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1 2015 9
1.1 January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Welcome to LiveJournal (2015-01-14 00:00) - private . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
South African Apartheid Prison Guard Released. (2015-01-31 17:12) - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
"On His Own Terms A Life of Nelson Rockefeller", by Richard Norton Smith (2014, Random House.)
(2015-01-31 18:02) - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.2 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
A Text on "Passion of the Possible" I Will Try to Read. (2015-02-07 11:11) - Serious - public . . . . . . 16
(A HUMANISTIC) "HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU!" (2015-02-14 06:27) - joyous - public . . . . . . 19
A Great and Scholarly Life, And A Bio Published While S ll Here on this Earth. (2015-02-14 07:10) -
seriozni - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Another "Old" Book from the Nine es as Re - published from the Six es. (2015-02-20 13:09) - searching,
looking - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.3 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
"CSR" Not Mul - media, at Least Not Yet. (2015-03-02 04:09) - Nauseated - public . . . . . . . . . 24
An Authorita ve Word Or Two about Hezbollah. (2015-03-04 07:25) - not humorous - public . . . . . 27
Marxism Without Fail Biography of Mao Ze dong. (2015-03-08 09:37) - cynical - public . . . . . . . 30
Fidelio Arts, ... Gi ed Playing at a Concert Hall Near You. (2015-03-19 10:40) - upli ing - public . . 32
Would You Like to Study Numbers? Ans.: "Not Really". (2015-03-31 03:57) - ... of solitude. - public . 33
1.4 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Masters Golf Tournament A Great Game Contest to Follow this Year. (2015-04-09 06:59) - elevated
- public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Book Review - Text by Elio Fra aroli, M.D. (2015-04-11 14:32) - adverse circumstances - public . . . . 36
Russia, Ukraine and the West: Is Confronta on Inevitable? (2015-04-13 06:46) - undecided, anxious -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Another Talk on Russia Confronta on with the West ... . (2015-04-19 07:11) - public . . . . . . . . . 39
Bio dHonor de Balzac par Gonzague Saint Bris (2011.) (2015-04-26 10:23) - rel - public . . . . . . 40
1.5 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Not A Comic Book Nor Cookbook Crisis Nor Crises What to Do? (2015-05-02 04:55) - "regular" - public 43
3
 Help Nepal (among other places). (2015-05-02 05:58) - sorrowful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
A er Hearing More News about Israel. (2015-05-05 22:32) - hopeful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Yo, Yo, Yo! (2015-05-14 05:51) - irate - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
1.6 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
(2015-06-04 20:10) - angry, red - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Catch this Rock Band above All Wherever You Might Find Their Playing. (2015-06-06 06:10) - elevated -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Far from me to speak much of it. (2015-06-14 10:42) - elevated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
LOOK AT THIS ... . (2015-06-22 03:05) - indierent - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
1.7 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
On the Eve of Independence Day - 2015 A Very High - impact Film Produc on and Mixed in Portrayal
(2015-07-02 03:34) - An cipatory - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Some Real Music from America for July 4, 2015 (2015-07-02 04:20) - bien elv - public . . . . . . . 59
GOLF MY WAY, by Jack Nicklaus (2015-07-17 04:03) - elevated, an cipa ng - public . . . . . . . . . . 60
Belated Book Review Eastern Europe. (2015-07-30 18:58) - somber - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Some News about How Sleepy We Allow Ourselves "To Be". (2015-07-31 01:19) - frazzled? - public . 64
1.8 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Cybersecurity. (2015-08-09 22:49) - sporty - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Remember again : Hiroshima Was the First. (2015-08-11 04:36) - of the world - public . . . . . . . . 68
Belated Book Review Pedaling Geopoli cs Once Again. (2015-08-15 05:04) - retro - public . . . . . 69
Belated Book Review "The Cruel Sea" (Nicolas Monserrat, 1951, Knopf Publishers) Copy here.
(2015-08-31 02:53) - grieving, sorrowful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
1.9 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2004 In a town in North Osse a - A Horrendous Act. (2015-09-02 04:50) - anxious, angry - public . . 73
Never Again. (2015-09-14 17:37) - deant - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
China State Visit - September 2015. (2015-09-22 22:14) - nonplussed - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
1.10 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Like Hannibal ? Maybe "would like to be, ... ", or "wannabee". (2015-10-11 10:25) - op mis c - public 79
Khodorkovsky Communica ons Center Mikhail Khodorkovsky (2015-10-14 05:13) - Op mis c, elevated
- public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The Steamroller Dont Try Nor "Do" This at Home. (2015-10-21 02:04) - Op mis c / cau oned - public 82
1.11 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Sports Books - An Example Here of a Really Good Text in That Genre. (2015-11-06 02:03) - upbeat -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
An Actual Trial in a Crucible. (2015-11-13 02:59) - ... of concern - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
... S ll Rockin u2. (2015-11-23 03:22) - great - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
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 You Have to Listen Here to This Music from 1920s - 1930s by Maurice Ravel (2015-11-29 11:27) -
elevated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
1.12 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
De prfrence en la langue natale pour mieux comprendre le sujet Georges - Jacques Danton
(2015-12-06 12:44) - elevated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
To Lay [Me] Down - Viktor Frankl (belated), 1905 - 1997. (2015-12-27 02:49) - analy k - public . . . . 94

2 2016 97
2.1 January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
THIS TIME : Less about Haldeman and Erlichman, ... . (2016-01-02 03:06) - subdued, bluesy - public . 99
JONAS SALK : "A LIFE", by Charlo e De Croes Jacobs (2016-01-04 04:00) - unse led - public . . . . . 101
Great INTERNET media programming. (2016-01-06 07:55) - An cipa ng - public . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
KILLING REAGAN, THE BOOK. (2016-01-11 02:08) - unse led - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
A MOST ADMIRED WRITER, AND FOR WHOM A LONG, TOO LONG OVERDUE BOOK REVIEW.
(2016-01-17 22:38) - unse led - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
If You Have Been on this Ground Remember Where You Stand in Images and in Your Spirit.
(2016-01-30 02:11) - sullen, pensive - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
2.2 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
"CAVEAT LECTOR" (2016-02-04 16:11) - hopeful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
This I saw. (2016-02-07 05:58) - an cipa ng - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Again The Greatly Researched and Beau ful Sounds of Y.J. Wang : Bravissimo no less.
(2016-02-27 06:44) - soulful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
2.3 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
First Lady in Many Things If Not All Things, and for a Long Time. (2016-03-08 15:34) - murky, dark - public 115
Please consider BBBEFORE FILING! (2016-03-16 05:57) - op mis c - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Inroads to Demo Nomina on and General Elec on It Might at Least Par ally Be Sanders, So ... .
(2016-03-28 01:33) - skep cal - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
2.4 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
"Mao and the Chinese Revolu on" - Biographical Text. In Scriptum Diversus Disjunctus Chirographae.
(2016-04-09 11:30) - tenta ve - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Not Just in Passing (New Jimmy Carter Autobiography.) (2016-04-10 14:18) - Prolix - public . . . . . . 124
One does NOT Really Either Have to Read Nor Review this Twice ... . (2016-04-29 06:37) - Lethargic -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Michael V. Hayden, "Hayden", and His 2015 Text. (2016-04-29 07:04) - an cipatory - public . . . . . . 128
2.5 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
THE MAN WHO MADE "US" LIKEABLE FOR ONCE AT LEAST TO EVERYBODY. (2016-05-15 07:11) - mixed -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
DEATH OF HEZBOLLAH LEADER (ISLAMIC PARTY OF GOD). THIS IS SAD. (2016-05-17 03:26) - un - certain -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
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 Degenerates (?) or Amateurs? (2016-05-29 04:13) - hungry - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
2.6 June . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
An Historical Record these Days without Revisionism. (2016-06-12 04:58) - an cipatory - public . . . 136
While Doing My Best to Fail Yet Another Personality Test ... (and yes, I failed it) Here It Is.
(2016-06-12 05:11) - fearful, frightened - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
2.7 July . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
... and You Will Call this Home As Well. (2016-07-03 22:18) - anxious - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Not Just "Surface" Issues. (2016-07-09 21:57) - okay - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
"RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS" AND OTHER CONCEPTS THAT COME WITH ECONOMICS FAMILIARITY.
(2016-07-23 08:53) - elevated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
"Road and Track" from Japan. Toyota Challenges in Racing. (2016-07-27 04:05) - talka ve - public . . 145
2.8 August . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
BOOK BY MICHAEL D. SPENCE - TO READ! (2016-08-03 16:59) - slight pessimism - public . . . . . . . . 147
Ikiru - "To Live" - Akira Kurosawa (1952.) (2016-08-26 08:55) - okay - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Looking at Panmunjom. (2016-08-28 06:33) - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
2.9 September . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
ANOTHER EXCELLENT READ BELATED BOOK REVIEW. (2016-09-11 08:23) - anxious, giddy - public . . 153
2.10 October . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
HOMME DU "REALPOLITIK" DE LANCIEN ORDRE LUI ET SES COPAINS DU LEGS GIGANTESQUE.
(2016-10-04 04:55) - down, the blues - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
SAINT PAULS IN LONDON, U.K., DID NOT JUST CHIME THE HOURS : SIR NEVILLE MARRINER (D. 2016)
(2016-10-04 05:47) - sorrowful - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
H. Clinton and T. Kaine Project (No ceably). Sorry, You Can Keep the Bhagavad Gita. (2016-10-05 21:28)
- neglected - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
No "Copy Watch" here P.R.C. Makes an Eort Again to Address Human Rights. (2016-10-05 22:27) -
queezy - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
" ... faut rigoler maintenant" Yes, They All Spoke French! But Say It, Furthermore, in English
(2016-10-20 03:00) - "Eleva on!" - elevated :{)} - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
AT LEAST "SHES NOT THE GRATEFUL DEAD." But, but, but, ... You Promised!!! (2016-10-22 01:55) -
overheated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT AL Q AEDA READ ON HERE (SEE AUTHOR AND BOOK DESCRIBED
BELOW). (2016-10-29 11:24) - youre intrepid - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
2.11 November . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
AT HOME. A COMPARISON AND CONTRASTING WITHOUT ROCK - N - ROLL. CHINA BOOK BY EDWARD
TSE. (2016-11-23 23:40) - NERVOUS. - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
WOULD THIS LADY LIE TO YOU? (2016-11-23 23:48) - BLUESY - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
2.12 December . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
CAN YOU READ THE NEWS TO - DAY? (TALES OF POLITICS, BLIGHT, ... , AND HOPE AS WELL.)
(2016-12-08 03:05) - restless - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
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 BOOKS TO READ OR AT LEAST TO "CHECK OUT" THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. (2016-12-08 03:25) - readiness -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
A WAY TO GO. CONTRARIAN VIEWS IN A STOCK MARKET BOOM. (2016-12-11 18:50) - great - public 178
Ankara, Zurich, Berlin This Week Horrendous. (2016-12-21 05:36) - apprehensive, cau ous - public . 180

3 2017 183
3.1 January . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
From Aristophanes to Lord Acton and Back. Niall Fergusons Recent Biography of H. Kissinger.
(2017-01-08 13:29) - serious, reverent - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
3.2 February . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
WHAT MIGHT THIS ACTUALY BE? (2017-02-05 15:11) - red - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
No Crisis Nor Crises Just the Usual "Day to Day". (2017-02-12 11:19) - hopeful, an cipatory - public . 191
Loin des Timbres du Pacique, Mais A en on Aussi aux Tuileries. (2017-02-18 11:22) - percep ble -
public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Open to One and All Alike. (2017-02-18 19:34) - ... against the red {(}coats{)} - public . . . . . . . . . 196
3.3 March . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Not in Transla on ... . WHY? EXPLAINING THE HOLOCAUST, by Peter Hayes.
(2017-03-05 03:42) - reec ve - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
"SIL VOUS PLAIT, PAS DE PHOTOS" (2017-03-07 06:46) - varied - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Hillary Clinton as a Weak President, "Excuse Me". (2017-03-25 10:18) - incredulous - public . . . . . 202
"DIVE IN" Carefully with this Text : Japanese Mystery Novel Book Review. RINGU. (2017-03-30 16:14)
- an cipatory - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
3.4 April . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Tom Rob Smith Russian Police Novel in English (2010, ... ) (2017-04-23 20:07) - Ji ery - public . . . 207
Right Under Your Nose Lenin, First, and then His "Pupil", Josef Stalin : LENINS BRAIN, a book.
(2017-04-30 02:22) - ji ery - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
In All Fairness Support the President : Chief Execu ve Trump and His First Hundred Days.
(2017-04-30 17:36) - facilitated - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
3.5 May . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Book by John A. Farrell Richard Nixon. (2017-05-07 15:16) - anxious - public . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

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1. 2015

9
1.1 January

10
Welcome to LiveJournal (2015-01-14 00:00) - private

11
South African Apartheid Prison Guard Released. (2015-01-31 17:12) - public

[1]CLICK HERE FOR TIME LINE SOUTH AFRICA. CLICK HERE FOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLE [2]ON EUGENE DE KOCK. WAS
LISTENING TO A LOCAL NEWS STATION WITHIN THE PAST FEW DAYS AND NEWS OF MR. DE KOCKS RELEASE FROM
DETENTION CAME OVER THE AIRWAVES. IT IS POSSIBLE THE COURT THAT HAS RELEASED HIM IS IN EFFORTS AT
ATTEMPTING TO FINALLY PUT THE VESTIGES OF APARTHEID TO REST EVEN AFTER THE PASSING OF NELSON MANDELA.
THE RULING COURT INTHIS CASE MIGHT IN FACT BE OPENING SOME OLD SOCIETAL WOUNDS IN SOUTH AFRICA AND
IN PLACES WHERE PEOPLE KNOW OF THE APARTHEID THERE AND WHAT WENT ON UP TO THE END OF THE REIGN
OF DE KLERK AND THE OFFICIAL DISMANTLING OF WHITE RULE. PERHAPS THERE IS NO PRACTICAL NOR JUDICIAL
REASON WHY DE KOCK SHOULD REMAIN IN DETENTION, THOUGH THIS HAS NOT REALLY BEEN DISCUSSED IN THE
POPULAR PRESS AND IT NEEDS TO BE.

1. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14094918
2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/us-safrica-apartheid-idUSKBN0L30H520150130

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"On His Own Terms A Life of Nelson Rockefeller", by Richard Norton Smith (2014, Random House.)
(2015-01-31 18:02) - public

This text is a book about a very public gure who was against the grain all his life, probably from shortly a er he was
born in March 1906 un l his passing in the late 1970s. This child as related to a very well - to - do grandfather and
father, suered dyslexia as an inherent weight to learning and lifes experiences and who overcame many if not all the
traits of such a thing through his own eorts and seeking out and surrounding himself as well with very bright people,
and this on his mothers advice. Nelson Rockefeller by this measure and by others was a born leader; he walked to the
Lincoln School in New York and a ended Dartmouth College (legacy of Daniel Webster, mind you) where many of his
student friends and associates even had access to Cadillac cars and he went without. He traveled to Europe, specically
to France, where his family had helped to restore castles and grounds, notable among those was the Napoleonic
property at Fontainbleau. He traveled to South America where, upon determining what great socio - economic issues
the place had and the great poten al for growth and economic success for every countryman there, especially in
the area of the isthmus of Panama; he returned extolling the people and with sugges ons for investment in the area
besides that for petroleum as had been the principal ac vity in places there for some me. Nelson Rockefeller loved art
of all kinds, from the most kitschy to the most elegant and sophis cated, and in following policy and poli cal interests
out of college, he engaged various philanthropic strategies to bring art to everyone through museums, galleries and
so on. He very responsibly headed up the Rockefeller Center property in New York for years and in an era in which life
for many was about oil prots, he had his share of those, and at the same me demonstrated a talent for real estate
and property management. This is true not just for Rockefeller Center, but for other New York proper es that included
the old RCA Building, C.B.S. Television headquarters, the Museum of Modern Art, Radio City Music Hall, Museum of
Natural History, and these just to begin with at the me. Over the years, and through his adventures in the business
and other administra ve bureaucracies, he kept alive and cul vated his passion for La n America. Subsequent to
the passing of his father, he took an extended tour of South American in 1939 to return to the U.S. in forming the
Venezuelan Basic Economy Corpora on. In 1940, he was appointed to a federal commi ee overseeing Inter - American
aairs as located in the U.S. Commerce Department, and the list of his ac vi es from his start in real estate and the U.S.
federal administra on over the years began its ocial litany. Rockefeller saw good rela ons and rapport with La n
America as a way to thwart the interests for the WWII axis powers, namely those of the Third Reich. He engaged in
various media campaigns to this eect and began ocially again forming his re nue of gi ed and intelligent advisers,
designers, architects, ar sts, experts and consultants that he kept in train for the dura on. He was present at the
planning and dra ing of the U.N. and its charter and became subject to this and his already outstanding reputa on in
New York and in federal bureaus to superintend many proper es in New York and surrounding areas, again, a place at
the me that housed maybe 1 / 9 of the American popula on. Almost at the same me, he served on a La n America
advisory board in Washington, D.C., with access to the president (Truman at the me), and became an ocial cold
war adviser to president Eisenhower along with ge ng involved in the federal budget process in the mid - 1950s. He
became undersecretary of H.E.W. that housed maybe ten or more federal bureaus. Married to Mary Todhunter Clark,
and with children, he handled family life and his career with the quali es of a likeable extrovert and the narra ve
of Nelson and Tod at this point in the text is one of knowing, or at least mee ng and socializing with everyone who
was anyone at the me. Rockefeller believed in government reform, having learned of the federal budget process
and his specic focus when put to the task was funding for defense and its need for eciencies and economies. He
ran in the 1958 elec on for the governor of New York and won in adequately addressing elec on themes as would a
celebrity from Washington - issues of race, administra ve reform, crime, old par san poli cs; and all as an outsider
the to Democrat Harriman who might have led in the polls up to elec on me. Later on, there was a re at the
house, he divorced and could not muster the delegate votes for addi onal federal elec on bids (presiden al), though
he was successful in his long - term eorts to gain funding to addi onally build up New York, even in Albany. He re
- married Happy Murphy in 1962 and honeymooned in South America. He suered challenges from New York City
Mayor Lindsay, war protestors, prison rioters, unions, Richard Nixon (1968), eects of racist and poli cal radicalism,
the need for more housing and more jobs in his home state, state and federal budgetary woes, economic and foreign
policy theatrics and dilemmas, New York Citys bankruptcy under Mayor Koch, and all to become Gerald Fords Vice
President during the mid - 1970s. In the elder years, he con nued his art collec ng and vaca oning to "Pocan co"
13
and to some other Rockefeller spots in New England that were later sold preceding his passing in January 1979. This
book was a great read, like a novel, and one must thank Mr. Norton Smith for his exhaus ve searches in producing
this portrayal of someone everyone wanted to meet at the me and whose legacy itself is in the air in places.

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1.2 February

15
A Text on "Passion of the Possible" I Will Try to Read. (2015-02-07 11:11) - Serious - public

Music: Sibelius

THE CONFICT OF INTERPRETATIONS, by Paul Ricoeur (1974.) Hermeneu cal approaches to philosophical inquiry
and inves ga on consis ng of structuralism, psychoanalysis, phenomenology and religion in this text by Ricoeur
who coined this rela onship present an analysis above all that depends upon linguis cs, then phenomenology
and then psychoanalysis and faith. What integrates these principal ideas is Ricoeurs ques on or interpreta on of
hermeneu cs his philosophy of language and new and renewed interest in language - based approaches to the
social and human sciences : A Man is language type approach in view of an all is wri ng approach that came
later. Ricoeur believed language to be a societal ins tu on and social occurrence that in places like the U.S. was
taken to be a machina on and in Europe was seen mostly as an act or expression; a bringing to speech
of poetry and prose. This parallelism between mechanists and spiritualists had its excep ons, for instance, in
Germany where dierent kinds and levels of analysis were becoming more acceptable and phenomenology in other,
dierent states was becoming more accepted. Ricoeur a empted to bridge many dierent sets of principles in
his approach to philosophy by illustra ng a rela on between the speech act and logic using language. Ricoeur
preferred using language that is understandable to all versus technical terms around strictly phenomenological
discussion, and accomplished this using his own versions of parallelism and metaphors among other things. This
use of language invites a metaphysical and descrip ve approach to the ques on of philosophical inquiry, though
Ricoeur denied ordinary metaphysics in the using primarily structuralism and its various interests of which the axiom
structure, word, event, and the like. This denial of metaphysics and use of linguis c structuralism invite themselves
a phenomenological focus, according to Ricoeur, on language on the one hand and on objec vist principles on
the other as a counter focus to structuralism in its basic, founda onal opera ons. I n 1974, the language of
phenomenology nonetheless tended toward the scien c language of objec vism is as idealized in a surrounding
of the laws of science, albeit human, and nature. Though due to language having its limits taken elementally or as
an en rety and as a closed system, Ricoeur again denied that closure of a system involving society, history, culture,
and above all humans is possible. This is a reduc onist proposi on that is apparently typical in his wri ng and at
the same me the subject as a concept is greatly reduced in his wri ng insofar as only the object of speaking has
priority in language while separa ng body from soul in the spoken language as idealized in an internal system.
The challenge brought on by this in fact, and as conrmed by various others, implies dialec cal necessity in examining
such things, and at the exclusion of the importance of the subject, a crea ve speaker or poet, ar st, . Asser ng the
value of the subject is for another analysis altogether that invites in turn the use of existen al ontology to address
the meaning and other principles of speech and language based not upon what can be created or discovered but
with what is obvious through phenomenological / existen al examina on. The linguis cs of Ricoeur, in its structure
and func on, abandons the purely scien c approach and its need for systemic closure. Ricoeur proposed that
language and linguis c ques ons are only addressed by modern philosophical methods and crea on and discovery
of new things about language. In short, one arrives at things in philosophy by increments and through dierent
approxima ons, and this above all represents in Ricoeurs dialec c a conserva sm to his method or methods as
they address dierent levels of language including the purely objec ve semio cs most linguists know well and that
includes its various limita ons while at the same me encompassing its universali es of expression, declara ons and
so on. By this, the dialec c that promotes the object within an en rely linguis c system or framework as Ricoeur
presents this, comprises a danger given the interpreta on on various limita ons, scripts and determinism related to
these. Internally, and as a given, any simple or normal speaker has the ability to learn and use new terms and new,
material structures: This the mystery of Ricoeurs structuralism based on the object and internal processes to the
individual involved in the preceding. All to confuse even more is a focus on the dialec c where words are ac ons
and systemic as well and with appurtenant taxonomy and morphology. Further, Ricoeur presents that the simple
and normal is not always obvious given the various interpreta ons of language circumscribed by transparency or
opacity as the case might be. Words are symbols and Ricoeur examines linguis c signicance and metaphorical
hierarchy in his inquiry and by deni on this invites dialec cal interpreta on directly and indirectly a simple text
always has metaphorical or allegorical signicance in its interpreta ons and analogs and as such Ricoeur illustrates
16
this model alone as resolving the theological and religious character of tradi onal hermeneu cs. In this process
Ricoeur admits the radically dangerous involvement of symbolism with language and his deep concern for working
out the methods of examina on and (analogous) meaning. Also by this, Ricoeur a empts to cover inten ons and
purposes associated with meaning in looking at language hierarchy and textual and experien al symbolism. This
again calls for Ricoeur to propose an en re taxonomy of meaning and a kind of mythology ascribed to his methods
of looking at language, again in its symbolism, metaphors and determinism. Psychologically approaching Ricoeurs
method of inquiry invites elementary wri en inves ga on and examina on, and with respect to this, therapy in
the Freudian sense is interpreted as a verbal process only in which the object of analysis is the human [subject]
mindset in which scripts and like texts of the self are apparent. The text here allows an examina on as well of
these in their contexts, direct and indirect, evident, and hidden. Ricoeur considered psychology and dialec cs a
founda on for a philosophy of suspicion and a response to a direct interroga on of the human subject in its cogent
form. Ricoeur believed an applica on of Freudian analysis allowed for this as subconscious ac vity and its hidden
symbols call for archeological eorts of the analyst. Again this invites the teleological dialec cs of Hegel and analysis
of Freud that repeat in Ricoeurs wri ng as well as his themes of the conscious and unconscious and of suspicion
that is visceral and in depth. When, but in turn, suspicion becomes part of phenomenology, the scien c approach
to philosophy is disrupted and must transcend itself in the way it mirrors its surroundings and environment: A
further, dangerously radical change of the iconoclas c, sinister nature provoking adversi es to phenomenology as
it is known incites again in turn an implied examina on of belief within the framework and background of religious
belief. Philosophical examina on in the modern world espouses ra onalizing the myths of this. Once belief is
subject, as in the above, to radical change, Ricoeur indicates it cannot survive without dispelling its myths in view
of a cri cal analy cal character, and in view of the loss and perhaps even forge ng of the myths of belief and
their pretensions in place of a ra onality of symbols. The dispelling of myths as seen by Ricoeur eases a burden
or comprises a dialec c recovery in what concerns the sacred. By this, he proposes dialec cs have greater forces
than Freudian analysis: Teleology is indeed more worrisome than archeology in a radicaliza on of the myths
of belief and this is a process, interminable and without closure. He applies these principles to both language and
culture in view again of the radical nature of his ideas examining language and then faith or belief and his associated
removal of metaphysics from the philosophical terrain in a kind of new phenomenology. This is an example of
radical philosophical examina on of faith and somehow linking it to dialec cs is a case of phenomenology to directly
dispel theological ideas and belief using in turn a primi ve model. As such, the meaning of this is debated again as
having a dangerous, radical symbolism or pure and prac cal unacceptable inuence, and in expression against the
good. This contrived clash of principles, be they old or new, symbolic or literal, are interpreted by Ricoeur as be er
approxima ng of reality and the meaning and symbolism of language than theology that remains primi ve, aloof,
distant from these cri cal, ra onal expressions : By this the myths of belief are primordially, and in a dangerous
manner, nega vely and so forth, regarded and cri qued with an open door to scien c phenomena that again
radically subsumes theology. Ricoeur does this apparently without symbolism nor his radically cri cal character
engaging in self referen al heuris cs. In this way, Ricoeur forces the issue of dialec c interpreta on in provoking a
fallen image of things; and then secondly a radical acceptance through ra onality of suspicion over belief. As such,
this progression has applica on to the development of parent to child rela onships. Ricoeur makes the a empt
thereby to dispel the myth of the tradi onal paternally based family and society as one of punishment, consola on,
master and slave in determina ve fashion and in which the punished and the slave rebel, and if successful, then
and thereby assume the roles of the parent : As much Ricoeur proposed that faith and belief are and were part and
parcel of deathly, ghastly, ignorant and immature, arrogant, narcissis c and other ideas, and the dialec c calls for
the abatement of these. In this way further, Ricoeur disrupted the basic principles of belief and its background as
limited through its impera ve(s) upon construc ve hopes for the future. The need for faith is a central and important
idea and principle of belief and is an aside for the philosophical model of Ricoeur while there is a need for hope for
the future: This invites addi onal dilemmas that are set aside again by Ricoeur in his ndings against the individual
and favoring the overriding value of a sociological and group approach he has in rejec ng absolutes, myths, faith
(again), in what he has called and is for him an ethical view. Admi edly for Ricoeur, and despite its hopes, the
future is fraught with danger, hazards, dilemmas and other problems, some possibly mortal, and belief itself is an
interpreta on of [Ricoeurs] approach to existen alism and its rela on to freedom and conformity. In this way yet
17
again the future is a teleological response to the present and towards, or despite, mortality. In fact for Ricoeur the
future has precedence over current mes, with its possibili es for freedom and hope, crea on, and faith itself overall
that plays only a small role, or no role at all, in the human scien c and progressive, mul symbolic, teleological
character of things in view of hassles of the day and other dangers, including grave and mortal dangers. These are
answered by hope, cultural values, the triumph of ethics and other redeeming successes. These principles, not unlike
the philosophy of Hegel addressing a variety of experiences, represent Ricoeurs impera ve in the conscious realm
and have a role in opening things up in human experience that one would otherwise have closed. For many, this is
the prophecy of Ricoeur as well. For Ricoeur, history and culture interpreted through dialec cs have an immovable
direc on and course, and legacy. He also in his wri ng searches for conclusive language and a nal word for his
open system, full of possibili es and secrets, discon nui es, disrup ons, and dangers and their consequences; and
even with a small place for future hope in again a world of scarcity and hierarchical society with its ups and downs. In
this greatly dour view of the human endeavor, intellect, culture and society and so on, Ricoeur proposed at last that
future hope engendered at least some faith for all. Maybe again despite refuta ons by Ricoeur and his colleagues
given a determina ve meaninglessness at the same me as a secretly admissible [physical] metaphysics, one might
nonetheless perceive a theology of history in this that holds the door open to renewed interpreta ons of society and
its careful, fas dious, searching, reasoned and dialec cal course through me. This in all its pre chiseled opera ons
in which one might s ll nd hope and possibility.

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(A HUMANISTIC) "HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO YOU!" (2015-02-14 06:27) - joyous - public

Music: chopin nocturnes

19
A Great and Scholarly Life, And A Bio Published While S ll Here on this Earth. (2015-02-14 07:10) - seriozni -
public

Music: Tchaikovsky - "The Seasons"

VIXI - Memoirs of a Non - Belonger, by Richard Pipes (2003, Yale University Press.)
While a good number of them begin with an Anon: On the subject of current U.S. / Russian rela ons and vice
versa, especially given events in Southern Russia and Ukraine and the se lement that took place within the past
few days as mediated by the German chancellor and including France and U.K., this text is excellent background for
in depth details as to the logic of communism, its rulers in the seventy or so year experiment with Marxism
Leninism in Eastern Europe, and the logic of the current polity there as well. In this rela vely short text, Dr. Richard
Pipes, orients many of these things for the reader, and you must be more than just curious to pick up this book
as the details as given are quite high impact and aect overall any percep on of soviet and post soviet poli cs
and administra on, domes c and across borders, and the legacy of people like the Russian reformers of the 1990s
(post 1989 91.) There is as well a very sa sfactory discussion of liberalisms as opposed to conserva visms within
the framework of Marxism Leninism and its role in various soviet and post soviet regimes over the years, and its
eect upon administra ve climes everywhere within the framework of what one might know in the U.S. s ll to be a
form of socialism or biased liberalism yet remaining in the forefront of even democra c and enlightened Russians
at present. The text goes into some detail to illustrate the cultural and other trends that made for the rise of Lenin
and his, in fact, opportunism and associated revolu onary associa ons that led to the seizure of control by the
Bolsheviks in Russia (1917) and their consolida on of territories in the Civil War there through to the early 1920s.
The communist administra on rst subver ng and then supplan ng the royals in Russia at the me was able to do
so primarily due to the overall separa ons between even informa on channels and things like the military chain
of command in urban centers like Saint Petersburg and the countryside why this was is not discussed but might
have had something to do with the status of the Czars regime at the me and the way it presented opportuni es
for the Bolsheviks rst, again, to provoke and cause unrest and resentment of the regime in the ci es and in the
Russian capitol. This story calls for detailed reading here and in one or two of Pipes other texts on the specics of
the revolu on, the old regime and those of the Bolsheviks themselves. It is possible, again given the sociological
training of many academics at university history departments today, and these are not revisionists in their books,
ar cles and various accounts as the view of history itself in places like Eastern Europe as our teachers know this one
is most legi mate, the poli cal climate to day in Russia has ideological founda ons that date to the Middle Ages
and this Pipes does allow for given his own, very detailed, dedicated, deliberate and very detailed studies of Russian
archives everywhere for longer than most of us have readers have been aware of Russia, much less yet born when
he began his searches. In reading as well this deeply personal, and brief, account of ones life as an observer of the
Kremlin and its satellites, and the path of Prof. Pipes into that profession leaves no doubt as to the ul mate eorts
of this one person among colleagues who had a view not just of the path of history, but the way in which it needed
to be recorded and taught leaves li le doubt about the self directed character of a person whose deep convic ons,
reasonable in nature against the reach and scope, and power of tyranny and totalitarianisms, their authen city and
extremely valuable contribu on even to the scien c community that imposed an end to the wanton and wasteful
(among other humanly destruc ve things) experiment in Eastern Europe that began with the a empts to assassinate
the Czars in the late 1800s and ended in the late 1980s early 1990s. This reasoning and illustra on is quite
compacted in this text and a reading of Dr. Pipes other books is therefore compulsory here, and then maybe go
through certain sec ons of this text at least twice. An excellent read overall, and without the drama and poli cally
sycophan c prose that characterized some, including an admirable paucity of any sentence structure with the rst
person singular. One is able to go on and on about such a book, even in some illustra on of why the tle and its
wording? and so on. This is an unusually very deep personal account that is pivotal to read for anyone interested in
medieval, renaissance Russia, or Russia in any age including the post modern age, and it helps to be a li le familiar
with the language as well here. Bravissimo.

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Another "Old" Book from the Nine es as Re - published from the Six es. (2015-02-20 13:09) - searching, looking
- public

Music: Copeland

Eichmann in Jerusalem, by Hanna Arendt (Penguin Books, 1994) It is cap va ng in an of itself there is every so o en a
renewed interest in texts such as this one in which an atrocious and horrible, horric and inhuman gure was forced
rst into the house of Jus ce in Israel, and then in infamy and death into the house of the people everywhere in order
that his crimes and deliberate wrongs not be forgo en. Though published in 1994, and by Arendt who is undoubtedly,
and from the reading of this text a very and typically liberal author while here a valid commentator and journalist on
the Holocaust, this text opens ones eyes to the reality of fascist party rule in Central and Western and even Eastern
Europe for a while during 1933 1945. The rst edi on of this well studied and well prepared, detailed text
was published in 1963 and the Eichmann trial took place two years before, only, in Jerusalem in a courtroom where
the sea ng is ered in order to provide to all onlookers a view of the accused and the accused likewise. A number
of charges leveled against Eichmann by the Jerusalem District Court were tried in 1961 throughout the year with
some administra ve breaks had to do with the delivery of a verdict by the court given the individual and accessory
role of Adolf Eichmann in the Nazi Final Solu on as a violent and criminal measure not just to rid the world of
European Jews, but all Jews and their associated people and extended families. In its essen allly very narrow mission
of delivering a verdict as to the charges against Eichmann connected to the Final Solu on, and the like; the Israeli
prosecutor carried out his juridical inves ga on and illustra ons with a. How could the Final Solu on [it] happen?
b. Why did it happen? c. Why the Jews? d. Why the Germans? e. What was the role of other na ons? f. What
21
is the extent to which and who is responsible on the side of the WWII Allies / Axis powers? g. How could the Jews
have allowed, and through their own leaders, this coopera on in their own destruc on? (Arendt, 1994.) Finally, that
people went to their death(s) like lambs to the slaughter is perhaps the most glaring wrong in view of the causa on of
this provoked by Nazi campaigns of dierent kinds. The court, in hearing the case, and not in America where many are
familiar with the processes of jus ce before the system, but in Israel where the impera ve under the circumstances
had been to prosecute, then defend, and then to judge. Also, and as declared by the District Court of J erusalem,
that ques ons of a nature other than those addressing the charges and the alleged crimes subject to examina on
and judicial conversa on and judgment were to be in abeyance. This no on of the tone of the trial imparted great
abstrac on to proceedings at the exclusion of non criminal considera ons in avoiding the highest vani es and show
trial atmosphere that might have prevailed.
The open lies u ered by A. Eichmann who was brought to trial a er being kidnapped in Buenos Aires by a team
of security people, and his demeanor in the face of evidence at trial in District court, proved extremely ring and
annoying to the prosecu on, and added to the sense of isola on of this accused and given the trial was televised
as sponsored by the American Glickman Corpora on before many, many onlookers. Despite the policy of the trial
as determined before the beginning of proceedings, the trial remained blind as to ethnicity and at the same me
the examina on and judging of Eichmanns acts during the early days of the Nazi regime and during the war focused
par cularly on the Jews of Europe, and including those in the remote reaches of Europe, even where there were few
Jews and in order to cause these individuals extreme pain and suering and then death to the extent possible. The
accounts of witnesses and the language of the prosecutor as the trial proceedings con nued became more and more
dark, sinister, calamitous and ghostly. If there was a play aspect to the trial it was that evidence and accounts of
dierent Nazi atroci es in which Eichmann was involved became more and more hair raising, violent and fatal for his
vic ms. As much the survivors, diarists of the me and those a uned to the events of the Shoah are easily able to
determine, even without reviewing this text as it should be, again and again, and with conscience and great aversion
to the policies of the Nazis during the 1930s onward and the dierent ways these were carried out over the years,
their legacy and the overall eects of this

on the world village. This is an excellent text for anyone in secondary school trying to learn about the violence that
characterized the last century and its ba les civil, criminal, and of other kinds including military and paramilitary
or those learning of this for the rst me, or in Holocaust studies reviewing events in some level of detail. A very
exci ng read and a page - turner.
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1.3 March

23
"CSR" Not Mul - media, at Least Not Yet. (2015-03-02 04:09) - Nauseated - public

Music: Capriccio {(}Tchaikovsky{)}

While there appears to be an ongoing examina on of civiliza on and capitalism along the lines of the role of modern
business in this, and the late reec ons on the eects of Marxist ves ges in the world economy, in 2011 Michael Porter
and colleague or colleagues published an ar cle in a college review examining the merits of it. In business college as
well, I had at least one Marxist for an instructor and found the character of the individual quite wan ng insofar as
his avoidance of actual, cri cal thinking with regards to the instructor, again, making poli cal statements many mes
in mee ngs that made reference to Marxism, many, many mes indirectly, and the various ideas of reference and
industrial strength destruc veness of this. Marxists today a ack ordinary business opera ons as extremely wasteful,
and many are consultants and so forth, in areas as opera ons research and marke ng, management and the like.
As such, same are known in fact to use o the shelf solu ons from their business training or various forums that
might be twenty years behind the mes. The use and misuse of some me strategy so ware, or management
so ware is an instance of this and it is an elephant in everyones living room who uses anything from the local bakery,
fuel sta on or municipal park to the board room. Business is a part of the world around us today, quite rened in
nature over hundreds of years, the role of which is primarily to improve the quality of life for people, and to solve
problems. To men on Western business as a failure in this respect, immoral and unethical, wasteful and corrupt, etc.,
as Marxists do is at least highly myopic and in my humble view a perspec ve in need of complete correc on. Note
that many such individuals in areas of corporate and other responsibility do not bother to read nor even listen to news
at most, same read a digest or reports each day and some use a slew of details in talking with their interlocutors,
too many in fact most of the me, to actually take the pains to verify a classic ploy from Marxism that has many
variants.
Marxism has been at dierent mes in the modern world a set of ideas in vogue or quite popular in places even like
Japan where the notable Maoist Chinese leader and premier Zhou En lai in the early twen eth century learned of
it while visi ng there in his student days. There are other examples of inuen al and important Marxists who picked
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up bad books in free thinking places and started in their intellectual infancy, carrying things through to the end,
espousing bad ideas : Social responsibility as it is used in the Western Hemisphere today is more of a psychological
control and a threat from such corners, far and away itself against the purpose of the concept that calls for ethical
grounds and moral and cri cal examina on of various socio economic issues by reasonable and wise people. Un-
fortunately, social responsibility is another catch all, a buzzword that makes it into corporate slogans in Western
economies the way the ideas of Hegel and Marx have been sponsored in other places for years; for a long me.
Social responsibility probably began as an examina on of characterizing business disasters as accidents, mistakes
or traves es, like the chemical spills in Northern China [in 2006 07], and others previous and subsequent that
polluted the drinking water as far South as Hebei province for example, to a tool used by amateurs and grandstanding
personali es to gesture and a ract a en on to pet issues, and this by their own or even provoked blaming and nger
poin ng (one has to recall the classic and popular mythological poin ng of the Blue Meanies in the age old lm
produc on Yellow Submarine to comprehend the uselessness of this and the waste of eort involved in such things
as they are intended to call a en on to obverse and unnecessary poli cs that would have us all straying from proper
a tudes and behaviors). Many commentaries on capitalism and economic history, books, ar cles, brochures that I
have read and there are many out there are wri en by le ists who equally use the verbal taxonomy involved in
social responsibility to their own ends. To the extent this is validated and honored in our local economies and then in
na onal and interna onal literature, and this an essen al view in the argument at hand, our children are not safe in
their beds. Some of the basic dicul es presented in the popularizing of social responsibility, green and so forth
have to do with their promoters. Many are in love with the 1960s counterculture and the gas it was as heard from
their elders and without prejudice; in fact the portrayals of 1960s life, even in San Francisco at the me of which I am
aware having been around then and reading the paper at an early age, is in contemporary discussion and art, in its
image and the like completely overblown, and so pued up by casual drugs users and their ken as to be nausea ng
due to the s nk people make when illustra ng or speaking of it. Many people today who go on and on about
this me and its merits know nothing about it as their elders expounding on it dont remember properly and they
werent alive at the me nor in any me that would make their references to in any way intellectually appropriate.
The allowance of this is part of what was allowed with the Red Guards and the Komsomol in various soviet style /
communis c / totalitarian regimes and the language around it is easy to recognize as emana ng from these types
of mental models including those inuenced by drugs and narco cs (leave the alcohol aside yet). Just the idea of
social responsibility is a passive and excrucia ngly s lted way to examine the issues of the modern world, fraught
with problems and with prosperity under the circumstances as well let us not forget that. It is nice to know that
in free, capitalist economies such as in the U.S., and maybe Canada and U.K., administra ons have stepped in, not
to interfere, but have taken measures to assure the proper implementa on of so called socially responsible ideas
having to do not with its diuse and lethargic nature of damage control for business, but with making a empts to
add value and a more stra ed market role and voice for everyone that adds to corporate and other business payos
and prots that are in turn good for the federal treasury. Men oning social responsibility, again, should be perceived
less as a heavy stone as tethered around the neck of businesses and business leaders, as it has actually been used
and abused in many ways, but should be a way to enhance and protably diversify and add appropriate purposes to
business goals and prac ces. As much needs to be the theme in speaking in terms of social responsibility as a means
of properly bringing together people and resources in order to realize construc ve business goals this calls as well
for a proper use of compu ng power apart from the slapping of applica ons together that is so frequent and radical
these days due to the cheap and dirty character of related so ware implementa on as well. There are actually
very few proper examples of this on any scale, though the likes of one or more Silicon Valley rms / companies is
one such business eort that has established and reies, actually, these sorts of things. Social responsibility as a
theme has as well been linked in the literature to all kinds of legacy and related systems and concepts in order to
popularly allow it some ground, and this correspondence as established, lauded and relied upon o en happens with
things that cannot stand on their own values and merits, and something again that is dangerous for those adop ng
its models and methods, prac ces and the like. Lowering carbon emissions and water pollutants is not necessarily
a new concept and thus rela ng this to the new thinking around social responsibility is probably just plain wrong;
common sense measures against garbage waste and pollu on overall should not be construed and treated as part
of new thinking as social responsibility is it is probably more appropriate, and this is my informal view, that social
25
thinkers and the like should concentrate not necessarily on models and prac ces such as produc on that can easily
be a acked as wasteful or pollu ng (people do what they can here), but in fact, and I men on informally here,
on the approaches of the structure of companies in the produc on area of the economy, their technologies and the
roles of these, the overall value of their talent pools, and the dierent ways corporate strategies are used to fulll
corporate requirements including raw materials resources requirements; and related items. This probably does not
cost too much and would create some discussion and logis cs and cost issues that are soluble. These sorts of topics
when discussed and resolved, and not just at the execu ve level, will lead to greater eciencies and payos for
stakeholders, though probably not to the extent of doctrinaire socially responsible ac vists and theore cians call
for, and with respect to this I suggest at this point to such dogma c and chiseled professionals in their ways and
ideas, that Northeast China will probably always be there. As the literature indicates, in many cases with respect to
all this, social entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the social responsibility area have actual work to do here, as
do local, state and federal administra ons in allowing the resources to ow to these people and their following in
the work force and in the groups of businesses and sectors of the economies they nd themselves in at this me.
This valued approach to actual responsibility management, an old term, and its obliga on to the environment and to
people, again not a new idea, is well on its way to enhancing the scorecard that policy makers in Washington, D.C.
now use to evaluate such things and related business eciencies, eec veness and so on. This spells improvements
for everyone and takes much of the poli cs out of social responsibility and the kind of tabloid and shock value it
has at this point. It then places such things in their development and implementa on, along with the involvement
of further administra on, more into the area of compliance where needs be, again not something very new, either.
Agencies for environmental and consumer protec on have been around for years in Western countries and will be
around for years to come. State standards and things like startup companies in these areas construc vely add to the
discussion and ac vity of socially responsible business, though remember everyone needs know for instance that
food, a very basic staple in everyones life, is o en procured in ways that have deriva ve and ancillary waste; and in
food produc on processes this is necessary as well in order to make quality products that consumers will purchase
and use and for the good of everyone regardless of what u lity func ons and so forth indicate. To the extent that
administra on takes a larger role in legal economic ac vi es, and compliance with social responsibility rules is part of
this, even if administra on is a huge customer of so called socially responsible business, the balance of innova on
and the produc on of higher and be er quality goods tends to have less priority : an important concept for Marxists
to understand, what with their water owing uphill in some places and so forth. Many socially responsible advocates
believe there is no correla on, nega ve nor otherwise, as I cite here and same just want to work, have their happy
hour drink or drinks and then go home with tomorrow as another day. Innova on and crea ng capital and economic
value, and more so for socially responsible issues, are limited to extent this mindset is around or systemically
endemic and business has to consider regula on and administra ons role in a modern corporate mission and act
accordingly and appropriately. This prevents complica ng corporate strategy, even as innova ve, again as a zero
sum proposi on, and meets the goals of shared value and other proper business goals not only for business
employees but for all stakeholders. The overall benets of this working properly are new business and increased
value and prots along with a corporate agenda that is integrated into the goals of business and other partners and
the market as well. This is also possibly en ty specic and is atomized to individual personnel and employees
or to any individual stakeholder. Socially responsible behavior as appropriately demonstrated has to do with
philanthropy and considera on of non nancial and other management goals and their CSFs and in this way has an
individually human factor and character, though remember that proposed here is a model conforming as well to the
workings of the invisible hand of free enterprise and conforming to its current rules and promise for the future as well.

