Fitz!

Christy!

Christy- are you going back to the trial at all?

ESTEN!

Books!

Christy – I presume that this Raw Story headline refers to George Tenet’s forthcoming book:

NYT: In book, ex-CIA chief to hit back at critics: Developing…

I just finished the latest John Lescroart book The Suspect.

I got hooked on these books two years ago and have now read all of them. Excellent lawyer/police fare, far superior to Grisham IMO.

Characters recur from book to book, so if you decide to go for it try to start with the first one and on up.

i recommend “The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai. The New Yorker’s review stated: “Briskly paced and sumptuously written, the novel ponders questions of nationhood, modernity, and class, in ways both moving and revelatory.”

I also enjoyed “The Kite Runner.” Fiction is my escape when the nonfiction accounts of our government’s misdeeds at home and abroad become too much.

Here’s a blast from the past, I’m re-reading “The Grapes Of Wrath”…

Makes me want to become a union organizer.

Long time lurker who’s de-lurking for the first time…

I am looking forward to reading “Anatomy of Deceit” by Marcy Wheeler. I asked the head of procurement for my library if there was any plans to purchase the book. She was quite amazed that the regional librarians hadn’t ordered it, since it’s a “timely” subject. She ordered 2 copies and will be pointing the title out to the librarians at their next meeting.

According to Raw Story, DeadEye Dick-Bag will be taking the stand this week. Is this news, or am I living under a rock? Seemed pretty big news to me…

“Here, Bullet’ AND “Fiasco.” You know, cheerful stuff like that.

Jim Harrison’s “Returning To Earth” & his newest novellas – “The Summer He Didn’t Die”

Read these & be happy you can read. Not to mention the politics are good.

SteveAudio @ 9

Here’s a blast from the past, I’m re-reading “The Grapes Of Wrath”…

Makes me want to become a union organizer.

You just made me pull out all my Steinbeck for a re-read :-)

Talking about a blast from the past w/amazing relevance to the present-
Barbara Tuchman’s “The March of Folly.”

hmmm… apart from looking forward to reading 1906 (SF earthquake) I don’t “read” very much anymore. But, I do “listen”- my public library has a great selection of books on tape. Or rather, a random selection of books on tape, and I randomly select them. They are my company for a 45 min daily walk (gets me out the door bec. I make the rule that I can only listen while walking).

Latest random book was “The Prisoner of Zenda” Anthony Hope, 1894, which took place in “Ruritania”. Led me to follow up on Ruritania, which has an interesting history.

~[]Hope’s novels resulted in “Ruritania” becoming a generic term for any imaginary small, European kingdom used as the setting for romance, intrigue and adventure. ~

~[]Jurists specialising in International Law also frequently use the name Ruritania (as well as other names of imaginary states from literature) when describing a hypothetical case illustrating some legal point.~

it is now the u.s. vs bush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr8k8WHTzN0

Lessee. On deck:

The War On Our Freedoms: Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism, ed. Leone & Anrig.

Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime, Geoffrey R. Stone.

One Market Under God, Thomas Franks.

Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, Chalmers Johnson.

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire, Morris Berman.

Secrecy Wars: National Security, Privacy, and the Public’s Right to Know, Philip H. Melanson.

Hmm. Seems to be a general theme in all this. :)

ccmask at 3 — I’m not certain yet. The Peanut had a really rough time while I was gone the week I was in DC. But Jane and I were talking about me maybe going back for a couple of days — so we’ll see…

Pleasure reading will be light for me this year.

We have already started work on the 2007 Farm Bill. This is a biggie for the Organic Community. Now that we have the rules for Organic almost sorted out we have to find a way to fund the USDA to a level where they can handle the growth of organic for the the next 5 to 7 years, the length of time for a farm bill.

Currently Organics makes up less than 3% of the food market in the US, but estimates are that it will grow to 7% on the next 5 years. Current funding for the National Organic Program, (NOP) represents less that 1% of the total USDA funding. Now nobody in the government uses proportional funding with talking about bills but Organics has always been different than any other federal program. Can you name the last time an industry asked to be regulated and did so over the objection of the WH, UDSA, FDA, EPA etc?

So somehow we have to convince Congress to take money away from conventional Ag and give it to Organics, at a time that the administration only wants to spend $ on war.

So my reading on 07 will be taken up will proposals, counter proposals, and line by line drafts. I have a good friend in the Organic community that says she likes to “Get caught up in the minutiae of details” Like some Plameologist we know.

you all amaze me and feed me constantly.

my three favorite books still:

a tale of two cities, charles dickens

the stand
stephen king

atlas shrugged
ayn rand

others i could mention, am a reader, but didn’t affect my thinking as those did. those are the ones that shook me.

I was reading Carter’s book on the middle east- but unfortunately it puts me to sleep every time I pick it up.

Rushton @ 12

“Here, Bullet’ AND “Fiasco.” You know, cheerful stuff like that.

Did I see the author of “Here, Bullet” on the Daily Show a while back? I wish I could remember, but he left an favorable impression on me. I remember thinking I bet the book is good.

Lawrence Wright’s “The Looming Tower” and Peter Hopkirk’s “The Great Game”. The first is about the origins of al-Qaeda; the second is about the British/Russian attempts to control Southwest Asia at the end of the 19th century.

Dmac, The Stand is one of my favorites as well… And I loved the TV miniseries.

The Story Of Britain, From The Romans To The Present A narrative History by Rebecca Fraser. copyright 2003

Its all here in this concise history beginning with the Roman Invasion cerca 55BC. The relationship between government and the Church beginning with Ethelbert of Kent ebbs and flows throughout the course of history evidencing the unsavory alliance that has always existed between the right wing and religion. You may have begun to notice this trend in recent history.

Though the author’s intent is to reflect historical events as accurately as possible and not necessarily highlight this occurance, it stands out in my mind b/c of the fasc*st bast*rds who run our government and the current state of world affairs in general.

Religion, whatever good it may provide, has also always been an effective tool to control the masses, make them fight wars, and etc..

American Fascists=Chris Hedges.

We can’t say we weren’t warned.

-GSD

Christy- sorry the Peanut had such a hard time while you were gone. Given all you are doing to hold down the fort at FDL, this is probably an impossible idea, but wouldn’t it be great if she could go with you to DC for a few days, just to see where you were and what you were doing? Silly idea, I know, but I was thinking back to my first trip to DC with my mom, when I was about 4. Memorable!

rwcole @ 21

I was reading Carter’s book on the middle east- but unfortunately it puts me to sleep every time I pick it up.

Have you read Hegemony Or Survival by Noam Chomsky? Easy reading and not boring. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Interesting bits on ME dynamics.

Hack- No I haven’t- thanks for the tip. Had a course on the middle east in college- but that was – well a while ago.

Carter’s book is mostly autobiographical- most chapters start out- “So Rosalind and I were met at the airport by elephants (or whatever it happened to be THAT time)….”

My friend Masha Hamilton is a journalist who was stationed in Jerusalem and Moscow for the AP. She’s now a novelist, and her third book The Camel Bookmobile is coming out April first. It’s based on a real camel bookmobile –

The Camel Bookmobile made its first run almost a decade ago. Three dromedaries trudged through dusty, arid northeastern Kenya near the border with Somalia to bring a library to settlements so tiny and far-flung they’d become nearly invisible; places lacking roads and schools, where most people had never held a book between their hands and where they lived daily with drought, hunger and disease.

The above is from Masha’s site. She is also coordinating a book drive for the real camel bookmobile in Kenya.

This seems like just the kind of thing Firedoglake readers might be interested in. Thank you Christy for this topic!

floridasand @
10

Long time lurker who’s de-lurking for the first time…

I am looking forward to reading “Anatomy of Deceit” by Marcy Wheeler. I asked the head of procurement for my library if there was any plans to purchase the book. She was quite amazed that the regional librarians hadn’t ordered it, since it’s a “timely” subject. She ordered 2 copies and will be pointing the title out to the librarians at their next meeting.

Good for you… come back again and talk!

Since you mentioned CDs… I am looking forward to listening to the live Thelonius Monk Quartet recording that featured John Coltrane. The tapes of the original 1957 Carnegie Hall perfomance were lost. When they resurfaced and then got released for the first time in 2005, that was a true find for all of us jazz fans.

My reading goes all over the place. I am finishing The Fourth Procedure by Pottinger that someone recommended here at FDL (thank you!)which is great between Libby Trial FDL stuff( Thanks FDL!!) . Some of my other ones are anything by Denise Hamilton when I can find it. Her main character is Eva Diamond, a journalist in Los Angeles. Good suspense talking about a lot of our different cultures. I just bought Richard Clark’s Breakpoint, but haven’t started yet. Also finishing up on The Structure of Delight by Nelson Zink.

In the meantime, while I am making up lesson plans for my elementary art classes next week I came across one of my favorites that I highly recommend to you, Christy, for you and your peanut, and for anyone else with young children when you want to do something together that is fun for you both at the same time: The book is called Doing Art Together, with lessons for both the pre-schooler and adult together as taught by Met. Museum of Art’s parent-child workshop. It’s even great when you don’t have children around the house, but just need a quiet break from all of the lies and madness.

Dear Christy,

Thanks for the conversation yesterday about the health problems/remedies among us. I started to respond, but was too tired from my own “disabilities” to get to it, after spending several hours reading over the posts and comments.

So I’d like to take the current books invitation to promote a new resource to folks in the FDL community who may have peripheral neuropathy – PN – a degenerative condition affecting the nerves coming off the spine and brain of the central nervous system that causes damage to the sensory and/or motor nerves in the trunk, hands and arms, legs and feet.

For some this is an autoimmune disease, but there are some 200 other causes among the 10-20 million Americans who have this condition with dozens of peculiar symptoms that are also common with lupus, MS, RA, etc.

Many develop PN because of commonly prescribed medications, chemo- and radiation-therapy for cancers, exposure to toxins, trauma, surgeries, diabetes, alcoholism, etc.

I’d like to recommend a new book by Norman Latov, MD Peripheral Neuropathy: When the Numbness, Weakness and Pain Won’t Stop published by Demos Medical Publishing for the American Academy of
Neurology. (It is available at Amazon at the prepublication price of under $15.) It is a much needed introduction that is not too filled with medicalese, making it minimally comprehensible for PNers without medical training. There are real limitations because of its traditional medical biases, but it’s the most current comprehensive “patient friendly” resource available.

The problem is that the medical community understands very little about PN because the medical schools are not teaching about it. The treatment options are minimal because almost all research and development work is for diabetic neuropathy, which affects only about one-third of PNers. And what is available is not very effective. So we are pretty much twisting in the wind most of the time.

So, however biased Dr. Latov is, hooray for him and the Academy for producing this much needed resource. May it be helpful to those FDL folk who need to know more about PN.

Thanks for FDL’s challenges and opportunities.

Just finished “The Life of Pi”, which I enjoyed immensely because it was like NOTHING else I’ve ever read…and I read a huge variety of stuff.

