Strangers at the Gate

Frederic Wakeman, Jr. Strangers at the Gate: Social Disorder in South China, 1839-1861. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1966.

From his in-depth study of the small region around Canton, Frederic Wakeman, Jr. draws the bold conclusion that “the economic and social crisis around Canton after the Opium War directly caused the Taipings to form” (p. 131). Wakeman incorporates peasants, secret societies, officials, militia, British governors, and imperial edicts into his micro history of social unrest to create a narrative of the desperation and fury that led from the Opium War to the Taiping Rebellion. In so doing, he tugs at the many distinct threads in Canton society to reveal their exact position in the social fabric.

Wakeman, the first scholar to link these two events so directly, presents the story in a social history format that was also new to scholarship on China in 1966. Canton was a key opium trade center. The changes in the political structure of the region and the economic crisis that followed the Opium War threw Canton and the surrounding region into social turmoil. Wakeman introduces the Canton setting by telling the story of the San yuan li incident. This event appears in its multiple and contradictory historical versions as both a major and minor incident. This little “skirmish” in the eyes of the British, became a fond war story of heroism for the peasant militia, and a glorified class struggle for Marxist historians. The multiplicity of these voices, something that seems like it would cause frustration for an historian seeking the real story, becomes a key tool in Wakeman’s effort to represent every echelon of society and to illustrate the interconnectedness between them. The formation of the militia that fought bravely against the British in the San yuan li incident, for example, occurred because of a combination of tight imperial purse strings, economically strained peasants, a strong clan system, and the threatening presence of British troops.

Wakeman demonstrates how the multiple-level impact of the Opium War and subsequent disputes created a volatile, uncontrollable society. According to Wakeman, Lin Zexu’s anti-opium stance created a xenophobic frenzy in the delta. Wakeman is careful to point out however, that “this was not nationalism. In fact, a strong sense of national identity is not usually found among peasants in such societies” (p. 56). Wakeman is specifically writing against a number of western scholars and Chinese Marxist historians who have proposed the thesis that such anti-foreign sentiment displays national consciousness. He further cautions his readers to refrain from the temptation of reading class-consciousness into the revolts and uprisings of this period. For example, in his discussion of the Red Turban Revolt he states, “In truth, there was no plotted conspiracy, no coordinated plan. Rather, rebellion engendered rebellion in a distinct crescendo of disorder after Ho Liu’s revolt” (p. 139). Wakeman’s story is one of large-scale material impact, namely the disruption of the opium trade unravelling into wide-spread discontent. Silver mines closed, inflation spread, rice riots flared, militias proliferated local conflict, and secret societies flourished in the chaos. He explains the prevalence of anti-Qing sentiment as “restorationism” not as “revolutionary” (p. 120). It was the simultaneity of these events compressing on each other, not an overriding movement, that led to the Taiping Rebellion.

Wakeman departs dramatically from the intellectual history that his advisor and later senior colleague Joseph Levenson produced. In this study, Wakeman brings innovation to the field of Chinese history by mining eclectic sources and transforming disenfranchised peasants into important historical actors. Although diplomacy plays an important role in Wakeman’s account, he continually spotlights the people involved in the negotiation rather than the negotiation itself. By examining how the local population influenced official exchanges, he moves beyond John Fairbank’s elite diplomatic history and begins the tradition of popular-based historical writing. Wakeman does not completely ignore the ideology espoused by the Taiping leaders as a factor leading to the rebellion, however his emphasis on social theory in explaining mass mobilization may be dissatisfying to some. C.P. FitzGerald (Pacific Affairs, 40.3/4: 372-372) and Edgar Wickberg (Journal of Asian Studies, 26.4: 702-704) praise Wakeman for embracing the complexity of Chinese society in his fresh approach to historical analysis. Wickberg is less convinced, however, that Wakeman succeeds in effectively tying the many threads of his analysis together. Wakeman may see such a critique as a victory because it suggests that Southern Chinese society was itself falling apart.

E. Elena Songster

© Copyright 2000. All rights reserved.

[Find it on Amazon]

[Via http://ucsdmodernchinesehistory.wordpress.com]

Chinese Warlord: The Career of Feng Yu-hsiang

James E. Sheridan. Chinese Warlord: The Career of Feng Yu-hsiang. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966.

Using Feng’s personal writings and diaries as well as interviews of his former officers, Sheridan constructs the biography of one warlord’s political career. But in doing so he also creates an in depth narrative of the complex political situation in early twentieth century China, an arena which men like Feng strove to control. For Sheridan, Feng Yu-hsiang, “the Christian General” was a unique historical figure. Yet he finds that he also shared much in common with the other warlords of the period. They all followed similar routes to power, as the regional armies of the late Ch’ing gave them opportunities for advancement based on military skills (p.7-8). In addition Sheridan argues that Feng’s ultimate motivation was to preserve his military power and he sees this as key pattern of warlordism in general (p.19). From this he concludes that warlords like Feng do not represent true nationalism, nor can they. They have no interest beyond their immediate military power and they do not strive for unification “warlordism as a social phenomenon was the essence of anti-nationalism” (p.30). He continues by stating that “warlordism exists only at nationalism’s expense” (p.30).

In constructing the biography of Feng’s career Sheridan notes several important themes. He sees Feng as quite skilled in adapting his beliefs in Christianity and Confucianism into ways that concretely aided him in his military pursuits. Sheridan argues that Christianity’s emphasis on personal morals fit well with Feng’s own sensitivity to proper moral behavior (he banned gambling, smoking and drinking among his men) and that he also used Christianity to build solidarity among his troops and officers (p.83). But it was his Confucianism, according to Sheridan, that was most unique in his political rhetoric. Throughout his career, in both indoctrinating his troops and justifying his actions, Feng made use of popular Confucian concepts, particularly regarding the welfare of the people and the role of a virtuous leader (p.283-284). Many of his reforms and political slogans refer to the common people. “Feng’s nationalism derived largely from a sense of the unity and coherence of the Chinese people; he spoke more about the people than the nation” (p.123). When Feng took control of an area, he often did attempt to carry out reforms, and often built schools, libraries, roads, and improved sanitary conditions (p.105, 113, 151-153). But like most warlords his primary stress was maintaining his military force and this often had drastic consequences. During his control of Kansu, the horrible famine conditions there were blamed on his policies and taxation (p.252-253).

Sheridan sees Feng’s adaptation of this “nationalism” throughout his career as attempts to re-position himself in changing political climates rather than reflecting true shifts in consciousness. For example, following the May Thirtieth incident Feng placed more emphasis on anti-imperialism (p.175). But Sheridan argues that this position “coincided with the line taken by Russians and the KMT, and thus assured their support” (p.176). At the time such support was crucial to Feng, as the Soviets gave him weapons and technical advice (p.167). Even his views on Christianity seemed to change when the political climate dictated. His connections with the KMT made it necessary for him to adopt their ideology, in particular Sun’s Three Principles, which Sheridan sees as almost taking the place of god in Feng’s rhetoric (p.213-215). But such new concepts only went as far as Feng could control and use them. For example, as KMT and Communist political workers entered his organization they naturally emphasized mass movement organizations. Feng quickly felt that his authority was threatened by such groups, and although he had used much of their rhetoric to emphasize his “revolutionary past” he eventually broke with the Soviets and purged such political workers from his ranks (p.230).

This work represents one of the first serious attempts to deal with warlord politics by a Chinese history scholar. Sheridan is praised in reviews for his objective use of limited sources (Gillin, JAS, 26.3:469-474). He is quite sensitive to the dangers and deficiencies of using Feng’s own writings to create his narrative, and when possible he uses newspaper accounts, missionary accounts, and personal interviews to balance his narrative (p.59-60). Gillin’s only critique is that Sheridan takes some of his generalizations too far, and notes that there were indeed some warlords that had a significant interest in civil administration (JAS 26.3:473). But Sheridan’s conclusions are generally unchallenged. He does succeed in constructing a detailed history of this complex period.

This book does more than describe warlord politics; it also evaluates Feng’s consciousness and motivations. Scholars in the 1960s increasingly looked at such things as the rise of nationalism as a major force in modern Chinese history. Sheridan finds Feng’s greatest faults were not simply his warlord traits, but his lack of nationalism. He argues that warlords like Feng lacked the nationalism that developed among Chinese intellectuals at the time. “In short the trend was toward mass political organization, and Feng was not part of that trend”(p.289). Sheridan concludes that although Chiang Kai-shek displayed warlord qualities, it was his nationalism that made him different (p.292). Feng’s moralism, based on populist Confucian values and aspects of Christianity, was simply not compatible with the rising influence of mass politics and class consciousness. For Sheridan he is guilty of grafting new technology onto old politics (p.294). This point is well argued throughout the book. However as Gillin notes in his critique, many warlords were more diligent in their modernizing efforts, and it would be interesting to see if any of these men were able to better adapt their politics to be more in tune with nationalist sentiment.

Chris Hess

© Copyright 2000. All rights reserved.

[Find it on Amazon]

[Via http://ucsdmodernchinesehistory.wordpress.com]

A 'Lit'tle of This, a Little of That

Legendary author J.D. Salinger died Wednesday at the age of 91. Salinger was widely known for his book The Catcher in the Rye which still remains on many high school required reading lists. Click here for Salinger’s “Best Sayings” from Catcher in the Rye.For more information on the author and his life, try this link to NPR.

The following article came to me from several people before I even got the chance to read The New York Times last Sunday. “Reading might well have been among the last remaining private activities, but it is now a relentlessly social pursuit,” bemoans Motoko Rich in The Book Club With Just One Member. As Rich examines the commercial pursuits of the book industry, she looks beyond book to reader to examine the ways in which we choose to read.

