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What are we reading? 8th June 2022
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Lljones
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Jun 24, 2022 06:56PM
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Fuzzywuzz wrote: "Two things happened to me today, one positive and one negative pertaining to bookish things.The positive was that I was mistaken for a member of staff working in a second hand book shop (well, to..."
I'm with you Fuzzy, I would never dream of sitting down at someone's table without asking. I hope daughter 's exams went well and that she gets her phone back.
MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Awful news from accross the pond: Roe Vs Wade overturned" and I don't think any of us realized how much staying in power meant to white men and their cohorts.I don't think they intend to stop there, as this excellent article explains:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/202...
Mod
A very apposite title in current circumstances ... if only there will be some in the not too distant future
This sort of thing is not new, the Democrats should have foreseen it and bust a gut to prevent this stacking of the Supreme Court. Interestingly, the precedents were reported by Alistair Cooke in his Letters from America many years ago, in which Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev debated America's 'democracy' with US Ambassador Lodge:(Khrushchev) remarked: "Your Congress makes your laws and who overturns them? Your Supreme Court."
I don't know if Mr Lodge was up to this but laughing effusively he said something like "Ah yes, but there are nine of them."
Point taken you'd think. Not at all.
Mr Khrushchev: "Nine old men to begin with but then they vote and sometimes wind up with five to four to maintain a law or overthrow it. So in the end your country is ruled by one judge, one American, not even elected. With us the general secretary puts everything up to the central committee."
Well with little time and not much deeper thinking this analogy could be shown to be preposterous. Still Khrushchev's joke revealed a remarkable flash of insight into an element, a weakness if you like, of the Supreme Court, if not of the Constitution that created it.
It's an insight that's becoming uncomfortably clear to very many Americans who'd always retained a respect bordering on reverence for the court, until the outcome of the court's entanglement with the statutes of Florida and the decision, which by a single vote of the nine judges, threw the election to Governor Bush.
Let's start by reminding ourselves that a majority decision by the Supreme Court, more than any other institution, can shape the laws of the land for generations. Not by ever making or suggesting law but by the court's power to invalidate both state and federal laws.
Now what is Mr Khrushchev's wily complaint of government by one human being? It is about five-to-four decisions.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...
Coming back to ‘yard’ and its origins (this is something I’ve been fascinated by for a while – I lie awake thinking of ‘yard’ words) I haven’t managed yet to find out when yard stopped being used for ‘garden’ in UK English, but ….I did think of another word today – Appleyard as a surname. Sure enough this originally meant ‘apple orchard’ but my source also mentioned another word which I’ve long wondered about – ‘garth’. I first came across this some time back as the name for the land belonging to a local London church – not the churchyard, just somewhere for people to gather. I’d never heard of it before and as it’s only a Victorian church I don’t know if the word was current then or if it was an archaic use that some Victorians enjoyed resurrecting. Then I saw it up in Yorkshire I think, so I don’t know if it’s more commonly used up there. And of course it’s cognate with yard.
Oh and also, interestingly, yard can mean an outdoor place where business is done, like builders' yard, timber yard.
scarletnoir wrote: "This sort of thing is not new, the Democrats should have foreseen it and bust a gut to prevent this stacking of the Supreme Court. Interestingly, the precedents were reported by Alistair Cooke in h..."its ludicrous that these judges are all political appointees too, it should be a resolutely objective group of experienced lawmakers with an age limit and full accountability. Religious commentary should be drained out of judges mouths, keep it private and be professional
but then i remember this mess was created by five chins McConnell (Garland-Ginsburg situation)and then Donnie The Chump worked with right wing placemen to create the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance
AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until they drop dead, unless there is some change in the regulations.
I read somewhere that in theory the number of judges could be increased, so Biden (or whoever) could try to appoint a few more to balance things out, but presumably that is difficult... I don't know enough about it.
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until they drop dead, unless there is ..."
Recently, I was so frustrated with Alito that I checked his Wikipedia page to see the ages of his parents. We (girls, anyone who is not heterosexual, not Christian, and not Caucasian) are in big trouble if he got more of his genes from his mother as she lived until the age of 99.
In the meantime I have become a big fan of Heather Cox Richardson which I may have mentioned here previously. Here is a link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather...
I have purchased her most recent (but not yet read) How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America
. And here is a link to her latest newsletter (I subscribe) - https://heathercoxrichardson.substack...
I also have more than one bad word for the Democrats as they have been asleep at the wheel especially at the local level while the Red team did its dirty work.
