1 Hi guys. I'm currently rereading _Bridge of Birds_ by Barry Hughart.

2 Just finished "The Night Circus" by Erin Morganstern. Good, but empty somehow.

3 Those Australians sure can pull off American accents.

4 I'm not actually reading anything, but I am writing a lot. My next paper is called Me Beating Off and it's about me whacking off. I expect an "A" , since I am good at it and I use proper punctuation throughout.

5 Dat ole debbil Obama do like to beat da slaves!

6 I finished “Independence, The Struggle To Set America Free”.  Now that was a much better book than the previous one last week. 


But one thing I noted in both books that harped about American and their taxation issues.  They both failed to note that the new British taxes were levied in addition to the taxes levied by their local governments AND they had to be paid in gold or silver which was almost non-existent in the colonies at the time due to the British trade laws.  People were losing thier homes and farms over this.


Currently reading The Long Way Home by one of or own Moronettes, Sabrina Chase.

7 I regret to report that my investigation into the disappearance of Mr Austan Goolsbee after his argument with Professor von Totenkopf is at a standstill.

Upon arriving in Cherbourg by train, Mr Goolsbee was to ferry across the Channel to Southampton and then take the train to London for a meeting with business associates. No one matching his description was seen on the ferry nor the train.

He was allegedly accompanied by Miss Margarita DeVille, but witnesses recall seeing her board a Cunard liner to New York from Cherbourg, and the passenger list confirms that she boarded alone.

Professor von Totenkopf has provided an alibi for which I can find no collaborating witnesses, but several witnesses on the dining carriage on the night in question have come forth. None of these witnesses are of sterling character, but unless I can even verify that Mr Goolsbee has even met with foul play, I must conclude my investigations.

Brilliantly played, Professor

8 I picked up a bunch of stuff in the bargain bin at Books-a-million the other day for $2.97 a piece. Uncle Tom's Cabin, Treasure Island, King Solomon's Mines, and Gulliver's Travels. Meanwhile, the latest pile of teeny-bopper angsty garbage is on the best seller wall for $30. Sadness.

9 I'm not actually reading anything, but I am writing a lot. My next paper is called Me Beating Off and it's about me whacking off. I expect an "A" , since I am good at it and I use proper punctuation throughout. Posted by: spongeworthy at July 15, 2012 11:15 AM (r5w1L) Hardly sounds original.

10 I finished “Independence, The Struggle To Set America Free”. Now that was a much better book than the previous one last week.

Just started this one last night. Looks good so far.

11

Currently reading "And They Call Me The Bad Guy", about a former pyrokinetic super villain who is in hiding from the authorities.

 

He's funny, vulgar, lazy and a blackout alcoholic. In short, he's a Moron.  Best $3 I've spent in the Kindle store in a long while.

12 Currently reading "And They Call Me The Bad Guy", about a former pyrokinetic super villain who is in hiding from the authorities. He's funny, vulgar, lazy and a blackout alcoholic.In short, he's a Moron. Best $3 I've spent in the Kindle store in a long while. Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 15, 2012 11:32 AM (rMAmj) Searched for it and got nuthin.

13 so why do we never hear of taxes as theft from the repubs? it is one of the few libertarian talking points that could appeal to the masses and is rather appropriate in this day and age

14 Hardly sounds original.

Posted by: eman at July 15, 2012 11:24 AM (ejmiE)

Bill Ayers is too busy, so I might have to use something like this as my Presidential Memoirs.

15 Bridge of Birds! I thought I was the only person in the WORLD who knew of that book! If you're a fan of fantasy and/or Chinese myths and legends, you really must read it. It has two sequels of descending quality, unfortunately, but the original book is a must-read. Get it now before it goes out of print again!

16 masturbation? Never heard of it

17 Tangentally to the Atbashian book: Why the fuck is it I'm seeing Pamela fucking Geller gaining attention and credibility as some sort of insightful purveyor of wisdom? Appearing on talk radio shows, blurbing books (such as the Atbashian book mentioned) -- what are her fucking credentials that she's to be taken seriously as any kind of deep thinker? She runs a fucking blog. PERIOD. As far as I know, she has no scholarly background as such, has developed no insightful theses, has no basis for garnering intellectual respect whatsoever -- just another hack with an opinion. Fuck her.

18 I just started "Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal."

I sure hope we win in the end, because it sure starts out badly.

It's written by James Hornfischer, who wrote "Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors." Great writer, and an interesting approach to naval history. Lot's of detail about the commanders.

19 the colonists need to realize they didn't build there homes and businesses on their own

20

Whoops.  Its called "They Tell Me I'm The Bad Guy" by R.D. Harless.

 

Sorry bout that.

 

21 You folks talking about whacking off and other shit know we still have an open thread not about books going strong, right?

22

Still, still, still reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" although I am going to take turns with it and Andrew Roberts' "The Storm of War."

 

I finished "That's How I Roll" by Andrew Vachss and I was completely wrong:  it never did really develop a plot.  There were schemes and that sort of thing, but no overall story line.  So very glad I got it from the library.

 

And I started and finished "Defending Jacob" by William Landay.  It's the story of the consequences to a family when the son is arrested for murder.  It's really quite good and kept me absorbed throughout.  I was reading it because I wanted to find out what would happen next, not because I just wanted to get it over with.  And I guessed completely wrong about the ending.

 

In the car, I am listening to "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis which tells us all we need to know about why Greece should never ever ever be bailed out.  I recommend this book too if you are looking to understand the problems in Europe.

23 Regarding the Obamacare decision, read Mark Levin's "Men in Black"  to bone up on other idiotic Supreme Court decisions from the past.

24 Currently re-reading some books by Peter DeVries one of America's least known, best comic novelists. "Consenting Adults or The Duchess Will Be Furious" is the one I'm reading now and one of my favorites of his. Other good ones are: "Slouching Towards Kalamamazoo" "I Hear America Swinging' "Reuben, Reuben" DeVries reminds me a bit of PG Wodehouse in that while his plots are usually lightly romantic sex comedies that anyone can enjoy, you get more bang for your buck if you're well read and familiar with Western culture. His greatest novel is "The Blood of the Lamb", a fictionalized account of his daughter's death by cancer. The book is both terrifically sad and terribly funny. You will literally laugh and cry out loud. A truly great book but I'm not sure I would start with it. It is an emotional wringer. Still, if you read only one book by DeVries, I guess that would be the one.

25

Tangentally to the Atbashian book: Why the fuck is it I'm seeing Pamela fucking Geller gaining attention and credibility as some sort of insightful purveyor of wisdom?<>>><

 

She first got notice for showing her tits off in her bikini video blogs. Now she has tried to scrub all evidence of it from the internet. Certain people refuse to let her forget it.

 

 

 

 

26 The Polish Way by Adam Zamoyski. Speaking of the Poles, President "Story Teller" HAS screwed up that relationship. He stiffed them on missile defense to appease Putin. Putin, being the KGBer that he is, promptly ignored Obama's overtures. Can you say "naive?"

27 Sorry bout that. Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 15, 2012 11:42 AM (rMAmj) No problemo. Too bad Amazon's software couldn't figure that out.

28 Many thanks to the Morons who encourage my writing habit. All funds are directed toward Moron-approved purchases, e.g. Costco-sized bottles of tequila and ammo.

Currently reading Kevin Hearne's Hounded, thanks to whoever recommended it. Also got a copy of Sarah Hoyt's Darkship Thieves. She's had some expensive plumbing disasters recently and is trying to raise funds with short story sales, so I encourage Morons to visit www.accordingtohoyt.com (shakes ritual fist at Pixy) to see when the stories will be available (not yet, I checked)

29 Yesterday I read "Hammerhead" by Jason Andrew Bond.  Good, fast-paced, rollicking military sci-fi with a strong anti-liberal statist bent.  I'd love to see this guy flesh out the world it is set in with some prequels.

30 Just finished Infinate Kung Fu, It's a graphic novel so it probably doesn't count, but it has Kung Fu, Zombies and kung fu zombies, so whats not to love.

31 Also from Atbashian: "If some people had wings and others didn't, and the government wanted to enforce "fairness," soon no one would have wings. Because wings cannot be redistributed, they can only be broken. Likewise, a government edict cannot make people smarter or more capable, but it can impede the growth of those with the potential. Wouldn't it be fair if, in the name of equality, we scar the beautiful, cripple the athletes, lobotomize the scientists, blind the artists, and sever the hands of the musicians? Why not?"