In case you are living under a rock, apple introduced the new iPad and it appears to be much more than an e-reader. A stretch for the literary purist, this latest gizmo brings much more than a book to the table. For more, read Publishers Embrace iPad As Rival to Kindle on NPR’s Morning Edition.

The largest book in the world will go on show for the first time as part of the British Library exhibition on maps. HuffPost reports that the largest book will be among 100 maps considered “some of the greatest in the world”.

Yes, I’m worried.

NPR’s What We’re Reading for Jan. 27 – Feb. 2 includes The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris. Mr. Ferris held a reading at The University of Michigan last Monday night as part of their Creative Writing program.

Poor Colm. Once again overlooked for his book Brooklyn, poet Christoper Reid walked away with the Costa Book of the Year  Award for 2009. The prestigious literary prize is given to writers based in the UK and Ireland. Reid’s book, A Scattering, is a tribute to his late wife.

*As always, support your local bookstores and universities. It matters!

-Post by Megan Shaffer

[Via http://nightlightrevue.wordpress.com]

Monday Bookworms: Dead Man's Walk

Dead Man’s Walk, by Larry McMurty

463 pages, @1995

Obviously, I didn’t get around to finishing my double posts last week before I left for Florida.  I just ran out of time.  I need to start thinking about traveling with my laptop and getting some sort of internet connection when I travel.  So I apologize, once again for the disappearing act.  I don’t have any trips planned until March though so I should be able to keep fairly steady through the month of February.

Back a year or so ago I attempted two reading challenges.  As one of my books for the reading challenge I selected the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Larry McMurty, Lonesome Dove.  When I went to Barnes & Noble to pick up the book I discovered that Lonesome Dove is the 3rd book in a 4 book series.  I decided then and there, that even though McMurty wrote Lonesome Dove first, I had to read the series from the beginning, meaning the book that was meant as the first book, so I purchased Dead Man’s Walk instead.  I will admit that I started this book back in November, but due to my lack of interest in reading around the holidays I got 100 pages in and just couldn’t really stick with it.  However, with my new goal of 2010 in hand, to read a book a week, I decided that I better go back and tackle this beast.

Dead Man’s Walk, introduces us to Gus McCrae and Cal Woodrow, two Texas Rangers, working missions in the Wild Wild West.  When the book first begins they are in Comanche territory and their mismatched group of Rangers realize that this mission is hopeless as they are outmatched.  Awhile later, they are invited to join, an expedition to capture Sante Fe from Mexico and annex it as part of Texas, under the pirate Caleb Cobb.  Other interesting characters that join them are Matilda Roberts and Bigfoot Wallace.  They find themselves in Comanche territory again and have to face off against the mighty Buffalo Hump and Kicking Wolf as they journey to Sante Fe.  Unfortunately for the group of Texas Rangers, they are being led by a shoddy commander who hasn’t put much thought into the expedition, and they encounter many hiccups along the way.

I find this time period tough to read about as this part of our country was pretty desolate and there was a lot of violence.  I couldn’t imagine being a Texas Ranger.  I thought McMurty did a good job in drawing Gus and Call for us as characters since they’re going to be the main characters we follow through the series.  They are very distinctive and standout among the rest of the characters.  The storyline is a little repitive in that you have a group of Texas Rangers setting out to explore further West who constantly end up hungry, starving, without horses, water or hope and struggling to stay alive.  Those themes appear again and again in the book. 

I will stick to the series just so that I can read the infamous Lonesome Dove though.  I enjoyed this first book and I liked taking myself outside of my comfort zone by reading a Western.  I can’t imagine I’ll pick up the 2nd book really soon but I’ll get around to it eventually.

3 Stars

 

Post in Comments:

Do you like Western’s (movies or books)?

[Via http://gettingbydreamingbig.com]

Obama-metrics: How to rebound

Obama-metrics: How to rebound; (Jan. 29, 2010)

            In the previous post I enumerated the promises of Barack Obama campaign promises. Bill Adair (Pulitzer Prize) published the Obama program that included 510 promises. Promises being executed are 240 promises, 86 promises were kept, 26 were compromised, and 62 were blocked by the oppositions.

            How to amplify reforms:  The modified universal health plan added 30 million more citizens to health coverage that should kick in 2013.  Between now and then, the Administration has to pay close attention to the lobbying schemes for altering the plan, lightening bureaucratic inertia, and keeping the public convinced that the current program is but a stepping stone for the ultimate coverage of the remaining 20 million most needy citizens.

            How to consolidate successes:   There is a serious risk that the economy might falter again as what happened in 1930.  The list of fragile sectors is long: Real Estates (private and commercial), too fast climbing in stock exchange trading, international trade crisis, and slow consumer confidence.  Regaining optimism is more valuable than any grandiose public plans for re-launching economic development.  Obama has to make sure that money will be available for job creation but no more extra expenses: the public deficit needs to get under control.

            How to rectify faltering reforms:  Regulating financial institutions should be the next priority.  It is the public anger against the highway robbers in the financial circles that should be re-directed into more focused pressures on particular targets: Banks and financial multinationals are regaining overwhelming power.  Otherwise, people will have to wait for the next financial crash to offer another opportunity for Obama to enact stricter regulations.

            How to rebound in Foreign policies:  Obama has to break with Washington provincial attitudes toward foreign policies.  For a century, the US Administrations thought that it was imperative to secure internal consensus on foreign problem resolutions before taking serious decisions.  It should be evident that securing internal consensus is an exhausting process and time consuming for urgent decisions; courageous long-term interest should be factored in the equation.  Consequently, Obama has to retake the Israel/Palestine file as a Presidential personal will and thus take all the necessary initiatives to bringing an atmosphere of serious negotiation. For that, diplomatic initiatives toward Iran must be activated on first gear.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Obama-metrics: First year performance

Obama-metrics: First year performance; (Jan. 28, 2010)

            Bill Adair (Pulitzer Prize) published the Obama program that included 510 promises. Promises being executed are 240 promises, 86 promises were kept, 26 were compromised, and 62 were blocked by the oppositions.

            First, let me present a run down of the major promises according to the previous categories.

            For promises being executed we have the following:

Creating 5 million “green jobs”

Restraining eavesdropping without authorization

Shutting down Guantanamo prison center

Stopping the usage of torture

Creating CO2 emission market

Creating a universal health plan that added 30 million more citizen benefiting of coverage

Setting up new financial regulations

Repealing the tax cut for the higher incomes

Reducing nuclear arms reserves in a verifiable manner

Re-enforcing anti trust laws that favor consumers

Reducing oil consumption of 35% by 2030

Securing borders by increasing personnel

            For promises kept we may mention

Sending two supplementary brigades to Afghanistan (30,000 soldiers)

Creating a fund to prevent further real estates foreclosures

Reforming prison terms to clear prison overpopulation

            For promises compromised we have

Creating a tax credit of $500 for employees

Requiring transparency in the process of budgetary credit by Deputies in Parliament

            For promises blocked

Extending citizenship to immigrant with no work permit

            For promises betrayed

Hardening regulations in the Administration on conflict of interests between public carriers and private jobs

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Review of Cynthia Heald's "Becoming a Woman of Faith"

Cynthia Heald has offered a fresh approach to the difficult topic of faith.  She tackles God’s faithfulness, our doubt, testing, the shield of faith and heroes of the faith.  She uses her own experiences combined with quotes from Scripture and great people of faith to demonstrate God’s love and faithfulness.

This 11-chapter study can be completed as an individual study or a group study.  You can complete it at your own pace and each chapter is filled with scripture references with examples of how faith was lived out in the Bible and quotes from people of faith used to inspire us and make us think about our faith.  She also includes her own experiences, short comings and successes.

I enjoyed this study.  It’s a great study on faith and one that will renew your faith and encourage you to keep seeking God and His words.  It takes about 30-45 minutes for each session depending on how in-depth you want to study.

I recommend this to any woman searching for a personal Bible study.  I would also recommend as an excellent small group study.  This is truly an enjoyable and thought-provoking study on the exercise of faith.

[Via http://iambelievinggod.wordpress.com]

A Peaceable Psychology

I am not a psychologist, but I gained a great deal of insight from the recent book by Alvin Dueck and Kevin Reimer entitled A Peaceable Psychology: Christian Therapy in a World of Many Cultures (Baker, 2009). In many ways, the peaceable psychology articulated by Dueck and Reimer could be transferred easily in the terms of a peaceable theology or a peaceable ethics or a peaceable ministry. A good summary of what they mean by a peaceable psychology can be found in the conclusion, which includes the following elements:

• Not reducing people to their symptoms, but entering into solidarity with their suffering.
• Pledges allegiance to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and his kingdom above any earthly empire, thus eschewing the trappings of colonialism and cultivating political and cultural sensitivity.

• Valuing diversity and difference rather than universalizing and harmonizing every difference.
• Challenging the notion of secularity and recognizing the sacred element of every culture through methods that accommodate religion.
• Recognizing the value of mother tongues, and encouraging clients to articulate problems and stories in their own language.
• Facilitating thick discourse, which values the fullness of “beliefs, symbols, traditions, and practices in communal traditions.”
• Gleaning what is best from indigenous traditions.
• Giving priority to peaceful healing through empowering “local practitioners who wish to explore the contours of psychology sensitive to their culture.”
• Grounding psychology in the new foundation of the peaceable person and work of Jesus Christ.