Andy wrote: "I’m trying to read a few with Booker Longlist potential, though I expect to be disappointed as regards to what I hope might make it onto the list. Such a book I have just finished, the wonderful [..."
Although its population is 119, you might want to put Monhegan Island on your "Let's Visit" list - that is, if you ever get to Maine in the summer.
Gpfr wrote: "MK, thanks for informing us about the British Library Crime Classics event.Just watched it - most enjoyable! Have you seen it yet?"
Yes, just last night. I'm hoping to listen again as I am sure I missed some tidbits, but I don't know if it is a one-time thing.
Mod
Just watched it - most enjoyable! Have you seen it yet?"
Yes, just last night. I'm hoping to listen again a..."
There was something I want to check again - I just tried & could connect again, so you should be OK.
Hello, everyone. I hope you're all enjoying your reading. I haven't turned a single page for pleasure this last week, but I am sneaking in some re-watching of the different Emma adaptations.
MK wrote: "Andy wrote: "I’m trying to read a few with Booker Longlist potential, though I expect to be disappointed as regards to what I hope might make it onto the list. Such a book I have just finished, th..."
lots of great artwork of Monhegan and the Maine islands
The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth has started well, i didnt xpect anything too literary or thoughtful to happen but already in the style and plotting i am finding a very well written book.I know a lot about the OAS and French Algeria now, so that aspect is interesting, when i read it at 15, in the school library, it all seemed a bit convoluted....
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until they drop dead, unless there is ..."
its crazy how the constitution cooked up in the 1770s is now hampering so much of american life and while Biden could try and pack the court, the reason he hasnt, in my opinion, is it will be too difficult.
Amazing long game played by the male,pale and stale right wing, by using underpopulated states as comfy senate cushions and then removing as many voting rights as they can in their rotten southern enclaves, they control way more of the USA than they possibly should.
No Republican popular vote victory since 2004 i think is a massive sign that the system needs to change and soon, 1776 was admirable but it isnt serving americans anymore
Anne wrote: "Hello, everyone. I hope you're all enjoying your reading. I haven't turned a single page for pleasure this last week, but I am sneaking in some re-watching of the different Emma adaptat..."Perhaps (assuming there is a car in your life) a book on CD from the library - The Jane Austen Society
.
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until they drop de..."
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"
Indeed... and they will be there until they drop de..."
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"
Indeed... and they will be there until they drop de..."
I would not say the Constitution is hampering them, they are using it as a misdirection or shroud to do what they must to stay in power.
MK wrote: "AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until..."
it looks like open season on decisions by the Warren court may ensue, even some of the New Deal stuff by Roosevelt will be under scrutiny and of course the civil liberty bills and any rights for minorities.
The judges will be enjoying their partisan gift to the nation, Kavanaugh and Barrett tried very hard in their hearings to leave their real thoughts unsaid. Thomas and Kavanaugh should not be justices in my opinion, whatever people may say about Alito or Barrett, those two men are not fit for the role of a SC justice.
Kavanaugh is like some partisan high school bully, he has followed every republican legal stooge around like a lapdog...if there is a wrong cause Boozin Brett is there
I haven't been here for a while, I have been unwell, nothing serious - a nasty cold, a stomach bug followed by nasty cold mark two it all left me drained. After a strict and prolonged lockdown I suppose my immune system was out of practice.Anyway, I abandoned Unspeakable things I didn't think that it was very well written. I went for a fairly easy summer read.Fatal Justice by Sally Rigby.
Now I am reading The Heresy of Dr.Dee by phil Rickman.
Dr. Dee is sent with the disgraced Dudley to Wales to look for the Wigmore shewstone which he want to use for scrying.
Rickman knows his history and I am enjoying lounging in the sunshine while reading this
Going back to the abortion ruling in the US I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere but I have a suspicion that the Judges in America paid some attention to the falling fertility rate (1.7 in 2020); this would be one way of possibly increasing the rate. Leaving aside the rights or wrongs of this decision, those women who are the poorest will be most affected - their offspring a source of future labour?
Mod
Thanks for that, Bill. I had to share it.
CCCubbon wrote: "Going back to the abortion ruling in the US I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere but I have a suspicion that the Judges in America paid some attention to the falling fertility rate (1.7 in 2020); t..."I wonder how many of those judges would be against abortion if it was their daughter who had been raped?