Twisted:
read the other two, they all blend………

hackworthe:
read an early history of britian from my uncle (a genius historian) about druid history….wish i could remember the name of it………wonderful

the point is, read, read, read, that is what i liike, no, love, about ((((fdl)))) is the amount of reading i have from links from your names of blogs and your links to read……..thank you all, yes, someone is doing all that………………and with dial up. that’s why i always enter in too late, i am doing all the links…….takes a while……..but like i always say, takes a while for you all to do the work , least i can do is take the time to listen………

d

Any Hemingway fans? I’ve read most of his work.
One freak I recommend is The Garden Of Eden. Peculiar gender bender issues. It was ahead of its time. A good smooth and easy read, it retains H’s innate ability of putting you there (on the Cote D’ Azur).

A book I read this last year is the The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova about a quest, reaching through the past five centuries, for the historical Dracula.

While nominally a modern re-telling of the Dracula story, it delves deeply into the nature of history and its relevance to today’s world, as well as serving as a cautionary tale on the historical antagonism between Western Civilization and Islam. It was one that I had a hard time putting down.

I am reading the New Orleans Review 31:2.
If you want to feel what it is like to be from NOLA during both the pre and post Katrina eras
read this book.
“…..and yet within the next few hours the tourist is apt to see more nuns and naked women than he ever saw before. And when he opens the sports pages to follow the Packers, he comes across such enigmatic headlines as HOLY ANGELS SLAUGHTER SACRED HEART.” Walker Percy

I know why there is so much animus towards New Orleans. It is because the people of the Big Easy have always known that the rest of the country is full of crap. They come to party, sin and whatever and go back home to their clean brittle lives. And wholesome America knows that New Orleans is on to them and they hate the vibrant authenticity of the now destroyed place. This book reveals this and so much more.

Welcome floridasand

– glad you jumped in to the Lake! Good on you for spreading the word about Anatomy of Deceit…I’m looking forward to starting on Wednesday (first free time since the book arrived!)

Sandra Steingraber’s Living Downstream is my next re-read. Sandra is a poet with a doctorate in zoology.

Living Downstream is her lyrical account of tracing the bladder cancer she developed as a grad student to the stew of chemicals coursing through her rural Indiana family, their farmland, and their neighbors.

Living Downstream is the best introduction I know for laypeople grappling to understand the explosion in cancer diagnoses in the decades after WWII.

Short answer – within a generation after the widespread postwar introduction of chorinated hydrocarbons and other pesticides and herbicides, US cancer rates took off – and have escalated yet more with almost every passing year.

Ever wonder why cancer is more likely in women who have never given birth?

Chlorinated hydrocarbons and other common sythetic pesticides/herbicides are fat-soluble (Not water soluble). No surprise – the chemicals are derived from petroleum feedstocks.

Mammals make breast milk rich in calories – the mother breaks down her stores of body fat to make the milk which nourishes her baby.

That’s why women who breastfeed have reduced risk of certain cancers.

Sandra Steingraber survived the bladder cancer and went on to have her daughter, Faith.

I wept at a seminar in 1999 when Sandra passed around a sealed jar of her breastmilk – the lifegiving nourishment for her daughter, Faith.

The lifegiving nourishment in the jar also carried the toxic residue of pesticides and herbicides from Sandra’s body fat. As Sandra – and animal mothers everywhere – breastfeed their babies, they also poison them by passing on their heritage of toxic industrial chemicals.

Sandra’s second book – Having Faith – describes this horrific burden in every mother – and challenges us to reverse the tragic posioning of our bodies and our planet.

[NOTE: even while passing around the jar of toxic-laden breast milk, Sandra emphasized that on balance the benefits of breastfeeding still outweigh the risks.

No matter what choices Sandra makes, Faith’s body will be laced with pesticides, herbicides, and synthetic toxic chemicals.

Everyone’s children slowly soak up the toxins from over sixty years of industrial agriculture.

Except for those who are strict vegetarians by the age of ten onwards, all of us ingest our planet’s pesticide soup in the animal fats we consume.

So giving up breatfeeding won’t shield our children from the rivers of pesticides coursing through our land, air, and water.

We all live downstream.]

kairos in cal- I just tried to do a quick MedLine search for reviews on PN. The latest article/ review is about the drug Pregabalin. I don’t know anything about this area, but wondering if you know anything from experience?

AZ Matt @ 37

A book I read this last year is the The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova about a quest, reaching through the past five centuries, for the historical Dracula.

While nominally a modern re-telling of the Dracula story, it delves deeply into the nature of history and its relevance to today’s world, as well as serving as a cautionary tale on the historical antagonism between Western Civilization and Islam. It was one that I had a hard time putting down.

Matt, I bought The Historian when it first came out and I just couldn’t get into it. Because of your description, I’m going to pick it up again, thanks!

The Kite Runner was amazing.

Currently reading “The In-Between World of Vikram Lall” by MJ Vassanji. (2003 Booker Prize winner here in Canada)

Awesome book – highly recommended. Sure to be enjoyed by anyone who liked The Kite Runner – echoes similar themes and moral quandaries, with equally fabulous and evocative writing.

here’s skippy’s dirty little secret: all those free books that people send bloggers to get free plugs are sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.

but the good news is, i’m using the george bush countdown to out of office calendar every day.

i tend to read murder mysteries for enjoyment.

I recently recommended “The Fifties” by David Halberstam to a friend. It gives a great cultural and political account of the 50’s, and you can see thee seeds of much of the current messes in some of the descriptions.

Just started The Prince of the Marshes by Rory Stewart.

Interesting fellow, born Hong Kong, raised in Malaysia, son of a long time Asia hand in the British Foreign Office. Stint as an army officer. Joined the Foreign Office and served in Indonesia and Yugoslavia. Took 20 months to walk and hitch across Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and India. (This is the basis for his first book, The Places In Between.)

Spent the time he recounts in this book as a Governor of Maysan Province for the CPA. This is the Shia area of marshes that vexed Saddam so.

It’s a good read so far, but I’m only 15 pages in :)

There’s this book by some Wheeler chick about some CIA leak or something? I can’t remember the name of it. Yeah, I’m reading that.

It’s purty good! :-)

Also, I’m starting the Terry Pratchett Discworld series, as I am the only person I know who’s never read any of it.

skippy @ 42

i tend to read murder mysteries for enjoyment.

I tend to read murder mysteries to decompress.

dmac 35, the druids are/were fascinating. As they occupied undesirable and inaccessible land in Britain’s north, they remained relatively undisturbed for a very long time. They were worshippers of all things feminine. Perhaps they had the right idea.

but i’ll tell you what i’m watching which is cool….

i’m a netflix freak, and i’m just finishing up the last episode of last season’s ‘the l word’ and i just finished watching the first episode of ‘rome.’

both incredibly good shows.

For some great music that I like to listen to in my studio: Claudia Gomez “Vivir Cantando”

Zoe Keating “One Cello X 16: Natoma

Shivaree “Who’s got Trouble”

My husband spends his recreation time online finding great new international artists. So I get to try all sorts of electic stuff to work to.

Valley Girl @ 47

skippy @ 42

i tend to read murder mysteries for enjoyment.

I tend to read murder mysteries to decompress.

I just started Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games. I think I’m going to like it.

Victory Is Not an Option
The Mission Can’t Be Accomplished — It’s Time for a New Strategy

By William E. Odom
Sunday, February 11, 2007; Page B01

The new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq starkly delineates the gulf that separates President Bush’s illusions from the realities of the war. Victory, as the president sees it, requires a stable liberal democracy in Iraq that is pro-American. The NIE describes a war that has no chance of producing that result. In this critical respect, the NIE, the consensus judgment of all the U.S. intelligence agencies, is a declaration of defeat.

(opening of a great article up at WaPo. Addresses all the current arguments for staying in Iraq.

dmac, My hat is off to you for your ability to read A Tale Of Two Cities. Try as I might I just can’t do it. Are you English?

coldH2Owi @ 13

Jim Harrison’s “Returning To Earth” & his newest novellas – “The Summer He Didn’t Die”

Read these & be happy you can read. Not to mention the politics are good.

Harrison was interviewed on NPR last Thursday, about his latest book – I caught it when I was driving home from Massachusetts. I’ve never read any of his books but plan to. I think it’s fascinating that he has a huge readership around the world and is regarded as the quintessential American writer.

http://www.npr.org/templates/s…..Id=7283498

An Open Heart by the Dalai Lama. Something to keep my anger from hurting myself.

LindaR @ 50

I just started Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games. I think I’m going to like it.

Oh! Thanks for that link. I checked it out, and it looks like a very interesting read. Now on my list.

Just getting into Against the Day by Pynchon. My god what a mind!!! Also reading State of Denial by Woodward and Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Chandrashekan (OK, I’m late to the game). Just finished Gilead by ??? (Old Timers Disease) – it was a tough but rewarding read!!! – and I’ve got Jimmy Carter’s latest under my belt as well. I said in that older thread and I repeat that Christy is correct, The Kite Runner is amazing. And I get to read all Libby all the time here at the lake, too!

Aside

Puppy disgorges plant moss from house plant- makes tremendous mess- RW gets vaccuum to clean up mess- scares puppy who then pees on the floor—-GROWLLLLL!

I just picked up “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” by Hunter S. Thompson. I was surprised how timely it was, I guess first-person narrative can never get old. Plus, some of the political trivia is priceless.

In case some of you are going to be in the DC area this coming Thursday, Marcy Wheeler is doing a book signing with Drinking Liberally at Timberlake’s in Dupont Circle.

Valley Girl @ 48

skippy @ 42

i tend to read murder mysteries for enjoyment.

I tend to read murder mysteries to decompress.

My shrink said i read murder mysteries because i needed to see justice done.

OT: http://www.snapsandbytes.co.uk/video38.html

hysterical.
.

Joan Baez just introduced the Dixie Chicks on the Grammy’s evoking the spirit of “This Land is Your Land”!

LindaR,

The Historian takes a bit of time to get moving but it does move and I like very long books and I wish this had been longer.

While we’re going back in time to Steinbeck I’d recommend Jack London’s Valley of the Moon

This paragraph sort of sums up what this country has been all about…

When you think of the glorious chance, he said. A new country, bounded by the oceans, situated just right in latitude, with the richest land and the vastest natural resources of any country in the world, settled by immigrants who had thrown off all the leading strings of the Old World and were in the humor for democracy. There was only one thing to stop them from perfecting the democracy they started, and that thing was greediness.

kathryn in MA @ 61

Valley Girl @ 48

skippy @ 42

i tend to read murder mysteries for enjoyment.

I tend to read murder mysteries to decompress.

My shrink said i read murder mysteries because i needed to see justice done.

Here’s a strange one: my getaway entertainment is also mysteries, but I tend to specialize in women authors and women protagonists.

Many male writers are too testosterone driven.

Yes, I’ve read all the Sara Peretsky and Sue Grafton books.

AltHippo @ 56

I just picked up “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” by Hunter S. Thompson. I was surprised how timely it was, I guess first-person narrative can never get old. Plus, some of the political trivia is priceless.

