The Reading Corner.

[Geo]

Finished a re-read of Niven's Ringworld novels, and his novel collaboration with Edward Lerner on the Fleet of Worlds series.

Kinda nice read, thought I kept finding chapters which were censored in the Dutch translation I read back in my youth (Ringworld and Ringworld Engineers IIRC).
And the Fleet of Worlds books do tend to build up to a couple confusing battle chapters towards the end of each novel.

[Rusty Edge]

Just finished Douglas Reeman's "For Valour"
It was about a British destroyer in the Battle of the Atlantic. Should be authentic, he served in one, although my recollections are that Nicolas Monsaratt's "The Cruel Sea" was a better book. He served there, too.

 I find these books strangely relatable in the face of the pandemic. They are confined to a small space for several days at a time. The work is mostly boring, aside from the miserable weather, with lots of time for reflection. They pray it doesn't suddenly get interesting. But even when it does, and they survive or succeed and return home to port wanting to celebrate, it's usually to bad news. Never good. Your son or brother was killed in action, or no one has heard from your friend for sometime, or your father passed, or your wife is unfaithful, or your sister is in the hospital or your home and family is now a bomb crater.

And then the thought occurs to a character- "Will I be dead in a couple of days, or must I endure this for a couple of more years?"

[Geo]

Re-read of A.E. Vogt's "The Weapon Shops of Isher". Must've been a couple decades since I read this one first. The details of plots people forget over time...

[E_T]

For those whom have been waiting for the next chapter in the Dresden Files, you will get a treat this year.  Not one, but.... TWO Book releases!!

Peace Talks - July 14, 2020
and
Battle Ground - Sept 29, 2020!!

As They are celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the first book, 'Storm Front', they have also filmed and produced a Release Trailer for the two books.  You can see it here!!

[Unorthodox]

Hadn't heard about the second.  Fantastic news! 

[Bearu]

I recently read the Manifesto of Futurism by Filippo Marinetti from 1909 and Umberto Boccioni's Futurist Painting: Technical Manifesto. Marinetti's work established the foundation of Fascism in Europe through the celebration of sexism against women, the rights of violence for the purification of society, the glorification of militarism, speed, and industry, and the destruction of the past.

Boccioni's work celebrates the destruction of the human face in art and the reduction of people to angular forms and shapes of speed. This removal of humanity and faces from art enabled the dehumanization of a hated other. Several individuals in the Futurist movement participated in World War I and worked on Mussolini's Fascist cultural department in Italy in the early 1920s.

I find these topics relatable because the destruction of old systems requires the cultivation of a strong central state. China currently applies this principle well in the maintenance of control through the country's propaganda and adoption of nationalist rhetoric similar to the Fascism of Italy.
A famous image of Boccioni's Futuristic Man, 1913.

[Bearu]

I am starting a biography of Madame Nhu of South Vietnam. Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnam's Madame Nhu describes the tribulations of Madame Nhu's ventures into South Vietnamese politics in the the early 1960s against the wishes of American President John F. Kennedy.
Madame Nhu represents a victim of American imperialism in the early 1960s because John F. Kennedy ordered the assassination of Madame Nhu's husband, brother in law President Ngo Diem, and sister in law. The United States of America abhorred Madame Nhu's incendiary rhetoric towards the treatment of South Vietnam. She advocated for the execution of Buddhist protestors and journalists. Nhu famously applauded the "barbecues" of protestors and dissident journalists. She influenced Ngo Diem's decision for the military order for the murder of 9 Buddhist protestors and journalists in South Vietnam under the pretense of Buddhist and Communist collaboration in 1963.
While Madame Nhu remained a devout Catholic, she understood the importance of a strong government in the prevention of subversion in South Vietnam and experienced the effects of American subversion plots in South Vietnam. She fled South Vietnam and lived in exile for the remainder of her life. Madame Nhu continued her denunciations of American intervention in South Vietnam.
This biography on Madame Nhu's life a relatable topic because Madame Nhu stood for her principles despite the consequences from external actors and enforced a strong state on an unstable situation. The biography so far illustrates the poor comprehension of Americans on the politics of foreign nations throughout the 20th century. These American imperial actions revealed the hubris of American presidents in other nations.