26
An Authorita ve Word Or Two about Hezbollah. (2015-03-04 07:25) - not humorous - public

Music: The Planets / Peer Gynt

Another Endgame in the Middle East Iran as Id Rather Fight Another War In what appears to be for Israel an
important but all too infrequent visit by its current Prime Minister to Washington, D.C., Benyamin Netanyahu
has illustrated for the U.S. Congress and American public the basic headlines, not of basic aws in American policy
towards terrorism, and with respect now to Iran a policy or policies that in fact leave Israel out of earshot and without a
voice on the subject of actual and reasonable foreign policy considera ons having to do with conict resolu on in the
region of the Middle East. Also, currently and apparently, U.S. State Department ocials represen ng America and
with suppor ng representa ves from other countries are mee ng with Iranian representa ves in a European capitol
(Montreux), and in private away from public view, to resolve issues around the kind of capture the ag game that
Iranian ocials have been playing with military nuclear capabili es. The mee ng in Montreux, Switzerland between
various nuclear stakeholders including the U.S., and the nature of its backroom character, shows the workings of the
poli cal machine (for lack of a be er term) that the State Department has become, probably since U.S. security people
and advisors began to be placed in this area of administra on with the image of so power even ower power and
the like. Nothing inammatory is intended here, and yet I have met and recognized for many years, since essen ally
the end of the Reagan years, any number of very brilliant and well trained State Department people who are at the
same me completely insulated from the actual and gut wrenching dilemmas and conicts of the world; so much so
as to lack simple comprehension, other than self interested ideas State people must harbor right now in Europe for
starters, of the problems that regions face where they are assigned and in regions having or requiring their exper se.
One instance of this is the current ISIS military and paramilitary conict that threatens Iraq and Iran, and in the face
of a status quo of rela ve peace in the Middle East, including the territory of Afghanistan where the U.S. is trying
to conclude a very destruc ve and pitched series of ba les against terrorists, an understatement, but made to oer
more readable prose here. ISIS or ISIL as the referen al term varies, has its own singular ideology, quite complicated
given the various sects of Islam in the area it operates, but overall for example, similar to the beliefs found among
radical Islamists in Syria and Northern Iraq. The violence of ISIS and the like has Iraqi forces reeling and given the
poli cal / military role of Iran at this point in me in the region has value and appeal against even the Iranian Imams
and their doctrinaire and righteous form of Islam as well even again in Afghanistan that appears a likely takeover
target if ISIS is successful in its terroris c aims. In the event of any marked success of ISIS, the Imams of Iran and their
territory, while mildly sympathe c to U.S. interests in the area already, and sponsors of Hezbollah as well as a very
dangerous and in itself extremely violent and terroris c group; will face a much weaker role in inuencing poli cs
and policy and therefore the price of oil and other goods having to do with the Middle East in its more producing and
recognizable areas right now (save maybe for Lebanon that remains a conten ous place for everyone.) In aligning itself
with American interests against ISIS with U.S. and its allies, Iran as the country of origin of Hezbollah, an extremely
dangerous and very large and inuen al group of terrorists whose mission is to annihilate and eliminate Jews and
the State of Israel, is asking U.S. administra ons to ignore Hezbollah and to buy the story the Imams will reform the
role of Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism into that of exemplary global ci zen against the terrors of violent and
extremely destruc ve Syrian terrorists a pure fantasy. Not that the Iranians are not smart, nor that they are not nice
people, though since some me ago, and I do not remember when Hezbollah was formed as a radical le fac on of
the PLO but this was long ago; same individuals while sharing many, many Western values and a tudes, educated in
Western schools, employed in Western enterprises, etc., and however ideologically inuen al are against Israel and
same run administra ons and major bureaus in Iran including military and intelligence bureaus as Hezbollah members,
some mes as a job requirement. Is this confusing? It is confusing to me that U.S. administra on representa ves have
not considered this in their overtures to Iran, or in the acceptance of any reaching out of Iran to U.S. interests under
the circumstances: Hezbollah is a major force and worldwide inuencer of aairs and ac vi es, and thought leader
as unied and organized with the goal of destroying Israel. Everyone needs to know, and regardless of the public
aura of Elie Wiesel and his associates, that the a tude as expressed of needing to or even the small will to destroy
Israel is an apocalyp c and an everything and everyone view that calls not only for the destruc on of Israel, but
for the destruc on of Western states favoring Israeli policies and administra ve and other characteris cs as well,
27
again to men on things in very mild terms here. If you are an Israel by this and live in the States or any Western
country, or anywhere, I recommend you indeed study, maybe word for word, the wri ngs of Wiesel, Hannah Arendt,
Jonah Goldhagen, the life of Raoul Wallenberg, Anne Frank, and more; and then try denying the insistence of the
Netanyahu speech in the U.S. on March 3, 2015 and the valuable role of Israel in the world today, and then more
specically in the Middle East today and the role of Iran in this as well and the destruc ve character of Irans Imams
in their rhetoric against Israel. Syria in the Middle East exists almost purely on industrial - strength military power and
as a polity has very li le intellectual appeal nor ideology about its a empted recent revolu onary put down nor
in its a empted seizing of foreign territory whereas Irans interests are in seeking global inuence and range in any
way possible, primarily due to age old petrol poli cs that are inappropriate to resolve under the blasted noise and
destruc on of guns and other military hardware including nuclear hardware and its use against Israel, presumably
in rst strike military ac vi es. These no ons should not be enabled nor even remotely evaded at present as an
issue in any agreement whatsoever as to hi ng back against the Syrians who are menacing Iran by their invasion
of cross border territories at this me. The terms of the Netanyahu speech as proposed concerning Iran are mild
and very palatable concerning respec ng what Iran itself proposes to do with its nuclear capabili es and its future
implementa on of 190,000 nuclear centrifuges to make weapons grade deployable and usable nuclear ordinance,
which starts again with using this to destroy Israel, a very strong poli cal, cultural and business and other ally of the
U.S. and world advocate of interests

of the States, some mes against its own. This endgame destruc on is what the Axis powers during 1933 1945 had
been about and their ac vi es and doctrine, ideologies and propaganda were ushered into the dust bin with Allied
victories and the Nuremberg trials and other proceedings during the 1940s and 50s and therea er. Why does the
U.S. State Department as directed by the president revisit and look for loopholes in the illegality, violence, inhumanity
and annihila ng character of the Axis at the me? It all makes U.S. policy toward the Middle East more confusing
regardless of the Netanyahu speech that serves as an indirect illustra on of the overall intent and purpose of Irans
28
Imams and Islamists against Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and in their will in crea ng an acceptable way to destroy Israel
as a country. Iran should be required to adhere not only to NPT provisions at this me, but given the belligerency of
its execu ve administra on and its bloody character it should be required to adhere to the le er of the long ago
documented ABM treaty in order to facilitate the removal of radicalism in terms of Jew hatred in anarchis c ways
among other things from its purported nuclear policy for peaceful purposes. It is possible Irans leadership is deluded
into believing having their own nuclear arsenal and rocket forces will set the country apart as a great power: It is only
obvious hereby Iran will thus make itself of the nature of a silent and then more violent and unruly pariah. [1]e link
to Netanyahu speech March 3, 2015, Washington, D.C. (requires streaming video capability)
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVfYjn-tBvw

29
Marxism Without Fail Biography of Mao Ze dong. (2015-03-08 09:37) - cynical - public

Music: pink oyd

Mao : The Untold Story, by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday (2006, Anchor Books) While it is no secret that people like
Stalin and Mao, with par cular focus on Mao Ze dong in this biographical text, charged themselves with bringing
their socie es into the modern age, mostly technologically and militarily; it is less evident and even by this text
the soviet ideal as systemically incorporated in Russia by Lenin, Mao in China, and carried through by successors
given the goal of Marxism in the kind of world revolu on these public gures used to promote themselves and their
various acts and ac vi es : In China in par cular and this remained unspoken for years, Marxism Leninism to the
communist leadership represented a way to quickly play catch up with technically more advanced peoples, and
at the same me to enrich the poli cal elite greatly in having ordinary ci zens within their territory and poli cal
and administra ve control, and at most and many, many mes under oppressive condi ons, eke out their individual
existences while again facing inevitable mortal ends on the ba leeld, in starva on condi ons, in poorer and poorer
socio economic condi ons all called for under the circumstances in eorts to make a new people, polity
and society. This ideal of Marxism Leninism, though not explicitly or at least somewhat obscure in the doctrinaire
prose of communism and communist par es in the world as they are / were known, is a linchpin of the again eli st
and highly selec ve systemic workings of Marxism Leninsm that became even more marked under the Chinese
model that prevailed in the Peoples Republic of China [sic] star ng with the burgeoning societal troubles in places
like Shang hai in the early part of the 20th century. This man is a wolf to man set of ideas as poli cized from what
appears to be seventeenth and eighteenth century materialism and social theory as expounded upon by Karl Marx
(1818 1883) and in many, many ways and though labeled a philosophy or poli cal ideology, said ideas are wri en
about by Marx in eusive style that appear more sophistry than anything else. In China in par cular, Marxism has
served in the me period covered in this text about its leadership to oppress and to enslave; to carry out the ideas
and agenda of hooligans and gangsters who themselves had as well some very rened and sophis cated help. On
the face of it, communism is even less redeeming as a poli cal system and in society as an en rety given the various
endorsements it gained, especially the Stalinist and Maoist forms of it, during the existen alist and post modern
eras of the last century to date. People such as the reviewer here, with knowledge of open source materials
and having been introduced to commentators and analy cal avenues, rst through the press and the literature and
then personally, are able to conrm that many; and an overwhelming majority of Western intellectuals in retrospect
of the revolu on in China and its Stalinist characteris cs in the extreme wanted nothing to do with this due to the
animalis c and violent traits in evidence. The public reply to these revolu onary movements and ideas Western
society has been of concern and debate for years, and concerning doctrinaire Marxism and the like, many chose a
happy medium with respect to the young at the me trying to become educated that allowed for an introduc on
and mild, somewhat detailed and dissimulated endorsement of these ideas somewhat like the sympathies are for
the Russian people coopera ng with the Pu n regime today. Paying even detailed and strict lip service to this had
been a way to make more ndings about what was happening and the course of events and reasons for this in these
worlds, otherwise impenetrable by even gi ed nor greatly endowed people at the me. Mao knew this and probably
treated it as a risk of doing business in the poli cal / administra ve ac vi es he and his fellow communists carried
on during his life me a er becoming aware of the possibility that Marxism, and its methods and prac ces, could
bring him great monetary and economic wealth and power personally and it did, especially for the man and the
individuals coopera ng with him in his schemes. This model is the actual one for the poli cal development within
the communist elite during, men on, 1905 through the late 2000s in P.R.C. [sic] and in the territories falling under
its spheres of inuence. This also included and includes massive social destruc on that with compu ng power and
other forms of intelligence did aid the Chinese leadership to control even emo onal and sensory percep on of its
ordinary ci zens and especially its vic ms, the enslaved and oppressed among them. This biography of Mao contrasts
with previous ones in that it engages in various levels of poli cal and psychological analysis of the man and his
communist party elite who probably entertained the no on of the invisible hand in the world, but along Stalinist
lines, the invisible hand was of the nature of destruc on and death, violence and war, suppression and oppression,
disease and contagion. The book is a very long brief that contains some addi onal new details about Mao and his
30
cohorts that actually make them seem less human, and more comprehensively maniacal in the things they did with
specically and only a lust for power, rst over the Chinese ci zenry, then those of Chinese ethnicity; and then
those wishfully under the ideological umbrella of the charm and easily understandable readings of Marxism same
engaged in school or as some have stated for fun. The book is full of personal details of the Chinese leadership
and is extremely well researched and wri en; with nice literary touches everywhere throughout the text. This
is perhaps a way of illustra ng the amateur and at the same me colorful anity of Mao and his associates for
ancient poetry. The greatest paradox that Mao and his associates lived, at least those that stayed alive throughout
the revolu onary mes and therea er, maybe with the excep on of Zhou En lai (read also Hua Guo feng and
Deng Xiao ping here, and a small group of others, possibly) was not the casuistry in the ways they conducted their
aairs, but in the carefree airs they put on for each other, their comrades, other interna onal communists and the
public. At the same me, and the text illustrates this, too, almost the en re cast of characters was oppressive and
violent in the very least, and it was these traits and their great inuence on P.R.C. leadership that have people today
within the country calling him a great leader (s ll the Great Helmsman) and apologizing to everyone for the crazy,
violent, unreasonable things he represented rst and then carried out himself or through his subordinates. The book
does have a me line that corresponds to dierent events and their levels of analysis and is an overall excellent
survey of Maos youth, Marxist and revolu onary forma on and his seizure of power among the Reds including
various demo ons and then poli cking himself back into oces direc ng the high communist elite in China through
his death in 1976 and then by his legacy at home and in various interna onal places he directed, and even visited
while knowing their leaders, during his life me. With this in mind, the text is at least a quite detailed survey of the
communist revolu onary period and an adequate illustra on of popular misinterpreta ons of the ideological details
and the ac ons provoked and caused by Chinese communism given the popular impact of people in the West like
Edgar Snow, his colleagues, and later Anna Louise Strong; this group of Western intellectuals were probably Reds
themselves and their involvement with the Chinese elite at the me was primarily mo vated by riches and at least
the possibility of interna onal awards, accolades and recogni on. It is dicult, for example, to say this about Edgar
Snow as his portrayal of Mao and of Chinese communism served as a point of reference for those who dealt for many
years with the Chinese polity in eorts to prevent communism and its severe drawbacks everywhere. What is said
of Mr. Snow might also be men oned about the others, though same were conrmed Marxists in the rst place in
order to gain access to story and journalis c content that allowed them to build their reputa ons. There are various
interpreta ons and levels of analysis on this depending upon whether one, for example, speaks either Chinese or
Russian; and weigh ng for these considera ons here allows for one to conclude about this somewhat deni ve text
that rst readers of same will use content for their own purposes (it is so long and with various details), second and
more importantly the text stands on its own as a record of the suppressive and oppressive, violent nature of Chinese
totalitarianism insofar as it has been allowed. See also - photoportrait : [1]Nixon and Zhou En - lai.

1. http://liberallifestyles.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Zhou-shakes-hands-with-President-Richard-Nixon-up
on-Nixons-arrival-to-China-in-February-1972..jpg

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Fidelio Arts, ... Gi ed Playing at a Concert Hall Near You. (2015-03-19 10:40) - upli ing - public

Music: Rachmanino, Chopin, Lizst

While I do not really know about musical reviews, as there is so much of it all, I have found some piano - playing
that is in fact superla ve to the many sounds of Alicia De Larrocha and others of legend past and present : It is the
well - prepared and melliuous, if some passages of Franz Liszt might be called that, too; [1]sound of Ms. Yu ja Wang
whom I rst really heard on satellite television maybe about four to ve years ago, and then more recently through
a network radio interview essay about her playing and the task of these very dicult pieces she appears to go at so
successfully and to the great adula on and adora on of audiences everywhere. While Ms. Wang plays mostly under
the D. Grammophon label, and lives in U.K. right now, it does seem that everywhere eorts to claim her ar stry
deriva ve of dierent inuences and even trends on the part of some have less to do with her actual ar stry and
more to do with hype and the like. It does appear from the exac ng quality of her playing and that each piece,
star ng with the rst Rachmanino pieces from the early 1900s that she plays, presents to the hearing audience an
interpreta on that raises the playing of these sorts of things to a new level; if not to the point that women can play
Rachmanino, too. It is very dicult to tell some mes what one is hearing, the quality of it and all, without some
prac ce at least in listening to the stu, and in the playing of this musician from the Far East it is a great tribute to it all
for her having persevered in (with shoulder to the wheel) her studies in a very good music school, and a very dicult
one as well, and then in keeping an even keel through the various pi alls and schemes of the world of performing
arts. There are things "day and night" that are memorable about what she plays and the terric sounds she makes
with the piano. The story of it, once heard is at present brief and memorable, the notes not as brief and even more so
memorable and impressive; and remember whether you like it or not this lady helps keep the lights on at Carnegie Hall.

1. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRFHKMw2TBesUcnYhOdZs_w

32
Would You Like to Study Numbers? Ans.: "Not Really". (2015-03-31 03:57) - ... of solitude. - public

Music: Er hu stu
Why are the latest asian / Chinese IPOs all selling at around 23 mes earnings? In the old days, the P / E ra o and
other fundamentals were important metrics in ini al public oerings due to their informa onal value and signaling
to investors about the quality of earnings and so forth. The overall average IPO P / E ra o for U.S. stocks (NASDAQ)
is up to around thirty or so lately, but the P / E ra o for asian IPOs has been less. Why is this in an economy that is
managed and based on some other things, including more rigourous state regula on and control of markets? Why is
this as well when following the NASDAQ parameters for se ng IPO prices as informa on itself shows would result in
more capital gains for Chinese and other investors? Part of this is the signal that a low IPO stock sends to the stock
market itself in impar ng more value for the investor and less "hot - potato(e)" an cs from what are supposed to be
the marquis investment houses handling the oering, market - makers and so on. Part of this also has to do with the
centering of the equi es markets in the U.S., something the Chinese are apparently gh ng or star ng to at least right
now and maybe since some me ago with their currency trades. I did not check, but will guess the U.S. market P / E
s ll has be er fundamentals than the Chinese ones at this point, and probably due to the new money in China that
turns up in dierent places as investment funding and the like, and electronics allow this to happen quickly and in far
- ung areas. There is another reason for this and that has to do with the actual value banks set on stocks with the
investor in mind in an IPO and the actual value the company might have upon going public and things like earnings
regression that might later leave investors unsa sed with their stock holdings. To compensate for this, Chinese banks
/ investors are apparently playing a kind of game of benchmarking around the 23 P / E ra o for IPOs as based upon the
distribu on of primes that relates not only to the individual stock oering, but to the number of stock oerings that
are signicant over a me period (this year, maybe seventy major Chinese IPOs). See [1]this ar cle on the distribu on
of primes and a [2]related ar cle on mathema cal func ons. Really interes ng reading on what the investment banks
in Hong Kong and Shang hai might have people doing. Do not forget the role of Tai wan in this as well. If you are able,
see the broadcast about this on Bloomberg Television business news some mornings ago. Another [3]ar cle, ... , and
[4]another.
Link [5]here.
1. http://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php/Distribution_of_prime_numbers
2. http://www.encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php/Zeta-function
3. http://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-ipos-pick-up-on-chinas-bull-market-1427797709
4. http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/asia/
5. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bull-market-crunch-time--china-stocks-pop---msg-split--what-to-watch-115927
605.html

33
1.4 April

34
The Masters Golf Tournament A Great Game Contest to Follow this Year. (2015-04-09 06:59) - elevated - public

Music: Various popular

[1]Link to the Masters Tournament, Augusta, GA, USA. [2]N.B.C. Sports coverage of the Masters Golf Tournament.

1. http://www.masters.com/en_US/index.html
2. http://www.golfchannel.com/

35
Book Review - Text by Elio Fra aroli, M.D. (2015-04-11 14:32) - adverse circumstances - public

Music: Beethoven piano concerto

In the Age of the Brain Too Many Thoughts? Another View on Sickness and Modern Medicine.
Far from people like me to know very much about psychology, much less any branch of the logical and tradi onal
sciences apart from the social sciences that we all train in school, though the not so recent text Healing the Soul
in the Age of the Brain (Fra aroli, 2001, Viking Press) gives one an idea of the vagaries faced by psychologists and
prac oners of the sciences of the mind who are appealing to and whose ideas encompass larger and larger, mass
public audiences.
The text itself deals with an age old law and related dilemmas about how the cura ve powers of science are em-
ployed and iden es this within the narrow framework of necessary treatment of social psych problems and the
role of individual personali es in inuencing what these actually are, trea ng them medically and the role of the
individual and group, even mass pa ents.
Many of the scenarios illustrated in the book, including the view that not everyone needs high impact, blockbuster
treatment and medica on, are well narrated and the text is highly commendable for its bringing again the idea of heal
thyself strategies everyone has from the pa ent to the therapist to out into the editorial and interpre ve, gossipy
arena of the public eye.
The various narra ves of this walk through of new psychological methods and prac ces has more to do, it appears,
with the type of damage control as systemically desired and tailored to the individual through long tested and
successful processes (as successful as can be) and pays lip service actually to the type of detec ve and preven ve
work that scien sts and health care providers very eec vely did in the old days.
So much at this me in this area appears to reify and rest in the forefront of the eld as doctrinaire (whose actual
doctrine other than that of the authors himself, and given that he pulls from many sources is another ques on)
prac ce and procedure that instead of allowing individuals to enter the psych arena through their own scien c
discoveries and those, i.e., of their trusted parents and other rela ves, extended family the friends, associates, ;
the ins tu on is brought to the living room of the aicted or addicted and dealing with this is as much a challenge as
confron ng disease and disorder themselves.
Out of this combina on of factors, the principally young people, and the geriatric, who are aected by psych con-
di ons and symptoms and who are at a loss to orient themselves to either inves gate their dicul es themselves or
to leave this individually and collec vely, blindly, to a very large and tentacled, networked bureaucracy with things
and prac oners behind every door whereas at least progress might be made in a measure or two, for example, un-
der many circumstances with learning to use Eriksons Transac onal Analysis or a memory analysis, for example, as
Santayana himself might have recommended for many.
Even the study of some high school scien c concepts such as entropy, some biochemistry, sociology and so on
would subs tute for many a cure along social psychological lines what is otherwise systemically and bluntly an
ins tu onal chasm calling at rst for a leap of faith and then if not that systemic and pathological evalua ons that
compel the sale of psychological tools no more sophis cated and however developed, but not t for the challenges
themselves of perhaps even the last grade in primary schools.
It goes to men on in fact the psychological tests and tools as recommended to individuals with social and other ills
in order to deal with disease are about as sophis cated and capable in dealing with actual adversi es as the wooden
wheel would be for mass transport today.
This begs the ques on about the actual purpose of psych sciences and the goal of same as they are stated :
With the development of diagnosis a er diagnosis condi oned by health sta s cs as gathered and the law of large
numbers, the purpose of such things appears to be slicing and dicing of pathology (if you do not have a deni on for
36
the actual science of pathology, stop here) and systemic inclusion of groups of people who themselves are subsumed
into an overall larger medical / health opera on or opera ons that are departmental worldwide and that in themselves
are faceless and highly impersonal, and with the names changed to allow free reign to the prac oners about whom
judgment must be stayed here and at the same me allow themselves a blank check to provide very large scale health
services and to include selected people in them.
The scale of various treatments is important to comprehend and is not really talked about in this very necessary
book though what is important in parallel with any reading of this text are the human, nancial, societal and socio
poli cal resources involved and their innumerable stakeholders who clamor for shorter and shorter me horizons for
solu ons, improvements, mass changes and cures due to what must be the dismal and ineec ve results of said health
opera ons; and this while considering as well the failures of prac oners who are all well trained and educated,
who have suered the slings and arrows of years of scien c discipline, yet who are less and less well equipped to
confront just the character of disease on one level, and much less on the diagnos c level itself these represent in
themselves only the beginning of any psychology 101 curriculum that one might (and advisedly these days) consider
in high school or college courses as a student.
The bru sh forces that are again opera ve given the training of health subjects in psych studies and treatment, for
two, ignore this representa on and observa on by a acking the disease in increasingly higher and higher -
level administra ve and public proles, even including adver sing about suicidal issues and inferring by media and
other broadcasts and channels that many people are due to harm themselves without serious hands on extended
treatment.
This process in and of itself is another reason for the overwhelming costs and expenditures of the state on health
care in general and not just psych care, as re hab and other treatments are extremely expensive and given the
planned and tailored goals they pursue through ineec ve science that is more u lity - driven business economics
and transac ons than anything as much represents the transforma on from being a student of ones malady or
maladies and being told essen ally by unknowns and faceless experts in the leviathan system overall what the direct
remedies are a characteris c of abandoned business consul ng methods since some me ago.
He y fees are involved, and important and increasingly paternalis c roles of the health care establishment are the
inappropriate emphasis here.
One case in point is the insistence (and nonetheless anecdotal story) that many mental health prac oners dismiss the
problems caused by bacteria while maintaining a xed idea there are chemical imbalances and anomalies associated
with cranial and nervous system issues only.
This is one quite gross problem that proposes even personal issues to psych diagnos cian prac oners holding forth
on psycho soma c and its all in your head type schools and establishments to the extent these are allowed
and built up past and present.
A nal analysis of this brings out the again extremely high level health care concepts that control here and the
vows to which the excellent prac oners in every domain of the health care system adhere and inhere despite social
pressures or pressures to cheat and so on.
This text again represents an admirable view on health care prac ces that relate not just to the educated and avowed
prac oners of the day, but of their utopic ideals as well that s ll represent the holy grail of science for many.
An excellent read.

37
Russia, Ukraine and the West: Is Confronta on Inevitable? (2015-04-13 06:46) - undecided, anxious - public

Music: shostakovitch
[1]Recent among notable appearances for talks / speeches [2]Chatham House Lecture ... media posts with interest.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxn_DdshwCc&feature=share
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxn_DdshwCc&feature=share

38
Another Talk on Russia Confronta on with the West ... . (2015-04-19 07:11) - public

Talk on the "[1]New Cold War?" more grist for the mill.

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfy3kg6__Uk

39
Bio dHonor de Balzac par Gonzague Saint Bris (2011.) (2015-04-26 10:23) - rel - public

Music: Berlioz

Far from Following the Williams Sisters at Their Tennis. Balzac Une vie de roman, by Gonzague Saint Bris (2011.)
Some me ago, in fact it was so long ago the people involved have faded in memory and are otherwise just not
around, it was suggested in my language studies at school that I pick up something authored by Honor de Balzac,
rst to read and then to own as at the me many of those who did so tremedously like to read him and wanted
to buy his books again and again : It is a tribute to this author that in fact more than a hundred and sixty years
subsequent to his death his books are s ll taught in the schools and s ll selling. My concern with his literature as
I remember it and to this day is the morality the person preached around his narra ves on the subject of human
and psychological nature were tremendously onerous if not wasteful to people with ordinary goals in life. Balzac
throughout his life had a grandiose vision of things and was lucky enough to have achieved some of that vision and
re invented himself as an author and a narrator with a great literary voice more than once. In his prose and this
is not the least of it, he preached a morality of love and what s ll seems to be a er thorought review to have been
Rousseauean ideas and vision adapted to the pre industrial and industrial ages. This at the me I rst knew his
narra ves seemed like it might have been an embarrassment to the French and other literary establishments who
accepted these things, though again given the overall longevity of his literature and the society and social issues it
examines at base, the French and others have and con nue to use him. During my me as a student I remember
Balzac as an incapable and unsuccessful author, mostly due to his ights of fancy, disorganized style and lo y,
nearly unreal goals hed set for himself in life; especially since Victor Hugo was around during the same me and
Hugo himself spoke at mes pi ably of Balzac. Naturally, I had rst found an annotated version (not the Pleiade)
of Les Misrables with the help of an actual academician or two and have never looked back un l lately given this
somewhat cri cal and deni ve biography of this great literary gure, in fact a kind of an hero to literary life
of the rst half of the nineteenth century. One should also know that in that me, and Hugo (and Chateaubriand)
naturally again outlasted many authors not only in interna onal literature and journalism, even, but he outlived them
as well. Balzac was no excep on to this and the story of his life, especially around the me of his later works, was
increasingly debauched and prematurely aged an old man admi edly at the age of y. So what is the value of
learning of such a person who might have wri en many, many even eshy (for their me) feuilletons, brochures and
books? When one points to actual story telling of the nature of modern c on and the art of the novel [Kundera],
knowledgeable literary people point directly to Balzac. This is not true necessarily for the overall structure and
meaning of c on and so forth, and has more to do with the changes in literature, especially French literature, with
the foreseeable advent of mo on pictures. When one examines this and the requirements of a educated, literary,
and reading public audience for the authors of the eighteen hundreds and the development of the lm industry
over years and years, star ng with the story of Daguerre onward, the pieces of the Balzac story t nicely and insofar
as the charisma c quality of his literature that not only exercises again the art of the novel in c onal narra ves
and anecdotes, but developes various themes, ideas and topics around Chris anism and the emo ons all the way
through romance and physical love this probably in every single piece he composed; either that or the obverse
of it as anger, meanness and jealousy, betrayal and ruin including nancial ruin. Balzac was from the provinces of
France mostly in the Touraine region (Rouergue, ) but he was originally the party who proposed, for example, and
in addi on to his greatly notable literary eorts and innova ons, the Louvre pyramid to the French regime and the
public at rst in commemora on of the ba le of the Pyramids in 1798 under the emperor Napoleon. Balzac is also
noted for his tremendous and overriding, yet at the same me during his life incomprehensible and evoca ve interest
in the Orient, specically in the Chinese and Chinese culture and history. He was roma cally, and for years before
his passing extremely seriously involved with a Russian lady living on a very large estate in and around Kiev. In this
way, and given his impact on literary currents and the interna onal literature of the me, again while not surpassing
the likes of Victor Hugo intellectually, is probably only surpassed by Paul Claudel in interna onal importance and
impact during his own life me and therea er. Today, as an example of this, Hugo is discouraged for his didac cs and
too serious orthodox style and tone of his books, while Balzac is read as an adventure into life, and quite roman c
and idealis c life as well, and intelligent life of the 1800s. Historians and other readers are s ll interested in this as
40
again the tone of such wri ng had poli cal eects and inuences, especially on the working popula on in places and
on later authors such as Emile Zola and others, even those as near in me as Albert Camus and Henri Troyat who
depended themselves and upon readers memories as well Balzac had a prodigious memory that was akin to the
leviathan in his prime. Probably as well due to what were o en his physical appearance and habits, and his conduct
as portrayed for the public (the more successful he became, the more he ba led and was accursed by journalists and
the daily and other press,) he missed his ul mate goal of admission to the Academie Francaise during his life me
and again to the Legion dHonneur of France, even during his later years. As such, Balzac was not chosen to lead
intellectual nor poli cal life in his home territory and this primarily due to image and dierent poli cal issues that he
was un prepared for in his candidacy for such things. Balzac was a great traveler who went everywhere he could
to England, the low countries, the Hapsburg and Russian Empires, and many other places inside his home country
never staying long in the same place, and this not in evading creditors or others. The man did consider his life to be an
intellectual ba le, akin to a great napoleonic expedi on, but just by one person, himself and his cause against what
could almost be considered moral chea ng in every way by people in his audience and his peers who he illustrated
cri cally in much of his literature. His wri ng is a moral, Chris an, and psychological study of his characters whose
ac ons and behaviors in their spirit were assimilated by Balzac in and through his travels, even again to the local
dry goods and retail clothing stores, . Though Balzac as well was from the French provinces, he was known as a
Parisian, arriving in town during his high school days, and almost never having le apart from various travels abroad
and jaunts to dierent local regions. His rivals in school included the great historian Jules Michelet, Chateaubriand,
Victor Hugo, Saint Beuve, and later Tolstoi, Baudelaire and Flaubert. These great intellectual authors caused Balzac
directly to slave away in his eorts to outdo them, and in this he suered greatly, enjoying notoriety but in his own
mind only temporary success, if any. Paradoxically, Balzac emphasized the idea of happiness and its pursuits, even
to the extent of epicurean values. He looked at the moral and nancial abyss for some, ideas bigger than life, the
more precious and ner things in life as well. Most of all, Balzac emphasized in his narra ve the enormous value of
recall and how memory serves be er than anything at mes. This and the poten ali es of the sciences, the arts,
poli cs, religion and morality formed an all encompassing universality to the smallest of his pieces. Again, and
in all this and through a life of his own individual approach to the huge gamble of being a slave to literature and
to his wri ng, Balzac believed in the pursuit of happiness however dened and as a series of lifes projects with
which to ll ones existence. This included and for his followers today includes hard, tough work in the sciences,
arts, amusing and laughable word games, success in ones ba les, opinionated and individual editorial / journalis c
expression, the power of memory and the weakness of forge ng; what is today a kind of liberal futurology, the
bustle of city life, examining ones beliefs and openly those of others, country life, a historical and not necessarily
moral view of the past, big ideas and concepts, and hopelessly more features in his character with a great enthusiasm
for love and life. His enthusiasm was so great that even in his suerings and doldrums, and for ar sts and authors
of the me there were many, the man believed many years, any expanse of me could be collapsed into much
smaller mes such that there might be several centuries in one. If there is one regret found in this book, it is
the con nued renown of Balzac as a subject of the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin : In my reading of his book
Saint Bris almost never men ons the medium, and much less the great ar st who wished to portray Honore de
Balzac in preserving his legacy and keeping his literary star bright. The story as told by Saint Bris of this great author
is otherwise greatly comprehensive and an outstanding read for those interested in roman cism and again the
overall founda on and basis for the art of the novel as it is in our own me almost two centuries a er Balzacs renown.

41
1.5 May

42
Not A Comic Book Nor Cookbook Crisis Nor Crises What to Do? (2015-05-02 04:55) - "regular" - public

Music: Bach

Book Review German Europe, by Ulrich Beck (2013, Polity Press.) This is overall an excellent book about the current
European Crisis that includes a currency valua on crisis, a banking and nancial crisis, various conicts of cultural
iden es, a crisis of poli cal and social ideals between Northern Europeans and the rest, and some other very
public, raucous and visceral dilemmas highlighted by the problems in public and private nances in Greece and other
places today. For some me there has been a yes, but poli cs as promoted by various European authori es and
ocials as origina ng apparently in the oces of old of Jacques Delors (in the European Commission some me ago.)
Now that the EU has over twenty members and Europe is the strongest, though it might not appear that way, collec ve
block of economic actors anywhere and this even more with UK added in, this text presents the impera ve that the EU
again has to reasonably and ra onally, painstakingly decide about its nancial priori es and its policies of inclusion in
any par cipa on in its economic, poli cal, scien c and cultural, etc., family. In the old days, any Western European
alliance, poli cal, economic, cultural or scien c, etc., that was formed had priori es that were stated in charters
and so forth as characterized by free and open, entrepreneurial society. While mostly Becks text here presents the
eects of this dierently than one might expect, and his idea is that of the current crisis as a developmental stage
economically for everyone in contact with Europe, if even Western Europe at the exclusion of Central European EU
members and those further East, integrated in to the union and prospec ve members as well, it is important to note
despite the litany of to dos and so forth about all this : Economists s ll talk of the Cold War and its legacy and
this becomes more important now in 2015, two years a er the publica on of this informa ve and readable text, that
the Russian poli cal hierarchy, including much of the intelligentsia that spent the 1990s and so forth abroad at least
in part; is again looking and pulling inward and into the elite among its, again, inward looking crowd of which at
least some overt a tudinal and dogma c clashes with others among the great powers, Eastern and Western. What
appears to be possible, and the EU is right on the threshold of these trends, ac ons and their eects, is the Russians
anew will turn upon their ocial resolu ons of the Perestroika and Boris Yeltsin years in responding to the way
some of their old trading partners and former soviet clients have been treated interna onally of late, not to men on
some of the Western ac ons concerning Russia and the former soviet bloc directly at this me. The antagonism and
belligerence involved in this treatment from the Russian point of view results in economic opportunism for territories
and regions at the in between, or Russias near abroad or near neighbors, concerning the interests of the great
powers and those of Eastern Europe as backed by its execu ve, party and military establishments. At one point
there was great hope this would nally change from the old days, and Perestroika of the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev
and the subsequent new cons tu on and new ocialdom in Russia under Boris Yeltsin despite the 1998 and other
defaults appeared again to be even recently carrying the day eventually to less complicated Russian and other Eastern
European regimes. As such, these same powers to the extent of their resistance against currents today, chiey poli cal
and economic, in the overall family of na ons have re dened in their own terms, in fact in terms again of the legacy
of Lenin and Trotsky (Marx and Engels) things like cons tu onality, rule of law, ocial paternalism, enterprise
and other iconic concepts and anew as only slightly modied from past poli cal and economic ins tu ons within
their territories and spheres of inuence, and all over again in taking a page from the book of Adam Smith and Oliver
Cromwell, even 19th century roman cism in English literature. Regional and state leaders whove seen this happening
and who have Russian ci zens and ocials on their soil as interna onal and economic and poli cal actors, even as
tourists, have taken the opportunity to squander the work of their predecessors to solidify the EU in view presumably
of presently more important oil and other resources and the deriva ve revenues to the state from Eastern Europe
and its recent economic gains now substan vely in place to take up nancial and economic slack created by debt
and currency crises in Western and Southern Europe, and this as placed in the hands of Berlin to resolve and repair.
Ge ng back to the yes, but of old : The poli cal climate around Berlins supposed new overall duty and obliga on
for some in serving to shore up various economics and poli cal problems of its poli cal and trading partners as they
existed some me ago is part and parcel of the type of Ricardian economics that things might be reduced to under
the circumstances, but that no one really wants anymore. The text is full of impera ves about this and the view on
the crises that wealth and other valuable things have gratuitously been exported and / or departed from places not
43
to return should be an issue for internal examina on and resolu on. The Mediterranean na on states in Europe
proper who have former soviet inuences everywhere, though their business and cultural climates and economies
might be at a stands ll, and again at a crossroads as far as alliances go, need to overcome themselves the conict
between public austerity and the proigacy of private aairs that control their commercial economies. Reading this
brief account of the appropriate economic and poli cal agenda items and possible new priori es by Ulrich Beck here
does not necessarily give a cookbook recipe, nor a direct strategy for resolving these dilemmas, a er all what has
happened has been apparent and on the public agenda for some me; though Beck arrives at impera ves and the
like that enable those in the arrire plan or the administra ve back benches, even given the inters ces of powerfully
overriding economic and poli cal currents today, to re cement and return home to proper cross border rela ons
that are separate from and exclusive of, if not an answer to the riotous and other blaming behaviors everyone has
seen covered in the news. A great read.

44
Help Nepal (among other places). (2015-05-02 05:58) - sorrowful - public

Music: alban berg

[1]

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/world/asia/nepal-earthquake-katmandu.html?_r=0

45
A er Hearing More News about Israel. (2015-05-05 22:32) - hopeful - public

Music: Bach pour quatuor

POLITICAL ORDER AND POLITICAL DECAY, by Francis Fukuyama (2014, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.) This wonderful po-
li cal book examines in depth some of the latest current events up to 2013 and a number of the historical currents
involved at the same me. The premise of the text is mans response to economic growth and social change, of which
that in many regions, including the Middle East, North America, La n America and East Asia. At the same me the text
examines the contrast between poli cs and policy in an ins tu onally stable America and other interna onal actors.
The issue of too big to fail is looked at addi onally concerning the latest European Union / Euro crisis, the economic
crisis in the US during 2008 2009 and policy problems concerning bailouts and the like dealing with ideological
rigidity, the amounts of wealth involved and calls by dierent Washington, DC, lobbyists for bailout treatment and
the ideological and cri cal persuasions of US legislators. While the text at hand portrays the development of Western
poli cs and policy from the very beginning, narra ve content is mostly about the origins and forma on of the modern
state and modern welfare state, the rule of law and the various responsibili es of leaders and their ministers to their
own systems and their own popula on. The poli cal environment taken as a model is that origina ng in Western
Europe, notably UK during and a er Cromwell, and pre revolu onary and revolu onary France. Some narra ve is
devoted as well to the development of statehood and the rule of law (either common law or civil law) in other places
China and other places in East Asia, places in Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Southern and Central Europe, and
so on. Man from the beginning has been a social animal, and poli cal as well according to Max Weber who is quoted
frequently in the text. The element of the public trust in government is discussed concerning dierent crises and the
very beginnings of democracy in Mediterranean countries. The role of leadership in poli cal structure is addi on-
ally discussed and personali es such as Frederick the Great, Deng Xiao ping, George Washington, the Roosevelts and
the like who are portrayed not personally, but from a func onal point of view and for the addi on(s) they make to
amplify the basic meaning of the text which has to do with examining and interpre ng changes in the modern state.
No men on is made of the great economists and there are no me lines represen ng the telemetry of empires and
great powers, mercifully. Moderniza on for many countries has been a process that has not been without its costs,
even in states where it was made to look easy. The routes to the modern state and modern government comprise
the rst three, again very cap va ng, chapters to the book upon which the reader is introduced to some specialized
vocabulary that helps throughout the rest of the text to more simply, again, portray the pa ern and inuence of a
number of events that are salient in the forma on of modern public administra on. This not only includes the struc-
ture of the modern state, but its spirit as well, and regional analyses are given. Society is viewed as an ins tu on
and as such the history of same in many areas of the world has been no bowl of cherries, even with mostly civi-
lized and well planned and thought out inuences and tradi ons from Western Europe, even with its (for a while)
absolu st roots. The European and world wars, certainly of the last century are examined as well as those of the
Prussian and Napoleonic empires, and those of greater note in East Asia and Africa and the Middle East. The subject
of na onalism, with a small n is discussed somewhat a er the issues of war as a dicult issue that is nonetheless
important in developing na ons. Industrial policies of some of the major countries are discussed to the extent these
are popularly known and are ng for the bureaucra c analysis of strong and / or weak states China, Japan,
Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Prussia, Russia, Scandinavia, and so
on, and the long road to modern democracy as it is prac ced or deferred given arguments against it in these areas
and more. While the conclusions of the text are le mostly to the reader to evaluate the merits of analysis of the rule
of law (primarily) and the cons tu ons in dierent places, and the greater and greater role of ministerial approaches
to government including an approach to administra on in the US derived at least in part from the Federalist papers of
US revolu onary mes; the power of the text has to do again with its portrayal of poli cs in administra vely healthy
modern states. There appear to be many reasons why some powers are successful poli cally and administra vely and
others are not, points too numerous to discuss in this review. A cri cal reading of the text will give one an idea of the
plethora of traits and inuences on the individual ci zens of a place and the administra on of same, that are together
in the overall symphony of power for each sovereign state. At its very least the text in its content, and at rst reading,
gives us more than what we need to reason through the dicul es and poli cal imbalances of the day in the world
46
to the extent they appear in print or other media, television news, for instance or radio. A great book for problem
solvers or on the other hand those needing background on current events, etc., and do not let the length of the text
dissuade you from grasping an overall very persuasive premise of mans sociability and nature of living with, as well
as for his kin.

47
Yo, Yo, Yo! (2015-05-14 05:51) - irate - public

Music: stravinsky
Ques on for you. Why do things the opposite of the way they are purposely begun, or due to the hell with you
a tude that some mes pervades poli cs in Eastern Europe? The ar cles below state this case in eminent prose
and character whereas I in my armchair might be accused and rightly so of being so abhorred by such things as to
stay in my armchair. It is possible the Nemtsov murder and its carrying forward is the legacy of plots such as the
famed Kirov murder (and others more secret) of long ago. The Kirov murder is an example, in one level of analysis
or another, a crossing of destruc on, lunacy and outright collusion and conspiracy as much has been conrmed in
the literature about USSR state and poli cal business at the me. The diculty in such things is as the perpetrators,
direct and indirect, recede in their proles before the public and into the crowd, and their proper memories and other
iden fying traits recede as well, it becomes greatly if not extremely dicult even to speculate, much less to conrm
the origin of and organiza on of such plots. The Nemtsov assassina on is a agrant and shocking happening with
these kinds of factors in mind, especially given the way in which in a city, and a country, supposedly as secure and
even repressed with respect to violence, especially public violence that gains media a en on; and the way in which
a rearm rst found itself and then was used in lethal fashion on Mr. Nemtsov directly in front of the Kremlin. The
report on his passing is so far just available in Russian, and presumably the journalists in publica on here below have
read this report that, from opposi on party or par es, or not, allows for some resolu on as to this atrocity specically
against a valuable public gure and then the same sorts of atroci es more privately done in the same region and then
quickly forgo en when removed from public eye. Ar cle - Manchester [1]Guardian Ar cle [2]VOA [3] -
[4]Policy Talk - Ukraine and Similar Current Events
1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/12/boris-nemtsov-allies-release-report-on-russian-troops-in-ukr
aine
2. http://www.bbg.gov/blog/2015/03/05/rferl-and-voa-report-on-the-murder-of-boris-nemtsov/
3. https://openrussia.org/post/view/4803/
4. http://dailybruin.com/2015/05/13/former-ambassador-speaks-at-anderson-as-part-of-lecture-series/

48
1.6 June

49
(2015-06-04 20:10) - angry, red - public

Music: chops cks

(INFORMALLY) PEACE, SECURITY AND COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY The 2014 15 War in Ukraine.
The taking of Eastern Ukraine by the Kremlin, star ng with the Northeastern part is li le startling since the Russian
head of state has expressed the need to bring ethnic Russians back into his own territory. A likely story in the circum-
stance of Ukraine was just to annex the country as much as possible, le ng the principally non Russian Western and
Southern Ukraine remain sovereign at least that appears to be the eect of the invasion and the way territorial lines
are drawn there for the me being. Places in 2015 that have appeared under Kremlin control since the war in Ukraine
began are Donetsk, Lugansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Mariopol, Debaltseve, and others (Maidan, Dergachi, Chernivtsi, Ivano
Frankivsk, Pisky,Starobilsk, Lysychansk, Horlivka, Kherson, Chornukhyne, Uspenka, Lviv and s ll others, and all of
these have had ceasere viola ons a er the September 2014 accords to abate hos li es). The Russians invaded us-
ing advanced soviet weaponry and logis cs from the Cold War, and the Ukrainians might have had weapons in places
that allowed only a primi ve defense. A cursory reading about the conict indicates Russian invaders used more than
thirty dierent classes of weapons from small arms to high caliber mobile and in place ar llery not to men on their
air power over the Ukrainians.
The conict most recently has consisted of incessant infrac ons of ceasere rules that some mes have had the Rus-
sians ring rockets at places during intervals las ng ve minutes to those much more lengthy not an environment
in which to nd yourself an innocent civilian. The trophy site of the conict has been the Donetsk airport, and I have
never been to Ukraine, so my guess is that serves as a logis cs center that is vital to Russian oensive opera ons so
as to keep the troops there constantly rotated in then out, then back in again on guard against Ukrainian government
troops and their paramilitary allies. It might be challenging for some here to nd that the established and storied,
seasoned, and tac cally experienced and famed Russian military is with a cheap pack of rebels. The war is subject to
a watchdog organiza on, the Special Monitoring Mission from a European security agency that is mul na onal and
that does that sort thing. This organiza on might probably have observed and regulated the war in Georgia to an
extent and then the Tchetchnya wars before that and then in parallel.
There are two basic transit points between Ukraine and Russia at this point the troops use : One in Donetsk and then
another in Gukovo. Both are apparently in Northern Ukraine and anywhere from over one thousand people to six
thousand people use these border checkpoints each day. Many travel across the border into Russia and turn right
around and come back; so do people on the Russian side, including military personnel and their motorized convoys
that can be comprised of a few trucks and other vehicles to many trucks loaded and towing arms and ordinance and
the accompanying soldiers and other personnel in tornado type movements. The chief aggressor against Ukrainian
government troops is not the Russian with a rie nor pistol, but ar llery as placed on trucks and tanks (of course) to
large gun emplacements that decimate and annihilate towns and their associated property. The electricity and other
u li es, including water; public transporta on, and ordinary trac, including most construc ve and produc ve cross
border trac are all cut o. Stopped completely at mes, and this frequently during the past cold season that is sub
zero and goes down from there in Ukraine in the winter. There have been many, many, even violent protests against
the authori es in the country due to these condi ons, and people gather frequently in Stepan Bandera monument
square or in the Odessas Kievski and Tairov city district. Protest marches are equally de rigueur at this point and
equally disrup ve : In January 2015, many Ukrainians turned out in a protest march to commemorate the 106th
birthday anniversary of the famed Ukrainian hero Stepan Bandera in the capitol from Shevchenko Park, Kyiv, to that
towns Maidan Square along a very storied and historically signicant walking route. In Odessa there are gatherings at
Kulikovo Pole Square, and probably protests there too, popular ones, that go unreported. The numerous marches and
protests are as much against the war as against the condi ons and situa on the country is in without open borders
and free circula on into Russian and other territories that are now under threat and have been for some me, and of
which the remedial Minsk agreements of September 2014 that established a ceasere that is again so rou nely tread
upon and violated (by both sides).
Representa ves of the R.F.A.F. (Russia) and U.A.F. (Ukraine) meet rou nely again in Donetsk and in places up North
50
in order to try their wits at a proper cessa on of hos li es; yet the calm is broken by more rocket and ar llery re
that have proven greatly mortal vis a vis small arms re and have caused more a ri on and casual es than the
Russians could have hoped with infantry and small arms re; even mobile infantry. Displaced persons, thank you, are
now being registered thanks to terms agreed to in Minsk last September, and humanitarian and other help is supposed
to be coming in from outside, for example, $ 380 , 000 worth of food and supplies has been delivered to aected areas
in a typical dona on to the aicted by the country of Kazakhstan. There are an terrorist opera ons going on in
addi on to the war to keep people safe from robbers, looters, highwaymen and other chaos that is indeed mortal in
the region today. Fresh water is in very short supply, and naturally most of the water in Ukraine that is fresh comes
from the area occupied by Russia at this me and pumping sta ons and so forth have been silenced. People clamor
for the very basics and nothing can happen to save the day here, it does appear, or is apparently a likely possibility
and probability the current untenable and very dismal and unlucky state of aairs for the greater part will con nue in
Ukraine.
There is in addi on to the SMM, a Joint Center for Control and Coordina on that is supposed to make life easier for
the hotheads and the people. The JCCC convenes mee ngs to re enforce ceasere and other Minsk agreements
provisions, and the mee ngs in their quorum have representa ves of Luhansk, Donetsk, the clashing armies and so
on. Many, many of the ceasere opera ons again have to do with Donetsk airport : For some reason the rebels, or
government troops of Ukraine believe they might regain that avia on facility if they raise enough trouble with the
invaders despite their basically facing modern T model main ba le tanks, rockets and mortar re with their own,
essen ally, guerilla small arms and some larger gh ng pieces. Ukraine has air power as well, but one is senseless
to men on it there is not enough of it to be able even to li a nger against the Russian tac cal forces including
portable yet very powerful surface to air missiles brought into Ukraine from home. Foreign ministers have met
in European capitols (Kyiv, Vienna, Geneva, Minsk, ) to reinforce the terms agreed to in September 2014, but
ceaseres are nego ated and then promptly ignored; NGOs have been hired to evacuate civilians from ba le torn
areas, governance people have a UAV or two to inves gate wrongful military acts including again ceasere viola ons,
and the necessity of actual, real consulta ons is vital though no one wants to return to talks under the aegis of the
Trilateral Contact Group (T.C.G.) as appointed in 2014 at Minsk for these and other peacemaking purposes (trilateral
because the mediators in the dispute at hand here are Serbia, Switzerland, and FRG). The Europeans as well who
see no end in sight have donated armored vehicles to the Special Monitoring Mission (S.M.M.) who answer to the
T.C.G. The Minsk agreements have appointed a number of work groups to mete out or to nego ate, talk through or
somehow arrive at a peaceful solu on to what has happened. The longer this goes on, the more destruc on the
Kremlin has on its hands, and the more a liability to Russia Eastern Ukraine could prove to be if ever it becomes
recognized as a state. If violated, one must not hesitate to call another ceasere and to impart, especially to the
hotheads and aggressors here a message of peace under these condi ons, in this situa on, really means the
Ukrainians want to have their land and heritage back without worry and sovereign, proud and with a properly
func oning state in Eastern Europe.

51
Catch this Rock Band above All Wherever You Might Find Their Playing. (2015-06-06 06:10) - elevated - public

Music: U2 of course
[1]

1. http://www.u2.com/

52
Far from me to speak much of it. (2015-06-14 10:42) - elevated - public

Music: "indie" rock

COLD WAR KIDS (2015) Outside the Ques on of Berlin, .
For people like me, informally and without endorsement, rock and roll can be dicult to understand, especially since
I am too young to have understood the Beatles and markedly too old to comprehend the latest di es on your radio,
satellite music service or at the CD / DVD store, etc. It is not that dicult, in all events, to know why some musical
groups that play rock sell out their events in very large venues, sports stadiums and the like, and everywhere, not just
in the States and in Europe. The messages and the meaning of the lyrics of some of their composi ons are noteworthy,
and mostly I have avoided rock gigs over the years due to the loud noise levels and amplied, engineered sound, and
rowdiness, fancy and fanciful ligh ng and so forth at these events, not to men on the cultural (in many ways a culture
apart from what one would term art and culture) reasons their audiences nd in their calling to rock music and related
events.
While channel surng today on the network television, I did see a quite good media essay on the group made above
and in seeing and hearing some of their work, it is obvious this group has some greatly redeeming traits, including
that their members might have a ended high school with any one of us and unassumingly so. The members of the
group ( from Long Beach, California : Band members are Nathan Wille vocals, piano, guitar; Ma Maust bass
guitar; Jonnie Russell guitar, piano, vocals; Ma Aveiro drums, percussion see tour site. ) as presented in the
television program I did see and in their act, for all its musical a ributes including the rock notes, the loud bass and
percussion, and keyboards that recall to one a basis for an excellent night club group, have the appearance of greater
experience than simply congrega ng in a garage in order to make sound, at least ini ally. For all the chaos that is
shown in rock acts, including the melody and lyrics sounded into human ears, the music they play does appear to
be very carefully and painstakingly rehearsed, produced and played, apparently again in the style of Indie rock. I
know not what Indie rock actually is and am not curious, though it does seem to be cap va ng enough to allow for
television and other successful appearances. People like me know as well some of the best music in the world right
now is coming out of non rock meccas like Nashville and Los Angeles, even from places like Chicago and New York,
NY, where hip hop and k pop and so on are familiar and greatly acclaimed in their own right. The thing about
Cold War Kids and their soulful, blues, well - metered music is their approach to musical crea vity that has this group
of players s ll following a path of indecision on whether they need con nue playing live or not and if same should
instead emphasize studio musical produc ons. There are plenty of very achieving musicians and musical groups that
have studio based produc ons and in their concerts do their best of all to emulate the studio sound; some mes
this means turning things way up and really again amplifying the musical messages. This group of musicians appears
to be trying to s ck to the smaller venues though their apparent popularity might launch them in to a new game of
acous cs that characterize the larger venues and that have complicated the music scene for some groups for a long
me. Just as an example, groups that are used to playing live in open air venues tend to emphasize vocals in their live
performances and the basic notes and ris get lost in this unless given special me and a en on at performances.
In large places, no ma er how the volume is, the sound reects and can dissipate; and the way to deal with this for
some was to begin with loud amplica on and turn that up even louder. For me, this has been a reason to not a end
as the music, while greatly redeeming and melodious, well sung and well played at mes for most, lacks the kind
of clarity and melody of what one would ordinarily be able to easily hear and interpret and then even dance to given
the occasion. The old standard for this was the Beatles and Elvis Presley, I do believe, who were overwhelming
standard se ers in many ways even for modern jazz and country singers, not to men on the rockers of today. There
are standard se ers of today like U2, for example, who given the quality of their playing and thorough examina on
of rock themes in their music have great impact and longevity and whose music does make one want to listen. That
Cold War Kids in a television program discussed this a bit without naming anyone in men oning what their future is
does have to do with this and the apparent emphasis of the band on crea vity, and music as an art versus musical
produc on and various media and distribu on channels for it. This made the music they play sound just that much
be er and again allowed these four rockers to tame the chaos and rage, individual and mul colored and mul -
facted ran ng, and other a ributes of many Indie and other modern musical groups into a number of well put
53
together pieces. Remember we all went through our teenage years with these folks, or people like them and maybe
their music, just given the name of the band is worth hearing for Indie fans or rock fans everywhere.
Links
Indie Rock : h p://www.urbandic onary.com/dene.php?term=indie %20rock

Tour Site (without endorsement) : [1]h p://www.coldwarkidstour.com/e

1. http://www.coldwarkidstour.com/e

54
LOOK AT THIS ... . (2015-06-22 03:05) - indierent - public

Music: shostakovitch or similar

It might not be believable, but I did see an almost half - hour television essay dedicated to : Vivienne Westwood design
and the like as featured through popular fashion shows and h p://www.viviennewestwood.com/. As expressed, this
designer is typically le ist and an - everything; a "get rid of em all" - type personality. Nice clothing, too.