32

Yeah, gonna pick up your book next, Sabrina.  Been hearing lots of good things and my oldest is getting into YA fiction, so I'll screen it just in case your gutter-dwelling Moronette proclivities spilled onto the page.

 

33 Posted by: Vic at July 15, 2012 11:43 AM (YdQQY)

Is it okay if we talk about jerking off in books?

34 @22 - I just finished "Defending Jacob" too.  That ending pissed me off - talk about every deus ex machina surprise plot twist thrown in the last 20 pages of the book.  Those parents, especially the father, were so obtuse it made me want to scream.  And no, I don't think that's how all parents would respond if their kid were accused of murder. 

35 33 Posted by: Vic at July 15, 2012 11:43 AM (YdQQY)

Is it okay if we talk about jerking off in books?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at July 15, 2012 11:57 AM

Hey, NO SPOILERS !!!!

36 25>>> She first got notice for showing her tits off in her bikini video blogs.

I'm just saying, I find it somewhat stunning to be reading along in, say, National Review or Commentary and come across an advertisement for a new book on some heavyweight topic, and find endorsement blurbs featuring:

Victor Davis Hanson
David Horowitz
Daniel Pipes
Charles Murray
Pamela Geller

Ummm... WTF? Linking some third- or fourth-string benchwarmer with people who've put some real numbers up on the board is beyond my comprehension. It'd be like seeing a music festival of great old bands like Zeppelin & The Who & The Stones, plus a special appearance by the three kids who jam in the garage down the block.

37 @ 33 - Only if it's print, that might short circuit a kindle.

38 testing one two three

39 dang.

40 Reading The Hubble Wars.  Dated, but still fascinating.  Blows the doors off of some of the politics behind Big Science projects. 

Read Wool, the ebook that seems to be tearing up the Sci Fi realm, written by an unknown.  It isn't bad, but it has some serious structural issues and certainly could have used some good editing.  Still worth the $5.

Read Doubt, by Jennifer Hecht.  Despite having a blurb by Chomsky on the cover, it was quite good if you happen to be an non-believing conservative.  Covers the history of theistic doubt starting with the Greeks.  Learned some things!

41 Posted by: OregonMuse at July 15, 2012 12:03 PM (qYiIT)

It will never be fixed. We are all stuck in 1995.

42 Posted by: Sabrina Chase at July 15, 2012 11:50 AM (lu1IV) Bought your book and visited your website. Good work.

43 reading the last wife of henry viii kind of boring....

44 Uh...more eye candy for teh 'Ron's, please. Lately, AoSHQ has turned into a sausage fest, with extra sausage.

45 Re-reading a book I first read years (and years) ago, T H White's "The Once and Future King".  As I recalled correctly, the start is a bit slow, but it keeps building.   Good read.

Now, I have to go find the original "La Morte d'Arthur" by Mallory on Kindle.

46 EoJ -- Corrupting young minds! W00t! I don't aim for YA but my stuff is pretty tame in the sex and language departments. Violence, well ... a girl needs a hobby, right?

47 Re-reading a book I first read years (and years) ago, T H White's "The Once and Future King".


I tried that one last year and just couldn't get into it.

48 Bridge of Birds! I thought I was the only person in the WORLD who knew of that book! If you're a fan of fantasy and/or Chinese myths and legends, you really must read it. It has two sequels of descending quality, unfortunately, but the original book is a must-read. Get it now before it goes out of print again!

Posted by: Viridian at July 15, 2012 11:36 AM (y5LXw)

glad someone else is reading this.

ditto on the night circus. pretty but empty.

kevein hearne is also good, if you don't mind the lefty crap.

49 Lately, AoSHQ has turned into a sausage fest, with extra sausage.

Heh. Feeling a little "inadequate", are you?

50 Radar @ 31 - That idea - hobbling the gifted to make all equal - was the plot of a short story by Kurt Vonnegut, "Harrison Bergeron":

It is the year 2081. Because of Amendments 211, 212, and 213 to the Constitution, every American is fully equal, meaning that no one is stupider, uglier, weaker, or slower than anyone else. The Handicapper General and a team of agents ensure that the laws of equality are enforced.

51

@46,

 

Well, she's reading the Hunger Games novels, so I don't have a problem with violence.  Violence Solves Everything.

 

Nazis?  SOLVED.

 

Osama bin Laden?  SOLVED.

 

Qaddafi?  SOLVED.

 

Violence works every time it's applied in enough quantity.

52

charliebrownsd***o, Neptune's Inferno sits waiting for me to start it, mostly digging ditches in the yard and doing other major house projects, sleeping late on Sunday and missing rifle matches after working hard to improve my clip-loading technique with the Mosin, and trying to pull myself through to finish Storm of War by some British journo (it's so-so at best).

 

Tin Can Sailors is one of my favorites and I'm looking forward to Neptune's Inferno.  Also still have to finish off the last of Evans' trilogy on Nazi Germany.  In the final, war-dominated book, I'm assuming he can resist the odd and unconvincing subtle romanticizing of leftist Germans that sprinkled the first two volumes.

 

 

 

53 Do the Longmire books hate the white man as much as the TV series?

54

Missed the earlier "Longmire" thread. They really need to get some "advisors" who know guns and bears, just for example. First episode they're trying to find a .45-.70 and told they are rare, and it takes about 7 [5?] seconds between shots. When the sheriff is shot at, he just counts seconds and falls down. Some one might have checked the Marlin and Winchester websites, as the round is available in modern lever-guns. So the sheriff is dead on the second shot.

Did anyone else notice the "expert" [looking like a military/SWAT team type] who recognized the calibre of the mashed bullet held out to him in a baggie?

In last week's episode there was a killer grizzly - which when seen was a cinnimon-colored black bear. And the deputy/daughter relationship should be on a daytime soap opera. More pap out of Hollywood...

55 OT: The 2012 London Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, look like monsters from a japanese kid's show. On my crap blog I wrote a reasonably funny entry 2 years ago wherein Ultraman encounters Wenlock and Mandeville and kills them. An-n-n-nd nothing. Barely any hits. Two years later, starting yesterday, I'm getting hundreds of hits from all around the world. An Olympics oriented post works best around the Olympics....who knew? Anyway, check it out. Esp. if you like Ultraman or kaiju. http://tinyurl.com/3vparmk

56 Report: Palestinian corruption suspect falls off of Ramallah gov't building Published: 07.15.12, 17:29 / Israel News Palestinian government officials reported that a Palestinian who was being questioned over suspected corruption and selling land to Jews, died after falling from one of the security authority's buildings in Ramallah. Akel Hassan Mansour, 49, had been under arrest since June, his body was transported to the Abu Dis forensic institute. The Palestinian interior minister directed that an inquiry committee investigate the circumstances of his death. (Elior Levy) Suspects fall off buildings all the time right?

57 Would the moron who recommended The Edge series by Ilona Andrews please step forward so I can kiss all 10 of your toes?? LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Some of my enjoyment undoubtedly stems from the fact that I have that whole poor white Southern background thing goin' on, but I have enjoyed them tremendously!!! Thank you! I have the first four Kate Daniels series in waiting.


Vic mentioned  Raven's Children being on sale last week, so I snagged it up and and swallowed it whole! I am now bereft of new Sabrina Chase stuff. Behold my sadface.

58 It will never be fixed. We are all stuck in 1995.

Actually, I don't mind so much, and I suspect pixy doesn't either. The lack of embedded html has brought the spam almost to a complete halt. Spam comments used to accumulate on dead threads like barnacles on a ship, but now there's hardly a one.

59

Tonestaple, YMMV, but I'm finding Storm of War pretty meh.  There actually were also a few whopper errors - one concerned Midway, I forget the others - but mostly it's just an example of how it's hard to pull off a grand sweeping account of events as huge as those in WWII.   As a WWII addict, I can draw myself though just about anything on the topic, but Andrews' effort will not rank up there in my favorites list.

 

For some reason this reminds me of an interesting book that came out in the 50th anniversary year of 1995, "The Last Great Victory".  Interesting combo of fascinating obscure anecdotal stuff, along with some important general points.  It's in storage or lost, but I do recall some factoids such as a US Navy pilot landing at a Japanese airfield towards the very end of the war, and successfully directing the shocked and compliant soldiers there to set out white-painted rocks to spell out "Welcome from USN" for Army Air Corps pilots to see (or am I imagining that one?), plus the fact that the US military had to borrow the British military executioner (hangman) to carry out capital sentences against US soldiers (for rape and murder convictions) in the first months of German occupation. 

