Blog Smith is inspired by the myth of Hephaestus in the creation of blacksmith-like, forged materials: ideas. This blog analyzes topics that interest me: IT, politics, technology, history, education, music, and the history of religions.
Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.), who spoke for us, until he voted against us. In his excellent impassioned speech he said, “I do not believe that Congress should cede its authority over an issue as important as climate change to unelected officials of the Executive Branch” and “Without proper boundaries, this finding could be the first step in a long and expensive regulatory process that could lead to overly stringent and very costly controls on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. Congress – and not the EPA – should make important policies, and be accountable to the American people for them.” Then he voted no—on the grounds that it would reverse regulatory progress on auto mileage standards and that, instead, he would vote for Senator Rockefeller’s two year delay bill. However, even Rockefeller voted for the Murkowski Resolution.
A remake of the original communism-bashing "Red Dawn" of two decades back – where Lea Thompson, Charlie Sheen, Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze staged a shoot-'em-up against invading Russians – now includes invaders who are Chinese.
Obama administration fears U.S. sanctions against companies doing business in Iran would anger foreign allies. And, ironically enough, the sanctions are not stringent at all which is indicative of just how weak Obama is and how little respect the regime has garnished in the world. The regime fears that the legislation could damage relations with Europe, Russia, and China. Russia said Thursday that it intends to go ahead with sales to Iran of a highly sophisticated surface-to-air missile. Meanwhile, U.S. business groups have been complaining that the legislation could punish them by barring U.S. firms from doing business with any foreign firms that have commercial ties to Iran. Many oil and trading companies already have halted sales to Iran because of the looming threat of sanctions. But some that still could be penalized are Shell, Total, and China Oil.
While reporters in the Gulf of Mexico may want to do more to protect themselves from the risks involved in touching and swimming around in the oil, the larger battle they are fighting as they cover the oil spill crisis is one of access. British Petroleum has exerted no small effort in keeping the press at arm's length from the story. They've been barring reporters from oil drenched areas, forbidden aerial flyovers, clamped down on shooting photos of the dead wildlife, and basically worked hard to give reporters the runaround.
Mac McClelland of Mother Jones has chronicled some of the struggles she's faced in trying to get up close to the story. In a more recent example, here's a video of ABC News' Matt Gutman, filing a report from a beach in Alabama. Gutman was setting up his equipment to shoot a daily webchat, when a BP manager started hassling him: While preparing for a video chat on his laptop from a public beach in Alabama, Gutman was hassled by the manager of a nearby crew, asking Gutman why he was on the beach. "You mind if I ask why you've set up a camera right here while my guys are working?" the man asked. After Gutman explained that he was a reporter for ABC News, the manager responded, "I find it interesting." For Gutman and other journalists along the Gulf, it's tough to report when so many are barred from talking. "It's incredibly frustrating working here because of those conditions," Gutman told ABC's Dan Harris. "Everywhere you go, you find police barricades, people telling you, you can't do this, you can't do that, or you can't talk to these people. We're not exactly sure why that is."
I tell you what, if the presence of a reporter on the beach is something a typical BP manager finds "interesting," maybe he should take a step back and take a look at ALL THE OIL, THAT IS EVERYWHERE.
Fueled by the static thrown his way, Gutman and his in-studio partner Dan Harris ended up filing a terrific report. Gutman couldn't help notice that the workers who were initially in his shot were all asked to pull down the beach until they were out of camera range. He went on to relate just how difficult it's been for reporters to talk with the locals involved in the clean-up activity, many of whom are afraid to speak on the record because they now depend on BP for their livelihood.
On this past week's edition of This Week, National Incident Commander Thad Allen told Gutman's colleague, Jake Tapper, "I put out a written directive and I can provide it for the record that says the media will have uninhibited access anywhere we're doing operations, except for two things, if it's a security or safety problem. That is my policy. I'm the national incident commander."
One report I was willing to dismiss but ABC News is a legitimate, recognized news agency; if the censorship reaches them the First Amendment is truly endangered.
