What are you currently reading?

[SimonNZ]

That reform bill looks good!

It is, though much more focused on  telling the story from parliaments point of view than the grass roots. The Captain Swing riots etc are mentioned in passing but are not part of the main narrative. And no clear picture of the various forms of outcry and petition from a variety of factions throughout the country. It also sticks almost exclusively to 1830-32,, leaving out the long backstory of earlier attempts and calls for reform.

[Ken B]

It is, though much more focused on  telling the story from parliaments point of view than the grass roots. The Captain Swing riots etc are mentioned in passing but are not part of the main narrative. And no clear picture of the various forms of outcry and petition from a variety of factions throughout the country. It also sticks almost exclusively to 1830-32,, leaving out the long backstory of earlier attempts and calls for reform.

Sounds even better! I generally know the story of the great reform overall but not the drama of the actual enactment. Borrowed the library copy tonight.

You sound like a guy who might enjoy one of the best history books I have ever read, Arguing About Slavery by William Lee Miller. Much concerned with JQA's machinations in Congress breaking the great gag rule. He was a wonderfully evil tactician.

[SimonNZ]

JQA is someone I'd like to learn more about so that sounds interesting. Thanks.

Can you recommend something that covers his dodgy election?

[Ken B]

JQA is someone I'd like to learn more about so that sounds interesting. Thanks.

Can you recommend something that covers his dodgy election?

Not specifically. I read book on it once, the period from Madison to Jackson generally, but cannot recall the name. I also read a book about the various wonky elections, 1800, 1824, 1876 but can't remember the name. (I think 1876 was a justified theft as the situation only arose from a corruption of black ballots).

[Ken B]

Scaling new heights of wankery. https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/evergreen-state-flaunts-its-virtue-once-again-by-policing-language/#comments

[Daverz]

Scaling new heights of wankery. https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/evergreen-state-flaunts-its-virtue-once-again-by-policing-language/#comments

They decided to change the wording of their own documents.  How is that policing language?

[Ken B]

They decided to change the wording of their own documents.  How is that policing language?

The link works. Try reading it.

And please explain how the official documents of the university are "their" documents. The faculty does not own or control university documents (they might control the faculty handbook). They are someone else's documents.

Which is beside the point early, which is the stupidity not Coyne's word for it.

[SimonNZ]

A couple of lighter things on the go:

[Daverz]

The link works. Try reading it.

And please explain how the official documents of the university are "their" documents. The faculty does not own or control university documents (they might control the faculty handbook). They are someone else's documents.

Which is beside the point early, which is the stupidity not Coyne's word for it.

I read it and looked over the sight, which I hadn't visited in a long time.  It's all anti-SJW gasbaggery, and reminds me why I stopped calling myself an atheist, because people then think you're a dick like Coyne (or Dawkins or Harris, etc).

[Ken B]

A couple of lighter things on the go:

I liked both. I read the Ipcress File over 40 years ago. I wonder if it holds up.
Bryson is pretty consistently good.

[Ken B]

I read it and looked over the sight, which I hadn't visited in a long time.  It's all anti-SJW gasbaggery, and reminds me why I stopped calling myself an atheist, because people then think you're a dick like Coyne (or Dawkins or Harris, etc).

Well I agree about the atheism thing, and Dawkins and Coyne! I really do not see the point of atheist conferences and talks, etc. And the worship of James Randi ... creepy.

[SimonNZ]

I liked both. I read the Ipcress File over 40 years ago. I wonder if it holds up.
Bryson is pretty consistently good.

A qualified Yes. A lot of the police-procedural stuff seems clunky and unlikely and must even have seemed that way when it first came out. But I guess thats typical of most of the genre so neednt be considered a disqualifier. The class stuff is handled well - the working class main character out of place among the Philby-like "my dear boy/old chap" toffs of the secret service establishment, especially with the unexpected but regular bursts of very dry and biting sarcasm. I'm happy to keep going with it. Not much like the film, though.

[steve ridgway]

Scaling new heights of wankery. https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2018/12/07/evergreen-state-flaunts-its-virtue-once-again-by-policing-language/#comments

LOL all they need do is use a different language that doesn't have any connotations for English speaking people 0:).

[Mandryka]

I have this strong feeling that Bergounioux is the real McCoy, I mean genuinely poetic and original with important things to say. But it's very difficult for me to read, I'm being challenged in a conceptual and literary way, and I'm really posting this to see if anyone here has thought about the book, who might have some ideas about it. 

[Ken B]

LOL all they need do is use a different language that doesn't have any connotations for English speaking people 0:).

Klingon!

[steve ridgway]

Klingon!

I'm not 100% certain Klingons actually get the concept of political correctness .

[ritter]

I have this strong feeling that Bergounioux is the real McCoy, I mean genuinely poetic and original with important things to say. But it's very difficult for me to read, I'm being challenged in a conceptual and literary way, and I'm really posting this to see if anyone here has thought about the book, who might have some ideas about it.

I must confess I had never heard of Bergounioux.  : . Some information on him on the web looks interesting. Thanks for bringing him to my attention.

THREAD DUTY:

After finishing Pierre Assouline's biography of legendary art dealer D.H. Kahnweiler (which was illuminating and fun to read), embarking on Michel Leiris's autobioraphical L'Age d'homme. So far, Leiris's clinical and detached self-presentation appears strangely fascinating.

[asin]2070114554[/asin]

In Assouline's book (from 1988), Leiris is still referred to as Kahnweiler's brother-in-law. It turns out he was actually Kahnweiler wife's son-in-law, as Leiris's wife (the Louise Leiris who gave her name to the famed art gallery from the German occupation onwards) was a child Lucie Gordon had had out of wedlock years before meeting Kahnweiler (and presented to the world as her sister).

[LKB]

I'm not 100% certain Klingons actually get the concept of political correctness .

An astute observation, as we in the Empire most assuredly do not indulge in the societal frailties of the human species.

Qa'pla,

LKB

[SonicMan46]

Well, still reading a couple of books from my last posting - usually have 4-5 books going at once, both on my iPad and also as hard copies (still enjoy the feel and smell of a real book and them donate then to a local charity for their book sale) - at the moment:

How the Internet Happened - From Netscape to the iPhone (2018) by Brian McCullough - about a third done w/ a lot on the phenomenal early events in the mid to later 1990s which I remember well - for those interested in this history, a strong recommendation.

The Earth is Weeping (2016) by Peter Cozzens - a comprehensive history of the Indian wars for the American West and winner of several book awards - have as a paperback - I've been reading this history for decades so always a topic of interest to me - again, if this history excites you, then another recommendation.

Sword and Scimitar (2018) by Raymond Ibrahim - subtitled "Fourteen Centuries of War Between Islam and the West", yet another expansive coverage of many of the major conflicts between Islam and the European & Byzantine world, starting shortly after the death of Muhammad with the 'Battle of Yarmouk' in 636 CE - the final siege of Constantinople in 1453 and Vienna in 1683 were highlights for me.  Dave

   

[JBS]

Thar last book says it has a foreword by Victor Davis Hanson, who used to be a good classical scholar but has turned into a right wing hack. I would therefore Ibrahim's book is heavily biased against Islam, because Hanson certainly is.