Donal: Is Occupy Over?
Ramona: Hatred in a Lovely Church
A-man on www.krxa540.com, Wed 805 am PDT/1105 am EDT, Talking Politics
Book of the Month
From the Readers
- Wattree 11 hours ago
- Another Trope 1 day ago
- CVille Dem 1 day ago
- PeraclesPlease 2 days ago
- PeraclesPlease 3 days ago
- PeraclesPlease 4 days ago
- ironboltbruce 4 days ago
- Orion 5 days ago
- bslev 6 days ago
- Another Trope 6 days ago
Creative corner
- Donal 1 day ago
- MrSmith1 4 days ago
- MrSmith1 1 week ago
- tmccarthy0 2 weeks ago
- MrSmith1 2 weeks ago
From the Dagbloggers
- Ramona 22 hours 29 min ago
- Donal 23 hours 35 min ago
- destor23 1 day 20 hours ago
- Donal 2 days 12 hours ago
- Donal 4 days 19 hours ago
- William K. Wolfrum 5 days 1 hour ago
- Ramona 5 days 1 hour ago
- Doctor Cleveland 5 days 10 hours ago
- Genghis 6 days 21 hours ago
- destor23 6 days 23 hours ago
Hits of the Day
Dagbooks: Blowing Smoke
I’ve been reading a terrific new book. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It’s called Blowing Smoke: Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies About the Plot to Euthanize Grandma, Outlaw Christmas, and Turn Junior into a Raging Homosexual, by Dagblog’s very own Michael Wolraich!
I’ve been reading even more than usual since I moved to Indonesia. I suspect it’s because I can’t understand the programs on my television but it also might be because I bought a Kindle before moving overseas and I surely want to get my money’s worth.
In any case, one thing that I dearly miss from my days of living in the United States is my book group. For almost 15 years, I met more or less once a month with an ever-changing group of women to drink wine and discuss books—fiction, nonfiction, short stories, plays, poetry, biographies, books we loved, books we hated, books we couldn’t finish, books we could barely start. It was something I looked forward to each time, regardless of our book selection.
So, why not do the same thing virtually? I think we’ve proven at Dagblog that we certainly don’t need to be in the same room to enjoy intelligent, entertaining conversation. Why not spend some time together deconstructing and discussing books?
Over the next month, I’ll be giving it a try with Blowing Smoke, going chapter by chapter. I’ll get the discussions started by posting what I think are the salient points in each chapter but a book group only works when multiple people chime in to disagree and debate. I hope you’ll join me.
If we’re very, very lucky, maybe the esteemed author will join us as well. Get your copy and start reading!
Coming up Wednesday: Chapter 1 – How Bill O’Reilly Saved Christmas
-
- Orlando's blog
- Add new comment
- 583 reads
In the News
-
Russia lawmakers advance bill on penalties for protesters
By Sergei L. Loiko, Los Angeles Times, May 23, 2012
MOSCOW — Stiff new penalties aimed at opposition protesters were given preliminary approval Tuesday by Russian lawmakers loyal to President Vladimir Putin, the target of mass rallies and demonstrations before his March election victory.
The bill, which opposition parliament members termed draconian and protested by threatening to file out of a legislative session, calls for fines of up to $50,000 and up to 200 hours of community service for organizers of rallies and demonstrations that grow violent or exceed the approved number of participants.
The sanctions were approved on first reading by parliament's lower house, which is controlled by Putin's United Russia party. They mark a return by the Kremlin to a tough stance against critics after concessions during the recent election campaign [...]
Also see:
Russians back Putin, strong leadership
Washington Post, May 22, 2012A Pew survey of 1,000 Russians found that President Vladimir Putin is well-liked by more than 70 percent of citizens, especially older adults.
-
In Cuba, Mystery Shrouds the Fate of an Undersea Internet...
Associated Press, May 21, 2012
HAVANA — It was all sunshine, smiles and celebratory speeches as officials marked the arrival of an undersea fiber-optic cable they promised would end Cuba's Internet isolation and boost web capacity 3,000-fold. Even a retired Fidel Castro had hailed the dawn of a new cyber-age on the island.
More than a year after the February 2011 ceremony on Siboney Beach in eastern Cuba, and 10 months after the system was supposed to have gone online, the government never mentions the cable anymore, and Internet here remains the slowest in the hemisphere. People talk quietly about embezzlement torpedoing the project and the arrest of more than a half-dozen senior telecom officials.
Perhaps most maddening, nobody has explained what happened to the much-ballyhooed $70 million project....
-
Domestic violence is biggest threat to west Africa's...
By Tamasin Ford in Monrovia, Guardian.co.uk, May 22, 2012
Husbands, not strangers or men with guns, are now the biggest threat to women in post-conflict west Africa, according to a report by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) released on Tuesday.
The IRC report, Let Me Not Die Before My Time: Domestic Violence in West Africa, based on data collected over 10 years by the IRC in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ivory Coast, said domestic violence is the "most urgent, pervasive and significant protection issue for women in west Africa" [.....]
-
US Army more selective on recruits, re-enlistments
By Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press, May 22, 2012
WASHINGTON -- Uncle Sam may not want you after all.
In sharp contrast to the peak years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the Army last year took in no recruits with misconduct convictions or drug or alcohol issues, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. And soldiers already serving on active duty now must meet tougher standards to stay on for further tours in uniform.