I think Thompson spent half the book trying to top his last over-the-top description of Hubert Humphrey. :) He had quite a fixation on, to him, Humphrey’s transparent politicking.

I read The Kite Runner late last year, and loved it. My brother, who spent three years in Afghanistan before the Russians invaded, tells me it is wonderfully evocative of the country he knew and loved. I’m currently reading Rory Stewart’s The Places In Between, about his walk across Afghanistan right after the Taliban fell. It is wonderful and full of truth about the people, place and culture after 20 years of death, destruction and chaos, and he was truly nuts to do it. This is one for you to put on your list Christy.

montag @ 67

AltHippo @ 56

I just picked up “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail” by Hunter S. Thompson. I was surprised how timely it was, I guess first-person narrative can never get old. Plus, some of the political trivia is priceless.

I think Thompson spent half the book trying to top his last over-the-top description of Hubert Humphrey. :) He had quite a fixation on, to him, Humphrey’s transparent politicking.

The biopic I saw in late ‘05 about the ‘72 election and about George McGovern (I got his phone #, BTW) dealt with this a lot. McGovern was really trashed by Humphrey.

This was a great year for intelligent food books.

Several important books came out this year (or last) concerning the national disaster of our food chain and how to eat well as safely:

Michael Pollan: The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Marion Nestle: What to Eat –> An aisle-by-aisle tour of your local grocery store.

Nina Planck: Real Food: What to Eat and Why Charming and informative, part memoir part wake-up call to local food

Peter Singer and Jim Mason: The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter A philosophical (but very readable) discussion of the ethical choices we make when we choose food.

~Bodhi

Fictionally speaking, I just got through Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake which riveted me for a day and a half.

Political reading: Judith Butler’s Precarious Life is rock-and-roll. She’s a notoriously difficult-to-read academic, but this book is very clear, and she gives props to the internet. Her analysis of Bush’s presidency as a resurgence of soverignty (i.e. monarchy) within governmentality (i.e. democracy) is horrifyingly spot-on.

Hey, Sunlight, tell me more!

Since you mentioned CDs… I am looking forward to listening to the live Thelonius Monk Quartet recording that featured John Coltrane. The tapes of the original 1957 Carnegie Hall perfomance were lost. When they resurfaced and then got released for the first time in 2005, that was a true find for all of us jazz fans.

Lost and found Monk with Coltrane from ‘57 must be very interesting.

Also, dab

Jim Harrison’s “Returning To Earth” & his newest novellas – “The Summer He Didn’t Die”

Read these & be happy you can read. Not to mention the politics are good.

Harrison was interviewed on NPR last Thursday, about his latest book – I caught it when I was driving home from Massachusetts. I’ve never read any of his books but plan to. I think it’s fascinating that he has a huge readership around the world and is regarded as the quintessential American writer.

Harrison IS amazing. He writes in so many voices about so much that is REALLY American.

You’ll love it all, I think

Thanks for so many book recommendations.
i’m saving them all with my list of fdl favorite teas.
OT
hey! isn’t this the one year anniversary of “harry gets shot in the face by dick?”

Don’t make me do this! (Too late…)

We are made to believe that there is such a thing as mind. But there is no such thing as your mind or my mind. Society or culture, or whatever you want to call it, has created us solely and wholly for the purpose of maintaining its own continuity and status quo. At the same time, it has also created the idea that there is such a thing as the individual. But actually, there is a conflict between the two — the idea of the individual and the impossibility of functioning as an individual separate and distinct from the totality of man’s thoughts and experiences.

:~}

Q: Who makes us think in a particular way?

A: Here at this point I would like to emphasize that thoughts are not self-generated and spontaneous. I would go one step further and ask, “Is there any such a thing as thought?” The very question arises because we assume that there is such a thing as thought, and that we can separate ourselves from thought and look at it. But when we look at what we call thought, what we see is about thought and not thought itself. “What is thought?” — the questions arises only because of the assumption that there is such a thing as thought.

We use what we call thought to achieve our spiritual or material goals. We may consider the spiritual goals as ‘higher’. The culture in which we are functioning places spiritual goals on a higher level than the materialistic goals. But the instrument which we are using is matter, which is thought. Thought to me is matter. Therefore, all our spiritual goals are materialistic in their value. And this is the conflict that is going on there. In this process, the totality of man’s experiences created what we call a separate identity and a separate mind. But actually if you want to experience anything, be it your own body, or your own experiences, you have no way of experiencing them without the use of the knowledge that is passed on to us. In other words, I would say that thought is memory. But we have been made to believe that human beings are created for a nobler and grander purpose than the other species on this planet, and it is that belief that is responsible for our thinking that the whole creation is created for the benefit of man.

Everything that is born out of thought is destructive. Anything that we discover, the laws of nature or whatever you call it, are used by us only for destructive purposes. And it is true that we have discovered quite a few of nature’s laws, and the theories are constantly changing….

e,g, Thought is your enemy.

“Thought is your Enemy”

by George W. Bush

oh my so many things to commet to: i love this thread
thank you fdl
first:

dmac 35, the druids are/were fascinating. As they occupied undesirable and inaccessible land in Britain’s north, they remained relatively undisturbed for a very long time. They were worshippers of all things feminine. Perhaps they had the right idea.

they definitely held a history that all could learn from….i wish people w.ere more widely read on druids….is a history of britain……and i always took it as a masculine thing……stong………but, yes, feminine in their ways……….

hackworth:

dmac, My hat is off to you for your ability to read A Tale Of Two Cities. Try as I might I just can’t do it. Are you English?

no, hackworth, i had an english teacher that explained the empathy and hutzpah involved with sidney carton, i empathized and understood it, read it again…….from an empathizer’s point of view. both sides now, he saw both sides, which i still do, see both sides….which the books i posted @ 20 do………..they state a problem of both sides…..which side to choose?
that’s why they made me think………i see both sides, even now, think that way………
d

Paul Revere’s Ride by David Hackett Fischer

A Fierce Discontent: The Rise and Fall of the Progressive Movement in America by Michael McGerr

Paine: Collected Writings
Common Sense
The Crisis
Rights of Man
The Age of Reason

The Federalist Papers

Gotta be ready for YearlyKos ya see.

Plus if I meet Bill ‘AssClown’ Kristol of Fucker Carlson or George ‘BowTie’ Will I gotta be ready to slap some sense into their bone encrusted heads.

Some chance…eh?

Valley Girl @ 41

kairos in cal- I just tried to do a quick MedLine search for reviews on PN. The latest article/ review is about the drug Pregabalin. I don’t know anything about this area, but wondering if you know anything from experience?

Sure, Valley Girl, Pregabalin (Lyrica) is the “derivation/improvement” of gabapentin/neurontin developed by Pfizer to “replace” gabapentin which was about to lose it’s patent protection a couple of years ago and that supposedly requires lower dosages and is supposedly more effective. They are both anti-convulsants. Pregaballin is specifically FDA approved for diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) and I think post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN); I would assume that most neurologists and informed internists are prescribing it for most kinds of neuropathy on an “off label” basis, as neurontin was and continues to be. For some people a combination of the two anti-convulsants has been helpful. Pfizer is running several ads
in major print media with metaphorical
depictions of neuropathic pain – ants, barbed wire, tacks, etc.

The other primary meds for PNers is the tri-cyclics anti-depressants from the oldest Elavil forward. Lilly has a “new” anti-depressant known as Cymbalta, again FDA approved for DPN and PHN, I believe. Most traditional pain and anti-depressants aren’t effective for neuropathic pain. If you’re looking for more information, you might check out http://www.neuropathy.org, the national organization, which has really done a lousy job of educating it’s constituency. You also might go to http://www.acpa.org which is the American Chronic Pain Association, which had a Pfizer funded campaign this last year on
educating folks about neuropathic pain.

There are several homeopathic, topical, transdermal and other products that can be very helpful with some neuropathic pains. Like with many other conditions, some products work for some but not others. PN can be progressive and debilitating, some can be reversed, some can cause freaky sensations, some types can make your muscles very weak and crippling; some can do both – all of which makes diagnosis and treatment all the more problematic.

I don’t understand logistics but I’d be happy to email you and others a variety of information pieces on types of PN and treatment options if interested.

Blessings,

Valley Girl @
27

Christy- sorry the Peanut had such a hard time while you were gone. Given all you are doing to hold down the fort at FDL, this is probably an impossible idea, but wouldn’t it be great if she could go with you to DC for a few days, just to see where you were and what you were doing? Silly idea, I know, but I was thinking back to my first trip to DC with my mom, when I was about 4. Memorable!

And I’ll bet we DC-area residents could put together a “baby-sitting”/ kid’s outing schedule for you. OTOH, it’s cold and nasty here now, but the museums are attractive.

The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Hardcover)
by Douglas Brinkley

Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City by Jed Horne

The Storm: What Went Wrong and Why During Hurricane Katrina–the Inside Story from One Louisiana Scientist by Ivor van Heerden and Mike Bryan

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band – What’s goin on

Also de-lurking to join the book/music discussion…

Last year I read Wicked by Gregory Maguire and really loved it. Just got done reading Son of a Witch, which I wasn’t as crazy about.

I also read The Kite Runner last year, and it was amazing. I wasn’t really interested in the subject, but my mother and partner kept raving about it, so I thought I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did. It was profoundly sad and moving.

I am currently reading The Dogs of Babel. Not sure how I feel about this one. It’s a bit out there, but the chapters are super short, so it’s perfect for nighttime reading.

One of my favorite books this year (which I know was published a long time ago) was The Bourne Identity. The writing style was more abrupt than I’m used to, but the story was gripping. And confusing sometimes. But mostly gripping. Then I tried to watch the movie (hoping it would help explain some of the confusion), and was I ever disappointed! It was a completely different story. I don’t recommend.

As far as music, I’ve been into Snow Patrol and Death Cab for Cutie. And Nina Simone. And Lily Allen. And KT Tunstall and Regina Spektor. Aside from the Nina Simone, I’m sure this says a lot about my age…

I’m reading William Gaddis’ JR, having finally caught up with his first masterpiece The Recognitions last year. Gaddis is who Pynchon wants to be when he grows up.

Other books I’ve enjoyed recently include Gore Vidal’s Point to Point Navigation and Dennis Cooper’s God Jr.

HinTN @ 55

Just getting into Against the Day by Pynchon. My god what a mind!!!

I’m looking forward to this, but am waiting for the cheap, used copies to show up. :)

“Anatomy of Deceit.”

Gee, I just went off to read this week’s Froomkin columns – come back, new thread and ALREADY 73 comments. Probably will be 173 by the time I post…
I’m reading Ron Chernow’s Alexander Hamilton, having just finished Thomas Fleming’s book about Washington at Valley Forge (title escapes me). Burying myself in colonial and revolutionary history is both uplifting and depressing for me these days…but reminds me what we’ve come through and what we are supposed to be/do in this world.
I have Edward P. Jones’s “All Aunt Hagar’s Children” from the library, but the Hamilton bio is lo-o-ong.