In short, Dueck and Reimer are practicing and pleading for a peaceable psychology grounded in the peace-making work of God in Jesus and oriented toward promoting peace with others through entering into their suffering, valuing their differences, dialoguing in their language, respecting their culture and traditions, and learning from their wisdom.

It is remarkable to consider how this peaceable approach to psychology could be applied to other disciplines and areas of ministry. Consider youth ministry. Can you imagine the effectiveness of a youth ministry that was grounded in the person and work of Jesus and oriented toward bringing peace into the lives of adolescents by entering into their suffering, valuing their unique differences, dialoguing in their language, respecting their culture and traditions, and learning from their wisdom (yes, adolescents have wisdom too!)? This is just one example of how the peaceable psychology advocated by Dueck and Reimer could bear fruit, even for those who are not trained in psychology or psychotherapy.

So even if you have never read a book on psychology before, A Peaceable Psychology would be a good place to begin.

[Via http://wsvanderlugt.wordpress.com]

“I am mediocre; what’s in to you?”

“I am mediocre; what’s in to you?” (Jan. 28, 2010)

            It is the fault of Spinoza; he told me “character is destiny”.  After good reflection, I think he is the responsible person. Spinoza hammered in me this idea: he used to say “it is okay for me to be mediocre but not okay for you”.  He said that I had potentials, intelligence, and competence: we were both mediocre in school and he made it a habit to be ranked in school just below me.  He kept saying that It is a shame that I should be contended being an employee.  Spinoza wanted for me to accede to success, be a public figure, and that I had an important part to play in the world in due time.

            My friend Spinoza wore me down; I kept hoping since then that this bright future is close till late in life as I realized that my proper place is among the average people.  The camp of the average suited me well: I am not ambitious; even my father was honest enough to encourage me to study accounting.  My dad said: “Son, you are conscientious, honest, and not dumb; no Sir. I just feel that you can’t stick it out to high flatulent projects.  Best for you is to exercise a job that is relaxing, secure, and comfortable.”

            I knew that any effort bores me and that my potentials are limited.  I would have not minded remaining an employee and getting yearly small raises in salary.  By the by, I would have acquired a decent car, a washing machine, a TV set, and a nice furnished apartment.  Yes, this comfortable job that pays enough for me to see a movie once a week and go out twice a month with my friends would suite me nicely.  I could have gone along easy; I wouldn’t have to repeat every hour “I am a looser; I could have done this; be that; seen foreign lands.”

            Why Spinoza would not leave me alone?  Why is it fine for him to be mediocre and not me?  Why every week Spinoza felt the urge to check the balance of my weekly achievements?  He loved to inflate my ego proportionally to degrading his potentials.

            What’s for Spinoza?  Why didn’t he leave me alone wallowing in my mediocrity?  Spinoza was feeling pathetic. A sad person always harps on his miseries.

Note: got the idea from “Clem” by Henry Muller (not Miller”

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Hugo Cabret Coming to the Silver Screen

This morning, I came across a bit of pretty cool news: Martin Scorsese is adapting a movie based upon the absolutely amazing Caldecott-winning Young Adult novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

This book is fabulous, and is described on the book’s website:

This 526-page book is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you.

I heard about the book when it first came out, and read it right away, instantly falling in love with the story, the pictures and the characters, especially Hugo. What worked so well for me in the book was the way the pictures advanced the story, and sometimes gave the feeling of viewing a film the way each picture so perfectly led to the next.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, perhaps deserves a place on our Monday Book Review list, but the Scorsese announcement is just too sweet to save. And to top it off, the website for the book is spectacular! I’m so glad I heard about the possibility of a movie, or I might never have looked for the site, and it’s worth exploring.

[Via http://infomavensdesktop.wordpress.com]

Book Review: Crossroads by Belva Plain (0385336845)

Gwen Wright, daughter of wealthy entrepreneur, Cassandra Wright, is introverted and holding a secret. Her chance meeting with Jewel Fairchild, beautiful,confident and making a meager living, kicks off a life-long feud that dramatically changes their lives both good and bad. I listened to the audiobook and at first thought this story was based in the early 19th century and later realized that it was a contemporary novel. It is interesting how this book could actually be interpreted in another time. I enjoyed this refreshing novel which didn’t contain all the sex, drugs and violence that many contemporary books do.

[Via http://eclecticreview.wordpress.com]

Shadows and Booms

Shadows and Booms; (Jan. 26, 2010)

            Jotted down words; erased many.

            Kept words reminding me

            Of shadows, reflections, music,

            And images glowing in the lights

            In humility, simplicity, and candor

            I receive the “Torma”

            This loaf of bread left in Tibet

            On distant roads

            For passing pilgrims to feed on.

            Never mind that birds get first serving.

            Amid the vacarms of the battle,

            Everything froze: warriors and horses.

            Frozen words, in mid air, melted.

            Like cannon ball echoes,

            Words reverberated in living booms.

Note: Borrowed ideas from Rabelais and Mounir Abu Debs.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Believe Me I Know - Jan. 20

Name of Book:   Believe Me, I Know

Author:  Valerie Chow Bush, editor

Illustrator:  Photos taken by the children of the WritersCorps Youth

Publisher:  WritersCorps Books 2002

Audience:  8 – 18 year olds.  While there are poems written by children as young as 6 and 7 included in this collection, I believe that the majority of the works would be better suited to children slightly older; therefore I have selected a somewhat higher age range than some of the contributors.

Summary:   This is a collection of poems, and photographs, written by young people ages 6 – 22 who participated in the WritersCorps program in 2001.  This is a project of the San Fransisco Arts Commission and works in tandem with teachers to promote the writing arts.  The poems are all original works that deal with a range of topics from home life, to crushes, to drugs and violence.  The most prevalent topic seems to be racial/ethnic discrimination spanning from African-American children, to Hispanic/Latino children, to children of Asia-Pacific countries.

Literary elements at work in the story:  This is a non-fiction collection of poetic works primarily in free-verse.  The imagery and “word art” of the children is often sophisticated beyond their years and speaks of a depth of understanding of the world that we would rather not believe children possess at such young ages.  The overall maturity of the poems and clarity of expression is impressive.  The free verse style is accessible to everyone and is not intimidating for those unfamiliar with poetry.  The photos enhance the overall message that these are poems by young adults in a multicultural world, but they do not necessarily illustrate any particular poem.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/abilities:    As mentioned earlier, the race and culture of the students in this program is a major theme for poems in this collection.  The feelings of alienation and unworthiness are often the product of being considered an outsider.  These children appear to come primarily from the lower socio-economic strata and their cultures are often misunderstood in their school systems and communities.  Their poems reflect their individual struggles to express themselves as valid and unique individuals who do not want to be labeled and pigeon-holed by society.

Scripture:   Romans 12:9 – 10, 17-18; Galatians 3:28-29; Mark 3:24-25

Theology:     Many of the poems, such as “The Color of My Skin,” “You Say,” “Whenever My Name is Mispronounced,” and “How You Figure?” are representative of the discrimination and alienation that some of these young adults feel in their everyday lives.  By lifting up passages that emphasize unity in Christ and the message of the gospel that is brought to and for all people, it encourages children to think of themselves a part of the body of Christ and welcome members of the Kingdom.

The passages referring to a divided kingdom, divided house emphasize that God asks us to love and respect and honor not only the stranger, but also those with whom with live.  Peaceful living is not relegated to religious services, but is meant to be enacted and lived everywhere we go and with everyone we meet.

Overcoming prejudices and creating peaceful and respectful relationships is difficult in a world that is already broken and struggling for identity. This is compounded when people’s relationship with God is either absent or strained.  However, for those whose identity is grounded in the belief that they are beloved children of God, being the catalyst for change can become less confrontational and more pastoral.  These passages help reinforce this identity in Christ and may be a way to encourage young adults to reach out even to those who persecute them.  Change will never come if someone does not reach beyond their brokenness, with God’s help, to embrace the “other.”  The selected passages also give a foundation upon which to build solid and respectful relationships with others who are different from us that can withstand judgment and ridicule from those who cling to their prejudices and anger and seek to destroy rather than to restore peace in God’s world.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Why do you think God created so many different varieties of people in the first place?  Tell me what you value most about being _________. (a Latina, a Chinese-American, Indian, etc.)
2. Do you think that God discriminates?  Why or why not?  Did anything/anyone in your faith community or in scripture lead you to this answer?
3. How would like others to see you?  What do think prevents them from seeing you this way?  How do you think that God sees you?
4. If God’s first response is to love, and our first response is often to judge or even to hate, how can we come closer to how God would like us to treat one another?
5. Who in your family, school or community embodies Romans 12: 9-10 (showing mutual affection and honor) and how do they do this?

Review prepared by Nadine Ellsworth-Moran, MDiv/MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2004

[Via http://storypath.wordpress.com]

“Abduction field”

“Abduction field” or a priori “stealing” program; (Jan. 23, 2010)

            I am coining the term “abduction field” to describe and explain how people manage to function in their daily routine. People move as if executing an “a priori program”; they seem to pick up objects and event as they go about; they seem to know in advance what they want to do.  Hazards are just obstacles that the “abduction field” in the brain failed to adjust on time to redesign the plan.  It might be a good idea to explain what abduction reasoning means before I venture into this topic.

            Human mind uses many reasoning methods such as deduction, induction, and abduction. Deductive reasoning is a process that starts from a set of basic propositions (proved or considered the kind of non provable truths) and then prove the next propositions based on the previous set.  In general, a law, natural or social, or a theorem in mathematics guides the demonstration.  Practically, it is like using a function to find the appropriate pieces of data or information that are available on a well drawn path or trend.  

