TOS. You didn't watch the show to see Kirk go shopping, but to fight the Gorn or the Kingons and sweet talk space babes.
Posted by: Donna&&&&&V at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (HabA/)

It's fun to consider though. I saw First Contact with a hard-core Trekkie friend of mine in the theater (I'm no Trekkie but found the Borg to be fascinating). At one point Picard mentioned how more or less the laws of economics did not apply in the Trek world and found that a head scratcher. Another place where I look at economics is Star Wars. I suspect Han Solo would be a totally legit businessman IF the Empire didn't make trade illegal, hence smuggling when in a former time it would be perfectly legit commerce. (Think black markets in tyrannical regimes.)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:38 AM (49Dnm)

204 Also, I've always been partial to the Archer Mayor Joe Gunther books set in Vermont...

At least some of them in Brattleboro specifically. The author sometimes mentions little details that make you think Mary C. may not be entirely fictional.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 04, 2021 09:39 AM (vLdER)

205 Kirk and Spock are talking in a Starfleet hallway and behind them is a janitor cleaning the floor. My immediate thoughts were two-fold:

- in the 23rd century, they don't have janitorial robots?
- if you have replicators that can make anything you want, why on earth would anyone work as a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (2JVJo)

That janitor was living his best life.

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (4I/2K)

206 In my view, the Germans' greatest failure was being so wedded to the Schlieffen Plan. Whether it could have worked or not is an interesting question--personally, I'm a "no" on that--but the total lack of flexibility built into the plan, and the high command's unwillingness to consider alternatives, is a major strike against them. I can forgive a lot where the Germans are concerned, but not even having a backup plan on hand? Dude.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (Vgw1E)

In taking a history class one year a student speculated the Schlieffen Plan would have worked had it been run the OPPOSITE way: knock out Russia first THEN concentrate on the West. Given the military victories in the East and Russia's woeful unpreparedness, I am inclined to agree. (Unless some military historians here smack me down.) I'm not totally sold but it is interesting to ponder.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (49Dnm)

207 Dr. T

Good points.

The big if was going on the defensive in the West, and not attack France.

The Kaiser requested the German Army move East to hit the Russians first. He was told the plan would not allow it.

Going East and knocking Russia out of the war would have been a sound move.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (u82oZ)

208 Barron Trump made an appearance with his mom and dad.

he is at least 6'5" tall

he is what 15yo?

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (r4bSV)

209 That aside, one of the books is On The Beach, a book which once upon a time made a big impression on my young teenage self.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here!

Now we know that the world ends not with a bang but with a Biden.

Posted by: Broken Brain Biden at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (VVEnO)

210
Nothing is more damning than a historian who doesn't bother to know the actual history and instead relies on bigoted "common knowledge."
Posted by: Ace-Endorsed Author A.H. Lloyd at April 04, 2021 09:14 AM (llXky)

Common knowledge holds enough truth in it to be, you know, common knowledge.

Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (Fs5vw)

211 I suspect Han Solo would be a totally legit businessman IF the Empire didn't make trade illegal, hence smuggling when in a former time it would be perfectly legit commerce.

Imagine Han as an owner-operator OTR trucker. A little Red Sovine playing over the intercoms. Chewie wound tighter than a piano on whites. No time for the Mos Eisley lot lizards - they're already behind. Log book sketchy at best.

Posted by: Night Moves at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (LY6Ds)

212 In my view, the Germans' greatest failure was being so wedded to the Schlieffen Plan. Whether it could have worked or not is an interesting question--personally, I'm a "no" on that--but the total lack of flexibility built into the plan, and the high command's unwillingness to consider alternatives, is a major strike against them. I can forgive a lot where the Germans are concerned, but not even having a backup plan on hand? Dude.
Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (Vgw1E)

100% this. It's as dumb as listening to a numbnuts quack like Fauci.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (y7DUB)

213 Salty - since reading WWII history right after the fall of France started looking into period tanks. Found a excellent series on YouTube The Chieftains Hatch where a tour in and out of these tanks is given. Probably seen 7 of them since Friday.
Posted by: Skip at April 04, 2021 09:02 AM

He's also got a couple of long-form talks, one is called "How the Sherman got it's spots" and the other one is on the role of tank destroyers in WWII. If you're at all interested in armor in WWII, I recommend them.

Nicholas Moran ("the Chieftan") is a major in the USArmy currently stationed at Ft. Hood. His military career gives him the ability to understand the sorts of manuals and reports on which he bases his historical works.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (17UTy)

214 Happy Easter everyone!

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (AwPyG)

215 if we are talking about Start Trek, ST Enterprise, the series with Scott Bakula, is underrated (except for the last season)

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (GBZnB)

216 I didn't delurk because I thought I missed the secret word or something.
Anyway, I just finished "Spenser's Mountain". It's the book The Waltons was based on, but don't let that deter you: this is a little gem. Writing is a bit rough at times but the stories are often hilarious. And it's far more realistic than the TV show. For example, when John-boy went for his first hunt, he froze and then gave some speech about being a writer not a fighter. When Clay-boy (the book's version of the hero) goes hunting, he shoots the damn deer! It's the Depression, people are starving! Sheesh.

Posted by: Best thief in Lankhmar at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (yhzCS)

217 One good book on the pre-war situation I liked was Miranda Carter's George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I. Obviously more of a social history than a straight miliary read, but an interesting look at the fatal delusion that a general world war was impossible because of the intermarriage of so many European royal houses.
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:31 AM (2JVJo)

Yeah, anybody who had actually met any of the royals should have known that was a weak reed to lean on. I don't have it in front of me just now, but Tuchman's "Guns of August" has an interesting anecdote where Kaiser Wilhelm reacts to the start of the war by blaming it all on that dastardly Uncle Edward: i.e. King Edward VII of Britain, who had been dead for four years. Don't remember why, but I doubt it made sense then either.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (Vgw1E)

218 I heard that somewher.

Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (Fs5vw)

219 Thank you for the recommendation of Weber's Becoming Hitler. On my to get list.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:37 AM (u82oZ)

My pleasure!

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (2JVJo)

220 Catch Thirty-Thr33

Horde Mind.

I do not have the relevant wargames from Europa, but I have played that out at the strategic level in a couple of other, lesser, games. Grain from the Ukraine helps keep the blockade from being the war-winner it was.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:43 AM (u82oZ)

221 The reason for my avoiding Star Trek is being displayed all over the thread: it's just too involved and too much has to be known to watch the show. When I watch TV I don't want to think too hard about things.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:43 AM (49Dnm)

222 205 Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (4I/2K)

Correct, some humans (obviously all democrats) get space herpes from all the alien tail they get to chase, and others (like that mongoloid republican) get to sweep up!

Never notice for a second that the Federation is essentially a totalitarian oligarchy with a thin veneer of "species rights" because politics as it is superficially handled does not seem to imply ANY form of voting or bother with personal political expression.

//Gene Rod with powder on his nose

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:43 AM (Lzpvj)

223 I meant to post this last week. I've seen lots of tours in trailers and such but nothing like this. Look at the library he has in his truck camper! It's worth your time.

https://youtu.be/m_Ni-_FcBLg

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at April 04, 2021 09:44 AM (YynYJ)

224 Mary C. may not be entirely fictional.

Posted by: Oddbob at April 04, 2021 09:39 AM (vLdER)

Sadly, she is based entirely on real Vermonters.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 04, 2021 09:44 AM (Q9lwr)

225 216 Posted by: Best thief in Lankhmar at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (yhzCS)

Bingo, yeah I also think Grampy in the book did not match the character of the actor in the series.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:45 AM (Lzpvj)

226 Vmom, go to Ilona Andrew's site and look up The King of Fire. It is a short story only available on her site. It helped a little, but glad I m not the only one.
While looking this up, burned my breakfast sausage. Lol. Luckily I have more so started over, but getting caught up in books with other book nerds takes priority.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at April 04, 2021 09:45 AM (sd8p8)

227 And believe it or not, there is one situation where the abolition of libraries is a good thing.

Law libraries were horribly expensive, because every state as well as the federal system has its own laws. And all those books had to be updated with a supplement every year, because laws were added/changed.

Now law libraries are digital and up to the minute at probably 1/10,000 of the cost.

