1 4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. 4a. You, yourself, have no rules, standards, or morals. You can't afford them!

2 The Rook by Daniel O'Malley. Nice yarn about a paranormal version of MI5 or whatever the Brit intel agency is called. Hope there's a sequel soon.

3 Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid series - it was recommended by Jim  Butcher of Dresden Files fame.   The main character is a 2,000 druid that looks like a mid-20 slacker, runs a book store in a college town in Arizona, and has as his best friend an Irish Wolfound that goes around sniffing a lot of butts and fantasizing about french poodles.  It's a great combination of fantasy, snark, and general kick-assery.

4 If you string together every fourth word in the rules for radicals you get, "Hold my latte while I crap on this police car."

5 In Illinois, its called the Combine: The Mob, The Unions, The Democrat Party The Godfather as far as anybody should know, is Michael Madigan, Speaker of the Illinois House. His daughter Lisa is the state Attorney General.

6 Currently re-reading the Honor Harrington series (at least the first two books).  I downloaded them for free from the Baen Free library. I am having trouble with my vision right now and I can offset that by increasing the font size.

7 5 In Illinois, its called the Combine: The Mob, The Unions, The Democrat Party

They need their own Gordon Freeman to clean house.

8 I'm reading Dirk Hayhurst's "Out of My League:  A Rookie's Survival in the Bigs".  I really liked his first book about the minors, "The Bullpen Gospels".

9 I'm reading American Massacre by Sally Denton about the murders of upward of 140 pioneers at Mountain Meadows in Utah by Mormons.  It isn't a history of the Mormon church, but she has some detail about their society (socialistic, totalitiarian) and their mindset (persecuted) and why the murders happened.  About halfway through and it's very good.

10 5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. Compare and contrast with this passage from John McCain's Rules For The Establishment: 5. you have nothing to fear from Barack Obama.

11 Obama seems to break rule 2 frequently.

12 Unfortunately we live up to rule #4.

13 Also, and totally OT, I read in the newspaper this morning that one of my high school classmates did the score for the movie October Baby.  I haven't seen it, but this may give me some incentive to do so.

14 I'm reading thru this year's Gardner Dozois science fiction anthology (23rd edition?). His collection is usually the only 'fun' book I'll read each year. Man, I used to read a lot more...

15 The Devil's Rules for Alinsky

1. I exist. Don't fuck with me

16 Finished An Act of Self Defense, by Erne Lewis.  Outstanding.  If you haven't yet heard of it (although it's a few years old), it's about a group of patriots who wonder how a modern-day Thomas Jefferson would handle a tyrannical govt and then set out to do it.  Unfortunately, the enemies in the book are long-term incumbents.  Too bad our enemies are not only govt "workers."

17 For all of Alinsky's supposed genius, I don't see where he came up with anything that Goebbels hadn't already done.

18 funniest thing i read this week window sticker: nobody cares about your stick family......

19 Only Son, by Shawn Goodwin and Pamela Meister.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and not just because Wyatt wrote it. Y'all need to go order a copy. He gets slightly more money from the paper version, but it's also available for downloading.

20 Reading? Why the tweeted verses of TrayVonage, Young Urban Poet Taken From Us All Too Soon, of course!

21 About halfway through A Princess of Mars, and enjoying it immensely.

22 I read 'the last Mage Guardian' by moronette Sabrina Chase from the AOSQH Amazon link.   Very entertaining read.   I spent human achievement hour reading on my Kindle  

23 Huerfano, I am a decendant (along with tens of thousands of other people from the intermountain west) of John D. Lee.  You might enjoy Juanita Brooks' John Doyle Lee.

I'm reading the Magician King right now, after someone recommended the Magician.  Both were very entertaining, and made me want to re-read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe books.

24 #20, Reading? Who can do that anymore in America thanks to the teacher's unions and legions school administrators constantly watering down standards. Hell, no one here even reads the blog.

25

I am a masochist.  I admit it.  A very lefty friend keeps telling me that there are "other points of view out there" because she doesn't see how biased the MSM is.  In the spirit of adventure, I got a Barbara Ehrenreich book on CD from the library and so I have been listening to "This Land is Their Land" in my car.  From the very first page, it's been obvious that Ehrenreich is an idiot because she thinks there is a fixed quantity of wealth in the world.  And the book just goes downhill from there.  But I finally finished it and am wondering how on earth all the lefties manage to turn their brains off to swallow this tripe.

 

And I finally started reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" since it's available on Kindle.  I remember trying to read it when I was in junior high or so but the footnotes drove me mad, constantly distracting me when they were at the bottom of the page.  Since it's Kindle, I don't have to see the footnotes unless I touch them accidentally.

26 Far And Away, by Neil Peart. Peart is the drummer and lyricist for Rush, and the guy can write. This book (so far, I'm half-way through it) sets the band's business in the background and talks mainly about Neil's motorcycle rides, which is how he gets from show to show on tour. A mixture of day rides and philosophy with a little drumming stuff thrown in. 

27

 

 

"...9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."

 

So....the threat of race riots is more terrifying than the race riots would actually be?

28 Finished The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick. Now working on The Transmigration of Timothy Archer.

29 And I finally started reading "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" since it's available on Kindle.

And it's only $3, versus $18 for the paperback.

For all the bitching about Kindle prices on many books, and I am among those bitching, they do have good deals too.

30 From the very first page, it's been obvious that Ehrenreich is an idiot because she thinks there is a fixed quantity of wealth in the world. And the book just goes downhill from there.

You should discuss this with your lefty friend. If she's your typical cocooned lefty, she has no idea that such a criticism even exists.

If you value her friendship, you might even ask her for a book recommendation so you can discuss it -- of course with the proviso that she read one of yours.

31 I read 'the last Mage Guardian' by moronette Sabrina Chase from the AOSQH Amazon link. Very entertaining read.

Palerider, I enjoyed it, too! Her short stories are fun, as well. I bought Firehearted but haven't read it yet.

32 For the Kindle IÂ’ve been adding free books since there are so many classics yet to read. I finally decided to spring for Last Mage Guardian (Sabrina Chase), only to find the price has doubled since January. That seems like a big hike for a short digital novel. If it were a twofer, Guardian plus Firehearted, I could go for that.

33 Been amusing myself re-reading Atlas Shrugged.

I really didn't remember it being such a bodice-ripper. Dagny Taggart, the little minx, is intent on shagging anything that moves under its own power. Poor Eddie Willers is too much of a nice guy to catch her eye, but I bet if he bought a motorcycle, got a tattoo or ten, and told her "no" once in a while he could reel her in. Might not be worth it, though; he'd have to put up with page after page of turgid prose about how *right* it is that a man announce his individuality by marking up his skin, after which she would break his heart to go haring after some new boy toy that just entered stage right.

34

I suggested that one time, OregonMuse, but she teaches English and doesn't read outside of work stuff, at least not during the school year.  She says her brain is too tired, and I believe her.  Knowing her has been very eye-opening with respect to the public schools here.  For example, there's not a single grammar textbook anywhere in the district!

 

But I will ask her to pick a book anyway, drawing the line at Howard Zinn.  Maybe I can get her to read one of mine during summer vacation.

35

Rule Number 14: If you worship the Devil the way my boss did, the Devil is quite likely to make friends with you in a manner that you didn't quite anticipate, FOREVER.

Ouch! (x 10 to the hundred trillionth power) . . .

36

Making my way through two books right now:

 

"Montana 1948" by Larry Watson - really well-written story from the perspective of a young boy in, NE Montana in, well, 1948.

 

"Sigma Seven," by Steven Gould, which was recommended in a thread on this very site.

 

Next up are the Rayland Givens stories.  I may see if I can get through all of Elmore Leonard's stuff.

37 There's only one bio of Alinsky which can be trusted. It was compiled for J. Edgar Hoover. Anyone have access to it? I got a kick out of the simplicity of Ehrenreich. Reminds me of a lot folks who aren't worth the time of day. I prefer to engage people who are worth knowing. That's a good lesson for kids: make friendships worth having. It seems we don't teach our kids that fundamental life skill.

