http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:30:46 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/07/14/173046.php Mover MikeIn a remarkable marketing campaign, a book classed as a "Politically incorrect book on antiterrorism" was suggested to me in an email. May I point your attention to Obadiah Shoher's book and blog, Samson Blinded: A Machiavellian Perspective on the Middle East Conflict. Shoher is a pen name for a veteran Israeli politician. He dealt with antiterrorism issues for most of his career. The Samson Blinded dissects honestly the problems accumulated since the Jews returned to Palestine. Advocating political rationalism, it deplores both Jewish and Muslim myths, and argues for efficiency and separating politics from moralism. You are welcome to download a copy from SamsonBlinded. I would appreciate your review. Grumpy Old Bookman commented on the unusual campaign back in Feb., 2006 so I won't go there. The email says that Yahoo and Google banned the website, promoting the book, in their ad programs (though not searches) for unacceptable content. The part about Amazon is true. You are able to buy the book through Amazon for $18.95, $8.95 higher than available on the www.samsonblinded.org website. I checked in at Barnes & Noble and Powell's and they do not find the book. So why is it considered "politically incorrect"? First, it reminds us of "our" world history, the part we don't want to acknowledge. The readiness of militant Jews to conquer a tiny plot of land to practice their religion in is not uncommon. On the contrary, the restraint the whole world urges upon them is without precedent in history. (page 10)Second, past conduct of war is now considered inhumane. Cruel measures are sometimes the kindest The cruelty of the stronger increases suffering in the short run but decreases it over the long term by stopping wars sooner and crushing the will to fight. Low intensity perpetuates conflicts. Tolerating enemies is provocative. (page 11)We dropped two atomic bombs on Japan and ended the fighting and saved 1,000,000 American boys' lives. And Shohar argues When Truman shrunk from employing nuclear weapons in Korea, he opened the door to murderous regimes in China and North Korea which annihilated hundreds of times more people than would have died in nuclear attacks. (page 11)Third, we get a philosophy lesson about Niccolò Machiavelli, considered one of the greatest tactitions who "affirmed that two ways lead most directly to peace: destroy a people’s will to fight by either utter goodness or by utter cruelty, usually expressed as extermination." He further states, "No regime that comes to power by force can sustain itself by grace without first exterminating its enemies." (page 12)That eliminates the goodness alternative! Besides Shoher agrues Bedouins have a "respect for the strong and disdain for the weak." When Israel constantly calls for negotiations or gives away "land for peace" it loses respect. It develops a feeling in the Palastinians and Arabs that Israel can be taken, given enough time. Respect! What would Tony do? Tony makes an example out of someone, whacks someone, and has no more trouble from rivals. Maybe, we like mob pictures because they reflect the reality of life, and they have a strict code unlike the culture we read about in the MSM about diplomacy that goes on and on and on while people keep dying. We may shrink before the reason of the Shoher's lessons from history, but successful countries have "Crushed the will to fight, drove the enemy away, and lived peacefully." Regarding the history lessons of the book, they apply to the U.S. in our struggles to find a solution to the 11 million aliens here. Few governments in history have accepted large alien minorities as citizens without trying to assimilate, disperse, or subdue them.There's more. Everyday, we read about the "War on Terror" and the same paper complains that the Bush Administration has gone too far making us less free. Shoher reminds us of something that harkens back to the Winston Churchill era. Democracy, inherently weak and unfit for wartime, is for peacetime.Read Orianna Falacci or Londonistan or Prayers for the Assassin and see what life in the U.S. would be like if we lose. With Iran and North Korea in mind, it is prudent to recall Shoher's history lesson that pre-emption, "attacking an unprepared enemy upon the first reasonable provocation is better than waiting for escalation and imminent war."These are reasonable comments, all of them. The average guy in the street believes in the philosophy "shoot first, and ask questions later." He's seen the cowboy movies showing rattlesnakes shot before they strike. What was your reaction on 9/11 when the World Trade Towers fell? You know what it was and it wasn't "Turn the other cheek" as much as we admire that philosophy. In a very un-PC like way, Shoher tells us that Israel’s mistakes in defending itself have provoked an arms race and created an Arab coalition united in opposition to the common enemy. Instead Israel should decide upon an aggressive course. Attack