There’s this place on the web I spend a lot of time these days, especially since this trial began in D.C….really cuts into my book-reading.

I think I need something light. Finished ‘Anatomy’ and ‘State of Denial’ and I’m considering ‘Hubris’.
But, I may need to laugh, so I might go for Janet Evanovich instead.

kathryn in MA @ 59

My shrink said i read murder mysteries because i needed to see justice done.

And not only that, they usually involve a limited manageable world, where someone clever and brave gives the villain their due. Not so much in real life.

“Thelonious Monk Quartet w/John Coltrane @ Carnegie Hall” is so excellent- starts off w/”Monk’s Mood” & just builds to heaven from there…

Also highly recommended:

Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” & “Blue Train”
Miles Davis “Kind of Blue” &, of course, “Bitches’ Brew.”

If you’re looking for something light go directly to E.F. Benson.

evening firedogs,

well I will certainly bookmark this thread -

I plan to read eriposte’s postings on niger forgeries in the next few days see if I can get up to speed –

Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia and Susan Cheever’s American Bloomsbury are currently on the nightstand ;)

Valley Girl @ 86

kathryn in MA @ 59

My shrink said i read murder mysteries because i needed to see justice done.

And not only that, they usually involve a limited manageable world, where someone clever and brave gives the villain their due. Not so much in real life.

but so satisfying to find a good one.

Recommended:
People of Paper – Salvador Plascencia
Bel Canto – Ann Patchett
Last Evenings on Earth – Roberto Bolano

To Read:
The Childrens Hospital
The Wizard of the Crow
Jujitsu for Christ

Oh yeah, coming up, next paycheck, I hope, Anatomy of Deceit, and maybe U.S. v. Bush, too. Thank goodness they’re paperback!

The Cheevers are what the Sedgewicks would be like if they could write. (Cousin Kyra excepted)

an oldie but goodie – out of Brazil – Jorge Amado Tent of Miracles

This past year my Book Group read 2 books that I would like to recommend- Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus and Roland Merullo’s In Revere, In Those Days- both great reads.

We gotcher Clusterfuck Capitalism hittin on all cylinders!!

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A man accused of managing brothels in Texas and Oklahoma has pleaded guilty to smuggling women into the country to work as prostitutes.
The Austin and Oklahoma City operations run by Juan Balderas-Orosco, 34, were part of a larger ring that included brothels in 13 cities in Texas and across the nation, including New York City, Las Vegas and Atlanta, according to documents filed with his plea on Friday.

The ringleaders sneaked hundreds of women into the United States, most of them from Latin American countries, and forced them to have sex with as many as 40 men a day, according to the court documents. They moved the women from brothel to brothel and kept the earnings.

“The prostitutes reported they were not free to leave the brothels on their own, and the brothel operators were usually armed with firearms,” according to the filing.

David Ehrenstein @ 81

Gaddis is who Pynchon wants to be when he grows up.

ooh!

It’s only when government rears it’s ugly head that the true capitalist finds it necessary to actually PAY his employees…BEEG government- Reagan said it was BAD!

I suggest a reading of “Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Soviet Army 1939-1945″ by Catherine Merridale now out in paperbck. I picked it up at the ariport before a long flight and was immedately caught up. It is full of recent interviews with survivors of that terrible time. I had no idea the Russians lost 4 1/2 million soldiers in the first 6 months of the war. The next time someone talks about the bravery of Americans of that “Greatest Generation” I will have to ask them if they know anything about the Soviet suffering. It will cause you some moments of pause.

kathryn in MA @ 91

an oldie but goodie – out of Brazil – Jorge Amado Tent of Miracles

Glad to see another Amado fan here. It was so smart of Avon to first publish translations of him in paperback.

oh David Ehrenstein,

The Recognitions
now we’re in cult book territory

Douglas Rushkoffs’ “Nothing Sacred” is brilliant, on Judaism.

rwcole @ 93

We gotcher Clusterfuck Capitalism hittin on all cylinders!!

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A man accused of managing brothels in Texas and Oklahoma has pleaded guilty to smuggling women into the country to work as prostitutes.
The Austin and Oklahoma City operations run by Juan Balderas-Orosco, 34, were part of a larger ring that included brothels in 13 cities in Texas and across the nation, including New York City, Las Vegas and Atlanta, according to documents filed with his plea on Friday.

The ringleaders sneaked hundreds of women into the United States, most of them from Latin American countries, and forced them to have sex with as many as 40 men a day, according to the court documents. They moved the women from brothel to brothel and kept the earnings.

“The prostitutes reported they were not free to leave the brothels on their own, and the brothel operators were usually armed with firearms,” according to the filing.

Sounds like something Neil Bush would have liked to get in on….

Some Jazz:

The Black Saint & The Sinner Lady – Charles Mingus

The Koln Concert – Keith Jarrett

Sinces it’s Carnival season:
Rock ‘n Roll Gumbo by Professor Longhair
w/ Gatemouth Brown
This one is essential

Fess on Youtube
http://youtube.com/watch?v=–Sj_soVKo0
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GIwmp7_AcYU

ps – I have the “Kite Runner” on my pile too, but I think my next book needs to be gentle…there is a new one bout the guy who mde Marie Antoinette;s perfume. :-)

Well, here’s a shameless plug for the brave little book called Some Things Are Unbreakable . . . the story of one family minding its own business and trying to learn how to deal when the dad breaks his neck. Kinda Anne Lamott meets Lance Armstrong, except these are regular people–quirky, imperfect, determined, and smart as hell. A good story well told, so of course the bigs want nuthin’ to do with it . . . you can find it at lulu.com/unbreakable.

After that, I keep reading Fiasco again . . . wish I could do a graduate seminar on that book.

SteveAudio @ 64

Here’s a strange one: my getaway entertainment is also mysteries, but I tend to specialize in women authors and women protagonists.

Many male writers are too testosterone driven.

Yes, I’ve read all the Sara Peretsky and Sue Grafton books.

Steve- I too like female mystery writers, but have to say that I got tried of the Grafton books.

Actually, two of my favorite mystery/ detective writers (oldies) are Ross MacDonald and John D. MacDonald. I got with Ross MacDonald right away, because of the CA setting, but only recently (random library adventure) discovered John D. MacDonald. Or rather, decided to read. Maybe my CA thing had a bias against his Florida location. But, I have to say, he is wonderful. Mind you, I have “read” many of the JDMacDonald books as books on tape. One of his last books, and the last I read was “The Lonely Silver Rain”. I was listening out on a walk (see above) as it ended, I was sobbing. Oops, probably shouldn’t have said that (spoiler). But he really is a master. I hope you have/will read.

READ/RECOMMEND
*Freedom at Midnight, by Collins and LaPierre, about the independence of India and aftermath.
*A Chinese Odyssey by Anne F. Thurston, about a dissident’s struggle imprisonment and freedom
*The Cat From Hue, by John Laurence, a reporter’s front line view of the Vietnam War
*Tai-Pan and the series about Hong Kong by James Clavell
*”Credo”, *”A Passion for the Possible” and *”The Heart is a Little to the Left”, three easy readers from a man I truly admire, Rev. William Sloane Coffin

WORKING ON
*blink, Malcom Gladwell, requires more focus than I have given
*Crashing the Gate, Armstrong and Moulitsas, which I have read through and am working through it again
*Kingdom Coming, Michelle Goldberg, “The rise of Christian nationalism”

ON THE SHELF
*Gandhi, autobiography, set aside to get historical background from Freedom at Midnight
*I Know This Much is True, Wally Lamb, author from my hometown this novel starts in a way personnally compelling to me
*Katherine Graham – Personal History, which I have paged through but not bit into

FIRESTARTER BY THE WOOD STOVE
*Joseph Liberman is a Pious Liberal and other observations, Joseph and Hadassah Lieberman
(just kidding, but see, NERVE even in 2003)

i am bookmarking everything on what to read next!!!!!!!!!!

i love this thread.

just purchased compilation cd’s of allman bros and marvin gaye called gold…….normally am allergic to compilations, but these are good…….have stuff on them i had on lp…….

thanks to all of you for future book-reads………..

passion is a good thing, and books are definitely a passion.

and hemingway always goes to a good place, whomever wrote about him…….

go fdl

kitty @ 97

I suggest a reading of “Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Soviet Army 1939-1945″ by Catherine Merridale now out in paperbck. I picked it up at the ariport before a long flight and was immedately caught up. It is full of recent interviews with survivors of that terrible time. I had no idea the Russians lost 4 1/2 million soldiers in the first 6 months of the war. The next time someone talks about the bravery of Americans of that “Greatest Generation” I will have to ask them if they know anything about the Soviet suffering. It will cause you some moments of pause.

Yes, we are an ethnocentric, myopic and patriotic bunch. You mean there are others out there?

Kite runner was amazing. One of the most thought provoking novels I have ever read. No easy ending – a great first novel.
Currently re-reading To Kill A Mocking Bird. The greatest American novel

dipper @ 35

Just finished “The Life of Pi”, which I enjoyed immensely because it was like NOTHING else I’ve ever read…and I read a huge variety of stuff.

We read that aloud together as a family. I had to bow out at the end because it got too much for me.

I am reading The Places In Between by Rory Stewart, a journal of his walk across Afghanistan. I just bought Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy by Barbara Ehrenreich today. I think that will be lovely. I want to read The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt. I have to finish reading Cannon and Newble, a how to book for university teaching.

Sounds busy!

Hey, Firepups!

I’ll be back shortly with a list of out-of-print books on the strain of fascism in the U.S. — books published before, during, and after WWII — all now available for free in pdf format on the InterToobz.

[For those, like me, who are in tough financial circumstances, needing to watch every single penny, but committed to keeping a connection to the Toobz, you may find it useful to have interesting books available at no cost.]

But first — let me tell y’all the GOOD NEWS I got from the doctors — I have neither breast cancer nor any indication of lymphatic cancer as a result of the lump in my underarm. In short: no cancer evident!

WOOO HOOO!!!!

My GYN had to pull strings to get me into a facility for a special “diagnostic-consult” mammogram with additional views and ultrasound exam as follow-up. Interesting factoid — the Greater Phoenix area has seen a number of mammogram facilities close (why? don’t know), leading to a HUGE delay at the remaining facilities. It took my GYN calling in a chit from a friend to get me in at the end of last week — otherwise March would have been the earliest, with most places saying “April.” Can you believe it?!?

The medical term for what’s going on with me is “Mystery Lump.” It’s not a tumor, and not a cyst, sebaceous or otherwise. To everyone’s great surprise, the lymph nodes in the axilla don’t even really look enlarged. This comes as a great surprise to my GYN, who had told me she “didn’t like” what she was feeling in my armpit.

The board-certified radiologist who gave me the ultra-sound said we may never know what the mysterious appearing, disappearing, and reappearing lump was all about. It wasn’t even an infection. She advised me not to go chasing around for a reason for this — she felt it would be wasted effort, as this is definitely harmless in her view. Possible causes — uneven processing of lymphatic fluid from the leg lymphedema, or fluctuating hormone levels, or ???