38 I really didn't remember it being such a bodice-ripper

Ha! Yeah, my wife read AR via audiobook a few months back and she noticed the same thing. We had a running joke about who was going to be the next guy to take a poke at Dagny.

I tend to believe that Dagny Taggart was the woman Ayn Rand wanted to be: smart, thin, beautiful, sexy, and desired by all men. Rand herself was short, dumpy, and not really very attractive. Kinda crazy, too, by all accounts.

39

I told my lefty friend that SCOTUS had taken the unusual step of announcing  early that  the health care law is constitutional  this morning (9-0 decision).

His hopes  will be up for 5 seconds, and then the stinging slap of April 1 will occur to him.

40 Gratz, Palerider!  Glad you enjoyed it.

Me, I've been reading "That Bear Ate My Pants!" by Tony James Slater.  Adventures in an underfunded Ecuadorian animal preserve (and warnings about trying to weld without eye protection).  Very funny.  Also rereading "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Cliff Stoll -- hunting a computer hacker (with a chocolate chip cookie recipie).  Also funny and not just for computer geeks either, he explains what goes on inside the computers very well.

41 Left-wing politics is, as we all know, not about "helping the little guy", but rather extracting money from people and groups that progressives do not like and giving it to those they do themselves, while pretending to help the little guy.

FIFY.

42 Just about done with 'Hound of the Baskervilles,' and of the opinion Holmes doesn't work so well in long form.

43 Crap, lineout isn't working.  I meant:

"Left-wing politics is, as we all know, not about "helping the little guy", but rather extracting money from people and groups that progressives do not like and giving it to THEMSELVES [not "those they do"]. "

44 I have lurked in the comments section of this fine establishment for several years now. I am courageously making my first post to thank you morons for the recommendation of "Wool", made last week on this new book forum. I enjoyed it immensely and spousal unit also found it to be very good. I am a fan of "when things go to hell" books and "Wool" was, indeed, a page-turner.

45 Ohhh, I have my own little rule that I've found very effective over the years: "Threats are free. 
But don't overdo 'em, 'cause then they lose their power."

46 Left-wing politics, is, like the Mafia, a racket. It steals money from someone else to line its pockets and enough of the right people to keep itself in business. 'The Little People' are just the proles whose votes are for sale, the real point to it is money and power for the people at the top of the syndicate.

47 Vic, Have you read "A Rising Thunder" yet?

48 A Feast for Crows.

49 Posted by: Terrified Lurker at April 01, 2012 12:03 PM (iKZTY)

Welcome!! Thank you for getting your feet wet. Smart choice to do so in the book thread.

I'll be lookin' for your hash in the ONT tonight! 

50 Compare and contrast with this passage from John McCain's Rules For The Establishment:

5. you have nothing to fear from Barack Obama.
-------------
Oh, and #6:  Barack Obama is an honorable man.

and #7:  Conservative populists are no more than pathetic hobbits.

51

I have lurked in the comments section of this fine establishment for several years now.

 

No need to fear.  We don't bite.  Well, only if you're teh baconz.  BTW, if you've been lurking in a fine establishment, why did you come to Ace's place?

52

Re-reading Eric Garcia's Anonymous Rex.  Hilarious private dick story but with a velociraptor as the main character.  You see, dinosaurs didn't go extinct 65 million years ago, they just learned to blend in.

 

Thinking about picking up Tim Cockey's The Hearse You Came In On and reading it again.  Hitchcock Sewell is a Baltimore undertaker who also solves murder mysteries when they present themselves.  Very very funny and witty.

 

A couple of others I'd love to read again but just don't have time to, which I highly recommend:  Night of the Avenging Blowfish: A Novel of Covert Operations, Love, and Luncheon Meat.  Funny yet sad book by John Welter about Washington DC and love and loneliness. 

 

And last but not least, a book called The Gargoyle, by Andrew Davidson.  Odd book involving a horribly burned man whose nurse remembers when they met the first time, seven hundred years before in medieval Germany during war.

53 I've got a copy of Rules.  I have and do read it.

54 Alinsky dedicated the book to Satan. Right about now, I'd wager Satan is giving old Sauly Walnuts a great big wet kiss. Either that or a giant, barbed cock sideways up his commie cornhole.

55 7. A tactic that drags on too long is a drag.

I guess the OWS folks didn't read that one...

Speaking of which.. where are those guys?  They claimed they would be back stronger and louder than ever come spring... lol..

56 I can picture Breitbart, channeling George S. Patton, scanning through his binoculars at the decimated liberal hordes, after one of his devastating showdowns... "Alinsky, you sneaky commie bastard, I READ YOUR BOOK!!!!!!!!!!"

57 Have you read "A Rising Thunder" yet? Posted by: Fox2! at April 01, 2012 12:05 PM (RJOgX
----------------------------------


Yes I have.  I got the ARC copy from Baen way back.

58
The Unwritten 14th Rule: Lie, Lie, Lie

the latest bile from DKos:

[redacted], words I never thought I'd say, but this Republican member of Congress speaks for me:

As the only Republican Congressman at a rally for the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, Rep. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) gave women an unexpected piece of advice: Give your money to Democrats.

"I think these are very precarious times for women, it seems. So many of your rights are under assault," he told the crowd of mostly women. "I'll tell you this: Contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side -- my side -- has a lot of it. And you need to send your own message. You need to remind people that you vote, you matter, and that they can't succeed without your help." [Â…]

"This is a dogfight, it's a fistfight, and you have all the cards," he said. "I can only tell you to get out there and use them. Tell the other women, the other 51 percent of the population, to kick in a few of their bucks. Make it matter, get out there, get on TV, advertise, talk about this. The fact that you want [the ERA] is evidence that you deserve it and you need it."

That Republican is right: it's time to make Republicans pay at the ballot box for the war on women they are waging across the country.

At Daily Kos, we have endorsed three of the strongest Democratic women running for Congress you will find anywhere: Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, Darcy Burner in Washington, and Ann McLane Kuster in New Hampshire.

Please, click here to contribute $5 to their campaigns. We really do hold all the cards, and it's time we started playing them.

Keep fighting,
Kaili Joy Gray, Daily Kos

59 Actually, some of us bite.

60 Reading A Mencken Chrestomathy (I would trade every living journalist for one Mencken, and feel like I'd been given too good of a deal) and Foucault's Madness and Civilization. It's not as bad as A History of Sexuality, of which I only managed to complete one volume, but I still can't stand his style. He writes like he's either trying too hard or has a bad case of ADD with a side of mental diarrhoea.

61 Oh, forgot to mention I read Supreme Conflict.

Very well done, but  I wish I had read it before I got so burned out/strung out on politics, and also before I had read the Breitbart/Coulter/Malkin Âœuvres....I really didn't need another reason to be furious with Washington.

62 Oh, forgot to mention I read Supreme Conflict.
---------------------


So now you know why Kennedy votes the way he does.

63 I am working my way through  William James's Varietes of Religious Experiences, which I highly recommend.  I'm also about to start reading Flatland, a book about a two dimensional circle that discovers a three dimensional world.  It was supposed to help readers think about the existence of a fourth dimension. 

64 So what has everybody been reading this week?

Trayvon news...what else is there?

65 I told my lefty friend that SCOTUS had taken the unusual step of announcing early that the health care law is constitutional this morning (9-0 decision). His hopes will be up for 5 seconds, and then the stinging slap of April 1 will occur to him.

You seriously did this? You're a bad, bad man.

And I can't stop laughing

66 Trayvon news...what else is there?

Pr0n?

67 So now you know why Kennedy votes the way he does.

He certainly seems to be less about law and more about what the fallout of any given decision might be. Scary.

Mind you, I have to admit I have never really followed the Supremes much at all. That Scalia and Thomas are rock solid Conservatives and that Ginsburg is liberal are only things I would have sworn to.

68 Just finished "Shock Wave" by John Sandford.  Great read.  Had NO CLUE who the bad guy was, until the very last chapter.  Expands upon the erstwhile detective Virgil Flowers.  He just might be a true moron in disguise!