The Islamic Arab world has not taken ownership of their own causes for flawed political systems and scientific policy:
In a region with a long history of autocratic political systems and underfunding of research and development (R&D), the scientific community is lacking both the independence and the resources it needs to drive the public-policy process.
Now, however, Western elites are redistributing wealth and bailing out the Islamist world. Western governments are using their resources to benefit the Islamic Arab world since their climatic changes are dire and pressing:
"By the end of this century, the Arab region is projected to become considerably hotter and drier. . . . The most serious effects of sea-level rise would be in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)."
The recently published Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries identifies the pressure on environmental resources as one of the main factors for achieving human security in the region. Western governments, in the person of individuals such as Obama and Prince Charles, seem to believe that by buying off the Arab world, they will forestall the increasing rise of terrorism.
You have to wonder why a Prince Charles would hail Islam as particularly sensitive to environmental concerns given the fact that Arab scientific production is paltry.
Ibrahim Abdel Gelil, vice dean of technological studies and director of the Environmental Management Programme in the College of Graduate Studies, Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain, states:
The current weak capacity of science and technology in the Arab region can be attributed to several main factors. One is an overall lack of interest in science by governments. They devote minimal funds to education and science, compared with those set aside for other issues, such as military expenditures. Another crucial factor is the deteriorating education systems. These factors, along with the inadequate infrastructure and support systems, create an environment that is not conducive to R&D. On a global level, the scientific literature originating in the Arab world does not exceed 1.1% of the world production. Cf. "Towards a science-led climate policy in the Arab region"
Western governments are the bail-out mechanism for a region particularly plagued by deficient scientific institutions, unresponsive or dictatorial regimes, and yet, a plethora of security concerns. Western governmental representatives believe that terrorism arises from deficient social, political, or financial investments, and therefore they believe bailing out the Arab Islamic world will forestall increasing terrorism. They nonetheless are oblivious to the Koranic call to arms against the West that no amount of bribery will prevent.
Almost as if it had been created for him, it seems that the BP oil spill couldn’t have come at a better time for Obama. Just when [he] was cogitating over how to reintroduce the Energy Cap & Tax bill—which will skyrocket energy rates so that many of us will not be able to afford basic electricity—the BP oil spill occurred. This was most convenient for Obama and his plans to continue gutting the USA and its citizens. Cf. http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article23949
JOY BEHAR Plans to build a Muslim center near Ground Zero are becoming a huge cause celebre here in New York City. Protesters say it`s offensive. Supporters say it would be a beacon of tolerance.
With me now to discuss this are Daisy Khan, spokeswoman for the center and executive director of American Society for Muslim Advancement; Roy Sekoff, founding editor of HuffingtonPost.com and Pam Geller, author of “The Post American Presidency: The Obama administration`s war on America” and staunch opponent of the Muslim center.
Let me start with you Pam. Why are you so against the center?
PAMELA GELLER, AGAINST MUSLIM CENTER NEAR GROUND ZERO: I`m against the mosque at Ground Zero. We feel it is intolerant. It is insensitive to the families and to America that was attacked on 9/11. We feel it would be more appropriate maybe to build a center dedicated to expunging the Koranic texts of the violent ideology that inspired jihad, or perhaps a center to the victims of hundreds of millions of years of Jihadi wars, land enslavements, cultural annihilations and mass slaughter.
BEHAR: I understand that it`s not exactly a mosque. It`s a community center, right, Daisy?
DAISY KHAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MUSLIM ADVANCEMENT: Yes, it`s a community center with a prayer space inside.
BEHAR: With a prayer space.
GELLER: A prayer space is a mosque. It`s a mosque.
BEHAR: A mini-mosque.
KHAN: Yes, a mini-mosque.
[13-story mini-mosque]
ROY SEKOFF, FOUNDING EDITOR, HUFFINGTONPOST.COM: But when you hear like 13-story mosque, there is a lot of praying going on there. But then when you find out there`s a swimming pool, a basketball court, you know, a lot is in the presentation.
