IGX

Human Smoke, by Nicholson Baker.. This was mentioned here a few years ago and I've finally gotten around to it. This is a different kind of book. Instead of a conventional narrative, Baker recounts hundreds of vignettes describing events leading up to the second world war, from statements made by leaders to events people took little notice of at the time, like Goebbels and a gang stopping the showing of All Quiet on the Western Front. It's a compelling story, and Baker tells it well. I have a different take on it than I would have a few years ago, though. Now, I see the obvious parallels to our own time, from swattings to organized riots to the lust for war (again). We never learn. We never change. The warmongers are still stoking the flames, the mobs are still easy to incite, people are still getting killed for the profit of a few, and most are either enthusiastic about the conflagration or indifferent to it. Human Smoke details history but we can also see it unfolding all around us, every day. Recommended.

Mass Observation, the British government's morale-sampling service, concluded that people in England found the war too dull. "A new restlessness is settling in, a desire for something to happen, however unpleasant." It was February 1940.

Popular Crime, by Bill James. We have a crime problem, and a criminal justice problem, and there are those who call for a return to the good old days. In Popular Crime, James details how there were no good old days, that crime has always been with us, and the mendacity and incompetence of police and prosecutors was much worse in the past. James describes a number of famous crimes and the media and social atmosphere around them, with his own commentary on both. He writes in a opinionated, acerbic style, just like he uses in his baseball writing, and he seems to have as much passion for popular crime as he does for baseball. He writes about a famous crime, and then takes us on a digression through his opinions on things, from juries to parole to crime reporting. He may not convince you of the truth of his theories about crime or how it's handled but he does hold my interest. And while he's critical of many books and movies about crime, he does give recommendations of some he likes. While I disagree with James about a lot of things, Popular Crime is an interesting and thought provoking read.

motherjuggs&speed wrote: ↑Tue Sep 17, 2024 11:19 pm I liked All the Wrong Moves so much I read it almost nonstop and wouldn't stop that night until I finished it. One of the things I liked about it is the reality of Sasha's journey. There's a survivor's bias at work in most books of this type, or maybe it's a publisher's bias: The author goes on a journey to learn or improve at something, and after training with his own Mr. Miyagi, he's amazing at it. As if that's the way things work. Sasha struggles and doesn't really get that much better, because that's what happens in chess: people don't get much better. Although Sasha struggles with his manic obsessions, it's not all grim. There are many funny moments and Sasha brings his experience to the page very well. Recommended.

I thought you might like it. Your review is much better written than mine, but I enjoyed it too.

CHAOS: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties, by Tom O'Neill. In 1999, Tom O'Neill started pulling at loose threads in the accepted narrative of the Manson murders, and he kept at it for almost 20 years. Chaos is almost as much about O'Neill's reporting as it is an account of what happened but that makes sense considering his claims. Many things O'Neill reports would be hard to believe if he didn't name his sources, and if those people weren't in a position to know. I'll say here that O'Neill states clearly that Manson and his people did everything you think they did, but they were also in the middle of a mix of what could be described as questionable behavior by the LAPD, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Office, the DA's office, judges, Manson's parole officer, and yes, the CIA. Chaos doesn't present a coherent, conclusive picture of what happened, though. O'Neill says in the book, and has said in interviews, that he's reluctant to say what he thinks happened because he doesn't want to cast doubt on what he's confident of. So let me say what picture I think he paints: For about two years, the CIA kept Manson out of prison by exerting pressure on the LAPD, LASO, and different judges who Manson appeared before on a number of different charges. Whether this was part of MKULTRA, the FBI's COINTELPRO, both, or something else is unclear, but what is clear is that many agencies and people within them acted in ways that led me to wonder just how deep the rabbit hole goes. 4.4/5.

Magic Pill by Johann Hari.

This is a book about Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonist drugs.

I’m going to stop there and say that Hari is a known fraud (you can look at his Wikipedia), and heavily distrusted this book—especially the anecdotes. He basically got booted out of the UK for bad journalism and re-branded himself as a US science writer.

That said, whatever the veracity, he’s easy to read. And I wanted something to help me form an opinion as more people I know take these drugs. As I was finishing it, I had my first client start on Wegovy. And, half-way through, my first friend admitted she’d been on Wegovy for months. She got shredded, dropping 30lbs, had a six-pack, then scaled back to a quarter-dose and gained ~5lbs back. She also claims her overall mental health is better and plans to stay on it the rest of her life.

So what’s the takeaway?

If you:

A) Can’t, or won’t, break your junk-food addiction….
And
B) You’re already obese.

The health risks seem to be better for these drugs than to keep cramming your pie-hole with junk food.