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 09:45 AM (AwPyG)

228 .....wish the left allowed the same for Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and Ho Chi Minh.
Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:18 AM (Lzpvj)

Nothing Bad Happens On The Left.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33

They're a little over enthusiastic sometimes maybe.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks, Tyrannosaur Wrangler at April 04, 2021 09:45 AM (VVEnO)

229 Happy Easter, everyone!

Posted by: phoenixgirl at April 04, 2021 09:45 AM (CqHIp)

230 If you stop forking out money to Disney, Coca Cola, the NBA, the MLB, Delta, etc., please don't start feeding white nationalists, even if their ebook "intersects" (which is how they entice you) with your ideals. Thank you.
Posted by: Biden's Dog at April 04, 2021 08:46 AM (9clAr)

Perhaps the "white Nationalist" publisher was the only one with enough guts to take on that book?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (mzC78)

231 Awaiting a Flannery O'Connor collection...don't think I've ever seen her mentioned here, and I've never read any of her stuff....anybody?

Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (AwYPR)

232 While looking this up, burned my breakfast sausage. Lol. Luckily I have more so started over, but getting caught up in books with other book nerds takes priority.
Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice

burned sausage! oh no

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (GBZnB)

233 Cybersmythe and Skip

Thank you.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (u82oZ)

234 MARY C IS THE BEST SOCK EVER, EXCEPT FOR MINE BECAUSE MATH !!!

Posted by: BEN ROTHLESBURGEER ! at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (r4bSV)

235 215 Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at April 04, 2021 09:42 AM (GBZnB)

It is, the problem was it refused as all the "pre-treks" have so far to look like it should. The showrunners CONSTANTLY make the mistake of not making the pre TOS shows (TOS was set in an economic recovery after a galactic war) look like lived in realities. I really wish they had not made the Vulcans dorks, and had stressed the "Space Western" aspect of the era better.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 09:47 AM (Lzpvj)

236 Going East and knocking Russia out of the war would have been a sound move.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (u82oZ)

Instead they just destabilized and demoralized it enough and gave Lenin safe passageway through Germany from Zurich to Petrograd to provide an unprecedented anal rape on the world. Top Men.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:47 AM (y7DUB)

237 it's always fun for me to read stories placed in towns i've lived, but there aren't a whole lot. I did run across a series set around Santa Claus, IN (Jean Rabe: Piper Blackwell) which was fun (i lived in Evansville for a while) and a set of detective/suspense novels where the detective lived in Houston, in the area north of Rice University (David Lindsey)

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 09:47 AM (N7mou)

238 Queen Vicky's grandchildren were a naughty lot. Thrashed too much or not enough in their tender years?

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:47 AM (4I/2K)

239 Kaiser Wilhelm reacts to the start of the war by blaming it all on that dastardly Uncle Edward: i.e. King Edward VII of Britain, who had been dead for four years.

The relationship between Wilhelm and his "wicked uncle" Edward is fascinating. Not just that Wilhelm was young, shallow and kept demanding "respect" for his royal status, but IMO, he was intensely jealous of Edward because of the latter's man-of-the-world ease and his ability to charm people effortlessly.

I like reading about Edward VII. He wasn't the diplomatic genius a lot of modern writers tend to paint him as, but he wasn't a complete fool, either. Much like most of us, in fact.

Which reminds me I need to pick up a copy of A.N. Wilson's new bio on Prince Albert. Wilson can be an insufferable prick at times - especially when writing on Christianity - but the early Victorian era is one of my interests.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:48 AM (2JVJo)

240 @217

I think it was King Solomon who started that idea--that if he married the daughters of his enemies, they'd be less inclined to fight him.

Novel thinking, for the time.

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 09:48 AM (AwPyG)

241 I mentioned it last week, when you brought up the high price of that transjenner book, that the same subject matter is covered in Douglas Murray's "Madness Of Crowds."

I suspect some are turned off by who Murray's sleeps with, but that would be silly. It's a solid book, that covered a number of different areas of Woke culture, about as well as anybody.

And the book by Abigail Shrier, "Irreversible Damage" is probably worth a look, for those who want to dive deeper into the topic. Abigail went through her own book banning episode, and I'd read the book myself, but I'm not that interested in the topic to read a whole book about it.

Point being, no need to worry about "white nationalists" with either of these books/authors.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 09:48 AM (qPu/Y)

242 MARY C IS THE BEST SOCK EVER, EXCEPT FOR MINE BECAUSE MATH !!!
Posted by: BEN ROTHLESBURGEER !

***

"Tap, tap, tap, thumb and forefinger "L"-shape to forehead."

Posted by: Mandela funeral fake sign language guy at April 04, 2021 09:49 AM (m45I2)

243 Perhaps the "white Nationalist" publisher was the only one with enough guts to take on that book?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (mzC7

-
Other "cancelled" books on the subject have already been publicized here.

Posted by: Biden's Dog at April 04, 2021 09:49 AM (9clAr)

244 Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt

The Germans were very good at the tactical and operational warfare levels.

Cherrystone clams have better strategic sense than the Germans of WWI and WWII.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:49 AM (u82oZ)

245 Huck Follywood: My parents had a copy of The Tontine when I was a kid. By the time I got the urge to read it, it had disappeared in a move. Let us know if it's any good.

Posted by: who knew at April 04, 2021 09:50 AM (SfO/T)

246 In taking a history class one year a student speculated the Schlieffen Plan would have worked had it been run the OPPOSITE way: knock out Russia first THEN concentrate on the West. Given the military victories in the East and Russia's woeful unpreparedness, I am inclined to agree. (Unless some military historians here smack me down.) I'm not totally sold but it is interesting to ponder.
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:40 AM (49Dnm)

Eh, I'm not sold on that. I don't think the Germans were wrong in assuming a total knockout in the East would have been really difficult; Russia has always relied on trading land for time, and very successfully. Very easy for an invader to get swallowed up in those vast spaces. From a purely tactical standpoint, a decisive victory against France would have been easier.

I think the real flaw in the Schlieffen Plan is that it became obsessed with tactical perfection at the cost of strategy. Germany didn't need a Cannae to improve its position, which some of its generals realized, but Schlieffen apparently did not.

Posted by: Dr. T at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (Vgw1E)

247 Awaiting a Flannery O'Connor collection...don't think I've ever seen her mentioned here, and I've never read any of her stuff....anybody?
Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (AwYPR)

She's not for everyone but I think you're in for a treat. Uniquely Catholic Southern writer. Her dismissal of To Kill a Mockingbird as just a children's book makes her one of my faves. Is it a collection of her novels or short stories? Whatever, it's all good but I think most people prefer her novels like Wise Blood.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (y7DUB)

248 Perhaps the "white Nationalist" publisher was the only one with enough guts to take on that book?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (mzC7

And I'd like to know how it was determined this was a "white nationalist" publisher. Lots of people throw around those terms, and they just stick.

As we all know.

That being said, yeah, there sure are a bunch of the little fellas out there, running their mouths about not much else except how the bad coloreds are ruining their soup.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (qPu/Y)

249 "When Clay-boy (the book's version of the hero) goes hunting, he shoots the damn deer! It's the Depression, people are starving! Sheesh."

I got a picture of my Dad and Uncle when they were around 13/14 yrs. old in the late 30's and the 5 deer they killed that year for food. He never hunted for sport, he only did it then because they had to.

Posted by: lowandslow at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (4thlk)

250 note she is not wearing a head bag in the pics
Egypt's first female ship captain (pictured) says she was blamed for blocking the Suez Canal despite being on a different ship hundreds of miles away. Marwa Elselehdar was working as a first mate in command of the Aida IV in Alexandria when the Ever Given became wedged in the canal (inset), bringing the major shipping route to a halt. But online rumours and fake news headlines spread the falsehood that she had caused the container ship to run aground in Suez. The 29-year-old does not know who started the rumours but believes she was targeted because of her gender.

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:52 AM (r4bSV)

251 Awaiting a Flannery O'Connor collection...don't think I've ever seen her mentioned here, and I've never read any of her stuff....anybody?
Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 09:46 AM (AwYPR)

You're either in for a huge treat or a big ole hatefest.

F O'C seems to inspire one or the other.

I think she's great. But, if it's a full collection, her early stories aren't all that great.

One thing to remember is that she's a Catholic writer. And no, she's not propagandizing for the faith or anything like that, but she does like the Catholic writer's thing of making her plots and points by illustrating the opposite. And she has a wicked sense of humor. That might help you like her more.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:52 AM (dWwl8)

252 Manhattan, Kansas has that problem.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:29 AM (u82oZ)

Manhattan is like every university town. Pretty, well kept and quaint. But the university's politics makes it a shithole.

Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 09:53 AM (Fs5vw)

253 "Her dismissal of To Kill a Mockingbird as just a children's book makes her one of my faves."