55
1.7 July

56
On the Eve of Independence Day - 2015 A Very High - impact Film Produc on and Mixed in Portrayal
(2015-07-02 03:34) - An cipatory - public

Music: Star Spangled Banner

THE PATRIOT (2000) Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper, Joey Richardson. This lm from 2000
has to do with American revolu onary war themes that itself portrays the colonizing Bri sh as brutal oppressor
occupiers facing the Americans who carry on a campaign against the army of redcoats that gets more and more costly
for the Bri sh by losses through the army and the English treasury paying for the redcoats again to subdue American
rebels. Ba les and the guerilla gh ng scenes, mostly showing the Americans victorious, are horric and Mel Gibson
gives an outstanding portrayal of a leader of reluctant farmers, tradesmen, herders and so forth who in their skirmish
tac cs are for the greater part equipped and trained to outwit and out maneuver their more conven onal opponents
in what was an unconven onal war. The Bri sh in this produc on are portrayed as ruthless persecutors and assassins
who use the resources and authori es of the Crown in a empts to eliminate the American freedom ghters, and with
very li le talk or other considera on apart from whizzing bullets and ar llery shells. The adap ve guerilla tac cs of the
American guerillas really drive the redcoats to no end and the good guys as freedom ghters from the colonies emerge
as the victors. Cornwallis and his men are portrayed as eete, overbearing, over insistent and very ecient military
people in their own way and in playing by their own rules. The American freedom ghters, and this especially in their
leadership as portrayed by Gibson (the Ghost in the lm) are portrayed as harried, imagina ve, crea ve, stronger in
character, smarter ghters, be er rie and pistol shooters, and the list goes on the Americans as colonials fought the
redcoats in this lm in most every way as superior military and paramilitary people, and in the support they received
from their friends le at home out of the ba les. The ac on scenes make the Bri sh troops look quite like bufoons,
what with their marching, charging and ring in arrays and straight lines this was the way armies fought in the day,
apparently, even on country roads leading through thick forests and thickets. It is somehow dicult in and of itself
how the Bri sh imagined themselves winning a war this way, what with the geometry they employed and the guerilla
tac cs of the Americans : That the redcoats never changed strategy to adapt to the sharpshoo ng Americans could
not have been worse for them and then given again the addi onal adap ve tac cs of the Americans including the
be er mobility of their personnel, it is addi onally dicult to see how the American revolu onary conict just went
on and on so for such a me. The response to this over me has been the English army, despite its exploits against
other militaries, had its eorts spoiled in addi on to the wearing down by the mobile American army, experienced
addi onal bloody a ri on and destruc on by the introduc on of French troops and then Hessian ones. Just more and
more piled up against them militarily and in ways the redcoats were nor prepared nor able to oppose given the style
of their commanders and the ways the Crown saw to direct its (what was then a great army) troops through Cornwallis
and his sta. The Crown apparently had goals with regard to the Americans that included teaching Washingtons men
and the ghters under other colonial generals a good gh ng lesson using their own strategy and tac cs and then
again teaching the rebels and revolu onaries further lessons that would have had dire consequences for everyone in
the colonies : It is possible, in fact observable, the Crown did not see the fu lity of this perhaps every redcoat at the
me knew the Brits could not take enough out of the American colonies, and sought in the end just trying to rip o the
colonial popula on through oppressive tac cs such as conscrip on, oppressive tac cs against anyone standing up for
independence and freedoms, and then oppressive taxa on itself for the remaining populace in order to completely
subjugate the land and people together, then their ability to engage in administra ve discussions and have even a small
inuence at home in the Bri sh Isles. This goal as one perceives it was a truly colonialist and royalist approach that gave
a model to future genera ons in throwing out foreign oppression and foreign inuences. The American ght against
the Bri sh royals was dierent from the French one a li le later in the eighteenth century as the French revolu on
dealt mostly with a failed royal family suering under poor nances a er genera ons of proigacy, at least in part, and
a principled revolu onary center in the country as fed up with the royals there even despite the full granaries and
commercial successes of many of the French at the me. The Americans in their revolu on toppled a foreign occupier
and oppressor; the French their own home rule given the foreseeable and unreasonable future burdens of nancing
their crown. Revolu onary wars are not well mannered and well appointed beauty pageants, and THE PATRIOT as
a lm does li le to roman cize the overall pitched, high risks and high stakes ba les the Americans fought with the
57
Bri sh under the circumstances that are so gloried in the history books and so on. It is a great tribute to the leaders
of the American revolu on, Franklin on down, and across the board; and to the French and Hessian personnel who
dealt their own decisive defeats to the Bri sh forces that they could mo vate their own gh ng forces to confront the
Brits who were be er equipped, educated, prac ced, and in principle with be er reconnaissance and commanders,
to win a terrible war in the day. Making such a lm that illustrates these themes must be altogether extremely dicult,
especially in its portrayal of the revolu on not of a romance with overriding and glorious, abstract concepts of the day
such as a Cons tu on, Bill of Rights, freedoms and checks and balances by extremely enlightened people, though by
its portrayal of simple and dire sacrices by a young popula on throwing o the Bri sh yoke this is what makes
this produc on impress, live, and impact and greatly augment the value of American revolu onary ideas of the day.
The crudeness, and brutality of the conict as shown are stupefying at mes and truly shocking and the lm is not for
kids, at least not for the very young who lack understanding of the colonial era, despo sm and so on. Review again
this Hollywood produc on featuring many stars as led by Mel Gibson in your Independence Day ac vi es this year
there is yet lots of me and in its en rety, this lm is greatly impressive again in its depic on of the Americans having
enough with the Brits in the day, enough to rise up against a ruthless and vindic ve Bri sh Crown and with a faith
strong and solid enough to prevail against monarchic evils. Somewhere in the U.K. today, either in a museum that
is quite secure or a foreign bureau, the plans the Crown had for the colonies a er a victory over Washingtons men
probably rest un viewed, probably slowly deteriora ng. It is possible the English really wanted to hang onto New
England and so forth, Canada and Mexico and South of there, even, and with benevolence as much as aordable in
this oversight role, they just could not manage to win an un winnable war against a gh ng force who knew the
Crown was cheap and greedy, and thus many of the slogans of the day, pamphlets and so on. This the lm does not
show though it does show the greater military gamesmen in the Americans as a drama c and important feature on
a very human level of the American ght for sovereignty as enlightened people knew it in the day. Another review :
h p://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-patriot-2000

58
Some Real Music from America for July 4, 2015 (2015-07-02 04:20) - bien elv - public

Music: classique
[1]Sarah Chang [2]Itzak Perlman [3]Leonard Bernstein (conduc ng) See also YouTube for Suzanne Tedeschi, Bonnie
Rai , SRV.
1. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=sarah+chang+violin+youtube+massenet+meditation+2015&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=s
arah+chang+violin+youtube+massenet+meditation+2015&sc=0-0&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=30DB6A1B26B727ADE67630DB
6A1B26B727ADE676
2. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=itzak+perlman+violin+beethoven&qs=n&form=QBVR&pq=itzak+perlman+violin
+beethoven&sc=0-22&sp=-1&sk=#view=detail&mid=910E336E43B10B16343E910E336E43B10B16343E
3. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=leonard+Bernsteing+beethoven+symphonie+pastorale+No.+6&go=Submit+Quer
y&qs=bs&form=QBVR#view=detail&mid=0BE8DDDB1B76BA4D98550BE8DDDB1B76BA4D9855

59
GOLF MY WAY, by Jack Nicklaus (2015-07-17 04:03) - elevated, an cipa ng - public

Music: muzak

Golf My Way, by Jack Nicklaus (2005, Simon and Schuster) While I have a copy of this book and must return to it again
and again over me, it did seem like a good idea to re review it this year albeit right in the middle of the year and in
the middle of the golng season, maybe to see if there is anything in it (and there is) that I might addi onally glean
from the text and illustra ons. There are plenty of golng books around and the Nicklaus book is the one I keep,
though not the only document I have used over the years players like me are interested in proper ball striking,
and in the game approaching the green, then in the pu ng game. I have never, by the way, ever had a consistently
great tee shot and nd I am streaky with respect to tee box and fairway play. One might men on that more prac ce
and so forth are needed and quite to the contrary, players like me know we have to play more one might hit balls
all day and succeed perfectly well at that, but prac cing is only one part of golf, and certainly does not even remotely
subs tute for real me play of the game. I actually learned my swing in the old days by emula ng Georgia golfer
Davis Love III who technically has everything together in his swing, especially with respect again to the tee and fairway
play. He also had, during his prime playing years, the dis nc on of having the longest drive of any professional golfer
of his stature, and in learning about his excellent techniques it is dicult to comprehend how things could have been
otherwise as Mr. Love in this Greatest Game of All not only has good swing technique; he as well has developed the
basics of me honored fundamentals of body strength and clear headedness, and having some fun while playing
at golf that make following him an educa ve and really great to see. Ernie Els is much the same way and is around in
compe on more these days than Mr. Love III, and with a swing and playing style again that eschew the gimmickry
and diculty with which some golfers play. A good second or third reading of Golf My Way I know not only unlocks
golng poten al for anyone as it speaks about the playing style of golfers Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player,
and Lee Trevino, etc. who have been playing for a long me and in a game that really changes very li le and who yet
today spin the ball and so forth without playing the ball dead straight as some believe they try doing. Jack Nicklaus
is from his school days an Ohioan, and Ohio is a place where there is excellent golf and great people, too, without
having everyone pull their clubs to calibrate their swings again right now Ohio is a likely place for great golfers too,
it goes to say, not just Pebble Beach and, for example, places like Hawaii or Texas. Just reading the Nicklaus text again
is a reminder that great players are from anywhere and everywhere, and the loca on where one comes from ma ers
li le in compe on or in the overall social and collegial tone of many if not all playing at golf. Mr. Nicklaus in his book
also talks quite a bit about the technicali es involved in the swing and not necessarily the how tos but through
60
stories, details and analysis that illustrate renements everyone needs make to their swing and golng game overall.
One of the great paradoxes he brings out early in the text is if one is preoccupied with accuracy and the like, and
especially early in ones playing years, the less one will be able to hit the ball well as needed accuracy comes with
prac ce and experience for most who play at golf and requires for some more extensive training and playing than
is ordinary for most. Concentrate on contact or impac ng or hi ng the ball in any training while learning to
make the clubs and clubheads work. Remembering as well that dierent clubs and woods go with dierent swings
go with dierent players of dierent shapes and sizes, height and weight, and so on. Are you whippy, regular,
s , ? What types of golf balls do you like to use in prac ce / play? Remember as well with respect to equipment
and so forth, there is a hands and arms school and there are as well other schools including the legs and body
discipline of many good golfers. People like me do not really have a school as my arms and rota on in view of the
ones listed here are limited somewhat and I concentrate mostly on the proper backswing and foo ng. There are a
number of things that can help one to keep the swing balanced and speedy at the same me and theyre in the book,
too : read on. Choose your clubs wisely and not just with your own personal physics in mind, but your typical score
and handicap factored in as well. Yes, also, the grip on the clubsha in prepara on for the golf swing in play is the
most important item in the game (as it mostly always has been) yet to this day; and there are a variety of grips. Dont
forget your preshot rou ne as well people like me some mes have a diculty with wan ng to expedite play and to
hurry up with it, or to get on with it and especially in the fairway where at mes a er a decent shot from the
tee box I refuse to take the me for proper se ng up for my second shot (ge ng on with it!) and for instance will
du the second shot a li le. This is one part of golf one cannot deal with in prac ce pa ence and cool headedness
come with playing experience, and even more so with playing at tournament golf. Most of the problems I create for
myself on the fairway have to do with properly se ng up the shot not club selec on and nor distance nor actual
swing techniques. The Nicklaus golf book reviewed here with the reader goes through the various permuta ons and
technical considera ons that add up to ones swing and in a way that would have one develop a proper golng swing
and swing plane apart from direct duplica on of those of Mr. Nicklaus. Special considera on is given to fairway play
(thank you!) and golng fundamentals and then approaches to the green (the altar of the game.) Remember that
your tee shot is dierent in its techniques and torque, precision and other factors in dierent ways from the shots
used near the green from the fairway and the obviously from the pu ng strokes on the green itself. Pu ng requires
good technique and prac ce, but pa ence (!) and condence (!)as well. Playing at golf is an intense experience under
the circumstances and given the honesty and integrity that go into this, remember as well the compe ve spirit, diet,
exercise, lifestyle priori es and accomoda ons, staying on the golf learning curve even in ge ng some instruc on at
mes, prepara on for playing at the course and even again for sessions at the prac ce facility, the proper equipment
requirements and fullling them, mee ng up with more compe on and therefore more playing pressure; staying
posi ve and s cking to ones game. It is perhaps unmen oned yet in this review as the piece of resistance, but a
theme that is in every reading sec on of Golf My Way, that one must have a good teacher of the game of golf and in
order to be prepared and at mes to have the proper condence to play at the game nd one and work, prac ce,
learn, grow and play your game!

61
Belated Book Review Eastern Europe. (2015-07-30 18:58) - somber - public

Music: shostakovitch or similar

KHRUSHCHEV REMEMBERS (Nikita Khrushchev, 1970, Li le Brown) Belated Book Review. This self composed
biography by Nikita Khrushchev brings to light some now older themes around the development of poli cs in the
USSR during the years more or less from 1918 through the mid - 1960s and covers any number of foreign policy
issues from the soviet point of view (the book was composed and wri en during the Cold War). One need know as
well in evalua ng or even looking at the prosaic scope of the text, over 550 pages, that soviet regimes, free regimes
in Western and Central Europe were more experienced and fullled their foreign policy promises, and had a history
of same, with greater consistency from a strictly poli cal point of view, in be er fashion and more thoroughly than
other states at thet me. This is true maybe even in the chaos and alarm of WWII where Germany subjugated many
territories that had a terrible me resis ng Nazi pressures in a emp ng to maintain their sovereignty even with
capitols moved and administra ons and intelligentsia abroad. In this poli cal environment that was the beginning, at
least in the ocial Khrushchev era, of the use of technology and computers in public policy and poli cal decision
making, men on 1953 through 1964, the soviets perceived a role for a mostly provincial communist group from places
like Odessa, and especially from Eastern Ukraine, and Georgia, to run the vast territory that it was, what with its varied
geography, scenery and eleven me zones. The story of the accession to power of Khrushchev and his cronies is a
well wri en version in this book, but does not contain, for instance, the grotesque and morbid, sordid quali es of
characters involved such as Lavren Beria, much less the awkwardness with which Beria and associates were arrested
and condemned. It is possible there were so many of these types of things documented and witnessed by ocials
that Khrushchev could have forgo en the lesser details altogether and not wanted to include them anyway for their
overall sickening and aliena ng characteris cs. He did have to dispense with Malenkov and Beria to accede to the
posi on of First Party Secretary of the CPSU (1953), and then again some of this sort of work was proper to facilitate
a free and open presenta on of the secret speech on Stalin, the terrors and famines and so on at the Twen eth Party
Congress a li le me later. What is so cap va ng about the condemna on, posthumously, of Stalin by his successor
has to do not with subject nally becoming the master and having a word or two about it, hardly that; but with a
comparison to day of Stalin with the posthumous Stalin in the 1950s. The memory of Stalin today is one of respect
and endearment, as for one who saved the country from Teutonic conquest, ins lled fear in anyone wishing to ght
the USSR, and not singly, but more interes ngly for the intrigues of the Kremlin at the me he ruled (1920s mid
1950s). Some of the intrigues of the Khrushchev Kremlin might have been worse due to USSR leaders becoming be er
educated and learning to interact with technology, to use the sciences, and with less reliance on the fairies and sprites
that tended the Kremlin (however gura vely) in previous mes. There are as well no randomly more interes ng
nor less in this text as each page is weighty with the unfolding of the very interes ng life of this peasant from the
Donbass (one of the areas recently invaded by the Rusian armed forces) in Ukraine : Khrushchev, for all his faults -
62
overaggressivness; heavy, heavy Marxist priori es; over cha y character at mes, a need to know all, an inability to
relax or have the people around him really do so, and on and on was a born leader. In some other place, perhaps
a Western country, while Stalin would have tended only a garden a er leaving the Motherland behind, Khrushchev
knew enough about Lenins approaches to and ideas about things to probably get on by owning a successful business
in any adop ve region of the world. Stalin had his own version of Lenins very carefully worked and thought through
ideas, and most people, if not all outside the Russian Federa on today will agree this was wrong, u erly wrong for
many cogent reasons. It is a stark and shadowy thing that today any morality can be found about the things Stalin did
and ordered others to do, and the jus ca on for these that is held widely in the Russian Federa on only rocks the
boat in very Western places. It was the personal view of thinking, intelligent and informed people during the 1950s
the soviets had to resort to spying and underhanded assassina on and the like, not as a ma er of prac cality nor
poli cs, but as a mindset and ma er of necessity that were engendered by memories of famine, disaster including
military disasters in the Motherland itself, poor public policies, other severe priva ons and suering not to men on
the types of un ng and s lted, immoral mo va onal talks given by communist party ocials to its followers at the
me. This dark impera ve of the Stalin era that casts a pall over succeeding regimes in the USSR and its own successor,
the Russian Federa on, is what observably had been wrong with the Class of 1937 and its deadly and destruc ve
an cs up to the secret speech and break with the past. Given some of the posturing by the Kremlin recently and not
so recently having to do with underhandedness, the shadow of Stalinist ideas and its impera ve hangs over the
USSR and Russian Federa on regimes that succeeded Stalins both in the interpreta on of what they have done and
in what is reported on their ac ons to the extent available. The secret speech by Khrushchev at the Twen eth Party
Congress of the CPSU might have as well been a response to the kind of public percep on of the poli cs of the USSR
as illustrated in the Churchill (Fulton,) Missouri speech that was given earlier in me (1946), but that had in it much
of its content mirroring Stalinism and its legacy the opposite way. Khrushchev also in the text gives accounts of the
Berlin crises, and the Cuban Missile Crisis and rela ons with Castro. There as well are accounts of confronta ons and
conicts with capitalists everywhere, but notably in this text those in Viet Nam and Southeast Asia; the account of the
WWII mes is excellent as well as is the chapter on the Korean War (1953 1954). The text discusses at some length
the ongoing theme at the me of PRC having to do with Marxist orthodoxy and a poli cal split between USSR and PRC
due primarily to Chinas need under Mao to catch up to the Americans in ve years, and in Maos public approach to
the capitalists that one could not live with them at all. Stalin entertained these kinds of conceptual beliefs and given
that Khrushchev did not, really, the very costly poli cal dynamic between the two countries con nued and con nues
to aect their rela ons today, especially among those PRC ocials as greatly inuenced by Mao. The text contains
brief biographical sketches of the main soviet poli cal and military characters of the Stalin years, a meline and index,
and the text as released of the secret speech by Khrushchev (1953). Overall an at once shocking and surprising, and
by Khrushchev in composi on at mes a gentle and sen mental, well wri en narra ve text. Really good.

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Some News about How Sleepy We Allow Ourselves "To Be". (2015-07-31 01:19) - frazzled? - public

Music: Mozart duos

[1]Pu n A ends Kaliningrad 2015 "Navy Day". [2]"Quiet" Russian Navy News - 2013. [3]Not - so Recent V. Pu n
Interview ... [4]Shsch, Shush ... ! "[5]Borei!" (with related names like Dolgoruky, Monomakh and Nevsky) ... not
boring. [6]Present and future work (them).
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yic2IfktTfA
2. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/01/us-russia-submarines-patrol-idUSBRE95007V20130601
3. http://news.yahoo.com/video/charlie-rose-vladimir-putin-interview-201435046-cbs.html
4. http://www.rt.com/news/russian-noiseless-borei-submarine-106/
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5f0ZJ0p2Sg
6. http://www.rt.com/news/166480-yasen-class-submarine-severodvinsk/

64
1.8 August

65
Cybersecurity. (2015-08-09 22:49) - sporty - public

Music: sibelius

Informa on Security, (2nd ed., 2014, Pearson Publishers) by Mark S. Merkow and James Breithaupt While many com-
puter texts are concerned with making your machine run faster and more eciently, this is an excellent text to read
given the recent cybera acks from overseas on U.S. federal compu ng and corporate facili es in that it examines
the prac ce of cybera acks with an approach having to do with best prac ces and defense in depth as the result
of evalua ons and assurance feeding back to and increasing the quality and func onality of cyber defenses. All this
from the standpoint that about anyone who can read will understand and follow on with a disciplined approach to
computers and other technologies and technology controls. The text is wri en not as a laundry list of things that are
wrong with systems or that could go wrong, and the authors take considerable pains to illustrate dierent issues for
the reader in a posi ve, cogent and easily understandable communica ve style. For instance, the text illustrates in
depth why seeing to system and computer security has far more to do with the compu ng environment than unnec-
essary vigilance as to changes in usernames and passwords. A good amount of the narra ve is spent on topics that
cover data protec on and successes at detec ng intrusions. The authors present a par al framework for examining
dierent types of a acks and this without going into all the dierent products and processes to purchase along the
path to more ecient and be er defenses in computer opera ons. Remember that one cannot completely protect
a computer system from a ack all the me with 100 % eec veness and with this in mind, one would do well to try
ra ng or having ones computer rated for security defenses the text gives some tools to do this not only for cyber-
security, but just as importantly for physical security in addi on to risk and other prac cal and related assessments.
The topics examined even in a li le detail here could ll several volumes : Cyber policies, compliance, compu ng stan-
dards, audi ng and the audit trail, business con nuity and disaster recovery, secure so ware development, intrusion
detec on and protec on, system security tes ng, access controls and authoriza on, PKI and key management, and
more. Most of the content has to do with the needs of business users, and this text is greatly recommended to you
if you use an individual computer or networked system for business. Remember as well in business that assurance,
and the text goes into this somewhat, starts o en with self assessment and risk assessments and o en ends as
well with informa on owners maintaining their own machines for proper conden ality, integrity and availability of
data. The text illustrates various protocols and their features with specic focus on TCP / IP, HTTP and protocols
and standards for electronic mail as well. There are many illustra ons of network topics and while the diagrams as
presented, and as they typically are in any popular text, can be dicult to read, it does pay to examine as much as
possible among the illustra ons in their narra ve and accompanying images. The book does not, and specically this
66
text was probably very carefully wri en with this in mind, propose to the reader any par cular security product nor
model, nor really any specic criteria to use in self assessments and risk assessments for security. It does allow for
the reader making informed and again cogent decisions about the way to approach computer security and its various
so ware and hardware products, and without giving a checklist for this, narra ve here leads the reader into various
items that have one asking more specic ques ons about the eec veness and validity of dierent security products.
When one goes online and purchases security so ware, this might take just a few minutes and in my reading of the
text, this is not en rely incorrect from the standpoint of the need for security coverage of ones computer, though
the text by its wri ng has the reader asking more detailed ques ons about security products and their features. The
important thing is to recognize topics as they arise and to adopt the proper security measures and countermeasures
in view of applicable cyber threats. Every computer and end user, even if this is not on paper or documented some-
where electronically, has a technology security prole this is true from the computer system of one person to the
very large networked systems of very big business and said proles include the way one interacts with and around
computers, security and other requirements for system assurance and func onality, the type or types of technology
products one uses, assump ons around these, related threats and vulnerabili es, and the security policies and best
prac ces that cover these and more. All this is rated according to standards as applied or any of various tests that are
available. With the results of the tests come addi onal guidance and evalua ve feedback. The text prima facie gives
these points and many more; enough content to allow the reading and learning of dierent concepts, principles, rules,
guidelines, and so on that again allow the authors audience the ability then to speak about whats happening security
wise, and to have access to the appropriate and applicable tools in the common body of knowledge to deter and
if not that, to detect and respond to dierent a acks aimed at unauthorized access, use, and changes or updates to
data that is otherwise protected, conden al and secure. [1]CBS News on cyber a acks in the U.S. - ar cle. [2]More
cyber a acks news - ar cle.
1. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/russia-believed-to-be-behind-pentagon-cyber-attack/
2. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-behind-many-recent-cyber-attacks/

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Remember again : Hiroshima Was the First. (2015-08-11 04:36) - of the world - public

Music: schoenberg

[1]New York Times Anniversary Coverage Atomic Bombing of Japan.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/06/world/asia/ap-as-japan-hiroshima-anniversary.html?_r=0

68
Belated Book Review Pedaling Geopoli cs Once Again. (2015-08-15 05:04) - retro - public

Music: four seasons

BODY OF SECRETS, BY JAMES BAMFORD (RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHERS, 2001 2002) This text is a great text on one
of the mysteries of public governance and it ranks as a suspenseful page turner along with some of the be er Clancy
books that I have read (a few of those, too, in fact). The book here by J. Bamford indeed shows that the reality can
be just as magical and mysterious, cloak and dagger as the unreal character of some novels; though I reserve this
editorial for actual events being governed by the actual laws of physics, without poe c or narra ve license and so on.
This seemed like an appropriate book to try reading despite its overall volume given the public accusa ons against
NSA people in their facili es and other venues as spying on the various communica ons of many Americans, and this
along with the fact that it could include all Americans without regard this is the danger to our ci zenship rights,
poli cal and cons tu onal, civic and moral rights that they are covered, by the accused, by a type of monolithic
technological umbrella that shields us from the falling sky and that at the same me is a control on the lives of
those whore looked at by whatever apparatus is supposed to be used. Prima facie, the editor / author here does
believe the accusa ons against NSA and the way they are treated publicly just adds to the absurdity that government
in the US would be into, essen ally, this very high cost and high risk, low yield surveillance and its prac ces and
methodologies. The text begins primarily with the beginning of the US intelligence community in modernity, for all
intents and purposes begun with the stealing of ciphers and codes to vic mize the Axis powers during WWII (1939
1945). The book gives several drama c schemes and stories about the bravery of the Americans, not to men on the
overall smarts of the US cipher people during that me, even given their capturing of various devices and appliances
for sending signals by the enemies of the Allies. This ac vity and related pursuits in the brutal, bloody and hot war
in Europe and the Pacic gave way to the ocial establishment of US intelligence ocialdom during the Cold War, a
conict just as mortal and perhaps even more costly nancially than the geostrategic, mul na onal hot war that
preceded it. Ciphers during the Cold War became extremely important and hard to come by, especially given the
advancements in communica ons and defense intelligence of the day all the way through to the Carter years. In
reading of this, one then has the dis nct impression, to be conrmed or not, though not by me of course, that NSA
has been a poli cal ins tu on, and while apparently at the same me very heavily staed and very ac ve in every
area of US ac vi es and endeavors, NSA itself has no reason to play a role anywhere apart from eyes and ears
. This is from the illustra ons in the book that apparent tradi on of this bureau. Believe it or not, the technologies
used at Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis, the 1950s and 1960s Berlin Crises, presiden al summits, and other
events of the mes are s ll quite appropriate and up to - date given the abili es of NSA to carry out a mission as
told in the book and with the technical func onality that is developed and used since some me ago. The Pueblo
incident that captured adult a en on during the height of the Cold War is an example of the power of delega on of
command and how it might possibly indeed under the circumstances go awry, including with technological failures
and human error, and all. The Gary Powers fateful U-2 ight from a NATO base in Turkey to where he was shot down
over Sverdlovsk, USSR, is another such series of events where the factors of failure simply mul plied upon each other
and so did the ming and other failures of these kinds of events. Some of the incidents in undersea conicts also bear
this out, and the U-2 downings over communist territories before the implementa on of be er ying / surveillance
machines are exemplary in this manner as well. In a way, US looking at various things in the USSR could have used
cheap balloons or even more high yield satellite technologies versus the quick and dirty overights that were so
risky in the old days, primarily due to detec on and the ever evolving power of heat seeking and radar guided, even
an radar methods and prac ces. Through all this, and this is a primary theme throughout the text looked at here,
NSA methods and prac ces, though used by and o en part of military ac vi es were and have never been part of an
personnel events : NSA in many respects is above all s ll just eyes and ears. No US government department that
is well known has missed the opportunity to take part in defense ac vi es, of which those involving Israel against
its neighbors, star ng with Egypt and eorts by Nasser in many days gone by to na onalize the Suez Canal. This had
been, of course, a lousy poli cal idea again, though it caused at least two conicts and a shoo ng war as won by Israel
in the 1960s. Re enforcing the poli cal and administra ve rela ons between Japan and Korea and Washington was
discussed as well and the technical and very complex poli cs in all in keeping both these par es par cipa ng willingly
69
in the an communism of the day in the West took considerable eort and incen ve, and the Pueblo incident in
1967 68 is illustrated in the text as directly a ributable to this. The Korean and Viet Nam wars are also shown to be
the product of similar, very complex and complicated poli cs and policy, not to men on provoca ons by the enemies
of the US under the circumstances : the Korean war was the result of a military invasion of the South by North Korea,
communist troops who were eventually routed back either to PRC or DPRK by 1954 or so. The Viet war had to do with
an essen ally endless and intelligent group of forces in North Viet Nam (NVA / Viet Cong, ) known worldwide for
incursions into South Viet territories star ng perhaps as early as 1961 without the benet of the 17th parallel that
came later and extremely destruc ve in their tac cs they were against the South and its army (ARVN) during 1961
1975 when the South was completely take over by North Viet Namese troops. The violence of the open military
ba leeld by the end of the Carter administra on during the Cold War, had given way primarily to more and more
moneys going into things like ARPA and the internet. This was also the me of actually very li le open military conict
and the shock value of news from Viet Nam and so on gave way to lower prole stories about an submarine
ac ons, and more looking into USSR foreign aairs given the increasing openness of the Brezhnev regime in USSR.
Then during the Reagan years, emphasis on NSA shi ed away from Central Europe and Asia Pacic as well despite
considerable content emerging from sources in those places on the ground. The Reagan years were also the years
in which countries, who had shown primarily economic progress, started pursuing the poli cs of nuclear weapons and
this despite admonishments about it from US businesses. The events contribu ng to illustrate this are easy to recall
and given as well the fact that the arms race and nuclear weapons stockpiling are not for anyone but the scien sts
and engineers who administer these machines. Throughout this en re story, the NSA con nued to supply the US
president with vital details and informa on to sustain one in a posi on, looking into things, but playing by interna onal
rules as much was the purview of the NSA during perhaps 1960s 1970s given its capabili es as developed and
used. The Carter years gave way to years of NSA opera ons to re enforce a U.S. Military that might and that was
completely prepared for the Middle East wars that came later. As telecommunica ons and communica ons in general
became more complex and not just in its day to day usage, the NSA found new friends in those a emp ng to show
the Arabs what for. NSA during this me had new facili es constructed as well. The culmina on of these were
the military ac ons in Grenada, Panama, Desert Storm and Desert Shield, addi onal successes in the Afghan wars, all
involving an innumerable crowd of people, especially at the general and rapid rise of the internet. The text contains
several, very valuable personnel and other tables and a vital acknowledgement to anyone who contributed at the
me up to today. Overall, an excellent read eye opener, page turner. REVIEWS [1]THE SHADOW FACTORY, and
[2]THE PUZZLE PALACE
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/books/review/Dickey-t.html?_r=0
2. http://www.nytimes.com/1984/01/22/books/on-the-trail-of-a-mole.html

70
Belated Book Review "The Cruel Sea" (Nicolas Monserrat, 1951, Knopf Publishers) Copy here.
(2015-08-31 02:53) - grieving, sorrowful - public

Music: Various

Wikipedia Lis ng of [1]The Cruel Sea.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cruel_Sea_(novel)

71
1.9 September

72
2004 In a town in North Osse a - A Horrendous Act. (2015-09-02 04:50) - anxious, angry - public

Music: muzak
[1]Beslan and later Nalchik Again : Never forget, never again?
1. http://www.rferl.org/media/photogallery/russia-beslan-school/26557780.html

73
Never Again. (2015-09-14 17:37) - deant - public

Music: danzig

AUSCHWITZ A New History, by Laurence Rees (Copyright 2005, MJF Books). A er een years of wri ng books about
World War II and the Holocaust, and making related programs for the television about the Nazis, Mr. Laurence Rees
has illustrated in this text a quite detailed and worthwhile read about the Auschwitz (Oswiecim, Poland) prison camps
(Auschwitz and its satellite camps) that had started taking prisoners of the Germans in June of 1940 and that were
liberated in January 1945 by the Soviet Red Army advancing West against a retrea ng Wehrmacht. The construc on
of this camp was the result of a radical racial and ethnic policy espoused by the Nazis, rst par ally, and then en rely
as part of the Final Solu on decided upon in Berlin during the summer of 1941 before Auschwitz became fully
opera onal. The Final Solu on that eventually dominated this prison camps ac vi es, both those of Auschwitz
and its local partner camp Birkenau, included the goal of eradica on of all European Jews. The text draws on dozens
upon dozens of interviews by the author as conducted with Nazi perpetrators, and their vic m survivors from the
camps. The text also draws on hundreds of more interviews and documents and other media. It is cap va ng to
know the view of most Germans at the me of the Holocaust, at least that which took place in Upper Silesia during
WWII, honestly held their country to be (and though this is a poli cal statement, it is oered by the author with
some authority) as a paradise despite the horric circumstances of the war, atroci es and crimes and the milieu
of perpetra ng such crimes that prevailed in places. Just as the Nazis themselves had given up resis ng speaking in
terms of their radical views and their complexi es, and with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, archives and source
materials, other resources and stories became available and then invited less of a threat or retribu on against anyone
who spoke of this topic, the Holocaust and the Nazis, and its historical and other baggage. It is also interes ng to note
at present the an Semi c currents in Western and Eastern Europe alike at this me (year 2015); and that there
are barely any Jews in places in Serbia, Belarus, Lithuania and so on. During the mes before the Third Reich, Jews
ed Germany to Russia for fear of repression, but once the an Semi c currents of old again became part of the
oppression of dierent types of people, including the Jews; and this along with pogrom and war atroci es, Jews were
stuck trying to avoid lethal oppression in many, many places whereas, especially in Germany, the people around them
in freedom were at least rela vely happy un l it became evident in the public eye the German Reich might lose the
war. Some of the German Army personnel having to do with atroci es and various WWII German military groups
cited as having commi ed war crimes, when called before adjutants did claim in large part to just be following orders.
This was the claim even when people were conrmed torturers and so on in various an personnel ac vi es, in
the horric and grotesque exploita on of women; that the perpetrators referred to the higher ups and acts of the
regimes themselves as responsible for the wrongdoings. That the higher ups issued policies that unleashed this again
grotesque, primi ve and very violent and destruc ve behavior was referred to me a er me in legal proceedings
against oenders. As an example of a reply to this jus ca on and that for the criminally mortal methods used to
eliminate the Jews, responsible par es in Nazi Germany, once subject to trial proceedings stated they knew there was
no specic document that eshed out and illustrated for the reader underlings any details for the Final Solu on, the
policies of which provoked the most primi ve and destruc ve, malevolent animalis c behaviors of the perpetrator -
oenders on their vic ms at the me. That people were ac ng under orders might have been a self ra onalizing
pallia ve for having to carry out the shocking malevolence embodied in those cruel and unusual orders, one that eased
the emo ons in ascribing responsibility to ranking ocers and ocials, but this has been interpreted as a complete
myth when faced with the virulence and radical and destruc ve ideas and behaviors of the Nazis at the latest star ng
from the me of the Nuremberg Laws of 1933. It has been determined the dierent members of the Gestapo, and
those of other military groups within the Third Reich, frequently tried outdoing each other in me ng out violence,
grotesque and contorted destruc on and torture, and other punishments for bragging and other rights in the ocial
and party pecking orders of the me. Adolf Eichmann, though he is only another character in this text, as designer of
the Final Solu on and other destruc ve Nazi programs, is supposed to have risen rapidly in the ranks, maybe a er
about 1935, given this primi ve and criminal a tude. Along with Eichmann, there were other Holocaust architects
including Heinrich Himmler, Rudolf Hss, and Reinhard Heydrich. Of the names here, only Eichmann eluded Allied
authori es enough to escape the nal abyss of the Third Reich, and was later apprehended in South America. The
74
others died during the war or immediately a er the cessa on of hos li es. Nazism is / was a Darwinian ideology
that prevailed enough to result in the deaths of maybe 60 million mortals all told by the end of WWII to 1945
this not only includes military personnel, but the souls of innocents including women and children who perished as
the result of the war between the Allies and the Axis. The text, in addi on to historical deni ons and well placed
narra ve on events, contains numerous authen ca ng stories, some as short as a paragraph or two, about people
such as the Danish Jews, the stories of Helena Citronova, Ta ana Nanieva, Linda Breder, Walter Fried, Moshe Tavor
and dozens of others. The major antagonist in the text is Rudolf Hss, who indeed by his acts had a very dark and
sinister heart and intellect, who believed in the Jews and Hebrew race as sub humans, not people, but things to be
enslaved and then exterminated and eliminated, kept from view if s ll alive at any me. This view made of the Jews
a group of scapegoats for any and all acts against them by the Nazis the Jews were to the Wehrmacht and SS, etc.,
something the Nazis termed a racial tuberculosis of na ons that had to be stopped. For the Nazis, the Jews in their
faith represented something to rest upon ideologically as responsible for much of what was wrong with the world and
that invited no sympathy, no compassion, malicious goals against Jews as guilty par es, violence against the weak,
and with a kind of twisted and very complex, dicult for tude that resulted in ul mate poli cal and administra ve,
and destruc ve chaos in the world, especially in Europe and Asia Pacic during most of the 1930s and 1940s. An
absolutely outstanding read. For a me line of the Holocaust and World War II, see h p://www.ushmm.org.

tom_spi ers (2015-09-15 00:50:53) Mez - vous!

75
China State Visit - September 2015. (2015-09-22 22:14) - nonplussed - public

Music: China opera / kabuki

State Visit Chinas Leader to U.S. September 2015. The visit of the president of China to the U.S. that began earlier
this week has par cular signicance insofar as the visits to Sea le, Washington, D.C.; and New York, NY : These three
places are par cularly important for the economics of trade with P.R.C. and poli cs as well, especially with the visit
to Washington, D.C. that allows more of a voice for China at the center of U.S. policy making. The visit to Sea le,
WA, that took place at the beginning of the Chinese presidents U.S. trip has to do with the new ways the U.S. and
Asia Pacic trading partners led by P.R.C. will con nue to have a poli cal and economic impact of greater propor ons
going forward with respect to more U.S. trading partner exchanges with P.R.C.; and perhaps in view of a change in the
modes by which P.R.C. con nues to acquire technologies for hardware and so ware and even in the development of
same based on U.S. R & D. An important part of the State visit as well is a new energy agreement and the green
technology component that U.S. ocials are a emp ng to e to present and future trade and economics agreements
with China and Asia Pacic region countries. The visit to New York probably is a way to build es and increase the
trust of U.S. and China investors for each other and to resolve dierences. The future of the Chinese stock markets is a
concern of some moneyed interests everywhere at this me and due to the opacity in many ways of the four Chinese
securi es markets (Shang hai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Taiwan) and for other reasons, and Chinese investors at home in
these markets appear to have clear advantages for gain over outsider investors who rely on the economic and nancial
fundamentals that are well documented and duplicated for sound reasons everywhere. The Chinese investments
markets do not always follow western economics iden es and for some it is not clear how these factors a. make
the Asian markets easier to comprehend (and not just the scale of them) on dierent levels of analysis, and b. will
hold a promise for future developments in both American and P.R.C. markets that will make them more compa ble
and more mutually benecial and protable. So far, there are a number of issues that have not been discussed in the
visit ... (so far), including solu ons to the P.R.C. trade imbalances, capital ows, compara ve currency values; cyber
security issues, human rights, microeconomic issues, military aairs and security, more poli cs and La n American
and European aairs, and others. Mr. Xi jin Ping, the Chinese president, nor the U.S. president Barack Obama can be
expected to se le all of these items in a just few days touring the country together, much less over their mee ngs
and State dinners and so on : This does not mean they wont try. Remember the genera on of Mr. Xi jin and his
76
colleagues and its legacy and tradi on are as from the children of Mao and in order to achieve things within the
country itself, such party ocials and responsible par es must con nue to preach the con nuance of Mao Zedong
Thought while essen ally bargaining, even spoong for deals in the West in order to augment and eventually markedly
increase the economic and business stature and leverage the Chinese have, and that to a certain extent, the Chinese
people have achieved to date and that they will con nue to achieve in the event of the overall upward trajectory of
managed capitalism in P.R.C. this and the facilita on of same due to appe tes in Western and world countries for
cheap Chinese goods and services. Mr. Xis visit, or the visit of any Chinese party ocial on the one hand, in fact
is forced so, with the issues of discussing foreign rela ons and poli cs in Western terms, has at the same me Mr.
Xi and his colleagues obversely upholding the principles of socialism in their side of the deals made as they have
vowed to do given P.R.C. communist party rules and guidelines and their home rule. This policy, held in part star ng
with the visit of the old hard liners to America during the late 1970s and other exchanges featuring U.S. visits to
P.R.C. having more to do with enhancing tourism and having less to do with poli cal agreements nor trade policy,
communist party ocials have always run the risk of making agreements with the Americans on the one hand and
then being constrained to uphold Marxist ideology in their ocial work at home in China, something un palatable
and en rely against American values and the U.S. cons tu on not only the principled frac ousness of agreements in
the rst place as people like president Xi are tough to bargain with, but in the way outsiders to Asia must be indirectly
beholden to communists and socialism, etc., in seeing and agreeing formally and even informally with ocials from
these places about anything.

77
1.10 October

78
Like Hannibal ? Maybe "would like to be, ... ", or "wannabee". (2015-10-11 10:25) - op mis c - public

Music: shostakovitch

The Challenge Might Be As Dicult As the Swiss Alps (Maybe Moreso) Current Events and the Middle East. Last
week the Russian Federa on began joining the coali on against ISIL (or ISIS) in the areas of Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan
by joining in the air war against that revolu onary group. For many years, the U.S. Middle East policy has mirrored
worries about that part of the world on the part of the Soviet Union (d. 1989) and then the Russian Federa on that
followed. Many people believe that Russias interests in its neighbors in the region are rela ons with poli cal allies,
with a communist legacy and with socialist communist prac ces s ll ingrained and organized within the former
soviet clients in the region. While it is possible that those former soviet clients harbor socialist and communist ideals,
writer will speculate here to men on the Middle East rewards dierent and more complex makeups to organiza ons
than purely poli cal alia on or orienta on since some me ago. The proximity of the Middle Eastern countries
that are near Eastern Europe and the Russian steppe and so forth makes for great inuences now above and beyond
the poli cal as Russian language and culture, commerce and foreign aairs now probably are more important than
bolshevism for all its destruc ve power on its own. This kind of mirroring of Western and Russian concerns and
inuences over the years since the late 1980s, even as far back as the soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, has
greater weight now than ever before and the considera on given to allow or to encourage the Russian military to
carry on air strikes against ISIS is worth looking into at this point. Why would the Pu n regime want to help the
U.S. under the circumstances with a somewhat as perceived young and weak U.S. president and a Secretary of State
who assumed oce a er H. Clinton and whos primary concern might be, for example, the poli cal status of obscure
places in sub Saharan Africa, the South China Seas, or Asia Pacic rela ons and so on? Undoubtedly, Vladimir
Pu n and John Kerry, the U.S. Secretary of State have known each other for some me and glad - hand each other,
for example given previous amiable mee ngs, personal likings and professional rela ons. This gives the Obamas
some greater stature over the previous administra on to an extent and has allowed, with Secretary Kerrys strongly
worded statements of late, the Russians to use some of their might to organize and to inuence what would otherwise
be a greater burden for Western powers against a belligerent in ac vi es that are far ung and extremely expensive
to carry on at the same me. The use of air power and air ordinance in places like the Middle East, where air strikes
apparently feature dierent kinds of aerial bombing raids by U.S. and now by Russian, and other air forces against what
is for now a common enemy in jihad against all indels in Islamic terms, are and always have been expensive and costly
in the deployment of the forces; the destruc on these cause even against the enemy who gives up destroyed territory
79
and property, and then with the re establishment of civic order, the re building and re construc on of property
and reclama on of land and resources, and so on. It is unlikely the Russian Federa on entered into a bombing raid
agreement unless there were state level considera ons involved that will allow the former communists more power
in the Middle East among those they now inuence or have inuenced over me. The rebuilding of the destroyed
por ons of the Middle East region and their real proper es and infrastructure will also be expensive, and probably
even more expensive in nancial economic terms for the Russians in their client states given the way the Russian
economy works and has seemed to work for many years. That the aging infrastructure in these places needs some
renewal, maybe all of it does, has given the Russian administra on enough incen ve to ponder perhaps addi onal if
not lengthier arrangements with U.S. and Western countries as poli cal inuences in the Middle East now become
anew more well dened, but with higher stakes given the growing power of Iranian backed mili a and paramilitary
groups against Israel, the ou ng of NPT, trade and other rules in the sort of gamesmanship some powers in the
Middle East and in South Asia are now showing, not just, for example, that of Iran and Pakistan. This gamesmanship
one might note is en rely based on poli cal and u litarian, inhuman values and is unfair for most, if not all people
outside the poli cal structure in various countries. That the current poli cal projects in the region have taken on a
life of their own with popular subservience, at least in appearance, has more to do with the force majeur of some
administra ons there and not the humanism and ordinary banter and communica on between close neighbors in
these socie es. It is perhaps again this facet of many, many features of successes and failures in the Middle East that
is compelling to the Russian leadership at this me : How is a place like Russia to carry on its commercial, tourist,
cultural and other ac vi es if its near abroad is impoverished by costly and unmanageable wars of a ri on between
what again appear to be bands and other organized groups involving motorized infantry, armor and an air forces
engaging in an personnel campaigns even against civilians. What is one to do under the circumstances (?), and
this has been, possibly and par ally, the case presented to the Pu n regime that now is suppor ng Allied air strikes
with its own air power added in, at least for the me being. Vladimir Pu n could go into the books when all is said
and done as a great leader and teacher, something he might en rely desire at this point given his long service to
Russia as a country, perhaps even greater than the Ivans in a modern view for having thrown in his hat with Western
allies, not against the religion of Islam nor its clerics really as there are greatly respectable things about Islam for the
Russians, but for making forcible a empts to end a great chaos that threatens ul mately all of us at home in our own
countries. Should the chaos in the Middle East con nue, this [the chaos] will undoubtedly nd its way out of that
large region into our immediate quarters and quicker than we might an cipate (Cf. Michael OHanlon, 2015) and the
outcry to the powers everywhere would be more strident and maybe even fu le at the me. The objec ve of the
Reset by the Obama administra on undoubtedly featured these talking points as well. The Reset, possibly, was
not successful due to ocial successions in Eastern Europe and some related arguments between the Allies about
what the inuences in Eastern Europe and so forth were or should be at the me in terms of their magnitude, and
addi onal arguments about future poli cal and other developments did not allow for the overall eec veness of this
policy despite the eec veness and power agreements of its sponsors, messengers and other ocials. Strobe Talbo
(sp?) has wri en a book some me ago, The Russia Hand, that outlines the basic precursors to the Reset, factors
that make this policy more construc ve in the eyes of those who might have read it, even today when the policy is
shelved. The Russians are as much against terrorism and the export of jihad at this me as anyone else and their
helping in the air war against ISIS / ISIL represents the power of their type of administra on and poli cs as en rely
capable and func onal in following a desired and coopera ve path with Western countries in this situa on. Even the
ancient Ivans might have been happy at Mr. Pu ns decision to help and as such, his agreement with the Western
powers on this assures at least part of his poli cal legacy that for now could be greatly meaningful and signicant for
his home country and people. [1]CBS News Story October 8, 2015
1. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-syria-war-assad-airstrikes-cruise-missiles-rebels/

80
Khodorkovsky Communica ons Center Mikhail Khodorkovsky (2015-10-14 05:13) - Op mis c, elevated - public

Music: U2

[1]h p://www.khodorkovsky.com/news/ h p://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/05/mikhail-khodorkovsky-

switzerland #img-1
1. http://www.khodorkovsky.com/news/

81
The Steamroller Dont Try Nor "Do" This at Home. (2015-10-21 02:04) - Op mis c / cau oned - public

Music: Cleveland Orchestra

The Great War of Our Time , by Michael Morell with Bill Harlow (2015, Hache e Publishers) This greatly compelling
story is an inside look at a number of recent, life changing, events for many Americans and people in the Western
Hemisphere, including the bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa (1998), the dawning of the age of cyber - crime,
9 / 11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war against the form of jihad carried on by al Qaida, Hezbollah and
Hamas and their suicide bombers and squads, and other important trends and events across three U.S. presiden al
administra ons (or more) that of William Jeerson Clinton (1993 2001), George W. Bush (2001 2009) and Barack
Obama (2009 present) and more. While the text has people, not characters, actual people depicted in its pages,
and while the reading is about U.S. diplomacy, the military and other U.S. governmental divisions having to do with
very topically sensi ve details and classied material, it does not portray our government in a completely grotesque
and grandiose manner as some administra ons in Europe are depicted in some texts, past and present. Most of the
administra ve people in Mr. Morells text are not ordinary, same are extremely capable, well trained as they need
to be, doing the right thing and so on. Nor does Mr. Morell make an ornate illustra on of the workings of him and his
colleagues in the me line listed above, nor does he portray U.S. administra ons of the period as overly monolithic nor
sclero c : It is a great tribute to our country that people as adaptable, and hard working, sound and reasonable as
Mr. Morell is, found and carried out their lifes work in government, in many highly sensi ve and high value posi ons
as he has, and there are many people like him today in government service who comprise yet again the portraits in
his text in the third person, and for this, and for the ul mate good and ethical works of such people, we all owe an
un repayable debt, a debt of gra tude, and a moral debt to those not only who served as administrators in bureaus,
but to those who have been in harms way and in violent and destruc ve circumstances due to our enemies and their
own projects against the U.S. wherever they may be at this point. This includes obviously the recent conicts in the
Middle East and North Africa, but includes as well places like Belfast, Johannesburg, Tripoli, Karachi, Kiev, Pyongyang
and so on. The text is a memoir without really men oning itself as such and without the very intricate and overly
done details of some autobiographical texts that have to do with extrac ng and publishing material on the order of
complex and drama c intrigue and the like. The level of detail in the text keeps the reader engaged in the series of
events of Mr. Morells quite unsung and very important service career having to do with many, many federal bureaus,
and then bureaus outside the U.S. and for a me having to report on that to our chief execu ve. Next maybe to mayor
of New York City, the U.S. president has much to worry about and to priori ze and act upon each day. Unlike NYC and
its system that calls for micromanagement, the U.S. president has tasks that are much more complicated and ethereal,
and that have a mul factor and mul feature character that are some me so complex even great, really smart
people as our president is, typically, give pause to plod and step through issues that no computer nor machine have
even a faint hope of ac ng upon nor reasoning through, much less dealing with related policy and other leadership
resolu ons and avowals, even in the least. That men oned, the text is mostly concerned with topics of na onal
and Homeland security conicts and how these aect everyone, their greatly interna onal and mul tentacled
characteris cs, including those of technology and trade, arms, military aairs, trea es and diplomacy, interna onal
mee ngs such as those at Davos and Jackson Hole (and Mr. Morell is an economist), the list just keeps going. It is not
possible, but en rely probable in my view that Mr. Morell had been chosen to rst assist and then deliver PDBs over
the me he did them, and at a very pivotal me and as appropriately and objec vely as he was able to do again
probably from the me his Ohio representa ve spo ed his grades and performance in school, and then his overall
quality job performance, a tude and other leading indicators of what is needed in such work. Mr. Morell, as an
economist, and it does not men on which school he has supported over the years, though people hope for sure it has
not been labor economy, had par cular ethic and quality goals that kept him in an upward trajectory throughout his
career the man cer ed and personies the merits of the admonishment, while no blandishment, be good! Mr.
Morell was not without leadership himself through the years, and worked for some great federal execu ves at the
height of his lifes work, including John Deutch and George Tenet, both extremely eec ve and outstanding, exemplary
people who rightly became major execu ve branch personali es and facilitators, and then leaders at the right me
when the U.S. administra ons they served did indeed, really, need them. Please see as well George Tenets book At
82
the Center of the Storm for Mr. Tenets self eacing story of his years in administra on under various U.S. leaders.
As well, I do admit to having made some notes, though I would have preferred not to do so, from Mr. Morells book
to help with a review as the text is brief and covers more than thirty years of career territory he was in un l his recent
switch to business and industry in 2014 or so. I cannot really refer to the notes, mostly due to the details being in
some cases very concise, too much so, and in other cases very heart rending, especially on the subject of execu ve
opera ons in Mr. Morells bureau over me. The notes really do not capture the spirit of things here and how dicult
the work is, probably more dicult than any work one might imagine in the business world, for example, or in the
sports and entertainment world in addi on to that. I thought about this review for weeks and in looking at the book
was not able to capture its spirit this is something that is dicult with some texts in proper English that can be not
easy to speak of, not for their details only, but for the higher level a tude of the writer / protagonist. Some mes
indeed poli cal books are this way and I submit this text is scien c as well. There have been a series of events in the
last thirty or so years, and there are journalis c portrayals of these in many places, and this wri ng encapsulates
the historical meline but even more it captures the spirit of the ght against those who would upset U.S. interests
everywhere and other threats and challenges today, even those of the dimension of the now past Cold War and its
a ri on and human cost, moral and ethical dilemmas and costs, the legacy of these and of other principal 20th and
21st century conicts as well.