BEHAR: Yes, it`s a little like the JCC on the upper west side that has a lot of things going on.
GELLER: On their side it was a mosque until people started to take issue with it. So I think the deception, the fact that there is a deception, it is a mosque, it`s not a mosque, it`s a mosque.
BEHAR: Do you have an answer to that?
KHAN: Well, it`s a prayer space. Whether you want to call it a mosque or you want to call it a prayer space, what we have to do is we have accommodate the needs of the growing Muslim community in lower Manhattan. We`re already in the neighborhood. We`re not new to the neighborhood. The imam has been the imam of the mosque ten blocks from Ground Zero in Tribeca. So this is the American Muslim communities, those who live in New York. It`s their opportunity to give back to the community. And we want to revitalize. We want to be at the front end of revitalizing lower Manhattan. And this is our way of doing that, giving back to the community.
BEHAR: I don`t get your objection to it because it`s not on the site exactly. It`s off the site.
GELLER: It`s right there, it`s 600 feet. It`s 600 feet from the hallowed ground of 9/11, of Ground Zero.
BEHAR: Yes.
GELLER: I don`t think the government should stop it. I don`t think landmarks should stop it. I really believe they should be sensitive. We need to be sensitive to the Muslim world. We can`t say Mohammed on Comedy Central. We can`t run Mohammed in a little huggie-bear costume.
BEHAR: Well, that`s — you`re talking about extremists now. I think you have to differentiate between Muslims and extremists. You`re conflating them, and that might be a mistake.
SEKOFF: My question would be, you know, when it comes to pushing hot buttons — they say the three most important things, location, location, location. So at what point? You say it`s 600 feet, would 800 feet be ok? Would two blocks around the side? When does it become ok? Three blocks? Three and a half?
GELLER: What I`m saying is I think that people — I think they should be sensitive to the families, the 9/11 families. We are always being asked to be sensitive to the Muslim world.
BEHAR: Yes. I got that.
GELLER: Why didn`t we run the Danish cartoons? Why did no media run –
BEHAR: Because Islamic fundamentalists and jihadists are objecting to that, not Muslims. Am I right?
GELLER: Did Patrick Henry say give me liberty or give me death unless you insult somebody?
BEHAR: But also Pam, didn`t a lot of Muslims die in 9/11 too?
GELLER: I don`t know. I think it was roughly around 20. I believe that Muslims have –
BEHAR: Where did you get that number?
GELLER: Where did you get your number?
BEHAR: I`m asking the question. Did you hear a number come out of my mouth?
GELLER: No, but I`m saying — no, a lot did not die. But I don`t think that the number — if one died it`s wrong, one or 20 or 50 or 100.
BEHAR: Ok.
GELLER: What I`m saying is the ideology that inspired jihad, jihad is part of Koranic texts and (INAUDIBLE) and Sura. Why can`t we work towards expunging the Islam of these violent texts? Wouldn`t that be a period of enlightenment much like –
BEHAR: Expunging from the Koran?
GELLER: Violent texts.
BEHAR: There is violent text in the bible.
GELLER: Nobody is blowing themselves up around the world.
BEHAR: Not right now, but they have.
[14 centuries ago]
GELLER: No, nobody is. Why are we rewriting reality? Why don`t we deal with reality as it happens?
BEHAR: Ok. The Tea Party leader says it`s a monument to terrorists. What is your answer to these people?
KHAN: Well, first of all, they`re completely ignorant of who Muslims are. There is 1.5 billion Muslims in the world.
BEHAR: 1.5 billion.
KHAN: Billion.
BEHAR: In the United States?
SEKOFF: That`s probably the more important number.
KHAN: No, in the world.
BEHAR: In the world.
KHAN: Not the United States.
BEHAR: What am I saying? We have 300 million people here. Right.