I will admit mt HS assigned it and I got four pages in. Then I closed it, flipped it back and said "BORING!" Besides, I was reading Red Phoenix by Larry Bond at that point and that was ANYTHING but boring.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:53 AM (49Dnm)

254 @203

I think that was half the appeal of the original Alien movie.

All the other Flash Gordon, Star Trek, Star Wars depictions were about polished, sophisticated people doing space travel, and Alien showed normal people having normal jobs, which was more realistic

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (AwPyG)

255
Andy Ngo is now a white nationalist which is one of those word pairing the lefty media come up with from time to time like white hispanic, alt right, etc.

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (r4bSV)

256
Manhattan is like every university town. Pretty, well kept and quaint. But the university's politics makes it a shithole.
Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 09:53 AM (Fs5vw)

Or San Marcos, TX. The same thing.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (49Dnm)

257 All Quiet On The Western Front - liked it.

Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (4I/2K)

258 Imagining Spiderman webslinging around Emporia, KS reminds me of Daffy Duck as Robin Hood swinging into tree trunk after tree trunk.

"Yoiks! And away!!"
*swing*
*thunk*

Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 09:55 AM (m45I2)

259 Common knowledge holds enough truth in it to be, you know, common knowledge.
Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 09:41 AM (Fs5vw)

Like
mask
6 foot distancing
wash hands

Common knowledge is NOT Science many times.

Posted by: rhennigantx at April 04, 2021 09:55 AM (yrol0)

260 Whatever, it's all good but I think most people prefer her novels like Wise Blood.
Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (y7DUB)

I'd say the opposite. I've heard a lot of praise for her short stories but almost none for her novels.

"Wise Blood" is good. And John Huston made a pretty good movie of it that follows the book closely.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:55 AM (dWwl8)

261 "Germany didn't need a Cannae to improve its position, which some of its generals realized, but Schlieffen apparently did not."

Schlieffen was dead by the tiime WW1 came around. it was his inferior successor (Moltke?) who made the changes. And, IIRC, the tactical flexibility that the Germans liked so much that caused their right wing to turn in towards Paris and stop "brushing the English channel" which allowed the opening for the Brits to mount the flank attack to end the opening drive.

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 09:56 AM (N7mou)

262 One thing to remember is that she's a Catholic writer. And no, she's not propagandizing for the faith or anything like that, but she does like the Catholic writer's thing of making her plots and points by illustrating the opposite. And she has a wicked sense of humor. That might help you like her more.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:52 AM (dWwl

I think when I first read her I was too young to totally grasp her sense of humor. My reaction to a lot of it was "is she really saying that?" and invariably the answer was "yes".

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:57 AM (y7DUB)

263 The 29-year-old does not know who started the rumours but believes she was targeted because of her gender.
Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:52 AM (r4bSV)

My understanding is, the rumor started from a tweet Joe Hazlewood sent, that was retweeted by Francesco Schettino.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 09:57 AM (qPu/Y)

264 When they finally drag Ben Roethlisberger's sorry carcass away in retirement, we are going to have to have a moment of silence, here at ace's.

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 09:57 AM (AwPyG)

265 Cherrystone clams have better strategic sense than the Germans of WWI and WWII.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:49 AM (u82oZ)

What do we need four-engine bombers for when we are going to conquer Russia in two months?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at April 04, 2021 09:57 AM (Q9lwr)

266 Back in the Eighties there was a Spider-Man story called, I think, "When Comes the Commuter!" or something like that. Spidey's tracking a very skilled thief who's been hitting targets in Manhattan, but lives out on Long Island. So Spidey spots him, sticks to the LIRR train and rides out to the burbs.

Followed by a couple of pages of Spider-Man wandering around the suburban low-rise landscape of Long Island, looking and feeling like a complete idiot.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 09:59 AM (QZxDR)

267 Catch Thirty-Thr33

Red Phoenix was fun. Liked how the female lead crushed the fighter pilot hero, at the start.
Good scenario also.

But his best book was his part of Red Storm Rising. Clancy had one good book in him, and it was really CAPT Ralph Chatham, USN that make The Hunt for Red October so good.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:59 AM (u82oZ)

268 Eh, I'm not sold on that. I don't think the Germans were wrong in assuming a total knockout in the East would have been really difficult; Russia has always relied on trading land for time, and very successfully. Very easy for an invader to get swallowed up in those vast spaces. From a purely tactical standpoint, a decisive victory against France would have been easier.

Yeah, but the Germans needn't have gone to Moscow. They could have bloodied the Russians and though they had more people to throw at the war machine, that would have taken time. (Also since Petrograd was the capital, the time to get there was shorter.) IF the Germans kept out of the Russians' usual trap of drawing in armies deep into their territory, (big "if", I know) and just focused on grinding the Russian military into the ground, this might have worked. (And as I said I'm not entirely sold on the thesis but it's something to think about.)

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 09:59 AM (49Dnm)

269 Her dismissal of To Kill a Mockingbird as just a children's book makes her one of my faves. Is it a collection of her novels or short stories? Whatever, it's all good but I think most people prefer her novels like Wise Blood.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 09:51 AM (y7DUB)

I like her already...I believe it's a complete collection.

Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 09:59 AM (AwYPR)

270 or we could switch to war gaming the current

looks like Russia will move on The Ukrain since there is video of a whole bunch or tanks being moved on rail cars etc.

China will do something Joe and Kamala are weak and this may be a one time easy pass for the CCP

and other regional powers doing regional styff

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 10:00 AM (r4bSV)

271 "Eh, I'll admit, Emporia kind of grows on you after a while..."

Posted by: Spiderman riding on the back of a hay wagon at April 04, 2021 10:00 AM (m45I2)

272 Two reviews from me.

First is Wind In The Willows, Collector's Library edition. It has the Arthur Rackham illustrations. It's the format I love. It's tiny, a little bit bigger than a cell phone. It has a dust jacket and a ribbon bookmark. It's small enough to carry with you. I wish I could find more small books.

Second is The English Gypsy Caravan by Ward-Jackson and Harvey. This is out of print but I found a copy at a reasonable price. It became a bit of a fad in Victorian England for the well to do to have an elaborate wagon built and camp in it. It continued up into the motorized days, when the fashion changed. Lots of photos and drawings. There is an invoice in mine from the previous owner, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He got it from a book club in 1973, but I don't think he read it.

Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (YynYJ)

273 Andy Ngo is now a white nationalist which is one of those word pairing the lefty media come up with from time to time like white hispanic, alt right, etc.
Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (r4bSV)

Yeah, it shouldn't have to be said. If someone is accused of being a "white nationalist," check who's doing the accusing first.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (qPu/Y)

274 257 All Quiet On The Western Front - liked it.
Posted by: Count de Monet Super de Duper Straight at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (4I/2K)

Very much the classic war story. It never held back on how absolutely brutal war is. Loved it.

Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (Fs5vw)

275
Red Phoenix was fun. Liked how the female lead crushed the fighter pilot hero, at the start.
Good scenario also.

But his best book was his part of Red Storm Rising. Clancy had one good book in him, and it was really CAPT Ralph Chatham, USN that make The Hunt for Red October so good.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:59 AM (u82oZ)

...and that female lead, as I recall, was a loggie. What she did was bloody boring but EXTREMELY vital, as I would find out a decade after I read it. Red Storm Rising is my favorite, most beloved novel.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (49Dnm)

276 Cherrystone clams have better strategic sense than the Germans of WWI and WWII.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 09:49 AM (u82oZ)
---
Just wanted to express my pleasure for this callback to Bored of the Rings ("... a government that would be
considered unusually crude in a colony of cherrystone clams...")

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 04, 2021 10:02 AM (XItSe)

277 I'd say the opposite. I've heard a lot of praise for her short stories but almost none for her novels.

"Wise Blood" is good. And John Huston made a pretty good movie of it that follows the book closely.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 04, 2021 09:55 AM (dWwl

It's been my experience that people don't like short stories as well as full length novels. That said her short stories are much more straight forward like of the dickhole father (I think he was a teacher) almost completely disconnected from the grieving his young son is going through over his deceased mother; that was as subtle as a sledgehammer but very effective.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 10:02 AM (y7DUB)

278 Kirk and Spock are talking in a Starfleet hallway and behind them is a janitor cleaning the floor. My immediate thoughts were two-fold:

- in the 23rd century, they don't have janitorial robots?
- if you have replicators that can make anything you want, why on earth would anyone work as a janitor?
Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 09:19 AM (2JVJo)

------------------------

I try to pay attention to what's going on in the background of movie scenes. Often, it's rather boring, but occasionally there's something interesting going on.