            Inductive reasoning is a process of selecting samples from a phenomenon or a basket of items and then studying the samples.  If the items are the “same” in each sample then the individual is prone to recognize that a law is guiding that phenomenon. The sample taker is ready to form a law though he knows that logically if in the future one sample is wrong then the law is logically invalid. In the mean time, the sample taker can resume his life as if the law is valid as long as it is working (more frequently than not).  We call a “paradigm shift” the period when accumulated samples or observations are showing to be “false” and that the law has to be dropped for a better performing law.  The process takes time before the scientific community reaches a consensus for a change in venue, simply because it was comfortable using well known mental structures; the paradigm shift period is shortened if a valid alternative is demonstrated to work far better, not just slightly better, than the previous theory.

            Abduction reasoning is an “intuitive” process such as having a few facts or data and we manage to find a connection among these facts; in a way we got an idea that the facts follow a definite trend.  For example, the astronomer and mathematician Kepler started with the notion that planets move in circles around the sun; his observations of Mars detected two positions that didn’t coincide with any circle. Kepler selected another trajectory among those mathematically described in geometry that might be appropriate.  The elliptical shape accounted for the two observed positions of Mars. Kepler got convinced that planet trajectories are elliptical but he needed to convince the “scientific community”. Thus, Kepler worked for many years waiting for Mars to cross different positions that he knew would inevitably be on the ellipse anyway.

            Most scientific discoveries are fundamentally of the abduction kind reasoning. Usually, in order to describe the discovery process scientists prefer to introduce as many deductive or inductive reasoning in the explanation so as to avoid sounding that the discovery was a pure fluke of intuition and not hard mental work.

            People use the abduction reasoning technique as routine behavior to decide, move, or act. People have implicitly a priori (idea, plan, concept, hypothesis, path, or line of actions) before they get moving.  People move as if they already know what will happen next; they adjust their plan as frequently as obstacles occur.  Thus, abduction reasoning is the rule instead of the exception in most commonly used strategies.

            A good way to explaining the abduction field theory is by observing someone familiar with a supermarket.  The customer moves around and pick up items in a determined manner. A few times, the customer stops and study particular varieties of the “same” items for prices, weight and chemical contents.  The customer might look as if he just woke up and disoriented but his action is kind of planned: he behaves pretty “sober” in his decisions.

            People move and act within abduction fields of reasoning, otherwise, how can we imagine extending a step forward without advanced planning? The initial schemas of abduction fields are not that well oiled and many errors and pitfalls occur during the abduction plans; by the by, the human brain gets adjusted and trained to secure better fit in forecasting next steps and moves.

            Highly intelligent people differ from normal intelligence in that, more frequently than not, they consciously apply deductive and inductive reasoning on their initiated abduction fields.  The implicit purpose is to optimize the “abductive field” performance by supporting it with better formal or coded laws among the working laws.  With conscious training and application of the other two reasoning methods the individual acquire higher intelligence reasoning choices or diversified perspectives to viewing and resolving a problem.

            Brainwashing is an application phenomenon of abduction field distortion.  Brainwashing is not so much a process of feeding misinformation or disinformation as in ideologically and dogmatic State controlled government.  Brainwashing is the process of altering the abduction field so that an individual lacks the objective flexibility to pick up the appropriate objects, tools, or events to place on his “abduction path”:  the individual is picking what is available on his path, including ready made terminology and definitions, and not what his brain was more likely to select in normal conditions. 

            When we say “this guy is a one track mind or one dimensional mind” then we basically means that his abduction field has been restricted by habit: his brain ended up lacking the potential flexibility and versatility to train and develop his abduction field reasoning.

Note: I am under the impression that Spinoza had the same philosophical theory when he wrote: “The movements of our investigative spirit obey real laws”.  If we think well then we are bound to think according to rules that link things one to another.  Kant adopted this reasoning and offered the “a priori” dispositions of the mind.  I think Einstein misinterpreted Kant a priori proposal because Einstein was engrossed with the deductive processes in resolving the restricted relativity theory.  Einstein was not concerned how people behave in their daily routines.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Atonement: Ian McEwan

The first ever McEwan book I read was On Chesil Beach. It was a short and sweet read which left me wanting to read more from this author. The obvious choices were Amsterdam and Atonement. While Amsterdam met my expectations and proved me right on reading another McEwan book, Atonement exceeded my expectations. This was expected to happen because Amsterdam won the 1998 Man Booker Prize whereas Atonement only got a nomination in 2001. I have a history of not liking Booker Prize winners, so I wasn’t surprised when I liked the latter better.

Atonement is about a woman who has committed an unforgivable crime in her childhood. The book is the journey of how lives were affected because of her mistake and what she does to achieve atonement. The book is set in England and uses the world war 2 as a backdrop in a certain part of the book. The young girl, Briony Tallis, a 13-year-old girl dreams of becoming a writer. She enjoys the process of writing – creating an entire different world and the characters in it, changing them and making them act and talk according to her will. She loves melodrama and she is always trying to impress her parents and siblings by writing stories and plays for them.

Briony accidentally witnesses an incident between her elder sister, Cecilia and their charlady’s son, Robbie. What was an innocent incident turns into a vulgar, adult act in the eyes of a 13-year-old. Briony is still to understand adults and their motives, she is thrilled to have witnessed something she should not have. She gives the entire scene her own meaning which is far from the truth. Two more incidents that follow (which she again witnesses) take on a different meaning because she has already decided on Robbie’s intentions about her sister. This innocent, melodramatic interpretation makes her commit a crime which affect many lives, especially that of Emily and Robbie. The rest of the book is about how Emily and Robbie get on with their lives and how Briony realizes her mistake and makes amends.

McEwan has strong characters in his books. He gives each of his character a unique voice and this is very evident in Atonement. Briony is a teenager during the initial part of the book. The voice of the book takes on a childish tone whenever Briony is in the scene. The part where Briony is furious at Lola and slashes the weeds and another one where she stands on the bridge and decides not to move from there until ‘big’ happens in her life – all of these are so typical of a teenager. This part made me realize how similar I was to Briony as a teenager. The voice for her character changes gradually as she grows up. I wonder how writers can achieve this. The book dips in between when Robbie goes to war front. This part was slow and boring. McEwan could have done without this. The period where Robbie is in jail and he exchanges letters with Cecilia is sweet and heart-melting.

[Via http://mybookshelf.wordpress.com]

Book Review: J.H. Hertz- The Pentateuch and the Haftorah's

“Popularly known as the Hertz Chumash, this classic Hebrew-English edition of the Five Books of Moses, with corresponding Haftorahs, is used in synagogues and classrooms throughout the English-speaking world. In this compact volume, the late Chief Rabbi of England, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Hertz, provides readers with a lucid exposition of the text and the spiritual and ethical teachings of the Torah, culled from a wide range of scholarly literature. It contains the full Hebrew text, line-by-line English translation, and the classic Hertz commentary. Complete with all the Haftorahs for holidays and special Sabbaths.”

The classic Hertz style commentary  provides a very thorough and insightful Hebrew approach to the Pentateuch and portions of the Haftorah’s. Another book that I believe is a must for any Bible scholor. Remember though that if you add this to your library that reading is “right to left,” which can throw you for a bit of a loop if you are not familiar with it.

[Via http://searchofkings.wordpress.com]

'Little White Slips' by Karen Hitchcock

2009, 249 p.

I’m not a great short-story reader, especially when they are in a collection like this.  If they are truly short short-stories, then do you read them one at a time over an extended period, or do you pop them in one after the other like a bag of lollies?  I don’t like being jerked around from one situation to another in a single reading.  Is it realistic to expect every story in a collection to blow you out of your reading-chair, or is a hit-rate of a couple of memorable stories sufficient?  Is a short story MEANT to be memorable? If so, then I am a miserably failed short-story reader.

Karen Hitchcock is being hailed as a “bold new voice in contemporary fiction”.  Certainly, the first couple of stories in this book were very good, especially the first rather lengthy story about a doctor swotting to pass her specialist examinations.  There are a couple of stories about body image; a couple about the study involved in becoming a psychiatrist (the first of which seemed to form a good counterpart to the opening story about studying to become a specialist from the other partner’s perspective).  But in the middle of the book, it seemed to sag with stories that seemed more like baggy and rather nebulous reminiscences, and too many stories  seemed to pick up on the same themes from a different perspective.  The last story, which gives the collection its title, was good, as I rather hoped it would be.

Perhaps there is an overarching structure to this book that I couldn’t detect.  Certainly it deals with “women’s iss-ews” like body image, medicine,  the limits of male and female friendship, professional life and identity etc.   But I felt as if the same narrative voice was telling all these stories- an educated, Australian, mid-30s, often childless, professional voice, or in the case of the reminiscences,  the voice of someone who would grow up to be this person.  Did the author have a vision for this collection of stories as a whole that contributed to this sameness? or is the author not ready or unwilling to move beyond this?

I will read other stories written by Karen Hitchcock.  I think I would have enjoyed her more in a collection with other writers where she shares the stage with others- I see that several of these stories had previously appeared in Meanjin  and The Sleepers Almanac, and been picked up in Best Australian Short Stories in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  Perhaps  she- or I- am not ready for her solo performance. Or perhaps I just need to find a way to read short stories differently.