KHAN: And there is estimated to be 6 to 8 million and growing in the United States. And all of us are law abiding citizens. Majority of us; there might be a fraction like we saw the other day. But what is really important is that there is a lot of ignorance about who Muslims are.
BEHAR: Right.
KHAN: And this, a center like this would be dedicating to removing that ignorance. And it will also counter the extremists.
[Pakistani Muslim, Muzzammil Hassan, was devoted to fighting that ignorance. He started a TV station in NY to “give American Muslims a voice and depict them in everyday real life situations” and then proceeded to beheaded his wife for wanting a divorce. All of us are law-abiding citizens?]
BEHAR: Right.
KHAN: Because the moderate Muslims need a voice. Their voices need to be amplified.
[What voices?]
BEHAR: Isn`t it better to put it there so that the moderate Muslims could have a say in all the arguments?
GELLER: At the last Friday sermon of Imam Raoul (ph), he said the opposition was hostile. Why were they so hostile? Their grandchildren were going to be Muslim anyway. What I`m saying you is that at some point –
BEHAR: I don`t understand.
GELLER: That our grandchildren were going to be Muslim anyway. So we ought to get –
BEHAR: Whose grandchildren?
SEKOFF: All of ours. That by the time that the next generation comes –
BEHAR: I will have one soon.
SEKOFF: Get on the phone. Honey, I don`t care, whatever.
GELLER: I mean we can`t dispute the fact that there is jihad commanded in the Koran. That there is tekiah (ph) which is deception and lies to advance Islam in non-Muslim societies. And I think we should be working in the spirit of humanity and brotherhood and love that we should be working towards expunging the very ideology that inspires jihad, the Times Square bomber, the Christmas balls bomber.
BEHAR: But you know what, Pam, that center is going to have a public memorial to 9/11.
KHAN: Yes.
BEHAR: Which doesn`t interfere with this whole idea at all.
GELLER: I understand the thing keeps morphing. Everything keeps morphing. It was a 13-story mosque. And it`s a mosque on the sacred ground of 9/11. We think that in the spirit of tolerance and mutual understanding and mutual –
BEHAR: In the spirit of tolerance, you would allow it.
GELLER: No, no — I`m not — who am I, God? I`m not disallowing it. I`m saying –
BEHAR: You`re protesting it.
GELLER: I`m protesting it because I feel that it`s very insensitive. It hurts the 9/11 families. All the families that were there last night, I think that it is incredibly insensitive to our feelings that it is humiliating and demeaning.
BEHAR: Just jump in. Just jump in.
KHAN: I want to jump in because we have received the support of the elected officials.
BEHAR: I know. They voted to put it up.
KHAN: The squadron, Stringer, Chin, they all came in support because they really want to see the Muslim community leading the effort to rebuild lower Manhattan.
[rebuild or take control?]
BEHAR: Right.
KHAN: And we have Jewish leaders who came out in support of our initiative. We had Christian leaders that came out in support of our initiative. We had 9/11 families, 250 families. The peaceful families, they really want a center like this. They want us to take the time –
(CROSSTALK)
BEHAR: Can I ask you a question?
KHAN: And turn it to something positive.
[Only bright moment for Behar]
BEHAR: Can I ask a legit question? Where is the money for this? It`s going to cost $100 million. Where is the money coming from?
KHAN: That`s a very good question. Actually we went to the community board so we could excite them and find out what their needs were because it`s really for the community. We have not determined the full scope of this project. When our detractor says that we are shifting and changing, of course we are. The whole scope of the project has not been defined. You know, we heard from people so we decided we should have a memorial out of sensitivity to everyone.
[Why would they have had to hear from someone? And where's the money coming from?]
BEHAR: Right.
KHAN: We heard from the community and we`ve decided that there is going to be a senior citizens space because that is what is needed. We heard from the community. We are creating a 500-seat performing arts theater. So the money is not — we have not even started the fundraising campaign.
BEHAR: Are you afraid that there is going to be some kind of jihad thing going on there?
