I'm getting near the end of "What's the Matter with Kansas" by Thomas Frank. Coming from Western Pa., I experienced some level of this same sort of mentality there, though it seems more prevalent and stronger in Kansas (and I'm assuming a lot more Midwest states). I think it actually would be a good read for open minded conservatives to see how their party is actually working against them in a lot of ways while promising things it'll never achieve, like outlawing abortion and evolution.

Only negative I can say is that sometimes he's a little too anecdotal, giving us too many details that really aren't needed to support his conclusions.

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"Go back to bed america your government is in control
Here's American Gladiators, here is 56 channels of it,
Watch these picturary retards bang their fuckin' skulls together and congratulate you on living in the land of freedom,
Here you go America you are free to do as we tell you
We want your soul
Your cash, your house, your phone, your cash, your house, your life" -Adam Freeland - We Want Your Soul

I don't know if it has been posted here, but probably not - if there's one book I can ever recommend someone to read, about anything, its

Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight

by

Thom Hartmann



Its about all the issues surrounding us humans today - environmental issues, political, health, science, economy, and it has a very nice background on human history and geology that takes everything into perspective. An absolute must read. I read it 3 times already. Available for cheap as paperback on Amazon.ca / .com probably co.uk too. This is not a conspiracy book, by the way - all this information is referenced - this is more of a big summary of current and recent events on the planet, and the crucial aspects of it with background info. Very very interesting. Thom Hartmann overall writes very nice EASY TO UNDERSTAND book. Smooth, flowing language.

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration With the Nazis by Lenni Brenner

quote:

From Wikipedia: Lenni Brenner (born 1937) is an American Marxist historian. In the 1960s, Brenner was a prominent civil rights activist and a prominent opponent of the Vietnam War. Brenner was born into an Orthodox Jewish family. He became an atheist at age 12 and a Marxist at age 15. Brenner's involvement with the American Civil Rights Movement began when he met James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality, later the organizer of the "freedom rides" of the early 1960s. He also worked with Bayard Rustin, later the organizer of Martin Luther King's 1963 "I had a dream" March on Washington. (Neither were Marxists.) Brenner was arrested three times during civil rights sit-ins in the San Francisco Bay Area. He spent 39 months in jail when a court revoked his probation for marijuana possession, because of his activities during the Berkeley Free Speech Movement at the University of California in 1964. He was an anti-war activist from the first days of the Vietnam war, speaking frequently at rallies in the Bay Area. In 1963 he organized the Committee for Narcotic Reform in Berkeley. In 1968 he co-founded the National Association for Irish Justice, the American affiliate of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association. In the 1990s, he and Kwame Ture (aka Stokely Carmichael), the legendary "Black Power" leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, co-founded the Committee against Zionism and Racism. They also published The Anti-War Activist.

quote:

A Review from Amazon: 243 of 300 people found the following review helpful: Rating: 5 Stars Lenni Brenner is a Courageous Speaker of the Truth, October 11, 2003 Reviewer: William Hughes (Baltimore, MD USA) History can be deceptive. It's fair to say that some of the sensational never-published-before documents, in this book, will shock those who have accepted Zionism and its supposed history, at face value, as a political movement that was the hope of the Jews. Lenni Brenner, the intrepid author of "Zionism in the Age of Dictators," reveals disturbing new evidence in his latest effort, that suggest just the opposite. In fact, he makes a compelling case that the Zionist record was "dishonorable." You can consider this excellent tome as a worthy sequel to his first expose' on the myopic Zionist zealots of that bygone era. For openers, Brenner showed how the Zionists had a long history of shameless cooperation with the Nazis, especially after the dictator Adolph Hitler had came to power in 1933. The Zionists were also in bed, to some extent, with the other members of what later became known as WWII's "Axis of Evil," that included Benito Mussolini's Italy, and Tojo Hideki's Japan. For example, in March 29,1936, Zionists praised Il Duce, and his regime, at the opening of a maritime school, funded by the Fascist government, at Civitavecchia. This is where a Zionist youth group, the "Betar," trained its sailors for the future Revisionist state. The speakers ignored the fact that on Oct. 3, 1935, Italian troops had invaded Abyssinia. On another front, the "Third Congress of the Jewish Community of the Far East," was held in Jan., 1940, in Harbin, Manchuria, then reeling under a brutal military occupation by the Japanese imperial forces. At that time, too, Tokyo was already aligned with Hitler and Italy's Mussolini, in the notorious Anti-Comintern Pact. Also, keep in mind, that the Japanese's murderous "Rape of Nanking," had occurred in Dec., 1937, and the "Crystal Night" incident on Nov. 9, 1938. Nevertheless, the Zionist confab went out of its way to legitimize the Japanese occupation by certifying it as a guarantor of the "equality of all citizens," in that beleaguered land. The Zionist also had a trade plan with the Berlin government by which German Jews could redeem their property in Nazi goods exported to then British-occupied Palestine. And to top it all off, the infamous SS-Hptscharf. Adolf Eichmann, had visited Palestine, in October, 1937, as the guest of the Zionists. He also met, in Egypt, with Feivel Polkes, a Zionist operative, whom Eichmann described as a "leading Haganah functionary." The chain-smoking Polkes was also on the Nazis' payroll "as an informer." Brenner isn't the first writer to address the mostly taboo subject of how the Zionist leadership cooperated with the Nazis. Rolf Hilberg's seminal "The Destruction of European Jews"; Hannah Arendt's "Eichmann in Jerusalem"; Ben Hecht's "Perfidy"; Edwin Black's "The Transfer Agreement"; Francis R. Nicosia's "The Third Reich and the Palestine Question"; Rudolf Vrba and Alan Bestic's "I Cannot Forgive"; and Rafael Medoff's "The Deadening Silence: American Jews and the Holocaust," also dared, with varying public success. After the Holocaust began in 1942, Eichmann dealt regularly with Dr. Rudolf Kastner, a Hungarian Jew, whom he considered a "fanatical Zionist." Kastner was later assassinated in Israel as a Nazi collaborator. At issue then, however, was the bargaining over the eventual fate of Hungary's Jews, who were slated for liquidation in the Nazi-run death camps. Eichmann said this about Kastner, the Zionist representative, "I believe that [he] would have sacrificed a thousand or a hundred thousand of his blood to achieve his political goal. He was not interested in old Jews or those who had become assimilated into Hungarian society. `You can have the others,' he would say, `but let me have this group here.' And because Kastner rendered us a great service by helping keep the deportation camps peaceful. I would let his groups escape." Readers, too, will be surprised to learn, that after the Nuremberg Anti-Jewish Race Laws were enacted in Sept., 1935, that there were only two flags that were permitted to be displayed in all of Nazi Germany. One was Hitler's favorite, the Swastika. The other was the blue and white banner of Zionism. The Zionists were also allowed to publish their own newspaper. The reasons for this Reich-sponsored favoritism was, according to the author: The Zionists and the Nazis had a common interest, making German Jews emigrate to Palestine. As early as June 21, 1933, the German Zionist Federation was sending a secret memorandum to the Nazis, which said, in part: "It is our opinion that an answer to the Jewish question truly satisfying to the national state [German Reich] can be brought about only with the collaboration of the Jewish movement that aims as a social, cultural and moral renewal of Jewry- -indeed, that such a national renewal must first create the decisive social and spiritual premises for all solutions..." Incredibly, Avraham Stern, the leader of the notorious "Stern Gang," late in 1940, made a written proposal to Hitler, by which the Jewish militias in Palestine, would fight on "Germany's side," in the war against England, in exchange for the Nazis help in resolving the "Jewish Question" in Europe, and their assistance in creating an "historic Jewish state." By this date, German troops had already marched into Prague, invaded Poland, and had built the first concentration camp at Auschwitz. The deranged Stern had further bragged about how the Zionist organizations were "closely related to the totalitarian movements of Europe in [their] ideology and structure." Stern's obscene proposal was found in the German embassy, in Turkey, after WWII. Finally, I think Brenner was right, when he wrote, "This book presents 51 historic documents to indict Zionism for repeated attempts to collaborate with Adolf Hitler. The evidence, not I, will convince you of the truth of this issue...Exposing the Zionist role in the Nazis era is part of the scrutiny of the past, required of historians."

