Polital Books to Read

Here's my top 10 list of books both fiction and non-fiction with a political slant.  They are in no particular order just how they were lined up on my bookshelf.

1. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
2. On Liberty - John Stuart Mill
3. Rules for Radicals - Saul Alinsky
4. The Burden of Bad Ideas - Heather MacDonald
5. Animal Farm - George Orwell
6. 1984 - George Orwell
7. Understanding the Times - David Noebel
8. Grave Influence - Brannon Howse
9. The Federalist Papers - Alexander Hamilton
10. Liberal Fascism - Jonah Goldberg

Controversial Books to Read

I think it is important for adults to expose themselves to other points of view for many reasons. One of which is to be able to understand and have compassion for others that do not have the same environment, experience and viewpoint.   I use the word adult, because without a strong foundation both intellectually and spiritually a child and even a young adult can be easily confused about right, wrong and intent.

Here are a few books that obviously do not line up to my world view, but I have found helpful in discussions with others in both understanding their point of view and framing intelligent rebuttal.

1. The Quran
2. The Communist Manifesto
3. The Secret
4. The Book of Mormon
5. The Golden Compass Series
6. The God Delusion
7. The Prince
8. On the Origin of Species

I realize there are many Christians who believe that the reading list is unfit for consumption and reading such books will only lead to the decay of values and is a misuse of time.  If your conviction is to not read this book list, then don't. I have found that reading them through the lens of my faith it only strengthened it and gave me a framework for conversation.

Real Radicals

Chew on this over the weekend.

Saul D. Alinsky (1909-1972) - Father of Modern American Radicalism
"Rules for Radicals"

1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your people. It may result in confusion, fear and retreat.
3. Wherever possible go outside the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear and retreat.
4. Make the enemy live up to his/her own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it.
Philosophy followers: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Stuff I Read

I have updated my "Stuff I Read" section. Please take a look.

Communist Manifesto

Published originally in 1848, the Communist Manifesto was written by Karl Marx and Frederick Engels as a “coming out document” to outline the communist beliefs.

I have read the Manifesto several times, the first being a senior in high school. At that time I had only a small amount of appreciation for the significance of the document. Upon reading it most recently I can not seem to get it out of my mind. Specifically the section outlining the agenda to spread communism not by means of force but by means of political inroads.

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.

2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance.

4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.

5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.

6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state.

7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.

8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country.

10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc.
Does this look familiar?

Are you awake yet?

Potpourri

There is so much going on right now in the world I could not pick one thing to write about. So I decided to give you a list of things on my mind.


- My pinky finger – the one I broke a few years back keeps going numb. I don’t know what this means.

- I am sick of Hillary Clinton.

- What in the world is the point is taking a camera everywhere if you don’t take pictures because you are in such a rush.

- I read the Golden Compass. Anyone who argues that the book does not contain an agenda did not read the book. Parents wake up – if you did not read the book, do not make the argument that your child read it and they said it was fine.

- We are thinking of painting our bathroom but we have not settled on a color.

- Canyon has a lump on her chest and I am afraid to take her to the vet.

- American Gladiator – the greatest show ever - is finally back on!

- It’s almost time for Reds spring training news.

- For the first time in my life I am not a Bielski.

A few books from the month....

Celebrity Detox: (the fame game), Rosie O'Donnell
Martha Stewart living annual recipes, Martha Stewart
Elegant Christmas ornaments to crochet, Barbara Christopher
Real Food: what to eat and why, Nina Planck
52 Projects: random acts of everyday creativity, Jeffrey Yamaguchi

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows

J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows will be out July 21, 2007.

When I was growing up there was not a book series that both girls and boys read. Girls read Nancy Drew, The Little House books and the Baby Sitters Club. Boys read The Hardy Boys. The Harry Potter Series transcends gender, age and socio economic boundaries.

I highly recommend the series for family’s looking for a great summer read that everyone can enjoy.

I can’t say enough about the series or the author.

Recent Reads

French Women Don't Get Fat - Mireille Guiliano
MaryJane's Ideabook, Cookbook, Lifebook: For the Farm Girl in All of Us -MaryJane Guiliano
The Devil in the Jr League - Linda Francis Lee
Beading for the Soul; Inspired Designs from 23 Contemporary Artists -Deborah Cannarella

My current reading list

Godless : the church of liberalism - Ann Coulter

Mariel Hemingway's healthy living from the inside out : every woman's guide to real beauty, renewed energy, and a radiant life - Mariel Hemingway

Saving your marriage before it starts : seven questions to ask before--and after-- you marry - Les Parrott


The Southern girl's guide to surviving the newlywed years : how to stay sane once you've caught your man - Annabelle Robertson

The global war on guns : inside the U.N. plan to destroy the Bill of Rights - Wayne R LaPierre

Letter to a Christian Nation – Sam Harris

Intelligent people who have a small understanding of a topic, but do not grasp meaning and intent are most dangerous to any argument. Intelligent people can make good points, even if they are off base.

The bible is both the most simple and the most complicated book ever written.

A simple man can pick up the bible and glean wisdom, hope and eternal life.

An intelligent man can pick up the same book and glean wisdom, hope and eternal life or he can justify his own pious life by mocking what he does not grasp.

