How was Hitler's Willing Executioners? That and Leopold's Ghost have been on my list for a while but I haven't gotten to them yet.

If you like Mailer, and want to read a novel about James Angleton and the Kennedy assassination - check out "Harlot's Ghost" - a thinly veiled history of the CIA.

"If you look for the social economic motive, you will not have to wait for history to tell you what was propaganda and what was truth." - George Seldes

GW says he has a 'eck a lec tic' reading list.  He recently read 3 Shakespeares.  He didn't mention if they were pop-up books.

"Don't waste your time on the clowns, watch the real show"

Robert Redford on Saving the Arctic Refuge
{The link takes you to the YouTube Video}

Nearly fifty thousand people have already watched and forwarded Robert
Redford's video message about the Arctic Refuge since we first put it online
last Thursday, making it one of this week's most popular videos on the Internet.

From NRDC Action Fund - The Bush Administration wants to let oil companies destroy the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for the sake of one penny per gallon at the pump. Watch Robert Redford's video about America's greatest birthing ground for wolves, caribou and polar bears. Then, speak out in defense of the Arctic Refuge by going to NRDC Action Fund and sending a message to your two U.S. senators.

The Senator

While walking down the street one day a US senator is tragically hit by a
truck and dies.

His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

"Welcome to heaven," says St. Peter.  "Before you settle in, it seems there
is a problem.  We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see,
so
we're not sure what to do with you."

"No problem, just let me in," says the man.

"Well, I'd like to, but I have orders from higher up.  What we'll do is
have
you spend one day in hell and one in heaven.  Then you can choose where to
spend eternity."
>
"Really, I've made up my mind. I want to be in heaven," says the senator.

"I'm sorry, but we have our rules."

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down,
down,
down to hell.  The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green
golf course.  In the distance is a clubhouse. Standing in front of it are
all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and in evening dress  They run to greet him, shake
his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at
the expense of the people.

They play a friendly game of golf; and then dine on lobster, caviar and
champagne.

Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good
time dancing and telling jokes.  They are having such a good time that
before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises...

The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter
is waiting for him.

"Now it's time to visit heaven."

So, 24 hours pass with the Senator joining a group of contented souls
moving
from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time.
Before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

"Well, then, you've spent a day in hell and another in heaven.  Now choose
your eternity."

>The Senator reflects for a minute, then he answers:  "Well, I would never
have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think I would
be better off in hell."

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to
hell.

Now the doors of the elevator open and he's in the middle of a barren land
covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting
it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder. "I don't
understand," stammers the Senator.  "Yesterday I was here and there was a
golf course and clubhouse.  We ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne,
danced and had a great time.  Now there's just a wasteland full of garbage
and my friends look miserable. What happened?"

The devil looks at him, smiles and says,  "Yesterday we were
campaigning...... Today you voted."

Don't ya love it?_______________________

Frodo failed...Bush has got the ring.

Mencken, the American Iconoclast: The Life and Times of the Bad Boy of Baltimore

A quick review from Metroactive

On President Warren Harding:

The New York Times called these words "presidential." The auditor in question, Mr. Henry L. Mencken of Baltimore, chose a different description: "The worst English I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered washing on a line; it reminds me of stale bean soup, of college yells, of dogs barking idiotically through endless nights."

Heh - I wonder what Menken could have done with Dubya?

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live." Dorothy Thompson, Journalist

Leo Damrosch's biography, Rousseau, Restless Genius.

If you want good fiction to go to bed by have you thought of Patrick O'Brian's Napoleanic seafaring stories starring Capt. Aubrey and Dr. Maturin?  Master and Commander being the "movied" one in the series.

Powerful books that had a strong impact on me this summer are Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner (fiction) and Azar Nafisi's memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran.  These two give a gender balanced perspective on life under Islamo-repressive regimes in Afghanistan and Iran, respectively.  Neither is "easy" reading because of the emotional price the reader must pay in the face of the authors' revelations of the harsh brutality and barbarity in each.