the designated targets immediately. Do not let the Arabs prepare and the U.S. intercede. Most importantly do not threaten. Governments rarely give way to threats, especially autocratic governments, especially in religious matters. To delay aggression would greatly increase the cost of victory. There are lessons here that we would rather not face. Lessons that are not politically correct, but based on history true none the less.Mr. Bush what's on your reading list? Politics50369@blogcritics.org Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:30:46 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/05/01/010250.php Mover MikeKevin Brockmeier has written a wonderful novel, The Brief History of the Dead. The book was a pleasure to pick up and I lost myself in the idea that when we die, we go to an interim place, a city, that looks like the place we left. We stay there until all who knew us have died. It is not exactly like the world we left, and furthermore we know we have died and we experience an appreciation for life itself and the interconnectedness of us all.In this book the city grows rapidly due to wars and a pandemic, a virus called "The Blinks", an itchiness that begins behind the eyes. Then people start disappearing from the city as more and more die in the real world. All that is left in the city are those remembered by Laura Byrd, who is marooned in Antarctica fighting for her life. Laura has to move from her interior research station to a research station on the coast. Her trip across the ice is positively harrowing - a testament to the tenacity with which we fight to stay alive.One scene with penguins was particularly poignant, especially after seeing the movie The March of the Penguins: Most of them were carrying eggs on the flaps of their feet, gripping them beneath the soft rounded bald patches on the undersides of their guts, which insulated the eggs from the cold. The ones that didn't have eggs were balancing egg-sized lumps of ice there, dead little worlds that they protected as avidly as though they were real. Laura doesn't know her struggles to survive are keeping alive the world of the dead.Brockmeier paints some wonderful pictures with words: "Her skin threw off the dry chill of a metal serving tray left outside on a winter night"; Dogs "stood over sprinkler heads...lapping at the fans of water like puddles suspended in midair"; "The living carry us inside them like pearls."The book is a warning that we have the power to eliminate all life on this planet and that the One who made us could be deeply saddened if our free will took us down that road to desolation.Brockmeier also posits the theory that alive we are composed of three parts: our physical body, our soul, and the spirit that is the cord that connects the two. When the spirit is cut our body dies, and our soul lives on as long as we are remembered. The Brief History of the Dead is a wonderful book that will fill your hours with introspection. Books47069@blogcritics.org Mon, 1 May 2006 01:02:50 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/17/062656.php Mover MikeGlobal Deception: The U.N.'s Stealth Assault on America's Freedom written by Joseph A. Klein, a practicing attorney who earned a J.D. with honors from Harvard law school where he studied constitutional law under the late Professor Archibald Cox, is a book that postulates that the United Nations (U.N.) has strayed meaningfully from its original founding principles. The book has provoked a particularly good example of charge and countercharge, Keith Porter first criticises Klein in a column and Klein gets to respond. Porter responds and Klein has the last word. In this written debate between the author and Keith Porter, director of communication and outreach and executive radio producer for an international affairs policy and educational group in the American Midwest, Klein outlines the original mission of the U.N. The United Nations was founded to bring sovereign nations together for the purpose of cooperating to solve common problems while taking collective action where warranted against threats to international peace and security. Klein says the mission of the UN today has evolved: The globalists (as I refer to them in Global Deception) had a different concept of what the U.N. should be. ... they want the U.N. to serve as an instrument of global governance funded by a variety of global taxes. Porter, who knows many good people working at the U.N. and many intelligent people working for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) who work for much less than they would be paid in the private sector, says it's easy to pick on the U.N.'s lofty goals. He writes: American critics of the United Nations on the left feel the U.N. is well intentioned but ineffective. Critics on the right amplify the ineffectiveness theme - and they mix in a note of danger about how the U.N. is part of a conspiracy to erode American liberties and supersede national sovereignty in an attempt to take over the world. Porter puts Klein down by saying that you can't be both ineffective