There's an episode of Bob's Burgers where Bob cuts his finger, and on the way home from the doctor, pops the stitches, and blood starts spraying everywhere. If you look at the driver in the car behind them, his look changes from curiosity to outright horror. It's hilarious.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at April 04, 2021 10:03 AM (CAJOC)

279 Indeed He is Risen!

Good morning, Oregon Muse, good morning, Horde.

I met the author of "Left to Tell" at a papal Mass in NYC. Lovely woman.

Posted by: callsign claymore at April 04, 2021 10:03 AM (jkKdU)

280 Andy Ngo is now a white nationalist which is one of those word pairing the lefty media come up with from time to time like white hispanic, alt right, etc.
Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:54 AM (r4bSV)

Yeah, it shouldn't have to be said. If someone is accused of being a "white nationalist," check who's doing the accusing first.
Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (qPu/Y)

If you want to find true diversity look for it among white nationalists. White nationalists come in every skin color.

Posted by: Northernlurker, surgite at April 04, 2021 10:04 AM (lgiXo)

281 Muldoon:
"...reminds me of Daffy Duck as Robin Hood swinging into tree trunk after tree trunk. "

Why my friends and I were backpacking in the '70's, I always used a tall walking stick. Every time we got started after a break, someone would ask if I had my quarterstaff..., just to hear me say "Actually, its a buck-and-a-quarter staff, but he doesn't know that". Haven't thought of that in 40 years. so, thanks!

Posted by: retropox at April 04, 2021 10:05 AM (HBfGo)

282 If the "Star Trek" economy were "everybody gets a pony," what's the need for different ranks in Starfleet?

Reminds me of HRC declaring that the goal was good-paying jobs for everyone. In other words, equality throughout -- there are no good-paying jobs.

Syndrome of "The Incredibles" was right.

Posted by: Weak Geek at April 04, 2021 10:05 AM (J9wig)

283 Continue to slog my way through David Sarnoff biography by Lyons. It's a fine read, but a bit overwhelming...as was Sarnoff.

Close to finishing 'Death in the Garden', Ironside. I continue to be impressed with her prose...oh, and the book is entertaining also...Brit mystery.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 04, 2021 10:05 AM (l0Lgi)

284 This past week I read a book I discovered on my shelves that I hadn't ever gotten around to reading: _The Duke of Uranium_ by John Barnes. It's from 2002 and is the first in a trio of books about a 36th-century teenager named Jak Jinnaka, who has various adventures around the Solar System.

It felt a lot like Heinlein. Young hero on a secret mission, sent by his mysterious uncle who likes to lecture him about stuff. Hard-SF things happen and are described in detail.

I liked it a lot and plan to seek out the two sequels.

Barnes hasn't published anything in about five years; I don't know if he's having health problems or maybe got ditched by his publisher for some reason.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:06 AM (QZxDR)

285 6'8" 115lbs

Posted by: Barron Trump at April 04, 2021 10:06 AM (yW3Oc)

286 Greetings:

Will finish "The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley" by Wesley Morgan today. Very worthwhile read especially for escaped infantrypersons like myself.
Glad I missed that one.

Next up, "Sicily '43" by James Holland.

Posted by: 11B40 at April 04, 2021 10:07 AM (evgyj)

287 The English Gypsy Caravan by Ward-Jackson and Harvey. This is out of print but I found a copy at a reasonable price. It became a bit of a fad in Victorian England for the well to do to have an elaborate wagon built and camp in it. It continued up into the motorized days, when the fashion changed. Lots of photos and drawings. There is an invoice in mine from the previous owner, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He got it from a book club in 1973, but I don't think he read it.
Posted by: Notsothoreau - look forward at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (YynYJ)

Ye olde shitter's full!

Posted by: Cousin Eddie at April 04, 2021 10:07 AM (4I/2K)

288 I've read at least one Flannery O'Connor book. Somehow it never made an impression-positive or negative-on me. I'll accept blame for that.

Posted by: Northernlurker, surgite at April 04, 2021 10:07 AM (lgiXo)

289 Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:01 AM (qPu/Y)

If you want to find true diversity look for it among white nationalists. White nationalists come in every skin color.
Posted by: Northernlurker, surgite at April 04, 2021 10:04 AM (lgiXo)

Not to get too deep into the subject, but they also come with fairly widely diverse opinions. Michael Malice covered the subject, to some extent, in his book "The New Right."

They tend to go from the "Western culture is superior" folks, to the ones who check your teeth to see if you have any colored in you... and if you do, you don't want to be caught by them.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:07 AM (qPu/Y)

290 Not exactly reading but I have been watching another of the "Great Courses" videos which are available from my library. This one is about reading and understanding Shakespeare and I've greatly enjoyed it. Filmed in (I think) around 2007, it predates the great wokist purges and includes anathema such as "Everyone would agree that Shakespeare is one of the greatest English writers and that we should all want to learn about him."

I find myself feeling sorry for the scholar teaching the class and how he must feel in the current academic environment.

Posted by: Art Rondelet of Malmsey at April 04, 2021 10:10 AM (fTtFy)

291 /Spidey sock

Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 10:10 AM (m45I2)

292 Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 09:52 AM (r4bSV)

She is guilty. She gets the helicopter ride.

Posted by: Barron Trump's Leather Jacket at April 04, 2021 10:11 AM (yW3Oc)

293 "Caught" by Harlan Coben is one of the books on the top shelf. I bought that one on a whim as airplane reading several years ago and. The first half of the book is really good - this do-gooder lawyer guy who works with troubled teens gets (or claims to have gotten, while he's telling the story) a call from one of the troubled teens late one night asking for help. When he arrives at the location, he walks right into a local NYC "To Catch a Predator" knockoff called "Caught" and is arrested as a pedophile.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at April 04, 2021 10:11 AM (Bmy3R)

294 The police find incriminating evidence on his laptop and you begin to wonder if he's really guilty or innocent. The man's whole backstory, a foster-home kid who excelled due to his intelligence and thirst for learning, and wants to give back to the community, leads you to root for him. And while there is plenty of evidence of his guilt, there is also plenty pointing towards his innocence. Even the host of "Caught," an upwardly-mobile anchorwoman, who at first was absolutely convinced of his guilt, begins to question it.

The back half goes off into some typical Coben side-stories, twists and turns and multiple reveals and remains engaging if not as thought-provoking as the setup.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at April 04, 2021 10:11 AM (Bmy3R)

295 Duke of Uranium mass market paperback, new, on Amazon: $809.67

Whaaaa?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 10:11 AM (PiwSw)

296 Why my friends and I were backpacking in the '70's, I always used a tall walking stick. Every time we got started after a break, someone would ask if I had my quarterstaff..., just to hear me say "Actually, its a buck-and-a-quarter staff, but he doesn't know that". Haven't thought of that in 40 years. so, thanks!
Posted by: retropox at April 04, 2021 10:05 AM (HBfGo)

Hey, retropox! Long time, no see. OT for this thread, but I got a .32, it's an H&R hammerless 5 shooter. Only works part time.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:12 AM (mzC78)

297 Duke of Uranium mass market paperback, new, on Amazon: $809.67

Whaaaa?

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 10:11 AM (PiwSw)

Must be really, really good.

Posted by: BignJames at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (AwYPR)

298 Edward VII got the French alliance going although I don't if Kaiser Bill was referencing that. (Loving wine, women, and song -- and food -- helped with that.)

Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (1yPl/)

299 Imagine feeding Barron Trump.

When my son was going through a growth spurt, I'd pick him up after high school, we'd have to stop for a fast food burger on the way home, then at home he'd eat three bowls of cereal in rapid succession and fell into bed.

Went through a gallon of milk a day

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (AwPyG)

300 will choose a nic later

The Victory Game "7th Fleet' is around $100 -280 on Ebay. IT shows the 80s against Russia.

I could use the map and get all new counters and values for the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and USN forces.

But this year, real Naval and Air Force officers in Pacific Commands playing command post exercises against the Chinese forces have lost every game. Gulp.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (u82oZ)

301 Trimegistus

I have that entire series of Barnes. They are a fun read. Besides Heinlein, it spoofs Barsoom and Edgar Rice Burroughs is a good way.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:16 AM (u82oZ)

302 @293

Harlan Coban seems like a nice guy, and supports various philanthropic causes. I heard him speak, once, and he said his wife is a well know pediatric doctor in Chicago. She hates going to book things because she's "Mrs. Him" and he hates going to doctor things because he's "Mr. Her."