[Via http://residentjudge.wordpress.com]

Sex: an exclusively personal value

Sex: an exclusively personal value (Draft); (Jan. 20, 2010)

            Let me dispatch the physical aspect to focus on the important matter.  Like pissing, shitting, and sweating ejaculating is a bodily excretion.  Like shivering for heat equilibrium then ejaculating is a reaction for internal physical chemical equilibrium.  We learn to control pissing and shitting when asleep with no major harms; we might control these exercises during our waking period for short duration.  I doubt that it is recommended to stretch the control freakiness to ejaculation during the dream part of sleep: your subconscious mind might get frustrated in reorganizing your memory and it need a release mechanism to function properly.  Thus, set aside any guilt feeling when you have sex in dreams, no matter with whom or with which gender.

            I will not dwell on the physical consequences of diseases or how to protect from inadvertent occurrences.  I am interested in the value system attached to sex.  I am not insinuating that sex is the primal value in most social value systems but it is in most systems.  It is our duty to retrieve sex from the other values and give it an exclusive personal value.  This is right because sex is a prime responsibility that is pretty much under individual capabilities to control and manage.

            What differentiate intercourse from the other excretion outlets is that it is under your total control during the waking period and for as long as you wish with no major physical harmful consequences. I also differentiate between sex interplay (without intercourse) and the entire sex game.  Sex interplay should always be welcomed between two friends who appreciate company.  The topic is basically related to the intercourse phase:  It is always trouble in any aspect you consider it (though not necessarily in a negative sense).

            When two partners need to have intercourse then they should be at the same psychological level emotionally. No one is nominee to play the physician or psychiatrist or to be in control during the whole physical debate. Thus, the partners have to be both either emotionally “sick” (they feel the urge for release) or contended and healthy (they regard sex as the best alternative quality time). Intercourse bring the domain of the ego into the foreground.  Ego is the most tricky characteristic to comprehend, admit its existence in the relationship, and to control and manage its consequences.

            It is your entire responsibility to be sensitive enough to recognize the imbalance in emotional status when you decide to have intercourse.  You have to decide: are you both emotionally sick or healthy?  It is your entire responsibility to figure out in what state your partner is complying. Conversation is an excellent start; exposing your concept for healthy intercourse is a must to permit your partner judicious decisions.

            If you are past age 30 then you are not entitled to bring the issue of subconscious urge for procreation: you have lived long enough for your brain to discriminate among rational thinking, facts, fiction, myths, misunderstanding, disinformation, and human errors.  The psychiatrist will demonstrate whether you are a nut case at this advanced age.

            Intercourse as a game of complex control behavior of others is the most basic and influential habit that expands to all other control behaviors in our daily routines and schemes.  If we learn to master the control freak behavior in bed then humanity would have started a giant step toward harmony, compassion, and emotional stability.

Note:  This is a draft: I need your developed opinions and comments.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Gothic Romance - Cathy and Heathcliff

Valentine’s Day is coming up and the usual traditional celebrations may be boring for some couples.  You may want something different and even from the dark side…

It’s interesting to look up old movies of love stories that have been popular in the world and you might want to make an Old Film Night part of your Valentine’s Day celebration.  Related to that, did you know that htere have been at least 5 film versions of Wuthering Heights, including a public television edition, a few musicals, and other genre? It’s a popular story and full of intrigue and cruelty as well as unrequited love.  

Show Wuthering Heights to your Valentine’s flame and ignite the passion of its stars Cathy and Heathcliff in your holiday celebration.  It is a classic that will please people of many tastes. Click on the link to find out more about all the film versions and the twists and turns of the storyline.  If your date also enjoys vampires and Twilight, then make it a marathon!

[Via http://careerping.wordpress.com]

Book Review: The Court of the Air

The Court of the Air Stephen Hunt   Mass Market Paperback, 608 pages Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
March 31, 2009

 

From Stephen Hunt’s website:

Two orphans are more than they seem. And one megalomaniac will stop at nothing to find them…

When Molly Templar witnesses a brutal murder at the brothel she has just been apprenticed to, her first instinct is to return to the poorhouse where she grew up. But there she finds her fellow orphans butchered, and it slowly dawns on her that she was in fact the real target of the attack.

For Molly carries a secret deep in her blood, a secret that marks her out for destruction by enemies of the state. Soon Molly will find herself battling a grave threat to civilization which draws on an ancient power thought to have been quelled millennia ago.

Oliver Brooks has led a sheltered life in the home of his merchant uncle. But when he is framed for his only relative’s murder he is forced to flee for his life. He is accompanied by Harry Stave, an agent of the Court of the Air – a shadowy organization independent of the government that acts as the final judiciary of the land, ensuring that order prevails.

Chased across the country, Oliver finds himself in the company of thieves, outlaws and spies, and gradually learns more about the secret that has blighted his life, but which may also offer him the power to avert the coming catastrophe.

Their enemies are ruthless and myriad, but Molly and Oliver are joined by indomitable friends in this endlessly inventive tale full of drama, intrigue and adventure.

This was my first exposure to the Steampunk subgenre of sci-fi/fantasy and I have to say I really enjoyed it.  The beginning quickly grabbed my attention and I soon found myself immersed in the steam technology-driven world of Jackals, where political and government factions vie for power and a secret, aerial court observe and intervene from the skies. 

Molly and Oliver are caught up in the struggle between the ruling monarchy (where kings’ arms are surgically removed to prevent them from ever raising a hand against the people) and the underground communityists (where people undergo horrific procedures like having one leg shortened if the person excels at running or a genius having a lobotomy, a process called “equalization”).  I wasn’t really a fan of either of these two government options so I wasn’t sure who to root for. 

The story is told from different characters’ points of view and I think my favorite parts were about Oliver, who spent most of his childhood beyond the fey mist and so is considered both contaminated and a threat to society.  He remembers nothing of his time spent behind the veil and his worst fear is being locked away in the asylum where other fey who are deemed too dangerous are doomed to rot.  I loved seeing him go from bored, sheltered orphan to dagger and pistol wielding, ruthless badass. 

The race of Steammen was really interesting and I’m not sure whether that’s a common race in this genre or not, but I thought they were a really unique part of the story. 

At times I did find myself thinking, What side are these guys on? Why is he doing this?  Who’s this guy again?  And I wished he would elaborate a bit more on certain points or give me more of a back story sometimes.  But the entire second half of the book had me completely hooked and I couldn’t wait to see who came out victorious in the end.  I loved the dystopian elements and the descriptions of the steam technology and blood machines as well as all the pop-culture references of Jackals via penny dreadfuls. 

This was a completely different style of sci-fi/fantasy than I’m used to but it was refreshing and unique.  I’ll be adding his next Jackalian book to my wish list!

[Via http://fictionfanatic.wordpress.com]

Library: The Consolation of Philosophy

For a classics major, my experience with classical works, whether in Latin or Greek or in translation, is fairly thin – varied, but thin. Boethius’ The Consolation of Philosophy had been sitting on my shelves since Christmas of 2008, when my mother gave it to me as a present, and it looked quite promising for winter-break reading, at 170 pages. I took it up and finished it about a week and a half later, thanks to my realization that filling the book with underlining and notes and comments in the margin was not, in fact, an act of sacrilege.

Its length, or lack thereof, isn’t the only reason why Boethius caught my eye. There was also the fact that the book jacket and the introduction repeatedly proclaimed Consolation to be a “seminal work of Christian philosophy,” and Boethius himself a “devout Christian” as well as a skilled and equally devoted translator of philosophical and educational works – right now recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church – and, rather morbidly, I found it fascinating that he wrote the book while awaiting execution, which may or may not have consisted of several men beating his brains out with clubs. I suppose Theodoric the Great didn’t screw around when it came to killing off political opponents.

After reading the book, though, I’m not sure Boethius was very Christian at all. He was certainly born into a Christian family, and one could make a case that the God of Consolation is quite close to the Christian God – but at best, Boethius is monotheistic. It is particularly telling that, though Boethius mentions God many, many times, he never mentions Christ or the Holy Spirit, and his allusions are almost entirely to classical sources, rather than the Bible or other Christian sources.

I see two major possibilities here. The first is that Theodoric, as well as his predecessors as Roman Emperors, were Arian Christians – Boethius may have subscribed to this belief, or he may well have hoped that Theodoric would notice his orthodoxy and grant him a reprieve, since the offense that had supposedly landed him in jail had been to conspire with the non-Arian Byzantine emperor.

The other possibility is that Boethius believed something approaching Christianity – a belief system that incorporated similar concepts such as a single, omniscient higher power, the concept of human free will, and the idea of postmortem rewards for good and punishments for evil – without quite making it there. Neoplatonism seems the natural choice, given its chronological proximity and many of the ideas Philosophy expounds upon in the book to help Boethius come to terms with his situation.

This quibble – which is really more with the editor and publisher than with the author – does not, of course, detract from the work itself. The dialogue is beautifully done, through careful analysis of each premise and the extensive use of argumentative logic. Philosophy first explains to the condemned man that he would be wrong to blame his situation on Fortune, since she has only acted as is in her nature (and appears herself to say as much), and that though Boethius sees his condemnation as an injustice, his good works and good life should be consolation enough for him in the afterlife. The rest – offices, honors, wealth – are all transitory, and so do not matter.

Assuming you accept the book’s theistic premise, for the first four books or so, Philosophy’s argument is certainly sound enough, if only because she belabors points until Boethius can fully comprehend them, and through him the reader. Unfortunately, the fifth book, which attempts to reconcile the ideas of predestination, an omniscient God, and free will, causes this carefully calibrated system to break under the opposing pressures. The resulting hodgepodge of arguments was unsalvageable, despite Philosophy’s efforts to explain it in clearer terms each time, and relied excessively on a vague concept of the “necessity” of events, which was never fully explained. It certainly seems to have satisfied Boethius himself, since, as mentioned above, he certainly did not mind repeating his arguments until some permutation of them made sense, but to my eyes and ears, the two ideas are irreconcilable on a very nuclear level, and Boethius did not do a good enough job of convincing me otherwise, though I can imagine a few arguments he could’ve made to do so.