 

60 She first got notice for showing her tits off in her bikini video blogs. Now she has tried to scrub all evidence of it from the internet. Certain people refuse to let her forget it.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 15, 2012 11:45 AM

She did have some pretty nice cans back then, I'll give her that. Did she scrub the pics of her pushing her tits into every guy she wanted to be photographed with?

61 Pickett > Longmire Did you guys see the trailer for Jack Reacher? Call me a dunce (I know you will!) but it seems ridiculous to me to cast a short guy like Tom Cruise as a character whose defining feature is physical height. The whole damn character is defined by being the gigantic, silent, intimidating type. I think TC is a good actor, but wrong for the part. What's next, Woody Allen starring as Mitch Rapp?

62 Posted by: non-purist at July 15, 2012 12:15 PM (yJ3Du)

Tin Can Sailors is just great! One of my favorites too.

I just picked up "The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War,"
by Andrew Roberts. It comes highly recommended, and if I can wade through the other 30 books on my "to read" shelf, I'll be able to report whether it lives up to the hype.

63 60 heh....she was getting exposure...for her exposure...i'm sure as she's aging she can't compete with her old "younger" self

64 Did you guys see the trailer for Jack Reacher? Call me a dunce (I know you will!) but it seems ridiculous to me to cast a short guy like Tom Cruise as a character whose defining feature is physical height. The whole damn character is defined by being the gigantic, silent, intimidating type. I think TC is a good actor, but wrong for the part. What's next, Woody Allen starring as Mitch Rapp? Posted by: Jordan at July 15, 2012 12:33 PM (RSG1I) Tom often gets what Tom wants, I guess. The character name is a bit unfortunate. Jack. Reacher. Too easy, Tom, too easy.

65

Two things you should never waste your nickel on:

1.  The movie "The Help"

2.  Anything written by Sarah Vowell.

66 Speaking of the Jack Reacher movie- I read that in order to make Tom Cruise look tall and intimidating- the rest of the cast is composed entirely of dwarves, midgets and G.I. Joe dolls. But mostly G.I. Joe dolls.

67 But mostly G.I. Joe dolls. Posted by: naturalfake at July 15, 2012 12:38 PM (G9qZk) Or they stand in a trench while Tom is on a step ladder.

68 Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher? That's a joke, right?

69 Based on moron recs, I checked out Hubble Wars from the library but haven't started. This same public library doesn't have the Milosz Captive Mind book but has about 15 copies of An Inconvenient Truth. How convenient.

70

@61

 

I will not watch that abomination. Jack Reacher had scenes where some tough guy would try to intimidate him with a strong handshake, and Reacher would look him in the eye while he slowly crushed the other guy's hand in his giant manbeast paw.

 

Tom Cruise couldn't crush my daughter's hand with his ladybitch dickmittens.  Fuck him and his elevator shoes, tiny little fuckbag. I love the Reacher series and understand Lee Child wants a big-draw actor to make lots of money.

 

Ray Stevenson would have been a great choice for Jack Reacher.

 

 

71 wrong for the part. What's next, Woody Allen starring as Mitch Rapp?

Indeed, I definitely reckon so. Mmmm hmmm.

Ooooh! French fries!

72

Thank you, non-purist at July 15, 2012 12:26 PM   Mostly I'm just looking for something more general with a faster pace to keep me from going insane while reading "The Rise & Fall...."  It's really dragging and I'm having a hard time keeping track of people.

 

Also, I am constantly distracted by that one little bit of "Downfall" used in all the parodies where Hitler tells everyone to leave the room but four generals:  Keitel, Jodl, ? and ? and I'm trying to fill in the blanks.  Also, pronouncing all the German names correctly.  Perhaps I shouldn't be reading this book after all.

 

73 Violence solves nothing. [Obligatory in a kinder, gentler blog which eschews sedition. Sorry EoJ]

74 Posted by: OldeForce at July 15, 2012 12:21 PM (Ryn92) They must need experts for everything then, because they don't actually know anything about Wyoming either. My in-laws are from WY and even though they like the show it's in spite of all the geographic innacuracies. Which leads me to wonder, does the show get *any* fact on any subject? And are the books any better?

75

"Tangentally to the Atbashian book: Why the fuck is it I'm seeing Pamela fucking Geller gaining attention and credibility as some sort of insightful purveyor of wisdom? Appearing on talk radio shows, blurbing books (such as the Atbashian book mentioned) -- what are her fucking credentials that she's to be taken seriously as any kind of deep thinker? She runs a fucking blog. PERIOD. As far as I know, she has no scholarly background as such, has developed no insightful theses, has no basis for garnering intellectual respect whatsoever -- just another hack with an opinion. Fuck her."

 

/SARCASM ???

 

 

76 73 you mean the kind that lets the trolls run free while everyone else is supposed to suck it up?

77 My husband is 6'5" and very quiet. He is not overly like Reacher in too many other ways, but I have always pictured a man like him in my mind when I read the books and having a pipsqueak like Cruise playing this part is obscene.

78 oooh, well said, phoenixgirl!

79 Some comments on the Jack Reacher flick. http://preview.tinyurl.com/6shmou2

80 Hey, did you hear why Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes split up? Irreconcilable differences--they both like penises! Thank you, Thank you. I'll be here all week.

81

@54- "In last week's episode there was a killer grizzly - which when seen was a cinnimon-colored black bear."

******************

Have to agree- that was pretty lame.  And the business about staking the guy out, hands and feet tied and covering him with flank steak to entice a bear attack. Really!!?  Flank steak?  The show has some nice atmosphere and pacing, but the story lines are thin.

 

(Re-reading Hayek's The Road to Serfdom- a cautionary tale for the ages- prescient at the time)

82 I started reading "I the Supreme" by Augustos Roa Bastos, about some dipshit dictator in 19th century Paraguay and his delusional fantasies about how everybody's out to get him.  I bought this a long time ago and then promptly put it aside in lieu of library books which had fucking due dates and I'm finally getting around to reading it.  The prose is extremely dense but enjoyable; except the fucking translation has lots of words that aren't in my OED so I'm thinking WTF.  I'm aware that some words exist for which there's no easy translation but when you respond to that with made up words it leaves me pretty fucking confused.

83 Don Winslow's "Savages"-- good read, but start with the prequel "The Kings of Cool"-- i think that's even better and you'll be on the correct timeline-- both are worth a look and i love the way this guy writes...

84 If you like Wyoming outdoor law enforcement stuff with a libertarian bent, CJ Box has a pretty good series on a game warden although he delves a bit deeply into the conspiracy side of things.

85 Posted by: tomc at July 15,2012 12:51 PM(avEuh) Is the "Savages" book the basis for the movie that's out?

86

I got "The Obamas" out of the library, the book by the Jodi Kantor that gives a giant tongue bath to the First Couple (of whats?).  I've only read five or six pages and I'm already absolutely appalled by both of them and by Valerie Jarrett.  Snobs and crybabies, the lot of them.  I just want to know how Kantor thought this complimentary.

87 haha the trailer shows the mini man looking up to the guy he's about to fight.....

88

70....Ray Stevenson would have been a great choice for Jack Reacher.

 

Totally agree, EoJ.

Ray Stevenson is a great actor, in addition to being a big, tall guy.

I don't understand why he doesn't get more work than he does.

Maybe he's a conservative.

89 making my way through God's Demon by Wayne Barlowe. Digging it so far, wish it didn't get stuck in my book pile for so long

90 Anthony Weiner to run for Mayor of New York.

91 Oh, I also read  Deborah Harkness'  2nd book...Shadow of Night. I am going to go ahead and officially recommend the series.


Definitely moronette leaning, and it is a vampire/witch/daemon story, but I have very much enjoyed the first two. In this one they timewalk back to Elizabethan England and she handled it better than I feared she would.

I am admittedly an Anglophile and the period is one of my favorites, but I think the story is wonderful.

92 Just finished David Gemmell's "Troy" series - an alternative telling of the Iliad and the Odyssey. ("Lord of the Silver Bow" is the first) Not high concept literature by any means, but he easily keeps the narrative moving with good characterization and strong heroes/heroines. Actually, I've liked just about every book of Gemmell's that I've read.

