What are you reading?

Rereading As a Driven Leaf by Milton Steinberg

It is a fictionalization of Rabbi Elisha ben Abuyah's life. The main theme is the interdependence of faith and reason.

Going through some more of Road to Reality by Penrose.

Now that I've collected them, when I get the time I'd like to read one of Lawrence Kuhn's books about China. They serve the same purpose as Felix Greene's books did back in the 1960's. Kuhn is perhaps slightly less militant, but certainly sympathetic to the way Deng Xiaoping has reoriented China. He dispels western myths. Great among these is the prevalent western view of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incidents.

Perhaps the silver lining linking the older generations of Mao Tse Tung and Anna Louise Strong with Jiang Zemin and Lawrence Kuhn is Israel Epstein whose book 'My China Eye' is choice.

Rise Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.

Just bought it on kindle.   Should be good for some light bed time reading.

Just read the description. So Luther's the bad guy now? It would take a bit to convince me of that.

'My Song'
By Harry Belafonte

His autobiography published in 2012, this is mainly a sensitive history of America from the late 1950's to today an activist's perspective and a history of the music and entertainment industry secondarily. 

He's very discriminating and doesn't hold back from criticising others on the left who have become conformists including Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, and even Barack Obama. While he's far more scathing of Bush and Colin Powell, his criticism of Bush is very precise and informative rather than an angry rant. He says that Obama is like most left leaders these days in that they do not have the radical spirit of the movement of the 60's such as Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy.

Belafonte continued as an activist after King died in 1968 and much of the movement floundered, his attention went to anti-colonial struggles in Africa in the 70's and especially South Africa. He was sympathetic to Cuba and long time friends with Castro.

Possibly the only disappointment was Belafonte's acquiescence with the anti-communist pro-Gorbachev sentiment prevalent during the 1980's. This aspect was conformist and not radical. Possibly Martin Luther King would have concurred with Belafonte on this, but not Paul Robeson, whom Belafonte credits as his major influence. This recognition of the grossly underrated Paul Robeson is the key that distinguishes Harry Belafonte from the typical follower of Martin Luther King. In my opinion, Harry Belafonte is indeed the truest successor and preserver of Martin Luther King's heritage and activities - both in (primarily) good ways and perhaps even in a couple of bad ways (such as his collusion with Reaganite anti-communism in the 1980's).

Harry Belafonte's Moving Speech Accepting NAACP's highest Award:

'Fraud, Famine & Fascism:
the Ukrainian Genocide Myth from Hitler to Harvard'

By Douglas Tottle

http://www.garethjones.org/tottlefraud.pdf

A solidly evidenced refutation of the lie of a genocide in the Ukraine in the 1930's, this was written in the 1980's when the Reagan administration and allies like Robert Conquest and Nazi sympathisers in Ukrainian emigre communities were resuscitating Goebbels and Hearst's 1930's propaganda.

'Race War!'
By Gerald Horne

This book is about the reverse racism characteristic of Japanese imperialism that degraded white people and propagated Japan as a protector of non-whites that gained popular support from Asians which mightily assisted Japan militarily.

Refreshingly, this is a World War II book that slams America as a colonial, racist pariah. The author is a prolific and clever black communist university professor and historian who views both Japan and the U.S. as racist colonial empires. In the 1930's Japan was, without question, the country black Americans admired the most.

Japan's anti-white racial society and its military successes frightened the living daylights out of america's rich 1%, and they sought to guarantee the postwar loyalty of non-White Americans. This is the reason for Truman's integration of the military in 1948 and Eisenhower and the U.S. Supreme Court supporting civil rights of non-whites in the 1950's: the Japanese threat made their sponsors (the rich 1%) reconsider what course would preserve their hegemony. A degree of civil rights was permitted because it significantly undermined the motive behind non-White revolutionary potential.

The Prince, again.

Just finished the art of war, always get something new out of that book.

'Virtual Politics: Faking Democracy in the Post-Soviet Union'
By Andrew Wilson

This book and its author's other books are typical, anti-communist propaganda - just what you would expect from most American and British writers.