In the end, Consolation is a good read. I particularly recommend it if you’re looking for a bit of intellectual exercise and perhaps to stimulate reflection on the role of a higher power in your life, if you believe in one, or perhaps on the concepts of destiny versus free will. I still get the idea, however, that Boethius, like a lot of other writers, could’ve used a couple reams of paper to draft his work before committing it to more permanent form.

[Via http://theconstantlinguist.wordpress.com]

Ground Zero Detroit voted Obama

Can US political system be reformed? (Jan. 12, 2010)

            Detroit voted Barak Obama. The counties of Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne, black, white, lower and middle classes voted Obama.  Ground Zero Detroit lost 70,000 homes to creditors in the last two years; everyday, houses are burned to capture insurance and move to suburbs; from 2 million in 1950 Detroit has shrank to 700,000. The jobless rate is 40% and barely Ford of the “Big Three” is surviving.  Detroit voted Obama for his universal health care project; the now apathetic voters never considered that Obama will send a law that pleases the hysteric Republican Party. They believed than a margin of 8 million votes would make Obama believe that time for serious political decisions are ripe and he was elected to LEAD.  The voters hoped that Obama will urge them to get moving to the Capitol to pass “their health care project”; instead, the republican got on the move to kill any hope for reforms.  If you are out of work then your health insurance is cancelled; you have to seek Luther Keith, pay $20 to see a physician, and then get a working relative to guarantee payment.

            President Obama has to take a stand on three decisions:

            First, every cabinet member and assistant has to read all of Obama speeches.  The members who do not believe that “What I said is what I mean” should be fired on the spot; then Obama can start to delegate responsibly.

            Second, Obama has to re-connect with all the syndicates and organizations and rally most of them to the Democratic Party. Only a unified front of workers and middle classes with a serious new perceived value “health and safety for all” can change the lobbying political system.

            Third, Obama has then to start sending reform laws as he promised his people to do and not what might please the losers in the election.

            In the Senate, if 40 out of 100 veto a law then the discussion can be prolonged indefinitely. Senator Joseph Lieberman vetoed the creation of “public option” for Americans with no health insurance.  Deputy Dennis Kucinich harangued his colleagues in those terms “Are we the Congress of the USA or the administrative council of Goldman Sachs?” President Obama had preached “I didn’t campaign to aid the big bonnets on Wall Street” but he did bail them out with $700 billion. Sure, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, JP Morgan, UBS, and Morgan Stanley did contribute to Obama’s campaign as they contributed to the other party too. What was the fraction of contributions of these multinationals? Was it worth it to appoint Wall Street lead man Timothy Geithner as Finance Secretary?  Was it worth it to appoint Lawrence Sumners who is the architect of financial deregulations?

            Appointing the enemies to reform programs has nothing of pragmatic; Hillary Clinton is not pragmatic: she loves “Pride and Anger” of late Oriana Fallaci and disseminated the book to all her acquaintances. Obama foreign policies turned out carbon copies of Bush Junior toward the Islamic World.

            The US political system is Not “separation and balance of powers”; this myth has been proven wrong in critical periods.  The US system is a multilayered duplication of levels so that money can enjoy the last word.  How can a President vanquish well entrenched structures and when the opposition is hysteric for being ousted and refuses to submit to rational judgments?  The US multinationals are active free agents ready to falsify and fabricate crisis, instill financial crashes, provoke depressions and then take pleasure profiting from the blood and miseries of the little people.

            Obama has to start taking stands in the interest of the little people who voted him in. Time is running out and compromises with the enemy have proven lethal.  The world is shedding blood, miseries are rampant, and famine is waiting on the corner.

            Obama, your credibility as a leader is being tarnished.  There are no harms trying alternatives but when faced with the inflexibility of your enemies then you should not conciliate; you have to react with vigor and determination as a victor leader and the people will back you up when you ask them to march.  Take responsibility: You won the election and political decisions are yours to deliver on your promises.

[Via http://adonis49.wordpress.com]

Book Review: Breath

‘Breath’ by Tim Winton.

This review may be somewhat biased, given that Winton is one of my favourite contemporary authors; but there’s good reason for his prominent standing among modern writers. Breath is yet another example of his amazing work.

The premise of the plot is deceptively simple: framed within the perspective of Bruce Pike’s adult viewpoint is the story of his wilder youth, in which he sought thrills in dangerous natural environments, and rebelled against the loneliness and hurt of society in ostensibly ‘deviant’ ways. Although he reflects on the insanity of some of his teenage antics, the plot never veers into moralistic piety, and is certainly more nostalgic and reminiscent than regretful.

Stylistically, Winton’s prose is typically sparse and occasionally disjointed, simultaneously conveying the harshness of the Australian landscape, the sea itself, and the tumultuous life of a teenage boy seeking to live an extraordinary life. The underuse of conventional grammar (if you hate Joyce, you may be rather annoyed) adds to the feel of the novel, creating a fast-paced tale that careens from present to past, skipping across time freely, and genuinely recreating the hectic feel of adolescence.

It’s interesting that Winton so aptly conveys the desparation of youth; Bruce tries desparately to establish his extraordinariness, to defy convention, and to live a meaningful and exciting life. However, given that this part of the story is framed within the perspective of adult-Bruce’s life, I think there’s a poignant message in it. The desire to be something brilliant, to burn brightly in the dull sea of mediocrity, never dies in those that feel the driving need to be something more than average.

It could be argued that he still seeks that thrill in the adrenaline-fueled work of being an ambulance officer, but the fact that he still surfs, despite the limitations of age and injury, more strongly suggest that even that capitulation is never enough. That in finding that compromise between thrill and what is considered conventionable/allowable, the brilliance is lost, and becomes little more than a new sense of safety. It’s the kind of need for something more that drives people to unspeakable despair through dissatisfaction.

Hmm, digressed a little there, but it’s hard not to, after reading such a passionate piece of writing. Overall rating: 10/10.

[Via http://elfmage.wordpress.com]

Bloggiesta progress update #1

So, I’ve spent about the last 5 hours going through my widgets and sidebar contents and arrangements, as well as Tweet about #Bloggiesta and do a few other improvements.  Here’s what I got done:

• I took all the 2009 and older blogging awards I’d received and made a page for them here:  Past Awards  That way, I didn’t just abandoned them, and now the blog downloads faster.
• I tried to organize the sidebars so that like information is together.  My contact info, blog button and twitter thing together in the upper corner; blog posts, comments, pages, etc is together. 
• I’ve also updated the “Currently reading” widget to reflect what I’m reading and for which challenges, which will hopefully help keep me on track.
• And, of course, the biggest part of my task was going through my blogroll, making sure the links work and they lead to blogs that are currently active.  If it was still a good link, but the blogger hadn’t posted in over a month, I made sure they were in my reader, but removed them from the roll.  If they become active again, I can add them back
• Also, with the help of @TequilaReader, @neshelf, @jennsbookshelf, and @tanabata2000 on Twitter, I’ve finally got the Mt. TBR set up to tweet updates through Twitterfeed.  I have the RSS feedburner, too, but I’m not up on how to use it.  I think I added that during the last Bloggiesta, and there it’s sat since.

After getting all that done, I ran it through the Website Grader and had improved to 95.2% now.  I’ve got some broken links to address, but it continues to balk over all the images that are on my blog, over 60, with 23 not having ALT text? whatever that is.  IDK, I like images, so that may just be a part that we’ll agree to disagree on.  It’s also squealing about the Metatags as stuff, and I have NO CLUE how to fix them.

I need to go through now and update my Challenges page, as well as Mt. TBR’s inventory page, which I’m thinking about just putting a link to my LT library, as that’s my most accurate list.  I don’t want to delete the page, as people have left comments on it, so taking all those book links out may improve the site, as well.

I also want to visit the mini-challenges when I get everything caught up.

[Via http://thekoolaidmom.wordpress.com]

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampires 2)

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampires 2)
Rating: 3/5 – Very good, well worth a read
You might like this if you like: Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series; vampires; paranormal/supernatural

Synopsis:
Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it). The point is: they saved her life. So when one of the bloodsuckers asks for a favour, she obliges – and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly . . .

Review:
It’s been such a long time since I read the first few books in this series that it really is like coming to them fresh, and it makes not one jot of difference that I’ve been watching the HBO show based on them (True Blood) as the second series deviated rather wildly from the events of the second book, retaining only the basic elements of the plot – removing some parts and developing some areas that were barely mentioned in the source material as well as adding in some other things that didn’t happen in the book at all.

Charlaine Harris has a very easy-to-read style of writing – it almost sounds like an old friend speaking to you in your head and as the plot unfolds, the action rolls over you in waves and before you know it, you’ve read half the book when you only planned to read for 20 minutes or so.

As a lead character, Sookie is instantly likeable and she’s flawed enough that she comes across as being entirely plausible, even with her mind-reading skills. It’s during this book that I begin to find Bill just a touch less likeable. Not that I actively disliked him – it was more a gentle growing of “I’m not so sure about this guy” with nothing really specific on which to put my finger. Eric, on the other hand, becomes more intriguing… Neither of them actually plays a huge role in the plot though, as it focuses more on the humans and the hatred that causes some “religious fanatics” to act in extreme ways. The progress of the story lies squarely on Sookie’s shoulders and she’s a strong enough character to carry it along to its conclusion.