No control on guns but control of women's reproductive rights.The poor as a source of future labour? That didn't occur to me,although I have been too angry about it for much coherent thought.
Am enjoying Thomas Mann's Reflections of a Non-Political Man but at times its as diffuse as the latter sections of Mein Kampf, though thankfully not as mind numbing or as hateful.Mann in his early 40s seems to be kicking against the pricks, devastated by the ostracization of his country and angered by his older brothers anti-German polemic.
The theories that Thomas Mann expouses about the "non-political" german burgherly spirit seems flimsy at times and his railing against democracy could be right at home in the Republican party or the British Tories, some angry, snide what aboutery (votes for Poles in eastern Prussia....no!)
I think the main problem for Mann is that he is impossible to warm to, there is a frantic energy of a fustrated librarian in his scattered thoughts, words and ideas fly back and forth. Some sections are superb, other seem to just beat you around the head.
The worst flaw for me, is the self-absorption in the classic tradition of writerly arrogance , every time Germany arises as a topic, he is off again down a rabbit hole about his brother and some vague volkisch mind-drama. This arrogant middle aged German, assured of his rank, sounding off, with very little charm
Still i am glad this is now available in a modern translation and its great to find some non-fiction by Mann, as his later novels are just too painful to re-attempt.
Greenfairy wrote: "No control on guns but control of women's reproductive rights.The poor as a source of future labour? That didn't occur to me,although I have been too angry about it for much coherent thought."
American right wing culture and its deep Puritan contempt for women keeps slapping me in the face. The mantra could be "Violence is good, guns are good, a thinking reproductive woman is dangerous and needs controlling!"
For a western democracy that sees itself as a beacon, its so far behind Europe now its embarrassing. The secular, rights based heart of most of Western Europe is totally fragmented in the USA, covid was a headache for the Federal agencies due to 50 states rules and the repeal of Roe will be even worse.
I have total respect for what the founding fathers tried but 200+ years later, they would look across to the old world and despair at what that constitution has delivered, progress in fits and starts, regression in fits and starts with gridlock between house and senate and a politicised SC
scarletnoir wrote: "AB76 wrote: "...the right picks for the SC, young(by SC standards), conservative and totally pro-republican in their stance"Indeed... and they will be there until they drop dead, unless there is ..."
The last serious effort to increase the number of judges came after Franklin Roosevelt's re-election in 1936. Roosevelt had won by such a thumping majority that even H.L. Mencken, who did not like FDR, pronounced him a "royal Bengal tiger" facing the new Congress.
FDR asked for a change in the law enabling him to appoint an additional justice for each one above a certain age, up to a maximum of 15.
His surprise proposal (he hadn't mentioned it during the campaign) produced an often furious constitutional debate-- between Democrats.
FDR's party had huge majorities in both houses, but there was a deep split between organization Democrats and a one-of-a-kind coalition of midwestern Progressives, right-wing Southerners, and the rump Republican delegation.
The Senate began hearings on the court-packing bill, but the committee chairman was in no hurry to push things along. A fundamental shift in Presidential power, and reduction of the independence of the Supreme Court, brought out all sorts of reluctant voices.
In the summer, the Senate Democratic leader proposed to advance the bill by fighting a filibuster. Then, he died of a heart attack.
The funeral ceremonies brought a truce. The Vice President, who had quietly opposed the whole thing, had long serious talks with his colleagues. In the end, the court-packing bill failed.
The whole story is well told in a book titled "Supreme Power."
“When, as my friend suggested, I stand before Zeus (whether I die naturally, or under sentence of History) I will repeat all this that I have written as my defense.Many people spend their entire lives collecting stamps or old coins, or growing tulips. I am sure that Zeus will be merciful toward people who have given themselves entirely to these hobbies, even though they are only amusing and pointless diversions.
I shall say to him : "It is not my fault that you made me a poet, and that you gave me the gift of seeing simultaneously what was happening in Omaha and Prague, in the Baltic states and on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.I felt that if I did not use that gift my poetry would be tasteless to me and fame detestable. Forgive me." And perhaps Zeus, who does not call stamp-collectors and tulip-growers silly, will forgive.”
― Czesław Miłosz, The Captive Mind
Robert wrote: "The last serious effort to increase the number of judges came after Franklin Roosevelt's re-election in 1936."Thanks for that historical perspective... is Biden reluctant to attempt this now because it would be too difficult to achieve (with the Senate being as it is) or is he opposed on principle? He apparently dismissed the idea yesterday.