93 Polliwog @ 85 - Yes.  Personally, I didn't care about the protagonists.  Actually, I hated them.

94 Again I'd like to give Loren Estleman a big plug here. Anything he's written, especially the Detroit series, is great reading. He does westerns and detective novels mostly, but he is great on history and has written not a few movie history books as well. His book on Sherlock Holmes vs Dracula is a blast as well.

95 Anthony Weiner to run for Mayor of New York.

Posted by: Nukie at July 15, 2012 12:56 PM (AzwZn)

No fucking sense of shame.  Jerry Sandusky wasn't available.

96 I've been working my way through the Repairman Jack series.  I want to thank the morons & moronettes who recommended it here.

97 Posted by: butch at July 15,2012 12:59 PM(nK2Sx) Thanks, don't think I'll bother with either then.

98 #85  yes it is based on "Savages" the book-- haven't seen the movie but the book is good, but again, make sure you start with "Kings of Cool"-- you won't be disappointed--

99

re: 76

The unvarnished truth solves nothing, at least most of the time.

100 Keitel, Jodl, Krebs, and some other dude

101 i don't know what's to hate about the Don Winslow books-- bad-ass ex Seal, genius hydro-grower and a nympho that reminds me of a young Cameron Mitchell-- what's not to like?

102 and, my Fuhrer, Steiner's angriff ( attack ) flopped

103

"Ray Stevenson would have been a great choice for Jack Reacher."

 

"Totally agree, EoJ. Ray Stevenson is a great actor, in addition to being a big, tall guy. I don'tunderstand why he doesn't get more work than he does."

 

Top Four Reasons Ray Stevenson doesn't get more parts in Hollyweird:

 

4) Doesn't fly a Douglas DC-8 in outer space.

3) Became too popular on HBO's Rome, so needs to be put back in his place.

2) Waayyy too masculine [might even be heteronormative].

1) Can actually act.

 

 

104 Posted by: eman at July 15, 2012 12:36 PM (ejmiE)


Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher???!!!  I guess we'll next have Kal Penn as Mitch Rapp.  I would hope the author's lawyers kept some say for Lee Child in casting with the sale of rights.  Sheesh. 

As to books, read every night, nothing of substance.  Pulp fan.

105 Certainly at one time both the Democrats and the Republicans had wings of liberals and conservatives.  But  that was sort of ancient history, like when the republicans still admired the Nazis

106 Keitel, Jodl, ? and ? and I'm trying to fill in the blanks. Krebs and Burgdorf.

107 Burgdorf was the foruth

108 28 Many thanks to the Morons who encourage my writing habit. All funds are directed toward Moron-approved purchases, e.g. Costco-sized bottles of tequila and ammo.

-----------

Glad to hear we're making a difference.

--

I finished Apocalypse Codex, the most recent Laundry novel by Charles Stross. Kind of a meh book. One of the draws of the Laundry series is the new and interesting way of looking at the universe. There aren't a lot of new ideas in this one. It felt like "oops, I'm running out ideas for Bob, I'd better hurry and introduce some new major characters I can use in future novels".

Yeah, Stross isn't terribly enamored with Americans and Christians and that is clear in this book. It also isn't surprising, as he's made it clear in other books; I was aware of that going in.

A bit of a disappointment; I'm not looking forward to further Laundry works as I was before reading this one.

--

I also finished Doc Savage: The Infernal Buddha. Someone had mentioned Doc Savage a few weeks ago and I realized that it had been a dang long time since I had ready any, so I picked this one at random.

I didn't notice that it is actually a recent book until after I finished it and read through the "about the author" stuff at the end. The Amazon page describes the author thusly: "Writing as Kenneth Robeson, prolific pulp writer Will Murray continues the Doc Savage saga, working from the unfinished works of series originator Lester Dent. "

The book is set in the mid-30s. Japan has invaded China and set up Manchuko, but WWII has not yet started. More importantly, it is written *as if it were written* in the mid-30s; I didn't stumble across anything that gave the game away. Well done on that score.

There are a number of typos throughout the book, although not at a density high enough to be particularly annoying. The book also goes out of its way to use fancy, big words (I don't recall if this is a feature of the original Doc Savage series; it has been a *long* time since I read any of them), but not always successfully. Some of the usages are just a bit off, and I had put them down to changes in word usage since the mid-30s, but others are just plain wrong; at one point, we have Doc Savage "indicting with his fingers" in a manner that doesn't involve sitting at a typewriter hammering away at legal documents.

Apparently, this book is part of a series of new Doc Savage adventures. Well done and I'll probably read more of them, but I'll also be careful to pick up some of the original series.

109 belay that on Cameron Mitchell... meant Cameron Diaz-- duoh!

110 for a complete waste of time, read anything James Macgregor Burns ever wrote about the US party system.


Dude still thinks it's 1896

111

@73.

 

Nonsense.

 

Say that to my face and I'll kill you.  Or you'll be forced to kill me in self defense.  Either way, it is yet another situation solved by Our Friend Violence.

112 55 The 2012 London Olympic mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, look like monsters from a japanese kid's show.

--------

Could be worse. Could be a blob of sparkly toothpaste.

113 hm

114 but others are just plain wrong; at one point, we have Doc Savage "indicting with his fingers" in a manner that doesn't involve sitting at a typewriter hammering away at legal documents.Posted by: Anachronda

Thesaurus writing. Poor or new writers feel the need to use bigger words than they are familiar with.  He was probably thinking 'accuse,' cracked the thesaurus, and saw 'indict.'

115 I just started "Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal." I sure hope we win in the end, because it sure starts out badly. It's written by James Hornfischer, who wrote Great writer, and an interesting approach to naval history. Lot's of detail about the commanders. Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (NJConservative) at July 15, 2012 11:39 AM (nEUpB) "Last Stand of The Tin Can Sailors." is a great book.

116 Violence solves nothing between friends---hence ( or some other faggy affected word ) no democracy has ever gone to war against another democracy. 


Democracies are based on placating and ameliorating, etc, so they will bend over backwards / forwards / sideways ( if you're a Perv ) to avoid war


among adversaries / enemies, violence does accomplish a lot--for a while

117 Blech on Reacher anyway.   I had heard good things about the series,  so picked up a paperbook at work and it was a bunch of leftist claptrap.  I was annoyed since I hadn't recalled any disclaimers of "good but have to ignore the lefty BS"  

118 115 but others are just plain wrong; at one point, we
have Doc Savage "indicting with his fingers" in a manner that doesn't
involve sitting at a typewriter hammering away at legal documents.

--

Thesaurus writing. Poor or new writers feel the need to use bigger words than they are familiar with. He was probably thinking 'accuse,' cracked the thesaurus, and saw 'indict.'

---------

Actually, he was pointing at something, so it's a typo; he was "indicating with his fingers". It's the sort of typo a spell-checker won't catch.

119 @101 i don't know what's to hate about the Don Winslow books-- bad-ass ex Seal, genius hydro-grower and a nympho that reminds me of a young Cameron Mitchell-- what's not to like? Posted by: tomc at July 15, 2012 01:06 PM (avEuh) What's to hate in "Savages" is the near constant sycophantic Obama knob-gobbling in the book. Unless, you lo-o-o-ove you some Obama it will definitely pull you out of the story and leave a bad taste in your frontal lobes. That said, Don Winslow is one of my faves. But "Savages" is far from his best book even absent his going full O'tard. Try the Winter of Frankie Machine instead.

120

Tonestaple, I will drag myself through the Roberts book but it is definitely not a page-turner (as, say, Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors manages to be).  I think I recall the 10-megaton Midway error now (more or less - how lazy am I that I won't just go look it up?):  Roberts writes that Yamamoto believed the US carriers would not show up to fight at Midway, when in fact of course the primary objective of the whole operation was to draw them out for destruction.  Errors of that magnitude sort of reduce confidence in what Roberts writes on areas I do not know well and where I must rely on his version (China-Burma-India, for example).

 

Mortified and scared that I can't even come up with a few titles to cover your desire for a general survey of WWII.  Most of my collection is locked away in a distant place (if it's even still there), but still ..... I'm drawing a blank on such books.  All that come to mind are outstanding books that chew on one specific piece of the animal - Last Stand, Shattered Sword (Midway), Downfall (the one by Frank), At War with the Wind (kamikazes).  I really have to finally try to see if I can get my stuff out of storage and have it shipped to me.

 

 

 

121 BTW Morons who did not know it (like me before yesterday) Terry Goodkind has anew book out as a prequel in the Sword pf Truth series about the first Confessor, Magda Searus.