Look forward to the book thread every Sunday.  Good to see interest in keeping it up after Monty's retirement.

Thanks.  (Longtime lurker, here.  Might change my nic to "In the Belly of the Beast.  I'm moving to just outside of DC in two weeks.  Got transferred and the commute is a nightmare.)

69 Got "How Democracy Failed" by Ellen Switzer this week in the mail but haven't started it yet. Read it back in school before. If I remember right, its pretty apologetic for the Germans electing Hitler, but the stories about hyperinflation might not be bad for a refresher course. Surprised how uncommon it is to find. Ordered it off of amazon used and its an old library book. Seems like it only had one printing.

70 I guess the OWS folks didn't read that one...
Speaking of which.. where are those guys? They claimed they would be back stronger and louder than ever come spring... lol..
Posted by: Chi-Town Jerry at April 01, 2012 12:14 PM (UTq/I)


Looks like they're commemorating the 6 month anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge march in which hundreds of dirty hippies were 'illegally' arrested, starting in just a few hours.


http://tinyurl.com/czyj5g3


I expect this to be almost as popular as the #OccupyUnionSquare event on St. Patty's Day, to mark the 6 month anniversary of the bowel movement's beginning.

71 Posted by: Kathy in MD at April 01, 2012 12:40 PM (q0Pow)

Hello!!!!  I really enjoyed Shock Wave, too.

And my sympathies on your commute!

72 Here's one I really enjoyed.  "Feed," by M. T. Anderson, 2004.

Imagine having, in effect, a supersmartphone embedded into your brain from the time when you begin to speak as a baby, your mind as the 3D output, your thoughts as the input.  Private chat with friends and family, public chat in groups and parties, banner ads feeding into you based on your likes, wants, and needs.

And generations have lived this way, with adults, even the president of the USA, all speaking the way today's teenagers do in high school and at shopping malls.

Dude.

In this setting, a love story is told, set in the final days of the USA.

73 What was that about pushing hard and deep enough?

74 "The Belton Estate" by Anthony Trollope.

75

Summation of R4Rs:

Selfishly pursue your own desires with no mind to the consequences, negotiate in bad faith and lie, Lie, LIE!!!

 

Democrats have been doing this for decades.

76 If you liked The Forgotten Man, Shlaes has a new book about Coolidge coming out at the end of June. http://amzn.to/HJq9s4

77 Surprised how uncommon it is to find. Ordered it off of amazon used and its an old library book. Seems like it only had one printing.

Back when Monty started the Sunday Book thread I stumbled on this for used books:

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

I've found them reliable and quick to ship, and they sometimes have things that Amazon doesn't. They're a little greenie and have a 'save the earth' charge of a few cents that you can eliminate by unchecking a box before ordering.

78 Just finished "A Distant Eden" last night. Instapundit mentioned it earlier this week. A fairly quick, easy and interesting read that follows a family after a solar flare wipes out everything electronic. The author adds some information about survival techniques in that type of environment, weaving them into the plot. $1.99 on Amazon.

79 So what has everybody been reading this week?

George R R Martin     A Song Of Ice And Fire

80 "...9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself."

So....the threat of race riots is more terrifying than the race riots would actually be?

Posted by: wheatie at April 01, 2012 11:40 AM (dEMjC)

 

Uh, yes.

Escalate we much.

81 Congressman Richard Hanna (R) ACU 40

82 Doorways in the Sand by Roger Zelazny. An eternal undergraduate (motivated by a trust fund that will expire if he ever slips up and earns a degree) investigates the disappearance of an intelligent extraterrestrial artifact and hilarious adventures ensue. Every chapter starts with slam-bang action, flashes back to flashbacks nested within flashbacks that make a season of How I Met Your Mother look straightforward, then resolves the chapter-opening plot points almost by accident. If the story were told in chronological order it would be trivial, but (like Memento) the technique makes it fun.

I always thought my explanation of how the cat and I share my bed 50/50 (he gets the middle half) was my own, but it's here word-for-word in a book I've never read before that was written before I was born, so someone must have planted the phrase in my brain as a kid. Probably me, in a time traveling incident that hasn't yet happened.

83 I don't know... Does it ever strike you guys that we the Right have come to idolize Alinsky as a strategic genius? Face it, we didn't lose to Obama in 2008 because of Alinsky. We lost because our candidate ran a horrific campaign into the ground, complete with angrily snatching microphones out little old crying ladies' hands to scold them they had nothing to worry about from a radical black nationalist in the White House. And the little matter of his suspending his campaign, so he could rush back in time to Washington to nod approvingly while sitting next to Obama and listening to him talk. The country turned left in the last 20 years because we the Right allowed the Left to get to our children in the public schools, allowed the Left to define the very language we are allowed to use (thereby crippling our ability to use English... yes, CRIPPLING, I said... and Ef You if you don't like it!), and ultimately went along for the ride as even ordinary light bulbs were banned. All that has a good deal more to do with lack of confidence in our own ideas and lack of energy on our part, than some dead radical Obama happened to idolize. Let's stop acting like Alinsky was a Deep Thinker we both Fear and Despise yet secretly admire greatly. Fuck Alinsky, the little Leftist self-loathing pig.

84 And my sympathies on your commute!

Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 12:44 PM (SsG4J)

Thanks, Tammy.  Got my first speed camera citation in the mail.  Downtown Olney, Maryland.  At 10:53 PM.  Just trying to get home, so I could turn around and get back up at 6 AM.  My next "request" for a transfer will be to the Pittsburgh, Pa. market.  I can't wait to get away from everything that is "special" about Maryland.

85 Just finished Carlo D'este's biography of Patton.  Sympathetic but still deals with his flaws.  Patton was severly dyslexic, amazing that he got through West Point's difficult coursework.  Supposedly had a phenomenal memory.

86 BTW, I'm unloading a dozen of those Gardner Dozois Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies, if anyone's looking to fill holes in their collections. They're incredibly huge and heavy and filled with great stuff. Starting with Volume 5. Click my signature for a mailto.

87

Really? Seriously? No power or perceived power here at all within Alinsky's rules!

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have. (Satan (formerly Lucifer) was defeated at the cross by Jesus Christ and the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me)

2. Never go outside the experience of your people. (The Lord worked with them confirming his word with signs followingÂ…miracles)

3. Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. (In my name they shall cast out demons and I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it)

4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. (There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus)

5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. (Blessed are they which are persecuted

for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when

men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against

you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in

heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.)

 

6. A good tactic is one your people enjoy. (For he (Jesus Christ) must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet and he that believeth and is baptised shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned and the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.)

7. A tactic that drags on too long is a drag. (And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations and then the end shall come)

8. Keep the pressure on. (Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid)

9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself. (Psalm 91 and vengeance is mine I will repay says the Lord)

10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. (For we walk by faith and not by sight)

11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counter side. (Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you)

12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. (faith is the victory that overcomes the world and I (Jesus Christ) have overcome the world)

13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize and polarize it. (As he (Jesus Christ) is so are we in this world)

REALLY? SERIOUSLY? A MAN WHO HAD DEDICATED HIS BOOK TO LUCIFER WHO BECAME AND IS KNOWN AS SATAN? “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnel but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.”

 

 

88 I just finished up "the Ghost Brigade" by John Scaliz.  Not as good as "Old Mans War".  I will wait a while before picking up the 3rd in the series "the Last Colony".  It brings back the John Perry character, which I think made "Old Man's War" ...funnier in a snarkyer/moron kind of way.
Just picked up an Elmore Lenoard from the used book store, "The Hunted".  They tend to start out slow, but they do deliver.  I always have him as my fallback author.

89

Posted by: CoolCzech at April 01, 2012 01:05 PM (niZvt)

 

Be nice if we had a leader or spokesman of some sort.

90

Writing down all the great suggestions.  Will definitely order Wyatt's
"Only Son."