What with the Mystery Lump now on record, as I told my sisters, I guess I’m just a Woman of Mystery.

“Thanks” is way too small a word to express how I feel about the support I got from the FirePup community. You guys saw me through a very, very scary week! I’ll never ever forget that. Your prayers and good thoughts and candles all helped lift me up and keep me from turning into a pool of useless jello.

I apologize for not popping in here sooner to give y’all the news, but both Mr. K8 and I completely collapsed (in relief, joy) over the weekend. Waves of exhaustion and fatigue. We slept and slept and slept. Our digestive systems had been all screwed up from anxiety, so we ate some good healthy meals, relaxed, did some moderate exercise, prayed our prayers of gratitude, hugged each other a whole lot, smiled from ear to eat.

God bless you all for the real, tangible help you were to both of us last week! Moral support may seem, from the outside, to be an ethereal type of thing — but I guarantee you it is NOT. It made all the difference in how I was able to handle my fear, during all the medical appointments, with some small measure of grace.

Haven’t read The Kite Runner (tho I think I saw the author speak at the LA Times Festival of Books). Based on all the “I love it!”s in this thread, I’ll hafta check it out.

Here’s a recommendation for the life in Afghanistan theme: The Storyteller’s Daughter by Saira Shah. I heard her speak in Pasadena a few years back (post 9-11, but don’t recall the year, exactly). She’s of Afghan descent (grew up in UK), and her book is a memoir of her family, heritage, and going undercover to Afghanistan in the days of the Taliban.

Books I’m reading: Intuition (a novel) by Allegra Goodman, which explores the life of a biology/chemistry lab in Boston area, and what happens when they make an “exciting discovery.”

and another one that’s an ongoing read: Home Ground: Laungage for an American Landscape, Barry Lopez, Editor. It’s a compilation of language about place. It’s a set of entries, in alphabetical order, written by nearly four dozen writers. A coupla sentences from one entry (found almost at random):

racetrack valley:
The racetrack valley within Death Valley is called Racetrack Playa, a dry lakebed iwth a very fine clay surface. The term racetrack comes from the trails or tracks the lakebed’s rocks leave behind them when they “race” — that is, mysteriously slide along the floor of the lakebed. […]

It is, I guess, the kind of erudite bathroom reader for someone who loves language about landscape and place.

Zadie Smith’s White Teeth is on my “Gee, I oughtta read that” list.

I read a ton of books last year, esp while I had back problems. So I’m in a bit of a lull right now. But I can recommend these biographies: American Prometheus (re: J. Robert Oppeneheimer) by Martin Sherwin and Kai Bird, and Lise Meitner: A Life in Physics by Ruth Lewin Sime. The life of a brilliant woman and physicist; includes how she was cheated out of the nobel prize by sexism and anti-semitism.

Reading Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and next is Michener’s The Source which I’m told is a great resource for historically understanding the Middle East. But very hard to find in hardback (that small print in paperbacks is too hard on these middle-aged eyes).

Great news Mrs Kate!!!!

Looking for something engrossing? Any of what Studs Terkel calls his “oral history” books. Personal favorites:

Hard Times
Working
The Good War

hackworth @ 28

rwcole @ 21

I was reading Carter’s book on the middle east- but unfortunately it puts me to sleep every time I pick it up.

Have you read Hegemony Or Survival by Noam Chomsky? Easy reading and not boring. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Interesting bits on ME dynamics.

I too find Chomsky does not put me to sleep. Intellectual but plainly written, not tiring.

David Ehrenstein @ 94

The Cheevers are what the Sedgewicks would be like if they could write. (Cousin Kyra excepted)

Timothy Kenslea, my best friend in college, wrote The Sedgwicks in Love: Courtship, Engagement, and Marriage in the Early Republic. A doctoral thesis that sells. Who would have guessed!

Mrs. K8- oh that is very good news! You probably haven’t had time to catch up on the threads, but many pups have been asking “what news from Mrs. K8?” xxoo

and forgot to add:

anything written by his holiness dali lama.

Kim @ 116

Reading Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion and next is Michener’s The Source which I’m told is a great resource for historically understanding the Middle East. But very hard to find in hardback (that small print in paperbacks is too hard on these middle-aged eyes).

Get a magnifying glass if you must! Every page is worth it. (misspelling revised, ED)

I have three suggestions:

1. Marley & Me by John Grogan. I defy you to read this and not to laugh or, at the end, bawl your eyes out.

2. The Naming of the Dead by Ian Rankin. The best current British detective series.

3. Thomas Hardy, the Time-Torn Man by Claire Tomalin. I’m biased because I’m a Wessex man, born in Melchester, educated in Shaston but its a remarkable story about a great author who came from nothing.

Just discovered James Lee Burke mysteries this year and have read all 13 or so of his books since then. His prose is elegant, and his characters are engaging and memorable. The same characters are in all of his books. You will love his work; I wish there were more for me to read.

Fun fiction reading which blends who-dun-it with Florida nature is Carl Hiaasen’s Skinny Dip. Its my favorite from Hiaasen.

On my bedstand: Anatomy of Deceipt and Hubris

On my list: “Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace” and Joe Conason’s “It Can Happen Here”

In my Creative Zen player: “Inexplicata,” Apollo Nove and “La Noyee” by Carla Bruni

Mrs. KB,
Glad to hear your news. A lot of positive energy was going your way.

Mrs. K8 – Your entry is the best thing I’ve read in quite awhile! Sending Hi-5’s.

I just got the first & second spot on the next thread…who will be 3rd?

Loved The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

{{{{{{Mrs.k8}}}}}}}}}}

Now I need to take our own dear Pupster for a little walk ’round the neighborhood. SHE didn’t get enough exercise last week thanks to OUR “crisis.”

Then it’s time to slap dinner together quickly. But I promise to come back to this thread with linky goodness concerning the fight against fascism in the U.S. in the early- and mid-20th century.

I think having this history in detail at our disposal (including the conspiracy by industrialists to launch a coup neutralizing FDR, as revealed to Congress by Smedley Butler) is a good wealth of information to draw on as a resource in our current and future battles for the soul of our beloved country.

Will be back here a.s.a.p.

Having this sort of thread periodically is a GREAT idea, Redd! It helps us pool our resources and share our knowledge, thus making each one of us individually and all of us as a community more aware and more effective, using less time to get there.

But then you KNEW that already. :-)

Thank you, Redd!

Sorry, all old

Nonfiction:

The Origins of the Fifth Amendment by Leonard W. Levy

The First American Revolution by Ray Raphael

The Prize by Daniel Yergin

Fiction:

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck

Tommyknockers by Stephen King

Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

And of course

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I’m waiting for Norman Mailer’s The Castle in the Forest to come in to the library — I have a hold on it, so I’ll be first to get it. Should be an interesting read, especially in light of who’s running our government these days.

‘evening all…

I loved Kite Runner. Christy, I read Jason Elliot’s book a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Have you read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffeneger yet? A bit of science fiction (time travels) but it’s really about two characters and how they meet at different points in time and the city of Chicago, where they live. Sounds kind of so-so, but it was compelling and lovely and I got totally hooked.

Oh, and you won’t be able to put down Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Grafon (?)…about a young man who tries to find the author of a book whose copies keep disappearing…

I too read mysteries and/or police procedurals to decompress and escape from this world. ANYTHING by Henning Mankell (swedish writer, novels set in small city in Sweden) and Donna Leon (her work is set in Venice…the city is a character as well as her finely drawn Inspector Brunetti) are great.

RW: what kind of pup? We’ve got a 3 1/2 month golden and she can drive me crazy!

Mrs. K8 @ 109

But first — let me tell y’all the GOOD NEWS I got from the doctors — I have neither breast cancer nor any indication of lymphatic cancer as a result of the lump in my underarm. In short: no cancer evident!

WOOO HOOO!!!!

Excellent news. Almost redundant to say you must be very relieved. :) Here’s to your continued recovery–without more worrisome events such as this.

Cheers.

night all-early day tomorrow.
will read rest of suggestions/comments tomorrow……
good thread

((((mrsk8))))
go you!!!!!!!!

for reasons i won’t mention, you inspire………

I liked “The Pickup” by
Gordimer and I re-read “The Kite Runner” because Id run out of books. Was wonderful the second time too.
Thanks for the reading lists

I just picked up the book “Don’t Know Much About History” by Kennith Davis. I’ seriously hoping that I can learn a little so that I can stop asking such dumb questions all the time.

And this morning I posted that my homeless cat had been gone two days…she just knocked at my door!! Meow!

Valley Girl @ 121

Mrs. K8- oh that is very good news! You probably haven’t had time to catch up on the threads, but many pups have been asking “what news from Mrs. K8?” xxoo

Valley Girl –

Big hugs to you, and to all who’ve been asking or even just silently thinking of us here at our house. Virtual hugs all around! {And dammit, but I really hope someday to be able to give lots of you REAL hugs, in person.}

No, I didn’t know folks were asking, but then, that’s just what this community is all about! I’m deeply touched but not surprised.

It’ll take me a while to digest all the threads I missed, but the depth of conversation here is so very rich, it’s a joy of a task to carry out.

Now it’s off to hit the sidewalks with Tandy — wearing the neat-o highly clever hands-free dog leash. (Should anyone want to know about this special dog leash I’ll be happy to provide info — it’s great for anyone in pain, or needing to use a cane, or just wanting more freedom of movement while jogging or suchlike.)

Mrs.K8 — brava for you!! What a way to cap off a weekend, with good news!!

neokneme — Interesting stuff, but open to conjecture. U.G.’s conflict with differentiation between the individual and the collective can be resolved by thinking of humans as possessing both particle-wave attributes. He also separates human thought from what would have been simply part of the normal run of the human cellular automata (CA) run out as all other cellular automata run in the universe, including the universe itself; I don’t think this can be firewalled off. Only the success of a particular CA over others can be assessed, and since CA have dependcies upon other CA’s, success is highly relative.

edit: Already read and thoroughly enjoyed “A New Kind of Science” by Stephen Wolfram. ;-)

rwcole @ 96

We gotcher Clusterfuck Capitalism hittin on all cylinders!!

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A man accused of managing brothels in Texas and Oklahoma has pleaded guilty to smuggling women into the country to work as prostitutes.

707!

I just read “1491: New Revelations of hte Americas Before Columbus” by Charles Mann.

I just bought “The Traveler” by John Twelve Hawks & “Mission to America” by Walter Kirn.

In terms of movies, I just came home from Pan’s Labyrinth. I couldn’t help but think that George Bush was Captain Vidal, the facsist motherfucker damned to hell.

I’ll read whatever I can get my eyes on… but love reading about trees and shrubs the most. Also love mysteries but wonder sometimes how healthy it is to read them.

Just picked up a birdwatchng book as I find myself watching birds whenever I have the opportunity.

Have been trying to get on the treadmill daily but find my self wanting to get off and hit refresh comments on fdl…if only I could figure out a way to place the monitor in front of the computer..