However, he does here provide a lot of evidence and facts relating to the engineering of elections in Russia. By the official polls, United Russia, Putin's party is the leading party, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation is second.

In spite of the author's prejudices, I believe there is a measure of truth in all this evidence about Putin faking elections to stay in power.

I suspect that the majority of Russians prefer the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, and Putin has prevented its resurgence. Don't get me wrong. I generally agree with Putin about issues such as Ukraine, but so do the communists. The west and their propaganda are nothing but fascism, and this fascist propaganda has prevented correct understanding of Russia by painting communism as evil and by painting Putin as a communist. He was at one time, but he's definitely not a communist these days. He's not the devil incarnate and does have his good aspects, but I believe he is not the best for the job.  If he was the best, the Soviet Union would have already reconstituted with Ukraine and the others, Khaddafi would still be alive and in power, and the U.S. would be haulted and turning in upon itself.

http://cprf.ru/category/informmaterials/articles/

'American Inquisition: 1945-1960'
By Cedric Belfrage

The best history of the McCarthy era I've come across.
It's a year by year account with informative references to the best books on various aspects and very good analysis. The author founded perhaps the most militant non-communist national newspaper of the era and was deported in the 1950's after being questioned by McCarthy.

This book seems a relevant resource for both conservatives and liberals as many fascist extremes like American laws providing for concentration camps have their origins during this era.

This era was such a remarkable reversal of the politics of 1943 & 1944. I generally don't agree with the anti-communist themes and politics in Hitchcock's movies, but I just saw one from 1942 called 'Saboteur' which is likely the best movie he ever directed. The scene with the old blind man in the forest is obviously derived from Frankenstein and steals the show. His ideals such as "believing a man is innocent until proven guilty" or "unjust laws need to be disobeyed" are such a contrast to the McCarthy era fascism described in Belfrage's book perhaps more eloquently than any other.

'Saboteur!'


This movie broadly brought to mind a comparison with Office Space. The head of the underground fascist network who is kind of untouchable is analogous to Lumberg. The old man in the forest is most analogous to the hypnotist.

Cedric Belfrage's book is to my knowledge the best book on america's domestic fascism from 1945 to 1960 since it is not perverted by the establishment's viewpoint. It offers the victims' perspective, and it covers the entire "McCarthy" era which the civil rights movement succeeded in breaking up temporarily and only to a degree.

I'd like to get more books by the black Marxist historian Gerald Horne who (among others such as Angela Davis) shows that the establishment sought to control the civil rights leaders and labor union leaders by ensuring that only the programs of anti-communist leaders met with success. Thus, the NAACP and the AFL-CIO (and the Democrat Party) are anti-communist just like Republicans.

Indeed, the Democrat president Truman started the Cold War. That is the subject of:

'We Can Be Friends:
The Origins of the Cold War'
By Carl Marzani (1952)

This book blames the Americans and is perhaps the best history of McCarthy era foreign policy and an appropriate complement to Cedric Belfrage's book about domestic fascism.

 I just ordered Carl Marzani's book. I am reading Belfrage's. As to the name of the McCarthy era, Belfrage says in the preface that J. Edgar Hoover deserves the era named after him more than any other American as he fathered america's domestic fascism, it's police state.

Just finished Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey. Some really intense stuff.

Meh. I would recommend Frankenstein for any English Lit fan. Not the first edition, but the second edition.

I enjoyed the hell out of the first edition, though the language is pretty archaic.

I'm currently reading the first edition of Moby-Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville. It's an absolute slog though enjoyable none the less.

Quote from: UltimateTemplar on February 23, 2016, 10:10:41 PM

Just finished Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey. Some really intense stuff.

Meh. I would recommend Frankenstein for any English Lit fan. Not the first edition, but the second edition.

I enjoyed the hell out of the first edition, though the language is pretty archaic.

I'm currently reading the first edition of Moby-Dick or The Whale by Herman Melville. It's an absolute slog though enjoyable none the less.

Wendy!!