I've been burning my way through the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike series by Robert Crais (in no particular order: last week I read Stalking the Angel, The Last Detective,  Sunset Express and The Watchman), but now I'm in a fantasy/sci-fi mood so I picked up three books at the library on Friday with no foreknowledge other than attractive cover/title: The Shroud Codex by Jerome Corsi, Busy Monsters by William Giraldi, and Iago by David Snodin, some kind of re-imagining of Othello from the point of view of the Chief Inquisitor of Venice.  If anyone is familiar with these titles, input is welcome.

I've also been working my way through "Oscar et la dame rose," a YA French novel, hoping to jumpstart my French back into some kind of proficiency. Sometimes I have to read a sentence a few times to get the gist of it because I'm translating each word and then have to re-combine for content.  It has a lot of collequialisms, which makes the translation more difficult, but is probably more helpful for actual conversation.

91 LSD is not a recommended part of lunch, Greg.

92 Yo To the 'ette' visiting, the beast will be playing at 0900 at kapiolani park in waikiki if your down there They'll be the ones in red jerseys wearing war paint

93 I live in NoVa. I hate Maryland. I especially hate Maryland drivers. I've taught my kids that if they see a Maryland plate they need to treat the car like it's being driven by a terrorist.

94 Its not that everything Ayers says is totally wrong or immoral - some of it is clever tactics - but the whole package is basically a primer on how to avoid facts, reason, and convincing people of anything and instead how to manipulate and trick people into your side's position.
If you want to see how effective it can be, look at the homosexual activist debate and how little anyone actually tried to convince anyone of anything, yet managed to pull the majority of younger folks to their side.

95 @83 Yes! Thank you CC, damned well said!

96 Wow. Greg is completely insane. I wonder if the FBI should be notified about this guy.

97

Roger Zelazny

 

Good stuff.

98 #72

Ever see 'The President's Analyst' starring James Coburn?

99 Alinsky is so brilliantly destructive, he has to be clinically insane.

100
Wow. Greg is completely insane. I wonder if the FBI should be notified about this guy.
Posted by: dagny at April 01, 2012 01:16 PM (CMM9V)


Greg cracked after it became obvious to him that Barack Obama is stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

101 Nickless, try The Sign of Four for better long-form Holmes. Doyle was good at historicals and it shows in the Holmes novels, usually to the detriment of the detecting part of the story. Miss Spellcheck, if you like Doorways, try A Night in the Lonesome October.

102 I finished the Hunger Games trilogy and started How Green is my Valley. I'm also reading Predestination, Grace, and the Salvific Will but that's a tough row. So in response I'm also reading a sexed up sequel to Pride and Prejudice. There just aren't enough Mr. Darcys in the world.

103 @93

I couldn't agree more.  I used to live in southcentral PA and experienced the horror that is Marylanders' driving habits on many occasions.  As far as they're concerned, they are the only ones on the road.

104 Machiavelli doesn't really agree with items 5 and 9. He admonishes against insults and threats because the former inflames while the latter forewarns. I suspect that if the target of Alinsky's rules is free to use violence without consequence, they don't work very well.

105 The more I have read, the more convinced I am that it really is a satanic philosophy.  And, I think the fact that it has come first to be a fear, then an obsession, and finally an ideal amongst radical conservatives is probably a sign of long term (read: eternal and perpetual) decline for its practitioners and advocates.  Good ends don't come from ill means.  Sure, a mugger might think, "Whoa!  I just got free money."  But the individual and social costs of mugging eventually come back around to erase any value that they manage to get their hands on.  Same is true for Alinsky's book.  There might be some ironic delight to be found in the idea that evil people get messed over by evil people.  But there is no point in trying to encourage evil or to delight in it, without becoming it.  Sure, it means you fight with one hand tied behind your back....  but there are examples in history of people that have won greater victories with both hands tied behind their back (or nailed to a piece of wood) without ever have to use evil to accomplish it.  Just a thought for Palm Sunday.  Not saying I'm perfect.  But saying we probably would all do well to respect it.  The profits are greater, anyway.  Peace!

106 Hey phoenixgirl, I'm in town to help out with my elderly parents...where is a place I can get a great burger & a beer, so I can regain at least part of my sanity?

107 waaaay off topic: a funny Captain America comic strip.  Link in my sig.

108 So, What rule does, "Don't Call My Bluff!", fall under?

109 I want to dig up Alinsky's dead rotting corpse and take a dump right in his face. Stinking leftist scum!

110 If you want good books: Anything written GK Chesteron.

111

Gem, try LibraryThing.com.  A lifetime membership is just $25 and you can keep track of all of your books there.  I set up a special "collection" for the Sunday Book Thread recommendations so I know what the Moron Horde recommends.  I'll never ever get through everything, but I won't lose track of them either.

 

112 Greg cracked after it became obvious to him that Barack Obama is stuttering clusterfuck of a miserable failure.

Imagine connoting "Peace be with you" and "Keep the pressure on" as being the SAME.

Do people like that know they're completely nuts or do they realize that the upset they feel when their idol is found to be less than divine is over the top?

113 My niece will be coming to Alexandria in the fall for grad school in Economics.  I told her grandfather to tell her Mom and Dad to take her out on the highways where the most aggressive drivers commute to get her used to the horrors of Maryland driving and the DC Beltway.  Otherwise, she'll be a sitting duck.

Great advice for your kids, Dagny.  When my son learned to drive, his Dad took him down to drive 495 within a week of getting his permit....I thought his Dad was nuts, but it turned out OK, and he's been driving for three years without incident.  We stressed DEFENSIVE driving from day one.  Now he's around all the retirees in Phoenix, and he just laughs and laughs.

114 Thanks for the warm welcome! Goshers, I feel all warm and fuzzy now. Reading "On the Beach" right now, the Nevil Shute potboiler about the survivors (not for long) after a global nuclear war. I vaguely recall seeing the movie as a youngster. In the queue: a re-read of "Lucifer's Hammer" and "Fahrenheit 451". Depressing times call for depressing books. I'm wishing for more Ray Bradbury for the Kindle. "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was one of my favorites growing up. Several others recently finished or lined up; some are not as grim.

115

Posted by: Paladin at April 01, 2012 01:22 PM (CjJwF)

 

Burgers?...can't help.

Pizzeria Blanco.  Best Pizza in the West.

116 Request: any recommendations for a good book on Roman History? I'm familiar enough with the general historical arc, so I'd like something that really dives into a specific time period or person; i.e., a history of the Punic Wars, or a biography of Marius, something like that.

117 Gem, you sound so smart with your French language reading skills!! 

LMS. I need to re-read Doorways. I wasn't able to just sit and read it through, and I got lost quite a bit.

Kathy, Pittsburgh is a pretty awesome place if you can handle the winters.

118 "GK Chesteron" And here I thought his name was GK ChesterTON. My bad.

119 #82

IIRC, that was my first Zelazny way back when. I highly, highly recommend his 'Lord of Light.' It manages to be a SF story, mythology, super-hero adventure, and more all at once. Read it once and then read it again a year later. You'll notice a bunch of stuff that you didn't the first time.


Avoid the audio version out there. The one I found was from Library For The blind, which depends a lot on volunteer readers. The one they put on 'Lord of Light' wasn't the worst I ever heard but her voice was a lot like Sister Mary Elephant from Cheech & Chong.

120 Flatland was an awesome book. We actually were assigned it in high school algebra class.

121 "Request: any recommendations for a good book on Roman History?" Start with Will and Ariel Durant. Their history of humankind up until, I believe, the 19th century is still one of the best.

122 OK, this week we have Freedom Betrayed, Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the Second World war and Its Aftermath by George H. Nash.

Much different than any standard history of the time.  Told from a somewhat isolationist point of view.  Best line so far - "Western civilization has consecrated itself to making the world safe for Stalin."

123 Have you read Ghosts of Cannae?  It's kind of a dual history of Rome and Carthage.  The scholarship is first rate, though I found the writing style a bit boring.