and a threat. Klein lays out his opinion of the U.N.'s threat that is heavily documented about people who thrive on their anti-Americanism. He believes, and offers evidence, that groups within the U.N. are pushing for global taxes, prohibition or severe restrictions on the possession of guns in our homes, exclusive authority to decide when collective military action is needed to repel aggression, and UN proposals for codes of behavior regarding adequate housing, the disabled, labor practices etc. An example of the push for global taxes is the Kyoto Protocol: The European Union, led by France, saw the Kyoto Protocol as a means of indirectly taxing the United States for its energy consumption through a formula that overwhelmingly penalized the U.S. vis-à-vis the EU. The global cost of the Kyoto Protocol was estimated at $716 Billion (as of 1999.) The United States would have borne almost two-thirds of the global cost ...even though it produces a little under 22% of the world's GDP and accounts for no more than 25% of the global emissions of carbon dioxide! Who are the world's biggest producers of carbon dioxide? China and India, and they would not have been penalized under this protocol. The important thing about the Kyoto Protocol is the tax; $716 Billion that could be split among the "autocrats and the kleptocracy." Klein makes a good case for the threat he sees to our sovereignty. It is not an easy book to read, for Klein quotes from the literature and mission statement of many of the globalist organizations. Take the group Association for Progressive Communications: Our purpose is to "empower and support organizations, social movements and individuals in and through the uses of information and communication technologies to build strategic communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes and environmental sustainability." Klein argues that it is impossible to make a group with a purpose like that accountable. How do you define "meaningful," what is "equitable," and what is social justice? The globalist organizations want to define and judge this country. They want power. They are elitist organizations wanting to wield power without being elected.Klein sees the threat that Porter does not see, because these groups are like piranhas; they get their way a nibble at a time either by compromise or through the stupidity of voters in elections.If you are unfamiliar with the goals of the globalists, this is a great book that will open your eyes. It should give knowledgeable people ammunition to fight the creep! Books46441@blogcritics.org Mon, 17 Apr 2006 06:26:56 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/14/172638.php Mover MikeI downloaded the complete book How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous by Michael Allen, the blogger at Grumpy Old Bookman, read the first 12 pages, and Allen had me hooked. The book is a liitle over 200 pages and I read it in big chunks at a time on my computer. One reason I why was hooked after reading those first 12 pages is that Allen writes about a man named Con and I instantly pictured Michael Caine as Con. (I just love to read English accents. My mouth starts moving to imitate the sounds Allen has put in my head.)'Fancy a drink, Harry?' he said. 'I could do with one myself. I've been in the clinic too, like you.'It never occurred to me to ask how he knew my name. As I said, I was a bit worried at the time, so I just assumed that he'd heard a nurse mention my name or something. Or perhaps we'd played darts and he remembered me from that.Anyway, I certainly didn't want a drink. 'No thanks,' I said. And kept walking.Con, of course, didn't give up. He never does. He just trotted along, keeping up with me, and went on prattling away. Can't remember now what he said. But eventually he said, 'Hard to take it all in really, isn't it Harry?'So I stopped and looked at him. 'What do you mean?'Well,' he said, 'I was in the clinic too, you know. Been there lots of times. And when you've had bad news it's a good idea to stop and have a drink. Let your mind settle for a bit - especially before you drive. That's what I always think.'And before I knew where I was he'd wheeled me into a pub.How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous is about Harry, a divorced man who has not been able to see his daughter Lisa since she was five years old. As the author puts it:But Harry still loves Lisa more than anyone else in the world; and he worries about her future because she was born without a left foot. When Harry is offered the chance to win a million pounds for Lisa, by taking part in a reality TV show, he immediately accepts. All he has to do is find a woman who is willing to risk her life for him - and he has just three months to do it.On one level, this is a satire on the ultimate "reality show". Find a person in three months who will risk her life for you and film it all, including the unprotected act itself complete with "fireworks", all for the TV audience. Told in simple sentences, at times profane, but with morality, Allen asks: Can you really ask a