122 tomc @ 101 - What's not to like?  The genius hydro-grower is a total eff-ing hypocrite.  He's a non-violent Bhuddist because he relies on his ex-SEAL buddy to deal with unpleasant situations.  I can't get into much more detail without giving away a bunch of spoilers.

123 Occam @ 105 - The Republicans admired the Nazis? 

Um, no.  In the 30's the Democrats were all swoony over Fascism, the third way between Communism and Capitalism.  The Republicans at that time actually believed in government limited by the Constitution.

124 Thanks, nonpurist.  I appreciate the effort.

125 Everyone knows that black people don't read books.  So "Book Thread" is just another racist dog whistle to cheer up all you white supremacist wingnut haters.

126

105, 125

Occam is right, because that lifelong notable republican Joe Kennedy loved Hitler and was the ambassador to the court of St. James/////

127 Nonpurist and Tonestaple - I recommend Spector's "Eagle Against the Sun," a Navy-centric overview of the Pacific theater of operations in WWII, and Rick Atkinson's WWII trilogy about the Mediterranean and European theaters of operations.  The first two, "Army at Dawn" and "Day of Battle" are about the North Africa and Italian campaigns.  The final book is due sometime in 2013.

You might also want to check out Samuel Eliot Morison's 15-volume history of the US Navy in WWII.  Covers all theaters.  US Naval Institute just re-issued it in paperback.

128 I would also like to thank all the folks who have bought my book Old Habits, I've spent the money on... well food, but I thought about beating hobos while I ate.

129

Tonestaple, you are kind - but I remain appalled at my crumbled memory banks.  Yikes. 

 

My advice:  push through Storm of War, and when you're almost done order Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.  And you'll have a hot sauna/frozen lake side-by-side comparison of the difference between plodding story-telling and gripping, page-turner historiography.

130 Currently leafing through, alternately, Metals Handbook Vol 1, Irons and Steels, and Metals Handbook Vol 3, Stainless Steels and Tool Steels. I did not realize that 1010 carbon steel is competitive with S2 in impact strength, particularly when a slight amount of niobium is added, nor that 4150 hardens to  greater depth than most other alloys. Now to find a niobium source...

131 Everyone knows that black people don't read books.

Harumph!

132 Arbalest @ 132 - Shhhhhhhhh!  No spoilers, dude!

133

134 butch

 

Apologies. It's just that, with the disappearance of Mr Austan Goolsbee and the whereabouts of Professor von Totenkopf unknown, I fear that I have little time ...

134 Posted by: Maya Angelou, genius author and poet laureate at July 15, 2012 01:49 PM (VB3qu) --------------------------------- She's far from genius and was NEVER poet laureate.

135

i like the contrast between the two characters butch... they're so different but they're still "bro's"-- and Ben has a nasty way of getting things done at times-- and then there's that flaky muse "O"-- she sends me--

thanks naturalfake, i'll try Frankie Machine...

136 For a good read about breaking the Iron Curtain in the 80's read, "The President, the Pope and the Prime Minister." by John O'Sullivan.  We were blessed to have Reagan, John Paul II and Thatcher in place at the same time.

http://tinyurl.com/7hfco8e

137 I can personally testify that Oleg Batshian's "Shakedown Socialism" is indeed an enjoyable, enlightening, and infuriating read.

138

Posted by: Christopher Taylor at July 15, 2012 01:47 PM (r4wIV)

 

Blast, had a long comment about how I liked Old Habits and the Sabrina Chase books I've read because you're both good to your secondary characters but I lost it due to lack of anything in the name/e-mail fields and am too lazy to recreate it.

139 Despite insistent pleas from Republicans, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev) steadfastly refuses to allow a vote on President Obama’s proposal to extend the Bush Era tax cuts for families making under $250,000 per year. Neither will he permit a vote on the GOP proposal to extend those cuts for all taxpayers. “Look, the president’s objective has already been achieved,” Reid contended. “All the media reported that the President proposed tax cuts for the middle class. For us to debate the specifics or to attempt to pass a bill would only muddy the waters and obscure that message.”

140

Naturalfake @ 121-

 

I second that on"The Winter of Frank Machine"; picked it up at the library yesterday afternoon, and finished it about 11 last night. Great book, great characters. I really enjoyed it. Haven't read "Savages" yet, but so far Don Winslow has impressed me as a writer. 

141

butch - thanks

 

Eagle Against the Sun sits on my little stack of WWII books that I do actually have with me.  So it's next after Neptune's Inferno.

 

The Atkinson series - uh, can only give my own take, but I was given the first volume as a gift when it came out and could not get past the first 100 pages.  Nothing substantively outrageous, but the writing ..... my god.  Over-written doesn't begin to capture it.  I can still recall the words that might have broken the camel's back, where I actually closed the book forever: "quicksilver runnels" ..... describing, I think, some streams in North Africa.   I suppose the series must have merit, but ..... my high school English teacher would have been merciless in excising all the over-written grandiloquence.

 

But Atkinson's substantive credibility was seriously damaged (it was already pretty much just that of a WaPo/NYT staffer - medium at best) by his initial dispatches from Iraq in 2003.

 

Some morons may recall that a few days in to the complete (and predictable) rout that was the second Iraq war, the Coalition forces mostly took a break during a sandstorm to get a little rest (one gets tired conquering a country without rest for a few days).   I was getting little rest myself back in the US, staying up all hours reading the "press" but also monitoring other stuff I was getting from personal contacts.

 

Atkinson was with some Army unit and shared the byline on a front-page/above-the-fold/primary WaPo war story of the day about the situation.  It was the most absurd "reporting" I'd ever seen (OK, it was a tie with zillions of other dispatches over the years, but wow what an atrocity).  The Coalition was conquering Iraq about as fast as logistics, due care for safety, human requirements for rest, and now mother nature (sandstorm) made feasible.  Iraqi forces were being swept aside easily. 

 

But the tone and substance of the story would have been appropriate for the first day at Tarawa ("issue in doubt"), or Christmas week 1944 in the Ardennes, or day two at Gettysburg.  Yikes, what horseshit.  I still recall one quote (and this speaks to the frightening limitations of some in uniform as much as the cluelessness of Atkinson and co.)  from some officer in the command post:  "when does this end?".  (the not-uncommon sarcastic response from obdservers afar, who hadn't lost their minds - "uh, 3 or 4 days?").  I emailed the story, along with my furious and somewhat gobsmacked fisking of it, to my usual email circle, to make sure they saw it.  Of course the preposterous "war bogs down, what now, oh my god!" nonsense dominated all "reporting" of the war that day. 

 

Within days, of course, the major combat portion of the war (if it could be called that) was over.  Duh.

 

Anyway, that single story is a devastating indictment of Atkinson's military literacy and seriousness, at least to me.  Now I rarely took many of the mainstream "journalists" seriously on serious national security topics, ever.  But it's hard to think of a more preposterous, inexcusable, dramatic example of a reporter beclowning himself than to have had any part in the absurd stories that day of the Iraq war.

 

 

 

 

142 May God bless the Poles. They've always been our stalwart allies, and I believe that's perhaps one thing that President Ladies' Tee hasn't managed to screw up. Yet.
[cough, cough]

143

Posted by: JewishOdysseus at July 15, 2012 02:05 PM (1X/a4)

 

I checked Kindle and it's $10. Is it *that* good of a read, since my usual max is $3.99?  I did get the EOJ recommended "Hammerhead" though, since apparently the author donates some of the proceeds to help wounded veterans.

144 Currently re-reading "The Innocents Abroad." Great book. Blucher's letter to the landlord in mangled English/French had me seriously cracking up (you can see it here: http://www.easiest-foreign-languages.com/humor-of-frenglish-by-mark-twain.html).

I may be the last Amazon Prime member to discover that my membership entitles me to borrow one book a month on my Kindle, free, if it's on their "Lending Library" list. So I decided to read something I'd never have read otherwise, The Hunger Games, to see what all the fuss is about. Pretty good book, actually, and I say that as someone who often has difficulty enjoying fiction written by women. Nice tension, decent characters, interesting story.

I guess it's a trilogy, which does not seem quite natural, in that the key part of the story seems to have been told. Also, I have some fears that two angles which were not excessive in the first book will become so, in later parts:

(1) Oh isn't it so exciting to be a chick and have two men as rivals for your affection. Maybe it is, but as a guy reader, it's just an eye roll. Shut up about it already.