Very clever man

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 10:16 AM (AwPyG)

303 300 Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (u82oZ)

What is important here is the "life story" of each of the losing commanders not the fact we lose.

//Admiral Glitter Toes USN

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:17 AM (Lzpvj)

304 the CCP is in a pickle, can they take the hit of major powers boycotting their products? and also stopping food shipments to China?

also China is getting older will they get rich before they get old?

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 10:17 AM (r4bSV)

305 I got three things from studying Shakespeare in school:

1. If you try to kill the king, you better be sure you kill him.

2. Never trust a talking fish.

3. Never fuck your mother.

Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 10:17 AM (Fs5vw)

306 248: They publish a lot of authors believed to be antisemitic.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:17 AM (ONvIw)

307 sven

⚓. Shudder ⚓

Ya got to me.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:18 AM (u82oZ)

308 305 Posted by: Justsayin' at April 04, 2021 10:17 AM (Fs5vw)

1) WOHOO!

2) Darn I have spoken with Fish

3) UHOH!

//Han-Ter Bai-Dan

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:18 AM (Lzpvj)

309 OK, folks, going to try to enjoy the day before my usual weekend depression kicks in.

Hope you all have a lovely day.

Posted by: Mary Poppins' Practically Perfect Piercing at April 04, 2021 10:19 AM (2JVJo)

310 and, i know i'm late, but let me echo MP4 and AHL's comments about Tuchman's A Distant Mirror. I never understood all the people who liked it. Also her book The Proud Tower had the same problem Distant Mirror had

Posted by: yara at April 04, 2021 10:19 AM (N7mou)

311 308 sven

LOL. And so sad as well.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:19 AM (u82oZ)

312
someone with Reagans focus could push China over the edge too

nobody has the vision for that

China is merciless but even the CCP can loose control and the whole thing turns into warlord-ville

I do not think China can exist solely within its own borders, the food issue especially

Posted by: will choose a nic later at April 04, 2021 10:20 AM (r4bSV)

313 Gotta go. Everyone have a blessed day.

He has Risen indeed.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:20 AM (u82oZ)

314 Have a great day, Mary Poppins PPP.

Posted by: callsign claymore at April 04, 2021 10:20 AM (jkKdU)

315 307 Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:18 AM (u82oZ)

I have brought up to the command structures of several units that the United States was the country that knew it was going to have to beat the shit out of Japan....in 1896...so they started working on a plan marrying doctrine, force size, and equipment R and D towards the goal of that 1898 plan.

They look like canines having the inverse law of gravitation explained to them.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:21 AM (Lzpvj)

316 193 143 I've just discovered an AMAZING library-related short film from 1954 called "Freedom To Read" directed by Julian Roffman, a classroom film about the importance of having a variety different viewpoints available in the library so people can make up their own minds. ...WATCH IT NOW
Posted by: Harrison Bergeron at April 04, 2021 09:15 AM (ljXWV)

Do you have a link for this? I'm looking on YouTube, not coming up with much.
Posted by: OregonMuse, AoSHQ Thought Leader, Pants Monitor & Social Distancing Professional at April 04, 2021 09:34 AM (NoXqO)

Link below. 15 minutes well spent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qZ7IO5qNAA

Posted by: Harrison Bergeron at April 04, 2021 10:21 AM (ljXWV)

317 "(I'm no Trekkie but found the Borg to be fascinating" Catch Thirty Thr33
I don't know about the Borg in general but I found Seven of Nine fascinating!

Posted by: who knew at April 04, 2021 10:21 AM (SfO/T)

318 You too, NaCly Dog.

Posted by: callsign claymore at April 04, 2021 10:21 AM (jkKdU)

319 Very clever man
Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 10:16 AM (AwPyG)

One interesting thing about "Caught" is that there's a right-wing military vet gun-nut character (the father of one of the children whose picture is found on the protagonists's laptop) who is set up to be a bad guy - (i.e. "is he going to flat-out murder the protagonist if he's found innocent at trial?") but turns out to be...no spoiler but he turns out to be something else entirely, and I appreciated Coben not going with the obvious liberal stereotype.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at April 04, 2021 10:22 AM (Bmy3R)

320 @303

No no no, their "life story" isn't as important as hearing "their truth."

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 10:22 AM (AwPyG)

321 I am currently reading (in some cases, re-reading) children's books.

This week, I highly recommend "The Kitchen Madonna" by Rumer Godden. It's about how 9-year-old Gregory wants his family's current housekeeper to stay, so he and his little sister Janet set about looking for a Ukrainian icon after she tearfully admits to missing the customary "good place" in the kitchen.

I remember read it as a kid; re-reading it was refreshing. The first thing I noticed was the adult world and the kid world were separate in the world of 1967. The children see themselves on a sort of secret mission (kid world) and are embarrassingly thwarted in a high-end jewelry store when they find out how expensive icons are (adult world). Introvert Gregory feels pretty bad but decides to make an icon, even though it means personal sacrifice and unwanted social interaction.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at April 04, 2021 10:22 AM (/+bwe)

322 WWI messed up *everything*.

Even in the U.S. We had Wilson getting us into the war unnecessarily and creating the first government propaganda bureau, a model for the communists, fascists, and nazis. He also criminalized dissent. Fortunately, the GOP erased most of his governance after 1920, though not Prohibition, which gave the country over to organized crime, a situation we still enjoy.
The present day GOP doesn't repeal anything.

Posted by: Brett at April 04, 2021 10:22 AM (9xO+R)

323 320 Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 10:22 AM (AwPyG)

The truth is I beat China?

"How is that commander Glory Hole?"

I beat them because I forced them into the moral abyss of having sunk my whole flotilla.

//CDR Hole 7th Fleet

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:23 AM (Lzpvj)

324 I've also been re-reading some old James Thurber pieces. It's striking to me how much he and other writers of the 1950s were so utterly freaked out by McCarthy. I mean, Thurber was (unlike a lot of others) no Socialist. He was a good Ohio boy, a New Deal liberal but not a fanatic about it. But he and pretty much everyone else who knew how to type were convinced that "McCarthyism" was the Worst Thing Ever. Even well into the 1960s they were still going on about it. One wonders what he would think today. Seems like there's a profound silence from liberals about censorship right now.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:23 AM (QZxDR)

325 Good Morning. Finished A Walk in the Woods. Pretty good, light reading. Does anyone remember a book on the Lewis and Clark expedition that was discussed awhile back? My 29 year old brain has failed me again. Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Easter.

Posted by: Novadog at April 04, 2021 10:25 AM (x8pNI)

326 248 Actual WWII Nazis and Holocaust deniers.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:25 AM (ONvIw)

327 It's really moving how Google marked the high holy day for Christians globally:

www.google.com

Posted by: FishingWithFredo at April 04, 2021 10:26 AM (KSVfo)

328 327 Posted by: FishingWithFredo at April 04, 2021 10:26 AM (KSVfo)

"so?"

//Goggle

Get it? They do not care about our cries of hypocrisy. The hypocrisy is the kink.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:28 AM (Lzpvj)

329 I got three things from studying Shakespeare in school:

2. Never trust a talking fish.

***

"A Midsummer Night's Bream"

Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 10:29 AM (m45I2)

330 325 Good Morning. Finished A Walk in the Woods. Pretty good, light reading. Does anyone remember a book on the Lewis and Clark expedition that was discussed awhile back? My 29 year old brain has failed me again. Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful Easter.

I recommended Stephen Ambrose's "Undaunted Courage" about Meriwether Lewis. Maybe that one? It's excellent.

I felt cheated by "A Walk in the Woods." Not at all what I was expecting, and then after reading it I learned that he made most of it up anyway. The real female backpacker's story alone was quite revealing.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at April 04, 2021 10:32 AM (Bmy3R)

331 I preferred "As You Pike It".

Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 10:32 AM (1yPl/)

332 Happy Easter Hordemates!!!

And a nifty arrangement of those titles.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 04, 2021 10:33 AM (axyOa)

333 "A Winter's Whale"

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 10:33 AM (PiwSw)

334 Right now I'm reading the series Miss peregrines home for peculiar children By R. Riggs.. Very interesting even though it is supposedly aimed at younger readers..

Posted by: It's me donna at April 04, 2021 10:34 AM (Zmnko)

335 Correction: "The Winter's Whale"

grrrr.