___________________
"The Greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." -Stephen Hawking
"First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me— and there was no one left to speak out for me." -Martin Niemöller

Last edited by shaolin_Z on Nov-09-2006 at 13:05

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion

Everyone should read this book.

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Let me add a few recommendations of my own


Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness - by Roger Penrose.

Roger Penrose is one of the most brilliant mathematical physicist of this century. In this book, he argues that we are missing out on explaining consciousness in physical terms and delves into this subject matter. Especially he argures that AI and computers cannot replicate consciousness however sophisticated the technology becomes. This book has a lot of general physics, so dunno if everybody would like to read it. But a very interesting book for those who are interested.

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer - by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin.

A brilliant biography of Oppenheimer. Takes you inside the Los Alamos project, his confrontation with the law makers, his fall from grace, the world war politics. Very good book.

Another book I've read on this topic:

109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos - Jennet Connant.

This book delves into the social aspects of living on top of an isolated mountain in the secret Los Alamos city. Quite interesting.

Some other books that I can think of right now:

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - William Shirer
Brief History of Time - Stephan Hawking
Tuesdays With Morrie - Mitch Albom
Mother - Maxim Gorky
Journey to the Center of the Earth - Jules Verne.

Authors:
P.G Wodehouse. My favorite humor writer.
Richard Feynman : His non technical books are hilarious.
Richmal Crompton - I've read a lot of "Williams" stories in my childhood. Outrageously funny.

I also read a lot on Hindu philosophy. But I won't list the books because most of them are not in English. However, the thoughts of a brilliant Hindu monk have been documented and are available online for reading. They are a source of learning for many thinkers.

Complete Works of Vivekananda

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Download and review ! Omega_M - In the Mix (Beta Version)

Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris T. Dot Confessions of An Economic Hitman by John Perkins Spectacular book on the life of John Perkins, working as an economic forecaster in the last 60s and 70s, and how he was involved in helping secure American economic interests while enslaving and bringing misery to millions of people and third world nations. He outlines how American economic forecasting companies such as MAIN, the one he worked for, would go into a 3rd world country, inflate numbers on the returns creditors would get from investing in infrastrature in the country(which would justify the World Bank and other agencies to lend billions), how these loans would always be way too much so that the country wouldn't be able to repay the loan and be indebted forever, making the country poorer, etc. Powerful book that exposes how the world's corporatacracy works and how the American economic empire was built. A book 20 years in the making, well worth the read.

i think imma get it it sounds interesting

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2/09/07 Zabiela @ Pacha..... -confirmed-

erik + andy + marie = united in nerdyness <3

ps :wick sucks dicks !

The Utility of Force, by Rupert Smith

http://www.amazon.com/Utility-Force...0931340-6120024

___________________
'That's like telling a Kodiak bear to stop fcking older men.'

Nietschze and his philosophies. for a time it made sense to me but not anymore.

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Coverdude.com Search 1000's of FREE MUSIC CD,DVD,VIDEO covers

Illium and Olympos by Dan Simmons.

Very interesting and cerebral mix of futuristic science fiction and interactions between characters and comments from classical literature.

Like his Hyperion series, it brings up interesting viewpoints on the future manifestations of humanity if we continue to follow current trends.


MrS

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Click the sig to see MrSquirrel

-"Reality" is the only word in the language that should always be used in quotes.

quote:

Originally posted by biznology The Utility of Force, by Rupert Smith http://www.amazon.com/Utility-Force...0931340-6120024

I just read that book. Checked it out from the school library. Very nice

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Download and review ! Omega_M - In the Mix (Beta Version)

Originally posted by twilightki : It feels like something you'd listen to at 4 in the morning, or listen to in your car while you're going in a tunnel.