There was one tiny element I felt Harris could have explored further – the Maenad. Her part in the book was almost entirely inconsequential and, in fact, it could have been almost entirely omitted from this second installment. Still, it didn’t detract from what is an enjoyable read that definitely makes me want to continue with the rest of the series.

Reviewed by Kell Smurthwaite

[Via http://bcfreviews.wordpress.com]

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampires 1)

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Southern Vampires 1)
Rating: 3/5 – Very good, well worth a read
You might like this if you like: Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series; vampires; paranormal/supernatural

Synopsis:
Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much – not because she’s not pretty – she’s a very cute bubbly blonde – or not interested in a social life. She really is . . . but Sookie’s got a bit of a disability. She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill: he’s tall, he’s dark and he’s handsome – and Sookie can’t ‘hear’ a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the type of guy she’s been waiting all her life for. But Bill has a disability of his own: he’s fussy about his food, he doesn’t like suntans and he’s never around during the day . . . Yep, Bill’s a vampire. Worse than that, he hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble – of the murderous kind. And then one of Sookie’s colleagues at the bar is killed, and it’s beginning to look like Sookie might be the next victim . . .

Review:
Well, that’s my first book of the year finished. As this was a re-read it went a lot more quickly than I think it would ordinarily have done, but it was great fun revisiting “old friends” and refamiliarising myself with the residents of Bon Temps. I think I’m going to enjoy re-reading the first four books, but I can hadly wait to progress to the subsequent sequels!

It’s not as full-on sexy as the TV series (True Blood) but there’s still a fair old bit of steamy romping, although Harris doesn’t go into minute detail (she doesn’t need to!) and it plays an integral role in the plot, so it’s not gratuitous.

Sookie could have been a “too-good-to-be-true” type of goody-goody, but she’s not and I love that she’s so flawed (she has something of a temper on her at times; she’s stubborn, wilful and headstrong) and although the mind-reading is important to the plot, it’s not dwelled on too much – it’s just accepted that this is part of who Sookie is and that she often finds it something of a chore to deal with. Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will instantly identify with her.

As with my first reading, I found Bill a little tedious (I also do with the show, to be honest) and find the mysterious Eric a lot more interesting and fun, but he’s still quite likeable, despite his coldness and stand-offish nature.

And I had almost completely forgotten about Bubba – it was such fun to be reminded!

If you’re a fan of supernatural fiction you could do a lot worse than to pick up at least this first book in the series. Harris has a touch that is light enough for the funnier moments but strong enough for the darker ones too – it’s a fine balance, but she hits the mark and keeps you hooked into the action from start to finish.

Reviewed by Kell Smurthwaite

[Via http://bcfreviews.wordpress.com]

"Await Your Reply"

Dan Chaon’s new book revolves around identity theft but there’s so much more going on.  There are three separate stories that finally interconnect in a surprising ending.

Miles Cheshire has been searching for his troubled twin brother Hayden for 10 years. Lucy Lattimore, a recent high school graduate from a small town in Ohio, runs off with her history teacher. She is hoping for a sparkling new life. They end up at a deserted motel in Nebraska.  Ryan Schuyler learns some shocking news, leaves college, and disappears from society.

 It’s dark and unsettling. You can never quite grasp what is true and what is not. I would love to hear your comments about the book. Let me know what you think.

Jan

[Via http://cortfreelib.wordpress.com]

Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith

“You know, Ida Mae Jones, you were born to be a WASP. You’ll do just fine without me.”

Flygirl begins on December 7, 1941, a day that will live in infamy. World War two has just started. For Ida Mae Jones, it means her brother will join the US Army and fight with the other coloreds, a dangerous position. With skin light enough to pass for white, Ida Mae becomes Jonesy, a flygirl in the Women Airforce Service Pilots. Thanks to her father’s instruction in flying his Jenny, a small crop duster, Jonesy adapts to larger plans and more dangerous flights with relative ease and excitement. But pretending to be white during Jim Crow is easier said than done for a housemaid.

Everything about this book will draw you in: the authenticity of the time, the danger, the racial tension and injustice, the language and dialogue.

[Via http://nicolepoliti.wordpress.com]

Irrational (The Twilight Walkthrough P. 22-29)

The Stoic Philosopher/Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (whom most of you are more familiar with from the beginning of the movie Gladiator) commented that the source of anger is dashed expectations. Take myself for example, I look outside and it is snowing. Then I get in the car to drive somewhere and get angry that no one seems to remember how to drive in the mysterious white stuff that seems to be falling from the sky. I am angry because people should remember given the fact that they live in the snowbelt but they don’t and this happens every first snow. If I could just remember that this would happen then I should not be angry according to the Emperor.

This brings us to the end of chapter 1. Bella in the preceding chapter has sought to remind us that she is an outcast, that no one will like her, and how especially different she is than the rest of the typical high school crowd. She has convinced the audience that she is going to be an outcast, feared and reviled from the rest of the population for merely existing. We understand that she isn’t the bubbly cheerleader type with blond hair, a nice tan, and an outgoing personality.

The difficult thing about this is that while we accept it clearly the character, herself does not. She has so far gone out of her way to avoid one person, become arrogant and self-important with the group she is sitting with at lunch, and look down her nose at the “typical teenager.” I have said it earlier, she wants attention for not being accepted, for people to talk about her as being the mysterious loner that shoves people away. For proof of this we look no further than her first actual meeting with Edward Cullen.

Edward so far has merely cast a glance in her direction at lunch. Now, they have to sit next to each other in Biology class.* We know from the hype around the book that they will get together later but how is this first reaction: “He stared at me again, meeting my eyes with the strangest expression on his face–it was hostile furious.“

Once she sits down at the lab table next to him: “He was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of his chair and averting his face like he smelled something bad…I peaked up at him one more time and regretted it. He was glaring down at me again, his black eyes full of revulsion.“

Class ends (a subject that Bella has already covered she notes) and Edward gets out of his chair racing to the door. This apparently not the usual behavior for a high school students in the planet that Bella lives on causes her to reflect, “I sat frozen in my seat staring blankly after him. He was so mean. It wasn’t fair.”

This guy, instead of paying attention to her pays attention to class and this isn’t fair? I don’t know but Edward’s reaction doesn’t seem odd to me. I feel that never being a teenage girl I should cut her some slack, it’s obvious from these few pages that she has already developed a crush on Edward, who somehow never read her mind and returned even an atom of that to her. However, Bella isn’t the usual teenage girl, she has reminded us of that fact many times already in the book. So I won’t cut her the slack she seems to be begging for, I will cut her some because it’s not that Edward ignored her he seemed to be angry with her existence. That always puzzles me too, I have met some people that right off the bat hate me. I never get it, and my insistence on finding out why usually makes it worse. We haven’t really gotten the inquisitive nature of Bella yet, all we have is a sense of superiority and her desire to be treated as an outsider.

Yet it gets more puzzling when the school day is over and she returns her forms to the office only to find Edward attempting to switch out of the Biology class they share, “It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.”

Is it? The very manner in which Edward has treated her has been the attitude she has been telling us that she is used to, now somehow when that expectation has been met this upsets her. Bella isn’t a snob, she’s what I term the “lonely loner.” Using the idea of the mysterious loner, in order to attract friends so that they don’t have to be the loner anymore.** According to her in the beginning of chapter 1 this sudden, intense dislike is not only possible but has been expected!

Of course this all operates under my expectation that a girl, especially a teenage girl is going to be rational and consistent. However all that is thrown out the window because she’s been hit with the thunderbolt, according to the Godfather. All of the other people in the school can treat her however they want and none of that will matter because Edward is going to be occupying all of her thoughts. Her true expectations of finding friends has been met, despite her lies to the reader. Now something else has entered the equation that she never anticipated and that is why the Emperor can smugly stroke his beard, he’s still right and Bella’s reaction is just as he predicted.

*We’re going to get to one of the biggest questions of the book later, but as a teaser the question is: “Why is he in high school to begin with?”

**And according to 18th century philosopher Immanuel Kant this makes Isabella Swan an immoral person for breaking the first Categorical Imperative.

[Via http://rdxdave.wordpress.com]

Mondays with Megan

Happy New Year!!! I am so excited about the new year. It’s like a fresh start and a time to try new things. So, in the spirit of the new year, I am going to try something new: Mondays with Megan, right here on the Teen Blog. My idea is to have something interesting from the weekend to share and recommend and/or talk about something to look forward to in the week to come.

Over the weekend I finished Candor by Pam Bachorz. It’s about a town in Florida where all the teens are being brainwashed to be perfect. Everyone loves bran and homework and no one lies to their parents. No one knows it is happening either, except Oscar Banks and if he isn’t careful he could become like every other teen in Candor. I would recommend this book to fans of  Feed by M.T Anderson, The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson and the Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld.

Looking forward this week there a few books being released that I am excited to read:

By the Time You Read This, I’ll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peters
Captivate by Carrie Jones is the sequel to Need
and
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
You can put a hold on any of these now!

I also hope to finish Fallen by Lauren Kate and Duplikate by Cherry Cheva. Happy Reading!

[Via http://rockyriverteenlibrarian.wordpress.com]

Another Book Review #3

Title: Without A Trace
Author: Colleen Coble

I very much enjoyed this novel. Christian suspense! And it didn’t disappoint. Bree is a canine search and rescue professional and this novel focuses on her professional life ( which is so interesting) as well as weaving in the story of her life ( A husband and son lost on a plane crash a year before). I was very impressed with Ms. Coble’s character development. From the first page, I was drawn in, not just to Bree, but the Michigan UP city of Rock Harbor that she calls home and the people that make make up her circle of family and friends.