woman you have come to love to potentially sacrifice herself for your daughter's financial security? What does the emotional crisis do to you and where do you seek calm?There's a very touching scene when Harry sits in church with his friend the vicar, Mr Redmond, who hears Harry's confessions regarding the show, Lisa, Debbie, and the contract with the studio. The minister prays for Harry and lays his hands on Harry's shoulders. To Harry, it feels like God's warmth and love flows through the vicar's hands and Harry breaks down.How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous is a book that you can wheel through like a semi-driver or savor like the finest steak from the midwest. Books46342@blogcritics.org Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:26:38 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/04/06/075614.php Mover MikeI'm always looking for a good book and one of my stops on the Internet is Michael Allen's Grumpy Old Bookman. That's where I found out about A Woman from Cairo by Val Landi, which I wanted, but couldn't have. I wanted the book because it was getting rave reviews, but no publisher was willing to publish it.Well, on March 31, I saw that Michael Allen's book is going to be published. Did I know he was a fiction writer? No. Why? "If you've been paying attention to the book world in general, you will know that the perceived wisdom these days is that a publisher should begin banging the drum for a book several months in advance of publication. After all, on this very blog you may have read reviews of books well before the publication date... Why then, have I never (well, hardly ever) mentioned my own new book until just before its publication date?"Not only did I see that How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous was soon to be published, but Allen had published many books, not all under his own name. He says: "If you want to be taken seriously these days, you have to write a series of books in more or less the same style, like Jilly Cooper or James Patterson. In the 1970s I wrote three whodunits featuring a detective called Ben Spence. These were quite well reviewed and sold tolerably well. They were published in the UK, the USA, and a couple of other countries. So the smart thing to do would have been to go on writing more of that series. If I'd done that I might, just possibly, have achieved the same degree of success as Colin Dexter, with the Morse books, or Reginald Hill with Dalziel and Pascoe. But I got bored with writing whodunits and did other things instead." So, I am intrigued. Then yesterday I got an email from Allen that said in part: "In the past two years, Michael Allen has reviewed a large number of novels on his widely-read blog, the Grumpy Old Bookman -- and he has not always been enthusiastic about them. He has also had some uncomplimentary things to say about publishers, creative-writing degrees, slush-pile readers, and various other denizens of the book trade." So... Michael Allen can dish it out, all right. Question is, can he take it?Well, now all those who have been subject to his criticism have the chance to find out. Because now this seriously eccentric Englishman has written a novel of his own. It's called How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous, and it was published in the UK, as a trade paperback, by Kingsfield Publications on 5 April 2006. Anyone who would like to read this novel can do so today. You can download a FREE PDF file of the complete text. Just click on this link and you go straight to the Kingsfield Publications page, which tells you how to proceed."I just downloaded the complete file and read the first 12 pages and I'm hooked. One reason, Allen writes about a man named Con and I instantly pictured Michael Caine as Con: 'Fancy a drink, Harry?' he said. 'I could do with one myself. I've been in the clinic too, like you.' It never occurred to me to ask how he knew my name. As I said, I was a bit worried at the time, so I just assumed that he'd heard a nurse mention my name or something. Or perhaps we'd played darts and he remembered me from that. Anyway, I certainly didn't want a drink. 'No thanks,' I said. And kept walking. Con, of course, didn't give up. He never does. He just trotted along, keeping up with me, and went on prattling away. Can't remember now what he said. But eventually he said, 'Hard to take it all in really, isn't it Harry?' So I stopped and looked at him. 'What do you mean?' 