Mrs. K8 @ 114

But first — let me tell y’all the GOOD NEWS I got from the doctors — I have neither breast cancer nor any indication of lymphatic cancer as a result of the lump in my underarm. In short: no cancer evident!

WOOO HOOO!!!!

(((((Mrs. K8)))))

I have been so worried about you! Thank God for this great news. Hope you can take a few days “off” to read some really great books. You deserve it.

Here is to benign bumps for everyone who gets bumps!

Just wanted to remind everyone, if you have not read anything by Richard Powers, it’s time you did. He has a wonderful way of weaving more than one theme/narrative together in novel ways.

Recommended:

Galatea 2.2 The nerdy people will find this fascinating.

Gain Ultimately, a depressing, rather than uplifting, book, but so well written that it should not be ignored.

The Goldbug Variations Great story, great characters, with how Bach and adultery unhinge a scientist as the back story.

Three Farmers on the Way to a Dance His first, and very good.

The Echo Maker His latest, and it looks quite good. It’s going on my list.

About to start Chris Hedges “War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning”. I’ve also got James Fallows’ “Blind Into Baghdad”, Tony Judt’s “Postwar” and I also want to read “There Goes the Neighborhood” by William Julius Wilson and “Off the Books” by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh. Oh “Nixon at the Movies” sounds interesting as well.

I’m reading “God lives in St. Petersburg” by Tom Bissell.

Bissell is in his early thirties, former Peace Corp volunteer. This book is a collection of stories mostly set in south Asia and the “stans” of the former Soviet Union. As young as he is, he’s not afraid to express some “old sage wisdom.” Good sense of humor and an eye for detail.

Mrs. K8! So good to hear your news. Yes, everyone was asking about you. Your cogent comments were missed. Welcome back.

and I forgot, The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. It should be cannonized as scripture for freethinkers.

montag- and maybe others- a read this decades ago- “A Dragon Apparent- Travels in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam ” by Norman Lewis. Apart from Middlemarch, one of the most absorbing reads I’ve ever had. 1951- Indochina/ Indochine

Manchester Evening News
This is an absorbing and heart aching glimpse of lands, peoples and customs which have gone forever.

Cyril Connolly, Sunday Times
Mr Lewis can make even a lorry interesting.

info here

Re: Richard Powers.

How could I forget?

Plowing the Dark Try to imagine how the story of a M$oft-like company doing virtual reality research meshes with the narrative of a man held captive by a radical group in Lebanon.

Extraordinary book.

Anyone who has the time – and it won’t take much – should read “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. It is a simple premise brought to taut, vivid, despairing, and yet somehow hopeful realization by a man who is America’s finest living writer and the unequaled heir to the literary throne currently occupied by Faulkner and Hemingway.

“The Road” may not have the formal construction of an epic poem, but that is a mere technicality. McCarthy’s words are poetry, his passionate wielding of our native tongue and his ability to grab the reader and never let your consciousness go as he takes you through this desolate, gray, almost heartless post-apocalyptic America is, indeed, epic in its power and imagery.

I don’t cry while reading books, but this is the closest I’ve come. This – as I said, simple tale – involves a man, his son, and “The Road.” It should be required reading for every head of state, or every man/woman choosing to pursue that station in life.

If I were to ever meet Cormac McCarthy my first question – among hundreds – would be “How did you, at 70, write ‘The Road’ without having a heart attack?’” The book is that intense. As I said, it won’t take long to read (241 pages) because you, literally, cannot put down this beautiful literary masterpiece.

Valley Girl @ 147

montag- and maybe others- a read this decades ago- “A Dragon Apparent- Travels in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam ” by Norman Lewis. Apart from Middlemarch, one of the most absorbing reads I’ve ever had. 1951- Indochina/ Indochine

This sounds as if it would be a good companion piece to Joseph Buttinger’s The Smaller Dragon.

I’ve come to this post late, but I wanted to add my suggestion for an excellent book to read about health care. The Truth About the Drug Companies by Dr. Marcia Angell, former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and a professor of medicine at Harvard.

I thought I knew from my years of involvement with the health food community about the drug companies, but I had no idea how sophisticated and how enmeshed with our political system the drug companies are.

This book is a must read for anyone who is using western medicine. She not only spells out how patents are used to the advantage of drug companies, but how drugs are repackaged with little review for alternate uses to extend their patents. She also talks about the great myth of the amount of money that the companies spend on research and how we the public sponsor much of it with all profits going to pharmaceutical companies.

She goes into much detail about the conflict of interest that is set up with pharma and doctors. Between pharma and research doctors – not a pretty picture, but one that we need to become more informed about.

Really powerful stuff and she also tells us how to combat the drug companies and become more knowledgeable consumers.

The book Worst Pills, Best Pills is compiled by Dr. Sidney Wolf for Public Citizen and is an excellent consumer driven resource for anyone who is prescribed any drug. Good source to find out side effects and whether or not you should even take a medicine prescribed.

These are my suggestions for books that apply to the health care situation now.

Carole @ 125

James Lee Burke is great. You might also enjoy Walter Mosley: Fear Itself; Walking the Dog; Bad Boy Brawly Brown; Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned. All very textured and moody like Burke, great characters and stylish writing.

Hiassen is hilarious, and Elmore Leonard of course.

For science geeks – and interested laymen – highly recommend James Gleick’s books: Isaac Newton; Genius (Richard Feynman); Chaos. Very skilled as both science writer and biographer: explains difficult concepts clearly; describes discoveries in historical and sociological context. Highly interesting (and occasionally amusing) writer… with great insights into both the science and the scientists.

Rayne @
142

Mrs.K8 — brava for you!! What a way to cap off a weekend, with good news!!

neokneme — Interesting stuff, but open to conjecture. U.G.’s conflict with differentiation between the individual and the collective can be resolved by thinking of humans as possessing both particle-wave attributes.
;-)

Thanks, as always, for your insights. The notion of duality regarding information (light) is an interesting way to characterize the impact of “knowing”. I wrestle with the cultural dependency and cleave to self-existence. I don’t deny anything. I do see life as continuous even if it is vulnerable to abnegation. Therein lies its potency. It exists because it can be denied. Kind of a group-control thing that leads to cellular co-existence. DNA has figured out how to survive though it propagates at its own rate. Call it the speed of life. Is there an equivalent speed of mind? Traversing the noosphere is verrrry slooow. Maybe it is just the inherent limitations of the self.

Mrs. K8, woman of mystery — woo hoo!!!

Hey!

Howbout those dirty, traitor Dixie Chicks????

I needed something “fun” — so I’m reading Christoper Moore’s “You Suck – A Love Story”.

Christy, the other night I was looking something up in Robert Dallek’s “Franklin Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945,” and discovered in a long discourse about General Stilwell and FDR’s correspondance on the profound dysfunctionalism as a Nationalist Leader of China of Chiang Kai-Shek — that the coded cable reference to Chiang was “The Peanut.” And yes, there were even references to “Madame Peanut.”

At the time of the correspondance about the failures of the Peanut, the deal was he refused to use his troops (bought and paid for by the US) to protect the airfields that were the destinations for those flying over the hump, and instead positioned his troops to fight the Communists. At the same time, the US wanted him to protect E. China airfields from which they might fly B-29’s over Japan — but he would not cooperate. Then suddenly it all became unnecessary because the capture of Saipan was at hand, and a B-29 base could be built there — the better to use a B-29 to deliver the A-Bomb.

Anyhow if your “Peanut” is aware of her nickname, you could have tons of fun with her eventually (and teach her a lot of geography and history in the process) reading to her about how obtuse “The Peanut” was in cooperating with FDR and all, and how Stilwell and FDR corresponded about it all.

Carmen at 156. Thanks so much for the big pharma reference. Worth looking into.

“In the decade after WW2 a number of very powerful American politicians discovered farce. These politicians had such Machisveian philosophies and rudimentary senses of humor that they didn’t regonize it as a cathartic or comic gesture. But they did recognize its power over people. They theefore began applying none of farce’s funniness but all of its unscrupulousness to such tasks as smearing opponents to win elections, groveling shamelessly after the lowest common prejudices of the people, blacklisting dissent, whitewashing corruption and prostituting themselves to wealthy private backers who used them to dedemocratize entire constituencies. And though quite a few citizens soon recognized that incredible abuses of power were taking place, there seemed no rational, nonfarcical way to combat them. The crowd-pleasing, pilfered genre had mated with democracy and produced a seemingly invincible bastard: government by force of farce.” David James Duncan; ‘The Brothers K’, a book about baseball and America.

I am new to this, yet I have been reading the threads posted here for several months. I appreciatte the insight into the Plamegate scandel. I have read Joe Wilson’s book, and alot of other material regarding current events. I would reccomend Crossing the Rubicon, by Micahel Ruppert, and Screwed, by Thom Hartmann. I also recently bought John Mayer’s Continuum CD after hearing it here on a T Rex blog. It is a good CD and just won a grammy. The Dixie Chicks won something too, and that says something about the feeling of our country. Perhaps all is not lost yet.

Great news Mrs K8!

As to what I’m reading, my daughter recently gave me America (the book) *** A Citizens Guide to Democracy Inaction. Here are a few of the discussion questions ;)

2) What does “bicameral” mean? Are any of the girls in your class bicameral?

3) Which would you rather see being made: Sausage or laws?

4) In Star Wars: Episode II, Chancellor Palpatine convinces the Galactic Senate to grant him emergency powers to squelch the separatist movement’s droid army, led by Count Dooku. But Palpatine ultimately abuses his authority, disbanding the Republic and appointing himself the lone ruler of a new galactic empire. Could it happen here?

I am on a non-fiction jag right now… just finished “Money,” by Galbraith, 1975 w/an update. Kind of boring but fascinating history of fiat currencies. Finished “Lords of the Rim,” bu Seagrave, a wonderful historical account of the huge wealthy history of the overseas Chinese, up to the mid-90’s.

I’m plowing through 3 others: “They Thought They Were Free,” by Milton Mayer, 1955… “Digital Destiny,” by Jeff Chester… and “Hell and High Water,” by Joseph Romm. I recommend all of them.

Mayer’s book is interviews and reflections of post war Germany where he befriends former Nazis and how clueless they were re the fascist overtaking of their country (and their complicity).

Romm is one smart dude, lays it out clearly, with solutions. Ouch.

Chester has all the historical (recent) stuff re the surrender of the Fairness Doctrine beginning w/Reagan and completed by Clinton and the unfortunate corporate bastardized MSM results we now have.

Wow I’m turning into a wonk, help me before my head explodes or my kids disown me! Not to mention the suffering spouse.

I love this site…..

Wow. There are so many. But I will list a few….just the first few in my immediate reading stack.

1. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
2. The Looming Tower by Lawerence Wright
3. Paris: A Biography by Colin Jones
4. Static by Amy Goodman
5. The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil

The one change I might make is to move the Paris book down to number 5 because I just picked up two other books on Paris and I like to bunch books on one subject. OK yes I am a bibliophile.

lectric lady @ 146

Mrs. K8 @ 114

But first — let me tell y’all the GOOD NEWS I got from the doctors — I have neither breast cancer nor any indication of lymphatic cancer as a result of the lump in my underarm. In short: no cancer evident!