GELLER: I dislike the deception, the fact that the imam said that the Christians of the west were responsible for 9/11. The imam`s father was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
KHAN: That is not true. That`s false. That`s absolutely false.
(CROSSTALK)
GELLER: But there is evidence of it. And we could certainly spend time. We ought to present the evidence.
KHAN: This is a false statement.
GELLER: And the 49 Muslim nations that contributed to the 96 street Islamic Street Center, is that false too?
KHAN: I have absolutely no idea where you`re getting your information from because it`s false. You are actually making false statements. And my father-in-law has been dead for almost, you know, seven, eight years. And I think it`s very painful, a man who dedicated his life to interfaith dialogue who actually began interfaith dialogue in this country. He was a great luminary who shaped Islam in this country as a way of reaching out to interfaith communities. It`s wrong. It`s wrong to say something about somebody –
[FYI - the man in charge of the mosque doesn't believe in religious dialogue.]
BEHAR: We have to let the man speak. Let the guy speak for a second.
GELLER: I would be happy to post the evidence of the Muslim Brotherhood. And I do feel your pain. And we`re asking that you feel our pain.
SEKOFF: Well, that is actually the point of this whole discussion, Joy is that this is a discussion where I can actually see both sides. I really can. But symbolism cuts two ways. I mean I can understand here one man`s symbolism — a slap in the face is a gesture of brotherhood. The question though is at the end of the day if it`s going to go either way, where does America come down?
The genius of America, the beauty of America is that we err on the side of tolerance, we err on the side of openness, we err on the side of, you know, letting inclusion in. And for me the number is not how many people died, but the fact that you say 1.5 billion Muslims. Are we going to say to them you`re not welcome here? You`re viewed as the enemy here. I think that`s a dangerous message.
[Insane. The mosque is 600 feet from Ground Zero. It has nothing to do with 1.5B Muslims or not being welcoming. Simple respect dictates that that site not be desecrated. If one wants to take advantage of religious freedom one has to be mindful of others.]
BEHAR: It kind of contributes to more hatred of America.
GELLER: Oh, I don`t think so.
BEHAR: Yes.
GELLER: I think it would be lovely if we said we understand the feelings of the victims of 9/11. We won`t — we won`t put a giant mosque here. I disagree. I think that that would be an extraordinary gesture of goodness, mutual respect and mutual understanding. No one is telling them they can`t. We`re asking them not to.
BEHAR: Well then, they are going to. They already voted to do it.
GELLER: Well the vote has no power.
BEHAR: Ok.
GELLER: The vote has no power. There`s no power in the vote.
KHAN: The important thing is — the important thing is what the community said yesterday.
BEHAR: Yes.
KHAN: Twenty-nine people voted in favor of this because we are bringing much needed amenities.
[Was a mosque - now it's supplying amenities.]
GELLER: But the crowd was very much against it.
BEHAR: All right.
GELLER: And the elected officials, the politicians do not reflect the people`s sentiments at all. I was there.