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris is an excellent example of the intelligent man. The book is well written, however simple minded his point of view. He takes no account for the distinction between the Old and the New Testament and he makes no distinction between the human element and Godly authority. His reference points are taken out of the textual and social contexts.

The fact that biblical champions are flawed and sin is not a testament to the fallibility of God, to the contrary shows us that we are able to overcome our own flawed and broken lives with Gods direction.

He does make some great points. Some Christians shove the word of God down the throat of everyone in their path. The hypocrisy in churches is astounding from the top to the bottom. Christians are some of the narrowest minded people on the planet. But, he does not look at the intent of Christians. Most Christians are like our biblical examples, flawed and broken but trying to make a difference. People who share their beliefs live public lives, so when they fall, when they stumble it is a public stumble.

Sam, I say to you, if you truly want to make an argument against anything, you should try to live it to understand it.

Push Not the River - James Conroyd

Push Not the River was one of my 2006 book picks. A few days ago I found out that James Conroyd wrote a sequel so I rushed to the library and checked it out. So far it is as good as the first book.

Push Not the River is based on the true story of Anna Maria Berexowska. Anna, a Polish girl living during Catherine’s Russian invasion of Poland, struggles with the death of her parents, her rape and an arranged marriage. Anna is forced to evacuate several households leading many including her son to safety.

Against a Crimson Sky picks up where Push Not the River leaves off. Napoleon is invading Russia and the Polish people are caught in the middle of the battle. Anna must play both sides of the political divide to keep her family and household from falling to the Russians, yet keep her allegiance with Poland.

James Conroyd uses beautiful language without getting “frilly” and his storytelling ability is a rare treat.

Also Reading:
My life in France, Julia Child
Art quilts : a Celebration : 400 Stunning Contemporary Designs
The No Spin Zone, Bill O'Reilly

Senator Barack Obama

Senator Barack Obama is intriguing. I read his book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream and I have subscribed to his newsletter.

He is optimistic about our future as a country. He believes that the people should be more active and take an interest in local government forcing a change on a national level.

The senator has announced that he is filing a presidential exploratory committee. He states that he will make further announcements about his plans Feb 10.

There are two major things that bother me so far about him. First and foremost he is a democrat. I have a major problem with many of the pillars of the Democratic Party and because he is part of that party he would be expected to support those pillars. Secondly he believes in evolution, yet attends Trinity United Church of Christ. (More on Trinity United Church of Christ in a future post.)

I will continue to investigate his beliefs and standards. I am interested to see how and what he as voted on as a Senator. I will say that he does not evoke the same deep negative emotion that Hillary Clinton does.

As I said I am intrigued.

Best Books of 2006

These are my favorite fiction and non-fiction books from last year. I read a lot of books that were not very good, so it was easy to hit the high spots.

What Would Jackie Do, Shelly Branch
The beauty myth: how images of beauty are used against women, Naomi Wolf
Essentially Lilly: a guide to colorful entertaining, Lilly Pulitzer
Mama Gena's School of Woman of Womanly Arts, Regena Thomashauer
Eat mangoes naked: finding pleasure everywhere and dancing with the pits!, Sark
Japanese Women Don't Get Fat, Naomi Moriyama
Slander: Liberal Lies, Anne Coulter
Memoirs of a geisha: a novel, Arthur Golden – Beautiful book, bad movie
How Clean is Your House, Kim Woodburn
Citizen Girl, Emma McLaughlin
Sky Burial, Xinran
Night, Elie Wiesel
Gap Creek, Robert Morgan
Talk before sleep, Elizabeth Berg
First they Killed My Father, Loung Ung
The Constant Princess, Philippa Gregory
The Little House, Philippa Gregory
When Broken Glass Floats, Chanrithy Him
Queenmaker, India Edghill
Harley Brown's eternal truths for every artist, Harley Brown
Slammerkin, Emma Donoghue
Push not the river, James Conroyd

Books on CD
Talking Back, Andrea Mitchell
Burnt toast, Teri Hatcher
When Madeline was young, Jane Hamilton

The Search for Beauty

I began reading The Binding Chair – Kathryn Harrison. Set in nineteenth –century China it depicts a story of a girl whose feet were bound in the name of beauty and sold into marriage as a forth wife. Her entire life is peppered with the pain that is caused by her family’s insistence on the cruel tradition. She becomes bitter because of her disability and begins to self-destruct.

What is beautiful and how far will we go to achieve it?

Will we bind our feet making it impossible to run? Will we cinch our waists making it impossible to breathe? Will we remove ribs making it impossible to carry children? Will we choose death over life if it means dying beautifully?

Book Review: Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg

Talk Before Sleep is the heart wrenching tale of a woman, her struggle with cancer and the circle of woman who surround her. Elizabeth Berg is a former nurse and captures the perspective of the caregiver and the stress and strain that accompany the role.

The focus on the book is not the terminal cancer but the intermingling of the lives of the women and their families. The women told their life stories, pains and triumphs as they ate french fries and lobster with a side of whipped cream and hot fudge. They discussed fears and outrage about cancer and dying without giving in to hopelessness.

Talk Before Sleep was a beautiful book that I would recommend to any woman.