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 10:34 AM (PiwSw)

336 248 Actual WWII Nazis and Holocaust deniers.
Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:25 AM (ONvIw)

Pithy. Still doesn't answer the question. Is the "Tranny-Industrial Complex" book a wholly-owned project of White Supremacism, or is just that they were the only publisher the author could find that would take it on? I think you have to judge the book on its own merits.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:35 AM (mzC78)

337 Serious question for the book tread.
I spent a good part of yesterday thinking about St. Joseph. He seems to just vanish from the story of Jesus. I'm curious if anything exists to read about his life story. What was it like being stepfather to Jesus?
Was Jesus the child receptive to instruction and teaching? He was a carpenter which was a learned trade then.
Any suggestions are welcome.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:35 AM (grDwS)

338 @Guy Smiley. Thanks for the reference. I'll order it. Didn't know Bryson made the the trip up, but then he was a journalist wasn't he.

Posted by: Novadog at April 04, 2021 10:36 AM (x8pNI)

339 I preferred "As You Pike It".
Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 10:32 AM (1yPl/)

Mackerelbeth.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:37 AM (mzC78)

340 As to actual reading, I finished the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico. Fascinating and a first person account so none of this century's woke nonsense intrudes. I think it's telling that none of the thumbnail versions of the conquest (i.e. 600 Spaniards knock off an empire) include the fact that the Aztecs were incredibly unpopular with the locals and Cortez had a 100,000 or more Indian allies to help.

Posted by: who knew at April 04, 2021 10:38 AM (SfO/T)

341 336 248 Actual WWII Nazis and Holocaust deniers.
Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:25 AM (ONvIw)

Pithy. Still doesn't answer the question. Is the "Tranny-Industrial Complex" book a wholly-owned project of White Supremacism, or is just that they were the only publisher the author could find that would take it on? I think you have to judge the book on its own merits.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:35 AM (mzC7

And again, I want to acknowledge I'm aware these people exist, but there are also those who get labeled this or that, who aren't really what they're being labeled, but the labels are effective means of shutting them down. Lots of "free speech" advocates will say there's no moral reason to shut down racists and nazis from having a platform. And they get labeled as such, when they're really just adhering to their own strict interpretation of Freedom of Speech.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:40 AM (qPu/Y)

342 "Has it ever occurred to you that you might be wrong?"

ha, yes, just yesterday I badly messed up the Crucifixion timeline ... 40 days was to the ascension, 50 to Pentecost. I have to go check ... 40 days from the resurrection I think, but is it 50 from the Resurrection, or from the crucifixion? ... I have a book on that whole timeline, somewhere.

Posted by: illiniwek at April 04, 2021 10:40 AM (Cus5s)

343 It's bad luck to say that play's name, AOP. You should use "The Crappie Play" as code for it instead.

Posted by: andycanuck at April 04, 2021 10:41 AM (1yPl/)

344 WWI messed up *everything*.

Even in the U.S. We had Wilson getting us into the war unnecessarily and creating the first government propaganda bureau, a model for the communists, fascists, and nazis. He also criminalized dissent.

Sending soldiers to fight a European war was a big fucking deal that divided the country more than current fake history allows. Small towns around Gettysburg still have doughboy statues in the town squares.

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 10:42 AM (y7DUB)

345 Serious question for the book tread.
I spent a good part of yesterday thinking about St. Joseph. He seems to just vanish from the story of Jesus. I'm curious if anything exists to read about his life story. What was it like being stepfather to Jesus?
Was Jesus the child receptive to instruction and teaching? He was a carpenter which was a learned trade then.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:35 AM (grDwS)

Not that I'm aware of. It's generally assumed Jesus' narrative picks up after his birth, when he is 12, and has the encounter with the Rabbis in the Temple. Then after that, we have nothing until he is age 33. So presumably Joseph is gone by then.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:43 AM (qPu/Y)

346 Hello to all the late posting folks!

Just got back from a joyful Easter Mass and only have a few minutes to skim before I vacuum and clean bathrooms before company comes over to spend the late afternoon and evening - much yummy food, egg hunt for the grands, laughing and talking. Life can be good if you stay away from the media for awhile.

This week I read Martha Wells' All Systems Red - a short book which is the first installment of a long series. I don't read tons of sci-fi, but this was enjoyable. Murderbot, what the 'bot calls itself, has hacked its governor module and is not controllable. The first thing it does is download thousands of hours of media to watch on downtime. How the partly organic/partly robotic creature starts to come to terms with *feelings* and actually caring about its human compatriots is interesting. And it actually opened up a good line of discussion with my oldest (college age) granddaughter. So there's that.

I am about 2/3 of the way through Charles Dickens' Bleak House and am enjoying it thoroughly. I am listening to the Audible version, narrated by Simon Vance. It is truly excellent.

Posted by: SummaMamaT at April 04, 2021 10:45 AM (USQVR)

347 330 - I bailed on 'A Walk in the Woods" when Bryson revealed himself as a condescending, elitist asshole. I wouldn't even allow the book in my apartment.

Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 10:46 AM (USW1s)

348 Ineffectual - a limerick

An influencer tries to affect
The outcome to have an effect
But if your affect is your mien
You can effect a change of scene
This language is utterly fecked!
Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 08:30 AM (m45I2

Ooo!

Now do it in Russian!

Posted by: Diogenes at April 04, 2021 10:47 AM (axyOa)

349 Burt TC
Thanks. That's all I've ever found as well.
He's not a cardboard cutout but a real person. Mary gets more ink but Joseph seems to get shorted.
I have encountered some nonsense crap about how Joseph was an Essene, wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and impregnated Mary by the power of his mind.
Straight up heretical stuff. The same3 with the stories ofr Jesus going to India and learning from Bhudda and the various gods of Hindu religion. Hersey.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (grDwS)

350
Pithy. Still doesn't answer the question. Is the "Tranny-Industrial Complex" book a wholly-owned project of White Supremacism, or is just that they were the only publisher the author could find that would take it on? I think you have to judge the book on its own merits.
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:35 AM (mzC7

Feel free to examine it, the fact that the publisher is so heavily into these types and no others may say that they have a "niche" in books that might be banned elsewhere, but with reviewers with nics like "white revanchist", maybe it's a birds of a feather thing. They also sponsor something called "White Art Collective". Granted, if the focus was black art or feminist art it may not raise the same red flags (other ones, yes), but it seems a single minded "publishing house".

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (ONvIw)

351 Posted by: Muldoon at April 04, 2021 08:30 AM (m45I2

Ooo!

Now do it in Russian!
Posted by: Diogenes at April 04, 2021 10:47 AM (axyOa)

I already did!

Posted by: Alex Push Kin at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (qPu/Y)

352 19 That aside, one of the books is On The Beach, a book which once upon a time made a big impression on my young teenage self.
Posted by: Huck Follywood, Hey! You can't do that here! at April 04, 2021 08:14 AM (BjGw6)

Yep, it was powerful when I was young. Now if I had to choose my favorite Shute book, it would be A Town Like Alice.
Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 08:16 AM

Likewise.
I always imagined myself as the sailor who gets off the boat in Seattle. What the empty and dead city would be like?

Posted by: Diogenes at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (axyOa)

353 Much Ayu About Nothing.

Posted by: callsign claymore at April 04, 2021 10:50 AM (jkKdU)

354 ".. if it claims that the transgender movement is being funded by a shadowy cabal of Jewish bankers, I'd be inclined to give it a pass."

There certainly is a shadowy cabal of oligarchs (or several cabals), not all Jewish, by any means. The unelected EU bureaucrats are mostly in the open, but Atlantic Council and others do become rather shadowy. ... I see the trans "movement" as a weapon against our liberty, just one of the ways "they" are breaking down our strong cultural bonds.

Posted by: illiniwek at April 04, 2021 10:52 AM (Cus5s)

355 Burt TC
Thanks. That's all I've ever found as well.
He's not a cardboard cutout but a real person. Mary gets more ink but Joseph seems to get shorted.
I have encountered some nonsense crap about how Joseph was an Essene, wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls and impregnated Mary by the power of his mind.
Straight up heretical stuff. The same3 with the stories ofr Jesus going to India and learning from Bhudda and the various gods of Hindu religion. Hersey.
Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (grDwS)

Yes, I understand the urge and desire for more information, and it generally seems rather concerning that men decided many centuries ago, what is and what is not accepted as authentic, but the alternative is to delve into a world of other-worldly writings, some contemporary with the accepted NT, some not. It just seems to me at this point I'm better off leaving all that alone.