'Well,' he said, 'I was in the clinic too, you know. Been there lots of times. And when you've had bad news it's a good idea to stop and have a drink. Let your mind settle for a bit - especially before you drive. That's what I always think.' And before I knew where I was he'd wheeled me into a pub.And in the short span of 12 pages, Michael Allen had me hooked. Books46031@blogcritics.org Thu, 6 Apr 2006 07:56:14 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/12/01/124151.php Mover MikeTo mark the first anniversary of the publication of Eye of the Pyramid by Terry Krohn, Axiom House, the publisher is offering bonuses to those who purchase the book via a special Amazon.com Internet link on .As part of the anniversary Terry Krohn has graciously spent considerable time talking with me on a whole wide range of subjects; subjects that are an integral part of this rip-roaring, can't put it down story that spans over 2000 years and ranges from Egypt to the Alps to Homestead, Florida.This is Terry's first published novel. He spends his time in the Washington D.C. area with his wife and two children. He likes to get up early in the morning to write and may continue into early afternoon. Before he stops for the day, he would sketch in what might occur in the next day's writing and allow his mind to ruminate over the evening. Many times he would think, "Oh, that's what I thought would occur, but what happened to this character? Several chapters would evolve that were not mapped out before."There is always a "pad and pen handy" - he actually most often uses a word processor. Sometimes a thought will occur to him, but the writing is not ready for the event. If he doesn't write it down, it could be lost to him."Eye of the Pyramid really took on a life of its own. I would set the scene and then embed myself and let things happen... and then take great pains to make sure the scene were realistic and properly resonated with readers." In his 40BC period, he would start by imagining the lighting, the sounds, who was ruling Egypt, what would a shepherd be doing, the architecture, as well as the life style. He describes writing as being similar to reading and is surprised at times, by what "comes from the ether" or flows from the end of his "pen".I asked how he does his research and he said the "Net" is fabulous. "I try to strike a balance between enough information but not too much, because the reader's imagination is far superior to my ability to describe. You give the reader enough detail to fill in the picture."Terry holds an MS in mathematics as well as an MBA, and has written extensively on the markets as PMTrader. I said that the great thing about Eye of the Pyramid is (as in Crichton's books or Dan Brown's books) not only is there scientific information that teaches, but a great story.I asked how does the reader discern fact from fiction? For example: Was there a race that lived 50,000 years ago that lost the advanced technology that was found by the young Esau in 40BC? He said math has at its core (like good fiction), axioms that are arguable... not universal truths. (For example: Euclidian theory says that parallel lines never intersect; non-Euclidian theory says parallel lines intersect an infinite number of times.) You can see the mathematician operate in the book: an advanced race existed 50,000 years ago is the axiom and all actions flow from that premise.The conversation with Terry is wide ranging. We talked about religion, for part of the story occurs at the time of Christ's crucifixion. Esau is asked to probe the mind of Christ and he describes the wonder of the man. Esau is very gifted, but he says "Master, my power is but a grain of sand and His all the sands of the Earth, my thoughts a drop of water and His all the oceans of the world. The tides would stop; the sun would hide its light, would He but ask. The very air He breathes is loath to leave His body; the food He eats nourishes Him with unbridled joy. He sees my thoughts through mine own heart, mine own mind, my very soul; His presence in me is benevolence incarnate, my ecstacy at His spirit's gentle touch beyond humble words. I am but a man; He is so much more. Even had I the power to act against Him, I could not, His kindness is so strong, His compassion a force far stronger than the greatest of mountains, the whole of the earth." One big difference between the DaVinci code and Eye of the Pyramid: Eye of the Pyramid exalts the wonder and love in Jesus Christ rather than trying to show he was an ordinary man who married.We talked about Edward Leedskalnin, a man five feet tall, 100 pounds who built the Coral Castle in Homestead, Fl., single handedly out of 1,100 tons of coral and his block and tackle equipment only checked out to 2,500 pounds. Folks say he found a way to levitate the rocks. In order to properly convey the look and feel, Terry had to visit it. So much of what Malone goes through is Terry's take on his visit. Our conversation roamed to Nikola Tesla and the Hutchinson Effect and "blackholes" in people's thinking.We also talked about the destruction that has occurred to our money. I asked why is there no outcry over the debt we have piled up, no outcry over 5 Billion ounces of silver gone, no outcry over the use of fiat money in the world?In the book Dr. Paul Malone is meeting with the Secretary of the Treasury. As the meeting is concluding, Malone says: "Let me ask you a question. Are you aware that there are four large firms with a paper obligation to deliver silver on the Comex exchange which is bigger than all known above ground reserves? This could be a derivative time bomb in the making. And are you aware that the regulating authority, the CFTC, appears