Huntington, Samuel P., The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order;
Info World: Information Technology News, Computer Networking & Security;
Information Week: Business Innovation Powered by Technology:
Infostor: The Leading Source for Enterprise Storage Professionals;
Infrastructure Insite: Bringing IT Together;
Insurance Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
Integrated Solutions: For Enterprise Content Management;
Intel Premier IT: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
Irwin, Robert, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents;
Jeffrey, Grant R., The Global-Warming Deception: How a Secret Elite Plans to Bankrupt America and Steal Your Freedom;
Jewkes, Yvonne, and Majid Yar, Handbook of Internet Crime;
Johnson, Chalmers, Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire;
Journal, The: Transforming Education Through Technology;
Judd, Denis, The Lion and the Tiger: The Rise and Fall of the British Raj, 1600-1947;
Kagan, Donald, The Peloponnesian War;
Kansas, Dave, The Wall Street Journal Guide to the End of Wall Street as We Know It: What You Need to Know About the Greatest Financial Crisis of Our Time--and How to Survive It;
Karsh, Efraim, Islamic Imperialism: A History;
Kasser, Rodolphe, The Gospel of Judas;
Katz, Solomon, The Decline of Rome and the Rise of Medieval Europe: (The Development of Western Civilization);
Keegan, John, Intelligence in War: The Value--and Limitations--of What the Military Can Learn About the Enemy;
Kenis, Leo, et. al., The Transformation of the Christian Churches in Western Europe 1945-2000 (Kadoc Studies on Religion, Culture and Society 6);
Kepel, Gilles, Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam;
Kiplinger's: Personal Finance;
Klein, Naomi, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism;
KM World: Content, Document, and Knowledge Management;
Koestler, Arthur, Darkness at Noon: A Novel;
Kostova, Elizabeth, The Historian;
Kuttner, Robert, The Squandering of America: How the Failure of Our Politics Undermines Our Prosperity;
Lake, Kirsopp, The Text of the New Testament, Sony Reader;
Laur, Timothy M., Encyclopedia of Modern US Military Weapons ;
Leffler, Melvyn P., and Jeffrey W. Legro, To Lead the World: American Strategy After the Bush Doctrine;
Lendon, J. E., Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity;
Lenin, V. I., Imperialism the Highest Stage of Capitalism;
Lennon, John J., There is Absolutely No Reason to Pay Too Much for College!;
Lewis, Bernard, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror;
Lewis, Bernard, What Went Wrong?: The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East;
Lifton, Robert J., Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America;
Limberis, Vasiliki M., Architects of Piety: The Cappadocian Fathers and the Cult of the Martyrs;
Lipsett, B. Diane, Desiring Conversion: Hermas, Thecla, Aseneth;
Livingston, Jessica, Founders At Work: Stories of Startups' Early Days;
Livy, Rome and the Mediterranean: Books XXXI-XLV of the History of Rome from its Foundation (Penguin Classics);
Louis J., Freeh, My FBI: Bringing Down the Mafia, Investigating Bill Clinton, and Fighting the War on Terror;
Mackay, Christopher S., Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History;
Majno, Guido, The Healing Hand: Man and Wound in the Ancient World;
Marcus, Greil,Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes;
Marshall-Cornwall, James, Napoleon as Military Commander;
Maughm, W. Somerset, Of Human Bondage;
McCluskey, Neal P., Feds in the Classroom: How Big Government Corrupts, Cripples, and Compromises American Education;
McCullough, David, 1776;
McCullough, David, John Adams;
McCullough, David, Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt;
McLynn, Frank, Marcus Aurelius: A Life;
McManus, John, Deadly Brotherhood, The: The American Combat Soldier in World War II ;
McMaster, H. R., Dereliction of Duty: Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies That Led to Vietnam;
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 1: Origins and Destinies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 2: Persons and Groups (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
McNamara, Patrick, Science and the World's Religions Volume 3: Religions and Controversies (Brain, Behavior, and Evolution);
Meacham, Jon, American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House;
Mearsheimer, John J., and Stephen M. Walt, The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy;
Meier, Christian, Caesar: A Biography;
Menzies, Gaven, 1421: The Year China Discovered America;