The Army is also spending hundreds of thousands of dollars less in bonuses to attract recruits or entice soldiers to remain.
It's all part of an effort to slash the size of the active duty Army from about 570,000 at the height of the Iraq war to 490,000 by 2017. The cutbacks began last year, and as of the end of March, the Army was down to less than 558,000 troops.
For a time during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Army lowered its recruiting standards [....]
-
First cargo delivery to the space station by a private...
Nasa's administrator Charles Bolden said: "Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration... The significance of this day cannot be overstated; a private company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for the first time.
…
The carriage of freight will be the first service to be bought in from external suppliers; the transport of astronauts to and from the station will be the second, later this decade.
Read the article at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18154937
Latest Comments
-
in The End of the Jewish...Verified Atheist
-
in Something Happened in...artappraiser
-
in The End of the Jewish...Verified Atheist
-
in The End of the Jewish...Peter Schwartz
-
in The End of the Jewish...Another Trope
-
in The End of the Jewish...artappraiser
-
in Something Happened in...Another Trope
-
in Fair Weather Dems will be...Peter Schwartz
-
in The End of the Jewish...Peter Schwartz
-
in Is the Occupy Movement...SleepinJeezus
-
in Hatred in a Lovely Church...Verified Atheist
-
in Hatred in a Lovely Church...Verified Atheist
-
in Canada's Got Talent...PeraclesPlease
-
in First cargo delivery to...Verified Atheist
-
in Fair Weather Dems will be...Peter Schwartz
Thanks a lot for doing this, O. I'm honored of course, but I'm also intrigued to see what people have to say. What most people have to say, anyway, I mean the ones who recognize my true genius.
Oh, ok, so you're suggesting we focus on the critical feedback, then?
I'm not going to tell readers how to respond to my book. I'll just ban the ones who criticize it.
Those who criticize your book must hate (persecute) you, which will entitle you to hate them? Ah, the oppressed Genghises of the world must join together to protect their Genghisness!
I couldn't have said it better myself. In light of your obvious intelligence and insight, I hereby anoint you an honorary Genghis. Congratulations.
Oooh fun! I'm about halfway through my copy, but I've been leaving little sticky notes behind so i could remember my reactions. I was thinking of writing up commentary myself, but I'll never get around to doing that.... Comment on your notes, however, I can quite likely manage! PS Hi O!
Great idea. Now to find a copy in the Dallas area.
It should be at any large B&N or Borders. At B&N, it will be in the sociology section.
Interesting -- do you know why they chose sociology?
(As opposed to "current events" or "politics," that is.)
Hello? Sociology is for.... Social-ISMS.
Jeez.
You're not thinking so clearly, Paige. You probably need pie.
*pause*
*SMACK DADDY!*
Oh yeah, unh huh. Who got smacked? Paige did. Damn right.
Hi quinn!
Dunno. There is sociology (and socialism, thanks Quinn) in the book. B&N also classifies similar books like What's the Matter with Kansas under sociology. But politics & current events would ahve been a much more appropriate classification. I suspect that the folks at B&N are probably Anti-Genghites.
You can probably get ahold of it through one of these options -- and if you don't like using the internets or the mega-chains, any bookstore will likely be happy to special-order it for you!
http://dagblog.com/blowing-smoke/buy
Great idea, looking forward to this. I had forgotten before Blowing Smoke just how big a deal the War on Christmas was.
Okay...you got me. I'll have to mail order it next week, but count me in. Perhaps some "genius" could create a dialog box or pull down menu on the front page of Dagblog that goes directly to the discussion panel with past chapters to review so we don't have to pick, poke and hope are way through the clutter.
By the way, have you heard about that new electronic book like the Kindle call The Kno? I'm waiting for that one. Here's the url :
http://www.kno.com/the-kno.html
Check out the links on the left -- under "Old But Good" > "Series" > "Dagbooks." There's still a bit of scrolling, but at least it's one-click.
I'm sure that the powers that be, whomever they may be, will arrange for an easy-to-find link.
Great idea!
And Orlando > Oprah.
Okay, I'm in. Just picked up my copy yesterday from WalMart, where I ordered it online and picked up in store so I could march through RightWingLand with it in the child's seat of my basket. So I did that, and if anybody noticed they were doing a good job of pretending otherwise.
I thought about standing in the middle of the aisle and reading aloud from it, but my husband was with me and he nixed that one right off. (He wears disguises and slinks around so no one will recognize him or talk to him.)I thought the buzzer would buzz when I left the store but even that was silent. My God, with that blazing cover how could anyone not notice??
But I'm reading the chapter on O'Reilly and Christmas, so I'll be ready on Wednesday for anything you have to throw out there, Orlando. (I fell asleep reading it last night, that's how comfortable I am with it.)
Here's a passage from the book to prove that I'm on the up-and-up here and not just pretending I bought it:
My apologies to both Genghis and Orlando for jumping the gun here, but I LOVED that paragraph. That guy Wolraich writes pretty good.
I can't wait for the sequel, Smoking Blow.
I'm in :) And I'm ahead of the class it seems since I'm about midway through the book. Looking forward to the discussion... and the pie fights.
I think I've found the perfect solution for many many people on my Christmas list.
I'm excited that so many people are interested in the discussion! It sort of sucks that I'm mostly sleeping while the comments are coming fast and furious, but it makes waking up fun--I always have something to look forward to!!