124 Sorry Open blogger, Alinsky was many things, but a pussy he wasn't.

125 5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon. I did not realize that this was one of his rules. It is absolutely true. I have been going on and on and on for too long about how we need more ridicule in our society and not less. One of the most pernicious effects of political correctness is the limitation of ridicule of everyone except white males. There is no need to be cruel, however, making jokes about those you disagree with or some segments of society is one of the nicer ways to point out there shortcomings. It works on a variety of levels. having someone point out your or my stupid behavior in an off-handed joking way is frequently more desirable than having someone lecture, belittle, or berate. similarly, if you look at almost all modern television the white male is the foundation of the ridicule. I do not care, poke fun at me all you want, however, simply from a cultural level no one benefits from it.

126 Miss Tammy!

127 113 I live in Alex. I've never had a wreck or a ticket or been in one. Tell her to watch and make sure the other driver commits to the stop light or sign before she goes. You cannot trust them.

128 Speaking of ridicule, my husband has been on all the legal threads that defended Obama calling the mandate a "tax". He's been saying that he missed what happened, how did that go in front of the court? (they laughed uproariously).

129 124

His book and his personal history indicate otherwise. The man didn't have an honorable bone in his body, and advocated the most underhanded, cowardly means to the end that was all he cared about.

130

"Carthage Must be Destroyed" by Richard Miles.  Not much is known of Carthagenian history and what there is was mainly written by the Romans who were not particularly buddies with their across the Mediterranian rivals.  Miles wades through the morass to include recent archeological research and brings us from Carthage's founding by the Phoenicians to its ultimate destruction by Rome. 

A great story for history buffs of a civilization known mainly for its demise.

 

 

131 He's been saying that he missed what happened, how did that go in front of the court? (they laughed uproariously). Posted by: dagny at April 01, 2012 01:34 PM (CMM9V) who laughed uproariously?

132 OMG, How Green Was My Valley. I cried and cried when I read it as a young teen. I may have to check it out to the library.

133 Just to be clear so there is no misunderstanding (which there probably isn't) the biblical answers to Alinsky's rules show that they (Alinsky's rules and those that adhere to them) can never win in the end.

134 My sense is that he was ruthless on the offense but not especially stoic in anyway.

135 yankee!!!!!!!!!!!!!

136 Just to be clear so there is no misunderstanding (which there probably isn't) the biblical answers to Alinsky's rules show that they (Alinsky's rules and those that adhere to them)can never win in the end. Posted by: Greg at April 01, 2012 01:36 PM (LzjbD) It is the same thing as critical race theory, there is no mutually beneficial arrangement to be had because their goal is the destruction of you and your system. No point in even trying.

137 135 yankee!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 01:39 PM (SsG4J) Miss Tammy!

138 I am pretty happy with the way tennis is played but I think they could use a few cheerleaders. Sponsors or stadiums could provide some but the players who could afford them should be allowed to have up to five cheerleaders.

139 "35 yankee!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 01:39 PM (SsG4J) Miss Tammy!" Ok, anyone else getting a visual of two people running towards one another in slow motion, arms out flung, in a field of flowers with mountains off in the background? Could just be me...

140

Been working all hour on the formula for how much you pay over your lifetime in taxes and fees if you are aborted and have come up with this

 3+5x280-35x0=

141 I'm thinking about buying a copy of the Koran, and reading it aloud with an affectated lisp on the train into work each morning. 

But now I'm reading Marley and Me: a book about life and love with the world's worst dog.

142 "Time was when I trembled at the thought of a misspelt word and a blunder of my own or the printerÂ’s would keep me awake at night; but now that I have recognised it for the least part of scholarship, and, indeed, hardly a part of scholarship at all, I care for it less than a doit - whatever that may be."

143 You know this is really great. usually I just talk to myself and my dogs, but now I can share every stupid thought I have and have it immortalized on the Interwebs!

144 "The Green Flag" by Robert Kee.  All of Irish history (at least up to the Easter Uprising) can be described as a shit show put on by clowns.  And yes, I'm of Irish stock.  A lot of face palms reading this.  Many good political lessons, though.

145

Posted by: yankeefifth at April 01, 2012 01:42 PM (Z9EHQ)

 

How about Ball Men?

146 The country turned left in the last 20 years because we the Right allowed the Left to get to our children in the public schools, allowed the Left to define the very language we are allowed to use (thereby crippling our ability to use English... yes, CRIPPLING, I said... and Ef You if you don't like it!), and ultimately went along for the ride as even ordinary light bulbs were banned.

All that has a good deal more to do with lack of confidence in our own ideas and lack of energy on our part, than some dead radical Obama happened to idolize.







Yep.  I would change "20 years" to "50 years", but other than that, Yep.

147
Greg, very interesting.

And you're right that evil will not prevail...in the end.

But you know what the economist Keynes said?

Keynes said, "In the long run, we're all dead."

148 A couple of other quick thoughts: Terrified Lurker - So glad you decided to join us. For the most part were a fairly low key bunch, so welcome to the party and try not to feed the trolls. Atlas Shrugged - Oh ya, Dagny is a slamhound. No doubt about it. But the book has enough other redeeming qualities it's still a good read. It does bog down in parts though to a maddeningly slow pace, strange thing is I thought the movie was actually better in many regards.

149 greg, a strategy to counter Alinsky is a one-way ticket on a L-188 with a stack of free drink coupons.

150

On the other side of the equasion, I've calculated that each abortion costs society approximately one million dollars in lost revenue, when using the average amount people pay in taxes during their life.

I've transmitted the information to the president.

151 How about Ball Men? Posted by: Cosmo Kramer at April 01, 2012 01:45 PM (SpqwD) you go juggle you own nuts.

152
I want to defeat these Leftist demons in MY lifetime.

153 "I've transmitted the information to the president." Well unless you put "Let me be clear" in the subject line.. lol

154 AceofBankersHours

155 152
I want to defeat these Leftist demons in MY lifetime.

Posted by: soothie at April 01, 2012 01:47 PM (WUa+U)

angels to some....demons to others...just like those gosh-darned Cenobites!

156 139 "35 yankee!!!!!!!!!!!!! Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 01:39 PM (SsG4J) Miss Tammy!" Ok, anyone else getting a visual of two people running towards one another in slow motion, arms out flung, in a field of flowers with mountains off in the background? Could just be me... Posted by: StuckOnStupid at April 01, 2012 01:42 PM (R5yLq) That is a mistake that many have been inclined to make with Miss Tammy. Be warned, it is a trap, when you get about ten yards from Miss Tammy Thor pops up and clubs you with a broomball stick. He is kinda particular about his Miss Tammy.

157
What we lack, and what the other side has in abundance, is dedication.

As in full-time dedication. These people have made it their careers to bring down our republic. We don't do that.

We, mainly, only pay attention around election time. The Left is working on defeating us 24/7/365.

158 brb, lookin up Cenobites...

159
ahh, Needlefaces

160 In Hellraiser, the lead Cenobite informs Kirsty Cotton that the Cenobites have been identified as both angels and demons by those they have encountered, and that the Cenobites merely see themselves as "explorers."

161 Ok, anyone else getting a visual of two people running towards one another in slow motion, arms out flung, in a field of flowers with mountains off in the background?

With all those exclamation points, my visual was a couple of chapters ahead of yours, IYKWIM.

162

Cenobites...

 

I love those.  I wish there was a Cennabon closer to the White house.

163 A great example of making the enemy live up to their standards that conservatives seriously fail on is diversity. They load up on feminists, activists, race baiters, minorities and leftists (BIRM) and conservatives never call them on it.
Educational institutions that receive fed funding for example, the fact that more and more men can't get jobs in schools out of the simple fact they might be a child molester, outcomes in divorces weighing heavily in favor of women.

Of course, the current set of elected 'conservatives' aren't going to do shit to hold them to their own standards.

164 There might be some ironic delight to be found in the idea that evil people get messed over by evil people. But there is no point in trying to encourage evil or to delight in it, without becoming it. Sure, it means you fight with one hand tied behind your back.... but there are examples in history of people that have won greater victories with both hands tied behind their back (or nailed to a piece of wood) without ever have to use evil to accomplish it. Just a thought for Palm Sunday.




Love this.

165 157
What we lack, and what the other side has in abundance, is dedication.