The plane carrying her husband and son has never been found, and she continues to search for them. Lost children, lost hunters, a mysterious death and a “witch in the woods” combined to keep me turning pages. And don’t we all adore a happy ending?!
There was also no doubt that many of the characters in this novel were Christians. They lovingly display spiritual characteristics without preaching or being overly religious in nature. Scripture was incorporated in the story and the poem, Hound of Heaven. These characters make me want to be a better person and the represent what real Christianity is about – ” loving people” .

Final word : Read this one. It doesn’t disappoint. In addition, this is only book one in a series of novels about Bree and her serach dog Samson ( The Rock Harbor Mystery series) . I can’t wait for the store to open tomorrow, so that I can get the next one!

Karen Kingsbury said ” Colleen Coble is a master story-teller..” and she is right!

Lj

[Via http://christianstyle.wordpress.com]

Shopgirl and The Pleasure of My Company: Two Novellas by Steve Martin

Steve Martin has written screenplays (L.A. Story, Roxanne) and short stories. Under consideration in this review are two novellas.

A novella is the tween of fiction–neither a short story nor a novel, but having some qualities of each. It’s more complex than a short story and goes on longer to its conclusion. It’s shorter than a novel, as we’ve come to expect novels to be. Few writers can really pull off the novella, certainly in English. It is difficult to think of someone who really got it right. The Bertie and Jeeves novels by Wodehouse probably qualify; Joyce’s “The Dead,” the last entry in Dubliners, arguably is a novella-length short story. And so we are used to novel-length novels–anything shorter seems underdone. Maybe a novella is just a novel that the writer couldn’t quite flesh out.

Imagine Sister Carrie in Los Angeles c. 2000, at about 20 percent of the length of Dreiser, and you have Shopgirl. Mirabella works at the glove counter at Neiman Marcus, where she is discovered/preyed upon one day by the millionaire businessman (his business is never specified) Mr. Ray Porter. She wants someone to take her away from it all; he, twice her age, wants a delightful little thing to pass the time with. The plot recalls the film Pretty Woman, but with Richard Gere as he is now, and Julia Roberts as she was then–and without the Disney/Touchstone certainty of an eventual happy ending.

The novella dwells too much on intimate details, but it would have been even shorter without them, and thus a short story. Mirabella gets the most extensive character treatment; Ray Porter is a blank. Her parents have a few brief scenes and are stock figures–her father is a scarred Vietnam veteran, for goodness’ sake. This was one of the only real fits of laziness in Martin’s effort. Unlike Sister Carrie, it ends happily enough, as life comes back in a circle for Mirabella and she finds (rediscovers) the right man.

The Pleasure of My Company, on the other hand, is clearly a comic effort. It is told by Daniel Cambridge, who is either a genius or borderline mentally disabled. He sits in his apartment in Santa Monica all day, watching the world outside his window. He is obsessive-compulsive; he won’t step over a curb and so is limited in where he can walk by fortuitous driveways, which allow him to cross the street. Daniel finds himself getting involved with the social worker, Clarissa, who comes to see him, even though he had longingly desired the local realtor, Elizabeth, and the pharmacy clerk at Rite Aid. He does well in an essay contest in which he writes about being “the most average American”; on a lark, he writes two essays, and places in the contest under both his own name and the alias. Daniel’s grandmother in Texas supports him with regular checks. When she dies, Daniel and Clarissa go on a road trip to the homestead. His middle name is Pecan.

The narration recalls Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, a memoir as told by someone with flat emotional responses. Only at the end do you find out that she was a clone. Daniel Cambridge’s true status never really is clarified. He mentions at the beginning that his application for Mensa was rejected and that his test clearly was scored wrong. You’re supposed to laugh at his presumption, since he is obviously so clueless, but at the end, he is told by Mensa that they had made a mistake after all. Martin cleverly lets Daniel’s actual performance remain a mystery.

The book is written without chapters, though there are odd little squiggles at various points to break up the text. It is impossible to tell whether any hierarchy is involved. There is extra space between the paragraphs, plainly in an effort to pad the book out to a respectable length.

Both these books are set in the shallow soil of Los Angeles, where no one is native and everyone is in need of a real connection. Both protagonists are from other, realer places: Vermont in Shopgirl; Texas in Company. Martin is probably being unfair to L.A., though others have had that reaction. He does not work hard enough, though, at showing the realness of life in the other states. They exist only to have a real place to go home to on a visit. Los Angeles is where the exciting living is done.

[Via http://georgiarambler.wordpress.com]

Book Review: The Blue Zones

Here’s my review of  The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, a 2008 book by Dan Buettner.  I give the book four stars on Amazon.com’s five-star system (“I like it”). 

♦   ♦   ♦

The lifestyle principles advocated in The Blue Zones would indeed help the average person in the developed world live a longer and healthier life.  The book is a much-needed antidote to rampant longevity quackery.  Dan Buettner’s idea behind the book was “discovering the world’s best practices in health and longevity and putting them to work in our lives.”  He succeeds. 

Mr. Buettner assembled a multidisciplinary team of advisors and researchers to help him with a very difficult subject.  Do people living to 100, scattered over several continents, share any characteristics?  Do those commonalities lead to health and longevity? 

They studied four longevity hot spots (Blue Zones):

• Okinawa islands (Japan)
• Barbagia region of Sardinia (an island off the Italian mainland)
• Loma Linda, California (a large cluster of Seventh Day Adventists)
• and the Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica). 

Research focused on people who lived to be 100. 

Until recently, two of the Blue Zones—the Nicoyan Peninsula and Sardinia—were quite isolated, with relatively little influence from the outside world. 

Mr. Buettner et al identify nine key traits that are associated with longevity and health in these cultures.  Of course, association is not causation, which Mr. Buettner readily admits.  He draws more conclusions from the data than would many (most?) longevity scientists.  Scientists can wait for more data, but the rest of us have to decide and act based on what we know today.  Here are the “Power Nine”:

1. regular low-intensity physical activity
2. hari hachi bu (eat until only 80% full—from Okinawa)
3. eat more plants and less meat than typical Western cultures
4. judicious alcohol, favoring dark red wine
5. have a clear purpose for being alive (a reason to get up in the morning, that makes a difference)
6. keep stress under control
7. participate in a spiritual community
8. make family a priority
9. be part of a tribe (social support system) that “shares Blue Zone values”

Of these, I would say the available research best supports numbers 1, 4, 7, 8, and the social support system.

I doubt that hari hachi bu (eat until you’re only 80% full) will work for us in the U.S.  It’s never been tested rigorously.  The idea is to avoid obesity.  

The author believes that average lifespan could be increased by a decade via compliance with the Power Nine.  And these would be good, relatively healthy years.  Not an extra 10 years living in a nursing home.

Appropriately and early on, Mr. Buettner addresses the issue of genetics by mentioning a single study of Danish twins that convinces him longevity is only 25% deterimined by genetic heritage.  Environment and lifestyle choices determine the other 75%.  I believe he underestimates the effect of genetics. 

Over half the population of the Nicoya Peninsula Blue Zone are of Chorotega Indian descent, not from Spanish Conquistadores.  Would a Danish twin study have much tosay about Chorotega Indians’ longevity?  We don’t know, but I’m skeptical.  Also, the Sardinians and Okinawans would seem to have centuries of a degree of inbreeding, too, according to Buettner’s own documentation. 
 
Do the Adventists tend to marry and breed with each other (like Mormons), thereby concentrating longevity genes?  You won’t find the question addressed in the book.

Because I think genetics plays a larger role in longevity than 25%, I’d estimate that the healthy lifestyle choices in this book might prolong life by six or seven years instead of 10.  But I’m splitting hairs.  I don’t have any better evidence than Mr. Buettner, just a hunch plus years of experience treating diseased and dying patients.

These four Blue Zones do share a mostly plant-based diet of natural foods with minimal processing.  Two of the populations—the Okinawans and Costa Ricans—didn’t seem to have any choice.  Heavy meat consumption just wasn’t an option available to them.  Rather than promoting a low-meat plant-based diet, it might be more accurate to conclude that “you don’t have to eat a lot of meat, chicken, or fish to live a long healthy life.”

In other words, it may not matter how much meat you eat as long as you eat the healthy optimal level of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  It’s a critical difference not addressed in this book except among the Adventists.

Even if you could live an extra two years as a vegan, I’m sure many people would choose to eat meat anyway.  By the way, this book conflates vegan, lacto-vegetarian, lacto-ovo vegetarian, near-vegetarian, and vegetarian into one: vegetarian.  It’s a common problem when considering the health aspects of vegetarianism.  They are not necessarily the same.   

By the same token, plenty of my patients have told me they don’t like any kind of exercise and they won’t do it, even if it would give them an extra two years of life.  What many don’t realize is that from a functional standpoint, regular exercise makes their bodies perform as if they were ten years younger.  There’s a huge difference between the age of 80 and 70 in terms of functional abilities.

Why read the book now that you have the Power Nine?  To convince you to change your unhealthy ways, and indispensible instruction on how to do so.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Disclosure:  The publisher’s representative did not pay me for this review, nor ask for a favorable review.  They offered me a review copy and three give-aways, and I accepted.  I figure the cost of the books to the publisher was $16 USD total.  I gave away the books through my Advanced Mediterranean Diet Blog.  Cost of shipping the books to the winners came out of my pocket.

[Via http://diabeticmediterraneandiet.com]