to be turning a blind eye to the matter?" Terry thinks that the reason there is no outcry is that with fiat money, there is a "time disconnect" between the action and the reaction. Issuing authorities can be irresponsible with our money for years and years, but by the time the effects of overly inflating our fiat money supply finally show up in higher prices to the consumer, the people - and or the action - responsible are often long gone. With a hard money standard, there is no such time disconnect - inflation is immediately felt and we know who is responsible. "In a very real sense, a fiat money standard takes away a measuring stick from the people - a measuring stick which judges the efficacy of monetary policy."Today, there seems to be a disconnect between labor and money as well. With a hard money standard, something of value - which requires labor to produce - backs our money. With a fiat standard, one side of the transaction is labor-free. This disconnect can cause dislocations in the monetary system.It made me think of derivatives. In a normal course of events, shortages of a commodity bring higher prices, which lead to greater production, which leads to lower prices. It is quite an elegant system and leads to ordinary results. When you have a world filled with players who manipulate prices through the use of derivatives in a product that is becoming dearer, there will not be an ordinary end.I also thought of the forests around Yellowstone or Yosemite. There was an active fire suppression system in place. Then when the inevitable finally happened, the fire was so much bigger than normal, that it ruined the forests for years and years. In light of the devastation, changes are finally being made to forest management regarding fires.Terry hopes that readers enjoy his book for both the mystery/thriller entertainment, as well as the historical content that it presents.For myself, I hope messages such as this will exert pressure to change the system before we have a monetary fire that consumes us all.Now to celebrate the one year anniversary of Eye of the Pyramid, Axiom House is running a special this Thursday. If you buy a copy of Eye of the Pyramid from Axiom_House on Amazon.com, you will receive a long list of special gifts. Including• Free Poetry by Mike Landfair - Original poetry never before published and kindly offered by Mike Landfair.Did I tell you Terry Krohn is working on a sequel? Power of the Scepter is scheduled for release in the summer of 2006. There will be more on the discovery of Leedskalnin and The Hutchinson Effect: A way to control a very real effect - in general it seems to arise when radio waves are passed through a strong electrostatic field. The combined field acts as if energy keeping atoms apart is broken down. I can't wait for another discussion that ranges far and wide!One of the bonuses includes the first three chapters of the new book. Here is a complete list of the bonuses: http://www.axiomhouse.com/offers/bonuslist.htmMover Mike has posted a number of times on his blog about Eye of the Pyramid Books40349@blogcritics.org Thu, 1 Dec 2005 12:41:51 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/10/06/141903.php Mover MikeSerenity has been on my mind since Friday. I have never seen the TV show Firefly on which the movie is based, so I was awed by the Sci-Fi movie. It was everything the last three Star Wars should have been. The plot and characters were very interesting and I cared about their ability to survive. More importantly, the special effects didn't overwhelm the story as in Star Wars. Revenge of the Sith has more than 2 200 visual effects shots, surpassing the records of the previous Star Wars movies and dwarfing those of other visual effects spectaculars, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. " Where Star Wars seems to have this giant power of the Empire weighing it down, Serenity seems to embody the spirit of individualism. I liked the movie and gave it a 9+ out of 10! One of the most interesting things about the movie was the dialog. It was a combination of an old west cowboy and perhaps uneducated pirate speech combined with the use of $5 words similar to the speech in the Coen Brothers Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? I bought the paperback Serenity by Keith R.A.DeCandido based on the motion picture screenplay by Joss Whedon. Here are some samples: "Yup. See, we represent us a group of people who aren't overburdened with patience regarding the Alliance." "Well, what you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar." "I look out for me and mine. That don't include you 'less I conjure it does." "Come a day there won't be room for naughty men like us to slip about it all." "Zoe wasn't what you'd call unobservant, so if this fella was catching her unawares, he had a measure of stealth and might've caused some difficulties. " Serenity had some unmistakeable jibes at todays world affairs. River is asked, "With all the social and medical advancements we can bring to the Independents, why would they fight so hard against us?" And River answers "We Meddle."