(2) Oh isn't this oppressive and unfair class society awful (that part's OK, the one in the book really is), and don't you see so many analogies to modern America (in fairness, no hint of that yet that I can see, but these days, one has to worry that an author will spring this)

Still, the other two parts seem to be in the lending library, too, so I may pick up the next one for $0.00 when August arrives.

145

I started Jim Powell's FDR's Folly: How Roosevelt and His New Deal Prolonged the Dreat Depression  in late May, mislaid it with a few chapters to go, and found it last week. Done. The story would infuriate if voters had learned from the failure of Roosevelt's soft socialism. Since they have not, it's infuriating and depressing to see troday's voters following the voters of the 1930s.  

Plant a garden. Buy more ammunition.  

 

146 Listen. We know better. The Iraqis are a warrior-desert people who know how to deal with sandstorms. Our guys don't.

147

Re: "wingnut"

 

Someone mentioned upthread....that the term "wingnut" must've been a reference to 'right-wing'...

Not necessarily.

'Wingnut' is one of those terms that can be applied to either persuasion.....just as an actual wingnut bolt can be turned either left or right.

The term was originally used for a 'weird person' who is out on the extreme wing of a theory or interpretation of something.

 

Personally, I've heard the term 'wingnut' used by conservatives as a descriptive for "left-wing-nuts"....well, at least when they are trying to be polite.

148 17 Tangentally to the Atbashian book: Why the fuck is it I'm seeing Pamela fucking Geller gaining attention and credibility as some sort of insightful purveyor of wisdom? Appearing on talk radio shows, blurbing books (such as the Atbashian book mentioned) -- what are her fucking credentials that she's to be taken seriously as any kind of deep thinker? She runs a fucking blog. PERIOD. As far as I know, she has no scholarly background as such, has developed no insightful theses, has no basis for garnering intellectual respect whatsoever -- just another hack with an opinion. Fuck her.

Posted by: Monstrobot at July 15, 2012 11:39 AM (sTS/

Her claim to fame is that allegedly, Ace made a comment about her breasticles that she thought was rude.

She also did this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0A0aQ3ntAQ

149 Splunge-Read the Hunger Games trilogy when my daughter's class read the 1st one. (Yeah, I'm one of those.  Also, like my daughter, I'll pretty much read anything that is around.)  The 2nd book kind of goes into your fear #1, but it's still not bad, just not great.  Mockingjay is really good.  I read it as actually being anti-big gov't, but that just might be me projecting.  That was the angle my daughter's teacher took with it anyway, from talking with my kiddo.  I don't want to give away anything, so I'm keeping this vague, but I don't think you'd be disappointed.  Truthfully, you could probably skip right to Mockingjay and read the Wiki of Catching Fire to fill in any missing pieces.

150 So what have you guys done to fight radical Islam in your home towns? Organized any events like Geller has?

151 Personally, I've heard the term 'wingnut' used by conservatives as a descriptive for "left-wing-nuts"....well, at least when they are trying to be polite.

I'm sticking with wing-nut as a pejorative against righties, and moonbat against lefties.

152 "I liked Old Habits and the Sabrina Chase books I've read because you're both good to your secondary characters"
Well your kind sentiments are appreciated even in vapor comments.

153 Polli, Deborah Harkness does a great job with her secondary characters, as well. This is one of those times I wish I had gotten the hard copies of the books, so I could send them to you. And I only have the Kindle app, not an actual Kindle, so I can't lend it.

Her heroine reminds me very much of you, for some reason I can't identify.

154

152So what have you guys done to fight radical Islam in your home towns? Organized any events like Geller has? <<<<

 

I walk around in a Speedo.

155

>>>So what have you guys done to fight radical Islam in your home towns? Organized any events like Geller has? <<<<

 

I have a pair of nunchucks made from two sausages connected by bacon strips. 

156 Well on a personal writing front, 8,300 words into a science fiction story.  Screenplay for Amazon Studios contest is siting there asking when will I get back to it.

For those who like Hornfischer's books on Guadalcanal and destroyer actions, another to get is Ship of Ghosts:The Story of the USS Houston.  CA-30 USS Houston and HMAS Perth were the last cruisers of ABDA-Afloat to oppose the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies.  Both went down fighting and then the survivors were captured by the Japanese.  Very few of each crew survived the hell of imprisonment to see the end of the war.

157 156
152So what have you guys done to fight radical Islam in your home towns? Organized any events like Geller has? <<<<

Iwalk around in a Speedo.

Posted by: Empire of Jeff at July 15, 2012 02:29 PM (JDIKC)

 

Don't forget to deny that it ever happened.  Scrub all evidence of it.  Ban anyone whoever brings up that yes you once did do that.  And then make whiny bitchy complaints that some ewok kept staring at your package.

158 I don't get the Pam Gellar hate. She seems reasonably well informed and works hard, why isn't that qualification enough to talk about an issue?

159

Posted by: Miss Tammy at July 15, 2012 02:28 PM (SsG4J)

 

I'll look her up. Good to see you again, was wondering how life aws treating you.

160

153....I'm sticking with wing-nut as a pejorative against righties, and moonbat against lefties.

 

I prefer 'barking moonbat', myself.

 

My point was, though....that you can't always be sure when someone uses the term 'wingnut', that they are using it as a pejorative towards  righties.

The left doesn't own that term....even though they may think they do.

161 That Pam Geller has some big tits.

162 EoJ, how old is your oldest? The Edge series by Ilona Andrews is awesome. There is a small amount of sex, though, nothing vulgar, but I believe erection gets mentioned a time or two and shaft.

The thing is, I read everything I could get my hands on by the time I was 8, and I was always able to skip over even the really lurid stuff. (It was just "mushy" to me) Just not sure how vulgar you'd consider it, given her age.

163

Thanks Anna, I've seen the book in stores in the past and haven't picked it up - yet .....

 

The Allies were well and truly getting their asses kicked in the western/southwestern Pacific in the first phase of the war.  Can't wait to get to Neptune's Inferno. 

 

The IJN's night-fighting surface warfare shtick was pretty awesome.  Don't recall if that was the MO in the Java Sea massacre, but obviously it was at Savo Island and subsequent engagements that gave the name to Iron Bottom Sound.

164

160 I don't get the Pam Gellar hate.

 

Gellar went off the rails last year....calling Rick Perry a "dhimi", waging a jihad against him.

It was embarrassing to watch.

165 I'll look her up. Good to see you again, was wondering how life aws treating you.

Posted by: Polliwogette, teahada Hobbit at July 15, 2012 02:42 PM (h6HiH)

I've been in Arkansas; first half of the trip I was busy helping with farm stuff, second half I stayed at my place and we don't have internet there yet, so I was limited to being online when I went to mama's at night.

Back in Cali now, trying to catch back up! Are you still Twitter Queen?? 

166 How many hits does your blog, if any, get?

So there's someone who gets plenty of air time and uses it to attack radical Islam and its followers in the States like the 9/11 mosque assholes and CAIR but you think she should STFU because she's not "credentialled" enough or because of her run-in with Ace?

I think it's more important to complain about the real assholes in the West, leftist and Moslem, rather than trying to get in Ace's good books by shitting on Geller or getting off on attacking a woman (not that this applies to you, buzzion) when she's used as an anti-Islam pundit.

167

@160. "I don't get the Pam Gellar hate. She seems reasonably well informed and works hard, why isn't that qualification enough to talk about an issue?"

Agree. Let's defer the faction fights 'til after Congress repeals Obamacare and the President enforces immigration laws. 

168 I've not read Geller. I just perused her site and it comes across a little spiteful, maybe even hateful.

169

Posted by: Miss Tammy at July 15, 2012 02:46 PM (SsG4J)

 

Hey, Tammy....I wasn't sure if that was you, without the 'Thor' in your sig.

I just wanted to thank you for the idea of using Honey on my poor doggeh's nose condition.

It's working.

Seems to be clearing it up....and he loves it....starts slobbering whenever he sees me getting out the honey jar.

170

Also from Atbashian: "If some people had wings and others didn't, and the government wanted to enforce "fairness," soon no one would have wings. Because wings cannot be redistributed, they can only be broken. Likewise, a government edict cannot make people smarter or more capable, but it can impede the growth of those with the potential. Wouldn't it be fair if, in the name of equality, we scar the beautiful, cripple the athletes, lobotomize the scientists, blind the artists, and sever the hands of the musicians? Why not?"

