Nelson Lowhim's Blog, page 45

Sahel Drama part N of part N^N

Chad's president died. So dies another dictator, but now for the instability in an already increasing unstable part of the world. Shit ain't gonna be pretty, son. Like I said, when bad-faith morons tell me climate change isn't man made or happening, I usually ask what's their plan for dealing with a warmed up world (and places like the Sahel) and you hear crickets. As my old DS said, do pushups until you get some blood in your brain. 
Meanwhile, over in the freespeech for me and not for thee wars:

Not sure who he's talking about, are you? Maybe there are some left younguns who don't know how "offensive speech" is used to corral anyone on the left into submission, but I doubt it. The argument hasn't been does free speech matter, it's that there is the right and they (the ones to complain about free speech are on the right, and only when it affects those on the right, and those people aren't actually silenced, but given books deals etc to the max) use it in more insidious ways and it rarely gets covered. Period (read this from me). Also please define cancel culture. Is it merely the yelling you hear (with little other consequences for the powerful in the status quo)? That's not it. 
And again, I'm actually for free speech, but to carry out a test ask people where they stand on Ward Churchill. The likes of Chomsky say, yeah it was wrong to fire him (and I agree), but most on the right merely scream cancel culture because of how they don't like people below them (or minorities) speaking up. 
*change my mind pic*

Anyhow, over at reddit, I asked about people's best books of this century and here is what they're saying:
All the Light You Cannot See (quite a few liked this one)
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles (gonna have to read this as so many people like it and even my wife claims it's brilliant and mulls over the meaning of a life well lived).

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. Read this. Thought it was great and will read her other stuff, but I'm not sure it makes it to my own list. 

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Gilead by Marilynn Robinson.(yeah so many people I know love this story. But no, it's hardly that great, even though I see that subtlety that she's going for. Furthermore, hearing her speak, and her borderline reactionary ways, things I could sense from her writing [1] Only made me like her less. I know, I know, trust the story not the author, but here I don't trust either)

Empire Falls, (Huh, seems interesting.) 

The Dutch House, (Not sure I'd check this out any time soon. Not a fan of some of her other work.) 

Transcendent Kingdom (Yeah this looks good, I'll have to see it.) 

The Fifth Season bt N.K. Jemisin (already on my to read pile, I'm going to have to check it out and soon). 

Daisy Jones and the six, normal people

"Shogun" by James Clavell

Shuggie Bain and Please Look After Mom

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead Anxious People by Fredrik Backman Beartown by Fredrik Backman The Midnight Library by Matt HaigGone Girl by Gillian Flynn The Martian by Andy WeirLincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan EvisonAll the Light We Cannot See by Anthony DoerrLittle Children by Tom Perrotta
Zombie fallout by Mark tufo

Seiobo There Below by László Krasznahorkai

Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon

Flights by Olga Tokarczuk

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Remembrance of Earth's Past by Cixin Liu

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

The Sea by John Banville

City of Thieves by David Benioff

the giant Indian novel- "Sacred Games

[1] How can I, the man who hates being tied into his novels (oh you wrote about this, so you must be living it out or thinking it or it's autobiographical in some sense and all I can think is naw...

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Best Global Books. Fiction.

Or international books or books that speak to humanity... that speak to that sensibility. 
Seems that these days, given the rise of nationalism, and specifically ethnographic-nationalism or religious-nationalism, any talk of universal or global books has died down. Hell, even in more liberal circles, the international is eschewed over the minutia of one and that too is preferred if the people don't discuss politics [1] or anything to do with the machinations that hang over them. 
Now, there may be some people like this. Hell, I've met such people, but this kind of small mind is rarer than you think. Usually they slip into some conspiratorial thinking. But rarely do they never think or talk about it. 
Yet that's what you get. And yet when you read a solid classic like Dostoyevsky, you see that most people really do talk about their conditions and try to see what powers in complex systems do the string pulling. And as you see from my old list, a lot of books I once thought of as great are really anything but that. 
So what makes such a novel great? And am I being too stringent. I think it has to deal with politics (int he world we know or the one that doesn't exist) Let me say that a fantasy and sci-fi book can also 
A Brief History of 7 Killings . Yeah, international in scope, even if it's focused on the Western (and northern) end of things. People talk about the politics of their area because it does matter to them. Easy running for the best of the century book as well. 
Girl Woman Other. Yeah solid and pretty damn international. yeah and people talk about their politics. Refreshing indeed. 
Mother Night . Solid one with good insight into humanity. Some internationalism in it. Barely enough to make the list. 
And that's it. Yeah, pretty rough, isn't it? Gonna have to read some more and see if they make the cut. 
[1] This MFA remnant of the Cold War, whereby you have the CIA paying writing workshops to spew this kind of crap has still hung with us. 