83
1.11 November

84
Sports Books - An Example Here of a Really Good Text in That Genre. (2015-11-06 02:03) - upbeat - public

Music: alive

[1]C.B.S. Interview with the Co - Author.

1. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/hall-of-famer-jerry-rice-talks-50-best-super-bowl-moments/

85
An Actual Trial in a Crucible. (2015-11-13 02:59) - ... of concern - public

Music: Schoenberg, Diabelli

Beate Zschaepe Try to Remember this Name from Modern Infamy. There are many aspects of modern Nazism
evident to the public eye besides just rio ng skinheads and the forceful speech of many of these, more forceful, for
instance than that of the most ardent world communists at present. To delve into the details of Ms. Zschaepe and
her ken during the me they commi ed their crimes is to allow for an inves ga on of a reac on to the dark side of
humanity and the very primi ve reac ons to it given apparent disenfranchisement and severe and u er aliena on
and chaos, including great psychological chaos provoked by the intractable problems and dicul es faced by the
vic ms and the perpetrators in this case. The current writer has not been in the system of jus ce in F.R.G., nor does
he have the desire to be so, though Germany has one of the best and most fair systems of jus ce anywhere. It
might nonetheless, be at this point, and given the fairness and humanism of the system, not be equipped to handle
the various details in the backgrounds of the vic ms that made them obvious and open targets for crime, especially
given the agrant secrecy of some of their ac vi es, apparently and how they came to the a en on of local criminal
elements in the older part of Germany where these sorts of things are discouraged. Along with many things about the
Nazis in WWII that are obviously completely wrong in terms of modern day living, the na onalism and other pride
of Germans for their country at the me and what gave rise to this, over and above the militarism and destruc on
of the war then, represents a na onalism that is severe and that is in every society since na onalism was dened
late in the 1800s (nineteenth century). The response to this observa on does not invite any analysis from the typical
prodding and tes ng of things the social sciences typically would do, and it is also in very unusual fashion beyond
the scope of many legal people, no ma er how experienced, to either comment or adequately judge : Nonetheless,
murder is a capital crime, wrong and against human life in biblical and other terms. The Koran, like other holy books
on the other hand, might be said to advocate the smi ng and elimina on of indels an issue at trial here upon
inves ga on, and upon looking given a me element that is deceiving given the process and vagaries, vicissitudes and
ul mate challenge of survival among again survivors who have been le behind socially and economically as Germans
in Germany, and who are subject to the ignorance and ignominy of a discriminatory and theocra c, and itself culturally
xenophobic and in patent fashion expor ng its own brand of theocra c and other na onalism from home places
very foreign to Germany (and while I do not speak for all Germans here, as some again have greatly and o en traveled
to far ung places, have lived there and so on). That the N.S.U. (Na onal Socialist Underground) trial is taking place
in Mnich, FRG, has special signicance, and one whose a en on has even dri ed in the direc on of the news and
stark images of the content of this trial has every obliga on to educate oneself as to its processes, procedures, details
and so on. The func oning of society should not be subject to the poli cs of discrimina on and aliena on by and from
foreign places that carry the face of and are disguised as economic power and the forces of capital. This is opera ve as
much as any moral issues in any looking into things at trial here, and the reac on of misguided innocents is opera ve
as well as are things like the provincial iden ty of the par es to the trial, their all - redeeming and moral character
that stand for the primacy of the rule doing not to others what one would not have done to oneself, and this by its
many instances in small and greater acts and ways of ac ng and doing in the path of life : In Western (especially) and
even Eastern Europe (an aloof and even more foreign, una ainable place and culture for many) this has happened
several mes recently and not so recently and it has resulted in great problems for the peoples there. Evidently in
inuencing the conduct of par es to what happened with Beate Zschaepe and her associates and the people they
were targe ng, this has to do with ul mate a tudinal and personal ego dierences between individual personali es
in what one believes, and ones conduct and mindset given the foreign corpora sm and its related behaviors that are
so pervasive in Western Europe right now, the way this all is exported to Germany these days from various places,
lesser known and more known right now, and how this has invited unwanted and irretrievably reversing changes;
completely absorbing, completely and u erly, again, aliena ng, divisive and spli ng and in the private and public lives
of many na ve Europeans at this me, recent past to present. The views expressed in this wri ng represent one or
another level of analysis only about what happened with the N.S.U. as a poli cal organiza on, and related events, and
does not represent the totality of various considera ons in view of the solving of Ms. Zschaepes and her colleagues
oenses being examined at trial, themselves capital oenses among others, that are in the news comments invited
86
a er your serious looking into things. Recent story in "[1]The Guardian" - U.K.
1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/10/neo-nazi-trial-defence-lawyers-beate-zschaepe

87
... S ll Rockin u2. (2015-11-23 03:22) - great - public

Music: raised by wolves

Have spent all kinds of me trying to gure out this album of songs and a year a er its release (October 2014 release
date) it is s ll ringing in my ears that I needed to go out and get it right away when it appeared. Being over a year late
on some things is forgivable pre y much with things like appliances and durable goods, etc., but not necessarily for
music like this that does not get dusty, but people get anxious when talking and its not (delaying ones a en on to this)
about what music is being made by u2 when the subject comes up. Admi edly, and there are a number of formats
for this musical produc on including the vinyl, cd and so on that makes the dierences in format, or could make a
choice between them a li le taxing as one wants to make a good selec on. So the consumer has her / his ul mate
choice of these dierent channels and the composi on and so forth dier between formats, especially between, i.e.,
radio signal and vinyl and the digital stu that is most marked. It is a sin that at mes a great admirer of this stu as
people like me are that I neglected listening to this for as long as I did, and again admi edly. Composi on - wise and
everything else thrown in, this could be the best u2 collec on of songs yet; even be er than the hardcore tunes of
"Achtung Baby", or "Best[s] of" and the like I nd this, and comments are invited. What makes these songs dier
from the others u2 make is not that they are from a much more experienced group of people or anything, or that they
are best when "played loud" and so forth just a great touch from Adam, Bono, the Edge, and Larry, and everything
from bass to drums, rhythm and solo guitar to vocals rates way above anything I have heard from a band that has
been around since before some of us were rst me on this earth. One might men on naively here that the music
of older and more successful bands is obviously commercialized or more commercialized, and this is certainly true,
for example of people even like Bob Dylan; though the music here (and while the band are professional musicians
and have to make a salary and so on, as do their producers and produc on team, ... ) is hardly packaged nor canned
in any way. Some groups even over - sample their music in their recordings, and then the stu is catchy to listen to,
but just ask u2 if their music is more commericalized or if there is any pandering to demographics : A bad ques on,
and one betrays the great spirit of things here to ask it or given the thought of it, even. "Favourite" songs here all,
and one can only imagine what these melodies sound live, and try to get to a gig, and keep your bills paid and things
current. This sort of music is a blessing in human terms for anyone, especially anyone who speaks English. I do not
follow u2 on tour and have not seen them in some me (rarely a end musical events and so forth that are "rock" and
88
so forth despite diverse musical interests), though this collec on of tles adds greatly to the body and soul of new
world music at this point. Really good. Great!

89
You Have to Listen Here to This Music from 1920s - 1930s by Maurice Ravel (2015-11-29 11:27) - elevated -
public

Music: Ravel, of course

The latest rendi on of "Ballade" composed by Maurice Ravel and subsequent pieces on the same CD by the same
composer with Yuja Wang and Lionel Bringuier (Tonhalle - Zrich) have one wondering about Ravels life and why he
did not hold forth with more monumental pieces. Ravel in his repertoire has many, many, many smaller pieces and
"Ballade" as greatly and expertly played by Ms. Y.J. Wang for all its musical color and energy she imparts to it allows
one to feel so much be er with recording in hand, what with the worry that goes along with buying music in a box
and then possibly the buyers remorse that goes along with purchasing anything that then turns out alright, if even,
as this recording is, worth intrinsically much more than the price. The concertos that follow "Ballade" on this CD with
piano are again superla vely - played by Y.J. Wang for all the complicated and sophis cated, post - impression and
post - roman c paths of music from post - WWI France, and especially those of Ravel they are not dicult to hear
on the other hand despite their avant - garde, new modern character of the epoque. Musical Conductor Bringuier
does have the Ravel here sounding at once peacefully quiet and extremely subtle, some mes with the orchestra this
way to highlight the piano - playing; and again equally outstanding at mes these sort of Mahlerian crescendos that
give the listener a sense of the range of this composer and due to this the idea that even in the days before modern
music that loud pieces were impressionable and agreeable, could make the heart and mind sit up at a en on. One
cannot men on here, however, that the pieces played as composed by Ravel "steal from" or duplicate some of their
then Russian contemporaries as Ravel is accused of doing by cheap cri cs. The important idea that is in play here
is the imagery and musical emo on of the composer that come through and that are in expert and excellent ways
channeled by Yu ja Wang and Director Bringuier. For these pieces, it appears an outstanding and varietal combina on
of great propor ons, and harmonious and rela onal success between composi on and player or players. Many of
the early - twen eth century or even mid - twen eth century pieces that one rst hears over the airwaves and so
forth, modern music at the me these were recorded, and Ravel had the advantage of recordings as well, have a kind
of experimental and musically "pushy" sound to them and in listening to many, one does not always know what one
is ge ng. These Ravel pieces are an outstanding relief from that and have one thankful for lending an ear. Upon
listening to these, maybe try rst the "Ballade" alone, and then go back and listen to the en re recording the eect
of this sort of adventure into the avant - garde of the me has one blazing new personal musical ways for listeners,
and is perhaps part of the message of the ar st here in bringing out these sorts of pieces to combine with her well -
known dynamism, subtle and sophis cated character of her play and at mes overwhelming energy that is channeled
into playing these iden ably very dicult pieces extremely dicult some of them by technique and sound and
musical mood desired, etc. Just run out to the record store and if you have any liking for concertos and then piano at
that, go ahead and look for this recording (Y.J. Wang and Lionel Bringuier, Tonhalle Zrich, Deutsche Grammophone.)
The recording is recent, though I have no idea about the condi on nor the me, nor the way in which these gi ed
pieces were and are done so well here in this overall extremely well - played recording.

90
1.12 December

91
De prfrence en la langue natale pour mieux comprendre le sujet Georges - Jacques Danton
(2015-12-06 12:44) - elevated - public

Music: rhapsodie dauvergne

Danton another review (belated). Text by David Lawday. As one of the most informa ve texts on the French Rev-
olu on I have read to date, this narra ve does give one the dis nct impression of the everyday poli cs of a western
European country, France, at the end of the eighteenth century age, and more specically about those in a mega-
lopolis of the day, Paris as the capital of that country. The most cap va ng feature of the text itself is its portrayal of
rela ons with the exterior and the French revolu onaries at the me, something that is worth reading about due to
the overall French inuences on the world star ng with its form of state religion, Catholicism, and then the dis nct
and very valuable cultural a ributes, many of which s ll have inuences today from prairie stubbleelds to urban
canyons of all kinds. Not much currency is made of pre revolu onary France and the background of the revolu on
that feature overriding inuences of philosophers and thinkers from the home country that included (not necessarily
in strict order here) people and personali es such as Racine, Voltaire, Rousseau, Descartes, Boe us, and revolu onary
inuencers such as Diderot, Moliere, and others. There are important inuences of this cast of great people every-
where, and the French in their Academie and societys paragon there are too many of importance to everyone to list
here. The important point is the text is well - salted with the principles and theories of such persons as they changed
rst a country and then the world view of France in the community of na ons from a feudal society that pioneered
many things to a free society with eclec c values and a modern character long before other na ons even remotely
evolved into the same thing or even started to a empt integra ng the character of France and French society overall,
and what is known of it, into home countries and home rule everywhere. One example of this is the revolu on itself
: Though the French revolu on was quite radical in nature, and so radical as to be considered evil by some as shown
by overnight changes in society that are to this day misunderstood, much of the revolu ons work at the me was
done systemically and within a legal government and administra ve framework under the eye of the king and queen.
Some modern poli cal systems, while not compensa ng for the under developed nature of 18th and 19th century
poli cs insofar as its lack of communica ons and data processing and other processing involving media and so forth
of the me as primi ve, especially looking back at it, have taken the approach that this revolu on was an experiment
by some very forward looking people who included Robespierre, Francois Pare, Marquis de Lafaye e, Marquis de
Condorcet, Thomas Paine, William Pi and even the French and Austro Hungarian royal families. Given that hy-
pothesis and its varia ons, some modern people and examples of this are numerous especially among coup detat
regimes today and in recent mes, eorts seem to have been made to re construct everything from the poli cal
climate and what was published in the papers and in literature, what was in the royal communica on systems at the
me in addi on to what exterior rela ons were like in the 18th century with carryforward and lookback types of
principles, theories and to dos, and so on. Please rest assured that while God himself might and probably did
have some sort of cookbook for the universe, the French revolu onary physiocrats and so forth did not and such re
playing of the drama c events in France around 1789 is un called for in even the most distant, elusive and remote
92
republics or states of today. More proof of this is in the literature by Fernand Braudel and the reader of this column
would be well disposed to nd out about the theories and studies of Braudel possibly before picking up this text
itself. In some historical or poli cal books, one can narrow the message of the text to one or more chapters and
then get the gist of what is men oned even in detail throughout the text. This is true especially in the age in which
books were wri en without a computer (this edi on of the life of Danton was published in 2012, and admi edly with
its content and so forth would be an obscure book for some, if not many people who memorize scoring tables and
who have other interests besides the literature on which the book here is based). This book consists, however, of
heavily detailed events, sequences, the thinking behind how ocials decided upon the actual a ack on the Bas lle,
the intrigues of the royal court in the day, the formula on of a quite elegant and las ng cons tu on that surpassed
and surpasses yet today many founding documents of many states, how the revolu onary talking groups and clubs
were formed, the importance of personality cults even at the me among greatly bombas c and yet extremely (as
they are today) well trained and informed ocials, how and what was decided the royal family should be treated
given their exile into the Tuileries, how peers decided the longevity of dierent revolu onary oces and structures,
and not the least of which is how and what for and why the terror was decided and the conscrip on of its dierent
cons tuents, and so on. If one takes anything away from this par cular book, it is the revolu on in France was a typi-
cal, a model coup detat that took place under watchful ministerial eyes and ears, and under the guise of a royal house
that viewed itself, and perhaps tragically so, as red over many genera ons and out of touch in many ways, as well
as the insecurity of high society in the country including the intelligentsia that France could have been taken over by
the Hapsburgs unless the needed radical societal and systemic changes took place. This almost happened during the
me of 1789 1794 (the me period of the book) anyway. There is some credibility as to men oning that many of
the revolu onary / poli cal physiocrats in France at the me were one dimensional people. Some of these people,
while we use computers today to recite, talk and enter things into the record; were simple municipal a orneys (not
statesmen when the revolu on began) and other professional people, and the same people memorized en re texts
as rich the society was at the me, even with the paucity of the ways some people lived. It is also interes ng that
not much currency is made of the fate of the 1789 French royal family and is perhaps the only strange thing I found
in the book apart from scripts, rumors and so forth not in the text that Louis XVI was a heavy exploiter of military and
police power within the borders of France itself. The French army at the me was not a great force on the outside. As
an example of this, the French lost a ba le in Northern Europe to simply - equipped Dutch military forces in the early
1790s. Overall, this is an excellent read for anyone even remotely interested in poli cs and policy during municipal
and domes c chaos, and in the 18th century, of course.

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To Lay [Me] Down - Viktor Frankl (belated), 1905 - 1997. (2015-12-27 02:49) - analy k - public

Music: bach, mozart

For the Existen alists The Alpha Therapy (Beta Version Having Passed).
Having seen some programming on the television about an emphasis of late on psychiatry, psychology and mental
health in the media and the rela on of these to social problems and abuses, I have picked up a 1965 (second edi on)
book on psychiatry, the theories of which date from pre WWII Vienna. There is some need to explain the background
on such a text as composed originally by Viktor Emil Frankl at the me and stolen from him by the Nazis as he entered
into the concentra on camp system of the day in the Poland that was then used as a prison for the Hebrew race
by Hitler and his acolytes. The concentra on camp is the background for the rst edi on of The Doctor and the
Soul that rst appeared during the 1960s a er Dr. Frankls emigra on (ocially and nally) to the U.S. out of post
WWII Europe and out of a place where science and society had again experienced the dark ages of medieval and
extremely primi vely mo vated poli cal rule star ng from the 1930s and extending to when the Nazis were nally
ex nguished, though upon sentencing at trial only a handful of those ocially responsible for the Shoah and the
wars of the mid 20th century. The existen al analysis that Frankl depicts in this psychiatry / psychology book is more
simply depicted and detailed in his subsequent texts, available even through GoogleBooks and otherwise online and
in the library, and all these are worth reading the least same have to oer is the basis for any therapy given the
dilemma presented to both the doctor and the soul of what is in awareness, what has to be brought into awareness,
and what is ground out of consciousness and conscience in the process simply put here, and there are many more
details including the length of this process that diers for everyone and other considera ons as well having to do
with the way abuses and even violence against vic ms, trauma and so forth have been and are treated at present
by doctors. Remember that psychiatrists are brought into medical treatment much like nancial people in business,
mostly a er the fact; and that with analy cal powers these professional people bring a form of reason to signs
and symptoms of an en re taxonomy, a mythic laundry list of diagnoses that are found in books. This Tao of Inner
Peace for doctors and pa ents alike in the wri ng of Frankl has to do with the way the rules of the science of the mind
were re wri en for a while for some (remember now that with imaging and other tools as developed by medical
science that brain and CNS anatomies are much more important now, along with actual drugs and medical treatment
than the type of talking theories that Frankl knew of now a sort of fogeddaboudit type of medicine) under the
topics of nding and / or discovering ones malady or maladies of the mind through doing what one nds or found
meaningful. Meaning is the opera ve term and concept throughout the wri ngs and work of Frankl, including the
television interviews and other media work he did before his recent passing. What is important about this given the
94
 me at which these theories appeared during the tune in, trip on, and drop out mes of Timothy Leary who was
a tremendously successful prac oner and especially on the West coast of the U.S. at the me, the self medica ng
counter culture philosophies (i.e., those of Carlos Castaneda, and so on). It is vital with this in mind that again this
form of Viennese medicine superseded the Adlerian and Freudian schools of Viennese psychiatry, and rightly so given
these forms of prac ce had become dissipated and zzled by the me of the end of the war, during which me
Frankl was in Nazi prisons (another story) and could hardly prac ce given his atavis c and deadly caretakers and their
brutality that prevented anything but the most basic func oning for people, especially intellectual func oning that
was almost completely blocked by the concentra on camps and their enforcing personnel (1930s 1945). As much
is an over simplis c summary of the background of this literature that deserves yet an audience in our mes insofar
as anyone who has been to Europe or places like China whose graduates of its Culltural Revolu on are presiding at
this point (Russia given now the children of the Leninists Stalinists, and so on). What Frankl illustrates in this text as
Logotherapy has to do with self discovery of the individual, and of the group unit under other condi ons, of self
determina on through meaningful ac vi es including especially social psychologically concentrated pursuits that
mirror adversi es and apply paradoxes and dialogue that defeat the spells of the myth of mental illness. Among the
themes discussed by these methods and prac ces have to do with mortality above all, self harm in view of mortality
and its symptoms, oppression and surviving the pounding poli cs of that (essen ally for those who have individually
or in a group suered as those in Bosnia during the 1990s, etc. I choose Bosnia as pre y much everyone has read
about what happened there and there is very li le in terms of blocks or barriers if one wishes to read and editorialize
on this among other mass events and happenings), the mission of life once one begins with the no on of meaning
at living, working, rela onships and achieving ones goals in these. Then the text pivots on these given details to
looking at pathology, o en established a er the fact, as to the basis for mental life and its rela on to symptoms, if
any, as treated by medical people. The prac ces and methods here are illustrated in quite fundamental conceptual
language; not primi ve, nor greatly detailed and technical on the other hand. The narra ve of the book here is used
to give the reader a no on of, and the concepts might be hundreds of years old, modern psychiatry as applied to age
old individual medical and social problems. Signicant currency in words is spent here on therapeu c technique that
has been superseded by more current literature though the basics for any therapeu c applica ons are there. A nal
word in some pages illustrates for the reader why psychoanalysis, by this and other names, is literally a mission (term
dened in the text for these purposes) for both and without hand holding nor coaching nor transference, nor advice
nor behavioral direc on (obligatory for the prac oner) in view of the dialogue as pa ent engaged and maintained
/ con nued. Actually, given this method and its prac ces, there is very li le room for the type of back slapping and
nger bi ng, jaw gri ng and so forth that take place in other talking rooms. References are supplied with the text
and some other tools indica ng to the reader that reading this kind of literature is not tutorial nor should it happen
in a vacuum nor with the reader alone without counsel. Even in view of the recent developments on brain anatomy
and func oning and how this aects thought processes and the systems of the body, this is yet (published again in
the 1960s with ideas from the 30s) an outstanding, outstanding book, understandable and all, by a great doctor
from the existen al school. Remember everyone that in simple terms existen alist ideas and their related ism or
isms rst bifurcate and then dras cally reduce the original philosophical concepts that are responsible for modern
intellectual life, take your pick of associated proper names, and that date from those philosophical forefathers of the
Middle Ages and a er that me, right up through Hume, Ricardo and Marx to this day. A hint about a way to read this
text and others like it, all worth the looking into, has to do with tearing down the u lity and u litarian so prevalent
in the development of modern art and science and, for instance, how this u lity in and of itself was exploited by Marx
and related important ideological and intellectual par sans and their own structures and mindsets as set down in the
literature. An outstanding book. Comments invited.

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96
2. 2016

97
2.1 January

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THIS TIME : Less about Haldeman and Erlichman, ... . (2016-01-02 03:06) - subdued, bluesy - public

Music: sibelius

THE NIXON TAPES, by Douglas Brinkley and Luke A. Nichter (copyright 2014, Houghton Miin Harcourt). Having seen
this new (2014) book on the shelf at the library, and having been an amateur in some things like environmental studies
and energy policy, founding of the DEA, NATO, Roe vs. Wade, the Yom Kippur War, the Pentagon Papers, Cuba,
the soviets (and per the image here Brezhnev a er a while went around trying to kiss everyone and his colleagues
eventually, and a er a long me agreed this was an embarrassment) and knowing the Nixon policies on these, I wanted
to take a chance to see if either of these in any tape segment had any content in this text. While knowing the more
a rac ve issues about former U.S. President Richard Nixon and his cabinet and administra on have to do with the
Viet war (1960s April 1975), various SALT talks interac ons with the (then) U.S.S.R. and its leaders, the Berlin issue,
and of course Watergate in which a current U.S. Presiden al candidate, Hillary Clinton, was quite un prominently
featured in the prosecu on with the Ervin Commi ee at the me. The text that features transcript segments during
the me that Nixon had his conversa ons taped (1971 1973), including the famous 18 - minute gap that gures so
prominently in the subject ma er having to do with the Watergate and its related security issues; has to do not with
an apology nor a Jaccuse a tude in literary form concerning the Nixon tapes and his administra on, but a depic on
that shows the day to day vagaries of his bureau and the various cast of characters in it. Not surprisingly, even John
Kerry, Leon Pane a and some other administrator / poli cians who came along much later, Clintons included, were
present to the Nixon White House and important to the Nixon Presidency. As much the person tried to do bring
people to the capitol and give them a voice. It is a great paradox the man had so many facets and patent fears of not
being liked, probably, that this is not a bigger part of what is known of his administra on. Further, the White House
at the me is was presumably open to thugs such as Haldeman and Liddy and so on, though in dealing as it did to
end the higher level and economically healthy status quo of the Brezhnev years, even in comparison at the me to
the economic strength of the U.S. economic climate at the me (for some good, others see it dierently in view of
the wage and price controls), with soviet criminals and spies running around New York and Washington and in other
major U.S. ci es and towns; in addi on to places abroad where communis c inuences and tentacles had become
increasingly fearful and awe inspiring by the tour de force that the soviets were trying at the me with their
KGB in Southeast Asia and then again in their propaganda machine even in places at the me such as sub Saharan
Africa, someone had to stand up to this. The Nixon Presidency and its cabinet were such people, and this is not greatly
known primarily due to other issues about the man that are more glaring and provoke popular discussion and debate.
99
Similarly, I found on reading through this tome of 700 plus pages there is li le on his environmental policies and more
on nuclear weapons and foreign policy than just energy policies apart from the cap on gas taxes that accompanied
wage and price controls on or about 1973. The thing that also is of interest in this text is the Nixon approach to Sino
soviet rela ons at the me in which the U.S. then, and against the morality of some given the communism and
despo sm that characterized Red China; started to respond publicly and ocially to the two China policy that
started with ping pong diplomacy in mid 1971. This led to Nixons visit to P.R.C. in February 1972. The text
focuses on recordings made at the Oval Oce and over the Presidents telephone having to do with leviathan poli cs,
literally with issues that are bigger than many of us just in their erudite and researched detail this is why some
a ribute many of Nixons successes to his na onal security adviser and then foreign secretary and other members
of his sta including Haldeman, Erlichman, Liddy and so on. These issues : SALT, Cuba, Berlin, Ho Chi Minh and the
Viet Cong and the related conict against communism, 1971 as a year of summits with P.R.C. and the soviet union at
the me; the development and status of South Asia, the world Chris an movement, Paris nego a ons with the Viets,
Israel, nuclear war / weapons and prolifera on the more one considers the poli cal and administra ve ques ons of
the me, the longer the list gets and more weary ones eyes become reading about them even in retrospect through
these transcripts. The text is full of details that are edifying and literally, again, and actually fun to read. An excellent
book. Book Review - "[1]New York Times" 2014 Book Review - [2]Wall Street Journal 2014 Book Review [3]CBS
News 2014
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/books/review/the-nixon-tapes-1971-1972-and-the-nixon-defense.html?_r=0
2. http://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-the-nixon-tapes-by-douglas-brinkley-and-luke-a-nichter-1406322741
3. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/presidential-historian-douglas-brinkley-on-his-new-book-the-nixon-tapes/

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JONAS SALK : "A LIFE", by Charlo e De Croes Jacobs (2016-01-04 04:00) - unse led - public

Music: heavy, heavy metal di es

I have read through this text and have found it un - reviewable. Please comment or send an e - mail through this site
if you have not go en the idea here. Do buy the book if you are interested in how the polio virus, with polio as an
extremely dangerous and debilita ng, destruc ve disease; incurable at the me and characterized by outbreaks and
epidemics, had been essen ally eliminated by the me most of us were children.

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Great INTERNET media programming. (2016-01-06 07:55) - An cipa ng - public

Music: rockin
Pull sound and post it to this site. Especially, try the "Radiate" programming at SoundCloud
h ps://soundcloud.com/stream and [1]h ps://soundcloud.com/radiatepodcast
1. https://soundcloud.com/radiatepodcast

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KILLING REAGAN, THE BOOK. (2016-01-11 02:08) - unse led - public

Music: u2

BOOKS WEB SITE h p://killingreaganthebook.net/ [1]CNN REVIEW. CONTENT ON RONALD REAGAN - "[2]NEW YORK
TIMES." THE [3]OREILLY FACTOR (FOX TELEVISION) PROGRAM WEBSITE.
1. http://money.cnn.com/2015/10/02/media/bill-oreilly-killing-reagan-best-seller/index.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/topic/person/ronald-reagan
3. http://www.foxnews.com/shows/the-oreilly-factor.html

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A MOST ADMIRED WRITER, AND FOR WHOM A LONG, TOO LONG OVERDUE BOOK REVIEW.
(2016-01-17 22:38) - unse led - public

Music: sibelius

THE RECKONING, by David Halberstam (1986, William Morrow & Company Pub-
lishers) For years and years, authors have published texts that ask the same ques on over and over : Are we as a
society in decline? Have we reached our peak and are on the downside of global society and world power? This
ques on as such has an answer for all the editorial point of view of David Halberstam, recently deceased, and who
was known for publishing powerful narra ve himself but never really clarifying it for anyone in public, much less for
the private reader or journalism / poli cal science student of today. Halberstam made a name for himself examining
societys enigmas of the greatest genera on why the wars in places even when ba ling the nihilis c and destruc ve
communist system, who and why the great leaders of the age, and what made them so eec ve and bright, capable
and resourceful, and other ques ons and themes. Halberstam in his radio interviews that I heard over me, was
not really one to delve into the reasons for his wri ng on topics that were drama c and gut wrenching, heroic and
subsumed by the same in me of conict of ques onable values for some, or for many as the case might be. He did,
however, write directly and very cogently about thought provoking content of which this book, THE RECKONING,
mostly about the American automobile industry between 1945 up to and around the year 1990. As one who is in-
structed in business or who reads the newspaper or watches news and current events on television, heavy industry as
the auto industry is in any place has to do with machine and equipment produc on, be it under even quite remedial
quality standards, and is extremely demanding, costly and hogs resources. Provided the quality of the automobile
is decent, the vehicle or vehicles will sell. The book here begins a er the occupa on of Japan by U.S. forces under
Supreme Commander of Asia Pacic in 1945, General Douglas MacArthur, and examines the Japan post WWII era in
heavy industry in the era of the automobile as beginning essen ally from U.S. custodianship that had been very lean,
and mean, for some me a er the surrender of Japan in 1945, up through the years upon Japans building, bit by bit,
its economy and industrial base anew; albeit with the same old ques ons but in a new and modern economic envi-
ronment. The Japanese in the text preserve their neo mercan list economic prac ces even through the U.S. upheld
regime, to the regime ruled by the Diet and liberal party as well as the Prime Minister. What did and does this mean
for U.S. and other trading partner economics and trade? On many levels of analysis, good and decent rela ons have a
status quo and are risky anyway as there are poli cal and commercial interlopers everywhere around the world. The
importance of the U.S. auto industry is important in this : Many years ago, the Sloan people of General Motors fame,
and without industry consensus agreement at the me, visited Japan to facilitate the development of the modern
automobile industry there. The role of General Motors here is especially important as the book is mostly about the
Ford Motor Co., and General Motors actually assured the sustainability of the Japanese automakers for many, many
years, due to technology transfer and the transfer of methods and prac ces to the Japanese during the late 1940s
un l recently. This is and has been a very thorny issue with some, and the argument is carried along by any Ricardian
economist who views General Motors, essen ally, and the other of the Big Three automakers in the States as non
conforming to actual, proper, healthy business models without real auto industry development and later compe -
on from Japanese automakers. If there is one lesson to be learned from this text, that is it, apart from the book by
omission not men oning the great recent U.S. Trade nego ator before the Japanese during a crucial me having to
104
do with autos and electronics, etc., Laura dAndrea Tyson (Whos Bashing Whom text, ca. 1991.) The text itself is
very thorough in men oning and illustra ng the gamut of the structured automobile business deals between the
U.S. and Japan since the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979. The text also men ons the U.S. manufacturing sector survival
mechanism that at one me has Japanese / Asians calling U.S. workers inecient and aloof, arrogant, and even lazy,
etc. Enough with the stereotypes already, though the Japanese tend to want to nd loopholes to run through when
presented with U.S. trade terms. To focus on the automobile industry, American workers are supposed to NOT un-
derstand the destruc ve eects of waste at a work site or job shop, etc., and are supposed to approach seriously the
service quality and even competency itself before the foreign markets here as given to ights of fancy. It is possible
that despite Mr. Halberstams elucida on of a number of the issues, that our economic system is characterized by
chaos and uncertainty and only nds itself in a proper tone and environment, or at home some way through listening
at a local channel on the radio or television and trea ng the proper performance indicators and sta s cs and so on in
an appropriate way. Japan and its auto makers, though same do try, people like me know will never capture the spirit,
nor the corporate interest that might inspire people, of the car and driver, etc., that are around us every day given
the Toyota, Honda, , DeLorean, and other automobile logos that are so ordinary to us all. Remember considera on
of this might depend upon ones proper tastes and buyer behavior and other authen ca ng items, too. I seldom
give book as this one, published before 1980, such high marks, but am a great fan of the even tacit journalis c style
of Halberstam and the structure of his stories that make the reading fun, if not a real page turner. So whats the
point? Is this a good or bad book? For one, the book is an extended journalis c narra ve that goes a er the subject
at dierent angles and in varied persona, and points to columns, for instance from the Washington Post or L.A. Times,
as same appeared in the press since some me ago. Much of the historical detail as the book brings this out, is s ll
fresh and current. Another very commendable feature to the wri ng of this text is that Halberstam reaches out and
includes the names of the very important industrial and private industry execu ves of the me and their families
under the circumstances. From elucida ng about the Whiz Kids to the story of succession at Ford Motor over the
years, to proling G.M. execu ves; to examining the lives of compe ng auto makers in Japan; this text says it all and
why about the current place for a local industrial leadership, in the country of Japan, as se led in Tokyo and Kyoto,
Nagoya and so on; and in the U.S. as centered in places like Detroit and with satellites in Fremont, CA. Far from being
an Im so gi ed text by some author somewhere, Halberstam must have gone over the history of each element of
his plots and checks and veried these yet again before trus ng the process. Great!

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If You Have Been on this Ground Remember Where You Stand in Images and in Your Spirit. (2016-01-30 02:11)
- sullen, pensive - public

Music: greensleeves, serenade for strings

Anniversary of the Libera on [1]Yahoo! News - [2]BBC News - [3]CBS News.

106
1. http://news.yahoo.com/auschwitz-liberation-anniversary-live-report-133834270.html
2. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30996555
3. http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/auschwitz-liberation-anniversary/

107
2.2 February

108
"CAVEAT LECTOR" (2016-02-04 16:11) - hopeful - public

Music: grieg

James Earl Jimmy Carter and His New Autobiographical Book 2015 2016 President and Ethicist Emeritus among
Emeri i. The new book by Jimmy Carter should be prefaced by a few things, caveats in spirit, actually; that will make
it more readable and accessible to people, and maybe even generate a few more sales of the text : If you have an
ethics or legal ethics center at your local college, Mr. Carter probably has been in it he defeated an incumbent
party in power in a me at which there were very strong accusa ons the head of government had lied or at
least had neglected to tell the U.S. public the truth about some things that are well known and moot issues at
this point for many in the electorate. This was no small task as Mr. Carter, originally a Naval Academy graduate and
nuclear scien st, for all the merits of these and other character did some wonderful things as U.S. president to build
the stature of America in the world as a precursor to the end of the Cold War that he was en rely responsible for
the enfeebling things the Americans did to soviet power for a good while is not a subject of debate and when one
sees his strategy emphasizing naval power, as the U.S. Navy is heavily, heavily strategy minded and many things are
not carried on nor carried through in U.S. Naval terms without, again, heavy strategic organiza on, orienta on and
ordinance. It is easy to see, essen ally, what Carter did if one travels a bit overseas and to Europe especially and
the things he did systemically stand out; the things he did for people personally, while not as public and even more
subdued in nature are well remembered in the right places and in their eec veness against communism. Carters
Cold War policies (and I do not know when Vonnegut actually published Cats Cradle) probably saved for a good
number of years, the communist soviet threat from becoming more menacing, especially with the threats same had
made nuclear wise and in Eastern Europe. The thesis here is nonetheless controversial as Carter has never spoken in
these terms, and I do not an cipate his talking eusively about it in his new text the U.S. strategy to undermine the
soviets during 1976 1980 was successful and well determined and there might not be much literature on it due to
109
its planning and successful character in the group think of our leaders at the me. Upon looking into the journalism
and evidence overseas of his winning hearts and minds and the Kalugin and other type stories of the day indicate
the success of Carter in a low key way, and without a huge pocket book as shown, for example, by soviet riches from
various commodi es and resources at the me. The soviets during the Brezhnev years were extremely rich and this is
evident to anyone with poli cal and interna onal issues awareness at the me. At least same had be er access to
interna onal nance and its facili es at the me and to the commodi za on of human and other capital, some mes
from abroad, that accrued to the center in Moscow. Communism as a poli cal power crossed borders and captured
people with poli cs and money during that me like never before, and this was an aggressive posture on the part of
U.S.S.R. people and their outreach. Carter had to deal with the energy crisis, poli cal issues that divided the country
including Roe vs. Wade and the genera on gap and growing concentra ons of wealth on Wall Street, price ina ons,
immigra on issues that tore at the fabric of American society, social welfare issues that were equally dangerous in the
way they depleted the Treasury, even marginally; the growing interna onalism of the non aligned na ons against
the U.S.; the soviet poli cal and nuclear threats; housing and homelessness; social and poli cal cri cisms that tore at
society as well and by popular commentators such as Walter Cronkite; alloca ng funds to and nancially suppor ng
a military in transi on to a more tac cal stance that was deemed more aordable, and more. What was the 1980
contest about therefore in the event this great man fought in poli cally and lost an elec on? One level of analysis
makes the ques on easily answerable Carter sought not to appease the soviets and their satellites, but to subvert
them and without making this an announced policy. On the subject of na onal wealth, this strategy had a risk and
promised to be expensive, though the Russians would be more contained today than ever and there would not be
the complaints and hand wringing about the leadership there. On the other hand, Ronald Reagan, upon examina on
by some a complete arriviste, but an absolutely brilliant player on the grand chessboard that marked the poli cs
of the day, decided that satellite technology and SDI were much cheaper nancially and morally, and did not carry
the scal risk at the me that Carters policies might have. People voted for SDI. Reagan also proposed to greatly
supplement the U.S. Navy and N.A.T.O. and he did so. SDI did and does and will work, and in fact there might be
a debate about the successes of strategic defense and what a coup it is versus percep ons about the complex
and complicated measures and countermeasures of space surveillance and undersea warfare even though both have
their risks. Carter did some things as well to pay for the Reagan administra ons lunch, essen ally, for about two
years through 1982 1983, by lulling the soviets into fat complacency in what were actually some piecemeal arms
and other military concessions at summits and ocial talks. Before you read his autobiography, look into a few of
these details about the Carter years in Washington, not that a Gerry Ford (a great leader and American in his own rite)
administra on, for all its own merits and the promises it proposed, would have been dierent denitely it woulda.

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This I saw. (2016-02-07 05:58) - an cipa ng - public

Music: beethoven concerto

No anniversary here, but it is winter and people are inside [1]something to remember thereby.
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/23/nyregion/violinist-isaac-stern-dies-at-81-led-efforts-to-save-carnegie-
hall.html

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Again The Greatly Researched and Beau ful Sounds of Y.J. Wang : Bravissimo no less. (2016-02-27 06:44)
- soulful - public

Music: Rachmanino Piano Concerto No. 2

Again The Greatly Researched and Beau ful Sounds of Y.J. Wang : Bravissimo no less. Two weekends ago in a local
metropolis, I had the rare chance of a ending an event of child and adult piano genius Yu ja Wang, who very, very
modestly presented the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in G major and subsequently Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9
both very good musical composi ons, memorable and all. Ms. Wang typically chooses to play pieces that are with
an orchestra when playing in San Francisco, and this me was accompanied by the great Mikhail (Michel) Pletnev and
the Russian Na onal Orchestra. The stories that are behind such event produc ons are extremely intricate and with
the Tchaikovsky No. 2, a piece that I mistook as having been played numerous mes by the great Arthur Rubinstein
(Rubinstein actually played the No. 1 very frequently and you will nd his RCA recordings of same if you look). The
Tchaikovsky No. 2 is not as well known as other among that great composers piano pieces and to the extent one is
familiar with it, the playing of this, the accompaniment, and the accents, colors, tones, and the melody itself by the
en rety are greatly and remarkably Russian and without some of the over owery interludes that feature Russian
music, especially that for piano. It is possible the owery airs are s ll in this Tchaikovsky piece for playing, though Ms.
Wang mutes them in favor of the overall themes gracing the piece itself and its soul inspiring and upli ing melodies
overall. One needs examine the history of this piece to appreciate it for how greatly played it is here, including the
Pletnev accent on it that has the orchestra itself, a band of 100 or more in this case and with great, great sound,
allowing for the piano to take over given the theme of the piece having to do with the composers dedica on to
his great art despite very deliberate and adversarial cri cism of his composi ons at the me, and by major cri cs.
The playing of such a piece would punish any other pianist, and the mystery of this is solved by Ms. Wangs great,
great musical talent, long prepara on for the performance of such things and this through facilitators such as Michael
Tilson Thomas and currently in this case Michel Pletnev. The Russian tones in the piece have fans of less powerful
composi ons reeling. To highlight this, I know of two basic interlocutors of piano music, sort of those preferring the
sun or the moon when given the choice. Those of the sun do like lighthearted and higher note composi ons and
the very light, o en uniform colors and s ll pictures the music produces (one school.) As for the moon and like
admirers from their school, there is all else the Russians, for instance, and their compatriots explore this typically
features longer pieces that test the endurance of audiences and players alike, and there are other dis nguishing
features that make these melodies so upli ing and inspiring. Some of the Mahler composi ons are this way as he
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is easier to comprehend for Western audiences than Tchaikovsky and his roman c contemporaries who are greatly
given to the rou ne tour de force, louder and more discrete music that is less haun ng in its deeper tones, without
a doubt delightedly rich in varietal tone and color that are as light and cap va ng (again) as any later composi ons.
It is dicult to men on what magically and mysteriously happens when these pieces are played by Ms. Wang, and
yet again given the outstanding piano playing of hers that is magic and mys cal it is almost self defea ng just to
watch and one is be er just to turn on ones ears when she sits at the keyboard to play. Remember this primarily, and
again with respect to the playful and colorful notes of the Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9, played later along with the
Pletnev Orchestra (look into it), and that seemed even more be er played than the Tchaikovsky. Probably this is
due to the prolifera on of Mozarts music over me, familiarity with it, and in recordings especially recently, though
the No. 9 is less frequently played. Given that the Mozart at this event was greatly raried, again by a piece not
overly pop(ular), Ms. Wangs uncompromising playing overall and again her playing of the Mozart No. 9 is dis nctly
in the manner most intended by composers of such things the composi on itself is not without its challenges and
while people like me use Rubinstein as a standard (cruelty!), the piano playing here had the audience pleading for
more as shown by eager applause that sounded dierent that just regular hands tapping together at the ova ons.
The spirit of Mozart itself is captured in Ms. Wangs playing here given the reaching out of the music to the audience,
the playful frac onal notes and abbreviated rests, and again the highligh ng of the keyboards by the orchestra. If one
is as reserved about Russian classical music playing as I am, and about things Russian overall, watch out here as one
is cap vated by the playing of a Mozart piece for all its varied range, in a style that will have one blessing, though not
literally, the orchestra upon hearing it. Though I could not resolve whether this remarkably talent featured event
was the orchestra, Maestro Pletnev, or Ms. Wang (and probably due to my Russian being so poor), it did seem to be
all three with Ms. Wang breaking ground and cap va ng the audience with just really outstanding music playing.
Pletnev in this case had something to do with that and Ms. Wang is backed by a great orchestra here; and is cited as
donning high level designer clothing for her events to add to the drama of all of it, probably and possibly; for all this
that certainly has any audience easily enthralled, Ms. Wang takes no advantage of that and with supremely talented
playing and that rivalling many, many legends so far at her age, now just several years separated from her musical
training in Philadelphia. Come back, please!

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2.3 March

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First Lady in Many Things If Not All Things, and for a Long Time. (2016-03-08 15:34) - murky, dark - public

Music: sibelius again

Mrs. Nancy Reagan [1]CNN Timeline Mrs. Nancy Reagan In memoriam. As many of us were sorry and worried
over unnished work when her great husband, Ronald Reagan, passed away; there is yet unnished and incomplete
work with respect to the long life of Nancy Reagan who has passed and who will be buried next to the former President
at the Reagan Library in California on Friday (March 11). Again, like her late spouse, Nancy Reagan had detractors, but
even more people admired her; many more. The thing that got me about this lady, and this even in view of rumors
that she engaged in palace intrigues, cut o Don Regan, would only allow select access to the President at some mes
and other things, was she was at least before the public and in her appearances an ebullient and cheery, op mis c and
upli ing person to experience even over the airwaves. People do know such personali es are determined somewhat
by media and especially by poli cal concerns in the poli cal world, so there is room to cri cize the appearances of
the Reagans as arranged, staged, chiseled out they really were not. People like me remember Ronald Reagans radio
addresses from a me before he was elected President and was busy as a crusader for freedom, against communism,
for free enterprise without the leviathan corpora sm that he might have espoused for more money and the like. Nancy
Reagan supported her husband through some very lean years, very lean, between his governorship and the presidency.
To give one an idea of this, the Reagan Ranch does have the air of a very large, mul varietal stubbleeld that might
symbolize the paucity of things the Reagans put up with in their public life for a while, at least in what concerns the
public eye and again Nancy Reagan held herself by her husbands side through all this. Reagan was not a got rocks
type of execu ve, and in the end had a nancially (and while all this is public, people appeared to have a empted at
least to exploit it and cri que it) very open life and did things actually devoid of greed and avarice that typied some
personali es during the age. What medical people did to the President in re rement is and can be at mes considered
shameful, and people like me especially consider head procedures on Alzheimers pa ents not to be a good idea (and
while I am not in the medical profession) and his medical sta could not embrace his down home a tude that was
in a way in some respects if it aint broke, dont x it. To have put up with the bestowal of her late spouse to medical
people again dealing in things that at this me are greatly esoteric and complex, and in dealing with and caring for the
Alzheimers this lady deserves great renown for her personal sacrice and this without publicly throwing her weight
around on these issues. Needless to men on here that the Reagans under Nancy Reagans guidance, and yet while
in the oce of the President, did consult with and astrologer and so forth while the alterna ve it seems was vacuity
and boredom over some ideas and decisions on which same were following through. In this, people like me confess
we read the funnies occasionally and make an eort to do so, and I have had a palm reading (one). Whats the
beef? Nancy Reagan, and this is apparent to anyone who followed her yet remotely in the news over the years, was a
deeply morally philosophical person who believed in the dreams of good people and those of her spouse, Ron, always
before her own as much must and probably and possibly inuenced her life throughout. That her public life as well
and that of the late President made life in Los Angeles, even with Hollywood, more promising and part of California
Dreamin, and improved greatly the aura of life in California as that of more than characterized by either working
around aky people or being one this gra ed everyone and made the impression that public life could actually be
somewhat sane in the modern and postmodern world. Ours is a deep loss that we did not know you be er.
1. http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/24/us/nancy-reagan-fast-facts/index.html

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Please consider BBBEFORE FILING! (2016-03-16 05:57) - op mis c - public

Music: hee haw

A Reprise of a Brilliant Idea (As of Yet Not Working) . Flat Taxes According to Forbes (Steven) There are many
details and facets to how complicated this simple idea has become given its dierent versions from Richard Armeys
(d.), to Hall and Rabushkas to Steve Forbes to Ted Cruz. I am in favor of all these proposals and this due to once any
of these actually even considered by the federal legislature and so on, the more a proper and appropriate tax plan
and policy for the country and its ci zens will indeed out. The real origins of the U.S. at tax come from the Plan
for America ins tuted by Newt Gingrich in 1994 (actually and really, no ma er the previous academic debates and
ques ons, issues, ). Sorry, professors. The at tax of American origin is a tax at a single rate (vs. the European VAT,
[again], and other versions including na onal sales taxes, ) and that same IS an income tax : Why? Americans
pay too many dierent types of taxes and too much in taxes overall; taxes are too complex, especially the way the IRS
educates about them and explains them; taxes as they are in the U.S. today breed distor ons in the na onal economy
and everyday lives of people including the various and repeated tax changes, tax breaks; tax rule, iden ty and code
ambigui es, and tax legisla on of course with its pork and boondoggles, and so on. These breed tax avoidance
schemes that are essen ally against the overall tax regime and that are unfair to those who actually pay most of the
tax funds to the U.S. Treasury individuals and small and medium sized businesses. Our high taxes are unfair to
people, kill jobs and job growth; the tax code makes no real sense nor to the taxpayer nor to her / his society at large. A
proper at tax will eliminate these outrageous inequi es that will eliminate the tax beast in America that has grown
over so many years, especially and overall since our federal administra ons have been decitary (since Eisenhower
le oce). The cost of the tax code ge ng oneself together to think about proper tax rules, tax proposals, the costs
of compliance and enforcing the tax code; the monopoly of the IRS and Treasury on taxes and what one is to pay; and
the sinking u lity of all this in addi on to the overall confusion around interpreta on and applica on of U.S. tax rules
a tangle of things including the tax brackets themselves without men oning whats in prose; the maze of deduc ons,
payroll taxes as a very large ques on, phaseouts and what the code and rules do to low income people through EITC
compliance; discourage plain old American ingenuity, work and produc vity a patent immorality on many fronts.
Trust in government is corroded by public grief over taxes, the AMT ensnares households that are far from rich, and
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no one is exempt from the inequi es of the IRC, including the massive confusion and chaos the code causes to real
estate and sales people, for example. Tax loopholes and shelters spin peoples proverbial wheels, but are economically
useless, an un produc ve use of me and energy; and result in greater costs of compliance and tax enforcement to
the public. The health care system is distorted as well by taxes. See the Steve Forbes latest at tax proposal, FYI,
and for instance, dont worry : The Forbes at tax is not mandatory in what is proposed one is able to con nue
with the old system and IRC tax regime go ahead and s ck with it. Most business is compa ble with the Forbes
at tax as a tax on total revenue, with expenses for investments, no deprecia on, aboli on of loopholes, without
interest payment deduc ons, with many compa ble forms of business capital structure including corpora ons and
LLCs; and with important economic advantages of which an overriding eect of increased dividends to shareholders;
encouragement at repor ng and other compliance transparency; simplicity and other facets of the at tax including
taxes on U.S. income only, and no indirect or other taxes on wealth and revenue have the Forbes at tax be er for
the free market economy most people in the U.S. desire. What about you?

