The Book Thread

[Vrede too]

As thousands of Americans protest police violence, these books about race top Amazon’s bestseller list
Robin Diangelo’s “White Fragility,” Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” and Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” were among the works high on the list

[Whack9]

As thousands of Americans protest police violence, these books about race top Amazon’s bestseller list
Robin Diangelo’s “White Fragility,” Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” and Bryan Stevenson’s “Just Mercy” were among the works high on the list

Black Like Me is a really good book that white folks should check out. I think you told me about it, I can't remember. Anyway, it was a fascinating read.
The Slave Narratives compiled back in the 1930's are really interesting, too.

[Vrede too]

Black Like Me is a really good book that white folks should check out. I think you told me about it, I can't remember. Anyway, it was a fascinating read.
The Slave Narratives compiled back in the 1930's are really interesting, too.

I did read Black Like Me (1961) when I was a teen, and I still remember it vividly. I don't remember if I turned you on to it.

[neoplacebo]

Recently read "The Broken Road - George Wallace and a Daughter's Journey to Reconciliation" by Peggy Wallace Kennedy. Was pretty interesting.

[billy.pilgrim]

Recently read "The Broken Road - George Wallace and a Daughter's Journey to Reconciliation" by Peggy Wallace Kennedy. Was pretty interesting.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/0 ... -interview

I may give it a look.

It's easy to miss the gray and the nuances of individuals when we try to make everything so black and white.


"She lays out the way Wallace—a former moderate liberal who turned to political bigotry after losing his first governor’s race to a man who had the endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan—used the invective of fear and resentment to inflame white working-class voters and demonize people of color, drawing a direct parallel between him and Donald Trump. His inflammatory, race-baiting rhetoric and commitment to segregation won him support from the Ku Klux Klan and later on, he became a national figure when he ran for president on a segregation platform.

She also lays out how, late in his long political life, he had a change of heart. In May 1972, during the middle of his third presidential campaign, Wallace was shot by a would-be assassin, and the resulting spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. Following the shooting, Wallace became a born-again Christian, and reversed his earlier stance on race, publicly apologizing to the black community. Though there is no undoing the amount of white supremacist terror he sanctioned and inspired during his earlier years, his last term was marked by concrete efforts to improve African American representation in government."

[Vrede too]

Moral of the story: Maim a racist today.

[billy.pilgrim]

Moral of the story: Maim a racist today.

That's kinda disgusting


I'm thinking we have to be forgiving toward those, no matter who, when they see the light of truth

Like this song by an old slaver

[Vrede too]

Just a goofy joke, sorry.

[billy.pilgrim]

Just a goofy joke, sorry.

K

[neoplacebo]

Recently read "The Broken Road - George Wallace and a Daughter's Journey to Reconciliation" by Peggy Wallace Kennedy. Was pretty interesting.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/0 ... -interview

I may give it a look.

It's easy to miss the gray and the nuances of individuals when we try to make everything so black and white.


"She lays out the way Wallace—a former moderate liberal who turned to political bigotry after losing his first governor’s race to a man who had the endorsement of the Ku Klux Klan—used the invective of fear and resentment to inflame white working-class voters and demonize people of color, drawing a direct parallel between him and Donald Trump. His inflammatory, race-baiting rhetoric and commitment to segregation won him support from the Ku Klux Klan and later on, he became a national figure when he ran for president on a segregation platform.

She also lays out how, late in his long political life, he had a change of heart. In May 1972, during the middle of his third presidential campaign, Wallace was shot by a would-be assassin, and the resulting spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. Following the shooting, Wallace became a born-again Christian, and reversed his earlier stance on race, publicly apologizing to the black community. Though there is no undoing the amount of white supremacist terror he sanctioned and inspired during his earlier years, his last term was marked by concrete efforts to improve African American representation in government."

Yeah, I enjoyed reading it; the daughter was only a kid for most of her dad's most rabid racism, but she certainly benefited from it in the form of white advantage in Alabama during her formative years. At least she later came to realize the inherent error in the ways of her culture. I've not checked out her husband's record.....Kennedy; served a couple of terms on the AL Supreme Court. The book says they're still married.