Note: Weird... searching exact titles on Amazon brings up anything but that book (and sometimes foreign language ones... wtf?). This all seems off. 
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Reading.

Well, thinking about OAS and generals trying to overthrow, what they see as illegitimate democratic powers because the wrong people are voting, has me cracking open Fanon's Wretched of the Earth . I know it's a veritable Bible on the left, and maybe that's a proper analysis, because looking from the post-colonial landscape, my first impressions are that it's pretty innocent, even if I agree with some of the fire behind it (and disagree with many of the points against it, though that's usually the case)[1]
Hell, even with Gulag , I see much to take apart. And yet few do. Actually, with Gulag , I'm reading it since we're getting to have something close (or far too close for my comfort level) to Chekists here in the States. In Seattle alone, the mayor is deleting texts and the police, apparently, can overrule any civilian oversight. What does that strike one as? And given our draconian laws and how they are applied, really the Gulag system is far closer to ours than we would like (except, perhaps that they ate their own, Stalin being an equal opportunity kinda guy, while we have something like a set caste/class/racial system).
On a lighter note, I'm trying this fiction. Story starts out kinda out there so maybe I'll like it?
[1] Hell, I think there are points to take against Finkelstein's Gaza , and hell, I think that's its weaknesses are there, but you don't see that in any takedowns of the book. It all reads like the shitty call and response that's taking over the internet. Ohhh that book baaaad, so is the author. And that's it. These 1 star reviews about sum it up. 


All right, all these apes are getting me down. 
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OAS and Pied Noirs and the US

World burning, or trying to burn itself at any rate. Here's an ape that's actually chillin in the right way. 
Thinking about those ex-generals and wondering how close they are to power or money or weapons and a bunch of batshit rednecks who are all sipping from the Q train. Will they be able to do at least a little damage? Are they at all associated with the pipeline thingie? Well that's going too far and there's no evidence, but I'm wondering what the breakdown of these generals is... It's manure like this can be fuel for worse. 
Doo the mainstream oligarchs and generals not want to release any of their grip on what they currently have? Because that is what will break the republic. Wondering why no one is talking about this. 
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At least 120 idiots sitting on a wall

So just like France had it's set of morons (more, it would seem), we have officers here acting in similar banana republic terms. Not surprised, to tell you the truth. The dumb goes real hard in the paint when it comes to some elements of the military brass. 

How many are fully into Q and how many active duty generals are also taking a toke from the Q pipe? Again, that this isn't bigger news is some crazy shit. Also Twitter and the internet in general is annoying me with regards to the Israeli Palestine conflict. Whole bunch of "pretending to be serious and world weary" well Likud and Hamas are both to blame. Or this:

Lobbing rockets back and forth is not at all what's happening. War isn't it either. It's one sided all the way. Though at least Roxane Gay here points out the disparity in deaths. No one is even mentioning anything outside of normal East Jerusalem expulsions. Nor is anyone mentioning that there have been peaceful protests by the Palestinians before and currently. Whole bunch over there at LGM are going on about the lack of a Gandhi. Come on, liberals, read a little. Here's a solid breakdown (listen to it at 1.25 or 1.5 speed). It's a lot but it's worth it. 
For what I know from Israelis, Bibi only naturally increases strife when he needs to up his numbers and take focus away from his corruption etc. Good times. 
[image error]

But mainly the dumb of the twittering masses and much of the new internet have failed in far too many ways yet again, IMO. Shame. Like I said, it's the liberal lot (I'm sure the right is all in on "kill em for the second coming of confederate Jesus please" religion that those 120 mentioned above are probably also into) that annoys me. Oh, and apparently Israel working with the Gulf States is some kind of aberration. Do they even follow US foreign policy? 
Also, while we're at it, this is fucking smart. We should do it in our state. 
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Afghanistan