Just got this in the mail. I'm gonna really see what's behind the failures of this administration policies.



This book will explore the administration from the view of Paul O'Niel the former Treasury Secretary to Bush. I'm excited to read it.

--------------------

Excerpts from The Price of Loyalty:

This book recounts the tenure of Paul O'Neill as Treasury Secretary under Bush for the first 3 years of the administration...

Excerpt:

It was the afternoon of Wednesday, January 24, the third day of the Bush administration...

O'Neill, as Treasury Secretary, institutionally designated to be the President's leading voice on the economy, offered a fifteen-minute overview on what he considered the informed opinion (that is, his and Greenspan's) and said that they were in the early stages of either an apparently mild recession or a pronounced inventory correction. The key was to remain sober. To watch the numbers. If we look concerned and talk up recession too much, he said, it will depress spending and encourage a downturn. O'Neill explained that the major problem was not the "encumbrances on capital" -- there was plenty of low-cost capital out there, unable to find a profitable home. The problem was on the consumption side. The real numbers, he assured the President, did not support the bleakness of some "economic theorists".

(It was these theorists such as Larry Lindsay who helped push the Bush tax cuts of $1.6 trillion. Remember, we had a $5 trillion dollar SURPLUS left over after the Clinton administration, so in 2000, Bush's people were trying to figure out what to do with it all.)

O'Neill referred to items of his memo. Marginal rate cuts, if they were affordable, should be the priority. He said the tax cut plan, under almost any permutation thus far proposed, wouldn't provide measurable stimulus in the short-term; what would create positive economic effects is "a sense that fiscal discipline has been preserved"--something that should boost equities markets (during the tech bubble crash) and keep long-term bond rates in check. All that left the economy well suited to respond to a rate cut from the Fed.

There were a dozen questions that O'Neill had expected Bush to ask. He was ready with the answers. How large did O'Neill consider the surplus, and how real? How might the tax cut be structured? What about reforming Social Security and Medicare, the budget busters? How will we know if the economy has turned?

Bush didn't ask anything. He looked at O'Neill, not changing his expression, not letting on that he had any reactions--either positive or negative.

O'Neill decided therefore to move from the economy to a related matter. Steel tariffs. If was a simmering issue--the US steel industry was hurting and pushing for protections...

The President said nothing. No change in expression. Next subject.

Certainly, each president's style is different. But O'Neill has a basis for comparisn. Nixon, Ford, Bush 41, and Clinton, with whom he had visited four or five times during the nineties for long sessions on policy matters. In each case, he's arrived prepared to mix it up, ready for engagement. You'de has it out. that was what he was known for. It was the reason you got called to the office. You met with the President to answer questions.

"I wondered, from the first, if the President didn't know the questions to ask," O'Neill recalled, "or did he know and just not want to know the answers? Or did his strategy somehow involve never showing what he thought? But you can ask questions, gather information, and not necessarily show your hand. It was strange."

/Excerpt

Excerpt 2:

The package of tax proposals, led by the 50 percent cut in the individual tax on dividends, had been all but buried before the midterm elections; it came up infrequently and always in the past tense--what George W. Bush wanted to do bu couldn't afford.

But after the Republicans won the midterms, O'Neill could sense a change in the White House, a smugness, a sureness. Now Cheney brought up the tax proposals again, how they would provide stimulus...

O'Neill jumped in, arguing sharply how the government was "moving toward a fiscal crisis" and "what rising deficits would mean to our economic soundness."

Cheney cut him off.

"Reagan proved deficits don't matter," Cheney said.

O'Neill shook his head, hardly believing that Cheney--whom he and Greenspan has known since Dick was a kid--could say such a thing.

He was speechless. Cheney moved to fill the void. "We won the midterms," he said. "This is our due."

/Excerpt

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Last edited by Krypton on Sep-01-2007 at 22:19