![]() ![]() ![]() One is the “open society” philosophy touted by philosophers such as Karl Popper and billionaire influencers such as George Soros. Let’s back up a moment and talk about two rival philosophies of government and the social order generally. In other words, some things have gotten so out of hand that no government, federal or state, is capable of returning the population to law and order or simply a country where the common good is the highest goal of governing people and bodies. The claimed evidence is that the federal government is not capable of solving very serious problems within our borders. What is a failed state? One that is ungovernable. However, some political scientists and historians are beginning to suggest that America itself, internally, is heading into the status of a failed state. ![]()
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![]() ![]() ![]() But then you realize that emperor Charles V has been riding roughshod over Italy and the Balkans and you’re needed to rein him in by occupying his Flemish possessions (or even landing in Spain) lest he claim European dominance. It’s easy to get distracted by what is in front of your own door – say, if you’re playing England, the quest for a male heir, the reformation in your own land, and rich conquests in France. Here I Stand puts its players into that same mindset. His four protagonists form a close-knit relationship web where pulling on one end will inevitably also affect the others. Not an academically trained historian, the author is free of the dryness that often comes with their accounts and presents a superbly entertaining book instead. The book shines at interweaving the strands of the four rulers as well as linking individual events with the larger narrative. And then, at some point, you realize that they all happened at the same time and that they were intimately related.īoth Four Princes and Here I Stand are excellent at bringing these disparate topics together. You store all of these in different compartments of your historical mind. The golden age of the Ottoman empire. The French-Hapsburg antagonism. The Reformation. The European exploration and conquest of the Americas. It’s tempting to look at history one topic at a time. Box cover of Here I Stand Connections & Conclusions ![]() ![]() ![]() A multiple award winning, critically acclaimedmasterpiece and one of the most iconic, bestselling comic book series of itstime. An epic for mature readers, Saga follows newparents Marko and Alana as they risk everything to raise their child amidst anever-ending galactic war. Romeo & Julietmeets Star Wars in this genre-blending, sci-fi/fantasy space opera about starcrossed lovers from enemy worlds. ![]() ![]() A CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC CELEBRATING A DECADE OFEXCELLENCE! At long last, Hazel and herstar-crossed family are finally back, and they've made some new.friends?This collection features the latest six chapters of the most epic adventure incomics, including the series' double-sized first issue back from hiatus.Collects SAGA #55-60. ![]() ![]() ![]() The list is heavy on indie rockers from Canada and the United States, and West Coast rappers that redefined hip-hop artistry. For a more in-depth methodology, click here. To chronicle the best albums from 2000 to the present date, Stacker compiled data on the top 100 albums of the 21st century according to Best Ever Albums, which ranks albums according to their appearance and performance on 40,000 editorial and data-based charts like Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Billboard, and more. More complex albums emerged, ones that tinkered with their own new technologies. Along with this shift, musical styles and compositions also changed, and bands adjusted to a market that could consume music with the click of a mouse. CDs were still the main source to listen to tunes, but the rise of Napster and file-sharing networks would soon change the game. ![]() ![]() Entering the 21st century, music was just beginning to be consumed en masse online. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() With hindsight, she says that if she had the time again, she would have stayed with George and made a go of it. Pattie identifies George as the gentle but moody husband, and Eric as the whirlwind, turning easily to thunder. Ideally these would belong in anthologies - the big album of their life and times, rather than her own memoir. About half the book is girlie-gossip that Penny should have edited-out ruthlessly, leaving just two sections, one on each marriage, to George Harrison and Eric Clapton. As with so many autobiographies, the opening section on ancestry, birth and early schooling adds nothing to our understanding of the subject, except that she grew up in a dysfunctional family. ![]() These memoirs in their standard form - what I call sequential-diary format - could only be of interest to her inner circle. But royal biographers are not programmed to question assumptions, and Penny Junor would be the last person to think round corners in this way. It is not immediately clear why Pattie Boyd should have needed a co-author for her memoirs, except as a creative consultant, to point out that memoirs, as such, might be the wrong medium to celebrate her place in history. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() I wanted to investigate more about Rithmatics and I decided that in this post I will include some of the more detailed information that was explained in the book. ![]() To become a Rithmatist you must get incepted in a ceremony when you are eight, only Rithmatic lines drawn by a Rithmatist have power, and graduated Rithmatists must serve time on the battlefront at the island called Nebrask to prevent wild chalkings from spreading to the other islands. Here are some of the basics of Rithmatics. It amazed me that this author could create something so real from almost nothing and turn it into a wonderful book. This topic was very interesting to me and I wanted to explore it further. Brandon Sanderson created Rithmatics, a complex magical power with it’s own rules, defenses and lines. ![]() ![]() ![]() Jake strikes a devil’s bargain, offering to design her “wallflower wardrobe” and giving Cleo the chance to design his. ![]() He’s furious when a she-devil masquerading as an English lady steals Quimby’s Costume Emporium from under his nose. ![]() Powerful and charismatic Jacob Astor Addison is in London, acquiring businesses to add to his theatrical holdings in America-as well as buying an emerald for a young lady back in Boston. But since she has no intention of marrying, she visits a costume emporium specifically to order unflattering dresses guaranteed to put off any prospective suitors. Miss Cleopatra Lewis is about to be launched in society by her aristocratic grandfather. From New York Times bestseller Eloisa James, a new Regency-set novel in which a heiress with the goal of being a wallflower engages a rugged American in a scorchingly sensual, witty wager that tests whether clothing does indeed make the man-or the wallflower! A perfect companion story to Eloisa's My American Duchess. ![]() ![]() ![]() “There are images that stay with you your whole life, whether you want them to or not. Here's an excerpt I'm fond of from the chapter, “The Prescription-Strength Vibrator: Masturbating For Health”: I certainly wasn't going to read these passages to my mother (although given the pain medication she was getting at the time, I doubt she would have been offended). Anyway, there I was, cackling madly over the cafeteria food, with no one to say, “Hey, you gotta hear this!” to. I read most of this book in a hospital cafeteria (Mom had a hip replacement – she's all better now). I apologize for the over-abundance of long quotes here, but they are the best way to convey the flavor of the book. In Bonk (which for months I've been referring to accidentally as Boink, God knows what that says about me) Mary Roach takes on the subject of what scientists do and don't know about sex, and how they know it. ![]() If you loved Sarah's post entitled, “ Where is the Hymen?” you will love Bonk. ![]() Title: Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The Chenzeme are an enigmatic race whose automated warships have ravaged the living worlds of the galaxy's Orion arm for millions of years. Ahead of them loom vast, lightless clouds of dust and gas where stars are born, and where the alien Chenzeme are believed to live. ![]() AboardNull Boundary,a giant starship thousands of years old, four survivors of an ancient alien war are making a desperate journey: Lot, son of a fiery prophet and carrier of an insidious virus that spreads a cultlike religious mania among those it infects Urban, Lot's boyhood friend from the city of Silk, and a man in search of challenge and adventure Clemantine, cast adrift when her world was destroyed, and yearning for revenge and Nikko, sometimes a living man, but always the ship's disembodied mind. ![]() ![]() Could another narrator do just as good a job? Probably but at this time I can't imagine any other voice other than Crisden's. Once again Sean Crisden brings to life the amazing-ness of RJ Scott's words. ![]() So the only thing I really have to add to this story is the narration. One of these years I will do a Re-Read Christmas in July Edition but until then, audiobooks make for a great chance to experience the magic again. I haven't re-read New York Christmas since, not because I didn't enjoy it, not because I didn't take the time, but because it was a holiday story and unfortunately I just have too many Christmas tales to read each year that I tend to not re-visit no matter how much I loved it the first time. Well, guess what? Short and to the point states it perfectly. Audiobook Review September 2019: My original review from 5 years ago is short and to the point. ![]() |