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Inroads to Demo Nomina on and General Elec on It Might at Least Par ally Be Sanders, So ... .
(2016-03-28 01:33) - skep cal - public

Music: Elvis

WHY NOT TO VOT JUST SO IN THE GENERAL ELECTION : THE DEMOCRATS. WHAT GOES FOR ONE HERE MIGHT APPLY
TO ALL. The U.S. Democra c Party has a challenge to appoint the proper candidate through primary elec ons and then
a conven on later in the year, and what that produces promises to be the most threatening and most radically le
thinking candidacy in many years, maybe since the McGovern candidacy during the 1970s. Clearly, to anyone who has
any memory about things in public policy in the U.S., McGovern was a soviet appeaser and a le ist in other ways and
promised to revolu onize American government from the le ist radical approach, something that is again an issue
in the primaries and eventually in the general elec on here in the U.S. overall in 2016. There is a reason outright to
vote Clinton in the primaries if you are a Democrat, or even Republican in the open elec ons : Sanders is the furthest
le socialist candidate (and a self declared one) to present himself in a long me, maybe since before Hoover was
president. Then there are other reasons not to allow for tradi onal primary elec on poli cs as many know them
when the Clintons were in oce, and without regard, many things in our own administra on were privately allowed to
erode in favor of alloca ng administra ve eorts to drive the equi es and real estate markets. Why was this so? The
Clintons at the me, and this policy under the current Democra c candidacy will undoubtedly be renewed, believed in
the sophis ca on of their plans for the foreign oce and some very specialized and elite func ons of government to
make things look good for as long as possible. The result of this was that, essen ally, bureau posi ons were occupied
by, again essen ally, zombie employees, many of whom had vital foreign policy experience and li le else. Some
obviously had not read the U.S. Cons tu on and many more not in detail as the Clinton people at the me suered
some brutal scandals due to internal aws and degeneracy, and then again due to their administra on not so
admi edly misrepresen ng facts to other federal people, less powerful for example, including those in the House of
Representa ves and the Senate. People like me greatly admire Hillary Clinton for the for tude she and hers showed
throughout all this. At the same me, and the message was the same in the administra on of William Jeerson Clinton
by name, some of the Democra c party cons tuents, and certainly many among Republicans, many more, people did
not count and were to the a en on of the administra on then as not having counted because same had not helped
the ocial eorts of the Clintons to win elec on and then to lock the Republicans out of federal and other bureaus,
including out of the federal legislature and the Senate, etc. There are some other structural ques ons having to do
with how people were treated and what the ocial status of, i.e., some of the unemployed was and this in view of the
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swearing in en masse of whole crowds of immigrants into the U.S. territory with the proviso they turned right around
and obtained their Demo party creden als and walking papers. Any new Clinton administra on, as the old one
I call the Russian presidency due to the destruc ve and other inadmissible policies toward Russia / former soviet
union that provoked Marxist style social chaos and other problems for the actual U.S. establishment this means
the establishment in the U.S. outside Hollywood, CA. Prognos cs on this were published in Strobe Talbots literature
(Mr. Talbot is a Clinton advisor) that actually called for some russica on and more cultural and scien c delving and
concessions in view of what must have been pity for the Russians over the cold war if not downright sympathy with
same over those issues. There is more in Tallbots books and in the literature as published by Cyrus Vance going back
a ways, Warren Christopher, and others apart from Talbot that forge or a empt to ingrain nave and shortsighted
ideas about U.S. foreign policy concerning authoritarian regimes (chiey Russia and China as these are the Clintons
biggest foreign subjects and where same have the most close friends abroad) that were destruc ve to federal bureaus
abroad and to people at home in the U.S. as well. This came largely from a policy of simultaneous appeasement and
undermining of the soviets and Red China during the Carter years policy or policies that were very expensive and
showy, but that failed and that have forced some very un elegant and cheesy approaches to these par es themselves
over me by the Demos when same are in charge. There are many, many details to this that have people deba ng
the virtues of Clinton over Sanders at present, for example, though it is possible the pued up campaigns of these
Democra c party candidates cannot aord to assume the posi on of the poli cs of the Carter presidency (1976
1980) and its antecedents and poli cal and ideological legacy the policies of the me were based upon games and
dierent types of these, and the Russians were be er at them due to the overall psychological orienta on of these
sorts of things. The response of the Carter people and their tutees has been to build large policy and ins tu onal
monuments and bestowals to each other. Hillary Clinton, for all her great virtue, has not been immune to this and
one cites the eli st nature yet again of the Clinton campaign for oce and even in the so called grass roots of the
Democra c party at this me; sort of like the moral equivalent of robbing Peter to pay Paul and using a condence
game to do so. The Clintons also have a long record of detes ng the military and this commentator will allow the
inadequacies of that to stand on their own at this me. There are many reasons for this including the widely known
es to places like Oxford where there are breathing, ea ng, thinking jihadists and communists that own the schools.
Mrs. Clinton, and I feel sorry for their daughter who gets up to speak about her parents as great people, has s ll not
adequately replied to the inves ga ons concerning the Libyan a ack on the provincial U.S. consulate remote oce
there, nor to the ques ons about her abuses of e mail content and permissions at one me or another. There are
other issues as well, including what the Democra c candidates wish to do in using federal bureaus for social policy as
they have in the past what the poop is on this might have to wait un l a er the November elec on as people like
me seriously doubt these le ist reliant, cheap policies will be discussed even in debates same are so publicly and
even privately verbally nichivo. Many other policies and public issues are subject to Clinton window dressing and
hype in the event same are allowed access to the White House again : a. Middle East poli cs in which U.S. people
and policies are manipulated and malevolently by the arabs and Iran; b. The myths of social security, medicare and
health care (a given for many voters); c. Again, foreign policy that will need lots of window dressing indeed as U.S.
administra on does not have much to shell out to foreigners, etc., and the solu ons to these dicul es might be to
hire people like Connie Rice as consultants that would concentrate remedial eorts and despite what the expenses
would be for one person, would be cheap and chiseling for the oces involved; d. Again, the Lincoln bedroom would
be for rent (if you do not count on this, well . ); e. More violence and terrorism due to the weak / eeminate
image of U.S. leadership, and this is a factor whether acceptable or not in its premise for most if not all; f. The Bernie
Sanders people who would lose in the primaries, would have posi ons in the Clinton regime through poli cal power
brokering and trading, and this is something else that will cause other impossibili es, even corrup on and crime; f.
While the Clintons have had a good record of talking themselves through crises, the U.S. systems needs TLC and careful,
painstaking repair, not the public haranguing or press enhancements and glowing and owing babbling brook of words
to le ist exhort Americans in addi onal condence games; g. Despite the building of the defense infrastructure in
the U.S. and without the country against manipula on and terror of others against Americans, the Clintons would
probably and possibly promulgate a policy of some threat only to terrorism and related ac vi es that would abuse
the military, even making the circumstances a big mistake, and that would rely, again, on poli cal condence and
shell games. This is at least what the U.S. public is asking for sort of a repeat of the feeding trough of the Johnson
119
and Carter administra ons with a victory party atmosphere and that all lauding our foreign oce and its policies.
Comments invited.

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2.4 April

121
"Mao and the Chinese Revolu on" - Biographical Text. In Scriptum Diversus Disjunctus Chirographae.
(2016-04-09 11:30) - tenta ve - public

Music: various

Another Book on Mao. The thing that gets me about most books on the subject of Mao Zedong, and any media for that
ma er as there are tapes, CDs, DVDs and so on about the life of this very prominent (at one me) Chinese poli cian,
is that most talk about his guerilla and low level, against all odds existence that was changed by the soviets and
by the ght and run tac cs he learned thereby and used in the Long March. Though I have no idea, these are the
most clichd ideas and impressions about him and might even be the same in his home country as by and large the
books on him are published by Chinese scholars or people whove spent lots of me in China on this subject. In my
humble existence as well, I have met several scholars who were all working on proper biographies of Mao, at least
that was their announced avoca on at the me; and I know I have met for example a minority of people who have
the very high impact claim to fame of being descended from Mao or the Mao family. By no means has anyone ever
used the concept of Chinese communism to menace either me nor people like me from what I have experience or
been able to gather, and the story of why this is lays in the unfolding of Maos life itself. Overall in the life of the Great
Helmsman, and in his own brand of poli cs, administra on and policy, all formed by mature communis c approaches
to society and government, there was one ques on implicit in his contact with anyone as much is palpable in the
literature about the man in any rela on or interac on with the man, he demanded submission of his interlocutors
to his Mao Zedong thought, and much currency and structured legi macy was made of this during the development
of the CCP in China in days long passed as well as in the gradual elimina on of his enemies (from his classes with the
soviets or other sources) and the dissemina on of his missives and doctrines, dogma and theories throughout China,
especially a er the death of Lin Biao and the purging of Liu Shaoqi; two events that helped make the CCP what it was
for many years, maybe in character un l long a er the passing of Deng Xiaoping for example. It is dicult to get into
the proverbial weeds on the subject given the paucity of details about the party that one could only glean at the me.
There were examples of this, especially in how CCP documents in the old days, if these allowed for any insight either
in the na ve language or in transla on, ocially and many mes were almost completely redacted, not only tending
to puzzle interested par es and readers of such things, but resul ng in lots of anger against communism in general
given the systemic lack of transparency the Chinese prac ced that precluded any understanding of even modern
Asian and Eastern cultures of the same nature. People who were informed were really upset for a while about this
and how it set back modern methods of scholarship and (for starters) cultural and then scien c exchanges involving
communist regimes and Western countries. With that background and then the awareness of this everywhere in
dens that had books, arose an overwhelming interest in the observance of CCP ac vi es by people interested in
cultural and academic exchanges and the underlying that on a great scale that forbade literal use of the term, at least
informally, yet that was woven into every story about the mainland and Tai wan at the me (and in contrast to the
Chinese Na onalists who had ed the mainland or emigrated to Hong Kong) was this concept of Mao and those so
related administra vely and in other ways. The proof of this has to do with the ac vi es of the CCP toward soviet
advisors a er the 1949 revolu on un l the late 1970s at least that contrasted Chinese communism with that of the
soviets and through dierences in ra onale, and dierences in the realpoli k of both countries had the Chinese at
one me expelling and depor ng soviet experts and advisers. The reasons for this are very complex but have to do
with a struggle for primacy in the world of communism at the me that had soviet bragging rights above the Chinese
insofar as the technical appeal and facile u lity of Marxism Leninism, and the overall and later economic and societal
appeal of Chinese communism that used the vocabulary of soviet socialism to increase its scope, and then strictly and
patently employed Marxism communism in revolu onary prac ces that renewed and perpetuated themselves. The
soviets themselves abhorred this and did not comprehend the scope and adaptability of it given the terrible civil war
in China that ended in 1949, the appurtenant violence and destruc on of this modern conict in a far away place
that for most people was only accessible through TIME magazine coverage, Edgar Snow and Pearl S. Buck that one
characterizes today as commentary and dialogue that impressed people but did not inform. It is also possible that
soviet leadership at the me considered Mao and Zhou En lai to be stupid and out of this the CPSU leadership were
caught in a empts to manipulate PRC ocials more than once. There are of course many details to this frac ous
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rela onship that took up lots of the me of PRC party and other administra ve mee ngs over the years, and much
of comprehending it lies in comprehending high level communism and its mission in those places, things that today
are not really permi ed even internally in PRC nor the Russian Federa on due to their impossible implica ons. Mao
lived to be an old man with the trappings and eventual dismissive treatment by his peers that would characterize
his later life and the life of any king. There was nonetheless a pall or shadow cast over the Chinese regime(s) in the
day and even recently having to do with rst a great dependence upon the models of soviet communism, and then
the Maoist and other ideological revolt against the soviets given a. The need internally for administra ve approval for
soviet agents and ocials to expand communist ideas and inuence and then systemic control over people, and b. The
need at the me in the view of most communists to drive free markets and Western countries into a nancial abyss in
their rela ons with communist regimes and their radical prac ces and dialec cal behavior that was schooled into
some Western experts but that was perfect nonsense, and then c. and other ancillary issues too numerous to list
here, having to do with the outcome of resistance against the Japanese, the result of WWII and the Yalta Conference,
and then the civil war and war against the Na onalists with Chiang Kai shek as their own great leader, however
eventually exiled o the mainland. The heretofore in its narra ve, presumably s ll in rare books, as in many cases you
had to know the original CCP thirteen or be related to them, and many of those people are passed, is a small amount
of the background in all its disorder, personal and systemic, about the country un l the communist bedrock began
forming a er 1900 or so as a remedy to the long decline of the country under the Manchus and more; that goes into
this book about Mao. Further, this book might not have been wri en nor seen the light of day much less in rareed
party circles without allowing for sympathies in view of this pi less and cheap a tude many revolu onaries had
about things at the me of the Chinese civil war and revolu onary conicts that ended in 1949. Due to the minority
of factors discussed here and that for some good and well informed people on the subject, only headlines about the
CCP leadership over the years, the life of Mao remains a mystery in many ways and with its many details the author
here mercifully avoids delving into a complete comprehensive coverage of these by including picture photos, maps
and narra ve boxes, etc., that add to at one point the brevity and the construc ve nature and level of detail about
the life of the man. This is a good book serving as an introduc on into the life of Chinese communism, its shakiness
in the beginning and the ways it is in todays world increasingly for ed, and the life of its major protagonist / hero as
he lived though admi edly and in the illustra ve biography here, a very militaris c and restric ve life that impossibly
served as a model for lesser people at the me. This text is as well, along with the events and people, etc., it must
have wished to unify, is an introduc on to the various details and character traits of Maos life that in their interest
will lead to other books on the subject this is perhaps the overall inten on of the author and the overall good itself
of this book. I am in reading it nonetheless surprised the text did not go more into the radiance of the image of Mao
for some when he was alive and the ways in which, apart from his poli cal denouement and cri cism, now self
cri cism by some mainlanders, his life is and was viewed as commendable and exemplary in conduct and given the
binds he found himself in from youth and the high level responses he had to them. The man above all was greatly
ambi ous and wanted power. He also caught the eye of soviet communists capable and only too willing to bestow
this given the chances they took with him that paid o, but that set the stage in some ways for the undermining of the
soviets with all the wealth and resources they have had and currency their people doled out over the years in pedaling
inuence and poli cal implementa on and policy, control of the populace and so on at the me. Remember as well
upon reading this text as one English speaker might, the comprehension of what is here is primary communism in
the PRC, and is otherwise pre y basic in that path [no poli cal emphasis here].

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Not Just in Passing (New Jimmy Carter Autobiography.) (2016-04-10 14:18) - Prolix - public

Music: Rachmanino Piano Concerto No. 2

Book Review A Full Life : Reec ons at Ninety Jimmy Carter Autobiography (copyright 2015, Jimmy Carter, Simon &
Schuster). While Mr. Carter in the eyes of most of the U.S. electorate today has the dubious dis nc on of contes ng
the 1980 presiden al elec on un successfully against the Reagan people, he has other very great points of dis nc on
including those unsung from the 39th U.S. presidency. Mr. Carter came from such unique and overridingly and purely
American and then Southeastern American quali es in being elected president whilst running against the Fords in
1976 (enough of the history lesson already) he just had the higher character of morality and Chris an values the
country needed at the me in addi on to some other a ributes : He had grown up in a small agricultural community
in Archery, Georgia, where African American farmers predominated no ma er how one might want to make fun
of the seed peanuts Mr. Carter cul vated nor even the origins of Billy Beer. It is superuous to men on here that
Mr. Carter grew up with very impressionable democra c values and had greatly caring and cul va ng parents and
family. People did what they could in the nancially strapped Archery and under the inuence of a ghtly knit and
religious Bap st community there, and then in Plains, Georgia; well, maybe even more of the same thing more or
less on a bigger scale. Mr. Carter does not illustrate profusely the point there were and are many white people at
this point in the South, maybe not in Georgia specically at this me, who are forgo en and poor some too poor
to have proper shoes and clothing, much less do these people have decent running water nor dairy and other food
products necessary for good nutri on; poor as China as some used to men on these circumstances. Mr. Carter, and
not through luck, for if it was luck he made his own, graduated high school and a ended through sophomore year at
a local college, Georgia Southwestern and then Georgia Tech along with some reserve training as many ocers did
at the me, Mr. Carter pe oned as was accepted to matriculate at Annapolis, MD. This was in 1943 and the Carters
had a rela ve who was in the Navy on Guam when it was overrun by the Japanese. This might have helped or hurt,
either way, Mr. Carters going into ocer training and then to his assignments at sea later on. One of the people Mr.
Carter worked with in the navy and who greatly inuenced the defense military principles of our 39th president, again,
was Hyman Rickover, head of the rst U.S. nuclear navy and an extremely tough taskmaster and manager. There is a
famous video segment of these two great naval gures at the helm of one of Rickovers ships at one me in the past,
years ago in conversa on, as indeed there are many clips of such people, and every so o en it is shown on television
a great segment that allows insight into the toughness and mutual respect of both these notable people. Mr. Carter
served in the nuclear navy un l the death of his father he served in the U.S. Navy for eleven years, at which me, and
with remorse and relief at the same me (and even with much of a very valuable brain trust about the nuclear navy in
his intellect upon departure) re joined his family in Georgia to con nue the seed peanut business that later turned
into a seed business and a peanut shelling business through the acquisi on of a proper shelling plant. The Carters in
1960 supported the Kennedy / Stevenson presiden al cket as did many Georgians, and James Carter entered poli cs
in the state Senate (1962) to rise to the Georgia Governors elected oce in 1970. In the 1964 democra c primary for
Georgia governor, Carter lost a bi er elec on ba le to a Lester Maddox. Some will remember Mr. Maddox some me
racist a tude that had people puzzling about how he won that primary. Maddox won an addi onally bi er general
elec on appointment to the governorship a er a general elec on, the results of which were mediated by the Georgia
legislature, there being no signicant majority against the republican in 1964, Mr. Bo Callaway. When Mr. Carter, and
this is where the plot of the text really thickens, was elected Georgia governor in 1970, he began mee ng other world
gures he did not already know Golda Meir, the president of France, more and more Washington, D.C., notables,
and so on. This is when he must have felt that the Lyndon Johnson people had a somewhat powerful legacy and
with his being himself (Johnson was from the State of Texas) from the Southern U.S. in view of this, more doors were
open to him. Being governor of Georgia at the me was apparently quite something, though I do not know, having
never been there and have only been slightly Southeast of Oklahoma; it does make sense as Georgia is golf country,
has many people including those employed in manufacturing and Atlanta at the me might have had the busiest
airport in the en re U.S. This all might s ll be true as U.S. economic fundamentals appear to have picked up again
and the place again might be booming economically. In 1970, Mr. Carter as governor was indeed preparing to run
for the White House and introduced George McGovern with an admirable speech at the 1972 Democra c conven on
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in Miami, FL. Elected against Gerald Ford in 1976 in a quite frac ous elec on that followed the Watergate scandal
and pardoning of alleged perpetrator, our president Richard Nixon, Mr. Carter began, as U.S. president, a really un
sung campaign as a moralist crusader and Chris an to re establish economic growth and to act against various
internal and external inuences that had upset our business and commercial, economic and administra ve applecart
at the me. There is a very long list of things Mr. Carter did as president and these are, most of them, outlined in
the book. Mostly I remember how I admired various members of the Carter cabinet, Cyrus Vance among them; and
the dryness and again dry humor with which he conducted his poli cs and foreign policy. The building of American
Centers overseas in various major towns and elsewhere was a program that saved lives and facilitated emigra on to
the U.S. of many greatly valuable people of working and intellectual backgrounds alike. Mr. Carter also had, and he
could not be without this, a very well worked out nuclear navy policy that scared the bejeezus (sp?) out of our Cold
War opponent, then the soviet union. Mr. Carter also did some things to encourage more honest poli cs in the non
aligned na ons that suered corrup ons as the result of soviet money and even Marxist inuences that carried over
into elec on monitoring and other peace - oriented nego a ons under the aegis of the Carter Center a er his me
in oce. At the same me he brought Pales nians and Israelis and their heads of state together in a widely known
set of concessions each to each that set the stage for further peace progress in the Holy Land between arabs and
the Hebrew people. Overall since he began his agri business days all the way through to today, Mr. Carters public
life has not had an inadvertent dull moment as this book illustrates for all of us. An outstanding read.

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One does NOT Really Either Have to Read Nor Review this Twice ... . (2016-04-29 06:37) - Lethargic - public

Music: Sibelius again and again

Foreward by Julian Assange. THE WIKILEAKS FILES. The text at hand is a collec on of edited ar cles concerning dif-
ferent memoranda, documents overall and other media as presented and then collected from the U.S. Empire. By
the patrician values, that is, those of MY parents and their friends : What a commie book! Quite the contrary and
as every stone has its size one has as much or as li le detail as one might want about wikileaks.com under the
circumstances. The text in all its candor exposes the religiosity of the worship of and study of things like spying and
security clearance and so on things that ordinary people deal with in theory and that are otherwise outside the
purview of most, despite and again and again the occasional John Grisham or Clancy book. The wikileaks.com site is
supposed to be damaging to U.S. na onal security and while this might be en rely true from the standpoint of man
in the street, people who are educated and who have elevated knowledge, and who follow the media and the web
know this site is another among many such sites, however dierent in its concentra on and scope of details. The
book does make the a empt to link the U.S. to evil, dicta ng governments and regimes; evil policymaking; meddling
and interven ons, essen ally illegal, in the internal aairs of outside countries and regions / territories; the presence
of a freedom agenda in the U.S.; a empts by evil and sinning people to create a new world order; and other issues
that point to U.S. leadership as degenerate including the Gulf War, cyber conict, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq,
policy and other disasters even da ng to and referring to the old Cold War leaders and cons tuencies as evil and
immoral / illegal. The text is especially focused on the bloody Afghan and Iraq conicts and the various coded and
redacted messages, notes, documents and media that were circulated by the various stakeholders at the me. Details
are provided on the Trans Pacic Partnership, Richard Nixon, Wall Street and its most recent bailouts, and serves
as a commentary, and a good one, on U.S. administra ve policy and poli cs, American agenda and diplomacy over
me. Much verbal currency in this text, at least an over interes ng part of it, refers to the U.S. metadata project that
was coupled with monitoring U.S. telephone calls some me ago. Writers of the dierent ar cles examine various
current events and trends having to do with a slew of U.S. sanc ons of dierent territories, including such obscure
but a rac ve places at Bahrain and Paraguay, though these are not in the extreme by that criteria. The text itself is
126
a tribute to the editors and writers between the contents and end papers lots and lots of poli cal, administra ve,
party and policy details and other characters and factors are discussed, analyzed, and thereupon opined, mostly in
simple terms everyone might comprehend. Assessments and wri ngs here on the war on terror, Central and South
America, Fukushima, the Koreas, poli cs and policy in Japan, South and Southeast Asia, the Islands and the Far East,
the Middle East, Israel, others, their related U.N. Security Council resolu ons and the upstream consequences of that
are easy to read and understand. Nuclear prolifera on is another topic that is more than adequately expounded upon
here, and related sanc ons to oenders against the NPT and similar rules and their non signatories lends some lib-
eral credence to the internet journalism summarized by wikileaks.com. En re chapters are devoted to editorials on
one or more subject ma er that touch upon U.S. ocialdom and so power in some respects, and its reac on at
this me to regime change type ideas and militarism of past U.S. policy. Not to say at this point in this review
that its all lightweight and due to terrorism and other concerns, booksellers might not try to keep copies of this text.
That is not the point as to each his own in the looking into and interpreta ons of events, ongoing and the like on
and about the Iraq war, UAE, Iran and so forth. Opining on various buzzwords, The Pentagon Department of State
U.S. Government and so on, and various and sundry military tac cs, their polity, their execu ves, the way same
have carried on the ght; various elec ons, various elected ocials, as a kind of cynical and very tepid stretch of
literary propor ons only that had and s ll has people ques oning wikileaks.com creden als, especially those of Mr.
Assange who is a really good asset to the internet, world wide web, and computer end user community with his
deance of what is usual and the norm about what one reads and hears, for starters. I guess the idea of the text was
to take a geopoli cal approach and to whipsaw ones own construct of these given whats in the papers and apparent
dierences with those who are in the know and wri ng about it in edi ons as this. The book, and by this Mr. As-
sange are nonetheless highly charisma c, especially for young people who are forming and reforming, presumably,
their thought processes, opinions and ideological orienta on. Follow it, and this book is more like a feather in the
wind than the regular bruise or two that everyone remembers from a good poli cal argument.

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Michael V. Hayden, "Hayden", and His 2015 Text. (2016-04-29 07:04) - an cipatory - public

Music: U2

Thoroughgoing Review of U.S. Na onal Security from 2000 - . PLAYING TO THE EDGE, by Michael V. Hayden. I
cannot do jus ce to the text in a review : In going to extra lengths to obtain this text to read it in view of a supposedly
impending review, and the book is new so it took a while, Michael Haydens book is a survey book of U.S. security
issues that every concerned person needs to read, bar none. Hayden in his text goes to considerable lengths to
apprise any reader, and the book is highly readable, of not only security ques ons facing the Americans, but of security,
especially compu ng and networking, social and social media security ques ons for everyone. This book, however is
nor academic nor theore cal in nature and is not a study but a prac cal personal safety and survival guide for those
concerned with na onal security and cyber security. Most of what is spent on paper here, or on the screens for your
KINDLE or other reader, has to do with Americas capitol, Washington, D.C., and the vital role Hayden played in this as
an academy educated and achieving youngster that became part of the principal group of an terror, security
analysts and policy people in our na onal headlines from about 2000 un l his recent migra on from administra on
to private business. Great, really good read!

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2.5 May

129
THE MAN WHO MADE "US" LIKEABLE FOR ONCE AT LEAST TO EVERYBODY. (2016-05-15 07:11) - mixed - public

Music: rimsky - korsakov

THE STRUGGLE FOR RUSSIA, by Boris Nikolaevich Yeltsin (1994, Times Books) Boris Yeltsin described the me covered
by this text in his country of Russia as a period of legalized anarchy. At the me of the Yeltsin government in
Russia / CIS, some analysts described the Russian leadership as cronies without regard for their ordinary ci zenry.
Some described the legalized anarchy of the day as similar to the Time of Troubles of the distant past. In this text,
Yeltsin as autobiographer comes across as a principled and under the circumstances rightly, heavy handed ruler /
president of his country. Yeltsin, while he and his crowd were undoubtedly le ists, described the Stalinist mes in
the old U.S.S.R. to have been an unqualied tragedy. The text takes the reader through the end of the Gorbachev
era (Mikhail Gorbachev had been greatly popular with the Americans, and was s ll the most popular Russian public
gure in the 1990s a er his resigna on and then during the me of Yeltsins presidency) and the rst real presiden al
elec ons in Russia / CIS that brought Boris Yeltsin to power. In this book as self portrait of the man during the 1991
1993 not so recent, yet crucial period of modern Russia, Yeltsin depicts himself as a family man with a quite large
family, who has worked extremely hard and who has a concern for people is this not at least part of the recipe for
leadership in any system? So what dis nguishes Boris Yeltsin in our awareness of Russian leaders, past and present?
The most dis nguishing and successful trait that comes out of the book and with which one has to agree despite
the new cons tu on, presiden al elec ons, and two a empted coup detats during 1991 93, is that Yeltsin made
Russia / CIS and its workings and poli cs, many of these intriguing and scheming, comprehensible to the Europeans
who were host to the supposed nal ba leground of the Cold War. The eect of this might actually have been to
be er educate rst Central and then Western Europe about communism / Marxism and related prac ces, and then
to promote these sorts of regimes, or regimes with le ist elements into longer and longer terms of administra on in
various sovereign countries. Yeltsin was also a very busy traveler within his own territory and made many trips within
the borders of Russia during his me in oce including his various higher posi ons in the old regime and later under
Gorbachev. As the 1991 presiden al elec on approached, many Russians contemplated the end of soviet history
having to do with free elec ons (rst for the Duma in 1989), elec ons under the old regime leading up to the August
1991 referendum; then the elec on into oce of the rst freely chosen president of Russia all in one fell swoop. The
Russian elec on of 1991 was copiously followed by Le Monde (France), New York Daily News and other periodicals,
especially in the U.S. Yeltsins elec on coincided with a coup against First Secretary Gorbachev who was on vaca on in
the Crimea (by coup leaders Yazov, Kruchkov, Lebedev, Boldin, Pugo, Shenin, Baklanov, Grachev, Pavlov, Yanayev, and
even to an extent the Duma speaker Lukyanov). The August 1991 coup featured a sequestering of Gorbachev and the
appearance of motorized infantry and armor on the streets of Moscow. Yeltsin won over some of the coup leaders,
including Grachev, and took advantage of the indecision, even confusion, among the others to bring the coup to a
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peaceful end without the conspirators prevailing and without bloodshed. The plo ers might have underes mated
the passive resistance of the populace to the coup the coup was condemned ocially by the Moscow business
community, and the methods the plo ers used that mimicked an old, archaic, Stalinist Regime. Gorbachev returned
triumphantly to Moscows Vnukovo and the well oiled communist party conspiracy along Stalinist lines wound up
looking ridiculous, a asco. The book discussed all the work the Russian government had done at Novo Ogaryovo
outside Moscow, some including Gorbachev and Yeltsin together examining policy and cons tu onal ques ons (their
last mee ng together would be on December 24, 1991). Russia under its new president would now concentrate on
its near neighbors and foreign policy chiey with America, Germany and U.K. Yeltsins regime also featured a revival
in the arts of Russian and related themes and with an interna onal a rac on to the mysteries of this. There are other
pathmarks the book speaks of including Yegor Gaidars policy of shock therapy that had people on pins and needles
mostly on economic pins and needles for a while. The price freezes, market reforms, new business rules, and other
regula ons and structures allowed for the regime to distance itself from the dicult and inhumane traits of the old
non market economy, mobilized the populace, and gave everyone in the country a way to break with communism
and to engage in new ac vi es with dierent economic indicators. Part of this was just post Cold War psychology
given the permanence of the black and gray markets in the country, market ineciencies, tainted and mixed bag
oversight of business and commerce, post 1989 ina on; but people in the country were buying things, and more
than ever! The Yeltsin regime was not without intrigues and backstabbers. Alexander Rutskoi in late 1991 was one of
the rst to raise an issue or two about the organiza on and ac vi es of the Yeltsin regime, now the Commonwealth of
Independent States. This led to later diatribes and even to an occasional ar cle of sorts today. As Russia began be er
integra ng itself into the interna onal regime, there were the usual strikes, scandals, and dealings with interna onal
business and the IMF, the WTO and other ins tu ons. Communism was declared dead despite the problems at home
and despite the broiling of the circumstances leading to the 1993 coup a empt. The a empted coup of 1993 had to
do with opposi onists taking hold of the Russian White House in order to at least retrograde Yeltsins regime if not
bring back the Brezhnev years they all found very favorable to themselves. Despite some violence and incidents, urban
guerilla war and perhaps a more serious civil were avoided given the tac cal and prac cal considera ons and acumen
of Yeltsin and his colleagues in re taking the Russian White House. With parliamentary elec ons scheduled for
December 1993, the communist regime would be further placed out of awareness of many Russians with its systemic
cataclysm, puzzling and old boy communist party workings, intrigues of the regime in Moscow and interna onal
adventurism. Russia of the 1990s under Yeltsin was a country emerging from crises, with hope and expecta ons of
stability and consistency in administra on and poli cs in view of Russians all having something of a life at this point
with poli cal horizons to a ain in what was for them at the me a new place in the free world.

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DEATH OF HEZBOLLAH LEADER (ISLAMIC PARTY OF GOD). THIS IS SAD. (2016-05-17 03:26) - un - certain - public

Music: violin and orchestra

[1]Click for "FOREIGN AFFAIRS" coverage on this topic h p://www.theguardian.com/world/hezbollah

1. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/europe/2016-05-10/anti-semitism-and-terrorism?cid=nlc-twofa-201605
12&sp_mid=51363201&sp_rid=dGhvbWFzLnNwaXR0ZXJzQGdtYWlsLmNvbQS2&spMailingID=51363201&spUserID=NTU1MzQ0NzUzMjg
S1&spJobID=921519243&spReportId=OTIxNTE5MjQzS0

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Degenerates (?) or Amateurs? (2016-05-29 04:13) - hungry - public

Music: "rock"

THE GREAT DEGENERATION, by Niall Ferguson (Penguin Press, 2012) Every once in a while a new book like this appears,
and since the authors of the newer material are least aware of their predecessors, the material gets be er and be er,
more detailed and more convincing and provoca ve : See the literature from the 1960s about educa on by Harold
Bloom, and an equivalent theme in a French essay, Jaccuse by Jacques A ali, or simply the local bookshop edi on
of The Pessimists Journal, and more. This text by notable author Niall Ferguson talks about the nancial and moral
proigacy, and other factors of failure versus his killer apps of other edi ons, that lead to societys decline and
fall. Any society, really. The text is a well studied and very well wri en series of editorials about how things
just get people down, and in groups, and that what happens is ones doing if not directly, even indirectly, caused by
instances illustrated here of collec ve greed, sloth, and other sins. The book is not so dire as to have one dashing to
the local reading room for Mans Fate (Andre Malraux), though it leaves one worried about the herd mentality and
the ability only of many under the circumstances to follow the edicts and orders of leadership that might not be so
well prepared for the reigning chaos, but future ups and downs as well. The text is full of sta s cs about social
problems and causa on having to do with the self serving policies, hubris and proigacy not only of legislators, but
of educa onal policy makers and even educators, party and administra ve ocials themselves despite their proper
vows, state and private pledges given their creden als and the like. The text a acks as well problems of individual
a tudes towards work and produc vity, socio ethnic and other unorthodox inuences on people and their jobs, lifes
work and so forth; the decline in economic gains as related to labor sta s cs, various business gures and sta s cs,
and gures showing a greater and greater decline in volunteerism. What does this all mean? One might argue it
just means things individually speaking to individual readers and listeners, though one serious proposal of the text
is people today conduct themselves given a new social environment that is greatly top heavy, something that is
rife with underlying conict and fer le ground for destruc ve ideas and mindsets as terrorism, Marxism and so on.
Success as well today is viewed by its abuses and Capitalism a dirty word. Societal gaps such as socio economic
gaps and the genera on gap are greater in magnitude than ever. Third world socie es are producing people, too many,
who make ul mate demands upon everyone else and this might be seen as proper from the point of view of progress
and improvement, though the third world places examined do not seem to be that greatly be er o at home for
having produced, i.e., their technologists, economists (many of whom are downright Marxist), as these elements
almost never remain home subjects, but emigrate abroad or make eorts to do so where same are not needed and
133
are parasi c. There is the issue as well of low price islands, such as India, undermining with cost considera ons, lots
of other places; and that places like India have been blindly pumped full of interna onal bellwether cash given this
sort of thing. Ferguson introduces other items for discussion such as the value of performing economies, disrup ve
economics and ideology, poli cs and ac vism; the fact that en re socie es are structured along the lines of former
soviet ideas to undermine and brutalize, etc., (other pejora ves) rivals and other state en es as much as possible for
systemic and personal gain; some principles around economics and the law and business, and possible outcomes given
the power, market power and other inuence of these trends and socio economic currents. Overall a fascina ng
read as many of Mr. Fergusons texts are. Great!

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2.6 June

135
An Historical Record these Days without Revisionism. (2016-06-12 04:58) - an cipatory - public

Music: Rach, Bach

Have thoroughly read the text though these reviews are professionally done
and are not my own less risky for the blogger, here, and right in opposi on to my wan ng to do a full - scale review
of this outstanding, tremendously inspiring book : [1]C - SPAN programming review featuring the author, "[2]Boston
Globe" review, "[3]The Na onal Review", "[4]The Guardian".
1. http://www.c-span.org/video/?327441-1/robert-service-end-cold-war
2. https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/11/13/book-review-the-end-cold-war-robert-service/qqGXKUiP6ia6
wko2mjusKN/story.html
3. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/426805/cold-war-end-game
4. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/11/end-cold-war-magisterial-history-robert-service

136
While Doing My Best to Fail Yet Another Personality Test ... (and yes, I failed it) Here It Is. (2016-06-12 05:11)
- fearful, frightened - public

Music: theme from movie frankensteins monster

This is a text that accompanies a personality test, and yes, again I failed,
to get you into a mo va onal program that will change your behaviors and make you more successful. I have no
objec on to this for some people who respond to it and for the right reasons, one of which is "they need" such a thing
to structure their lives. I have the same sort of text I have been using for a long me having to do with, i.e., avoiding
ge ng steam - rolled by success stories and methods and prac ces for these in behavioral and related sciences that
put people in "types" as one nds between the covers and so on. I have to admit the text I use is in the proverbial
Texas stubbleelds and is nonetheless extremely valuable to me referen ally, even with a en on to these "third way",
test - and shock / fear - based books and their related programs. An en rely dierent song that I know has engineers
turning over their robo cs ideas upon any serious review of this.

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2.7 July

138
... and You Will Call this Home As Well. (2016-07-03 22:18) - anxious - public

Music: various

Elie Wiesel (b. 1928 d. 2016) Many, many obituaries are professionally wri en and contain a dra summary of many
achievements of the dead as undoubtedly many do about Elie Wiesel who passed last Saturday. My impression of Mr.
Wiesel growing up was that this sort of person who survived both Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentra on camps
and who spoke of the experience somewhat ellip cally but more haun ngly in the pieces of his I read (Night and
various ar cles, including in French), was that by the aura and reputa on of the man he seemed above it all; simply
una ainable. Though this was not his wish, nor was it by any personal nor professional device he was a person
lots of people wanted to meet and speak with, though again many would never do so : Life was too short to follow
people and then to try having an audience (like with the Pope), or should one move, or even try, to move into the
same neighborhood (?), much less to a end an actual lecture, conference, mee ng or class of his. Wiesel was a man
apparently una ainable in a very prac cal sense to 20th century history (a bloody and un nished chronicle) maybe
when Enrico Fermi had been to physics at the same me. Mr. Wiesel, though I did not know his name maybe un l I
passed nineteen or twenty years of age and had started seeing him on television a er his Nobel Prize and then more
about the end of the Cold War was an impressive character in the weighty words he used, mostly for me English and
French as I speak no Hebrew. Some agreed that he represented a huge smear, a stain on Western European society
and the Western world for what started with the Nazi putsch in the German government long before Hitler became
Chancellor. For me, in fact, and there are lots of crazy, insane people who will say they know or knew Mr. Wiesel, I
am absolutely sure; no one called and there was no personal news to me that he had died, thus I know I never met
the fellow though from the great prac cal and cri cal heights he occupied most if not all his life, Wiesel represented
a recovery and reconcilia on from the Holocaust me and the me when brother and sister turned in brother and
sister, mother and father, etc. When faced with the dilemma about where to turn versus being arrested mostly in
Central Europe and Southern Poland during 1933 1944 to 1945, many people reacted dierently : Many le their
139
homeland, or motherland and went to U.K. or the States, some stayed behind to try to help keep their family and
circle of friends intact. The emigres to the States fared be er, as those who stayed behind were by record ruthlessly
eliminated and then if no record, many just disappeared. This is exemplary genocide and due to the very large scale of
it and the specicity with which people were killed, the term Holocaust and Shoah are deeply ingrained if not seared
into the psyches of many related par es whose lines derive from those places at those mes (again, Central Europe
and Southern Poland and that overall area) and from the populaces that included both antagonist perpetrators
and their vic ms, the Hebrew family. Maybe as well what he represented to an even greater, less educated media -
centric populace might be captured in the way some viewed such people as specimens who had already lived through
so much that night, we thought nothing could frighten us anymore (Wiesel, 25). Those thinking people about the
genocides in the world then and since, and even before the WWII mes, and then again those who rst remember and
then know of the Holocaust, are ideological and moral orphans. It remains to be seen if a living genera on without
such people in the modern world can stand up on its own morally and ethically in opposi on to this litany of wrongs,
even in appearance physically in view of the legacy primarily of freedom and responsibility, especially in the absence
of the vengeful gods they dispersed, of such people. I cross myself. [1]"New York Times" obituary [2]NIGHT [3]Yad
Vashem
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/03/world/europe/elie-wiesel-auschwitz-survivor-and-nobel-peace-prize-winne
r-dies-at-87.html?_r=0
2. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0071VUXXA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
3. http://yadvashem.org/

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Not Just "Surface" Issues. (2016-07-09 21:57) - okay - public

Music: anthems

SOUTH CHINA SEA TERRITORIALITY NOT JUST THE WATER. The South China Sea has long been an area of conten on
141
even before the many modern instances of territoriality involving boats and avia on, borders and routes through that
area. Notable among the conict territories have been the Paracels and the Spratlys claimed mostly by both PRC and
Viet Nam. Some Asia watchers indicate that U.S. interests are greatly at stake in any arrangement over sea and
undersea areas due to the spheres of inuence poli cs and trade in that part of the globe. What does this mean for
the U.S., PRC and Southeast Asian na ons involved in the very complicated boundaries in the area and the global
trade war, shipping lanes and how these are supervised, trade organiza on consequences in view of nego a ng an
agreement about this contested area and more. What seems to be at issue is there is apparently some oil below the
seabed in this area of the oceans and natural resources there as well. My favorite projec on of any outcome and any
industrial level prac ce that could result from talks and ensuing agreements in this case has to do with the par es
to the area at present doing as they please, though legally, with the development of said seabed and under seabed
resources, then the powers involved will get to imita ng each others policies concerning any conict over territories
and harves ng of the seabed and below that for the petrol. This do as one pleases shadowing of each other
will exhaust itself once people get irritated and annoyed enough with interfering with each others mining and drilling
(principally) ac vi es, and one could in fact have an old fashioned joint venture to con nue development of the
area in an orderly way by having China and U.S. industries, resourceful as they are, provide the infrastructure for
themselves and for the SEA and island countries as well. Mining and drilling ac vi es could then either be contracted
or auc oned to the highest bidders. This licensing of industry would dissuade fears that PRC, and possibly some of the
SEA countries are grabbing and avariciously so at natural resources and the water surface(s). Shipping lanes could be
supervised by ASEAN authori es and PRC U.S. coopera ve par cipa on. This is not a simple management model,
though the objec ve of this is to allow for development of the shipping lanes and resources undersea in the areas of
the ocean under ques on where presumably border and territorial claims as they are today will not be resolved. One
caveat is joint ventures o en fail due to one en ty or another, party to the joint venture is forced to make things work
by taking on the lions share of management and personnel in these arrangements and incurs more of the burdens of
the venture a disincen ve and a change agent that dissolves many joint ventures. One way to resolve this with an
agreement is to form the venture and then sunset it a er ve years a er which the business will become an industrial
concern : Some of the ques ons that arise here have to do with conic ng a ributes of industrial en es in SEA / U.S.
/ PRC this might be resolved in a Basel type mee ng over management of the original en ty and its governance.
Personally, I do not see why PRC does not avail itself of development agreements in the area and subsequent licensing
or ren ng me and machinery to carry on actual business ac vi es drilling and mining, shing, , in the area. The
ways in which leadership of the great powers and SEA handles these challenges remains to be seen.

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"RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS" AND OTHER CONCEPTS THAT COME WITH ECONOMICS FAMILIARITY.
(2016-07-23 08:53) - elevated - public

Music: schubert

THE RISE AND FALL OF AMERICAN GROWTH, by Robert J. Gordon (2016) This very thorough and wide ranging eco-
nomics text is remarkable in that its narra ve examines in cri cal fashion, but does not en rely integrate, the path
of U.S. economic history since the Industrial Revolu on and its rela on overall to the economic edicts and theories
of the me. The book also speaks to past events through the lens of modern economics, however retrospec ve in
nature, and my own interest in it among others is how actually the author goes about this in addi on to addressing
issues of the fall of work and growth in America. The point of the text appears to be, at least somewhat, that there
have been limits to American worker produc vity and the limits upon those have produced diminishing returns for a
while yet. Remember that labor produc vity gains, old fashioned labor, were the apparent key to overall monetary
gains and economic gains during the Greenspan years. This was followed, essen ally, by U.S. businesses sort of taking
a breather from those days of high pressure and frene c economic ac vity and the overall craziness of things like
real estate and technology booms followed by the specula ve nancial boom of the late 2000s. Perspec ve of the
regulators aside, the U.S. economy con nues to change and grow and seek new basis for growth, and this in view
of and despite what some might claim have been the nancial and other economic windfalls of a few. Monetary
theory indicates in its own basis that economic phenomena have leading innovators and indicators that derive the
essen al wealth crea on that drives much of business and commercial ac vity that these have become more or
less stra ed from one or another point of view a er the booms of the 2000s is not disturbing as the U.S. economic
engine, or machine con nues to grow, at least somewhat outside the sponsorship of the federal government, in
some sectors even despite this, and call for economic and nancial rewards for opportune, hard working, capitalis-
c, risk taking, even lucky economic elements this means businesses and people and again is another reason to
read through this text. Part of the thesis of the book, star ng with the wealth crea on of the Industrial Revolu on
has to do with the ques on where did the money go? given the dollar chasing things like hard assets, increasing
quality of life and growth and infrastructure for many people including moneys actually spent for intellectual and
leisure ac vi es, the popula on increase in towns and ci es, an overall mul plying of the choices one could make
with monetary resources and everything down the food chain from that to what one did with ones pocket change
and so on : Essen ally the growth of the middle class and the very redeeming and unqualied inux of people, money
and wealth in proper economic pursuits that s ll dis nguishes the American commonweal today and its middle class.
Gordons thesis appears to hinge again on the common theory that technological innova on and its implementa on,
and increases in a talented and hard working worker popula on drove the overall U.S. economic engine during the
me of outsized growth, 1870 1914. Things like the steam railroad engine and the department store gure promi-
nently in the authors representa on of what economic growth meant in the U.S. at the me. Then public transport
and automobiles, u li es, home and building construc on, tex les, and so on, telephone and telegraph, and some
innova on as far as nancial products had been concerned the prolifera on of joint stock companies and the rise of
the stock markets, bond markets, the world of the professions in step with the rise in the trades and merchant com-
merce, . This was followed by a period in which leisure me becomes or became more important insofar as things
as gaming, recrea on and actual appliances for leisure me such as the phonograph, the lm and media industries
including dierent types of publishing and prin ng for all, all of these media then were manufactured for sale to the
public. The Also important in the era from the Industrial Revolu on up to about 1940 was the gradual se ng up of
a social net public and private hospitals, sanita on, public health facili es and health and food standards, and an
143
infrastructure assuring proper drinking water (this was a boon for many, many people). Even things like the beginning
of a solid and vibrant property and casualty insurance industry that included health insurance, ins tu ons of social
progress and the inclusion of this as a poli cal agenda item, the ins tu onaliza on of employment and job holding
for all adults capable of work, and the dissemina on through many educa onal and other channels the importance of
poli cal rights that provoked the surage movement above all are addi onal ways that produced such a winning eco-
nomic and commercial environment for American society. To examine all the details this text examines has to do with
readers here ge ng here ge ng their hands on the text and going through its eighteen chapters and almost seven
hundred y pages overall. A er looking into the economic structure of classical economic gains in the U.S. from
1870 1940, the text turns to ac vi es of maturing economies such as the development of human capital and prod-
uct quality and increasing the economic u lity of things like the constructed electric grid and transport hubs and lines,
though there is no real examina on of this in the sea lanes in place of some looking into air transport. People could
aord more a er WWII, and the products and infrastructure got smarter and smarter and this con nues through to
today : Media produc on star ng with musical pieces, color television and technology tools and machinery, and this
was not only in parallel with most people living longer lives, but the quality of life for many, many of those had greatly
increased. It is another and very great economic ques on as to whether these benets of economic growth were due
to public policy or whether most if not all the economic growth and benets of this era had to do with wealth crea on
through investments and other capital infusions from private sources into ac vi es, economic sectors and businesses
engaged in very large scale and at the me un regulated economic ac vi es that were vital and precious to all. An
example of this is the heavy metal industry, again that the author might have looked at in depth though other fac-
tors and illustra ons are found in the book that provoke these for the reader. The author then presents an argument
that observes and illustrates the slowing of growth of the U.S. economy and this despite rapid and deliberate and s ll
very successful business innova on models and ac vi es up to today. The text does not underes mate the present
and future roles of small and medium sized businesses in the U.S. economy though not much hay is made of the
great contribu on these make and that even startups make in our na onal and interna onally inuenced economy
today. Inven on and innova on today are seen as comprised of risk elements and though the author speaks of these,
more currency needs be made of it for the thesis of the book to really be conrmed by the narra ve. It is perhaps in
the interest of the overall length of the text this is largely le out along with the small business and startup content
that one might have seen. The author does discuss social policy and by associa on to modern economics, issues of
unemployment, taxes, income stra ca on and choices about what people do with income; all this with a growth
model that now shows decreasing returns to scale. Be er educa on for the young, innova on, more equality and
rights and be er social policies, scal and legal reforms, produc vity enhancements, be er economic opportuni es
given government and other factors these are elements in the cookbook to change the U.S. economic growth model
for the future. This is an outstanding thesis that needs to be read by every single concerned economic actor, and this
model or series of models proposed to improve economic climes and status levels for the American middle class and
for all in our economy again who are voluntary or involuntary and involved elementally in the global system.

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"Road and Track" from Japan. Toyota Challenges in Racing. (2016-07-27 04:05) - talka ve - public

Music: various

There are a good number of Japanese auto makers and probably s ll since some me ago when one is faced with
this, one thinks Toyota. I do not drive a Toyota, but books are published about how this company makes automobiles
as originally determined by a Taiichi Ohno, originally given the task of making Toyota into a great automaker. Mr.
Ohno, a great innovator in the history of the automobile, was given the task of re - inven ng Toyota by Eiji Toyoda,
chief execu ve of Toyota Motors as a manufacturing and management challenge in the 1950s. Toyota is the famous
originator of the "Just in Time" (Kiichiro Toyoda) inventory ow system that began this challenge and call for change
rst at Toyota and then at most all Japanese auto makers. The new system improvised and implemented by Ohno,
simply put, as the Toyota Produc on System, uses automa on and various metrics rst to determine what adds slack
and what adds value to the auto manufacturing process with the emphasis above all upon assembly (produc on).
This process includes "benchmarking" and a priori changes in company culture to have the "Toyota Way" ingrained in
everyone having to do with making autos at Toyota. This innova ve and engineering approach to auto making was
implemented on an industrial scale in America at the NUMMI automobile manufacturing organiza on that imported
as well the "con nuous process ow" manufacturing process as part of "TPS" to the U.S. some me ago. The Toyota
manufacturing process as "TPS" included not only "Just in Time" and "The Toyota Way", but Kanban, Kaizen, Jidoku,
and Heijunka systems as well. This had been an approach of ge ng quality right the rst me. The Toyota Produc on
System included as well some systems to rene and enhance, and to op mize rela ons with company suppliers and
vendors; remember Toyota under these principles was an automobile assembler, and the quality of rst, rela ons with
vendors, and the quality of the products supplied to the company had been of importance of the rst order. TPS also
has the character, if a manufacturing system might be so described, of preven ng and detec ng root manufacturing
problems before these aect the overall quality of Toyota vehicles. Perhaps the most vital facet of the TPS had been,
and this has been in the companys ow manufacturing system for some me, building your own vehicle as a service
to customers in using the sales and service features of TPS. Great (what a ride?).