Speaking of slogs, I tried to read Name of the Rose once, a while ago. My brain can only take so much medieval religious history lecturing before it starts melting away. There was some pretty great stuff in the book, but it just took these looong breaks to explain medieval history that at some point I just started to skip and eventually I got bored and abandoned it. May try again some day.

I'm reading Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth and I gotta say this book is full of more BS than my 9-year-old constipated male cow.

Well I finally finished reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.  Learned quite a bit.  To much to talk about in a single post.

Next book, anybody know a good book that covers either the french revolution of the American revolution?

Well I finally finished reading Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.  Learned quite a bit.  To much to talk about in a single post.

Next book, anybody know a good book that covers either the french revolution of the American revolution?

I’ve been getting books by Soviet Marshalls including Chuikov (who was in command at the battles of Stalingrad and Berlin), Rokosovsky (on overall strategy against the USA), Zhukov (led entire Red Army in WW2), and Colonel Sidorenko who authored the ‘Offensive’ which is he Soviet strategy for victory in a world war using weapons of mass destruction.

I thought to balance these with a western writer, and ‘Rise and Fall of the Third Reich’ by William Shirer seems to fit the bill. I can already tell you I agree with his negative assessment of the Lutheran church, and the fact he was a Protestant himself lends to his credibility. He apparently had nerves of steel staying in Germany reporting negatively about the Nazis until 1940 which is after the war was well underway.

Since I have not read it yet, I have one question. I came across a book from 1945 by a German Jew named Samuel Igra entitled ‘Germany’s National Vice’ which gives intriguing historical perspectives about the homosexual movement in Germany including such events as the purge of the SA and arguing that the Nazi leaders were part of it.

I’ve heard William Shirer had a negative view of homosexuality and wrote that the Nazi leaders were involved in this. Did you read anything to that effect?

For a history of the American revolution, check out the ‘Counter Revolution of 1776’ by Gerald Horne which argues it was fought to preserve slavery as Britain legalised slavery in the 1770’s (& throughout the Empire in 1830) & views the USA as preserving the worst of British colonialism which itself was mellowing with age with its abolitionist Movement spearheading nineteenth century socialist legislation.

The book is a history of slaves in British America in the 1700s concluding with the revolution during which the blacks wholly were loyalists in support of Britain which in fact continued to be the case until the American Civil War.

The prolific author is a member of the CPUSA and the final editor of its journal Political Affairs.

An six part interview which discusses the book which decidedly views the American revolution as evil:

‘Sundown Towns’
By James Loewen

The  author (who also wrote ‘Lies My Teacher Told Me’) at a bookstore in Washington, DC describes this book which argues that beginning about 1890, the majority of incorporated localities (towns, cities, counties, etc) across the entire USA (outside the traditional South) excluded black people for many decades, and many still do to this day:

I’ve heard William Shirer had a negative view of homosexuality and wrote that the Nazi leaders were involved in this. Did you read anything to that effect?

This is a criticism of the book that came up in Wikipedia.  But this is a very minor part of the story.  It has to do with Ernst Rohm.  The point he was trying to make was that Hitler was willing to overlook all kinds of criminal/unethical behavior if it could earn him support.  Shirer lumped in homosexuality with immoral behavior.  He did seem to have a negative opinion of it but its about what you would expect from someone of that generation. 

For a history of the American revolution, check out the ‘Counter Revolution of 1776’ by Gerald Horne which argues it was fought to preserve slavery as Britain legalised slavery in the 1770’s (& throughout the Empire in 1830) & views the USA as preserving the worst of British colonialism which itself was mellowing with age with its abolitionist Movement spearheading nineteenth century socialist legislation.

The thought has crossed my mind.  Based on what I know, and I could be way off on this, I can't seem to find any very good reason to start a war with England over independence.  It's not like England was brutally oppressing us.

The book I'm starting is The American Revolution by Gordon S Wood.  Kind of short.  I'll see how it goes.  It's hard to get an objective history since our schools cover the American Revolution like England was Mordor and the founding fathers are Jesus.