 

The last full sentence is the premise behind the popular children's book, "Rainbow Fish," an intro to socialism!

171

Posted by: Miss Tammy at July 15, 2012 02:46 PM (SsG4J)

 

No, not Twitter queen. Real life's been either frantically busy( or I've been trying to recover from the frantic busyness) for the last couple of months.  My real goal with Twitter was to follow you and other Horde members, not to have a following myself.  There are a couple tweeps I'm trying to talk into visiting here though, as they seem like natural Moron material.

172 The Japanese "Long Lance" torpedoes and night fighting tactics were definitely superior to the Americans at the beginning of the war but only because our technological advantages, radar and intelligence intercepts, were not fully bug proofed nor utilized correctly by senior U.S. commanders at Guadalcanal.

Had radar been properly used the outcomes would have been much different. As it is the Japanese commanders lacked the will at crucial moments to carry their attacks to  full victory, mainly because of the U.S. success in rapidly turning Guadalcanal into a floating aircraft carrier made them fearful of daylight air attacks.

The Japanese never thought the American's could, or would, act as quickly as they did to protect the Austrailian's logistic lifeline.

173 Here's some funny news in my sock so we can get back to fighting the real enemy.

174 non-purist

ABDA-Afloat was a cluster-f*ck at sea.  The commanding admiral was Dutch.  Two Dutch cruisers, one British cruiser, one Australian cruiser, and one American cruiser all escorted by 10 destroyers.  And no air cover.

Long Lance torpedoes did a number on the allied ships.  But it was the language barriers and jury-rig of the fleet that truly doomed it before it sailed.  Then Admiral Doorman seemed intent on fighting Jutland in his desire to stop the Japanese without air cover.  So there goes HMS Exeter [who helped hound Graf Spee to destruction] and HMS Electra and a Dutch destroyer.  American tin cans got sent home after using up all torpedoes.  So Doorman had four cruisers and no DDs.  Dutch cruisers Tromp and DeRuyter gone.  That left Perth and Houston.  And they both went down in Sunda Strait.

USS Edsall later vanished somewhere in the Java Sea.  After WWII it was found the tin can had been trapped by Japanese cruisers and sunk.  Then the sailors murdered.  Five beheaded bodies were all that was found of Edsall's crew.

175 whatmeworry?

Proper use of American radar in night surface actions off Guadalcanal, then look up Arleigh Burke and Moosbrugger.

176 Hey, Tammy....I wasn't sure if that was you, without the 'Thor' in your sig.
I just wanted to thank you for the idea of using Honey on my poor doggeh's nose condition.
It's working.
Seems to be clearing it up....and he loves it....starts slobbering whenever he sees me getting out the honey jar.

Posted by: wheatie at July 15, 2012 02:51 PM (MbB0O)

Miss Tammy was my first nic, but Thor was offended, insert eye rolling emoticon here.

I had been meaning to ask after the pup, but couldn't rememebr who he belonged to! SO glad he seems to be better! Sort of leans to it being fungal, huh? Or bacterial.

177

Blatant self-promotion alert:

"The Curious Disappearance of Seamus Muldoon"

Get it free on Kindle at Amazon starting tomorrow for three days or as a loaner.  I don't care if anyone spends any money on it.

This is the story of my f-i-l's disappearance in 2008, written in almost a Walter Mitty "what if" style.  Sort of like saying "he disappeared mysteriously... hilarity ensued".

I denounce myself.

178

168....I think it's more important to complain about the real assholes in the West, leftist and Moslem....

Posted by: andycanuck at July 15, 2012 02:46 PM (vDl/w)

 

Exactly.

But this is what Gellar didn't do herself....when she attacked Rick Perry and other conservatives.

She's damaged her own credibility, by doing exactly what you are asking that we not do.

179

Anna and whatmeworry?, you're making me feel even more inadequate (and forgetful) about that phase of the war.

 

I do recall radar being an issue in the engagement involving the USS South Dakota.  Presumably Neptune's Inferno covers this in depth?

 

Well, I did do the LoC vet's interview for the man who was junior radar tech on the USS West Virginia, whose radar first detected the Japanese column at Surigao Strait on Oct. 25, 1944, and fired the first salvo ...... so there's that, I guess.

 

 

180 I see there are some who view my accolades with skepticism.

181

178....Sort of leans to it being fungal, huh? Or bacterial.

 

Yep! Definitely.

It's also gotten really dry here....so the mold and fungi out in the yard aren't very active....just like it was during the winter months.

But since I've been applying the honey to his nose, the results are amazing....the scaly layer is disappearing.

I just wanted you to know that....and Thank You.

182 Polli, I won't pry, but do tell me the children are all well and that it's just normal busyness?

183 Oh, wheatie, no need to thank me, we both puzzled it out, as I recall. I am delighted he's better!

184 Although I probably should note that the US Navy's first victory in WWII was in the Dutch East Indies as part of ABDA-Afloat.  The Japanese had just conquered Balikpapan and about to murder every white person they could in revenge since the Dutch blew up the oil fields against Japanese demands.

Four US destroyers - Parrot, Pope, Ford, and Paul Jones slipped into the bay.  Only using the fires of the burning oil fields for illumination, the sailors of these four tin cans aimed their torpedoes using Mk.1 eyeballs.  When the four ships left the bay the following enemy ships had fallen to their torpedoes and gunfire - Kuretake Maru, Tsuruga Maru, Somanoura Maru, and PC-37

185

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at July 15, 2012 03:09 PM (SsG4J)

 

Yes we're well, sorry to make you worry. The kids just have a lot more activities than they used to and we got a sudden chance to see my sister for a couple of days before she started a new job which meant that I did the 13 hr drive (14 hr trip) to/from CO twice in one week, something I try very hard to avoid most times.  I also have started getting crochet students (thank G-d) which means I have some cash to pay for books recommended here.

186

@Miss Tammy,

 

She is eight, but reads at a very high level. So much that books for her age seem babyish to her, so I'm always on the lookout for more challenging material for her that isn't too raunchy.

 

I'll check into that series.  Thanks!

187 Tammy/Wheatie, what symptoms did the pups noses exhibit that honey "cured"?
  My dogs have very dry scaly noses and it sounds like this might help.

188 Polli, we may have passed on the road! Thor had a seminar in Denver, so we drove up through KC and over on the 70.


EoJ, I'd have loved the series at her age, but I was reading Ian Fleming when I was that age, so again, not sure my judgement is sound on the matter. But the heroines are scrappy and I'd have adored them at 8. Do at least read the first one yourself, I think you'd like it, too! An actual Moron recommended them to me, not an 'ette. 

189 Hrothgar, I will wait and see if Wheatie is still around before I jump in.....

190 'kay

191 non-purist

Other books to read might be Theodore Roscoe's Tin Cans which is an abridged version of the same author's United States Destroyer Operations in World-War II.  Covers US destroyer operations across the globe.  Covers the actions off Guadalcanal in some detail including Kondo's force detecting Lee's two battleships before USS Washington's radar picked them up.

There is also Battleship at War by Ivan Musicant.  Ship history of the USS Washington.  Including that night action against the Japanese along with USS South Dakota.  Though it should be read with a pinch of salt considering how vindictive it is against South Dakota's crew during that action.

192

Hrothgar,

 

My dog developed a layer of dry, scaly...raised...and flaky, skin, across the top of his nose.

I asked out Vet about it....and he was pretty dismissive about it, said to just "Put some Vaseline on it".

Which actually made it worse.

I searced the web for solutions....and there are a wide variety of them. 

 

I bought fancy creams and lotions from PetSmart and PetCo.

Nothing worked.

One clue that I had, as to what was causing it.....was that it started going away for a while, during the winter months....when there is less fungal activity out in our yard.

My doggeh....like most doggehs....has his nose to the ground, snuffling the trails of the rabbits, squirrels and raccoons, which frequent our property at night.

 

But....as I mentioned....putting Honey on his nose is working.

It is working fast, too.

I noticed the improvement occurring within the first few days....and now, it is about 50% better.

193

This is too funny. Occupy South Bend, She's a gonner....

 

 

"The last General Assembly had an attendance of three. At the next GA, it has been proposed that we decide whether there is enough interest and motivation left among those who had been Occupiers. The number of people who attend will be a strong indicator of whether or not Occupy South Bend will continue."