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2.8 August

146
BOOK BY MICHAEL D. SPENCE - TO READ! (2016-08-03 16:59) - slight pessimism - public

Music: chinese opera

THE SEARCH FOR MODERN CHINA, by Jonathan D. Spence (Norton & Company Publishers, 2013) Every once in a while
another good book is published about China, and this text, printed in 2013 is no excep on to that rule. Plenty of
books are published every day on every subject, though what sets this apart from previous texts is the thoroughness
with which the author pursues his subject. Though the reader might not get the avor for the warring and legal
tradi ons under the Mongols, or for the art and culture of the Song and Tang Dynas es for example, the text does
not hold itself out as a detailed survey of the ancient mes that aect the region today, nor does it a empt to cover
the history of the region in its en rety not that this is irrelevant to the present, and it is, though for the typical
survey as thoroughgoing as this one is, references to ancient historical texts are not needed : The book begins with a
brief history of the Ming Dynasty (some mes in schools this is taught star ng at the Mongol Dynasty through the end
of the Ming, and other lessons are taught on eighteenth and ninetheenth century developments and the revolu on,
for example); and yes, the book is wri en by a professor, Mr. Spence, replete with references, endnotes, imaging,
and other facets of academic texts that make them all either more boring or more interes ng depending upon the
reader. This book contains an en re re nue of images to look at, especially about the me photography was invented
and then working forward. Certainly, for example, there are no photos about the early Qing Dynasty that followed
the conquest of the Mings (1644 Bei jing), a very royally feudal dynasty, a er which the emperor Kangxi, a great
emperor in the history of China fundamentally without peer and followed in importance by Qianlong and Huangdi,
for example, engaged in a long series of ba les to unify the country (1673 81). These conicts that had to do as
much with erasing the very old feudal character of the Mings and their warlords as bringing together the region under
one rule. Kangxi might be said to have been a true despot and an older version of a tyrant in modern terms in his
successful eorts to erase all ves ges of the defeated dynas es. Especially rancorous for the Chinese at the me
was the defeat and passing of the great Confucian Ming ruler Chongzen as he was very well liked everywhere in
China and based the monarchy on the Analects of Confucius and the Yi Jing and various among these intellectual
and humanis c ideas and cultural inuences. The Qings under Kangxi as well had dicul es with their Northern
borders as they do today, with the Dala Lama, the Northern desert, and Tai wan and more. Emperor Kangxi le a
legacy of mixed ques ons and dicul es that included a empts to resolve the Catholic missionaries ques on, poli cal
jostling in the royal family, unica on in the face of periodic rebellion, the ques on of be er rural condi ons, and
administra ve ques ons like land reform. Kangxi also le no heir. Kangxi, who conquered the Mings (1644) was
followed by a series of despots constantly dealing with his legacy and its ques ons and ramica ons. All of these
poli cal and other ques ons evolved, for instance the Confucian order greatly developed between the seventeenth
and nineteenth centuries, changing constantly according to ideological and philosophical developments. One might
147
also understand the intended subtext of the reign of Qianlong (another Qing ruler) who made great, extreme eorts
to further unify and organize the country, for example, in nally conquering the Northern desert, an outstanding
achievement in a me when there were only crude implements to enforce the poli cs and administra on of the day,
and even horses that really carried the day under the circumstances had to be handled and were scarce at mes due
to exhaus on, a ri on in ba le and so on. The later years of the rule of Qianlong featured crisis upon crisis that
included corrup on in the royal house, administra ve bungling and rebellion in the provinces. The author weaves a
very intricate tapestry of these events and the inuence they had on modern Chinese thinking and poli cs. One way
to do this in the book is to compare government structure then and now : The Qing rulers had very no ceable and
large foreign aairs, though had no foreign oce; mostly at the me foreign rela ons had to do with watching Chinas
borders only and that was as far as it got. On the other hand, China under the Qing rulers carried on and managed
ocial exchanges and ac vi es with Mongols, Zunghars, Russians, Muslims, Koreans, Viets, Japanese, Burmese, Thai,
and those from, e.g., the Ryukus, and so on. Aairs with the French who had gained signicant inuence in China in
the 19th century, Britain, and Holland were neighborly as well. The eighteenth century had to do with organizing the
Canton system and expanding produc on and foreign trade guilds. The Qing, as many dynas es did, had a legal code
that was enforced by the regime in Bei jing. An en re history of these ma ers and the details about the rst incipient
and then more developed opium trade and the wars in China over this is illustrated and then the Bri sh foray with this
in mind into South and Southeast Asia. It was also about this me the Overseas Chinese community began becoming
more important everywhere and for various reasons. A er the opium wars and the Nanjing Treaty, Chinese society
experienced periodic adversi es that contributed to a North / South disloca on of society over the long term. These
disloca ons were followed by periods of eorts at reform and might be a reason for the inroads that Chris anity made
into the country at the me. It was apparently during one of the periods of reform, that incidentally became more and
more frequent at the end of the 19th and into the 20th century that Dr. Sun Yat sen, Kang You wei and various other
revolu onary founders and characters began to appear on the poli cal scene. This and some natural disasters in the
country during Dr. Suns mature poli cal years allowed for the Boxer Rebellion and the end of the imperial monarchy
(1905 1911) in favor of the Na onalists / Socialists. This poli cal founda on and then revolu onary re asser on
of poli cal movements in China from a weak form to a strong form that resulted in the rise of an en rely new and
more free thinking group of na onal gures in the country, regardless of Na onalist or Communist allegiances at
the me, se ng the tone rst for the Movement of May Four, and then for more revolu onary trends and those even
overriding outside inuences such as the Bolsheviks that are s ll on the pla orm of Chinese poli cs today. Dont skip
a page. [1]Another Paper of Sorts on Revolu onary China this short reading here is not a book; and [2]another.
1. https://www.scribd.com/doc/314810451/China-article-2007-to-China-Dream
2. https://www.scribd.com/doc/136241618/Paul-Claudel-Et-la-Chine-au-Present-04-2013

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Ikiru - "To Live" - Akira Kurosawa (1952.) (2016-08-26 08:55) - okay - public

Music: Jazz

IKIRU (1952 FILM, Japan) As Directed by Akira Kurosawa. This older black and white lm produc on from the mid
1950s is a mul level look at immediate post WW II Japanese society mostly from the point of view of the bu-
reaucracy, and without, for example, any real men on of the war nor the American administra on of Japan at the
me. The implica ons of this are signicant as director Kurosawa leaves to the viewers imagina on any presence of
American oversight or inuence resul ng from the outcome of the war a theme that is striking star ng from the be-
ginning of the lm. Of course, the se ng for the story is in a large city, lots of people and lots to do, and where a long
me administra ve bureaucrat is illustrated among his careerist colleagues and associates in a government sec on
of some weight where Watanabe is s ed in his work by the business of the oce and its place below ministerial
importance, and other inuences that include the works of over ambi ous workers and ocials in the workplace.
Protagonist Watanabe visits the doctor for an examina on given that he is otherwise healthy but is slowing down
and nds he has a stomach cancer along with maybe six months to a year to live : Despite the importance of this
and his obliga on to tell people, he decides on a binge of night life, relaxa on and partying among the ordinary
people and their carousing and carrying on in their own lives outside work and so on. The way adult life, especially
the amusements, of the people are portrayed in this produc on is a li le sinister and un invi ng. One wonders, for
instance, how a sick person as Watanabe is in this story and at his age, nds the stamina to carouse with the young
working populace maybe one third his age or less. The carrying on as shown with one or more of the people Watan-
abe meets is quite animalis c and this also an exaggerated portrayal of night life in addi on to the overall re ring
nature and gen lity, mostly due to the vagaries of life, of Watanabe. On his second day away from home and away
from the madding crowd at work, Watanabe by chance meets up with a secretarial worker from the oce who is
resigning and needs his approval. Caprices follow in which the elder bureaucrat ocially approves of the lady qui ng
and subsequent to that proceeds to court her in very short order with conicted ambi ons due to illness, age and the
li le promise of his eorts. This was apparently not unusual in the day in Japan as new rela onships varied according
to convenience at the me and other factors, not simply (as had been the case there for many years) the views and
conscience of family and society and the like. This new lady to Watanabe is quite en cing insofar as she engages in
various theatrics given his favors, though the rela onship ends in the dregs, and she departs for her new job. He
pursues her to her new place of work to nd she has a place on a city toymakers assembly line. They have an a empt
at a ing in a local restaurant and he avows his love for her in what is a very poignant and commi ed way for him, but
for her is completely grotesque and she rejects him over a kind of train wreck of a dinner scene in a busy downtown
city establishment. Watanabe returns home intermi ently over the maybe two or more weeks, even a month, during
149
which this plot unfolds. He does not tell his rela ves hes ill and this causes more acrimony at the house as his wife,
son and daughter in law who have their own lifes cares want less and less to do with him and the people at the
house are nonetheless forced into speaking with each other given the economics of the house and their nancial es.
The tensions in the story reach new heights when his son, he and his wife heirs to Watanabes estate that includes
the house, berates him at length for his behavior and carrying on with the young ladies. All this is drama cs that
further push Watanabe in to the grave, and the lm ends in a series of nal funerary and macabre vigne es with
oce associates a ending to ceremony, drunkenness and grief. The lm has openly been compared to the Tolstoi
story Ivan Ilyich that has a Russian villager dealing at rst with aches and pains and then a full debilita ng illness
that results in his demise. In fact, many of the family and professional an cs and theatrics of the two stories parallel
quite well, thought the "Ikiru" story stands on its own as a recoun ng of the post war bureaucracy in Japan and its
eventual genera onal succession to younger people with less insular orienta on and ques ons about the world. The
Ikiru story is one of work, family and interpersonal poli cs and acts, yes, and these are portrayed in many media
and produc ons in every way. What is so great about this old lm is the shadowy imagery of it, almost of the deep
lm noir genre, the high emo onal state(s) of the main characters and role players in friendship or conict with
each other, the portrayal of the Japanese working people, and much more that highlight the old mans cancer a ack
and his view of himself and others as it deteriorates and degenerates. Yes, the story is a tragedy, but not as Ilyich
and not as any other. Kurosawa made such lms to allow his viewing audience to be completely on edge during the
me of the lm, and he was greatly gi ed in doing this with camera imagery, dialogue and music in his media; happy
or sad, mad or fearful, up or down, and at will with the produc on tools and people he knew and used so well. It is
perhaps this kind of stress or eustress as created by the milieu in his movies that Kurosawa believed, and maybe
even as direct causa on, in having his audiences more recep ve to his themes in his stories and then to his views
about life overall. This and other Akira Kurosawa produc ons are greatly worth checking out. Really good!

150
Looking at Panmunjom. (2016-08-28 06:33) - public

LIGHTS OUT, by Ted Koppel (2015, Crown Books) This brand new bestseller by a leviathan and very versa le television
personality has one reading not only of the foreign inuences and their na onalists, all, e.g., with nuclear and other
war aims against America, who commit cybercrime against the U.S. and against its public and private technology facil-
i es and installa ons, but about where the locus points of the hacker / cybercrime movements and its trends are and
their dire poli cal and other mo va ons against Americans. One of these, as an example is D.P.R.K., en rely fana c
and prevarica ng against America and the Western world. The U.S., and this despite the frene c overall systemic
weakness of North Korea, is vulnerable and now only really reac ve to the low level of cybercrime emi ed from that
rogue state. The U.S. as illustrated in Koppels text is completely un - prepared in detec ng and controlling cybera acks
from places like D.P.R.K. and its allies. The regulatory environment in the U.S. recognizes cyberthreats as a danger,
but has been inappropriately inadap ve to the demands for policy and rule and even theore cal or guideline cyber
- policy implementa on. With the poor regulatory environment, suering from various administra ve iner a, hype
over compu ng considera ons that includes hollow talk and posturing among other nega ves, has come an inability
to realize cybersecurity threats as a real danger, and thus complete lack of preparedness, even marginal readiness,
and then incapacity and overall feebleness given any correc on of or reac on to these threats that are very real, and
many more or less successful. Everywhere there is an electric u lity in our country is a possible cyber disaster due
to the associated threats and vulnerabili es. The only real plan in America for responding to a pulse bomb, hacker
a ack, or germ or reagent a ack is a too li le too late; as (given) a response strategy from FEMA to call people and
disaster recovery out a er the a acks and so forth have been allowed to happen. The status of this right now is there
are various groups and task forces, even rst responders to correct and remedy any disturbance, or disaster, and with-
out mely or tangible or any benet such as detec on and preven on that would solidly preserve a func oning grid.
The Department of Homeland Security and associated federal and state bureaus and their policies have made en rely
cost - eec ve, weak plans to defend against and deal with cyberoenses against the U.S. and na onal preparedness
in view of a cyber a ack, much less an all - out, no holds barred cyber war against us. Undoubtedly, and given the
certainty of future events against us, Koppel notes the approach to the prospect of this and then any cyberdefense,
yet with any and all the needed bells and whistles, nonetheless will remain reac ve. This addi onally has experts
pondering the challenge of defense and countera ack with policy, technology, strategy and tac cs in place and at
the ready, all counter to any real American eorts to defend against cyber enemies and win. Read this book to learn
about the reac ve U.S. cyber - strategy and its fu lity, and what to do now. An outstanding read!

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2.9 September

152
ANOTHER EXCELLENT READ BELATED BOOK REVIEW. (2016-09-11 08:23) - anxious, giddy - public

Music: bach

DINESH DSOUZA WHATS SO GREAT ABOUT CHRISTIANITY (2007, Perseus Books). This very ne popular, mul
- disciplinary book makes some excellent points about the importance of religion in the big world today of many
more Christ followers than before, especially the Catholics who might or might not, given their center in Rome, be
considered to be, again, more important and invi ng in a construc ve way versus the percep on that Chris anity and
more specically Catholicism in a modern world are fodder for fana cs and increasingly dangerous. DSouza does not
really examine this outright and nor would this commentator in such a book that simply compares and contrasts the
Christ story and its followers with the basic, and en rely a rac ve to their own, followers of atheism. Chris anity has
been a well conceived and well thought out movement since it began or at least since Saint Paul, if not since the
me of John the Bap st. Think of religious dogma as resolving things, moral ques ons and ques ons of conduct and
behavior, for instance, and atheism as a belief system that causes problems, especially for non thinking people : This
is the beginning idea that starts this text o and makes one want to read through it. In its way, atheism has a tendency
towards primary eli sm among reasoning and ra onal gures, and religion appears, or must for some in our modern
society, to appeal at least to a greater number of individuals who are in the populace and who might have no or limited
means to an educa on or only some educa on itself : This very large group, virtually all at least par ally literate a er
a me, depend upon the inuences and beliefs of the Chris an Church and community in their lives for their overall
successes, accomplishments and some mes mere survival. This rough interpreta on covers most of the secondary
themes presented in the text, including that atheism is characterized by Darwinism and evolu onary theory, and of
people who are educated enough to have grown out of their religion(s). A response to this from the Chris an Church
has been a claim on Western Chris an ethics as a basis for many Western establishments, Chris an holidays including
Christmas and others, and the emphasis in the Chris an Church upon learnedness and academic accomplishment
and achievement. In the West, Chris ans have a root or base in the spirit of Christ as does Western civiliza on. This
153
is opposed to the godlessness of many a federal or state administra on everywhere and in parallel the fallibility of
any approach between religion and government; and whereas Chris ans base their hierarchy and culture on dignity
and the values of the Enlightenment, today mostly the states values are systemic and contrary to faith, even at the
expense of the crea vity engendered by religious faith under the circumstances. Chris anity might therefore in one
way or another be seen as a very large type of fraternity, whereas the state is an en re establishment of power and
dominion, even over a populace or a por on thereof with its own canonic laws and the like. This requires a good
amount of steady plodding on the part of any state system given the cleverness of people who a end Church and the
commensurate view that man is for the Earth, and this where the state places the role of man within the overall very
large ra onales of scien c and administra ve endeavor that includes a reasonable and ra onal and nite cosmos.
The arts and sciences as inuenced by Chris anity nonetheless accept much scien c law, though without respect
to the methods of physics and the percep on of atheists, e.g., that there are extraterrestrials. One might men on
here that Chris anity today is concerned with evangelism and outreach, even the formerly quite insular Catholic
Church, and then the dissemina on of other facets of its following, whereas atheists might primarily be concerned
with reasoning and dissemina ng ra onality they cite as having a power over the percep ons of religion. Chris anity
for the most part today is ruled by the God of Moses as preceded by a crea on story and many of the arguments with
atheists now are about what is in the rst book of the Chris an Bible and its interpreta ons. Atheists are concerned
with sociologically important issues such as the place of man in the mul dimensional, yet ra onal universe of
mother earth and that itself within the nite cosmos. In this one can readily nd, and one does not have to be looking,
a very sophis cated type of astrology accompanied by design theories that can and do fail. In the event one has to
judge between atheism and Chris anity, remember that today each might be necessary and in fact servile in one way
or another to each, and that Chris anity with its base upon faith and belief somewhat mirrors, needs and informs
to the exhaus ve Kan an ra onality of atheism and its deriva ve ideas. If one takes both of these as extremes to
each other, and then opposed to each other, thats a dilemma and at one point in the book Mr. DSouza suggests
this dilemma par cularly is o en in the mindset and the purview of skinints, neer do wells and the like. Religion
and atheism both have their inquisitors and captains general of war and violence, travesty and atrocity and the like
and there is a long history of these drawbacks and their inuences as applicable here at this me with the reading of
this book. Religion seeks divinity and the sublime (Dantes proverbial Paradiso in many ways), and this is en rely
dis nguishable from atheism that approaches many of the same ideas, problems, ques ons and so on as concepts to
esh out within the rules of (star ng, for example, with the rules of Aristotle as documented, though DSouza does
not men on this, an en re subject ma er in and of itself) reason and ra onality, and hopefully avoiding the conicts
of the ego that characterize these dogmas and the subsequent and arising evils about which very reasonable and
responsible people run risks every day.

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2.10 October

155
HOMME DU "REALPOLITIK" DE LANCIEN ORDRE LUI ET SES COPAINS DU LEGS GIGANTESQUE.
(2016-10-04 04:55) - down, the blues - public

Music: sibelius

[1] "NEW YORK TIMES" OBIT .

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1. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/world/middleeast/shimon-peres-israel.html

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SAINT PAULS IN LONDON, U.K., DID NOT JUST CHIME THE HOURS : SIR NEVILLE MARRINER (D. 2016)
(2016-10-04 05:47) - sorrowful - public

Music: from saint pauls

[1]OBITUARY FROM "THE GUARDIAN".

1. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/02/sir-neville-marriner-obituary

158
H. Clinton and T. Kaine Project (No ceably). Sorry, You Can Keep the Bhagavad Gita. (2016-10-05 21:28) -
neglected - public

Music: refrigerator "buzz"

People like the Clintons are the rst to make fun of the way, e.g., Dwight Eisenhower approached speaking in public
: One has some regard from everyone about Eisenhower because he might have won more than just the War against
fascism had he been around longer, and the man spoke uent Spanish as well (and in the 1950s mind you) something
neither of the Clintons appear to care to do, much less are same, along with Tim Kaine who does speak Spanish, to
deal with the overriding racist issues that have to do with Central and South America right now and the status of their
U.S. emigres, not to men on internecine, almost tribal racism that pervades the region and that is part and parcel of
poli cal and possible future armed clashes among the various groups there. Central and South America are part of
the Americas, the modernity of the U.S. and Canada, and so on, and will be so whats the problem? People in Central
and South America are neglec ul of Western culture overall and given the educa ve eorts even of Harvard and so
on, many na onal and sub - na onal groups in this region have "indian" roots to which they revert without complete
and undivided a en on from the great powers that at this point include countries such as P.R.C. and Tai wan, Japan
and others, and have importantly included these for some me. What recipe for Central and South America, thus,
under the Clintons as same again promise to be the worlds most powerful power couple in the event of a general
elec on victory in the 2016 U.S.? Neither of these individuals really has to care about La n America the Clintons
are so overwhelmingly European - centric, and then former - soviet - centric, and then Asia - Pacic - centric and
so on, that a new rst - term president Clinton might leave La n American aairs to the State Department, and for
this to tread poli cal waters like crazy as it usually does, even un l policy and conict, even military clashes over
159
narco cs and territory, resources and even over things like hun ng grounds and church lands, and other items; reach
another crisis as with the Colombians and Venezuelans since some me ago, just for example. Other parts of La n
America, apart from the great state of Mexico and its own occasional internal poli cal turmoils, primarily due to lack
of care on the part of the "Eastern establishment" in the U.S. to which the Clintons now belong and have rmed up
their place therein with Kaine as a running mate, with their varied and valuable culture, tourism, industry and export
commerce and so on, will be le fallow on the world landscape, presumably un l a er Mrs. Clinton gures out
taxes. The telltale of this has been the debates so far, including the V - P debate that showed DNC intransigence over
Pence conserva sm and purposeful re cence on such issues, in which La n America again with all its successes and
challenges that it has overcome and its very numerous people, was overlooked by even the ques oning journalists in
the debate contests who wanted again for the debates to focus on, apparently, epithets and seething tempers about
taxes. Some legi mate advice for the journalists and for others media ng the debate contests : Go to the corner grocer
or service business, even to the local pipe - er, and talk with the La no people at hand. You will learn down to the last
detail the need for addi onal care as to the poli cal and administra ve, read public and popular public safety, security
there and everyone in La n America as well is aware without their leaders shou ng this at interna onal mee ngs of
the future importance, huge, of La n America as a region, as a poli cal force, as a cultural haven and even as a global
nancial and overall again economic force. The Trump people have known this for years as Mr. Trump stas his hotels
and establishments with La no people and those who work hard for a living. Mr. Trump keeps his ears to the ground
rst for what these people represent and then what they say about the poli cal telemetry in the region. Not that the
wri ng to this point in the post here is more important, but the Clintons and their administra ve and management
gurus from the 1990s and from the Obama State Department have, essen ally and fundamentally, a scientological
approach to poli cs and inuencing voters. The Clinton administra on and the Clinton State Department have used
in their training and opera ons, and notably and apparently, dierent schools and sects and cults including those of
the scientologists, the newer version of Erhard Seminar Training and other oddball techniques as a way to "enhance"
and implement their poli cal window - dressing. This looks really bad to people who are even at our near abroad
and who care to inform themselves about poli cs in the U.S. and how it actually works. No wonder our current U.S.
president gets poked in the chest proverbially by our foreign counterparts the Western and Eastern Europeans. The
methods are dicult to teach and are weak - form, passive - aggressive in their approach to addressing and solving
problems and the people who use these methods might take ve showers a day on the one hand and then none
for a month on the other, as a simple example, and mostly things like this out of histrionics that are promoted in
"class" in these systems and in similar psychological - ideological frameworks. Same are also very, very expensive to
develop for poli cs and policy and even more expensive to implement and maintain, no secret as "thats the way it
is". No wonder some federal departments have no money as the poli cos in various bureaus a end EST and similar
groups and "learn" scientology, all extremely expensive, as a program - allocated expenditure that is a small part
of some line item in the na onal budget (specula on here, and please comment otherwise if you know otherwise).
Extending the dependence upon "body - mind" frameworks such as those cited above, the Clintons do appear to
believe their poli cal reality to be a philosophical projec on, plainly and simply put, and that is paid for by the U.S.
Treasury given their administra ve terms he in the whitehouse.gov domain and she in the state.gov domain, for
starters. These ideas that have poli cal and physical reali es as a "projec on" of self and so on, call for the individual
actor to pledge fealty to some strange ideas again, such as a pledge to uphold perhaps a cult or any of the varied sects
of Hindu and Hindu philosophy and culture that have been upheld at Oxford University and similar ins tu ons the
Clintons subscribe to and have so for years, as have an important number of their associates. All these individuals
have nice clothes and shoes, and drive nice autos, have nice houses, and they smile and talk in plain English all great!
Hindu and other oriental philosophies call for this outward masquerading, essen ally again, and the acts of fealty and
adherence to these ideas that have sure and certain recipes, like cookbook recipes, for success and achievement, and
the ceremony and carrying - on given these customs and their culture is patently in the domain of psychological and
moral split and bifurca on and un - American as well. Some well - known people, e.g., study Egypt or the Incas of the
Americas for the same reason. In the long run, more and more dedica on and fealty are needed for these types of
recipes, again, to con nue working, and one is required to preach a gospel along the lines of oriental spirituality, non
- Chris an and so forth, and the conversion of souls external to the faith to embrace and follow. This methodology
has also been used, for instance, by economists and ocials from U.S. bureaus as ocials study it to understand, but
160
not to implement foreign and fundamentally un - Chris an ideas at the center of democracy. Some of the concepts
evident under the circumstances had been transferred to 1930s Central and Eastern Europe where same had been
played with by the leadership and intelligentsia in those failed poli cal experiments that at the me contributed to
a hugely destruc ve and sinfully wasteful world war they started. One must also know under the circumstances that
ideological and cultural physics of a sort call for the con nuance and documenta on of these ideas and philosophies in
their further development as their cultural and philosophical homes call for this under the circumstances to properly
ally, for example, the ideas of people with those of the home rule; but such things are needed in the U.S. from an
overall Chris an and Judeo - Chris an ethics and morals point of view, and without calling for a detergent of sorts
to purify that, Americans do not deserve the burdens of oriental fealty and anity, even given the a rac veness of
the ideas, in view of the kind of thrashing that these ideas give their followers some mes. There are other reasons
if one is from the Western hemisphere to avoid strictly Arabic, Hindu, Zoroastrian, and other philosophies extremely
foreign to us without long and expert training that have to do with the embarrassments about the Clintons star ng
with Whitewater, the Flowers incidents, technology "transfer", posturing on civil rights and the Clintons status in the
State of New York, and numerous, numerous un - associated gaes about the Clinton State Department that set things
back for years when these happened. The simple and ordinary embracing of these types of ideas, and their methods
and prac ces as used by the DNC and related and collegial associa ons are an embarrassment and sorrowfully a
letdown to the concerned public given again the high - maintenance nature of these foreign and alien principles as
very penetra ng and percep ve, yet extremely, extremely expensive nancially and ethically when injected into the
White House by people educated in their methods and so on, but who are caused skeletons in the closet as a result.
In typical DNC fashion, and there is no promise for change nor reform itself here as some very stubborn personali es
are involved, people simply turn a deaf ear or turn their backs on proper concerns and toward their guru - types. This
is shameful.

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No "Copy Watch" here P.R.C. Makes an Eort Again to Address Human Rights. (2016-10-05 22:27) - queezy -
public

Music: "chinese music"

The Peoples Republic of China, on September 30, announced a new approach to human rights along the lines of a
2009 - 2010 and 2011 - 2015 set of plans previously in the polity that address human rights and internal condi ons
and circumstances for Chinese rights and the communist home rule. En tled a "Na onal Human Rights Ac on Plan :
2016 - 2020", the document at least in spirit extends the rights benets of economic and other developments to all
in China and especially to those in vulnerable groups to be named. The spirit of the document again is designed to
help every Chinese, everybody, and apparently as stated within the document, without qualica on. This includes
the future promise for more services as allocated by Bei jing to rural areas and those that remain remote and un-
der - developed, and special and equal access to public services and resources for these areas. The China N.H.R.A.P.
as promulgated has specic rules again against gender discrimina on and rights rules in the country now safeguard
the disadvantaged and enable them a subsistence and opportuni es to develop and improve their lives : The goal is
to have every Chinese benet from a growing and be er and be er P.R.C. This includes help in the eorts against
poverty, a be er character and scope of dierent property rights including IP and immovable property rights, changes
in the household registra on system, and new land reform rules. In parallel with the thirteenth ve - year plan, China
human rights protec on now includes and goes along with promo ng be er economic and social development with
the regime promising to improve the lives of people and safeguarding the peoples public, economic, social and cul-
tural rights. of course, reforms are in the new Plan to address the use of the internet in eorts towards, and as part of
making a be er connec on between socioeconomic developments and human rights issues and trends. The two pre-
vious plans, those of 2009 - 2010 and 2011 - 2016 have been judged to be successful in bene ng public progress in
rights changes, exchanges and coopera on. Challenges for the new N.H.R.A.P. have to do with health care, educa on,
elder care, safety in the food - intake chain, safer medicines for the people, and income distribu on and environmen-
tal considera ons, themselves including a number of unsolved dicul es that have environmental considera ons,
for example, promoted more in the commonweal in China and having to do directly with current trends and devel-
opments. Other challenges include the obliga on to protect peoples rights as set down to determine subsistence
development, and individual well - being and development and opportunity as the star ng point and the overall goal
of human rights. The new human rights commitment has to do with civil, economic, poli cal, social, cultural rights
needed to safeguard the ethnic minori es, minors, the disabled and LBGT persons, apparently as well. The new rules
promise equal human rights for all people by the administra on that has established an equal rights priority for all
Chinese, all people, by the administra on and that might be in touch with close - proximity business, public and social
organiza ons. Overall, the new rules again call for oversight considera ons and improvements, including those of
a Tea Party that provoked the appearance of "huddlers" given renewed and re - scheduled assessments, rights, and
assessment priori es in the country of China. In 2016, one nds as well and glaringly, and without reference to basic
policy arrangements, oversight of ques ons such as that of Tibet and Jiang Ze min to be rooted in long - term or eter-
162
nal torpor as gleaned from the release of the rules and editorial coverage of the way these are to be used, ostensibly
by tried - and - true methods and prac ces and the media. What is one to do? Answer : "Trust but check".

163
" ... faut rigoler maintenant" Yes, They All Spoke French! But Say It, Furthermore, in English
(2016-10-20 03:00) - "Eleva on!" - elevated :{)} - public

Music: Sibelius

THE LIFE OF WALLACE STEVENS : THE WHOLE HARMONIUM, by Paul Mariani (Simon and Schuster, 2016). People like
me since learning about Wallace Stevens some me ago, in fact as a young college student, had been greatly impressed
by his poe c style and subject ma er, dierent imagery and expression in his poetry and the dis nct voice from Key
West that characterizes much of it. In all events, very few, in fact none, zilch, nada, was the level of interest in this
from my colleagues who were mostly involved in the me with heady subjects such as miniaturiza on, data modeling
and computers, structural engineering, and so on. What had me le away what I knew about Stevens and that has
been conrmed by this book, and more, is that poetry can extend your life. Given the person, poetry can also redeem
and save ones life and we all have in our own internal documenta on any number of stories of people who were
saved a er seizing upon literature in one way or another. This text by Paul Mariani, a gi ed English language scholar
from Boston College, has Stevens not only as a dedicated poet, as some of todays physicians for example dabble in
culinary arts or car collec ng, or various arts genres; but as the ul mately dedicated organiza on man and family
man as he was. The reader is not le to his own devices to misunderstand what the organiza on man of Prohibi on
days and of the Great Depression and then of WWI and WWII, and the Korean War as well, had to be to stay at his
post, as Stevens did, for almost y years : Stevens was one of the execu ves who constructed the insurance industry
in the U.S. as we know it today, at least an important por on of it. In addi on to this, Wallace, being a powerful
execu ve was an even more high impact, extremely sharp and wi y poet from university in Boston, and from the
place typically where at the me one met, as he did, various literary luminaries at their leisure and break me such as
George Santayana, a greatly inuen al member of the world intellectual elite for Wallace. The progression of Stevens
life from the provincial town of Reading, Pennsylvania to Harvard where he studied language and literature, and then
to the vicissitudes of the insurance world at the me is the path of inspira onal success, no less. The overall patent
quality of life in the States at the late 19th century forward, in PA and above and beyond what it was supposed to be
in other places, is clearly palpable in the text as Wallace grows to adulthood, graduates with dis nc on from college,
and begins a career as a poet of at least some stature right o the bat. He does, however and as well, hang onto the
insurance job that takes him various places within the U.S. and the mysteries of high nance in this area as well remain
ethereal and nebulous to poets and writers alike, as the wonders of his achievements in literature remain wondrous
and again mysterious to the business dullard at the same me. What this makes for is a cri cal perspec ve on a world,
a dierent place and me yet again, where such people were cul vated and grew in many respects into the literary
164
world as rened and technically greatly imagina ve and crea ve personali es with all that it entailed at the me. The
sort of person Stevens had been is li le common today among literary people whore commonly at present trying to
land media work or selling mostly very complex and complicated, even hysterical and peripate c, junk on the writers
circuit or through a hip hop distribu on channel of some sort. This literary model of late is as common today as
rearing in the literary arts is shown in Marianis book for days long past was in the nineteenth and early twen eth
centuries. Given these premise laden images of the rise of ar stry and poetry on the one hand and technology and
business on the other; what else might be the purpose of this text and jus fy its intricate and cri cally important
approximately four hundred pages as the story of Stevens existence and that of a number of Stevens existence and
that of a number of his peers including Robert Frost and William Carlos Williams; and others in the day, especially
those more oriented not to imagina on and the crea vity of poetry, but those people who were lesser authors and
who took works and published them, rst in pamphlets and reviews, and then in hardback no portable document
les nor circuitry for consumers, and certainly no electronic readers for end users of literature of any kind. The
tradi onal style and tone of Stevens poems has one baed as to why he did not receive more awards and greater
acclaim for his literary work? One explana on for this is his bohemian character had to do with the poetry and his
trips around the country for crea ve purposes, and this was seriously done, and he made money at this work albeit
a dy sum. Another facet of this very rich person, individua on wise, had been that equally had he been dedicated
to his insurance career and was probably at sixes and sevens a good amount of the me making room in life for
both these principals of character and unifying them in a way that people could understand and relate to enough to
allow Stevens to develop his reputa on as imagina ve and crea ve, but above all a literary thinker Robert Frost
himself indicated publicly that Stevens pieces made even him think. For someone from Reading to a ain the literary
heights that Wallace did under the circumstances, even while he was bopped on the nose one year in Florida by Ernest
Hemingway himself and had to take me o for recovery, and other events and greatly interes ng and cap va ng
happenings in Wallaces life, all at the center of the universe that was Greenwich Village in days of old, had been
no small feat. That Wallace did this all himself, and kept and took more on his shoulders idea wise and crea vely
over the years shows the great intellectual courage, foresight and overall abili es of the man. There are some great
photos as well in the text featuring Stevens varied background and his progression through the literary world, and
that show even his cordial and honorable, very considerate rela ons with people, even with children as poets o en
are not enamored of kids. An outstanding read for those interested in American literature, and for example, literary
currents in detail since people like RLS and Edgar Poe, and the existence this entails or entailed. Really great!

165
AT LEAST "SHES NOT THE GRATEFUL DEAD." But, but, but, ... You Promised!!! (2016-10-22 01:55) - overheated
- public

Music: shawn h from church

[1]For the Poll "Wonks." BY THE TIME I GET TO PHOENIX A Contrarian View on the Democra c Presiden al Can-
didate 2016. In me only really, and for most, names and numbers are le for anyone interested in Presiden al
elec ons such as the one this year in 2016. In the far future, it is really only, again, feasible for most people to re-
member a few sta s cs and the name of the winning candidate of this general elec on over the next four years. A er
that there are maybe a few facts that will jar anyones memory about the results of this general elec on, the lives of
the candidates and their associates, and the administra on that will properly assume oce next January. So what is
so remarkable, for example, about the primacy of the Democra c Party cket this year apart from their presen ng
a female for oce and a poli cal gure from Virginia as her running mate? In fact, this begs more ques ons than it
answers : There are ques ons going back, to the beginning of her public service career to the Watergate Commission,
that now have her mo va ons and conduct under the circumstances subject to review. Then more recently there
are ques ons having to do with the break in her career, even as the powerful spouse of the governor of the state
of Arkansas : it is possible there are skeletons in the closet that go back to the student days of the Clintons, and
that have held them together, again, as a power couple for as long as this has lasted. Typically, no marriages would
have survived the philandering of governor and then President Clinton, much less in the way and to the extent this
became public some me ago, and while the Clintons do not s ll appear to have an All American family as the
result of these sorts of scandals, the veil of it remains as does the veil of Clinton society exported from Li le Rock
to upstate New York. People from the provinces have been diving on and then staying glued to New York for some
me, maybe since the 1930s, and due to the greater and greater impermanence of New York culture and that allure
of nances and so forth. The Clintons, and using their vo ng and administra ve consistencies, do appear to want to
control things like business aairs, wealth crea on and the overall nances of the populace; not to men on media
culture, the way tradi ons are viewed and the way values are taught in the schools. The trend toward decreasing
federalism that characterized the pre Obama power elite has become under the present administra on a greatly
more increasing inuence on the center that takes even the poli cal voices out of the larger urban centers in favor
of what deal making happens in Washington, D.C., as kni ed together by federal people there, and from poli cal
policy and its public agenda as covered in the papers to the way people view the farm and other appropria ons bills
166
to educa onal instruc on K 12 with its maybe thirty new programs since 2009. With this in mind and with respect
to our young people in the public educa on system : It is en rely possible given the way teaching trends are these
days that our children will be taught things like abor onist expediency and avoidance of the gravity and importance
of living Chris an values. This is where, at least from an idea standpoint, the incongrui es of their doctrine begin
along with the forcible will to power of the Democra c Party and the presidency at this point begin. This has been
this way since the 1960s and caused the bungling of many construc ve poli cal and other policies, from the right
and from the le , many construc ve ones, simply because charisma and star quality have become the heavyweight
a ributes of candidacy instead of integrity, for tude, other honest and forthrightness and the like. The American
public is led to believe by the Clintons that pot smoking ower children, as for example Vincent Foster and his
ideological associates were and are, whose psyches are colored with psychedelia do deserve to run the country at
this point. The emo ons around this have people hysterically jumping to vote for the American liberal party with the
proviso that degenerate habits characterizing many of their public gures, including W.J. Clinton himself, are of pri-
macy and have again come of age in a form of centrist and administra ve force that emphasizes execu ve power and
the use of other branches of government and their various departments in the exercise of this power without check.
There are other dangers of centrist poli cs as we have come to know them under the Obamas, including that their
poli cs are popular but are characterized by rhetoric and mass psychology; and the economics end of things, even
with its empiricists and their computers depends upon business and commerce ge ng lucky. The principle of this
has to do with assessing administra ve and policy risk areas on arithme c and logical, sta s cal scales and chiseling
things out according to numerical and seman cally based priori es. Having done much, much inves ga on into
this form of rule, one who has looked thoroughly will see the wrong of it and has only to do a cri cal read of similar
regimes in the history of failed home rule (Why Na ons Fail, 2012). Not to close the argument nor that me is short,
nor that anyone has run out of things to say, but the Democra c Party has a prac ce of concentra ng not on the
individual capabili es and acuity of individual candidates, and has applied again much, much compu ng power and
shoeleather costs to the crea on and sustainability of a poli cal machine made of a kind of Armada o lla that
espouses focus groups and buzz words above actual thinking about poli cs and policy forma on, especially public
policy and the shortcomings of acute federalism; but they have spent a lot of money, and raised quite a bit, too in
this process of what Lincoln might refer to as having ones cake and ea ng it, too, with the restric ve liberalism and
easy access to currency through, i.e., dealings in the Eurodollar. There are as well ques ons about the health of the
Democra c presiden al candidate at this me regardless of her con nued administra ve contacts, connec ons and
u lity under the circumstances. In the past as well, the Maison Blanche in situ has been judged as well to have
housed Democra c execu ves (I dont want anything to do with these sorts of things) as elected who had long lost
their ability to govern and whod abandoned elected oce for the Washington Marrio , Oval Oce escapades, even
sex with pros tutes. Party, party. In the same vein, and given their own categorical statements and admissions as to
their humanity and humaneness and the like, obviously common to all in the U.S., and to the extent this can be
allowed again, go ahead.
1. http://graphics.wsj.com/wsjnbcpoll/

167
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT AL Q AEDA READ ON HERE (SEE AUTHOR AND BOOK DESCRIBED
BELOW). (2016-10-29 11:24) - youre intrepid - public

Music: sibelius

The Reluctant Spy, by John Kiriakou with Michael Ruby (Bantam Books, 2009). If you have ever followed anyone or
looked or listened around corners to get informa on and the like, this book is not for you : As this autobiographical
account has to do with actual spying and the highly honorable and smart people in the U.S. who are engaged in this
ac vity as needed in the War on Terror (9 / 11 today). The most part of this story that reads be er than c on, and
might read even be er than a well - structured Tom Clancy book, something quite challenging in real life and in a plot
dealing with history and actual facts and fact pa erns. Mr. Kiriakou was an intelligence person who objected to the
use of torture against war prisoners, and when this became public, the mans life went completely upside down as in
fact quite unexpectedly his whistleblowing sent shock waves through the military and intelligence communi es. Part
of the circumstances around his story have to do with a spy agency and related agencies experiencing more and more
pressure, really concentrated pressure on their eorts and eec veness in missions in the War on Terror. This book
was published in 2009 a er Mr. Kiriakous story became public and he quit his job as a spy to work in poli cs. Naturally,
the book begins with the author proling his youth, educa on and early work experience. The author was not just
another brilliant student in his youth, and did believe in his own construc ve purpose in learning how the world works,
striving academically and in his training, and later in his career. This is the culture of many people in this area who are
great believers in themselves and in the system we all uphold, more or less, and without hubris, overcondence nor
bluster nor in the type of bombast that accompanies the success stories of some of those in other areas of endeavor.
Mr. Kiriakou eventually landed in the very demanding area of counter spying and so forth that got him over to the
Middle East in the hotbed of many of the poli cal aairs of today though not within Israel. The text has un classied
details about espionage that can be glossed over in favor of really reading the content about the personali es and
personality types of people in this line of work that are so interes ng to the ordinary reader. That the story takes
place largely in Pakistan and in South Asia, Iraq and Afghanistan does keep the pages turning and one on the edge
of the chair in following the narra ve. Above all, and the U.S. military has a merciful prac ce of taking prisoners
apparently, Mr. Kiriakou, a Greek American, spends considerable narra ve currency describing the dilemmas on
168
what needed to happen during the war with enemy comba ants and various among the ways these people were
treated and interrogated in informa on and media and other details gathering and processing eorts. Cited in the
book and in the related television special featuring Mr. Kiriakou and a number of his colleagues, is a brief issued by
the U.S. describing enhanced interroga on techniques as approved by U.S. ocials in a series of communica ons
to interrogators. These enhanced techniques were carried out on captured enemy comba ants Abu Zubayday, Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed, and others. Mr. Kiriakou, of the mind this prac ce was immoral and against interna onal rules
and conven ons, and due to his assessment that the prac ce of these methods was overall not construc ve in the
war eort and would serve, among other things to greatly antagonize everyone against the U.S. should the approval
and prac ce of the techniques ever become public. The mission itself of the Taliban and al Qaeda as it is stated in
plain English and as we know it and those of ideologically related par es such as Hamas and Hezbollah is extremely
systemically against the Westerrn construct and then the Chris an construct and culture of life and values and ethics,
and of ordinary living as we know this in again the Western Hemisphere. These groups do consider the spirit of
Western civiliza on to be faulted and to be as well at least a kind of theater, which it most certainly is not, even
if one does not look at Chris an and other holy books and doctrine that are popular and readily available in terms
everyone discusses at least on occasion. The ra ling of the intelligence community by this path of destruc on, rst
in the Middle East, and then in other places and much of which is claimed as the responsibility of al Qaeda ac vism,
lunacy and violence, has caused an overall revolt in the conven ons that people are treated under when captured
and ques oned about what they are and were doing at the me they found themselves in the process of carrying
on terrorist and ba le ac vi es against Americans. Mr. Kiriakou perceived this and knew it to be wrong; that U.S.
survival and victory in the war on terror was being done a disservice by these techniques called into ques on as these
were prac ced. The author himself does not treat the enhanced interroga on techniques overall as successful for U.S.
people as they invite hatred, violence and destruc on from those publicly and ideologically opposed, and though it is
not in the ocial record, many intelligence eorts of the U.S. in the Middle East war (9 / 11 today) are an objec ve
and obvious, evident success and achievement for the innova ve and crea ve, smart and capable people carrying
these out. As in some conicts, and the U.S. has a short history of these, the anecdotal and more drama c military
and diploma c loss turns out as more a en on ge ng for the media and its followers than the intelligence victories
over toil and trouble if the terms might be allowed. Overall a really, actually interes ng, drama c story, with stories
within the story in this book. Great!

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2.11 November

170
AT HOME. A COMPARISON AND CONTRASTING WITHOUT ROCK - N - ROLL. CHINA BOOK BY EDWARD
TSE. (2016-11-23 23:40) - NERVOUS. - public

Music: BEETHOVEN.

THE CHINA STRATEGY, by Edward Tse (2010, Booz & Company). This text is a wonderful text about business and
economics in the P.R.C. looking back to the 1970s and then forward to the day, essen ally, when communism is
171
stateless and everyone is rich but doesnt own anything. The book has numerous examples, and actually the examples
of successful Chinese entrepreneurship are so prevalent and numerous today that one cannot cover all the success
stories : Li Ning, BYD, Huawei, ZTE, Chery, Geely, and others. That the Chinese economy is a mix of actual commerce,
poli cs and corrup on is not completely lost on Mr. Tse as the author of this book, though the corrup on part, star ng
with the Chinese guanxi, while not overlooked is given the sense of a necessary evil in the narra ve. The Chinese
economy also at this me is supposed to be running on, as illustrated in the text, some doctrinaire axioms, star ng with
: 1. Openness to outsiders, 2. Emphasis on Regional Markets, 3. Improved [infrastructure for well run] distribu on,
and so on. The emphasis overall in the text is not the growth miracle of China, but Entrepreneurial China that in
general has all boats rising in Asia, primarily due to the ac vi es of SOEs and privately owned Chinese businesses
as well as foreign owned Chinese companies. Some men on is made of statutes such as the Company Law of 1994
having to do with regula on of business ownership in the growth economy. Chinas businesses are separated into
publicly owned companies, private sector companies and foreign companies. Emphasis of the entrepreneurial spirit
in China is driven by innova on, eciencies and a compe ve edge through a more knowledge driven economy,
homogeneous technologies, and a disrup ve, copycat, low produc on cost economy. An example of this are the
knocko or shanzai goods that are produced and that focus mostly on low income consumers, the mass market,
a shorter produc on cycle, a cheap version of a product that is locally tailored. Examples of this run from basic
dry goods to machine parts to the auto rental business. The future of all this is the commodi za on of commerce;
leaner produc on and produc on nances and larger market shares for those in the proper niche. The Chinese have
also in their business prac ces a promo on to have one build ones own house that is dependent for many reasons on
opportuni es for entrepreneurship, emphasis on immediate ac on; imita on and experimenta on over innova on;
a tudes that preserve the product quality status quo. Some of the catch words related to these ques ons are :
the Confucius inside, and why not me?; and these are asked with the management a tude(s) in mind. The text
recapitulates the Cold Ware mentali es for the reader and these have nothing to do with anything, really; save for
some very controlled, read principled, ini a ves by government people. P.R.C., by the way, has a variety of axioms and
principles for any apparent economic situa on that requires systemic thinking. These begin in earnest in Chapter 4,
though the related broadcasts you might see cited are rare and are mostly old programs, and of those there are many
s ll, while the news and other modern media these days are not as much a repeat of the old days as more organized,
be er for the CCP, and reinforce the party and the culture of the SOEs. These dialogues between dierent factors of
success and failure make for incremental and posi ve changes in the con nuance of mainland China. There is much
more to this great read as in China Saying No to Laissez - faire, and other inuences that make any reading up on
the subject, especially if one is from the U.S., fascina ng for free marketeers. In all events, changes in China right
now are divided among business, entrepreneurship, public and private nances, society inuences from business,
and the role of foreigners, and others that people are talking about (the collapse of 2008) that remain afraid for the
standard of living, growth rate of the economy, leadership of the country and so on. Not that peoples worst dreams
have the drivers of the Chinese economy snued out, though where the concern comes from, essen ally, people who
might be considered over lus ng a er cash, and things. A great illustra on in words concerning he overall economic
climate in P.R.C., even though the book itself is full of disrup ve produc on eorts and people wan ng to engage the
authori es. Great read!