Malazan empire of the fallen

and

somewhere in the discworld series

This is a criticism of the book that came up in Wikipedia.  But this is a very minor part of the story.  It has to do with Ernst Rohm.  The point he was trying to make was that Hitler was willing to overlook all kinds of criminal/unethical behavior if it could earn him support.  Shirer lumped in homosexuality with immoral behavior.  He did seem to have a negative opinion of it but its about what you would expect from someone of that generation.

I actually picked up a 1960 edition recently, and it’s bulky: World War II’s answer to Tolstoy’s War & Peace. I scanned it and didn’t see what I was looking for at a glance. The story of SA leader Ernst Roehm is well known. I had wondered if it had any info on the other leaders.

Samuel Igra’s book has it that when the nineteenth century founder of the German homosexual movement died around the turn of the century, the movement split into two: a Spartan like group and an effeminate group, and the two groups became enemies. According to Igra, Roehm belonged to the effeminate group who thought they were women in men’s bodies whereas Hitler, Hess, etc belonged to the Spartan group. The 1934 suppression of SA leaders was a conflict of one homosexual group against another according to Igra.

The conversations of Rauschning published in 1940 rather support this as well as a book published about 2001 entitled the Hidden Hitler which exhaustively researched evidence that Hitler himself was homosexual.

The reason for my more extensive interest here is the same as with many nonconformist positions which are inconvenient to political correctness. The establishment position seems to want to resist evidence that points in a different direction than what the media consistently touts.

Woody Holton also has a book entitled Forced Founders which complements Gerald Horne’s book. I’ve bought a couple of other of Woody’s books which are inferior to this one.

Gerald Horne himself wrote a continuation of his book into the early nineteenth century entitled Negro Comrades of the Crown showing how black loyalists eagerly assisted the British to burn down the White House circa 1812 - among many other interesting things. Pretty much all of Gerald Horne’s books are good.

I’ve been looking for books about Germany history from a communist perspective and hit the jackpot this week.

‘Racism and Human Survival:
Lessons From Nazi Germany’
By Claude Lightfoot
(1972)
(an African-American communist)

https://ia601201.us.archive.org/18/items/RacismAndHumanSurvival/Racism%20and%20Human%20Survival.pdf

‘Honecker Cross-Examined’
By Erich Honecker
(1992)

Interviews of the final leader of East Germany who built the Berlin Wall and to whom the Stasi answered. He delivers impressive answers to serious questions and accusations.

I also came across a similar set of interviews his wife later gave to a Chilean communist leader. I have to say I was proud of her to read her views - and accordingly think of the American perspective as largely unquestioned rubbish.

Just finished Jasper Jones, by Craig Silvey. Some really intense stuff.

Meh. I would recommend Frankenstein for any English Lit fan. Not the first edition, but the second edition.

i love frankenstein!

Pretty much any field guide/informational book about birds. I've forgotten a lot of my bird knowledge over the winter. My favorite field guide is the fifth edition of National Geographic's
Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

Pretty much any field guide/informational book about birds. I've forgotten a lot of my bird knowledge over the winter. My favorite field guide is the fifth edition of National Geographic's
Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

Possibly you’d find ‘Thunderbirds’ by Mark Hall interesting:

http://www.paraview.com/hall/

https://books.google.com/books?id=hWrBBAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=true

https://www.coasttocoastam.com/amp/show/2006/06/30

The Silmarillion. I haven't read it before. And I'm remembering how much I really enjoy Tolkien's writing. I might just have to read the Hobbit and LotR books again.

The Silmarillion. I haven't read it before. And I'm remembering how much I really enjoy Tolkien's writing. I might just have to read the Hobbit and LotR books again.

Did you read the whole thing? I've read parts of it but not the whole thing.

Quote from: boydster on May 24, 2018, 04:29:56 PM

The Silmarillion. I haven't read it before. And I'm remembering how much I really enjoy Tolkien's writing. I might just have to read the Hobbit and LotR books again.

Did you read the whole thing? I've read parts of it but not the whole thing.

I've only just started it. It's on Kindle for free right now, so I read the forward and the letter that Tolkien wrote to Milton Wadman. That letter was what really intrigued me. You can tell how much he is connected to Middle Earth. I'm looking forward to starting the real story later on.