..."People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think, don't run, don't walk, we're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome." And, Serenity had humor. Lot's of it as in this sample: "So I can leave the goggles?" Mal was grateful for this. The goggles made him look silly. Jayne had put his on, and he looked powerful silly, which, given that he was one of the scarier individuals Mal had gotten to know personally, was going some. "Of course, sir. I'll make sure to put aside some of our loot for the seeing-eye-dog you'll need when the grit in the air tears your eyes out." Snatching the goggles out of Zoë's hands, Mal said, "Fine, I'll wear 'em. But I'll look like an idiot." "I should think you'd be used to that, sir."I'll see it again! Video37514@blogcritics.org Thu, 6 Oct 2005 14:19:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/07/04/140143.php Mover MikeI just finished the book The Truth About Hillary by Edward Klein.I come away thinking this is a formidable woman. Let me tell you up front, I have not liked this woman, Ms. Clinton, and I do not like her now, and I would never consider voting for her. So, I am not going to pick apart the author or his evidence, supported by over 30 pages of notes in the back of the book and numerous citations throughout the book. The book rehashes, for the informed, much of what we already knew. After I finished the book, I felt soiled, like I need a long hot shower, not by the writer, but by the naked corrupt ambition of the subject. Let me, also, say, I have two daughters. I would love to see a woman president. I would love to say to my grand-daughter that she could grow up to be president. However, that is not a reason to vote for this woman for president; and she is surely aiming for that office with all the drive in her body. I don't believe she is a good role model as a wife, as a mother, and as a leader.Early in the book Klein says:All presidents live inside a bubble, but Hillary's bubble was unique,because it was designed to conceal her moral imperfections. ...snip... Hillary's bubble was an effective political tool. It camouflaged the moral decay in the Clinton White House...As for Vince Foster, Klein says:As the person she trusted most in the world, Hillary often assigned Vince the sensitive task of cleaning up the political messes created by her careless and corrupt husband. ...snip... Vince fell into a suicidal depression once he realized that Hillary, as First Lady, could no longer be his intimate friend-and that he, in turn, could no longer protect her from scandal and her flagrant disregard for the law. Klein writes:Hillary learned about private investigators in her work (while at Yale Law School) on behalf of the Black Panthers and the Communist apologists Robert Treuhaft and Jessica Mitford," wrote Barbara Olson. "Now Hillary was constantly checking up on Bill, not just to learn the extent of his betrayals, but to assess the danger he posed to their joint political career." If Hillary gets elected, not only will we once again have "the advice of the smartest politician in the party-Bill Clinton, but Harold Ickes, Susan Thomases, James Carville, Stan Greenberg, and Mandy Grunwald." "The culture of concealment and deception that had infected the American presidency during the years of Bill Clinton's administration would be back in full swing." Klein writes about the marriage of convenience between Hillary and Bill, the possibility of rape for the conception of Chelsea, whether Hillary is a lesbian, and the many lesbians that gathered around Hillary, political lesbianism, and affairs of Bill, including graphic tryst-stories of Bill and Monica Lewinsky. As I said, it's all enough to make you feel soiled. The final bit of information about the book, is that Klein tries to compare Nixon and Hillary, with Nixon concluding, "Hillary inspires fear!" Books32016@blogcritics.org Mon, 4 Jul 2005 14:01:43 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/31/112603.php Mover MikeBill Clinton wrote a bestseller titled My Life, over 1000 pages. Their Lives: The Women Targeted by the Clinton Machine is in part about the missing chapters that deal with Elizabeth Ward Gracen, Sally Perdue, Gennifer Flowers, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey, Monica Lewinsky, and Juanita Broaddrick. It is, also, about being a liberal misogynist. Jackson defines "liberal misogynist" as a person who supports women's rights politically, yet repeatedly mistreats women personally.Candace Jackson is a libertarian feminist and an attorney. She graduated from Stanford and Pepperdine Law School and has worked for Judicial Watch. Jackson interviewed the seven women, and may have learned more than has been generally available in the press. Although I have followed these women closely since there stories became public, I wasn't struck by too much that was new. The pattern in each case seemed to be denial of the woman's claim, trashing the woman's reputation, and failing that, intimidation.What did strike me as new was her analysis