Perrett, Bryan, Cassell Military Classics: Iron Fist: Classic Armoured Warfare;
Perrottet, Tony, The Naked Olympics: The True Story of the Olympic Games;
Peters, Ralph, New Glory: Expanding America's Global Supremacy;
Phillips, Kevin, American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush;
Pick, Bernhard; Paralipomena; Remains of Gospels and Sayings of Christ (Sony Reader);
Pimlott, John, The Elite: The Special Forces of the World Volume 1;
Pitre, Brant, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper;
Plutarch's Lives, X: Agis and Cleomenes. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. Philopoemen and Flamininus (Loeb Classical Library®);
Podhoretz, Norman, World War IV: The Long Struggle Against Islamofascism;
Posner, Gerald, Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK;
Potter, Wendell, Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR Is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans;
Pouesi, Daniel, Akua;
Premier IT Magazine: Sharing Best Practices with the Information Technology Community;
Price, Monroe E. & Daniel Dayan, eds., Owning the Olympics: Narratives of the New China;
Profit: The Executive's Guide to Oracle Applications;
Public CIO: Technology Leadership in the Public Sector;
Putnam, Robert D., Bowling Alone : The Collapse and Revival of American Community;
Quintus of Smyrna, The Fall of Troy;
Rawles, James Wesley, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse;
Red Herring: The Business of Technology;
Redmond Channel Partner: Driving Success in the Microsoft Partner Community;
Redmond Magazine: The Independent Voice of the Microsoft IT Community;
Renan, Ernest, The life of Jesus (Sony eReader);
Richler, Mordecai (editor), Writers on World War II: An Anthology;
Roberts, Ian, The Energy Glut: Climate Change and the Politics of Fatness in an Overheating World;
Rocca, Samuel, The Army of Herod the Great;
Rodgers, Nigel, A Military History of Ancient Greece: An Authoritative Account of the Politics, Armies and Wars During the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, shown in over 200 color photographs, diagrams, maps and plans;
Rodoreda, Merce, Death in Spring: A Novel;
Romerstein, Herbert and Breindel, Eric,The Venona Secrets, Exposing Soviet Espionage and America's Traitors;
Ross, Dennis, Statecraft: And How to Restore America's Standing in the World;
Roth, Jonathan P., Roman Warfare (Cambridge Introduction to Roman Civilization);
SC Magazine: For IT Security Professionals;
Scahill, Jeremy, Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army [Revised and Updated];
Schama, Simon, A History of Britain, At the Edge of the World 3500 B.C. - 1603 A.D.;
Scheuer, Michael, Imperial Hubris: Why the West Is Losing the War On Terror;
Scheuer, Michael, Marching Toward Hell: America and Islam After Iraq;
Scheuer, Michael, Osama Bin Laden;
Scheuer, Michael, Through Our Enemies Eyes: Osama Bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America;
Scholastic Instructor
Scholastic Parent & Child: The Joy of Family Living and Learning;
Schopenhauer, Arthur, The World As Will And Idea (Sony eReader);
Schug-Wille, Art of the Byzantine World;
Schulze, Hagen, Germany: A New History;
Schweizer, Peter, Architects of Ruin: How Big Government Liberals Wrecked the Global Economy---and How They Will Do It Again If No One Stops Them;
Scott, Sir Walter, Ivanhoe;
Seagren, Eric, Secure Your Network for Free: Using Nmap, Wireshark, Snort, Nessus, and MRTG;
Security Technology & Design: The Security Executive's Resource for Systems Integration and Convergence;
Seibel, Peter, Coders at Work;
Sekunda N., & S. Northwood, Early Roman Armies;
Seneca: Naturales Quaestiones, Books II (Loeb Classical Library No. 450);
Sewall, Sarah, The U.S. Army/Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual;
Sheppard, Ruth, Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies;
Shinder, Jason, ed., The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later;
Sidebottom, Harry, Ancient Warfare: A Very Short Introduction;
Sides, Hampton, Blood and Thunder: The Epic Story of Kit Carson and the Conquest of the American West;
Simkins, Michael, The Roman Army from Caesar to Trajan;
Sinchak, Steve, Hacking Windows Vista;
Smith, RJ, The One: The Life and Music of James Brown;
Software Development Times: The Industry Newspaper for Software Development Managers;
Software Test Performance;
Solomon, Norman, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death;
Song, Lolan, Innovation Together: Microsoft Research Asia Academic Research Collaboration;
Sophocles, The Three Theban Plays, tr. Robert Fagles;