Welp, looks like someone is pressing for the US to stay in Afghanistan. Btw, there are actual valid claims to, women's rights will go backwards if we leave, but many who actually use it don't care to have a proper pro-women's rights for our foreign policy (let alone here at home with our right wing talibanistsinallbutreligion) in the short or long term. So it's easy to see this as a bad faith argument. Hell I'd welcome some version of a pro-women's rights policy domestically and internationally, but that ain't gonna happen. Your thoughts? Anyhow, we also have the issue of the war on Drugs. Decent breakdowns here on the quotes that show the Repubs were mainly just trying to get minorities in jail (and why no knock warrants at Wall Street coke-addled parties were never a thing). 
Given that Jim Crow, part 2, is now in full swing by the GOP, well, stay vigilant out there.
Also this is not good. While some acts of wokeness (nvm the right or the cancel culture warriors and their lies) reminds me of this. 
But just so I'm not entirely all doom and gloom here, some cool storytelling by the kids today. 
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Et al

So apparently Bill Gates knew Epstein and that's the reason why his wife decided to leave him? Possibly, at least. That internet rumor mill is some juicy stuff. 
Not sure about this article here. Sure, riots can be the language of the unheard, but what I've heard (anecdotally and otherwise) about each city (each with its own flavor, though that's not to take anything away from the level of uprising, against our iniquities, we had in the states, truly a beautiful thing) is that there were legit acts of anger, and agent provocateurs and, in some places, an element of organized crime. 
That the article seems to want to immediately flatten that all into one is something else entirely. Not sure what it is, but it's not what I'd care to read, you get me? All this shows the limitations of longform, even th polemic kind. 
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Chinese Rocket Issue 🚀 ?

Over at reddit they claim space junk falls all the time and people are just trying to make a big deal out this because, well, as you know the elites want a 2 minutes of hate from us (and directed away from them). Hell, I didn't even know about this little piece of junk falling on a farm in my own state. 
TIL. Also a little set of short stories for you to read. Not mine, but these are pretty damn good, tbf. This one seemed imaginative to me. 
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You in the UK?

If you are and have Audible, hit me up via email or these comments, I'll send some codes to you. Also watch out for the rocket, still might hit just about anywhere!
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Writing's Back on the Menu

Added a search bar up top. Not sure I'll keep it, so send an email/comment if it makes the site better. I kinda like the idea of keeping the older posts at the bottom of the heap where only some intrepid sleuth will find it. Your thoughts?
Over at Patreon I've penned my first short in about a month. Go check it out. Actually used the iPad penthat turns hand writing into text. Not as great as using a normal pen, but it does make the transfer of writing to digital text a lot easier. 
This story was inspired by memories of a book my grandpa brought to me from the USSR. Malachite Casket, is a brilliant set of stories. My mom had found it and I was immediately hit with a whole bunch of memories. I loved this book as a kid, even if it was dark af. I'm assuming my memories aren't lying to me. Still, check it out if you can.
Now for the annals of the past is never past, here's a link showing that pollution levels from the Victorian era that forced the poor to the east side of things, are still with us today. Some links in the comments showing this happens in more places than just the UK.  [image error]
Also, here's an example of the lady doth protest too much. I went to an Ivy. Really good times and I learned a lot. And plenty of smart people there, but what does that mean? Seriously? This is in a society that truly values "it's not what you know, it's who you know." We've already heard about people bribing their way in. And that actually might be a legit part of any college's admittance system given that we live in an age of grift. IOW get the rich kids to mingle with some super smart kids and you have better numbers in terms of outcomes and being able to fund good ideas. 
That's assuming the "bestselling ideas" like FB etc are good for society or anyone in general. I'd like to see that score. Which colleges don't have the highest paid students after the fact, but which ones have done the most for humanity. Sure throw in Nobels, but use other measurements. Who started BLM? etc etc etc. Not who can grift best in a grifters paradise that follows the "after us the floods" ethos. 
Then the job market. If you see this volatility and think it means something, you need a break. But twitterers gonna twitter. 
Though, tbf, real economists are saying wait and see, it's too crazy right now. That includes the lumber price spike. 
Oh and more on aerosols being the main thing for Covid, so closing playgrounds increases the spread. 
Oh, and by grifting, I mean this. Where the person who's picked clean like a carcass by a vulture, the creator, doesn't get squat but going in and out of homelessness. So it goes. 



That's it for now. Remember the rocket and to be safe from it!

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