of modern liberalism, which can help us all understand politics better. She has identified seven tenets of liberalism. Here are the first two and you can read the book for the next five:1. In modern liberalism, political goals justify any political means to achieve them. You can think of gender equality and affirmative action. Which leads to the "greater good theory", namely if any harm "occurs in the pursuit of those two goals, it's worth the suffering... for the greater good."2. Modern liberalism relies on intermediaries to take care of the unpleasant tasks of enforcing the means to their political ends.Most liberals aren't outright socialists demanding government ownership of the economy, but they use legislation and regulation to establish nearly-plenary government control over the economy. I think the fundamental lesson from the book is that any political philosophy, including liberalism, to the extent that it aligns itself with force to achieve its goals, is a danger to our free choice. It seems the press only wants to scare us about the Republicans and the Patriot Act.It is becoming increasingly clear that Hillary Clinton could be the Democratic candidate for President, and is more liberal than Bill Clinton. She is the one person who could have exercised restraint on Bill Clinton, but instead supported his misogyny; and she could turn out worse for us than he. Supporting Hillary Clinton, as much as you want a woman president, is a slap in the face to all women and the goal of gender equality. Mover Mike was given this book to review by World Ahead Publishing, and is not obligated to praise or pan the book. Books30366@blogcritics.org Tue, 31 May 2005 11:26:03 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/05/27/115430.php Mover MikeFrom Ron Paul in Texas Straight Talk, his weekly column, Congress and the Federal Reserve Erode Your Dollars May 23, 2005 Last week the US Treasury department issued a warning to the Chinese government with regard to its policy of pegging the value of the Chinese yuan to the US dollar. In essence, the Treasury department accuses China of artificially suppressing the value of its currency by tying it to the dollar, thus making Chinese imports very cheap and worsening our trade imbalance.This kind of bluster may serve political interests, but in reality we have nobody to blame but ourselves for the sharp decline in the US dollar. Congress and the Federal Reserve, not China, are the real culprits in the erosion of your personal savings and buying power. Congress relentlessly spends more than the Treasury collects in taxes each year, which means the US government must either borrow or print money to operate- both of which cause the value of the dollar to drop. When we borrow a billion dollars every day simply to run the government, and when the Federal Reserve increases the money supply by trillions of dollars in just 15 years, we hardly can expect our dollars to increase in value.If anything, the US government should be embarrassed that another nation has depressed its currency by tying it to the US dollar. An economically sound nation would take pride in its currency, one that maintains a stable value and provides incentive for savers. Yet here we are, mad at China for our own sin of flooding the world with cheap dollars.The root of the problem is the Federal Reserve and our fiat monetary system itself. Since US dollars and other major currencies are not backed by gold, they have no inherent value. Their relative values are subject to political events, and fluctuate constantly in highly volatile currency markets. A fiat system means every dollar you have can be eroded into nothing by the actions of politicians and central bankers. In essence, paper currencies like the US dollar operate as articles of faith-- faith in the policies of the governments and central banks that issue them. When it comes to a government as deeply indebted as our own, that faith is sorely lacking among investors worldwide. Politicians often manage to fool voters and the media, but they rarely fool financial markets over time. The precipitous drop in the US dollar over the past few years is proof that investors around the globe are very concerned about American deficits and debt. When investors lack faith in the U.S. dollar, they really lack faith in the economic policies of the U.S. government. Unlike wealthy currency traders, most Americans are stuck with their U.S. dollars. Average people, particularly those who depend on savings or fixed incomes to fund their retirement years, cannot abide the continued devaluation of our currency. A true strong-dollar policy would not depend on the actions of China or any other nation. It would, however, require a constriction of the money supply and higher interest rates, both of which would cause some short-term pain for the American economy. In the long run, however, such a correction is the only alternative to the continued erosion of our dollars.Lord, we need more men and women like Congressman Ron Paul! Politics30234@blogcritics.org Fri, 27 May 2005 11:54:30 EDT