Nail, meet head.  Big difference between wanting to be left the hell alone (conservative) and wanting to never leave well enough alone (progressive)...I cannot refer to them as liberal, though i'm sloppy about that.

166 Thor pops up and clubs you with a broomball stick.

Usually just his bare nekkid fist will do, but I have fond memories of one glorious evening when a bass was called into action in my defense. Only one time, though, in all these years, sigh.

167 How about a better set of rules?

1.  If you have a problem with the truth, the problem is you.

2.  In light of that, stay on the side of the truth, whatever it is.

3.  Since the truth is on your side, use it like a weapon.

4.  Mercy is for those who believe their good intentions will be repaid out of reciprocal decency by the other side in case they lose.

5.  If you believe the other side has any mercy or decency, I have some land in the Everglades to sell you.

6.  It's been said that no plan survives contact with the enemy.  Simple plans actually do, it's hard to screw up "Improvise" or "Get 'Em".

7.  The best liars manipulate the heart.  Analyze everything.

8.  Never automatically attribute to ignorance or bad luck that which can be attributed to malice, nor attribute to malice what can be attributed to ignorance or bad luck.  Sometimes it's all of the above.

9.  Don't be afraid to see what you see.  -Ronald Reagan

10.  The best defense is a good offense.  Do Unto Others.

11.  It is better to live a day as a lion than a thousand years as a sheep.  Even moderation must be used in moderation, as there are things worth dying for.

12.  Might does make right.  If you don't stand up for the rights you afford yourself, you are merely prey for the first person that does not share your concept of inalienable human rights.  Ask any nerd that got bullied.

13.  An open mind is like a fortress with its drawbridge lowered and its gates unbarred.

14.  Anybody who claims to have all of the answers is a liar.

15.  Fair is a dirty four letter F-word.  Fight to win.

16.  Entropy is the natural state of the universe.  Harness it in your methods, and your enemy will crumble even as you destroy him.

17.  Anything can be destroyed by dropping it from a great enough height.  Elevating a dangerous enemy that can be easily knocked down has advantages.

18.  There are two ways to operate a society.  Subordinate ability to need, and need will grow until it overwhelms ability.  Subordinate need to ability, and ability will grow until all needs are met.

19.  Any large task may be conquered by making it small enough.  I once read about an English general that destroyed an occupied enemy castle that took 70 years to build by promising the local peasants an ounce of silver for every brick of it they brought him.  It fell in a day.

20.  The only thing turning the other cheek to mindless aggression gets you are two bloody cheeks and someone who believes he can hit you with impunity.

21.  Payback is a bitch.  Retribution is a 350 pound bipolar who thinks you ate the last of the ice cream.  Apply vengeance as appropriate to the situation.

168

I'm thinking about buying a copy of the Koran, and reading it aloud with an affectated lisp on the train into work each morning.

Posted by: model_1066 at April 01, 2012 01:43 PM (PWwbk)

 

 

Now that's some some funny shit, right there!

169 Ok, so since this is a book thread, one recommendation I've read fairly recently: Triumph : The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church An absolute must read even for non-catholics like myself. It's the story of the early days of the Church, and it counters a lot of the myths that have sprung up about the Church and about Christianity as a whole.

170 Ha anyone had a chance to listen to the sc zerocare arguments? I caught a few minutes of the arguments on the constitutionality of the mandate this monring on cspan. the audio makes the likelihood of zerocare getting repealed sound even greater than the transcripts. does anyone know anything about why katyal left the solicitor position when he did? he sounded like a much more forceful advocate for zerocare in the lower courts than verilli did in the sc. I am guessing katyal wanted to get out and cash in before the sc lowered the boom on zerocare. verilli really did not sound enthusiastic about the poisition he was defending. I am reading a lot into audio tapes, however, in comparison to the other side he did not even sound like he wanted to be there. It seemed more like a punishment than a privilege. maybe he used too much tooth on zero and got this as a reward.

171 and i'm even sloppier about my analogies, apparently.

172
For instance, for the past two weeks non-stop, segments of the Left have been protesting, writing letters to editors, calling into talk shows, getting on television to advance their agenda to disarm American citizens and to pass more stupid thought crime laws.

The corpse of Treyvon Martin is their excuse to do these things right now.

Next week they'll find another treyvon. And so on.

173 "That is a mistake that many have been inclined to make with Miss Tammy. Be warned, it is a trap, when you get about ten yards from Miss Tammy Thor pops up and clubs you with a broomball stick. He is kinda particular about his Miss Tammy." Lol... so, what your saying is.. it's a trap. A clever, insidious, lethal trap. Hmm... Yup, I can respect that.

174 What we lack, and what the other side has in abundance, is dedication.

Well, my theory is also that we all WORK full time and don't have near the time to devote to this sort of thing. That's why I have also started trying to push for folks here to get involved in some small way, online. Twitter, etc.


And look, I can't help it with yankee and my exclamation points. Y'all are just lucky Robert and bean and Bers and jc and DC ain't here. Them Graveyard Shift boyz are like my own personal heroin.

175

Usually just his bare nekkid fist will do, but I have fond memories of one glorious evening when a bass was called into action...

 

I thought it was a Snapper.

176 Usually just his bare nekkid fist will do, but I have fond memories of one glorious evening when a bass was called into action in my defense. Only one time, though, in all these years, sigh. Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 01:55 PM (SsG4J) yeah, stuff gets around you know. you knock a guy through a picture window with a fish and everybody is gonna hear about it and avoid that mistake.

177 165
>>>I cannot refer to them as liberal

Good. A liberal from 200 years ago would be agitating for the overthrow of this administration and their permanent deportation from the country, or worse.

178
Big difference between wanting to be left the hell alone (conservative) and wanting to never leave well enough alone (progressive).

The funny part is that they call us knee-jerk reactionaries because we resist or complain about constantly imposing on us their radical leftist agenda.

179 "What we lack, and what the other side has in abundance, is dedication." What we have is real lives, real concerns, real jobs. What they have are a lot of dedicated mush brained idiots with none of the above. I guess you could call it an unfair advantage, sadly though I don't know of a way at least off the top of my head to counter it.

180

Brendan @116 -

 

    Try McCullogh's series about the fall of the Republic. It starts with Marius, then runs through Sulla,  Pompey and Caesar - ending with the triumph of Augustus. 'First Man in Rome' is followed by 'The Grass Crown' and 'Fortune's Favorites'. There's another three books, but if you are still interested after these you'll have no trouble finding them. 

 

    Warning: McCullough is in love with the depth of her research. After you've read a description of the entryway into the forum for the umpteeumpth time you just start skipping the longer descriptive passages. Mind you, the info is great and interesting but she oh too frequently stops the action for 5 or 6 pages of description, geneology, or background.

181 Ok, anyone else getting a visual of two people running towards one another in slow motion, arms out flung, in a field of flowers with mountains off in the background? You mean naked, with their boobies flapping in the wind? Why, yes.

182 Books, now, this is a book thread.

Very much enjoyed Breitbart's last one.  I am behind on my Steyn.

Started reading the Flashman series by Frazer, and have been chuckling mightily.

183 165 157 What we lack, and what the other side has in abundance, is dedication. Nail, meet head. Big difference between wanting to be left the hell alone (conservative) and wanting to never leave well enough alone (progressive)...I cannot refer to them as liberal, though i'm sloppy about that. Posted by: model_1066 at April 01, 2012 01:54 PM (PWwbk) I think the problem is mor about rule number 4 "4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules." If you really do love the country, want to do good, and want to right the wrongs of the past and have a better future for everyone and you are being set upon by people who want to destroy you you are screwed. I do not think we need to change our rules, and I do not think we should, we only need to identify their rules and goals and educate people about them. I do not want to be or behave like them.

184 167

Beautiful.

185 182 Books, now, this is a book thread.

Very much enjoyed Breitbart's last one. I am behind on my Steyn.

Started reading the Flashman series by Frazer, and have been chuckling mightily.

Posted by: Tammy al Thor at April 01, 2012 02:03 PM (SsG4J)

How many books did Breitbart write?  I'm thinking of going on a Mark Steyn bender here, but want to get the big B's books too....