Posted by: Alex Push Kin at April 04, 2021 10:53 AM (qPu/Y)

356 Granted, if the focus was black art or feminist art it may not raise the same red flags (other ones, yes), but it seems a single minded "publishing house".
Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 10:49 AM (ONvIw)

Maybe they have found a profitable niche selling books that are, for various reasons, toxic to the woke?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:54 AM (mzC78)

357 Posted by: Alex Push Kin at April 04, 2021 10:53 AM (qPu/Y)

Good grief, how hard is it to change a nic when you're done with it.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:54 AM (qPu/Y)

358 354 Posted by: illiniwek at April 04, 2021 10:52 AM (Cus5s)

The most benign of the Billionaire Boys' Club types find us needing coerced "to do the right thing." The malignant ones want 96% of the human race to "go home" because they are enviro whack jobs who want a theme park Earth having convinced themselves that the majority are "useless." I strongly suspect they will need to be dealt with in the next 50 years, my fear is they have a better understanding of the realities and limits of the interaction between human cognition and animal instincts than I do.

Pray.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:54 AM (Lzpvj)

359 338 @Guy Smiley. Thanks for the reference. I'll order it. Didn't know Bryson made the the trip up, but then he was a journalist wasn't he.

Ah, I guess, as an avid hiker myself, I was disappointed that they achieved only the tiniest fraction of a fraction of their goal. When I got a quarter of the way through the book and they were stilll in the first or second state, I started flipping through the rest of the pages with a sinking feeling. There was no way they were gonaa do the whole A-Trail at this pace with this little book left. A few pages later he basically throws in the towel and I'm thinking, this isn't what this was advertised as.

Posted by: Guy Smiley at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (Bmy3R)

360 330 - I bailed on 'A Walk in the Woods" when Bryson
revealed himself as a condescending, elitist asshole. I wouldn't even
allow the book in my apartment.Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 10:46 AM (USW1s)

Yeah, I can see that. But he did have some interesting history and information in there. But he couldn't help snark on southerners and others he believes to be below his social station. Got it thru Thrift Books so he didn't get a dime from me. There is that.

Posted by: Novadog at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (x8pNI)

361
I always imagined myself as the sailor who gets off the boat in Seattle. What the empty and dead city would be like?
Posted by: Diogenes

_________

Just wait a few years and you can find out.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (mht8P)

362 It's trannies all the way down.

Posted by: That guy who always says... at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (W4eKo)

363 361 Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (mht8P)

Take a canoe across the Great Lakes and approach Detroit from the shoreline.

You're welcome.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (Lzpvj)

364 Let's be practical, though: if liberals can call your publisher a "white supremacist publishing house" that means your book can be ignored and suppressed. Most ordinary people get their news from the liberal shits at CNN and will think "oh, gee, white supremacists -- that's pretty bad. That writer must be an awful person."

Better to self-publish.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

365 Alex Push Kin
It's a careful search I'm after. My second ex wife got caught up in a lot of New Age crap. Led there by a woman Episcopal priest who wandered into some truly bizarre stuff.
I was ostracized because of my lack of credulity.
It didn't force our divorce, that had a lot of other rea$on$.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (grDwS)

366 364 Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

We have to defend people we find opprobrious or the day will come where the only people with true liberty are triple amputee NAMBLA types who are command economists.

I am NOT joking.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 10:58 AM (Lzpvj)

367 He is risen indeed!

Listening to the birds singing this morning as daylight broke, I pictured their joyous songs on the morning our Lord rose from the grave and the stone was rolled away.

Posted by: Sock Monkey * el Lobo solitario at April 04, 2021 10:58 AM (sllfs)

368 Let's be practical, though: if liberals can call your publisher a "white supremacist publishing house" that means your book can be ignored and suppressed. Most ordinary people get their news from the liberal shits at CNN and will think "oh, gee, white supremacists -- that's pretty bad. That writer must be an awful person."

Better to self-publish.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

I don't know. He's getting a lot of "press" that he otherwise would not. Maybe it's calculated.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:59 AM (mzC78)

369 Let's be practical, though: if liberals can call your publisher a "white supremacist publishing house" that means your book can be ignored and suppressed. Most ordinary people get their news from the liberal shits at CNN and will think "oh, gee, white supremacists -- that's pretty bad. That writer must be an awful person."

Better to self-publish.
Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (QZxDR)

Absolutely, as a practical matter. What little I know about publishing (which really is very little), if you want to sell a book, you sorta have two choices: Have an audience already, in which case you can do it however you choose, or rely on the Publishing Industrial Complex.

Lining up with actual, real life racist nazis is either intentional, or you're not very smart.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 10:59 AM (qPu/Y)

370 Ugh, Hunter Biden was on CBS Sunday Morning, just flat-out lying about the laptop....

Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (PiwSw)

371 My favorite scripture is John 20:29

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (2DOZq)

372 368 Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:59 AM (mzC7

A decade ago part of me thought the ideological battles were at least in part an op in advertising.

No, they are serious.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (Lzpvj)

373 Just wait a few years and you can find out.
Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at April 04, 2021 10:55 AM (mht8P)

Hope springs eternal.

Posted by: Diogenes at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (axyOa)

374 At least Hunter can keep his story straight.

Posted by: klaftern at April 04, 2021 11:01 AM (RuIsu)

375 370 Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (PiwSw)

It's try two....Han-Ter Bai-Dan was told his 1/2 assed lying and dissembling last week was not enough.

Remember kids Jake "Honest Abe" Tapper SWEARS the media is not biased and is just "calling balls and strikes."

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:02 AM (Lzpvj)

376 It's a careful search I'm after. My second ex wife got caught up in a lot of New Age crap. Led there by a woman Episcopal priest who wandered into some truly bizarre stuff.
I was ostracized because of my lack of credulity.
It didn't force our divorce, that had a lot of other rea$on$.
Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (grDwS)

Oh my. Didn't cause the divorce, but apparently didn't help.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 11:02 AM (qPu/Y)

377 CBD NOOD

Posted by: Skip guy who says NOOD at April 04, 2021 11:02 AM (Cxk7w)

378 Ugh, Hunter Biden was on CBS Sunday Morning, just flat-out lying about the laptop....
Posted by: I am the Shadout Mapes, the Housekeeper at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (PiwSw)

Does he really have a choice?

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 11:02 AM (mzC78)

379 374 Posted by: klaftern at April 04, 2021 11:01 AM (RuIsu)

It helps with a supplicant butt thrusting media.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:02 AM (Lzpvj)

380
WWI messed up *everything*.

Even in the U.S. We had Wilson getting us into the war unnecessarily

"He kept us out of war" until he sent us "over there."

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at April 04, 2021 11:03 AM (63Dwl)

381 Maybe they have found a profitable niche selling books that are, for various reasons, toxic to the woke?
Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at April 04, 2021 10:54 AM (mzC7

Like Holocaust deniers and Carl Schmitt and other anti-Semites. I think it goes beyond "toxic to the woke", but go to the site and see if you disagree.

Posted by: CN at April 04, 2021 11:04 AM (ONvIw)

382 Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 10:57 AM (grDwS)

By the way, I had a book on the Gnostic Gospels. It may still be around here somewhere. I didn't read very far into it, and this was quite a few years ago, so I only vaguely recall it had more to do with the writing not being all that compelling.

Or maybe I was looking for something else when I picked it up. Like maybe a page-turner, with all the juicy stuff, and this was more scholarly.

I'll hop in the other room, see if it's on a shelf.....

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 11:04 AM (qPu/Y)

383 Anything you want to know about St. Joseph can be found in Murillo's paintings of the Holy Family.

Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 11:05 AM (USW1s)

384 I guess I'll delurk, I've been reading AoS for quite a while and I find the sense of humor here refreshing. I farm so while I'm doing field work I listen to audio books.

I just started listening to a book series called A Bright Shore. It's set 10 years from now after socialists have completely taken over western society. It's sci-fi and I am not far into the first book but I thought the premise was especially fitting compared to the reality we are living today.

Posted by: Country_Breakfast at April 04, 2021 11:07 AM (zttiK)

385 But this year, real Naval and Air Force officers in Pacific Commands playing command post exercises against the Chinese forces have lost every game. Gulp.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 04, 2021 10:13 AM (u82oZ)

Good. Complacency is a disease that needs to be purged from the ranks.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:08 AM (49Dnm)

386 384 Posted by: Country_Breakfast at April 04, 2021 11:07 AM (zttiK)

Glad you delurked.

"A Bright Shore" looks like a good read, and a best case scenario.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:10 AM (Lzpvj)

387 An (fake word) tries to affect

FIFY

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:10 AM (49Dnm)

388 Posted by: Country_Breakfast at April 04, 2021 11:07 AM (zttiK)

Heh , you did a willow de-lurk.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 04, 2021 11:10 AM (2DOZq)

389 385 Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:08 AM (49Dnm)

Along with competence, dedication to mission over personal comfort, and love of country as an innate state.