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WOULD THIS LADY LIE TO YOU? (2016-11-23 23:48) - BLUESY - public

Music: bb king

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2.12 December

174
CAN YOU READ THE NEWS TO - DAY? (TALES OF POLITICS, BLIGHT, ... , AND HOPE AS WELL.)
(2016-12-08 03:05) - restless - public

Music: none

SIGNS OF A NEW POLITICAL GAME, AT LEAST FOR THE PRESS. The foreign media in the last few days has examined on
many points and levels of analysis the war me status of Aleppo, Syria; and with the same analy cal tools a call from
Tai wan to the future U.S. President Donald Trump. These un related stories have media followers, and readers
inundated with repe vely edited stories on both these places that have been of interest to people in the world for
some me, namely and more importantly since about the end of the Cold War (1989 1991). This had originally been
because interna onally, and on or about the elec on of Ronald Reagan and his second term, it became easier and
cheaper to travel interna onally people went to these places and found their Shangri las, even temporarily, and
became enamored of their local and regional culture and people with memories as wri en down, lasted over me
to remind young people today of the value of discovering a world that is diverse and varied in many ways, with its
dierent gods, based in Rome, Mecca and Medina, , Lhasa and so on. Aleppo in last century was a place, though in
Arabia, mysterious and magical for any one or group of visitors; a place to discover and live the trueness and spirit of
the world family as lived in Islamic countries. No ma er that Syria was and would be soviet poli cal, administra ve and
military client at the me. People went there and lived maybe a paragraph from a great book of spiritual signicance,
and depending upon their own cultural crowd, be it the Bible, Koran, or any faithful text, and this includes pre y much
any one. In places like Aleppo, the mysterious fates watched the ac ons of ci zens and visitors alike, and carrying on
in ones life child or adult was no picnic for anyone, without regard to race nor creed, nor orienta on of any kind.
In the conduct of people there, even temporary visitors, Aleppo was a place where lives changed for the greater
good and by a ribu on and according to the wills of the spirit gods who crossed paths there. In the latest Middle
East war that has ISIS soldiers clashing with troops from home rule that appear as republican guards in their elite
eec veness and the fate of places like Aleppo and, e.g., Mosul and similar towns has to do with the bravery of the
home troops against ISIS and the power of the arms it uses. The interests of the warring stakeholders have here to
do with pure and pitched out and out struggle for territory, regardless of the intangible signicance of it, and in
this the magic of Aleppo and places like it nearby is completely lost in the a ri on and destruc on of war. In this
destruc on there is not even a muted cry, only news of military clashes and the related calculus of armed strategy,
that would save these places and their outlying se lements from further hellish gh ng and annihila on. Aleppo is in
terrible shape as are the places nearby that have been built up since even primi ve construc on materials were made
175
or became available. This makes for an if walls could talk type aura the place is supposed to have, and what with
the former promise of the Middle East, a supposed re opening of the town to everybody who wanted to y, drive,
or arrive by train, even on foot from the locality. This promise has been swept o the table for travelers and regional
visitors alike, and given the news coverage, there remains, and this apparently in the destruc ve aims of ISIS, nothing
of the old magic of the place. The magic and spirit of this region as adulterated and shredded apart by purposeless
gh ng over rock solid idolatry against Syrian home rule, though Syria might not be a close friend of all of us, is dust
and is no longer in all its aura, again, and spiritual intangibles, Islamic and Chris an and others. The hopelessness
of the war be there has not only to do with tragic and meaningless a ri on, civilian deaths and destruc on of real
and other property, but has to do with the reducing to rubble of a place greatly and largely rich in varied and allied
cultures and ideas that cannot be reclaimed, even eventually if peace returns. What to do? The phone call from the
leaders of Tai wan, chiey president Ma Ying - jeou, to the future administra on of Donald J. Trump this week has
much to do not with protocol as appropriate in the power poli cs of Asia, now commanded mostly by P.R.C., but with
es between normal overachievers who become leaders, and interna onal leaders at that. What is the point of Mr.
Trump taking a complimentary telephone call from the president of Tai wan? Hardly should this be considered neither
a provoca on nor a snub of mainland China given the role of P.R.C. and its overall inuence in American media and
administra on that puts the business of poli cs most of the me, if not all the me for many people, second only to
personal moral impera ves that have to do with honest and ordinary communica ons among those in society without
groupings of mutual admira on and its trappings. Tai wan is an en rely modern and successful na on state that
suers from having to stand behind, morally, poli cally and overall in world society, a state that is larger but that
has many systemic voids and ques ons, including the one about whether or not state control and intrusion, into the
culture and thoughts, and lives of people makes for be er freedoms and a be er society. Government power in Asia
as overseen by a very large P.R.C. administra on and its numerous followers, in proposing since some years ago and
apparently only temporarily, a superposi on of commercial business as a driver of poli cal currents and people, and
in its func onal reica on since implementa on of Deng Xiao ping thought right down through the years to today;
and in the objec on of mainland Chinese ocials to communica on between Tai wan ocials and America through
ordinary channels should now be examined and ques oned insofar as its goals and execu ve inten ons are stated.
Peaceful and owery language has even been used to describe the current poli cal climate of P.R.C. and its command
of free commerce business rst, and as usual, has common sense ques oning the asser ons around this and their
somewhat lengthy historical list at this me. One has to men on to ones colleagues and associates at this me, and
not even concerning the varied and regional geo strategies, what is actually the approach of the CCP / P.R.C., given
its stated doctrine of capitalism and the state, to rela ons with a neighbor however administra vely linked, but who
has on the world stage expressed in greatly indirect, low level and muted modes, and in independent fashion as
is appropriate given even that the CCP is late to the party, a popular a tudinal view about U.S. leadership. It is
interes ng there has been objec on to this communica on with Mr. Donald J. Trump, U.S. President elect, from
Asia overseas on Tai wan, without any detailed policy jus ca on apart from the mainland one China doctrine
from the Mao mes. In retor ng on this media release from P.R.C. along these lines, the completeness of this policy
given the mainland place in the world has more to do with adherence to the measures of CCP poli cal thinking and
control, and its rapacious approach to Tai pei that turns upon island na on kow towing that are directly opera ve
and repressive of self determina on and basic freedoms that are the backbone of the Tai wanese and their home
rule itself.

176
BOOKS TO READ OR AT LEAST TO "CHECK OUT" THIS HOLIDAY SEASON. (2016-12-08 03:25) - readiness - public

Music: blues and soul

YOU OPENED UP TO ME, TOO : These texts I read when

quite young and the approach and devices they resolve for various and related social problems, the symptoms and so
forth are the same today given the mes in which these were published. Some Americans believe the ideas expressed
in texts as this are dangerous, and this is again why such books need to be sought out and read by a greater audience,
not just the adherents to Islam and that family of spiritual followings. Part of the promise of the new administra on
in D.C. at this point has to do with the necessary re - arma on of respect for people for mutual dierences including
those of race, faith and so on, the right to have a job for those unemployed and willing to work and other rights
including civil and poli cal rights - as such, and even stated outright and the proper goals will never be in print due
to the impossibility of adequately capturing the morality of this involved. One provoca on by this wri ng here has to
do with a patent belief that racism per se is a symptom, ques on, problem, what have you, and an issue that should
be examined about Caucasian and overall culture and society as white - inuenced and white - controlled. In this day
and age, and comments invited on the subject, things could not be more dierent and the serious and challenging,
and reasonable premise of the texts above has to do with the mindset of separate race and majority thinking about
what it is to be African - American here in the U.S., and of African race and of other ethnicity in the world at large
today. Again, comments invited and without prejudice to Na on of Islam, the "Brotherhood" and / or the like.

177
A WAY TO GO. CONTRARIAN VIEWS IN A STOCK MARKET BOOM. (2016-12-11 18:50) - great - public

Music: fritz kreisler

On Money and Markets : A Wall Street Memoir, by Henry Kaufman (2000, McGraw Hill.) There is an idea that per-
vades investment alloca on and asset pricing, modern por olio theory and everything in the nancial dic onary, and
this according to Mr. Kaufman, and that is the spectre and danger of the type of total war and related events and
considera ons that was World War II, and then before it WW I. In the investment, securi es and nance world today,
there are plenty of memories of very valuable destroyed property on both sides, people destroyed and so on, very
capable and valuable people, by those conicts and their policies. One such example is the Warburg banking family
that le Germany in part during the holocaust and that had family members perish in the camps. The Warburgs were
perhaps the money richest bankers in Europe before WWII, and then many were sca ered to the four winds by the
eects of military conict and the holocaust itself. With the menace, meaninglessness, and overall waste of total war
as a rst impression of the wri ngs of Mr. Kaufman here, who incidentally was originally from the town of Wenings
in the Hesse region of Germany (b. 1927) where the man learned not to be poli cal or at least overly so, and where
free thinking people learned of the might of the Americans during the me, and so on. Mr. Kaufman in his text here
mostly concentrates on banking and the bond market, though there is considerable space in the book given to U.S.
stock market considera ons and the rule of thumb about por olio balancing between stocks and bonds, and so on.
Much in is spilt in this text as well on Mr. Kaufmans long career rst with Salomon Brothers, and then with Phibro
Soloman where he met with much, very much success at economic and market forecas ng, a greatly intricate science
somewhere between the thought process used in aerospace and the reading of tea leaves. Mr. Kaufman was the
inventor of some very good forecas ng methodologies for Salomon Brothers a er he nished his advanced degrees
rst at Columbia College and then at N.Y.U. These methodologies involves slicing and dicing of dierent datasets to
allow for dierent types of predic ons : U.S. economic indicators vs. Non industrial U.S. indicators, or for countries
outside the U.S. Mr. Kaufman ushered in with his colleagues the era of securi za on, globaliza on of American -
nance, and ins tu onal por olio management and other tools used by investors to good eect everywhere. The text
goes into some detail on this as Mr. Kaufmans life story, with its work, work, work type scheme takes up more and
more pages as one goes along, though nancial inven on and innova on are described completely adequately right
alongside these. One of the examples of this is a chapter having to do with the very solid Salomon investment rm
and this followed by a chapter on securi es, world economic considera ons, the increase of stock equity holdings
in the U.S. along with the rise of mutual funds, technologies applied to investment management, etc. During the
mid 1960s, and maybe this had been due to the advent of computers and trading transac on technologies and
the integra on overall of informa on systems into the investment world, the investment banking world took a turn
away from the people and families it supports and became almost completely corpora st in a short me. Due to
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personality clashes and the propensity at the me of Salomon to sell things that are less than reliable and relevant
in the investment world. This led to Kaufmans resigna on from Phibro Salomon in 1988. Remember that Warren
Buet had saved the rm from the receivership abyss given his white knight status under the circumstances. Among
the en es more markedly duplica ve of U.S. corpora st methods in banking have been Japan and South Korea. Mr.
Kaufman talks in his book about the concept of economic democracy and the Americaniza on of world nance at the
me. From this, Mr. Kaufman takes us on a very valuable lesson learning tour of his book : Morality in investments,
reason in investments, and other things; many, many things in the investments world are the subject of and call upon
individual and group responsibility which ethically pervades all U.S. securi es houses today. The book itself is a pre-
cursor to the greatly modern buzz words that characterize many epics in nance and banking. Many people were in
the same area of work at Kaufman in the day as this segment of banking was rela vely new and Kaufman was known
as a researcher with or without his Ph.D. from N.Y.U. Mr. Kaufman also lived with the Paul Volcker years during the
late 1970s 1980s that derived a complete commitment to monetarism and monetary policy. The text shows that
banking, U.S. banking or in the banking system abroad, rms, banks and the like act in concert and the nancial de
coupling of any en ty and its nancial system can greatly damage the others (cf. 1998 Asian nancial crisis). There
are as well nancial instruments within the nancial system itself, deriva ves in fact, that upon their default bring
down great nancial ins tu ons such as LTCM, and certain parts of Orange County in CA. In view of this and other
ques ons and dilemmas, Mr. Kaufman proposes an agent for change that includes central banks not being so self
seeking in their management ranks, but central banks should act for the greater good, including keeping the nancial
system in balance, the na onal economy growing and ina on low or at least according to expecta ons. The text
nishes with a recap of analyses of the latest (up to 2000) nancial schemes followed by an agenda for change in the
areas of central banking, investment and commercial banking, and for the individual investor as well. A great read!

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Ankara, Zurich, Berlin This Week Horrendous. (2016-12-21 05:36) - apprehensive, cau ous - public

Music: grieg

THE THEME OF SHOCK INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM. GREATLY MORE HELLISH THAN BEFORE. The lethal a ack on
Ambassador Karlov and the vehicle a ack on the Berlin market that are in the news as claimed by the Islamic State
terrorist movement have both these stories running along with each other in the morning news today. It is agreed
terrorists do need a way, and in this a new way, to shed the blood of innocents in a emp ng, with dierently measured
steps and given the opportunity, to at least bring more a en on to their causes if not to have more people in their
corner. The focus of the Ankara assassin, a former member of the Turkish riot police, on Ambassador Karlov had
apparently to do with Mr. Karlovs serving as a go between in talks and communica ons between the rebels against
the state in Syria and ocials in Moscow in a empts to appease the Syrian crisis in favor of Russian interests that
might have included giving addi onal credence to more a acks in Aleppo. This is guesswork on the part of the writer
here, though Mr. Karlov had served as a go between and this given its various benets, burdens, risks, and even
certain es with respect to problem groups and people who were out to harm others. It is dicult to men on whether
or not the assassina on of Mr. Karlov brings more caring a en on to the causes of Arabs in Syria or more loathing
and aliena on as to the grotesque nature of this and related crimes. Certainly, the ISIS terrorist or terrorists, in
assassina ng Mr. Karlov, here who only served as a messenger to both sides in a pitched ba le, an extremely un
safe and inhumane, risky way to carry on the work of an ambassador; did see a way to gather more a en on to their
cause, though inhuman a en on it is anyone sympathe c to the assassin, savory as his work might have been for
same, needs have her / his head examined. The spread of the doctrine and religion of ISLAM and its public and secret
agents in person have li le to do apart from really looking around, seemingly, for things in the world to damage and
to wreck; at least as many things and people as possible, and given me. In this contest against the world, ISIS really
has no home in Europe where most ac vi es have to do with good conduct; a contest primarily of nerves, opposing
percep ons, and anger versus grief over places like Aleppo, a place that is / was very magical and beau ful, and where
the Arabs are probably so emba led as they are against outside ideas and inuences, and as well since one is able to
remember there star ng with the impossible value of such places in the old days, though the recent destruc on has
one avoiding the place and even the memories of it. What to do? The rst thing that one might answer is to make sure
security is be er at diploma c events and appearances. What this means is domes c and interna onal security will be
180
more and more, successively due to the achievements of terrorism and terrorists, absolutely intrusive and something
to increasingly avoid. This results in a prospec ve image of a polarized society that s ll will have occasional disasters
such as that in Turkey on Monday. This is not really a palatable solu on and smacks here of u litarianism that pervades
much of world society today, and this in a way to allow for scien c and somewhat fu le and reac ve solu on to
terrorist threats. Another alterna ve to security increases and intrusions has to do with issues awareness and the
way this might be ins tu onalized to allow for the blocking of incidents such as that aec ng Mr. Karlov. Issues
awareness requires expensive educa onal channels and not everyone is perched to learn of this sort of grotesque
ac vity where those directly involved on the buy side, or those presumably dissemina ng awareness informa on
and methodology would be made to develop and use methods that have again been around for a long me and that
are in their capability be er developed by security people. Part of this has to do with the way in which guns are traded
and sold, and who buys them. This would be a way to start on this diculty without going back to the beginning of the
story here, and one might even stage security rallies or events for security that are improvisa onal or spontaneous
and that would serve to educate people about the causes of terrorism and would improve preven ve and perhaps
inves ga ve measures in the ba le against this. Mr. Karlovs death is purposeless and has one remembering, or
trying to, past assassina ons of poli cal nature and the horrid impact this has on the commonweal. The methods
of terror have obviously changed and in abandoning tradi onal logis cs and the sort of statement that one atrocity
can make, terrorists have become more bold and ambi ous in the targe ng of the value of administra ve ocialdom.
Destroying terrorism in its forms that precede the development of such plots and other arrangements in delivering
what is needed to abate further development of groups such as ISIS is an interes ng and complex idea having to
do mostly with military and paramilitary organiza on and preparedness, issues awareness and terrorism educa on
given to responsible par es, and administra ve delibera ons and ac vi es to abate the type of terror that ISIS brings
up. The crashing of a tractor trailer into a Berlin Christmas Market, and related deaths and injuries, is another
grotesque example of, and perhaps just as important from an individual and group standpoint as what happened in
Ankara on Monday. Tractor trailers are not toys, and to make a full project of a violent commandeering of one
to run people over while doing their shopping at Christmas me reects the appeal to disorder of, again, ISIS and
similar groups : h p://www.ny mes.com/2016/12/20/world/ europe/ankara-berlin-zurich-a acks.html. Terrorists
use systemic means to educate themselves about how to rebel, how to get around, in deceiving their enemies and
it perpetra ng their atroci es. Systems thinking in part allows for taking away the opportuni es for such people to
operate, essen ally to close the door on the occasion to develop an exploit or take spontaneous advantage of systemic
or security weaknesses. Part of the solu on to this has to do with making the system and related inves ga ng /
preven ng security eorts, through educa on, func oning and structure, more dicult to have terrorists targe ng
dierent things or people, and the commi ng crime against them. This might not decrease the anger and hate
that characterize terrorism, but might discount or lessen, even, the number of a acks against ins tu ons, be they
permanent such as government and commercial, or temporary such as those things having to do with various events
and fes vi es.

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3. 2017

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3.1 January

184
From Aristophanes to Lord Acton and Back. Niall Fergusons Recent Biography of H. Kissinger.
(2017-01-08 13:29) - serious, reverent - public

Music: wagner

Smart State builder in the Age of the Cold War. Kissinger - 1923 1968 : The Idealist by Niall Ferguson (2015, Penguin
Press.) For a public gure who has appeared on major talk shows for personal interviews forty or more mes, and who
has appeared in a major television series as an actor a number of mes, as well as in other television programming
including innumerable news and press programming, it hardly does the man jus ce to men on him as a household
word. Henry Kissinger has for the dura on been a quite open and media oriented public and private personality over
the years and this text by Niall Ferguson, himself from Harvard, about H.A.K.s rst y or so years hardly does the
person jus ce while nonetheless in an informa ve, page turning, journalis c style. One or more of the texts on the
life of H.A.K. that have appeared are simple compila ons. This text, while it does not encapsulate the en rety of the
person, does introduce the reader to the commonali es among the achievers of the greatest genera on. The text itself
more or less begins its story with a cita on from Aristophanes play Peace in which one of the principal characters,
Trygaeus introduces the personal a ributes of moral strength, intolerance toward hate, the act of reconcilia on and
not the strict pursuit of power as an end, and mental strength also that will cap vate the reader or listener to the
play. It is perhaps a fallacy to state directly that people like H.A.K. are actors, even with an interna onal act; they are
people who might seem scripted when scripts are in order and this is to examine with cau on. To have grown up in
the age of the Nuremburg Laws of the Third Reich and to have been uprooted by the same into faithless and rudely
secular circumstances makes for tough character, and for a spirit that is adaptable and improvisa onal, crea ve and
morally robust at the same me. A descrip on of the rst part of the book has to do with what I personally am able to
surround intellectually here as I have interminably read and seen the nazi dirge for the Germany of tradi ons and old
world culture and fabrik. Not enough might one men on about the dras c and upse ng and disrup ve break with
societys tradi ons the nazi rst predicted and then reied star ng with the a empted putsch (Beer Hall Putsch)
of Hitler and the abyss of total war and racial cleansing, and related atroci es that led the Germans into a physical
cataclysm and restorm during 1944 1945. Remember the Nazis came to power only gradually, and that with
each successive incremental progression, more and more violence was encouraged by the regime, especially against
the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe; and this was ins tuted formally with the burning of the Reichstag a er the
appointment of Adolf Hitler to chancellor. The geographic center of the nazi poli cal movement Nuremburg of
which rally a er nazi poli cal rally imprinted the image of that regime a priori in infamy. The city of H.A.K.s birth,
Furth, Germany; with its provincial atmosphere and people somehow wound up being visited by overow from the
Nuremberg rallies. For a while, a long me, Furth was a bucolic German town in Bavaria, with a signicant German
Jew populace that went from in the four or ve gures in Jewish people before the War (WW II) to between four and
ten singly stalwart German Jews at the surrender of the nazi regime in 194immobility that would have posed a danger
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to all if same had accompanied the stronger family members on their voyage. This obviously was to avoid persecu on
of the en re family by the Nazis. While H.A.K. over the years has been a secular personality, his background as a
resident of Furth where during the 1930s the life of Jewish people turned from somewhat dicult given the culture
in Germany to successively more and more interfering and violent behavior as sanc oned on the part of the regime
in Berlin; that which made the con nued stay of the Kissingers in Furth completely impossible. The family moved
to the U.S. in 1938, two parents and two children just days, maybe hours, before the synagogues of Furth, some of
them places where people had dug in and with the hope of staying without a thought of impending deporta on, were
burned to the ground. Related to that were the rst forced municipal assemblies of and deporta ons of Jews from
Furth. H.A.K. arrived with his family in America when the Great Depression was not yet over. While Kissinger was
a conserva ve in his adult poli cal life, his parents were able to take advantage of federal social services programs
under FDRs liberal presidency. His family were not lost on the spectacles of Hollywood lms, the drama za ons of the
lives of thugs like Capone and Lucky Luciano. The family lived a li le everywhere in the boroughs of the City of New
York where many Americans condemned the acts and signicance of Kristallnacht, the forced deporta on or exodus of
Jews, pogroms and other an Semi c violence and policies. As soon as he could, H.A.K. went and began working and
studying for academic creden als at night, eventually a ending City [College] University of New York, emphasizing
character, values and faith; before deciding to enlist in the military a er the a ack on Pearl Harbor. There was a catch
in his immigra on status covered by the War Powers Act (1942) which accelerated his ci zenship status from that of
an enemy alien (from Germany) to a right to become a ci zen of America. He joined a military infantry group of
college boys to go to Europe at the end of their training to join, again, the 45 divisions that were there a er the
Normandy Landing and Opera on Overlord. The Russians to the East of Germany were in the Bagra on opera on
headed West. The 84th infantry, H.A.K.s unit, their training in U.K. nished, crossed the channel to Omaha Beach
in November 1944 and made contact with the XIII corps of the 9th Army, G Company. Their group was emba led
seriously and painfully at Aachen, with high casual es on their way to Bastogne at the end of the war when Opera on
Autumn Mist under General Bolling, encountering the Germans in the towns of Marche en Famenne and Bastogne
among others. The story of the way H.A.K. and his friend from home, Fritz Kraemer, survived the war, especially
given the accuracy of Wehrmacht shells and so forth. A er the ba le in Bastogne had been won, and painfully by U.S.
forces, the G Company proceeded East, many mes moving or hunkered down under German ar llery barrages. Once
in Berlin and in other principal German towns, H.A.K. and Kraemer learned of the disaster of the Holocaust and the
extraordinary loss of life in the camps. The small consola on of this was the total war being nished as it was would
never be allowed again in the future, and the Jews would be allowed their own homes in Pales ne. The deporta ons
and camps, prison concentra on camps and the like of the past total war had been part of a psychological war on
the allies at the same me as the shoo ng war. H.A.K. returned to Brooklyn, New York, a er the war had ended and
began a life that was at rst a li le wild and disquie ng for his part as the interest in the tradi ons of their family
life together in Germany had been put to ight by H.A.K.s life experience, Kraemers as well, during the war. H.A.K.
picked up his studies at City College and soon qualied for study at Harvard under William Ellio . -H.A.K. had
an extremely successful academic career at Harvard, emphasizing geostrategy in his studies under Eliot and other
academic luminaries. This led H.A.K. to a poli cal thesis based on the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia. Many things have
been men oned about the goal of this young scholar at the me, his future as determined by his many capabili es
and talents. There are details in the text as well as very cap va ng and pre occupying mysteries in the rest of the
text right up to the end having to do with a desired pax romanus in Viet Nam during the early 1970s. As a nality,
the narra ve returns to Aristophanes play Peace in which Trygaeus returns home to ll the elds and harvest his
crops. With the proviso of Lord Actons axiom about power, great people as leaders do, and this a nal tenet of the
book, allow for the return home of their groups and teams as a rule when work is complete and par es so desire. In
this way, and given the value of Aristophanes theme, one might just read the last chapter or Epilogue of the book that
given the rst pages allows for a valuable lesson. A great book.

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3.2 February

187
WHAT MIGHT THIS ACTUALY BE? (2017-02-05 15:11) - red - public

Music: march

COUNTERTERRORISM WHERE ITS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, NOR FROZEN. Spies Against Armageddon, by Yossi
Melman and Dan Raviv (2012, Levant Books.) While the world of spies and espionage is alien to me and while I have
to read to be able to follow any of this type of thing in current and other events, and the daily paper does not help
on this subject though there is a good inves ga ve daily periodical or two that is not so wrong in its encapsula on
of various and sundry spy and espionage events and developments. The best thing to do is to pick up a Le Carre
novel and start with a series of those that drama ze and really and hygienically tell spy stories Le Carre apparently
grew up in that socially and personally dangerous if not occasionally lethal environs and he integrates a style that is
favorable to readers of English and the like in his long anecdotes about it. Without discoun ng the Ian Fleming novels,
Conan Doyle in this authors humble view does allow for some portraiture of the spy business as there is espionage
and obfusca on in many Sherlock Holmes tales, it is just not state - oriented. Georges Simenon, the great crime and
mystery writer one allots to French literature is also dis nc ve in this way. Above all these due mostly to the sort of
technical and very detailed and technological approach to many modern spy novels are the Tom Clancy books. I cite
these here as I cannot remember reading through an actual non c on book as published about spying ac vi es
and have in this respect read lots of ersatz spy narra ves given the above. Un l now as I have picked up Melman and
Ravivs text that actually shows the chaos and very complex and complicated collec ons of factors, elements, details
and all that not only go into supervising espionage (see the details about Meir Amit in this text), but into the grossly
more challenging world of survival in some circumstances where state poli cal and other priori es are overriding and
the kind of mano a mano cat and mouse games that ensue among others. The chief reasons for my choosing
this text to read is that it focuses on Israeli defense forces against those who would annihilate the country, and the
topic of choice, in fact, of subtle and important, increasing a en on over the years by that countrys security forces,
has to do with the Islamic Party of God and its apparently state varied sponsored ac vi es against the Jews
collec vely, impersonally and in groups, and targeted at individual Israelis and Jews. The poli cal side of such par es
I have not understood since rst reading the paper as a child the United Na ons on the highest level is supposed
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to and does address and respond to the dicul es of the Pales nians and arabs, just obviously not o en enough
and not with enough authority. An example of this was my learning through the text maybe two thirds of the way
through that America had been forced into structuring, se ng up and even maintaining on a basic level and for a
while, the Arafat Pales nian Authority. This including purchasing the proper real estate in the Pales nian territories
and construc ng physical plant and so on. Given the Pales nians themselves have well funded projects from ample
and full coers everywhere from Addis Ababa to Beirut to Geneva, this is an absurd idea given the purported autonomy
and independence (presumed) of the Pales nians during the 1990s onward a er the many eec ve Clinton peace
ini a ves. The work to construct the PA headquarters is probably another, and a very expensive one, and increasingly
so, American liberal party foreign aid program and has the U.S. co op ng itself in compelling any abatement of arab
violence in the Middle East, much less that of the Pales nians. Obversely, the text spends actually very li le narra ve
on arab terrorism in North Africa apart from what caused the toppling of a number of regimes in the Middle East
in 2011, if I am correct, and the related theocracies that emerged, at least in policy orienta on among the former
governments there, especially a er the coup in Egypt and trial of its leader Hosni Mubarak. Much of what happens
and then is portrayed about the an Israeli and an Hebrew (everything from rhetoric to violence and a empted
coups in places, be they against corpora ons or governments ISIS is one such) movement has to do with ones
persuasion about psychology and religion in the Levant and surrounding areas and its being inuenced in many ways
nowadays by radical clerics from every walk of life and not just in places like the West Bank / Gaza and Tehran these
are everywhere that Islam has a presence and same are on missions for all intents and purposes from the prophet
Mohammed. This is what the Hebrews have been dealing with since statehood in 1948, and constantly escala ng
to now whence the threat of war and destruc on is in the nuclear age given former soviet clients in the Middle East
plus Iran. Islamic arguments about Zionism and the territories are old hat as the radical clerics simply and in blanket
fashion and probably to the one engage their audiences with increasingly right ideologically oriented arguments
in addi on to con nuing their an American rhetoric in acute fashion a er the U.S. sponsorship of many things
Israeli and with good reason (see the text.) The book goes into the structure of Israeli Defense Forces and military /
surveillance set up and structure, opera ons and leadership star ng from the beginning in the 1960 when the bureaus
were rst called for and then established. Israel, as might any state in the Middle East have anywhere from half a
dozen to a dozen or more spying and surveillance bureaus func oning exclusively, each with the overall purpose
of adding to the survivability and sustainability of the state, an important and obvious purpose for these bureaus
that operate against Islamic spies whose purposes and inten ons are ends in themselves and that are based upon
the latest cleric banter for their missions. As an example of the past history of this and its legacy, the text does
men on ac vi es of some arab terrorists of the caliber and associa on with Abu Nidal, an anarchist / communist
commonly remembered as a huge threat individually and organiza onally to Hebrew government, military, ocial,
and spy bureaus in the day not to men on the things Abu Nidal did as an organiza on against ordinary Israeli business
and commerce. Concerning this, and a lesson is learned by every reader of these sorts of stories, the Israelis did learn
given the 1948 War of Independence, and in wars therea er in which intelligence and data gathering had a role,
that one must ght re with re. In short, an arab policy of annihila on was fought with very destruc ve and lethal
mechanics given Pales nian and Arafat doctrines against so called Zionism and the U.S. role in it. The changing of
arab policy focus in the Middle East a er a me, essen ally when the old radical guard became aged and did not wish
to step aside, from places such as West Bank and Gaza with their internal ques ons to the Cedars of Lebanon and
Syria, Tehran and Tunis, etc., whose leaders have sought to annihilate all Jews in a terminus of a kind of incendiary
hell given the hot bu on item of various par es trading in nuclear intelligence, prolifera on and security aimed
at Israel. The Hebrews are out to arrest and abate this as peacefully as possible, and thus the tle of the book
Spies Against Armageddon. There are some details that are necessary to completely take this all in including various
dierent measures and eorts against the Jews going back to before when we were born and the Bri sh were leaving
Pales ne. These include an overall descrip on at several junctures of Shia Islam and its role against Israel, especially in
modern terrorism in the post 9-11 world and post Iraq / Afghanistan. The text adequately describes the impera ves
of both arabs / Persia and the Jews, including the dierent details of the long history of reconcilia on between the
two groups, the arabs, etc., being the more frequent and more violent, oensive acts against a minority of Hebrew
people. The Interna onal Doomsday Clock, though it is dicult to register such things as scien cally based, which
they are, has now been set to 2 minutes before the hour or point of Armageddon, and this given nuclear issues
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now aec ng the Middle East with Israel, and other considera ons that have to do with Russia in Ukraine, and other
adventures. With the shortening of the hours, impera ves change, and for an example of this see Shakespeares text
of Henry V in which diplomacy is exhausted, . What, therefore, might be said to be the purpose of such a detailed
text as published (in 2012); and this probably has to do with, and is in the face of apocalyp c fears, impressions and
visions, that straight and tradi onal counterterrorism are not any longer de jure. Given the new and innumerable
challenges of the security of every state, at least every major one with policy ques ons about the Hebrew Tribe and
others, everyone must have a counterterrorism awareness and have an individual plan. That this text did not have a
greater readership is disconcer ng insofar as the narra ve provides background for a roadmap for everyone against
individual and state sponsored terrorism as origina ng in the Middle East and North Africa and that has resulted and
will result in further an everything bashing without the eorts of every literate and func oning person to abate
the violence in view of a more just and peaceful world. This is just the Israel piece of the puzzle there are as well
terror cells in Yemen, Sudan, South Africa, La n America, Burma, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Europe and Eastern
Europe and Asia Pacic. Reading this text carefully, as there are not many like it, will give the reader an impression of
the high priority personal safety and security have now given terrorist and counterterrorism ques ons, and this just
in the rst few pages. Maybe preface this text with a reading of Khalil Gibrans The Prophet a wri ng completely
in the other direc on and with the same considera ons that make terrorist violence, even the mo va onal principles
of it, extremely, extremely dangerous and in need of ve ng from the commonweal, at least from the vola le and
doctrinaire violent Islamic one.

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No Crisis Nor Crises Just the Usual "Day to Day". (2017-02-12 11:19) - hopeful, an cipatory - public

Music: erhu

NO CRISIS NOR CRISES JUST THE USUAL DAY TO DAY. KOREAS PLACE IN
THE SUN : A MODERN HISTORY, BY Bruce Cumings (W.W. Norton, 2005) When Korea of old is rst discussed in many
places, the name Kim Il sung comes to mind for many people, though Kim was a great and long lived adversary
of the West and of the U.S. A communist, he spearheaded the, again, old fashioned poli cs in Korea, specically
D.P.R.K., and against the U.S. and its allies, had the North Koreans inheri ng the so called mandate of heaven
from the royal regime that had lasted many years into the twen eth century but no longer. Mr. Kim in many respects,
along with some North Korean intelligence people, spearheaded as well an Western and an American sen ment
and poli cs during the me he was in communist party poli cs and in the North Korean administra on years ago.
Territorially, Korea itself is about the size of England and has about the popula on size of the Federal Republic of
Germany, and is a country in a region that had, at least in the last century, struggled for its territorial integrity and
sought the recogni on and place among the great powers (essen ally again, by its people working their ngers to the
bone) according to the vision of the Kims and Roh who ruled R.O.K. since it became a country in 1948 (See Fukuyama,
1992.) Over the years, star ng in the me of Eisenhower and the war, and then the era of the Dulles and their
interna onal inuences, there had been considerable, eusive discussion as to whether South Korea would ever
become and independent and self suppor ng country (U.S. foreign aid to R.O.K. in the 1960s to wit, might have
amounted to U.S. $ 500 million per year), especially in view of the pitched ba les against the North a er skirmishes
and so forth were followed by an invasion from the North and the ensuing military conict some did see the Korean
War as a war of forced unica on, though according to much of the opinion that is informed : Yes a victory for
communist D.P.R.K. in the Korean War would have erased the 38th parallel border, though the South would have
amounted in this to no more than a state of a slave popula on and its communist masters from the Northern capitol,
then Moscow and Beijing. Remember there are dierences between the conict environment today, even around the
fog of war and what same were supposed or purported to be during the war (1950 1953.) R.O.K., at the beginning
of the 20th century was at the basement of the socioeconomic and commercial house of world and global economics
and trade and then at the end it was at the top of it all. R.O.K. societys climb, or its progress, toward the mastery of
much technical industry, no ma er what biased and snooty technicians men on about things like reverse engineering
and the like, had been in those approximately one hundred years extremely, extremely chao c and full of upheaval.
One cites, more or less, three wars of independence one in 1910, and two in 1950 whereas South Korea was a
191
colony, really, un l on or about 1945. The na onal division and the military and other violence were destruc ve and
devasta ng for most Koreans, especially those who held property. Given the divided Korean Peninsula also, and the
overall drivers of the two systems, North by communism, and South by capitalism; it has been greatly dicult to try
concilia ng the two sides a er again a devasta ng, very destruc ve war and then the two opposing Korean poli cal
systems as part of a larger geopoli cal ideological and policy conict. In 1910, no one really imagined a modern
Korea such as that which hosted the 1988 Olympics and carries on today as an industrialized country of the rst order.
Though by 1945, there was a possibility that Korea could and would become more modern, General Hodge of the U.S.
Army occupying Korea expressed serious doubts about this without overriding and gratuitous foreign aid and other
handouts to R.O.K. With what the South Korea society has accomplished in commerce, nance, technology, innova on,
empirical science, entrepreneurship and growing and stabilizing its middle class, the ques on arises : How did the
Koreans do it? it is possible that Korean society, for all its achievements and accomplishments of the order the author
discusses in the text, viewed the challenges at hand a hundred years ago as the start of another race for everybody to
par cipate in, and in this way the leadership set about dissemina ng socioeconomic centrism and a tudinal centrism
among the working popula on, even among the working poor. Koreans did and knew to care about Koreans only in
a society of many ethnici es, all however with Korean DNA. The age old race considera ons about Korea and its
ci zenry, even the older scien c views, were then treated as essen ally stupid and inappropriate prejudices in the
assump on among many in R.O.K. of non conforming and individualis c, and egalitarian excep onalism per the
American a tude brought in during the wars. This contrasts with the individualism strictly speaking and strong and
evident egoism of the Europeans over the years, itself not without cause, but dierent than the Americans or Koreans
discussed in this narra ve. The Korea of 1900 was characterized by an immovable social hierarchy, great social and
economic inequi es, and a crude and un helpful dictatorship from the standpoint of the populace. The family values
and so forth of the Koreans did extend to the state and its regime, poli cs and policy, and to the overall environment
that emphasized human dignity and knowing ones place. American egalitarian inuences and its democracy, while
not perfect, were a great example of a free country that had equality contrary to some propaganda at the me,
for example. America had nonetheless at the me easy recourse to racism which separated peoples into degrees of
apparent equality. Remember that in the old days of the 20th century, and before the Korean conict (again 1950
1953), Korean people had a royal regime (1392 1910) greatly outer directed, hierarchical, biased, despo c,
. The author has wri en the text assuming only cursory historical and other background about the country subject
ma er and the region, and the text expresses the view that turmoil and upheaval, chaos and the like and subsequent
conict and other resolu on and reconcilia on do place Korea on a good historical foo ng in the deni ons and
various events in the countrys own history and business and economic development also.

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Loin des Timbres du Pacique, Mais A en on Aussi aux Tuileries. (2017-02-18 11:22) - percep ble - public

Music: bizet, ravel

Deux romans policiers de Georges Simenon : Au premier, MAIGRET NEW YORK (di on Presses de la Cit, 1947),
193
et le PETIT HOMME DARKHANGELSK (di on Presses de la Cit, 1956.) Ce sont des pe tes histoires de aventures
lointains provenant des mobiles des pe tes clefs de leurs personnages un besoin de faire par e de la foule urbaine
et paralllement de se rfugier dans les salons dalcool, de bavardage local dans les ombres des pe ts coins ; aussi
dans ces complots vous trouverez le rle et les cts mystrieux des principes et le pra que du chris anisme o lon
accapare les objets de valeur et de sen ments une collec on de mbres, les copains familiers des salons, des dtails
dvasion, . MAIGRET A NEW YORK des gros mots, nest ce pas ? La ville survenue dans la vie dun ancien ami
invite Maigret sur la piste en Amrique, et dans ce e grande ville (pas Wyoming ni Floride, par exemple), ce qui mne
linspecteur et trane le lecteur travers les pages de ce courte et villageoise histoire des bourgs et endroits recherchs
de New York. Ce qui est parmi les dtails du complot, on le voit, est lodeur du sinistre des gents prsumes ordinaires.
Pour les francophones, et mme compris la nature recevant des grandes villes amricaines, surtout New York lest
du pays auprs de lEurope, con nent de rapprochement une fois compris soi mme les avions transports ; la vie
nest pas facile. Les gents doivent agir proprement et selon les besoins du jour et des poursuites en commun, soit
il le travail, la vie familiale, en maintenant leurs vies ensemble ceci compose le ssue et la toile de la socit, aussi
grande dans ces endroits. Premirement, dans ce roman, des pe tes fautes sans excuses ne drangent rien, mais plus
tard au moment o les personnages se manquent lun lautre, une dispari on comprise, le lecteur voit de faon plus
prs comment les pe ts dtails addi onnent, et les pe ts dfauts aussi le roman est rempli des toutes pe tes cts
des personnalits faire observer le lecteur les inters ces complexes compris dans les vnements mystrieux, les
face es noircies de la vie des gents. Non seulement les dtails personnels de lapparence : le ssue et fabrique des
vtements, lq fume du tabac, choix des liqueurs, les pas sur le tro oir, le got des spectacles et des missions radio,
. Vous trouverez paralllement en plus, mme au dbut de ce e histoire c ve urbaine des cs et gestes, mobiles,
etc., qui amnent lusage et aux devoirs policiers de linspecteur Maigret, et ceux- ci sans les environs des rues de
Paris et leurs crimes consacres par le pgre qui les accompagne. Tout la fois, Maigret rentre dans les circonstances
des salons, cafs, endroits o circulent les personnages bavards mais sinistres, souponneux. Il agit sans hte, et selon
ses rgles de lexamen des faits eux mmes assuje s aux coloris underworld . Le caractre des environs de la
crime dans le roman et au moins la faon raisonne, courageuse, dtermine, savante de linspecteur se frappent
violemment sur les pages et surtout dans les dialogues entre Maigret et les gens de la rue, tmoins, personnel des
direntes cts et le niveau du parler de linspecteur est en relief aussi lev. Etant aussi complexe et dchirant
aux eorts de linspecteur est la parole des gens du ct qui ressen ssent lexamen devant linspecteur et lautorit.
Ces personnages, sans lumires intellectuelles, restent sur leurs bancs, au zinc, hantant les portes dentre des bars
et halles sans regard vers les niveaux plus hauts de lesprit au dessus de tout dans le moment o tout reste objet
pour toujours dans la vie. La crime est une terreur, une fois commise, se trouvant dans les mains de la police et avec
Maigret la tte : Pourquoi ? Il est possible que le pgre nanmoins lgi me et raisonn soi mme invite le contrle
pra que de la jus ce contre le vol, le viol, larnaque, le meurtre, et autres dans le contenu du pch se trouvant de la
nature des tant humains. Autrement, la faon de briller de Maigret en dessus la porte des vnements sinistres,
surtout dans une rsolu on de ces crimes, frquemment malsaines et les criminels malsains aussi, est un trait fort
dans les complots de la prose de Simenon, une innova on dans les romans policiers de tradi on morale depuis les
origines. Le PETIT HOMME DARKHANGELSK est un roman policier classique avec toute les stupidits de la crime et
des oenseurs, les dtails criminels cachs du crime, lvasion, les policiers expriences, percep bles, premirement
quand mme bafous, et ainsi de suite. Sans doute, une crainte de lauteur une fois crites de telles histoires, cest la
manire souterraine et sombre du roman et lintrt du lecteur qui demande au moins le drame, lac on des hommes
et personnages qui pensent et qui agissent, et un complot compte tenu qui reste comprhensible tous par les
leviers de prose de la compositeur. Ce roman est remplie des pe ts mie es des habitudes des gens illustrs dans ses
pages et paroles. On se lave, on but, on mange, on marche o conduit au boulot, les percep ons de la vie urbaine
semblables tous les pe tes personnes ; les gots dirents dans une visite au p ssier, la collec on de mbres
clef dans le droulement du roman soi mme, . Les personnages dans le complot desservent leur rles : agissant,
parlant, pensent, apparaissant en animal ou bien illustr dune bont et dune priorit vertueuses dans tous les rangs
du portrait de lensemble du roman ; a eignant leur importance drama que, idologique, pra que dans le discours
entre lauteur et lecteur. Le thme de la Russie pout ce lecteur et dArkhangelsk en principe provoque un conit
imaginaire dans lesprit du lecteur tant en cause de lglise et le chris anisme de lEst en ce cas et les traits et le
thme autour tout dtail dans le texte de la crime mortelle daprs Simenon le drame contenant ces face es elles
194
mmes prsente et voque lincer tude sur la ralit du lecteur et tout fait contre ce qui fait rjouir. En connaissance
de cause de cet environnement encore souterrain de ses romans, Simenon nait du avoir honte de nous tremper dans
le mal et le dpouillement, et dballage spirituelle qui fait monter premirement une impression, connaissance et
puis une comprhension sans inuence dbile sur le lecteur du ct du mal pur illustr dans le texte. Un exemple
dune lecture lintrt de tous en examinant la vue sur la crime au cours de la Guerre froide, avec tous les traits
classiques du roman policier bien innov par un thme des endroits lointains et lvasion dtaille et complexe, et le
pouvoir conqurant des mobiles de lordre, de la raison, de lexamen au premier encore psychologique et puis moral,
et au bout un aba ement de lontologie criminelle dans tout le matriel et spirituel.

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Open to One and All Alike. (2017-02-18 19:34) - ... against the red {(}coats{)} - public

Music: music - francis sco

COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK AND MAP (1968.) PRICE FIFTY CENTS. Guide contains a brief his-
tory of the City and narra ve descrip ons of many of the houses, shops, public buildings and other structures fully
illustrated with area guide map.

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3.3 March

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Not in Transla on ... . WHY? EXPLAINING THE HOLOCAUST, by Peter Hayes.
(2017-03-05 03:42) - reec ve - public

Music: theme from schindlers list

WHY? EXPLAINING THE HOLOCAUST, by Peter Hayes (Norton, 2017) There are thousands upon thousands of texts on
the topic of the World War II Holocaust, a subject that in its infamy is unfathomable, incomprehensible, inexplicable,
and greatly distant from what one might describe as everyday human ac on. To explain the Holocaust by Mr. Peter
Hayes, a well spoken narrator here in the journalis c sense as his book hardly reads like a novel, is to normalize such
things and to allow them within the scope of the commonweal and the conduct of the everyday. To grasp the Holocaust
in a historical sense and in its overwhelming horror is to assert ones innocence despite any incipient or even li le
incapacity to allow its enactment nor anything like it. The incomprehensibility of the series of events leading to the
Nuremberg laws, the 1930s pogroms and then wholesale assassina on and then industrial scale elimina on of the
Jews and those with any es to the Hebrew race, and ones classing all of that as such brings up the topic of blocking
the subject ma er along with any presump on of a personal concept of it by many people alive today. The idea of
the Holocaust brings up and invites, informs, many extremely complex issues, of the u lity of extreme violence, that
are interrelated and interlocking for a long me and again themselves within the me line of the twen eth century
in which this and related events happened. This book of remembrance, its primary goal of se ng straight a record
of exac tude in ways and sketchy in others, calls for a mindset on the Holocaust as the product of a par cular me
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and place : A magical solu on at the me, mys cal and mysterious; all with greatly sinister and deadly traits; and
a massacre under poli cal and military auspices as extremely intensied and directed against the people of Europe
among the Hebrew race in which most countries, and the Holocaust acts taken as allowed and promulgated at the state
level, were however slowly complicit in this massive annihila on and massacre of humans by humans, essen ally as
intended without consequences, nor moral nor otherwise, to the perpetrators. This book applies not the set of ideas
around poli cal ges cula ons and rhetoric of ac vism and remonstrance, but as a stock taking given our current age
: If one reader here might be allowed in this editorial to oer a perspec ve at a look back on this event as an en rety
for young people, it shows the dangers of plutocracy and a society in which complexity and technique are followed at
the plinth of yet more, even religiously dialec cal complica ons that engender racial and ethnic hatreds.

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"SIL VOUS PLAIT, PAS DE PHOTOS" (2017-03-07 06:46) - varied - public

Music: "experienced" - Schubert

ALEXIS RYGALOFF Confucius (1946) et Grammaire lmentaire du chinois (1972) This review is in American English
as Rygalo, along with a number of other languages, spoke English perfectly. People go to school and the like to learn
such things and the place or places Rygalo went to learn his skills as a linguist and philosopher are unknown or in a le
somewhere in some ancient le dungeon not to be tampered with by those of us even who were his followers in life.
In analyzing the teachings of Confucius and the life of Confucius itself, and at the same me, a formidable task even
for those self named greater scholars, author Alexis Rygalo sounds the topics through the history books in general
and the history of philosophy overall. This is a great approach and is extremely readable and while the book as wri en
by the author is considered lesser in physical volume (it was apparently and supposedly a Que sais je series book
that was rejected as something very few people would actually digest as far as literature is concerned and then the
popularity of the topic at the me, during the 1960s, was subject to audits by the establishment, etc., another topic
en rely. The author closely dovetails the story of Confucius life and his formula on of the analects, the lives of some
of his followers and all this within a brief historical record including warring states and some others equally important.
It is also of some emphasis here that is illustrated in the book : People like Confucius were pursued all their lives, and
disparaged by detractor - hooligans who believed themselves to know be er by the thinking of acts of god, acts
of war, force majeure and so on. Remember all that Confucian ideas are reec ve in nature and give cause for a
break to actually ponder over some of the things, at least, that are found in Analects, etc., and Confucius himself
is favorably responsible for the lling up of me for the leisure class of the Chinese for some me with his ideas
as one of the ve (some men on more some mes) great belief systems of Asia Pacic : Buddhism, Confucianism,
Daoism, Islam and Chris anity. Chris anity is a distant h to the previous four sets of ideas. Confucianism might be
the best known secular system of thought in Asia Pacic or anywhere, and this makes reading the text all the more
en cing and the historical tales around the vagaries and vicissitudes of daily life in the China of old where to nd
rest for the night for the nomad, ins tu onal life, bargaining and specula ng over dierent parts of life, ge ng and
keeping dierent jobs as he did this all has a meless character to it when allowing for a few details. Confucianism
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is an ancient idea and depends upon things like humility and discipline as many do, though it is quite heavy on the
discipline and the dialec c as well in many aspects of life as applied through his wri ngs. These details along with
the dramas of an historical background, and here without directly looking at the text as it magnicently dovetails a
number of things with the history of ideas and language and expresses the view that there does not have to be chaos
for there to be change (not a very universal idea;) and Confucius was really popularized over the years based upon
his excellent individual and contagious a tudes about life and spirit, work and play and so on. The Rygalo language
book, whereas the philosophy book is like a Schubert impromptu, li le concerto or similar musical essay, is like a cross
between the avant garde of Pierre Boulez (undoubtedly a recognizable colleague of Rygalo, though this was never in
the papers, either) and the dour seriousness of those ice cold composers like Grieg and Sibelius. I had chest pains
reading through this one as a ma er of fact. The language analysis of Rygalo is academic, obviously, as his grammar
book is not a script for speaking out scien cally or in any way and examines everyday dialogue and habits within
China as has been veried by many visits there (mine, not however as I have not been to PRC) on the part of his
educated crowd including among his many bright and brilliant students. There is a monumental work or two about
Chinese grammar that one should read as well, by Zhou and the University of CA Press. However monumental, this
Grammar of Spoken Chinese serves more as a reference for se ling discussions once read. The Rygalo book is for
referring to again and again and a er a while with at least some adult familiarity. It contains a gramma cal outline that
indicates Dr. Rygalo as a structuralist, an en rely appropriate view or perspec ve on human communica ons as it
is proven since some me ago that words have an order and meaning and thus the ongoing ght between seman cs
and semio cs. The text addresses this somewhat in illustra ng varia ons of phrases and their phraseology if the
term might be allowed. The way sentences are analyzed from subject object predicate verb points of view greatly
makes the Chinese language accessible to the reader. These, on the other hand, and while college graduates no less
started in on this sort of thing even during my post high - school studies that are more recent than 1972, are only the
fundamentals that get one up and running on turning Chinese phrases and language (spoken and wri en) over and
over in dierent ways and make interpreta on of that language a less overwhelming task, something the Zhou text
ignores for all its voluminous prose. The study of language made in this text is en rely valid today, though it relies on
knowing the fundamentals of the structure of the language of Chinese (and French as the book is in French) or at least
a willingness to learn the method of analysis and u erance presented in ones search for a primer or reader on the
subject. Some people do not like this book as it is a gospel, not well known, and it is en rely too brief for those whove
seen the text from CA. The virtuosity of it cannot by any means be refuted for its me and even to today whence one
has a plethora and overall, innumerable plenitude of hack, though well presented, Chinese language review books.
The author, along with limited essays, published only two separate and complete texts in his life me. The marvel of
all this is I picked up the text at a kiosk, essen ally, where old things were being sold. Then I met Dr. Rygalo who
knew I had purchased his book secondhand. This I saw as the way it was, and an admirable thing about school in the
day ins tu ons are much too large today for this to actually and really happen today and I have tested this. In his
lessons as well a towering virtuoso of each character and each script scru nized and subject to analysis upon analysis
all in a small book, though the author is not any longer among the living to preach this among us (who were his)
plebes.