186

7. The best liars manipulate the heart. Analyze everything.

 

One trick I use in appropriate circumstances is to prepend to every statement by the other side, "He wants me to believe ..."

 

It really helps (me at least) to maintain emotional distance and to remain analytical.

187

I still cant finish the new Dan Brown. Karma. This guy thinks he is the Savior?

wtf?

188
Yes.
And that's the brilliance of the Left!

With our help and generosity, the Left has insidiously created a growing citizen army of welfare careerists who are always at the ready to "fight" for more free stuff while the rest are busy in our daily grinds making a paycheck, which supports the Left's agenda.

189

Hey, Miss Tammy,

No, my French reading skillz have sadly diminished! But I'm trying.   My daughter will be living in London for part of the year next year and when we're there visiting I hope we can get across the channel for a few days.  Thanks again for reminding me about "Only Son."

And thanks, Tonestaple!  That's a good idea - I have a hard time keeping track of all my hand-scribbled lists.

My favorite book (or the one that made a lasting impression on me, anyway) about Roman society is "A History of Private Life - From Pagan Rome to Byzantium." The English version was edited by Paul Veyne with translations by Arthur Goldhammer.  A fascinating look at the impact of societal change on individual lives, with a wealth of illustrations and contemporary writings.

190
Not only are we too busy and preoccupied to counter the Left's dedication to protest and push their radical agenda, we actually funding it!

191

Sorry - how do you do html codes here now?  Or are they working again?

192 OK, I'm at work today....I'm working on an Excel spreadsheet, and one of the formulas utilizes the TODAY() function...and it is giving me March 1, 2012 as "today" instead of April 1, 2012.  I've checked all fo my system settings, and they're all set to the proper date.  Did I hit a time warp? 

193 Pizzeria Blanco. Best Pizza in the West.

Posted by: garrett at April 01, 2012 01:25 PM (SpqwD)

Looks interesting.  I'll give it a shot.  I'm on the west side of town.  My dad keeps trying to feed me every 4 hours, but I just want a medium rare burger, with fresh ground beef.  That and a nice Cold Micro...no fries.

194 Sorry- how do you do html codes here now? Or are they working again? Posted by: Gem at April 01, 2012 02:06 PM





Sadly, when it comes to links, this is the land that time forgot.

195 190
Not only are we too busy and preoccupied to counter the Left's dedication to protest and push their radical agenda, we actually funding it!

Posted by: soothie at April 01, 2012 02:06 PM (WUa+U)

The most, and I mean The. Most. Infuriating thing about the left is their emotional/intellectual caving-in and wanting to be Part Of The Group Of Good Guys that slants their perception. Facts, reasoning, logic be damned. Self-contained cult behavior.  Sickening.

196 192 OK, I'm at work today....I'm working on an Excel spreadsheet, and one of the formulas utilizes the TODAY() function...and it is giving me March 1, 2012 as "today" instead of April 1, 2012. I've checked all fo my system settings, and they're all set to the proper date. Did I hit a time warp?

Posted by: Big Fat Meanie at April 01, 2012 02:06 PM (Ec6wH)

That sounds like an 'easter egg' the programmers are known for.

197 Mind you, the info is great and interesting but she oh too frequently stops the action for 5 or 6 pages of description, geneology,or background.

To me, this is one of the biggest differences between male and female authors, and indeed, male and females, period.

My reading tatstes skew slightly masculine, but I freely admit that I do I like what would be considered long descriptions of things. As much as I like most adventure/detective type stories, I also find them kind of choppy and jumpy.


I think Andrew just write two, the other one being about Hollywood. Steyn has several, all amazing, but I am very biased. I'd have his babies.

198
Not only do we fund the careers of the Left's perpetual protesters, the Left is successful at Paul Ryan's modest budget cuts seem radical.

Holy shit.

199 I did not know that Alinsky was mobbed up pretty good.

I'm curious if there is any independent confirmation of this.  It really seems like the typical self-aggrandizing bullshit stories that the commie rat bastards are notorious for.  I mean really, hanging with Frank Nitti?

200 166 I have fond memories of one glorious evening when a bass was called into action in my defense.

----------

http://youtu.be/IhJQp-q1Y1s

201 soothie, lots of people do not want to experience the revelation that they are mindless tools, part of a herd.

202 http://youtu.be/IhJQp-q1Y1s Posted by: Anachronda at April 01, 2012 02:11 PM (g1Lui)

203 202 http://youtu.be/IhJQp-q1Y1s Posted by: Anachronda at April 01, 2012 02:11 PM (g1Lui) Posted by: yankeefifth at April 01, 2012 02:12 PM (Z9EHQ) ooops!

204 Gem, you're on the right track with the brackets, the only codes that work are b, i, s and u.


You have to go with triple spacing for a paragraph break.

205 Conservatives, on the other hand....like Insty sez: a pack, not a herd. Take pride in that.

206 Gem, that should have read BUT the only ones that work are b,i, s, and u!

Posted by: Anachronda at April 01, 2012 02:11 PM (g1Lui)

207 or this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qik8V1NZhls

208 Before I check out for a bit, I want to thank Oregon Muse for keeping the Book Thread alive!

209 angels to some....demons to others...just like those gosh-darned Cenobites!

Posted by: model_1066 at April 01, 2012 01:49 PM (PWwbk)

I was using them to back up my system until they pulled their advertising from Rush Limbaugh's show.  To Hell with them.

Wait... what?

210 Somebody needs to send a copy of Atlas Shrugged to the people who make those Seinfeld: A XXX Parody and The Big Bang Theory: A XXX Parody movies. There's porno gold here.

211 "OK, I'm at work today....I'm working on an Excel spreadsheet, and one of the formulas utilizes the TODAY() function...and it is giving me March 1, 2012 as "today" instead of April 1, 2012. I've checked all fo my system settings, and they're all set to the proper date. Did I hit a time warp?" Is it using the Mayan Calender perhaps? Que twilight zone style music as SMOD enters, stage left...

212 I caved....The Hunger Games

213 There should be a london/hoodie/occuloafer/socialistretard thread coming soon, right? 

pins and needles, folks.....

214 Olympic games n shit....

215 @116, Roman history? "A Pillar of Iron," Taylor Caldwell, 1965. Cicero.

216 oh a book I have been rereading a book by A.J.P. Taylor called The Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848-1918. Really good read on the events that lead up to WW1. Better yet, it is really pretty dense but he is a really good writer not so much because he splains things simply but because he can really turn a phrase. He does an extremely good job of managing a couple of fistfuls of threads simultaneously keeping them all straight. If you like the subject or think you would like to know more about the subject it is a great book. If you want to read a very well written thoroughly researched book only to have some effin knowledge put on ya - my words not his - it is a good book for that as well.

217 Vitrillis. closing statement (don't know if they actually do this)to scotus.
we have found that Trayvon had a toothache cause from too many skittles and drinking ice tea. which cause him to go looking around for something to ease his pain as He had no insurance available to Him with the tax monies being spent on Bush's war instead of health care for the most vulnerable among us.
Zimmerman advocated for gun ownership options  to be held by every person , but a person such as Trayvon a citizen forgotten as many other before Him had no options.
This is why we need Obamacare. For children that look like Obama's children.

218 Has anybody ever read a Carl Sandburg book worth the time?  I tried to get through Remembrance Rock in high school....it didn't work out, let's say.

219 who the hell authorized this purple court surface? really purple? all I cna thik of is that little purple pill thing. murray may as well have stayed in bed as played this match.

220 Posted by: willow at April 01, 2012 02:24 PM (TomZ9) Are you able to work "gat", "grill", "bling", "popo", and "blunts and 40s" into that?

221 Michelle and the girls were arrested at the riots in KY last night? really?

222 Yankeefifth....I speak jive....I can help.

223 yankee, well i could, but i think it would ruin the intent.

224 Start a libertarian bluegrass band:
Atlas Scruggs

225 Willow would have won today's Dadaist Prize if only she had remembered that Trayvon was looking for skillets.

226 lookin' for skillets?  Go to Denny's....get a bucket o' meat n' eggs....and a shitload of gravy.