194 Posted by: wheatie at July 15, 2012 03:31 PM (MbB0O)

Think it might be a genetic predisposition with my bracicephalic pups and not fungal (I have not noticed much difference in winter or summer, but need to ask wifey about this).  But it is still worth a trial.  Thanks for the feedback.

BTW, we tried a farm product (vaseliney in nature) called Bag Balm which seemed to help, but I like the idea of honey as a natural cure.

195 Hroth, f Bag Balm helps, you might want to look around for something that has a lot of calendula in it....you could probably Google for a salve recipe and make your own, even. Calendula is remarkably easy to grow.

196

Hrothgar,

I tried Bag Balm....tried Vetericyn....they didn't make it go away.

Since I've been using the Honey...the thickened layer of bubbly-looking, scaly stuff, has flattened out and is sloughing off.

Before....the layer was gradually growing, starting to cover the sides of his nose.

 

Honey has some anti-bacterial, anti-fungal properties to it....so that could be why it's working faster and better than anything else I've tried.

197 Tammy-I will look that up as it sounds interesting (and natural).

198 Posted by: wheatie at July 15, 2012 03:48 PM (MbB0O)

We used to raise bees, and honey does have a lot of interesting properties, I just never thought of it as a skin balm.

199 @179, I was gonna cheap out and wait til tomorrow, but $3.49 is already a bargain, especially to help a Moron out, not to mention Ace's cut.


Come on, y'all, go on and buy it!

200 Thanks T al-T.

201 Hroth, we weren't thinking of it as a skin balm, either, but of the antiseptic properties, as wheatie and I both were leaning towards the cause of the scaliness being fungal/bacterial.


Keep in mind Bag Balm also has antiseptic properties, so the honey may help a bit, and your pups might enjoy the taste better!

202 Here's a video of Oleg Atbashian giving a talk about Shakedown Socialism to a Tea Party group last year near Easton, PA. I was there. I drove an hour up there to attend. It's an hour long, but well worth it if you can make the time. Of particular interest is the part where he speaks of his experience in a Soviet hospital. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_aNNT7cFuQ

203 Anna, thanks!  Was about to plead for some leads on books on these topics - now these are written down. 

204 My pleasure, Seamus. I look forward to reading it.

205 non-purist, you are welcome.

Another to track down is a WWII ship history  "And Pass the Ammunition" by Father Forgy.  Recounts the war cruise of the heavy cruiser USS New Orleans from Pearl Harbor until her bow is blown off by a Japanese torpedo off Guadalcanal.  The shock of the explosion killed the crew in turret #2, they were found still manning their posts.

206 I'm watching scientific documentaries on Youtube right now, and so far I have seen: - a History Channel piece about 10 ways the world could end that culminates in a smirking Al Gore and some climatologist promising us everything will be fine if we all convert to hybrids - the same piece asserting that Skynet is a very real way the world could end despite 4 Terminator movies so far - a piece on supermassive black holes that opens with some astronomer informing me that "if you stick a finger [down a black hole], it's gonna be gone" And the guy who published the first piece has another video entitled "How I can help you convert to Satanism" and has recently uploaded a call to arms for his followers to upvote a book portraying Charles Manson as some kind of thoughtful musician-cum-philosopher.

207 Tammy & wheatie--I think of a balm as having (mild) medicinal properties, so I think we are in agreement.

208 Speedos solve nothing.

209 Speedos solve nothing.

Posted by: The Poster Formerly Known as Mr. Barky at July 15, 2012 04:48 PM (A+OEV)

Not so fast there!

210 Youtube Science and Youtube comments almost make me long for the old 3 network days.  Almost.

211 The Short Life of a Valiant Ship USS Meredith by Barry Friedman MD with Robert Robinson Lt Commander, USN (Ret.). October,1942, Meredith sunk by Jap carrier planes off Guadalcanal. (My uncle Fred was on board and perished.)

212 Posted by: DaveA at July 15, 2012 04:51 PM (yVsIQ) One of the saving graces is Neil deGrasse Tyson yukking it up in every single documentary that has something to do with space. The man takes such relish in explaining how a black hole would kill you. It's beautiful.

213 Meredith seems to be an unlucky ship name.

DD-434 sunk 15 Oct 1942
USS Meredith (Cmdr Harry Enson Hubbard) was lost near San Cristobal Island in the Solomons. Sunk by air attack while escorting the USS Vireo and petrol barges, alerted to the oncoming attack had taken on the crew from the Vireo which was abandoned and left adrift. The Japanese dive bombers appeared from the carrier Shokaku concentrated their attack on the Meredith sinking her with many hits and then strafed the survivors. 182 were killed and 78 survived from the Meredith, and 55 were killed and 15 survived from the Vireo. The commanding officer of the Meredith died of wounds and the Commanding officer of the Vireo Lt James Claude Legg survived though wounded as was every one else. The survivors were rescued by the USS Grayson, Gwin and Seminole and also PBY VP-51.

USS Gwin would be sunk a month later when USS Washington and USS South Dakota slugged it out with IJN Kirishima.

DD-726 sunk 9 June 1944
USS Meredith (Cmdr George Knuepfer, USN) was sunk by a near miss after being bombed by German aircraft on 9 June 1944. The ship was already badly damaged after hitting a mine off Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion the previous day. 35 of the ships crew were lost and 322 of her survivors were rescued by USS Bates and PC 1232/1262 and 26 were wounded.Amongst the survivors was the Commanding officer.

DD-890 managed to survive the war.   Later transferred to the Turkish navy and renamed Savastepe. Was scrapped in 1995.

214 Started into John Ferling's "Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free" while I was munching on lunch this afternoon.

Didn't take long to run into this:

On this very morning, John Hancock, the president of Congress, had begun his day by beseeching each colony to gather every scrap of available lead so that it could be recast into cartridges for the army.

Umm. Cartridges? In 1776?

215 I guess he could be talking about the "bite the end off and pour it into the barrel" paper cartridges, but you wouldn't talk about "casting lead into cartridges", would you? I mean, you'd be casting it into bullets, which may or may not wind up incorporated in a cartridge.

216 Yes, paper and linen cartridges have been in use since the 16th century.

217 "The Issa Valley" by Milosz is a good read as well.

218 ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

219 It's pining for the fjords!

220 HELLO!
Is this thing on?

Where the frack is the ONT?
WTF, O?

221 Obama is a stuttering clusterf*ck of a miserable failure.

222 Finally reading William Forstchen's One Second After via Kindle for iPhone. Didn't want to read it, but I'm feeling that I have to.

Just got through the nursing home scene. It made me cry, as my great-aunt who raised me for half of my childhood is in a nursing home. (She's 91.)

Every time I go there--minimum of once a week--I see all those people reduced to infants.  My aunt is not that far gone, but she still thinks she can walk. She can't and when I was taking care of her at home (nine months), it got to the point where I couldn't leave her room without her trying to get up. She is the sole reason I am still in CA. All of the rest of our family lives in other states.

I hope someone puts a pillow on my face should I get to the nursing home point.

223 I'm reading the "Outlander" series by Diane Gabaldon.  The first book is set in 1945 and 1743 Scotland during the run-up to the Second Jacobite Rising.  It is historical fiction, fantasy (time travel), and romance all rolled into one.  I'm hooked.  I'm halfway through the third book 7 days after starting the series.  I guess I'm hooked on time travel right now because the next book in my queue is the new one from Deborah Harkness.

224 She went overboard on Perry but there was room for legitimate concern with his actions. I don't think that's enough to be attacking Gellar. I rarely read her site but she's not the enemy here. You gotta let your allies be dumb once in a while without crucifying them.

225

@226

Geller was right. Perry's response: "You have no heart" to primary opponents who wanted to limit illegal immigration indicated an unserious attitude toward immigration concerns and a a willingness to resort to cheap one-liners instead of thoughtful consideration.  How'd you like to hear that line is a discussion of entitlement reform or foreign aid?  

226 i'm no Democrat but this whole "Democrats supported slavery!" meme is beyond idiotic, not because it's untrue, but because trying to trace a consistent ideological line in both parties throughout history is silly as all hell. Southerners used to vote Democratic -- and this tells us what exactly. the GOP used to be dominated by Northeastern WASPs too and that tells us nothing about what the GOP is today

227 I think the reason people hammer the "Democrats loved slavery" line is because Democrats continually portray the GOP as racist and bigoted and cover up their own past. Its push back, as it were, against the lies and smears by the Democrats.

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