It was a pleasure to recount the "court packing" episode, which I find a real drama. A Constitutional shift like increasing the number of justices may be more than Biden-- or most of the Senate-- has a stomach for now.
AB76 wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "This sort of thing is not new, the Democrats should have foreseen it and bust a gut to prevent this stacking of the Supreme Court. Interestingly, the precedents were reported by..."When I think of a constitutional court packed with politicians, rather than judges, I shudder. There has been a sharp transition on the Supreme Court because of three vacancies in four years-- Justice Scalia's death, Justice Kennedy's retirement, and Justice Ginsberg's death created vacancies in the Court's right, center, and left.
The unmentioned factor in the two latest major cases is Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas is the senior judge, who has just passed his thirtieth anniversary on the Court. If the Chief Justice is part of a minority, as in the abortion case, the senior Associate Justice chooses which of his colleagues writes the majority opinion. I suspect that Thomas picked Alito.
Justice Thomas had bitter brushes with Joe Biden when he was nominated for the Court of Appeal and as a Supreme Court judge. It is ironic that the old judge and the overaged President confront each other again.
Thomas has consistently opposed the court's 1973 Roe decision for decades, and has been the justice most committed to gun ownership as an individual right, so he has scored a double victory this week.
AB76 wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "No control on guns but control of women's reproductive rights.The poor as a source of future labour? That didn't occur to me,although I have been too angry about it for much coh..."
Two of the men who voted to overturn Roe v.Wade have faced serious sexual misconduct allegations, how does this in any way qualify them to a make a judgement about women's choices?
Greenfairy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Greenfairy wrote: "No control on guns but control of women's reproductive rights.The poor as a source of future labour? That didn't occur to me,although I have been too angry about it..."
exactly, Thomas and Kavanaugh
For the past 5-6 weeks i have been slowly perusing the brilliant
W. E. B. Du Bois's Data Portraits: Visualizing Black America.A whole world of Southern black experience lives on in the pioneering infographics of WE DuBois and his team from Atlanta University. The first visual sociological representation of the formely enslaved population, just before the great migrations north into the cities, that changed the south considerably.
DuBois exhibited his charts at the 1900 Paris Exposition and then in various cities in the USA. The charts are vibrant and packed with detail, Georgia was a particular focus as it had the largest black population in the USA in the 1890-1900 period.
I have not found any data on black women, birth rates and survival rates yet, in the light of last weeks terrible news it would be a poignant reminder, though i also plan to read DuBois's study of black Philadelphia and i may peruse that volume to see if that contains any such data later today
We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; ...All men, indeed.
Haven't been able to think about anything else since yesterday.
In "the land of the free" six people can, at a stroke of the pen, take away elementary rights from tens of millions of women. In a democracy. Against the will of the majority of American citizens.
It is a painful reminder that, however long and hard we women fought for our rights, however long we could enjoy them eventually, they are precarious. Rights that have only been lent to us and can be snatched away at will by the powerful. As it is: can we really say the women's movement has empowered women? Or has it only given us this illusion?
The same holds true for many other groups of people, workers, PoC, LGBT....
Friday was a black day for American women. Particularly for the young, the poor, the non-white. It was also a black day for women all over the world who had to watch this.
For American woman there will be more horrors in stock I fear.
Texas and Oklahoma already have the most perfidious laws where every Tom, Dick and Harry is encouraged to hunt down abortion providers, people helping women to procure an abortion and the women themselves for a substantial bounty. Not fundamentally different from how the Gestapo, and later the Stasi, got the bulk of their information. I can see other states doing the same.
I can also see that not far from now states might/will declare that, as a pregnancy starts when an ovum is fertilized, methods of contraception that abort this ovum will be outlawed. That would be the morning-after pill and IUDs.
In El Salvador women who had a natural miscarriage are jailed for homicide. Could that happen in the US? I wouldn't bet five bucks against it. Because these women could never prove they had not taken Mifegyne in order to terminate a pregnancy.
Far-right extremists are grabbing more and more power all over the world. I expect they will win the next election in the US. Not by numbers, but by gerrymandering and vote suppression and other tricks. The future looks scary indeed
giveusaclue wrote: I wonder how many of those judges would be against abortion if it was their daughter who had been raped?Not one of them. The daughter would be sent to a private hospital where "things" would be taken care of in the most discrete way. That would be it. All of it.
