Booman Tribune





Find textbooks at Alibris!

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Senator Edward M. Kennedy tells his extraordinary personal story:

True Compass: A Memoir
by Edward M. Kennedy.

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

Boran2 and maryb2004 recommend:

The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime
by Jasper Fforde

Must-have information for all presidents-and citizens-of the twenty-first century?

Physics for Future Presidents: The Science behind the Headlines
Richard A. Muller

rae recommends:

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

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES

Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos
by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.


Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")



Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)


Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)


"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen


The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review


BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual

$79.95 * Sale: $59.95


Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)


The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!


The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan


Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----


Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review


Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey


1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus



Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"


Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)


The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine


Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com

:





We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Alibris - Books You Thought You'd Never Find
Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:
www.Patagonia.com


Display:
Yes, we want oil and gas pipelines to take energy out of central asia without transiting Iran.  To do that, we need some level of security in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.  That is a major reason why the Clintons and the Bushes (prior to 9/11) had at least somewhat cordial relations with the Taliban.

However, the pipeline theory is way overblown.  First of all, it's a decent solution, and the world needs the energy.  But even for the people that think 9/11 was self-inflicted, the subsequent decision to move on Iraq disproves the theory.  

Isolating Iran and ending our containment policy in Iraq were prime motivations for the neo-cons. Pipelines out of Afghanistan only interested a couple of UNOCAL and Chevron executives, and that was derailed by the decision to move on Iraq.

If Afghanistan were really important we would have kept our focus there.  The real dollars are in Mesopotamia.  

by BooMan on Thu Apr 3rd, 2008 at 12:30:42 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Fair enough.  The other, perhaps stronger part of my anti-war feelings in Afghanistan is that it seems doomed.... I's like to see a focus on improving public image throughout the Arab world (it could hardly be worse) and then small, targeted military ops.  

Obama seems to be pandering in his war talk - "look at me, I can be a hawk too."

by eeblet (bethbudwig at g mail) on Thu Apr 3rd, 2008 at 12:48:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Afghans are not Arabs.  And we have a NATO led coalition in Afghanistan intent on providing some level of a decent life for the people there.  It's failing largely because our whole strategy is ridiculous and anti-Muslim...sees all political opposition as terrorism, etc.

There is an argument for isolationism, but it isn't predicated on the fact that our presence in Afghanistan is purely venal and part of some conspiracy of the energy companies.  

We should have turned Afghanistan into a central Asian Dubai.  He could have done it with all the money we lavished on Iraq.  

At this point we need to do a sober assessment of our mission there and consider if we can advance out national interests or not.   But there is no advantage in seeing it all as some gambit for pipelines.  The pipelines would be nice and beneficial to everyone.  But they are not a reason to stay, or go.

by BooMan on Thu Apr 3rd, 2008 at 12:59:29 AM EST
[ Parent ]
See your general point, but the geography of Afghanistan is a major factor mitigating against success in transforming that area.  As well as the fiercely tribal/clan culture.  Finally, Pakistan, the populous and volatile neighbor.

I see it as potentially a much deeper pit than Iraq.  I'm certainly open to other viewpoints on this matter.

by Heart of the Rockies on Thu Apr 3rd, 2008 at 09:55:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]

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