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Hillary Clinton as a Weak President, "Excuse Me". (2017-03-25 10:18) - incredulous - public

Music: rap

Let Them Play The 2016 Republican Regime. Editorial. When originally learning about Donald Trump during the
late 1970s, I had read through The Art of the Deal, a book I actually would like to have in my library right now in
the goal of associated bragging rights and for the way the text is forward looking and instruc ve to the reader.
Though I knew of him as many people, did at the me his real estate empire and hotel and other proper es became a
household talking point, I was a li le in fear of this man who seemed more bluster than anything else. I also had the
impression in reading his one book at the me that in the commonweal leaders choose execu ve poli cs to pursue
much of the me or same choose to pursue wealth on places like Wall Street or other money centers. There is a
set of values in the U.S. that holds New York and such places, however, are completely crazy, and this comes from
the prejudices of people who have less than tried and true, tested and conict scarred values, again, as many
actual New Yorkers have. This does not make anyone be er than anyone else for prac cal purposes, but brings up
the subject of New York values that were brought up at the beginning of the Republican Campaign by the press.
What are these and what eect to they have to dis nguish our current execu ve leader. One thing these values
are not indeed not has to do with the poli cal bent of the Clintons overall in lavishly relying on the Oxford and other
academic cachets at the expense of the common man in America to promote a verbose and mul confused, actually,
set of poli cal ideas that rely on a mix of socialism and leveraging, read steering, the role of domes c poli cs and
force of arms. [A er the 2016 elec on, one must know] scientological and Manichean ideals appear to permeate the
image of the Clintons as people who believe overall that others are fools and in many ways for a lack of cosmopolitan
sophis ca on and other worldly traits and a psychological social approach to poli cs and policy that is awed, that
was supposed to have collapsed in 89, and that was again used in 2016 eorts to ar cially sway votes and the like.
It is a moneyed approach and one of the repulsive mysteries of liberal U.S. poli cs and policy right now. This has
the Demos hammering foreign issues right now in the unilateral shredding and bickering about Republican, and more
specically White House policies that are before the federal legislature, and hammering intelligence issues as well :
Two areas touted by the Clintons and Democrats overall as dedicated strong points, formidable, if fact, supposedly;
though presently these appear to be of the socialis c tone and an abysmal failure morally and ethically : The tearing
away at the fabric of the Republican presidency at present is worse than what the Democra c party (and socialist
interna onal as well, by the way) a empted in eorts to de stabilize the Reagans a er the 1980 elec on. Upon
his arrival in D.C., the 1980 president found federal agencies permeated and in fact in many cases compromised
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ideologically, some outright subversive. It took in general one presiden al term, in addi on to ordinary poli cs of
the day and required con nua on of the presiden al regime, to deal with these subversives, and during 1984 1988
the Reagans were actually allowed to carry out their very construc ve agenda. Without the tearing at and bickering
within the federal legislature and within the execu ve at the me, the cold war might have ended on or about 1982.
This is an educated guess, though the Reagans faced unbelievable and again subversive sympathies from within given
their policy goals at the me. The situa on for the Trumps is worse as the U.S. has just nished with a regime that
gave the world public trillions of dollars to guard his throne, and while ignoring the moral and ethical issues of this,
the avor of this interior policy of the president immediately out of oce in the U.S. is indeed subversive given his
moneyed policies that depended greatly upon the leverage of the na onal treasury and then overall valua ons of
dierent factors along with a patent ignorance of if not disregard for the problems of public nances in this way by
many inuen al people within our borders. The Russian hacking and intelligence ques ons arousing interest on the
part of the repor ng press, as well as health care issues, the Snowden and other spying, and North Korean nuclear
policy and implementa on are greatly important issues, though the credibility of the press in its aggressiveness and
in its portrayal of these issues has one wondering about the liberal and highly structured organiza on of the press
and the machinery it uses to disseminate these very colorful and well decorated tales. Same are drama c tales
of intrigue and of interest probably more to children and adolescents who see the headlines than seriously well
informed adults. The current President of the U.S. is a public personality, and has been for a long, very long me,
who arouses great feelings of jealousy due not only to his successes in the real estate, hotel and restaurant and
broadcas ng / entertainment elds, and great achievements in the world of business these are; but due as well to
his great charisma and humanness that invites and brings up great, great histrionics on the part of people who were
surprised by 2016 elec on returns. The man is a great leader and is serving with no salary, and this speaks volumes
about his patrio sm and general, again, a tude toward implemen ng the right policies and the righteous goals of
these policies themselves. Without the backbi ng and again itself, pitched poli cal ba les and bickering over the few
major issues of the day, the current administra on in its eciencies might be done with all of its four year term
policy goals a er maybe a year and then just be ne tuning a er that. Think of it, and think of it especially when
you gather your proverbial rocks and stones to cast at this regime.

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"DIVE IN" Carefully with this Text : Japanese Mystery Novel Book Review. RINGU. (2017-03-30 16:14) -
an cipatory - public

Music: opera

The Horrors of the Paranormal Ringu, by Koji Suzuki (Ver cal Publishers, English
Transla on, 2003; Original Text 1991). This text is a portrayal of a very conicted and incomprehensible set of circum-
stances apart from considering the paranormal and ways in which it pervades the lives of people who delve into it or
recognize it. While this book will not turn you inside out, the narra ve as a real page turner and full of philosoph-
ically interes ng content, has the press and people in private life resurrec ng the memories of the long dead who
died brutalized and voiceless. This is perhaps a redeeming premise of the text overall that has one leaping from one
sinister and un connected detail to the next. If the reader can at least track the series of characters, some important
ones just occupying a few paragraphs, one will consider the work of traversing this prose quite well done. Mastering
the plot without extra slowness might require two readings unless one is already familiar with the story line : The
protagonist Asakawa discovers a VHS video tape that is accursed enough not just in its content, but promises the
death of those who view it within seven days. In this the author of this review does not understand really the premise
of the text apart from again with might be the sinister paranormal and the overall super bravery of Asakawa and
his colleague Ryuji. Vic ms of this deadly media are subject to sudden and painful death by heart seizures, a acks,
freezes and the like. How is that for conicted prosaic themes, and Suzuki goes on in detail in this way from start to n-
ish about two hundred pages. The theme is that of a nightmare, macabre and again sinister, as lived by Asakawa and
Ryuji as two press agents sleuthing the disappearance of Sadako Yamamura many years in the past, and the checkered
path that led up to her vanishing. This text surprised me greatly as just when the protagonist had run out of room
and was ready several mes to go back to the oce or dismiss the ma er en rely, new material (not new bait) would
present itself to propel the story into the next chapter. The role of Asakawas editor Yoshino in this way at several
junctures of the story gives the reader some insight into the literary style of Suzuki and of the mystery crime genre
of some Japanese c on. What is portrayed in the tone of the novel about the Japan some know as that of Kabuki,
sushi, tourism, the Ginza, Toyota and so on, is a given in this narra ve and the picture painted in the background is
one of pos ndustrial society everywhere : The main characters have ordinary accommoda ons and have occasionally
to run to the local corner to make their telephone calls. Strangely, the fate of Sadako Yamamura is discovered thanks
to the work of Daily News editor Yoshino, but due as well to the scrappy reasoning and confronta on with facts of
the past by the protagonist and his sidekick Ryuji. The center of the novel is Tokyo, though much of the plot takes
us to the other islands of Japan, to far ung and run down, decadent resort areas, mountain areas, provincial aca-
demic ins tu ons, all depicted and portrayed by the Suzuki style that is most horric, sinister, spooky. Suzuki had to
portray the central theme of the story in extremely sinister ways and does so eec vely, as much to have one reader
determining that the cast of characters in the book do nothing but sin, and this apart from the protagonist. The main
204
characters are people who are at the oce most days and who are not averse to ge ng their hands and sleeves
dirty to break a big story as much happens with Asakawa eventually brining the details of Ms. Yamamura and her
mother to light. The text is full of existen ally earthbound and ill fated characters who are locked in a struggle in
which the need to assert themselves and their iden es is severely curtailed and abated by bad dreams, the rules
of society, and the nega ve slack handed down by Shinto and related godheads. I originally picked up this text as it is
presumably an excellent and cogent example of the crime novel in Japan, even if in transla on into English dissimu-
lates much of the impact of many images in the prose here, beginning with the very insignicant motorcycle taxicab
accident involving Kimura at a stoplight the motorcyclist is determined to have had a heart a ack and then collided
with Kimuras taxi. There is occult signicance to this as well as the hellish imagery of a bikers heart a ack and cycle
accident in the street in busy trac has the propensity to make some readers con nue the story, some become ill and
others refuse to con nue reading in any way this text. The nausea provoked by the horric imagery star ng in the
rst few pages and then at various and frequent points throughout is an eect that is derived from actual reading of
these sorts of novels about unfortunate people and what same do. The occult is recognizable in another way in this
text in that the sleuthing of Asakawa and Ryuji is compelled to turn up clues at certain mes and does not, though
the characters are portrayed as unusual and par cular people no ma er now normal same look, and then there are
large jumps to keep the plot going. Most of the plot is in third person narra on and the author does not irritate, in
fact interests the reader in the path of ac on or unravelling of the secrecy of the fate of Yamamura and her family
and friends. The trappings of civiliza on bicycles, appliances, apartments, motor vehicles do not detract from the
primi ve nature of the occult as illustrated and of the wrongs against the Yamamuras. As a subtrac on, the text does
treat much of behavior as scripted and this is possibly why the volume does not read more quickly; and there is dark
sa re and sinister and nega ve connota on to propaga on of a type given its role in a number of bad dreams in the
text as eshed out, even machine propaga on, that the a en on of the reader, however alienated by occul sm and
strange literary imagery, con nues as focused on the protagonist, his sleuthing supervision and peers and resolu on
of a crime despite irresolute and variegated, destruc ve and destabilizing imagery through the authors prose. Even
classic crime novels of old, and then the more involved ones, invariably made some readers sick to their stomachs
: This is the measure of some of the good ones. Koji Suzuki in all his detrac ng and joyless imagery, given the role
of quite dark and actual photography in this, and the backdrop for it all in a civiliza on of youth and it some mes
highlights illustra ng life and culture, society as a bad dream, gives an outstanding literary performance here; though
not to be read as history, much less as comedy. A really great mystery novel!

205
3.4 April

206
Tom Rob Smith Russian Police Novel in English (2010, ... ) (2017-04-23 20:07) - Ji ery - public

Music: Tchaikovsky

The Secret Speech, a novel by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster,
2010). This narra ve that was a New York Times Bestseller, has many facets of a great story : A postmodern theme
exercised in the Soviet Union and Hungary, much suspenseful and drama c content that keeps the reader turning
the pages including love triangles, the fog of war including that of the Cold War, interpersonal studies of genera-
onal rela ons, great enough to rank up there with Child 44 that was made into a movie. What is therefore so
catchy about a novel that repeats a theme about the complica ons, supposed, of soviet society in the 1950s and
the version of characters here as moral and good communists against the bad ones? The idea of this prima facie
is trite insofar as good and so forth under the Stalinist regime was a poli cal and rela ve term given the Berias
and Kaganovichs, Yezhovs and others among the heads of the various secret police bureaus, most of whom ended
their lives as executed for state crimes. This book does delve into the mysteries of the soviet secret police and secret
services and paints a portrait that is no more nor less complicated that what one would nd in Stephane Courtois,
Robert Conquest, and even more the in the vagaries of the Taubmann biography of Khrushchev himself, published
more recently than, e.g., Khrushchev Remembers of Strobe Talbot fame, though not as recently as the biography of
Nikita Khrushchev by his son Sergei. It is dicult overall, given the constantly changing vigne es of this text whether
one consider rst the impact of the Secret Speech or the actual eect it had upon the lives of soviet government
workers and their secret and military police, and then KGB. The Secret Speech shook the centrist and stateless and
personalized, individualized poli cs and military meritocracy of the Stalinists very badly, and this comes out in the
story here : Star ng with a re introduc on to Leo Demidov and his family and his career as a military spy based
in Moscow, and the intrigues thereby; and the plot that ensues almost from the very beginning of the story where
loose ends have led to a murder of the Orthodox Patriarch and some others. The complexi es in the opera ons of
the organs ensue almost here as if the socialist system as centered in Moscow caters to and even allows criminals a
voice in running things : Police pursue the priests murderer to a criminal dealmaker who wants her husband out of
prison and bargains successfully for this. The plots of agents, sub agents and secret agents and criminals challenges
to them of varying degrees follows. With what one reads in the papers about soviet spying and Russian spying in the
207
modern age, even, the plot does not seem that far o the mark. The book also goes into how the soviet state went
adri ideologically upon the death of Josef Stalin, and the Secret Speech might have been a way for Khrushchev to
shake the country, a vast and populous place, varied and interes ng in many ways, yet s ll dedicated to Marxism
Leninism at the me, out of its torpor. The speech by Nikita Khrushchev concerning Stalin at the XXth Party Congress
in 1956 was a monologue of great courage and was a herculean eort in the minds of the soviet people to dispense
with the odd and strange, sinister, state crimes of the past and to free up people who had been sent to GULAG for
more produc ve work and then future survival, especially since that prison system had been set up, concentra on
and labor camps included, as a way to pad soviet coers with what it produced. A er several decades of that system
and problem nances, Khrushchev undoubtedly wanted to discon nue it and the only way to do this and decrease
the drag it caused on the state, among yes, the ideological, re - educa on and poli cal projects it proposed that were
bi er failures as well, and admi edly among soviet ocials by the late 1950s; in denouncing the system as criminal,
run by criminals and deriva ve of Stalins mass crimes in many areas of society. Crimes that inicted more pain and
suering in a longitudinal sense than anything before them as far as a prison system is concerned, and a prison system
in which the obverse of reform, crime and criminality, be er assured ones existence and survival than following the
camp rules, both spoken and unspoken. The story line can become confused to the reader if one does not take in the
overall implica ons of the denuncia on of Stalins crimes and the crimes of his communist associates. Remember the
merits of this con nue today as a subject of poli cal debate as Stalin s ll wins popularity contests (post mortem for
him and his associates) in Russian Federa on opinion polls. The scenes the book presents one a er another are quite
stark and shocking under the circumstances, and this text is not for reading either in ones armchair nor at the kitchen
table. The air of violence and strict and despo c rule in the enforcement and crime bureaus of the police in the soviet
union of the 1950s highlights the power of statutory edict and cruelty and inhuman character of the policies of Beria
star ng in the 1930s and those in his soviet successors as well. Condi ons of the GULAG were indeed intended to
be abominable and unlivable in the crea on of that system, perhaps even more unlivable than the notorious Chinese
lao gai. The plot scenes in Magadan and the Kolyma are par cularly sinister and disrup ve in nature, enough to
greatly change people from, i.e., Ar cle 58 poli cal enemies with intelligence and sophis ca on into, again almost
rabid and atavis c characters with barely a memory of life outside the connes of the camps to which they were sent,
to expire from work or from the cold. Upon rst reading Ivan Denisovich of A. Solzhenitsyn fame some me ago, the
reali es of the soviet prison camp as illustrated then struck me as a young person much the same as in this current
text, less perhaps some of the revolu onary violence in the current book that ts the fact pa ern for Eastern Europe
at the me, during the late 1950s. The reasons for the 1950s uprisings and the ever - expanding crime and secret
police bureaus of the U.S.S.R. at the me are less palpable in this current narra ve even though the plot turns on
the image and role of these at mes. Overall an excellent narra ve. Tom Rob Smith discusses [1]The Secret Speech.
Commentary : Khrushchevs [2]Secret Speech of the General Secretary of the C.P.S.U. Twen eth Party Congress
1956.
1. http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=the+secret+speech+tom+rob+smith+2010&&view=detail&mid=AC0F6E212757C750A
A68AC0F6E212757C750AA68&FORM=VRDGAR
2. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/feb/26/russia.theobserver

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Right Under Your Nose Lenin, First, and then His "Pupil", Josef Stalin : LENINS BRAIN, a book.
(2017-04-30 02:22) - ji ery - public

Music: shostakovitch

Paul Gregory as Author : LENINS BRAIN AND OTHER TALES FROM THE SOVIET SECRET ARCHIVES (2008, Hoover In-
s tu on Press.) As an overall prac cal and recent introduc on to the History of Stalins GULAG, a deni ve account
of the prison system and related soviet apparatus under the brutal dictatorship of Josef Stalin star ng in the Union
of Soviet Social Republics during the 1920s and 1930s, this collec on of fourteen chapter essays as annotate and
with references, and other literature as well : Stephane Courtois, books and essays by Richard Pipes on the tsarist and
soviet regimes, texts on the soviet union and the poetry of Robert Conquest, texts on the subject by Robert Service
and other recent books (not to men on the senior ones as well here) including this one by Paul Gregory serve all
as excellent introduc ons individually and in their collec on to this monumental, seven volume edi on that is an
excellent lookback at the soviet regime and its experiment with brutality and cruelty, inhuman and insuerable con-
di ons outside the CPSU; here as understated as this commentary author can nor describe nor nd words actually
depic ng what some parts of Marxist communist life were in the day, as not only was one not there, but further
one was too young to be subject to the brutal, inhuman, cruel and masterfully sadis c Stalin regime that ended with
his death in March 1953. Mr. Gregory in this book lays the groundwork for an image of the soviet leadership with
varietal and quite well focused essays on the Stalin regime, one we have all known as a totalitarian dictatorship,
and one that established records, in fact, by its cruelty and again horric brutality not only in the way Stalin and his
associates ruled the soviet union, but with the poli cal and administra ve model same presented for other commu-
nist and totalitarian states to follow that included China, North Korea, Cuba and regimes in Eastern Europe through
1989 1991. Saddam Hussein had been as well a student of Stalins policies, dehumanizing, horric, terrorizing and
again brutal and completely destruc ve in eect. In compiling this series of narra ve vigne es about Stalins rule
the actual legacy of Lenin who shortly before he died admonished his fellow Marxists and the party against allowing
Stalin to con nue as CPSU general secretary Paul Gregory uses a ma er of looking into the older what is known
in combina on with delving further into details from the ground up about Lenin at the end of his life, Lenins legacy
and notably his an intellectualism, and then Stalins seizure of power and elaborate schemes to hold onto and to
209
increase his hold on soviet society, poli cs and policy, and to make it an extremely painful experience for anyone
standing in his way in that pursuit, even to the end. Stalin in his me was even more an intellectual than V. Lenin
his predecessor for one, and second, in his relentless and undying pursuit of power of all kinds he managed to turn
a small, humble party secretarys bureau into an oce of CPSU party leadership and policy making, of raw poli cal
power as well far and away above that of the oce of outside prime ministers and presidents. These and his horric
cruelty and his ability to terrorize and ins ll fear, and to inict pain are his memorable eects and modus operandi
marks on history, and perhaps why today he s ll gures favorably in opinion polls and press editorials in the Russian
Federa on. The Gregory text has mostly to do with a number of vigne es or narra ve tableaux that point to the
cruelty and brutality of the soviet regime star ng in me with the death of Lenin in 1924, yet mostly a er Stalin had
consolidated his domain over the soviet party apparatus and organs including secret ones, chiey concerning this
NKVD modali es and their associated bureaus and successors such as the MVD and KGB as the years went by at the
me. As much as Stalin himself was later construed to have had a criminal mentality and who was essen ally sick
with criminality and preoccupied with the eec veness of that type of behavior in carrying out his policies, including
for example the sinister policies of blanket secrecy, forced deporta ons, killing and so on, all in the name of protect-
ing the primacy of the state; his thereby exible and adaptable associates and colleagues as subordinates shared his
mentality and poli cal and world views, some of them more cruelly, if this is possible, than their leader himself. The
ones that survived outside prison a er 1953, despite some circumspect view of their role in the soviet regime, had
kept enough of Lenins (at the end of his life and as he preached it then) somewhat so ened views on party discipline
and communist nihilism, and ul mately the kind of soviet humanism he must have died talking about, to make the
case that Stalin was a criminal phase, even a necessary one on the way to building stateless communism as Marx had
originally set down in his literature and poli cal theories. The survivability of these people, though important in their
own country concerning again any con nuity of party apparatus and of the soviet regime a er Stalin, had assured as
well an extremely dangerous accumula on of nancial wealth, the extent of which remains unknown, that the Stalin
regime and his successors accumulated and piled up and that his successors used in concerted eorts to win the Cold
War, even up to the end of that endgame. The argument that Western countries were wealthier than the soviets and
outspent the soviet regime during the 1980s and so forth, causing the USSR to crumble from its internal economic
burdens and strife is not right from the perspec ve that the soviets had accumulated substan al monetary wealth in
the Post war period, that started accumula ng in the 1930s, was interrupted by the War, and that con nued apace
during the 1950s to today even. Stalins government was quite well to do and did as it pleased policy wise with-
out betraying what was in the coers : With the outward appearance of wealth, an image which it did not have, and
even through judicious and proper public spending of the regime instead of its economic thievery, the soviet people
might have eventually felt be er about their regime and opted to con nue it despite the factors that began fragment-
ing it at the end of the Khrushchev period (1964). For the soviet leaders, who did not regard the basic socioeconomic
and societal place of the common man as valuable other than as a labor tool, and manual physical labor at that; and
given the minimal expense per head of the labor force and its load on the soviet regime the regime in fact due to
this had workers who to the end pretended to work, and who the regime at base pretended to pay. The text here
has fourteen dierent chapter narra ves of pivotal events in the soviet communist experiment directly a ributable
to what Lenin le behind policy wise and intellectually : The agents of the regime in the soviet union were allowed
leisure me and to think things whereas workers caught doing this, and by implica on with the wrong a tude, and
despite democra c values supposedly prevailing in the country, to the extent of ndings adverse to the soviets went
to prison or were shot. Some ocials of the Stalin regime, quite a few who did not pass muster with the great leader
and teacher eventually faced the same ends. Remember that Lenin as founder of the soviets was systemically trained
and had an en re body of knowledge bestowed on him about the founda ons of society, the way business worked,
economics and u lity, and poli cs and law, of course, with some idea how science and technical ma ers worked in
their methodology and then having educated himself further on the rest; this also remains his legacy today and why
his doctrines in their destruc ve and ideological, nihilis c and destruc ve simplicity are s ll pursued in some places
and have an eect on those needing a quick and clean way to face poli cal opposi on and to destroy the homeland
social fabric should it be an obstacle to them. The inves ga on and unearthing that Gregory does here is greatly and
highly commendable, and star ng with the War rst to go back to Lenins life and then forward again along his edito-
rial me line seems by the content presented in this way to be excellent reading in its proposed and Uber image of
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the soviet regime and the way the reader is brought aboard the endeavor and challenge of examining the business of
the soviet communist regimes almost from the beginning. A great book.

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In All Fairness Support the President : Chief Execu ve Trump and His First Hundred Days.
(2017-04-30 17:36) - facilitated - public

Music: talk radio - television

DONALD TRUMP AND THE FIRST HUNDRED DAYS (OF HIS PRESIDENCY) APRIL 2017 While the career ly poli cal
Democrats in Washington, D.C., might be accused of being ideologically Buonapar ste, that is, more bombast and
loudly prolix in their accusa ons and biased and brutal rhetoric against the U.S. president of being and doing noth-
ing or very li le at the hundred day mark of his new administra on, and the le more oriented toward blas ng in
words at the Trump administra on while using the press, a recent announcement by Reince Priebus, White House
Chief of Sta, that there were legal implica ons to the borderline facts in the news and other media dialogues just
from the Democrats that might prove to be a liability for the liberal party in the U.S., even a con ngent one that
will draw considerable a en on from all Americans. This given the channels the Democrats are using to nega vely
and disparagingly dialogue, again, about the President and his policies and his poli cs as he sees the situa on of
his administra on thus far and his accomplishments in oce to date. Same channels in the way same are used by
the liberal party and its ocials are turning heads quizzically and are causing raised eyebrows among anyone who
is monitoring or subject to some of the recent press reports, severely and even more than antagonis c toward the
President. Donald John Trump was elected to the oce of the U.S. Presidency given his poli cs and poli cal bent that
related neither strictly to the Republican nor Democra c (liberal party) poli cal machines, though the President in
the elec on was supported by mainstream Republicans; and then major Democrats who went to the vo ng booths to
vote across liberal lines to cast their votes not for a poli cal machine and media magnet that promised ante status
quo poli cs, but for a candidate represen ng a new type of government leadership other than poli cs of insiders
and bureaucrats as usual in our federal government. Despite this frac ous and ul recipe, and the specious calls
by Nancy Pelosi above all people (she would like to take swings as well at someone about this) for the current chief
execu ve to walk the talk ideologically and her accusing the President of not adhering to verbal campaign and other
commitments in addi on to other charges from the le . What follows is a checksheet that one might use to catch
up on the ac vi es of this administra on that liberals have rst obfuscated on and then expected the chief execu ve
to burn out on sooner or later, even now. He hasnt. In past administra ons, it is o en usual the President might
take a year or more to get his policies communicated to House and Senate members and their various groups and
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to get his cabinet appointed and in place, conrmed and all, and other appointments as well, especially in the policy
areas, under secretaries and other oces. The Trump administra on had this completed already, virtually 100 %,
and this again despite the obfusca on, foot dragging and po y - mouthing of the U.S. liberal party and its members
and followers, maybe severely since ten days to two weeks ago. The current threat from the democrats has been
to shut down the government over a spending bill that includes building a wall against invading illegals from Cen-
tral and South America. President Trump is apparently against a government shutdown. In the rst hundred days of
his presidency, the chief execu ve has overseen and supervised personally and proposed many orders, ac ons and
ac vi es, appointments and so on, of which : Transforma ons in U.S. infrastructure, tax reform and U.S. Treasury
policies new and renewed; the ini a on of the repeal of OBAMACARE, or of the Aordable Care Act; elucida on
and clarifying of the Trump foreign policy and its goals vis a vis China, DPRK, Philippines, ROK, ASEAN, Iran, Syria,
Puerto Rico and corresponding policy areas; other ini a ves in diplomacy and defense; measures and policies in race
rela ons; livening the role of the Vice President; quietly managing White House sta along with its chief of sta;
answering to issues of climate and environmental change; and increasing the awareness of the U.S. populace about
actual business opera ons and business accomplishments in the U.S. and what it takes to succeed. Among other
measures by the Trump administra on are the following, again within President Trumps rst hundred days in oce :
AGRICULTURE : THE FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA, WITH OVER SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND ACTIVE MEMBERS IN THE
U.S., AS IT HAD BEEN IN A QUANDARY ABOUT AGRICULTURAL POLICY AND THUS ITS OWN ORGANIZATIONAL FUTURE
AND OTHER ARRANGEMENTS IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY IS BEING RE EMPHASIZED AS AN AVENUE TO LEARN
ABOUT AGRICULTURE AND FARMING, IN OBVIOUSLY TECHNICAL TERMS FOR MANY OF ITS MEMBERS AND FOR FFA
WATCHERS AT THIS TIME AND THANKS TO THE ADMINISTRATIONS AGRICULTURAL TRADE POLICIES WITH NORTH
AND CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA, AND THIS FOR TIMBER AND OTHER MATERIALS, NOT JUST CROPS, PLANTS,
FLOWERS . COMMERCE : THE ADMINISTRATION CONTINUES WITH TRADE AND RELATED TAX POLICY REFORM.
THE NAFTA WITH CANADA AND MEXICO WILL LIKELY CONTINUE AS A TRADE AGREEMENT THAT NEEDS REORGANIZA-
TION OR RE NEGOTIATION. IN A SEMINAL TRADE REFORM DECISION, THE PRESIDENT WITHDREW AND QUIETLY SO,
FROM THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP ACCORDING TO CAMPAIGN COMMITMENTS. NAFTA AND OTHER TRADE
AGREEMENTS, AGAIN, ARE ON THE DISCUSSION TABLE IN THE CAPITOL FOR RE NEGOTIATION OR TANGIBLE AND
ACTUAL REFORM. THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION HAS ALSO EVALUATED THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION AS
OUTDATED, AND THIS GIVEN IT ALLOWS ESSENTIALLY SOCIALIST - COMMUNIST AND NON MARKET TERRITORIES TO
HAVE FULL MEMBERSHIP. THIS INCLUDES CHINA THAT HAD AN ALMOST FOUR HUNDRED BILLION U.S. DOLLAR TRADE
SURPLUS WITH THE U.S. IN 2016 OUT OF A TOTAL U.S. TRADE DEFICIT OF ALMOST EIGHT HUNDRED BILLION FOR THE
YEAR. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS : THE VA HAS A LINK TO HUD UNDER THE NEW PRESIDENTIAL ADMIN-
ISTRATION THAT CALLS FOR PROPER AND APPROPRIATE HOUSING FOR VETERANS AND HOMELESS VETERANS. THE
CURRENT VA REGIME CONCENTRATES ON REFORM BY CUTTING COSTLY PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES TO ASSURE
THE PROPER HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF VETERANS AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH ONGOING GOALS OF HEALTH AND
SAFETY, NOT INSTITUTIONAL INERTIA. ANOTHER GOAL OF THE PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION IS TO RETURN THE
VA HOSPITAL SYSTEM TO THE EXCELLENT HEALTH CARE AND QUALITY HEALTH FACILITY IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE AND
WAS A WHILE AGO, AND ACCORDING TO ITS PROBABILITIES AND POSSIBILITIES ALLOWING ASSUREDLY FOR THIS RE-
FORM. EDUCATION : DESPITE WHAT APPEAR TO BE THE ACTIVITIES OF PROFESSIONAL AND HOOLIGAN PROTESTERS
AT U.C. BERKELEY AT THIS TIME OVER PUBLIC EDUCATION FINANCES AND POLICY NEEDS RIGHT NOW, THE ADMINIS-
TRATION CONTINUES TO FOLLOW ITS OWN POLICY OF ALLOWING PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION TO SAIL ALONG BUT
AT PRESENT WITHOUT A MANDATE TO HANG (METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING) ITS SOURCE OF FUNDS IN THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT. THE PROFESSIONAL PROTESTERS AT BERKELEY HAVE BEEN WELL TREATED AND HUMANELY HAN-
DLED IN THE EVENT OF DETENTION AND ARREST UNDER REASONABLE CONDITIONS AND CIRCUMSTANCES. ENERGY
: AMERICA AS PART OF DOMESTIC POLICY MUST BE PUT ON AN ENERGY FOOTING IN WHICH THE COUNTRY IS AT
LEAST OBSERVABLY ENERGY INDEPENDENT AND / OR IN EFFORTS AT THIS A COMMITMENT OF THE TRUMP CAM-
PAIGN FOR THE PRESIDENCY AND THIS INCLUDES ENERGY FROM FUEL OIL, COAL, NATURAL GAS, OTHER PETROLEUM
PRODUCTS USED IN THE CONSUMER ECONOMY AND ENERGY AND ELECTRICITY GENERATING GROWTH ACTIVITIES
IN BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY AND ALL OF THE ABOVE, AND WITH PROPER ATOMIC ENERGY POLICY AS WELL. THE
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IS A FORCE FOR CHANGE AND A CHANGE AGENT
IN THE ADMINISTRATION GIVEN THE ENERGY AGENDA INCLUDING NUCLEAR POLICY AND ITS RELATION TO OTHER
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POLICIES INCLUDING TIES TO WAYS AND MEANS. PROPER APPROACHES TO OUTSIDE THE U.S. POLICIES SUCH AS
THE KYOTO PROTOCOL WILL BE NEEDED AND WILL BE IN THE SPIRIT OF ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND REFORMS TO
ELIMINATE WASTE AND ANY PROFLIGACY IN THE EXPENDITURE OF FUNDS ON ENERGY AND ENERGY DEVELOPMENT,
ESPECIALLY FOREIGN OIL, AND DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN ENERGY PROJECTS, BOTH IN THE CONSUMER AND PUBLIC
SECTORS OF THE U.S. ECONOMY. FOREIGN POLICY : THE U.S. CURRENTLY HAS A NUMBER OF AREAS OF CONFLICT IN
ADDITION TO THE VERY COSTLY MILITARY ACTIONS IN AFGHANISTAN AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST REGION OVERALL
THIS INCLUDES TERRITORIAL AND OTHER DISPUTES, INCLUDING DISPUTES INVOLVING VERY DANGEROUS NUCLEAR
PROLIFERATION AND WEAPONS IMPLEMENTATION VIS A VIS CHINA AND DPRK, IRAN, AND THE SOUTH CHINA
SEA, AND SYRIA AS WELL. THE PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY OF STATE HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY PRO ACTIVE AND COM-
PETENT, TOUGH CUSTOMERS CONCERNING THESE AREAS OF INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION. HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES : THE REPEAL OF OBAMACARE, OR THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT, IS ONE OF THE CAMPAIGN COMMIT-
MENTS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AND IS AN ONGOING PROJECT AND AGENDA ITEM FOR REPEAL OF THE
ACA DESPITE ATTEMPTS OF THE LEFT THAT ARE ONGOING TO BLOCK THIS REPEAL. GIVEN THE SYSTEMIC TENTAC-
TLES OF THE WAY THIS LAW WAS ENACTED (IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A VARIANT OF THE HEALTH PROGRAM INITIATED
BY HILLARY CLINTON MANY YEARS AGO AND THEN REJECTED AND WISELY AS UNWORKABLE AND TOO EXPENSIVE)
AND THE WAY THE U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM IS NOW MORE BUREAUCRATIC AND SLOW AND THEN MORE EXPEN-
SIVE AND WASTEFUL THAN ANY SYSTEM OF MODERN HEALTH INSURANCE PROPERLY DONE, THIS REFORM DESERVES
ADDITIONAL ATTENTION. APART FROM THE INCREASED COSTS OF CARE FOR THOSE IN THE HEALTH SYSTEM, THE ACA
IS NOT REALLY ORIENTED TOWARD THE SOCIAL NET INSURANCE THAT WAS THE PROMISE OF THE OBAMA PRESI-
DENCY, AND MIGHT REPRESENT A TURNING BACK OF THE CLOCK IN THE HEALTH PROVIDING FIELD TO THE DAYS OF
SNAKE OIL SALES, ESPECIALLY WITH THE EMPHASIS IN THE ACA ON SO MANY AREAS OF THE HEALTH INDUSTRY AN
EXPENSIVE BILL THAT SPREADS THE POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF THE HEALTH SYSTEM TOO THIN, AND A LOAD TOO GREAT
AS INSTITUTED BY EQUALIZATION, UNIVERSALITY AND OTHER GOALS AND MAKES HEALTH CARE MUCH MORE EX-
PENSIVE THEREBY AT THIS TIME. EVEN WITH THE CURRENT INSURANCE, MANY HEALTH SERVICES CONSUMERS ARE
FLEECED BY THE INAPPROPRIATELY HIGH PREMIUMS AND EXPENSES FOR THINGS NOT COVERED. HOMELAND SECU-
RITY : HOMELAND SECURITY REFORMS AS INITIATED BY THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY HAVE TO DO WITH PROPER AND
INCREASED BORDER PATROL FORCES ALONG THE U.S. SOUTHERN BORDER AND THE BUILDING OF A WALL OR HIGH
BARRIER ALONG THE SAME TERRITORIAL LINE. THIS IS A VERY EXPEDIENT AND PRACTICAL RESOLUTION TO THE QUES-
TION OF DANGEROUS, VIOLENT AND CRIMNAL ILLEGALS PENETRATING U.S. TERRITORY FROM CENTRAL AND SOUTH
AMERICA OR IN THOSE USING CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AS A TRANSIT POINT TO ENTER THE U.S. ILLEGALLY
WITH THE GOAL OF CRIMINAL DISGORGEMENT, VIOLENCE, TERRORISM AND TRAFFICKING AND THE LIKE. HOUSING
AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT : A REFORM INNOVATION OF THIS ADMININSTRATION HAS BEEN TO PROPOSE REAL
PROPERTY OPERATING AND OTHER PARNERSHIPS BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND TO HAVE
PRIVATE INDUSTRY FOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS AT REAL RENTAL PROPERTIES. THIS WOULD BE A WAY AMONG
OTHERS TO LEVERAGE THE FEDERAL MONEYS ALLOCATED TO CONSTRUCT AND / OR TO OPERATE QUALIFIED REAL
RENTAL PROPERTIES. THE ADMINISTRATION ALSO HAS PROPOSED A PROGRAM CALLED HOUSING CHOICE THAT
ALLOWS FOR A HOUSING VOUCHER TO CARRY ALL OR PART OF MONTHLY RENT. REFORM OF VETERANS HOUSING
IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO GET HOMELESS AND OTHER VETERANS PROPER AND FUNCTIONAL HOUSING, SO CALLED
VA SUPPORTIVE HOUSING LINKED TO OTHER FEDERAL PROGRAMS. JUSTICE : THERE IS AN ANNOUCEMENT THAT THE
FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR WILL BE INVESTIGATED FOR INAPPROPRIATE TIES TO AND ACTIVITIES HAVING
TO DO WITH THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION SINCE SOME CONSIDERABLE TIME AGO AND NOT ACCORDING TO PROTOCOL.
ONE MUST REMEMBER THAT PROTOCOL IS ONE THING, AT TIMES MINISTERIAL, AND REGARDLESS OF THE ACCUSEES
ACTIVITIES BEFORE THE RUSSIANS THAT INTENT HAS MUCH TO DO WITH THE POSSIBLE AND PROBABLE LACK OF
CULPABILITY OF THIS OFFICIAL AND HIS REASONABLE AND PRUDENT HANDLING OF THE RUSSIANS WHO CAN BE EX-
TREMELY INTRUSIVE AND IN CONTRAVENTION OF PROTOCOL AND OF THE RULES AND PROCESSES THAT GOVERN
THE FOREIGN OFFICE AND NATIONAL SECURITY. THIS SHOULD BE OF CONSIDERATION IN ANY INVESTIGATION OR
OTHER PROCEEDINGS. THE ADMINISTRATION ALSO CURRENTLY HAS MEXICO BURDENED OSTENSIBLY WITH PAYING
FOR A WALL OR BARRIER TO PREVENT ILLEGALS FROM THE MEXICO REGION FROM ENTERING THE UNITED STATES
ALONG ITS SOUTHERN BORDER. THE PRESIDENT AND HIS ADVISORS WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP THIS ON THE AGENDA
IN VIEW OF RESOLVING CRIME AND TERRORISM AND OTHER HOMELAND SECURITY MATTERS SO RELATED. THE
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PRESIDENT HAS ALSO COMMITTED TO CONSIDERING WHAT TO DO WITH A NINTH CIRCUIT COURT EFFORT TO CON-
TINUE BLOCKING HIS POLICIES AS IMPLEMENTED. LABOR : THE RULES OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE U.S. ARE CHANGING
GIVEN A CURRENT COST BENEFIT STUDY AND ASSESSMENT FOR LABOR REFORM. THE NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS
BOARD REMAINS A MAJOR AND VITAL DEPARTMENTAL OFFICE WITHIN THE U.S. FEDERAL SYSTEM. MILITARY AND THE
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE : THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET HAVE MADE SEVERAL POLICY IMPLEMENTATIONS AND
DECISIONS ABOUT TAKING THE OUTSTANDING U.S. MILITARY TO OFFENDING ENEMIES IN DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE
WORLD WHILE WORKING AS WELL ON BETTER DEFENSE PROGRAM FUNDING AND MODERNIZATION OF EQUIPMENT,
ORDINANCE, TRAINING AND THE LIKE. THE PRESIDENT IS ALSO APPARENTLY MODERNIZING AND THEREBY REVISING
DIFFERENT STRATEGIC AREAS OF THE MILITARY IN THE AREAS OF PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT AS WELL AND AT THE
SAME TIME AS KEEPING DEFENSE COMMITMENTS AND CONTINUING THEM FROM PREVIOUS AVOWALS ON DEFENSE
AND THE OVERALL MISSIONS OF THE U.S. AND ITS ALLIES WHO NEED PAY MORE OF A SHARE AT THIS TIME OF THE
EXPENSES FOR SUCH PROGRAMS AND ORGANIZATIONS. NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE : FIRST, CYBERSECURITY INVESTI-
GATIONS OF RUSSIAN HACKING OF U.S. COMPUTERS IN GOVERNMENT NEED TO PROCEED APACE AND UNDER THE
CABINET LEVEL SUPERVISION THAT IS ALREADY IN PLACE. THE DNI IS THE HEAD OF NO LESS THAN 17 DIFFERENT
INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENTS AND OFFICIAL BUREAUS AND AGENCIES. THE FORMER SENATOR FROM INDIANA RUN-
NING THIS OFFICE NOW HAS ALL THE QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP TO COMMAND APPROPRIATELY AND PROPERLY THIS
COLLECTION OF OFFICES AND THEIR SIMILAR AND VARIED OVERALL MISSIONS WITHIN AND OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY.
OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET : THE PURPOSE OF THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY HAS BEEN TO ENTIRELY UNDO
THE POORLY THOUGHT OUT AND POORLY IMPLEMENTED OBAMA DECREES AND ORDERS THAT RESULTED NOW IN A
REGULATORY MORASS FOR THE U.S. THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY ALSO HAS THE GOAL OF REPEALING ALL THE SPECIOUS
AND LAST MINUTE EXECUTIVE ORDERS OF THE OBAMA PRRESIDENCY LATE IN 2016 THROUGH TO 2017. THE MIDDLE
CLASS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO THE COUNTRY IN THE EYES OF THIS FEDERAL BUREAU AND BENEFITING THE MID-
DLE CLASS THROUGH BUDGET POLICY IS ANOTHER POSSIBILITY OF TRUMP TAX AND TAX TREATMENT OF DIFFERENT
ISSUES AND QUESTIONS AND OTHER POLICIES. THROUGH THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET AND OTHER
BUREAUS, THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IN ITS FIRST HUNDRED DAYS HAS UNDONE LOTS OF DAMAGE THAT IS SYS-
TEMIC DAMAGE TO OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FROM OBAMA AND OTHER POLICIES OF THE LIBERALLY LEANING
PAST U.S. PRESIDENTS. THE BUDGET OFFICE ALLOWS FOR PROPER MONITORING OF THE CURRENT SPENDING BILL
INCLUDING FUNDS FOR THE WALL OR BARRIER ON THE U.S. SOUTHERN BORDER. TAXES : POLICY DISCUSSIONS HAVE
BEEN MADE PUBLIC ABOUT POSSIBLE TAX REFORM AND OTHER CHANGES TO THE TAX CODE INCLUDING PERSONAL
AND BUSINESS RATES, WHATS CREDITED, DEDUCTIBLE AND REFUNDABLE. THOUGH IN MANY RESPECTS OTHER AS-
PECTS OF TAX POLICY ARE SET IN MOTION BY THIS, THE PRESIDENT IS ALSO CORRECT IN HIS GOAL OF THE REVENUE
NEUTRALITY REQUIREMENT FOR THE CHANGES AND REFORMS. THE REASONS FOR THIS AS A PRUDENT POLICY AND
AS ENTIRELY REASONABLE AMONG OTHER TAX CRITERIA ARE MULTI FACETED, AND IN THE REALM OF POLICY
MAKING MORE RULEMAKING REFORMS NEED BE MADE WITH THIS IN MIND AND GIVEN THE SUBJECT OF TAXES
AND THE TREASURY. TRADE REPRESENTATION : THE U.S. IS IN A POLITICAL POSITION TO WARRANT RE NEGOTI-
ATION OF THE NAFTA TRADE AGREEMENT POSSIBLY BEGINNING IN AUGUST 2017. IT HAS ALSO WISELY REJECTED
AND EXITED THE TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP ACCORDIING TO ANOTHER TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COM-
MITMENT. THE CURRENT U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE IS AN EXPERIENCED ATTORNEY WHO WILL INSIST FOR THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT OTTAWA AND MEXICO CITY ACCEPT TRADE TERMS TO REFORM NAFTA. THE U.S. HAS GREAT
POTENTIAL TO REFORM TRADE TERMS AND TO CEMENT ITS AGAIN IMPORTANT POSITION IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE.
TRANSPORTATION : THE CURRENT CABINET LEVEL SUPERVISOR FOR THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT SERVED
AS LABOR SECRETARY FOR EIGHT YEARS UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH AND IS AN INNOVATOR WITHIN THE FEDERAL SYS-
TEM OF WHICH AT THE VERY LEAST RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ACTIVITIES IN VIEW OF INFRASTRUCTURE REFORM
(PROPOSALS) AND THESE CONTAINING FEDERAL TAX AND OTHER CREDITS AND PROVISIONS FOR NEW CONSTRUC-
TION AND RE CONSTRUCTION OF MUCH NEEDED INFRASTRUCTURE : AMERICA HAS A CURRENT NEED FOR NEW
AND REDONE INFRASTRUCTURE IN A GROWING AND BURGEONING ECONOMY AGAIN. INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
WITH PRODUCTIVITY GOALS UNDER THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL GENERATE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS
OF WELL PAYING CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER JOBS. PROPER TAX POLICY WILL HAVE A ROLE IN INFRASTRUCTURE
GROWTH AND RENEWAL AT THE SAME TIME. UNITED NATIONS (REPRESENTATIVE) : THIS EXCELLENT AND OUTSPO-
KEN OFFICIAL WHO WORKS IN THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL AS U.S. REPRESENTATIVE IS QUIETLY POSITIONED AND
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SITUATED TO APPLY PRESSURE TO THE COMMUNITY OF NATIONS THROUGH THE SECURITY COUNCIL TO CURB AND
TO POSSIBLY EVEN ABATE THE DPRK NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND ROCKETS PROGRAMS. THE U.S. U.N. REPRESENTATIVE
AT THIS TIME HAS EXCELLENT LEADERSHIP QUALITIES AND AN EXCELLENT REPUTATION. THE U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TO
THE U.N. ENCOURAGES INTER BUREAU COOPERATION WITHIN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT HAVING TO DO WITH FOR-
EIGN CONTACTS AND WITHIN THE U.N. ITSELF WITH AGAIN INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON THE AGENDA. THIS
INCLUDES THE NEED FOR INVESTIGATION, REVIEW AND POLICY DECISIONS ON VARIOUS AGENDA ITEMS AS VOTED
AND CERTIFIED BY THE SECURITY COUNCIL. THE ROLE OF THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT IN FACILITATING THIS TO THE
EXTENT POSSIBLE AND AS A POLICY WITHIN WHAT IS APPROPRIATE AND THE RULES IS ALSO CALLED FOR IN THE
REVIEW OF DIFFERENT FOREIGN POLICIES AND ISSUES OF DIFFERENT TERRITORIES.

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3.5 May

217
Book by John A. Farrell Richard Nixon. (2017-05-07 15:16) - anxious - public

Music: copland, adams

RICHARD NIXON : THE LIFE, by John A. Farrell (Doubleday, 2017) This biographical text, almost encyclopedic in its dis-
closures about the poli cal and poli cally oriented life of Richard Nixon, has to do with the portrayal of a consummate
administrator and statesman who was always working. No one else could have ascended, regardless of age, from his
Congressional seat in 1946 to the White House in 1952, an extremely short me for anyone no ma er their administra-
ve, legal, ideological of other talents. Nixon, further, did all through experiencing challenges and adversity, including
some key betrayals and publicly disparaging remarks from senior Republicans in the early going that determined his
poli cal choices if not the course of his career right through to his nal tes mony on Watergate and move to New
York during the 1980s. Mr. Nixon, by many interpreta ons grew up in Yorba Linda, CA, and California a er all, but
with some misfortunes that marked him again for life, including the deaths of two of his siblings before their age of
majority. There is as well some evidence that the young R.M.N. lived somewhat under a cloud as, for example, one
day he became angry with someone in his group of associates a er school, and the boys argued. The young Nixon
wanted to punch the other boy, but ended up on the oor with his hand in a hornets nest, apparently one he saw
out of the corner of his eye while preparing his s cus. Nixon a ended Whi er College, having again grown up in
Whi er and in that area (in fact quite rare for someone even born in CA people actually from Whi er are rare),
218
and then Duke Law School where he completed law studies with honors in 1937. He served in the Navy in the South
Pacic in World War II and married his college sweetheart before running for Congress in the Whi er district (12th)
in CA. Nixon from the beginning, with his legal background and his educa on, military service and experience with
people, led an existence of the poli cal nature pre y much only. He did enjoy playing golf and some other physical
things, and maintained his family farm in Yorba Linda to the last. The thing that strikes me is while he believed in
world peace and the pa erns of history, Nixon might have been quite a be er public gure had he had more contests
running un opposed. I do not know why the current narrator avoids men oning this, but when he became involved
in the more dense, tes er electoral races, Mr. Nixon fared less be er by the electorate and in his oces over the long
- term. His winning the 12th district Republican cket for example, was possible given some industrial contacts and his
running unopposed in the primary (1946). To the life of this greatly complex, and complicated public gure, there are
as well many, many subplots and other gures moving in and out of each others execu ve lives, home lives and lives
abroad, even some mes in obscurity. Because Nixon approached poli cs historically and with an a tude to work on
world peace, he became inundated in work against tyrants, subversives and saboteurs of all kinds. Just for starters.
His veriably heroic pursuit in the day of Alger Hiss, an unabashed and closeted self sequestered communist spy,
despite some gaes in his inves ga ons of Hiss, stands out in relief in the post WWII Cold War successes against the
soviets who had communists, and veriably, in every corner of the federal regime here in the U.S. at the me. Nixon,
as one of the Red hunters, also pursued the Hollywood Ten and others through the House Un American Ac vi es
Commi ee, and through local CA authori es and later the FBI under J.E. Hoover. The Hiss case was so heavy with
facts, and cloak and dagger secrecy that it made Nixon famous and people trembled when knowing they were in
his sights. Usually as well, in fact, from the stories in print I have read over about such things, a stooge turns in a name
of a communist of sorts, or of a deliberate, dedicated and dangerous communist such as Whi aker Chambers or Alger
Hiss, or other wrongdoer, and the inves gator or authori es in charge work on the individual so named in the rst
place using appropriate methods. Other spies were of the caliber of Hiss, or more damaging to the U.S., such as the
atom spies the Rosenbergs, Klaus Fuchs, David Greenglass, Helen Gahagan Douglas and Jonathan Pollard and Mark
Walker, later. Much of the opera ons having to with catching spies was and is extremely expensive and whereas in
days of old catching such people in a simpler world was easier, it was primarily easier as the U.S. had the currency
to pay the spy sleuths without budgetary controls. In todays world, the same thing is nearly impossible seemingly
due to internal rules governing counterespionage, and the fact that the purse is o en not unlimited in eorts to catch
such people. The things that are so striking about Nixon and Hiss and how they went about it was Nixons dogged
pursuit of clues about Hiss, and that Hiss eventually tripped up out of his own arrogance, hubris and just plain lying
a tude. In his professional and poli cal mission as to world peace, Nixon focused in his adult poli cal life, and this
was a er he had become a U.S. Senator from CA (post Congress), on the defeat of totalitarian regimes and of com-
munist regimes in par cular over the course of his career as an elected ocial. Nixon dealt in grey areas some mes
and this because he had faced down wanton and capital criminals as ocials from places like North Korea, USSR and
PRC. Nixon was out to preserve the good about the world for innocents and as much is in his modus operandi star ng
from his defeat of Jerry Voorhis in which Voorhis accused him of some dirt in his campaign opera ons. As a poli cian,
and to the greatest extent he could, the man was energe c, shy and a bit of a loner (isola ve at mes), uneasy, and
he portrayed an honest image to women. At several mes in his life, his nances, due to the rela vely low salaries
of U.S. ocials and patent lack of opportunity to grow nancially, were shoddy and in need of a en on. He sought
friends but friends who were disinterested. It is possible that Nixon knew in his pursuits against communism and
given history and the need for peace in the world, that one had to play villainous and discretely redeeming games at
the same me in order to ou lank the bad guys. His moods as the result of mindful determinants of these convincing
and eec ve traits for him were some mes dark and devoid of any levity, even when he had accomplished his goal
of pu ng Hiss in jail, being elected Senator or U.S. Chief Execu ve. Somehow, his approach to all this had death,
god, love and war all tugging at each other from within, especially given the deaths of his brother pals Arthur and
Harold in this as well, and while knowing this, the Chinese allowed him on their soil even though he was an
communist, and some forgiving circumstances about him at that. Without reaching out in all direc ons to everyone,
Nixon planted his individual and party persona on the doorstep of discouraging words, wrongdoers and their crimes,
Reds, saboteurs, and other dangers; all while using an ocial administra ve capacity apart from, and in a dierent
approach from the guerilla and subjuga ng evils of the individual criminals he faced. He hated bullies, he was part of a
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major Chris an mission at one point to bring the Marshall Plan to inaccessible places. Europe s ll had some unknown
country in the day. It is impossible to get ones mind en rely and completely around the scope of the man as he was
just one, and in his revulsion primarily to Stalin and Stalinism, apparently educa ng himself about these ma ers in
law school, and then more concertedly to communism in general and the deliberate destruc on soviet people did,
he challenged every federal administra on of which he became a part, to expose totalitarian and communist agents.
Farrell structured Nixon the man and the image of his life thus in a biographical narra ve so any reader can see this.
An excellent book.

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Edited: May 26, 2017