[Elok]

A few weeks ago somebody introduced me to the web serial "Worth the Candle."  It's a novelty--a LitRPG that isn't terrible.  Actually a remarkable and multifaceted work.  And 1.3 million words long.  Oy.  Anyway, burned through it in a week and now I'm waiting for the next update batch to hit.

[Geo]

A few weeks ago somebody introduced me to the web serial "Worth the Candle."  It's a novelty--a LitRPG that isn't terrible.  Actually a remarkable and multifaceted work.  And 1.3 million words long.  Oy.  Anyway, burned through it in a week and now I'm waiting for the next update batch to hit.

That's a read of 7.738 words/hour!

[Elok]

A few weeks ago somebody introduced me to the web serial "Worth the Candle."  It's a novelty--a LitRPG that isn't terrible.  Actually a remarkable and multifaceted work.  And 1.3 million words long.  Oy.  Anyway, burned through it in a week and now I'm waiting for the next update batch to hit.

That's a read of 7.738 words/hour!

Strictly speaking, a week and a half or so.  I wasn't timing it.  But it did pretty much eat all my spare time.  It's basically three Lords of the Ring back to back at this point.

[Lorizael]

A few weeks ago somebody introduced me to the web serial "Worth the Candle."  It's a novelty--a LitRPG that isn't terrible.  Actually a remarkable and multifaceted work.  And 1.3 million words long.  Oy.  Anyway, burned through it in a week and now I'm waiting for the next update batch to hit.

That's a read of 7.738 words/hour!

I think you might be... oh, right, America is the weird one switching up periods and commas.

[Geo]

I think you might be... oh, right, America is the weird one switching up periods and commas.

[Bearu]

I recently read Edwards Bernays's Crystallizing Public Opinion. Hitler and Joseph Goebbels based the Germany education system's methodology on the necessary extermination of the Jews partially from the information and techniques described in the text. The book suggests for the insertion of new stereotypes for the promulgation of an idea through symbols and new mediums of communication. If a person creates a new form of a stereotype and a symbol for the stereotype on new media like TikTok, then the dissemination of the stereotype enables the amplification of inherent biases around the principles behind herd mentality and group psychology.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/61364/61364-h/61364-h.htm

[Bearu]

I recently read Mary S. Gibson's "Mary S. Gibson Explains Why Progressive Women Should Uplift Immigrant Women, 1914." The article explores the implications behind the decline of immigrants without the proper social support and education from educated, white, Protestant women. Gibson believes mandatory home education for the immigrants prevents the improper treatment of the children and the eradication of the old culture of the immigrants.
I agree with Mary Gibson's assertions on the necessity of mandatory education programs for the integration of outside people in new cultural and social situations because new social situations demand different attitudes and values. Without these new values, the majority of people slip into despair and apathy. These people develop a hardened heart and develop either apathy towards society or a callous hatred towards the problems of culture. The strong guiding hand of the people uplifts these individuals into a new realm of culture and perspective through Gibson's promotion of an education program.
Gibson asserts the necessity of home education programs for the eradication of the undesirable cultural traits of the "other" group. Since the implementation of new cultural education demanded an extensive workforce, Gibson proposed Protestant men and women enter the private homes of the targetted populations. This education program and monitoring of social progress represented a desirable outcome since the majority of people lacked the willpower and capacity for adequate assimilation into new cultural values. Some of Gibson's associates promoted both forced sterilization of the dissenters from the education programs and involuntary deportation of alien and citizen malcontents from society. Margaret Sanger and other advocates promoted a decent method for the integration of different groups into new social values and ideology.

[Unorthodox]

For those whom have been waiting for the next chapter in the Dresden Files, you will get a treat this year.  Not one, but.... TWO Book releases!!

Peace Talks - July 14, 2020
and
Battle Ground - Sept 29, 2020!!

As They are celebrating the 20 year anniversary of the first book, 'Storm Front', they have also filmed and produced a Release Trailer for the two books.  You can see it here!!

Been burning through a re-read, almost done with Ghost Story.  Unlikely I'll quite finish in time for Peace Talks release, but maybe just about right to go straight into Battle Ground without a delay after Peace Talks.