They burn our children in their wars and grow rich beyond the dreams of avarice

I was at the B&N the other day looking for "Fiasco" and was about to buy it until I flipped through the pages and it occurred to me: I know all this already. Between all the political /current event books I have already read, and the blogs that I read in the morning and at night,  and seven or so hours of air america everyday while I work,  there isn't much I don't know.

So I put it down and decided that I need an escape book. I picked up "The Alchemist"

I love it.  Everyone has probably read it already, but it seems like this is a book I will read more than once, it is very comforting and very transcedent. I am quite fond of the simple moral story -- "Life Of Pi" and "KiteRunner" are also among my favorites.

In the wings I have "The Memory Keepers Daughter"

I just received the following, watch this Re-Broadcast with Updates on this Fine Organization, and visit their site:

August 30, 2006

Thank you again for supporting NYC Medics in the earliest hours of our organization.
It's paradoxical that such a tragic event made such a positive impact on us, yet that seems to have been the case.  The earthquake brought together medical workers who had never met one another, but had all made independent commitments to helping others.  
October 8th, 2005 was a wake-up call for us.  Until then, NYC Medics was barely an idea.  We didn't know whether we'd be able to amass the supplies and volunteers, whether we'd be able to reach the country's most ravaged areas, whether we'd be accepted by the community, or whether our small group could make an impact in the face of such an enormous need.  
Now we know.
This Sunday, September 3rd at 7pm, we've just learned that CBS will re-broadcast the 60 Minutes story of NYC Medics with an update on our return trip to Pakistan.  The piece has since been nominated for an Emmy Award.  Please invite your friends, family and co-workers to watch the segment.  Don't hesitate to mention that these people are your friends and that you are a part of this work.  We certainly feel that way.
I've included an update on our activities since our first trip to Pakistan last fall. It's important for you to know how your support directly helped people when they needed it most.  I've also written about where we're going - and how you can help.
It's unfortunate yet certain that sometime in the next six months, a disaster will strike somewhere in the world.  Other people will need NYC Medics' help and when they do, we want to be there.  
It was the staggering word-of-mouth response that enabled us to return to a remote underserved region of Pakistan, treating an additional 10,000 people.  If the opportunity presents itself to tell others about us, I hope you will.  The direct and personal nature of NYC Medics is what makes us so effective.
Thank you again for everything, and keep in touch.  We'd love to hear from you.
Sincerely,

NYC Medics

Countdown with KO is great.
KO`S final words are awesome.
Definitely a must see.
The total shred of ron "dumbshell".

The difference between theists and atheists is that the atheists don't set the theists on fire for refusing to agree with them.

Last night, courtesy of Netflix, I watched Dark Victory with Bette Davis.  Great movie--but what struck me was the character that Ronald Reagan played.  Yes, here was our future president in a movie made in 1939 playing a dumb but amiable drunk.  And the US went on and ELECTED THIS PERSON PRESIDENT.  And now we have a president who is not even capable of being a movie star (too many lines to memorize--its easier to be preznit and have a teleprompter).  There is something wrong with this country.  

If you are looking for a break from our grim reality, try another reality. I've recently stumbled across two skewed realities created by Jasper Fforde. Both are twisted versions of detective novels (subclass: police procedurals). The Eyre Affair introduces SpecOps 27 agent Thursday Next, as she attempts to save (and improve the outcome of) the doomed love affair of Jane and Rochester, the brooding, haunted master of Thornfield Hall, not Jack Benny's valet. The Big Over Easy  brings us DC Jack Spratt and Sgt. Mary Mary, Nursery Crime Division, investigating the shooting death of the drunken, womanizing, financial double-dealing, and bon vivant egg, Humpty Dumpty. It is a crime to murder talking eggs or literary characters, but it is no crime to take a break and laugh.