//Admiral Glitter Toes

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:11 AM (Lzpvj)

390 vivi
Thank you. Joseph was a loving father to Jesus. I fully believe that. I'm just curious as to how he felt and interacted with a child he knew was going to die horribly to wipe away the sins of the world.
I'm not sure I can even decide how to frame my questions because what I'd really like to do is sit down and buy him a beer and just listen to his thoughts.

Posted by: Winston, GOPe, not one dime, not one vote at April 04, 2021 11:11 AM (grDwS)

391 347 330 - I bailed on 'A Walk in the Woods" when Bryson revealed himself as a condescending, elitist asshole. I wouldn't even allow the book in my apartment.
Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 10:46 AM (USW1s)

Good to know - I have a copy of this book here.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:12 AM (49Dnm)

392 I'll hop in the other room, see if it's on a shelf.....
Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 11:04 AM (qPu/Y)

Nope. Not there. Could still be in a box, but I got rid of most of my paperbacks, and I think that's what it was.

Oh poop, now I see it was the same author already discussed up thread, Elaine Pagels. Not the same book though.

So... nevermind then. On to the next thread.

Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 11:13 AM (qPu/Y)

393 344 WWI messed up *everything*.

Even in the U.S. We had Wilson getting us into the war unnecessarily and creating the first government propaganda bureau, a model for the communists, fascists, and nazis. He also criminalized dissent.

Yes, Mr. Wilson was a progressive tyrant, but - was getting into WWI REALLY unnecessary?

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:15 AM (49Dnm)

394 Sven: I absolutely agree with you.

BUT in a war -- which we're in -- there are better tactics than charging across open ground against machine guns.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 11:17 AM (QZxDR)

395 Leslie Caron?

Posted by: Con Reeder at April 04, 2021 11:17 AM (/cox6)

396 393 Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:15 AM (49Dnm)

Yes it was really unnecessary which is not to say getting involved was either a good or bad moral choice.

There was no circumstance under which a central powers country could directly hurt America.

WW1 pretty directly led to the rise of murder machine leftism globally.

I hate it.

Posted by: sven at April 04, 2021 11:19 AM (Lzpvj)

397 everything you need to know about St. Joseph can be seen in Murillo's paintings of the Holy Family.

Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 11:20 AM (USW1s)

398 I'll hop in the other room, see if it's on a shelf.....
Posted by: BurtTC at April 04, 2021 11:04 AM (qPu/Y)

Nope. Not there. Could still be in a box, but I got rid of most of my paperbacks, and I think that's what it was.

Welcome to my Hell. Earlier when the discussion was about Flannery O'Connor I went looking for a book I picked up at a library sale where a nun looked at her work and how it reflected on Catholic theology which I, a non mackerel snapper, found fascinating. It was nowhere that it was *supposed* to be if I was truly the master of my domain so it must be somewhere in the attic. Motherfucker!

Posted by: Captain Hate Won't Forget Ashli Babbitt at April 04, 2021 11:22 AM (y7DUB)

399 390- sorry for the double post. We don't know if Joseph knew the fate of his stepson. But we can be sure he knew the Boy was something special. And a good carpenter. Thinking on it, the Holy Family was probably considered upper middle class/entrepreneurial.

Posted by: vivi at April 04, 2021 11:25 AM (USW1s)

400 Yes, Mr. Wilson was a progressive tyrant, but - was getting into WWI REALLY unnecessary?
Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at April 04, 2021 11:15 AM (49Dnm)

I think so as opposed to WW2. WW1 was a war started by Royalty to maintain that power. That we took sides in a war for Royalty is everything America should have been against.

Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 04, 2021 11:28 AM (2DOZq)

401 SO on Easter I just gave a local street denizen a brand new pack of smokes. It was weird he was the nicest guy every on Easter until I asked him if I could buy him something in the store he first went to Coke and then to cigs, mavs really. So I told him I heard him but I had to check another story for what I wsa loooking for lol. he got pissed, and shouted at me. i gave him his cigs. No big deal, it was simply $6. but it was interesting that I had never engaged him I would be six bucks richer, and our conversation woulld have been as good as you could choose.

Posted by: Quint at April 04, 2021 11:33 AM (2veAp)

402 but I am glad it worked the other way. Screw the six bucks. And who cares is somone went off on me. It mus suck to have to rely on ohthers, while some our out to humiliate you for their amusement.

I offered that guy some smokes because I wanted to give them to him. So he got long inded, who wouldn't? He was very gratefll, but I didn't do it for a sec to be thanked. I did it because I could at that moment, nothing more, and nothing special at all. It doesn't take a hero to treat another man like a person.

Posted by: Quint at April 04, 2021 11:38 AM (2veAp)

403 The original sin of American involvement in WWI is that Wilson turned a simple imperial dogfight into a moral crusade for Progressivism.

If Wilson had been a pragmatic patriot, he would have entered the war earlier, to help keep Germany from dominating Europe and a bunch of Reds from taking over in Russia. But it would have been strictly a Navy-and-Marines war. Sink U-boats and commerce raiders, steal any German colonies in the Pacific that the Japanese haven't already grabbed, seize German assets, and get rich selling stuff to the Allies.

Oh, and slap Mexico around for even considering the Zimmerman Telegram offer.

No army sent to Europe, no need for a draft, no need to systematically manipulate and lie to the American people to bully them into accepting the draft.

I think that level of help would have enabled the Allies to defeat the Central Powers, and America would have sailed smoothly into postwar hegemony without compromising our democracy.

Posted by: Trimegistus at April 04, 2021 11:38 AM (QZxDR)

404 Will finish "The Hardest Place: The American Military Adrift in Afghanistan's Pech Valley" by Wesley Morgan today. Very worthwhile read especially for escaped infantrypersons like myself.
Glad I missed that one.

Next up, "Sicily '43" by James Holland.
Posted by: 11B40
--------

That looks interesting. New, of course, so pricey. I'm putting it on my 'To read' list.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 04, 2021 11:38 AM (vOGqy)

405 My de-lurk posting - books I've read in the past, and enjoyed:

Any book by Eric Newby (a specimen of that 'certain type' of Englishman that ended up behind the lines in WW2 blowing up railway lines etc)- e.g. The Last Grain Race, A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush, etc

Memoirs by Patrick Leigh Fermor (another specimen, famous for kidnapping a German general on Crete) - e.g.: A Time of Gifts, Between the Woods and the Water

Any and all thrillers by Eric Ambler (e.g. "Dr Frigo"), Len Deighton (e.g. Game, Set and Match trilogy) and Gavin Lyall (e.g. Shooting Script, Midnight Plus One, The Most Dangerous Game)

Travel books by Paul Theroux, especially "The Happy Isles of Oceania".

"Wasp" by Eric Frank Russell - an SF tale on how to insurrect.

Short stories by Herman Charles Bosman, e.g. the collection "Mafeking Road", which includes the story "The Rooinek", which includes the story "The Rooinek".

Posted by: Jake-ZA at April 04, 2021 11:46 AM (vspFf)

406 371 My favorite scripture is John 20:29

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Posted by: Sebastian Melmoth at April 04, 2021 11:00 AM (2DOZq)

I'm rather partial to the Book of James: Faith without works is dead.

IOW, get off yer ass and do something about it.

Posted by: tcn in AK, Hail to the Thief at April 04, 2021 12:36 PM (N5Tno)

407 Happy Easter everyone!
Rereading Who Moved the Stone and hope to finally finish The Fourth Secret of Fatima.

Another netflix movie that was surprisingly good is The Young Messiah. Written by Anne rice of vampire fame, its a fictional account of Jesus at around 6 years old I enjoyed it

Posted by: LASue at April 04, 2021 01:32 PM (Ed8Zd)

408 One of the great travesties of this age is that the lefts reflexive censorship of all ideas and discussions they diss agree with will push reasoned and sound points of view into the dark corners where the truest reprehensible doctrines have gone to hide. And in that way, ideas and philosophies rightly discarded long ago, will be given new life and credence by the equivocation.

Posted by: Tsgt ciz at April 04, 2021 02:01 PM (cpGdS)

409 @345

The Gospel doesn't say a lot about St Joseph, just as it doesn't say a lot about St Mary, either. I think the writers were very careful to focus on what was important--what Jesus said and did.

Because Joseph seems to disappear early on, it is presumed he was older than Mary, but no one really knows. He was visited by more angels than Mary, though, so there's that.

Posted by: artemis at April 04, 2021 02:49 PM (AwPyG)

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