[neoplacebo]

Just finished reading "The Deficit Myth" by Stephanie Kelton. I found it very interesting and thought provoking and recommend it to everyone. It's basically about "modern monetary theory" and the concept of deficit spending. One myth, and the biggest one, is that the US government "should be required to balance its budget just like family household." The reason that this is nonsense is that the government is a money "issuer" and not a money "user." Any government that is a sovereign currency issuer (the US, UK, China, Japan) cannot by definition "run out of money." Also, the US government does not "borrow" money; it only sells Treasury bonds, which are basically just regular dollars that earn interest. It's no problem for the government to pay this interest because the government cannot run out of money like a person or business can. The key is that EVERYBODY in the US except for the government is a money "user" instead of a money "issuer." All the squawking about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid running out of money is also nonsense. The only reason this appears to be marginally true is that Congress has placed its own restraints on those programs; restraints that can easily be lifted or eliminated. Notice that NOBODY asks "how will you find the money to pay for" vast increases in the defense budget. Japan has a government deficit of well over 200% of its GDP (much much more than the US), they import nearly everything they consume except for labor, and their economy by all indications is just fine. Another good example of the difference between a money issuer and a money user is what happened to Greece a few years ago. Once they became a member of the EU, they no longer had a national currency but instead the euro. When their economy started going bad, Greece had to borrow euros, thus falling further in debt. This scenario CANNOT EVER HAPPEN to a sovereign issuer of currency. Another concept illustrated is the misguided belief that the US government depends on revenue (taxes) to fund its operations, which is only true for local and state governments. A country that issues its own fiat currency simply cannot run out of money and never needs to borrow money. Another myth that people squawk about is that "the taxpayers bailed out Wall Street" back in 09, This is also bullshit; Wall Street got bailed out with simply a few keystrokes on a computer at the NY Federal Reserve Bank. On top of all that, US history shows that each time we've been convinced to "pay down our debt" an economic recession follows soon after. The book ends by recommending our focus be on deficits that actually matter like the jobs deficit, the education deficit, the health care deficit, and the democracy deficit. Another salient point is that the only time problems arise in a capitalist economy is when too much money pursues too few goods and services, which results in inflation.....but inflation has no effect on the government, only on money users.

[Vrede too]

This looks interesting, more so than many of the tell-alls coming out:

Fiona Hill, a nobody to Trump and Putin, saw into them both

[Ulysses]

Started reading HG Wells' "War of the Worlds".

I recall seeing the movie years back. Not bad. But I'm surprised that it is so well written. And wondering why it wasn't assigned reading in school.

[billy.pilgrim]

Started reading HG Wells' "War of the Worlds".

I recall seeing the movie years back. Not bad. But I'm surprised that it is so well written. And wondering why it wasn't assigned reading in school.

Which movie?

[Ulysses]

Started reading HG Wells' "War of the Worlds".

I recall seeing the movie years back. Not bad. But I'm surprised that it is so well written. And wondering why it wasn't assigned reading in school.

Which movie?

"War of the Worlds"...

[Ulysses]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_o ... 1953_film)

[Vrede too]

Which movie?

"War of the Worlds"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esqQXQ9n7u4

billy.pilgrim asked because there are 3 (?!) adaptations that were released in 2005.

Best known:

War of the Worlds is a 2005 American science fiction action film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh Friedman and David Koepp, based on the 1898 novel by H. G. Wells and jointly produced and released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures. It stars Tom Cruise with Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto, and Tim Robbins in supporting roles, with narration by Morgan Freeman....

Others:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wel ... ylum_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wel ... ures_film)

[O Really]

Which movie?

"War of the Worlds"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esqQXQ9n7u4

billy.pilgrim asked because there are 3 (?!) adaptations that were released in 2005.

Yeah, but Ulysses would have to play the 1950's version because his equipment to too old for anything past Y2K.

[Ulysses]

Which movie?

"War of the Worlds"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esqQXQ9n7u4

billy.pilgrim asked because there are 3 (?!) adaptations that were released in 2005.

Yeah, but Ulysses would have to play the 1950's version because his equipment to too old for anything past Y2K.

[Whack9]

Been on a post-apocalyptic fiction kick. Currently reading "The Death of Grass". Some others that I've read that are really good are "On the Beach", "The Earth Abides", and "The Dog Stars" (really good).

Have you read The Road? Much better than the movie.

It's by Cormac McCarthy, which reminds me, did you read his books about western NC?

I haven't read the road yet. I've seen the movie, though. Cormac McCarthy is a really good writer. The only other books of his I've read is Blood Meridian , All the Pretty Horses, and The Crossing.

Got any suggestions?

The Orchard Keeper (1965)
Outer Dark (1968)
Child of God (1973)

All 3 are short novels and are set in the NC area

Suttree (1979) was different from his other stuff and a little hard to read, but well worth the effort.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suttree

Just finished Outer Dark.

It was really good. I feel like it's a good book to re-read as McCarthy loads his stuff up with symbolism. A lot gets missed on the first reading. His books always feel like a hallucinogenic fever dream (and I like it).