WOOO HOOO!!!!

(((((Mrs. K8)))))

I have been so worried about you! Thank God for this great news. Hope you can take a few days “off” to read some really great books. You deserve it.

Here is to benign bumps for everyone who gets bumps!

I will second that – we’ve been thinking about you and hoping everything is okay.

Great news!

FDL is a great read but in addition, I love to read anything by Gore Vidal. Just in the middle of “Point to Point Navigation”…a Memoir.
As for murder mysteries…P D James is my fav.
And I loved “In Search of History” by Theodore White…It really brought the essence of history to life…old but still relevant.
And can you top Sinclair Lewis?…really old but have re-read many and still loved them. And Dreiser holds up…”Sister Carrie”.

Makes me miss my Mother. She was a great reader too, and passed many a wonderful book on for me to read. And likewise, when I read a good book, I wish I could pass it on to her.

It’s very late for me and I confess to having scrolled too quickly though the previous post. If this book was mentioned, please forgive me.

My book club read a book about soldiers in the Vietnam war — The Things They Carried. It’s so affecting — we were all astonished by how war was so chillingly and clearly repre-sented. It should be required reading for Congresscritters and the righty wingnuts. Any ambivalence my friends had about the Iraq debacle disappeared after reading this book.

brownandserve @ 166

Great news Mrs K8!

As to what I’m reading, my daughter recently gave me America (the book) *** A Citizens Guide to Democracy Inaction. Here are a few of the discussion questions ;)

2) What does “bicameral” mean? Are any of the girls in your class bicameral?

3) Which would you rather see being made: Sausage or laws?

4) In Star Wars: Episode II, Chancellor Palpatine convinces the Galactic Senate to grant him emergency powers to squelch the separatist movement’s droid army, led by Count Dooku. But Palpatine ultimately abuses his authority, disbanding the Republic and appointing himself the lone ruler of a new galactic empire. Could it happen here?

Methinks you are trying to infuse a swirl of grape jelly into the “Peanut”-butter of our educational system. Bravo!

I just remembered Snow by Orhan Pamuk. It won a Pulitzer prize for literature. It is almost like a long poem, set in Turkey, bringing together a love story, or more exactly, many love stories, politics, culture, history – it is wonderful. He has written many other books which I’m going to order from the library.

Tonight I watched The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill with one of my movie club groups. Maybe others have seen this but what a wonderful love story – just beautiful, a documentary about the parrots of San Francisco.

I’m in the middle of reading Senator Chuck Schumer’s book Postively American: Winning Back the Middle Class Majority One Family at a Time. If you want to understand where Schumer is coming from, this is a good place to start. He ran for the NY Assembly right out of Harvard law school, turning down a spot with a Manhattan law firm to do it and win at age 23. At 29 he ran for the House, and won. In 1998 he knocked off Al D’Amato and became a senator. In 2006 he was one of the main architects of the Democratic senate campaigns.

The book is the story of what drives him, how he has gotten where he is today, a diganosis of what ails the Democratic Party, and a set of solutions. If Crashing the Gate is the outside game, Positively American is the consumate inside game account. It provides a look into Washington from the inside by a key player; that alone makes it worth a look. One of the reasons I’m reading it is because I suspect it’ll provide a parallax view when combined with Crashing the Gate; I’ll have to see what kind of synthesis might result.

I met Chuck at a book signing in Albany, NY a couple of weeks ago. He’s a very personable guy, and I suspect he might enjoy making an appearance at the FDL book salon if approached.

Mrs. K8 @
113

Hey, Firepups!

But first — let me tell y’all the GOOD NEWS I got from the doctors — I have neither breast cancer nor any indication of lymphatic cancer as a result of the lump in my underarm. In short: no cancer evident!

WOOO HOOO!!!!

Mrs. K8

Yay, yay, yay , yay , yay,

happy snoopy dance yay!

My GYN had to pull strings to get me into a facility for a special “diagnostic-consult” mammogram with additional views and ultrasound exam as follow-up. Interesting factoid — the Greater Phoenix area has seen a number of mammogram facilities close (why? don’t know), leading to a HUGE delay at the remaining facilities. It took my GYN calling in a chit from a friend to get me in at the end of last week — otherwise March would have been the earliest, with most places saying “April.” Can you believe it?!?

Sadly, I expect it.

Private health insurance sucks 30% to 40% (or more) of our monthly premiums away from health care.

A lethal diversion.

Turning away anyone who ever saw a doctor is expensive – all those records to search.

Turning down claims is expensive – all those fiction writers to pay.

And the health “care” megacorp CEO’s?

The white males with $ multi-100 million $ “bonuses” for signing off on the mergers they clawed for themselves -

for selling (or buying – who cares? – it’s just the size of the deal) the local employer/ hospital/ non-profit health plan ….

For them – and their families – life is sweet.

And for their – uh – “customers”*…

the less care we the “customers” have access to

the more we “customer” human beings once known as “patients” pay for crappy plans

the sooner we the “customers” croak off from treatable causes….

The fatter the merger bonus for the health megacorp CEO’s and their co-conspirators in the boardrooms.

Yep – I believe you.

Love to you and your family, Mrs. K8!

So glad for your good news – and for your clear vision, compelling voice, and compassion.

_______________________________________________________

[Of course, “customer” = insurance megacorp speak for a suffering member of our family or community…

All the FDL readers, and everyone we love, hate, and don’t know enough to malign or lust for…we’re the “customers” of the “industry sector” called “health care”.]

currently reading:
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America By Chris Hedges

recommended listening:
Butch Hancock: War & Peace
which has nothing to do with Tolstoy but will thrill fans of Bob Dylan

Kirk Murphy, in case you missed it from my earlier comment. The Truth About the Drug Companies by Dr. Marcia Angell is a must read for anyone who wants to know the inside ugly story about the drug companies and how you can fight them. Also Worst Pills, Best Pills by Dr. Sidney Wolf for Public Citizen. It’s written from the consumer’s point of view.

oops – sorry for excessive bolding – thought I’d pruned it….

apologies to to all and to the Lake’s gentle typography and spare esthetic….

(can’t take me or my photons anywhere…..)

_________________

Carmen –

Thanks so much – saw your wonderful brace of books and didn’t want to further thread hog by responding on thread!

I can’t wait to Dr. Angell’s book – thanks teaching me and for sharing both her and Dr. Wolfe’s work with the Lake!

My “to read” pile? “The Fire”, the story of the (successful) Anglo-American bombing campaign to destroy every German city; “Guns, Germs & Steel”; “And Quiet Flows the Don”; “Bankok 8″ a detective thriller set in Bankok.

Mrs K8, do you have any news of zennurse? I keep waiting for her to pop into one of these threads.

neokneme — re: speed of mind — actually, I think I’ve read recently that the speed is 40Ghz in terms of frequency. Stuff transmitted faster than that is not received, kind of like a dog whistle isn’t heard by humans.

While I don’t subscribe to his political positions (which seem oddly centrist to conservative compared to the rest of his works), I like Deepak Chopra’s philosophy or perspective on the nature of human existence. Although he’s informed primarily by Hindu, Sufi and Buddhist traditions, I think his model of the soul makes great sense. But then I also came to agree with his perspective after experiencing what I would call a transcendent or kundalini event; the concept of the individual being part of a larger whole made complete sense in that state. Particle became wave, collapsing in a moment. Think Chopra’s last book is a restatement of much of what he’s said before, except that he’s become far more efficient at explaining it.

I recommend http://www.noetic.org/ if you enjoy exploring the expansion of the noosphere.

Dallek really does not count as a current read, as it is shelved and is thus a read reference book in this house. It is the unread stuff that is in the pile.

I am re-reading “The Looming Towers” — read it last fall, too quickly, time for re-read.

Next book on the block is James Carroll’s “The House of War: The Pentagon and the Disasterous Rise of American Power.” I’ve read in it, but now is the time for a close read.

Marcia’s book was expected at B&N on Friday, but called today, and they don’t have it in yet. Really pestered the guy on the phone as to the difference between a special order to be held and just an inventory. Promise is that it comes tomorrow. (You know, I think lots of calls to B&N might be in order to “see if it is in stock?”)

I am reading “What Terrorists Want” by Louise Richardson. I highly recommend. It is basic theory (cultural and historical) on this topic, and it is so refreshing to dig into a dense text that is not at all ideological. (actually nearly done with this book aside from writing notes.)

Except for the two chapters on World War One, I’ve finished and made notes on David Cannadine’s biography of Andrew Mellon. For a very dull man, this guy got a fascinating biography. Anyone who is an Art Historian will love the chapters on his founding (and getting the initial collection) for the National Gallery — and those who love to kick and scream about robber barrons, — the chapters on his business dealings will inspire more kicks. Cannadine is a favorite author of mine. He has ripped the British Upper Class one way to Fitzgerald over the years — for style in History, I recommend Ornmentalism — all about Dress-Up in British Culture and how it was exported. His Churchill in the 30’s is devistating to the American notion of Churchill and all that. Anyhow, apparently he got a commission to do the very dull Andrew Mellon, and he actually made the guy of interest. But the thing about his bio that really interested me was absolutely no mention at all of Richard Mellon Scaife. My guess is that RMS probably threated massive law suits if he mentioned him, and the only place you catch him is in a family chart and as someone born. But there is much stuff on RMS’s Daddy — so it is not without some usefulness. Anyhow Andrew Mellon, Staid Presbyterian as he was, had a marriage that might have made CNN when they needed a White Lady in Distress.

Ok — two little “religion” piles. One is six books on the Salem Witch Trials which have been so arranged since 2001. That’s when I got confirmation of my relationship to the last woman arrested in the Witch Trials — it had always been a family legend, but given the internet and historians, I finally figured the relationship. So my intent is to re-read all the books I have on this topic with this relationship in mind. (In the meantime I named my puppy — now my mature Siberian Husky after her.) No Witch unmemorialized even if all they want is the daily cookie.

Second stack has four books. Jim Wallis’s “God’s Politics” then Ray Suarez’s “Holy Vote” and then Damon Linker’s “The Theocon’s” and finally Kevin Phillips “American Theocracy” — I need to get into this much more than I have. Since I spent years representing Ecumenical Stuff (for pay) during the Civil Rights years — I really should do some writing on the topic. The Episcopal Bishop who hired me (age about 24) for the job was the guy depicted in the film Patton — the one who came up with the fighting weather prayer. Behind his desk he had a 12 by 6 foot varnished map depicting troop deployments during battle of the bulge on the day he was asked to write the weather prayer. — and his idea of someone who would deal with Civil Rights — well I was to be a Fire Truck. Oh yes — much to say.

Last year I read Taylor Branch’s last book in the trilogy on Martin Luther King, and on the table in the back room, I’ve removed the first two from the shelves for a new reading because of the third and last. I need a week with nothing happening and two long weekends to do this — it is about 2200 pages all together, but please folk, buy these books now while in print, and plan time for the read.