Georg wrote: "...every Tom, Dick and Harry is encouraged to hunt down abortion providers, people helping women to procure an abortion and the women themselves for a substantial bounty. Not fundamentally different from how the Gestapo, and later the Stasi, got the bulk of their information. I can see other states doing the same."The basic decision is bad enough, but this sort of thing is truly scary - the notion that a woman could be hunted down and criminalised for travelling to another state to seek a termination. In addition, as was pointed out yesterday, modern data generated by GPS on mobiles etc. might make this sort of thing easier to prove.
Big Brother, indeed... (see Bill's Venn diagram)
Isn’t the UK on the same path to deny human rights by passing new laws to facilitate right wing policies, to restrict unions, to prevent people from protesting, to lie and cheat, anything goes to hold onto power?
Breezy and very pleasent in the shires, as a good 2022 of reading continues, i am well overdue a duff, annoying readThe occasional theme of reading about tiny, protestant islands continues for the second time this year. First up was St Kilda(the memoirs of a local), inspired by CCC and others discussing the origins of the island population.
This time its Helgoland, a small rock about 40 miles off Cuxhaven in the North sea, that was briefly British and has been German since the 1890s. The book is Heligoland by Jan Ruger, telling the story of the island over the centuries
Its a beautiful place, with some stunning red cliffs and a population of a few thousand. Populated by people of mainly Frisian descent and ruled by Denmark, Britain and Germany over time. Less isolated than St Kilda with a larger population, apparently the words to the german national anthem were written on the island in 1841.
CCCubbon wrote: "Isn’t the UK on the same path to deny human rights by passing new laws to facilitate right wing policies, to restrict unions, to prevent people from protesting, to lie and cheat, anything goes to h..."yes CCC, i fear that this sack of idiots that masquerades as a govt will be trying all these things and more...
scarletnoir wrote: "Georg wrote: "...every Tom, Dick and Harry is encouraged to hunt down abortion providers, people helping women to procure an abortion and the women themselves for a substantial bounty. Not fundamen..."There was another slightly more complicated original version of Bills' Venn diagram, which if anything makes more sense to me. Its not about abortion, per se, but about the ability to coerce others, through the abuse of power, or through misinformation, into doing what they want you to do, or believe...https://i.postimg.cc/zGZ5LXxk/2905997...
CCCubbon wrote: "Isn’t the UK on the same path to deny human rights by passing new laws to facilitate right wing policies, to restrict unions, to prevent people from protesting, to lie and cheat, anything goes to h..."Oh, absolutely. Johnson wants to be able to mark his own homework - and anyway, why appoint an ethics adviser when you haven't got any ethics? They want to bring in a 'human rights law' - to reduce human rights! Certain forms of peaceful protest will be criminalised, as I understand it. Let's hope they're stopped, or back off.
Mod
The 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/t-...
Lljones wrote: "Some interesting choices here...The 25 Most Significant New York City Novels From the Last 100 Years
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/22/t-..."
Note that the selection appears under the heading of "T The New York Times Style Magazine" rather than the Book Review - I think this accounts for some of the selections: definitely McInerney, and probably Auster and Adler (though I haven't yet read the latter, so can't say how "New York" it is).
Though I liked them both, I can't say that I thought either Rosemary's Baby or Passing give a strong sense of NYC as a place.
Mod
I'd put Let the Great World Spin ahead of several on this list.
Wasn't Rosemary's Baby (the film) shot in the Dakota? Tres NYC...
scarletnoir wrote: "CCCubbon wrote: "Isn’t the UK on the same path to deny human rights by passing new laws to facilitate right wing policies, to restrict unions, to prevent people from protesting, to lie and cheat, a..."the crusade against human rights law is one of the shabbiest things the tories have been involved in, among many shabby things, they are adopting the idea of legislating out anything they disagree with, while harping on about global britain
was good to the clown absent from the G7 speeches today, with him off the stage so was "global britain" whatever that means after severing links with your nearest trading partner and re-writing 500 or so existing trade deals as new ones with small pacific islands, a rare sleight of hand...
Gpfr wrote: "MK wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "MK, thanks for informing us about the British Library Crime Classics event.Just watched it - most enjoyable! Have you seen it yet?"
Yes, just last night. I'm hoping to lis..."
That was such a treat. Of course I've added to my TBR list. I had also to find out if there is anything online that might interesting next month. There's one concerning Ukraine 🇺🇦 that I'll probably sign up for.
Being able to join in even when one is an ocean and a continent away is one of the few plusses from this awful epidemic.
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