227 about the skittles. I had wondered what time this all occurred,  how long the brother had been left waiting before his parents  knew what happened to the skittles .

228 Every time I read this thread I buy a book(s). I'm surprised my wife hasn't caught on. The recommendations are too good to resist.

229 Yankeefifth....I speak jive....I can help. Posted by: model_1066 at April 01, 2012 02:34 PM (PWwbk) oh thank goodness. I looked at the rosetta stone online sample for eubonics but that is most of what I got. I do have a neighbor whose kid plays a song where someone says "I mack them dudes up, back coupes up, and chuck the deuce up" no idea what that means. probably not good. When I have a daughter I do not think I want her singing it and certainly not doing .

230 225 Willow would have won today's Dadaist Prize if only she had remembered that Trayvon was looking for skillets.

Posted by: Tonestaple at April 01, 2012 02:36 PM (b7/4F)

and the Dadaist Prize is: (using my Nathan Explosion Metalocalyse Voice of Doom):

NOTHING!!!!

231 @218, "The American Song-Bag" and that is it. You will be a hit at Kingston Trio fan conventions, though. God damn their eyes.

Now, about Dagny Taggart: she does three different guys, right? And the course of the narrative to include that is at least several years. Really, that's not up to AoS standards, or even those of your college-age daughter, sorry to bring that up.

Rand knew she was writing pornography, both in AS and Fountainhead. There is a depiction of a.female.orgasm (known in these parts as "mythical") in a 1950's book. Search in vain, o reader, and I know you have, for its like in the big-books of its era.

But she vuss Ayn Rand after all, it vussnote plech-a-reezm. It was an entirely new kind of pornography -- a pornography of The Mind! -- such as had never been seen before in all of literature. Just ask her. 

232 that shoudda sed: Metalocalypse....whateva.

233 I'm deeply bummed about not winning the lottery on Friday.  Now I will have to keep on buying books piecemeal, a paltry one or six at a time, instead of just getting everything at once and then settling down in a comfy chair for the rest of my life.

234 yankee, well i could, but i think it would ruin the intent. Posted by: willow at April 01, 2012 02:34 PM (TomZ9) sorry :0, , :O, "o" "0"

235 Great, model+1066, just great.  You spoiled the surprise.  See if I buy you any skillets.

236 231 @218, "The American Song-Bag" and that is it. You will be a hit at Kingston Trio fan conventions, though. God damn their eyes.

Kingston Fucking Trio?  I'd rather claw my eyes out with a broken bottle than be seen at one of those.   Pass. 

237

129. Alinsky looked opon the people he worked against as detestable. So naturaly, he had no problem playing dirty, would you? The man went to the wretched of the Earth and devised  ways they could attain power. He took his life into his hands numerous times in order to accomplish this.

He made made many more enemies than friends in his travels. Very powerful enemies. I can't stand heathen communists, and Alinsky definatly was one. But I can respect my advisary when they have earned it.

Like Obama, Alinsky  is a   key player in the eventual neutering of the left. His tactics were short sighted and ultimatly counter productive.

238 @231, the affair of the eyes and the broken bottle is on the B side of their fourth album. Cleaned up a little, though. "Oh well now..."

There's still the Weavers, and Peter Paul and Your Sister. Little Phil Ochs joke there, for you OSU fans.

239 238 @231, the affair of the eyes and the broken bottle is on the B side of their fourth album. Cleaned up a little, though. "Oh well now..."

There's still the Weavers, and Peter Paul and Your Sister. Little Phil Ochs joke there, for you OSU fans.

Posted by: comatus at April 01, 2012 02:46 PM (ZOlM3)

What's your sister wearing?  Just wondering....

240 @239 funny you should ax. My sister is a 200-pound union pipefitter, who knew Mary Travers personally. She drove a bus to take Obama voters to the polls in '08. And I have made a Republican of her. Not her wife, though. Just not much to work with there.

241 Paladin, if you're still on here...try Gordon Biersch in Scottsdale.  Right off the main drag, a nice grill pub.  Popular for parents to take their Sun Devil students for a good meal and you can have a beer or a drink and watch the game.

NOT primarily a student hangout,  Had several meals there, and never a bad one.  Son is a sophomore at ASU, so we get out there several times a year.

242 I am reading:  Barbarossa: An Historical Novel of the XII Century. 

It is free from Amazon if you have a Kindle or the Kindle for PC application.  The hardcover is $103.00

243 Forgot to list current reading. In this case, "reading." Photography for a research project. No titles. Not ready to reveal the details. To the person recommending Triumph to non-Catholics, what about Catholics? Just as ignorant as everyone else or is there another reason for Catholics to avoid it?

244 Stayed up too damn late since I got hooked and had to finish Soft Target.  A great read, and Hunter does with Colonel Obobo basically what happened with Baraka: Despite fucking up the crisis, he actually got kicked upstairs, not on the basis of merit but purely on skin color and charisma.

Apparently, it's the latest in a series (although it stands alone for entertainment purposes), and I may check out the others.  For the 2nd Amendment Morons (and at a minimal level, aren't we all?), Hunter's definitely a gun nut from the interviews I've heard as well as his writing.

245 Going back to Intellectuals will be easy now.  Even though the material is more serious, at least it's in more or less self-contained chapters that sholdn't keep me up too late page-"turning".

246 Paladin, if you're still on here...try Gordon Biersch in Scottsdale.
Posted by: Kathy in MD at April 01, 2012 03:01 PM (q0Pow)

Been to the one by the Stadium in Glendale.  That's where my folks live.  Way too high brow for them...I've tried.  Right now I just need an escape for a couple of hours.  I like Tailgaters on Bell by 59th.  But the food is typical bar-food...just OK.  What I'm looking for is a place like "Rocky's" when I lived in San Diego, on Ingram & La Playa, in Crown Point.  GREAT Burger!  The menu is 1/2 lbs, 1/3 lbs & fries...that's it.  Oh yea Cheese if you want.  But it is the best in the city, maybe even the whole state.

247 Hump..dead thread.  Had to run out to get my mom some crackers for here lunch.  She is diabetic, but won't take care of her sugar.  Drives me insane, when I come to visit.  Well the fall back is "5 Guys Burgers & fries", but no beer, or abeyance.  Looking for a hangout ... to escape.

248

"4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules."

Like, if everything is "for the children," why are they so big on abortion?

249 "1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have."

Crap.  The enemy KNOWS I have power if he drives by my house at night.  You can see the lights from the street.

250 This week looked good at the SCOTUS, but we won't get a ruling until late Spring / early Summer.

If the monster manages to stagger on, those of us in favor of freedom should take one out of the community organizer playbook: jam the system.

I use hospitals about twice every 10 years to have stitches removed or some such. Not anymore. I'm going to be a twice a month user and a twice a week appointment setter. I'm going to grab hold of every free thing I can and drain, drain, drain the system of resources. And I suggest all of you who don't long to be serfs do so as well.

If millions of us suck up as many resources as fast as possible, we can break the socialized health system and force it into insolvency. Make people wait weeks, months, for things they used to get within days and they'll soon tire of the idea.

Target health facilities, particularly pediatrics and facilities for the elderly in Progressive areas for the greatest abuse. Make their children and their elderly parents pay the price for their greed and power-hunger, and it'll be very easy to get most of them to turn en masse on the system they created.

The zealots won't turn, but then the zealots can look into the mass graves of their ideological birthright and say, "But this time, it'll be different."

(Oh, don't harm their children? They don't give a damn whether or not their Statism hurts people's children - nothing hurts children like Statism. You reap what you sow. They could choose to start non-profits to do the things they want done and we would all be free to live in brotherhood, but no: they went right for the truncheon and the gun with a sparkle in their eyes.)

Poison the well, crap the river. The faster and more dramatically we bring the whole thing down, the better for everyone.

Tactics like this have been used by Progressives for decades. Time to go toe-to-toe. Force-feed 'em what they've been serving and see how they like the taste.

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