Sound & Vision: The Consumer Electronics Authority;
Southern, Pat, The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History;
Sri, Edward, A Biblical Walk Through the Mass: Understanding What We Say and Do In The Liturgy;
Sri, Edward, Men, Women and the Mystery of Love: Practical Insights from John Paul II's Love and Responsibility;
Stair, John Bettridge, Old Samoa; Or, Flotsam and Jetsam From the Pacific Ocean;
Starr, Chester G., The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survival;
Starr, John Bryan, Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture;
Stauffer, John, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln;
Steyn, Mark, America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War;
Strassler, Robert B., The Landmark Xenophon's Hellenika;
Strategy + Business;
Streete, Gail, Redeemed Bodies: Women Martyrs in Early Christianity;
Sullivan, James, The Hardest Working Man: How James Brown Saved the Soul of America;
Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (1) 100 BC-AD 200;
Sumner, Graham, Roman Military Clothing (2) AD 200-400;
Suskind, Ron, The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11:
Swanston, Malcolm, Mapping History Battles and Campaigns;
Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
Swiderski, Richard M., Quicksilver: A History of the Use, Lore, and Effects of Mercury;
Swift, Jonathan, Gulliver's Travels;
Syme, Ronald, The Roman Revolution;
Talley, Colin L., A History of Multiple Sclerosis;
Tawil, Camille, Brothers In Arms: The Story of al-Qa'ida and the Arab Jihadists;
Tech Briefs: Engineering Solutions for Design & Manufacturing;
Tech Net: The Microsoft Journal for IT Professionals;
Tech Partner: Gain a Competitive Edge Through Solutions Providers;
Technology & Learning: Ideas and Tools for Ed Tech Leaders;
Tenet, George, At the Center of the Storm: The CIA During America's Time of Crisis;
Thackeray, W. M., Vanity Fair;
Thompson, Derrick & William Martin, Have Guitars ... Will Travel: A Journey Through the Beat Music Scene in Northampton 1957-66;
Tolstoy, Leo, Anna Karenina;
Trento, Joseph J., The Secret History of the CIA;
Twain, Mark, The Gilded Age: a Tale of Today;
Ungar, Craig, House of Bush House of Saud;
Unterberger, Richie, The Unreleased Beatles Music & Film;
VAR Business: Strategic Insight for Technology Integrators:
Virgil, The Aeneid
Virtualization Review: Powering the New IT Generation;
Visual Studio: Enterprise Solutions for .Net Development;
VON Magazine: Voice, Video & Vision;
Wall Street Technology: Business Innovation Powered by Technology;
Wallace, Robert, Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda;
Wang, Wallace, Steal This Computer Book 4.0: What They Won’t Tell You About the Internet;
Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization;
Warren, Robert Penn, All the King's Men;
Wasik, John F., Cul-de-Sac Syndrome: Turning Around the Unsustainable American Dream;
Weber, Karl, Editor, Lincoln: A President for the Ages;
Website Magazine: The Magazine for Website Success;
Weiner, Tim, Enemies: A History of the FBI;
Weiner, Tim, Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA;
West, Bing, The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq;
Wharton, Edith, The Age of Innocence;
Wilcox, Peter, Rome's Enemies (1) Germanics and Dacians;
Wise, Terence, Armies of the Carthaginian Wars 265 - 146 BC;
Wissner-Gross, What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know) 272 Secrets For Getting Your Kid Into the Top Schools;
Wissner-Gross, What High Schools Don't Tell You;
Wolf, Naomi, Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries;
Wolf, Naomi, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot;
Woodward, Bob, Plan of Attack;
Woodward, Bob, The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House;
Wright, Lawrence, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11;
Wright-Porto, Heather, Beginning Google Blogger;
Xenophon, The Anabasis of Cyrus;
Yergin, Daniel, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, & Power;
Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of this blogger. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited, before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but not hostile, libelous, or otherwise objectionable statements. Original writing only, please. Thank you.
A tax on toilet paper; I kid you not. According to the sponsor, "the Water Protection and Reinvestment Act will be financed broadly by small fees on such things as . . . products disposed of in waste water." Congress wants to tax what you do in the privacy of your bathroom.
Posts