More piles, but if I don’t order groceries right now, I will have to go to the supermarket, and that is an hour and a half less time for reading.

I just started a book by George Weller who has the first foreign reporter to enter the city of Nagasaki after the atomic attack on the city on Aug 9. I have always wondered why we only waited three days to bomb again instead of 3 weeks. Anyway Weller wrote a series of stories about what he saw in the city but of course, General MacArthur had to censor everything. Fortunately he kept a carbon of his dispatches.

OK, now to the book list I promised. They all can be found on a website run by a guy named Dave Emory — http://www.spitfirelist.com.

They are all anti-fascist books, research on the tentacles of fascist organizations in the U.S. both before, during, and after WWII. The behind-the-scenes power they wield(ed), their connections, their massive money network, their motivations, their schemes, their successes, the people who fought them, etc.

I believe we will find in these out-of-print gems unbroken threads which trace from those days right through the present. It behooves us, IMO, to understand how we got to where we are now (and I don’t mean just from Reagan on, but from a much, much earlier era — these are the people who HATED FDR and all he stood for with all their might). We can see how they handled setbacks, and then regrouped. This is very useful material for us to know well, if we ever want to destroy the anti-American, anti-democratic fascist beast completely.

For one of the main book lists, entitled “Books on Fascism” (books for free in PDF format!) go here, where Emory also provides a book summary and review of each item:

http://spitfirelist.com/Books/books.html

Here are just a couple of examples –

“The Nazis Go Underground” by Curt Reiss, 1944 — This author warns about an “underground Reich” in the U.S. and Argentina, using detail from his investigative reporting into major industrialists with Nazi sympathies. He foretold the highjacking of Christian fundamentalism for their fascist purposes in 1944 already! Much detail on the Thyssen firm and related industrialists (which we know includes Harriman, Walker, and Bush family involvement.)

“Armies of Spies” by Joseph Gollomb, 1939 – Describes how fascist Fifth Columns were being built by enormous numbers of spies working for the Nazis in countries targeted for takeover — and how they undermined democratic institutions from within, priming them for collapse at the “right” moment.

“Falange – The Secret Axis Army in the Americas” by Allan Chase, 1943 — Use of the “Christian” Falangists (fascists) in Spain to sow and reap the seeds of fascism in Central and South America, to organize to ensure fascist regimes were successful in many countries, not just in Latin America, but in the Phillipines as well. [This one looks VERY interesting indeed; I may pick this one first to read.]

Well, whether or not you’re like me at present (having no spare change to spend on books), these items and a good many others at spitfirelist look like true gems of information.

You’d be hard-pressed to find copies of the out-of-print books in any easy fashion.

Enjoy!

[Well, I’m sure the info contained therein is both scary stuff and inclined to get your blood boiling, so maybe “enjoy” is not the right word, but you know what I mean. It looks to be fruitful investigation into the grand schemes which brought us where we are today.]

Jane (nyc) @ 166

It’s very late for me and I confess to having scrolled too quickly though the previous post. If this book was mentioned, please forgive me.

My book club read a book about soldiers in the Vietnam war — The Things They Carried. It’s so affecting — we were all astonished by how war was so chillingly and clearly repre-sented. It should be required reading for Congresscritters and the righty wingnuts. Any ambivalence my friends had about the Iraq debacle disappeared after reading this book.

Tim O’Brien is quite good. Do try to find Going After Cacciato. It’s another good one by him.

once you are done with your books, send them here

http://www.chasingray.com/arch…..nola_kids/

ohioblue @ 180

Mrs K8, do you have any news of zennurse? I keep waiting for her to pop into one of these threads.

No, I don’t. But even though my computer crashed and was replaced I know damned well that SOMEWHERE I have her email address.

Just as soon as I can I’ll go on an archaeological dig to ferret it out, and will be writing to her. I’ve been thinking about her and worrying about her for some time now.

Thanks for bringing her name to light again! She is a very beautiful soul, of great inspiration to me, and she was ever so helpful — I’m determined to track her down to make sure she’s OK.

Will report back (if I can reach her and if she permits me to say how she’s doing, even in just general terms). I still pray for her whenever I think of her. She too had constant pain to contend with, but her hospice work was the work of the angels.

the top of the current TBR pile:

The Bastard of Istanbul. Elif Shafak.
Wizard of the Crow. Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.
The Wandering Jew. Stefan Heym.
Fantomas. Marcel Allain.
Uncle Ovid’s Exercise Book. Don Webb.

Rayne @ 181

neokneme — re: speed of mind — actually, I think I’ve read recently that the speed is 40Ghz in terms of frequency. Stuff transmitted faster than that is not received, kind of like a dog whistle isn’t heard by humans.

While I don’t subscribe to his political positions (which seem oddly centrist to conservative compared to the rest of his works), I like Deepak Chopra’s philosophy or perspective on the nature of human existence. Although he’s informed primarily by Hindu, Sufi and Buddhist traditions, I think his model of the soul makes great sense. But then I also came to agree with his perspective after experiencing what I would call a transcendent or kundalini event; the concept of the individual being part of a larger whole made complete sense in that state. Particle became wave, collapsing in a moment. Think Chopra’s last book is a restatement of much of what he’s said before, except that he’s become far more efficient at explaining it.

I recommend http://www.noetic.org/ if you enjoy exploring the expansion of the noosphere.

Thanks for the come-back. Your sharing is a highlight of FDL.

Our noema is a filter which is too selective to escape its self-resonance.

That’s what makes U.G.’s explication so compelling. It undermines rationality as we know it.

Forty GHz? That’s fast! That would be 25 pico-seconds. At roughly 100 ps/in, that is only a quarter of an inch.

I suppose thought could operate in a BB sized portion of my brain!

:~}

Yeaaaaaa! Mrs K8

A laugh out loud even in quiet places like waiting rooms book just finished is Sam Seder’s “FUBAR.” First two chapters were a little sluggish but it takes off in chapter 3. Absolutely hilarious yet still very informative.

TBR: “Breakpoint,” – Richard Clarke; “The God Delusion,” – Richard Dawkins; and “Spook” – Mary Roach. And now, every single book already mentioned here!

Geez, Christy, I hope someone compiles and posts the results! A FireDogLake reading list! What a concept! Here’s what’s piling up for me, in no particular order:

1. Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, by Jimmy Carter. I admire President Carter not only for writing this book, but also for facing the firestorm of criticism that has been thrown at him for breaking several taboos that have crippled open debate on our options in the Israel/Palestine conflict. We have badly needed a book like this, and an author of his stature, for decades.

2. George W. Bush vs. the U.S. Constitution, ed. by Anita Miller (2006)

3. Impeach the President: The Case against Bush and Cheney, ed. by Dennis Loo & Peter Phillips (2006)

4. The Case for Impeachment, by Dave Lindorff & Barbara Olshansky (2006)

5. The Genius of Impeachment, by John Nichols (2006)

6. Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush, by the Center for Constitutional Rights (Second ed., 2006)

(Do you see a pattern here???)

And of course,

7. Anatomy of Deceit.

What’s the best book or blog or article for the grounds to impeach Cheney? Anatomy of Deceit? I want that one on my list, if its not there already.

Bob in HI

J. Anthony Lukas’ “Nightmare-the Underside of the Nixon Years” is superb, with many resonances with today’s news.

The House of Sand and Fog Beautifully written fiction. Chilling, characters beautifully realized, unforgettable story. READ IT if you haven’t already.
Also, The Time Traveler’s Wife Amazing.
I find it so difficult to read books on the fuck-ups of this administration. I just end up getting too angry when it is distilled for me like that. I drive myself crazy enough with newspapers and superb websites such as this.

Four on the Vietnam War that I’ve read int he last six months and enjoyed:

Christian G Appy’s Patriots

Le Ly Hayslip’s two books which i read after seeing Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth:
When Heaven and Earth changed places
and
Child of War Woman of Peace

Gloria Emerson’s Winners and Losers

Next up:

Roy Morris’ Fraud of the Century
and
David McCullough’s Mornings on Horseback

David Ehrenstein @
82

I’m reading William Gaddis’ JR, having finally caught up with his first masterpiece The Recognitions last year. Gaddis is who Pynchon wants to be when he grows up.

Other books I’ve enjoyed recently include Gore Vidal’s Point to Point Navigation and Dennis Cooper’s God Jr.

I can’t for the life of me understand where comments like this come from–you certainly don’t convince me of YOUR critical acuity by saying that you think one undeniably great writer is better than the next undeniably great writer. Both are unique–get it?–UNIQUE. If Pynchon was trying to be like Gaddis, I would agree he failed at the attempt. I see nothing in such works as V or Gravity’s Rainbow, or even Mason and Dixon(much less Against the Day, which I’m just finishing)that makes me think that is Pynchon’s program.

Great writers who work in the same era can only be ranked, if at all, when their works have been ripened by being on our shelves for a LONG time. Some are clearly great in their own era–Faulkner, Yeats, Joyce, Shakespeare(who however had his contemporanious detractors)–I could write for pages. Others are, in a famous analogy, like the mountain that only reveals its true height as we move ever further away from it. Will Blood Meridian be one of those books(to bring in another great writer who is often left out of the discussion)? Will Stephen King, whose case strikes me as a lot like Dickens’s–vastly popular and because of that not respected–I don’t know because I haven’t read him. But you’ll notice that I don’t call him a Dickens wannabe.

I think it safe to make two observations about Gaddis and Pynchon. Neither is terribly widely read–Gaddis even less so than Pynchon. Both are writers who can be very difficult–for completely different reasons. I find Gaddis more of a trial, but I love him–especially Recognitions and Carpenter’s Gothic. I find in Pynchon, however, a mirthful nihilism that masks something much darker(if that’s possible). He has a way of writing that actually defies the conventions of expression, that undercuts the actual structure, the elements, of meaning, of the sentence. I think a naive reader could get through all of his work and not notice that he does this. You could get distracted by the Trollope-like obsession with silly names: where Trollope had Dr. Fillgrave, Pynchon has the spa named “Bad Karma”, but that is far from the most important part of Pynchon’s program. I could go on, again, for pages about what I love in his works–the recondite learning, the farce, the obscenity, the decameron-like story telling, the revival of history unwisely forgotten, but if you can’t discuss him in any way other than to dismiss him, where would be the point?

I suggest that you either remember why you fell in love with reading in the first place, Mr. Ehrenstein, and go back to look at Pynchon again with a more open mind, or at least remember that dismissals like the one you make of Pynchon are actually destructive, for they destroy the dialogue that all art exists in. It’s the lesson of the ages in this regard. It’s okay to say WHY you don’t care for Pynchon because that furthers the conversation, it isn’t okay to say that he’s no good at all, or that he’s sophomoric because that ENDS conversation. It’s a form of ad hominem attack–which helps no one

Mrs. K8 – Thanks for the response regarding zennurse. The last I remember she was traveling (maybe to California) and then her hard drive was acting up. Anyhow, I miss her and worry why she’s not here at this historic time.

Have a great week digesting your even greater news!