Increased thyroid cancer risk, pancreatitis, suicidal thoughts, mental dullness, and nausea are all risk factors. Plus I’ve heard sexual dysfunction and mood swings anecdotally.

I’ll never believe that people are incapable of quitting junk food, so I’ll never endorse these drugs.

Give the book a 4.2/5 (Hari already has been called out for falsifying an anecdote in this book).

Bram
I have a very simple diet. Protein from unflavored whey protein isolate with water, salmon, sardines, chicken, 25 gram protein yogurts, cottage cheese, fruits, vegetables, frozen berries, and some fats - avocados, feta cheese and recently gouda cheese because Dr. Pradip Jamnadas, MD recommended it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tokEa2DGcaA
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=tokEa2DGcaA[/youtube]

He also suggests sauerkraut, but it comes with vinegar in the supermarket here which ruins the positive effects on the microbiome or kimchi which I could probably get by driving into Tel Aviv but there's a ton of traffic and the parking fees are outrageous.

Why am I writing this? My oldest friend is a guy I met at a high school graduation party in June 1967. I had actually played softball against him and his brother when we were ten years old in 1959 but didn't know them. Jacob as he calls himself now, was a fairly good athlete and on the JV football and baseball team in high school but he decided to quit. I guess he weighed 180 pounds in high school. I hadn't seen him in maybe 15 years, and he weighed probably 350 pounds when he came to visit me at my parents' house in the midwest about 15 years ago. I went into shock. He could barely squeeze out of the car and had an oxygen tank. He blamed all the weight gain on the chemicals put in foods that addict people. I thought he was crazy and just couldn't stop himself from eating.

He had bariatric surgery and gained a lot of weight back and has almost died at least five or ten times. I spent a week with him in 2015, and he had cleaned up his diet and did a lot of cooking but was still about 315 pounds I would guess. Here is what I found about ultra processed food and addiction.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/hi ... q?form=fpf

and a lot of other articles
https://www.google.com/search?q=ultrapr ... e&ie=UTF-8

I am very fortunate that I have no desire for any of that stuff. I stopped eating ice cream and popsicles months ago. My only sources of sugar these days are from energy bars and Coca Cola for workouts with weights or when I ride my carveboards. Once in a while I eat some of this mint chocolate bar from France https://www.chocolate.lindt.com/lindt-e ... e-bar-100g

I believe it is possible to stop eating ultraprocessed foods, but most people will need a lot of help since they are very cheap. Robert Kennedy Jr. said that most of the research money for Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Health etc. are from ultra processed food companies. if Trump is elected he will serve in his administration and sponsor research to prove that those foods are addictive and sue the companies that produce them. He believes the lawsuits will bring in billions of dollars. I couldn't find the exact youtube video, where he made those claims but here is some information I found.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news ... f-elected/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x42G68Hdq4E&t=3s


https://www.wavy.com/news/politics/ap-r ... s-elected/
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defe ... oundtable/

Maybe it's here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI9Kg2naNfs&t=6s


Kennedy helped clean up the Hudson river in New York
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS4y7DHiESE&t=1s


A lot of people hate Trump, and you may also, but I believe Kennedy is sincere. I have so much information about the problems caused by the covid vaccines that I have come to the conclusion that the major media organizations that demonize Kennedy and doctors against the vaccine like Peter McCullough https://www.petermcculloughmd.com/. like the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, CBS, PBS, MSNBC etc. are lying. I knew they were lying in 1967. That’s 57 years ago.

I was at the Peace March in Washington DC in the fall of 1967. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was packed on both sides with people. I went with my cousin. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_M ... cting_Pool

It is approximately 2,030 feet (620 m; 3⁄8 mi) long and 167 feet (51 m) wide.[3] The perimeter of the pool is therefore 4,392 feet (1,339 meters; 13⁄16 mile) around. We waited 45 minutes to march on the Pentagon. The line didn’t move, and we gave up and returned to our motel. I saw a photo in Time or Newsweek magazine the following week. It showed about 2,500 people and said the size of the crowd was not much more than that.

In 1967, I entered Columbia University. TV reception in the dormitory was impossible. I listened to the radio and found listener supported WBAI FM. https://www.wbai.org/. It had a news report about the Vietnam War from Reuters https://www.reuters.com/ that was probably a lot more honest in those years. One evening there was the claim that bubonic plague was occurring in North Vietnam because the jungles were being defoliated with toxic chemicals sprayed by the American air force. I found this

https://www.academia.edu/77310192/Makin ... ietnam_War

It doesn’t definitively say that the USA caused it, but I know what I heard on the radio. 25 years later in the San Francisco Sunday paper, there was an article that said bubonic plague was caused by the US military defoliating the jungles in Vietnam with toxic agents.

I read how the New York Times lied about the Columbia University campus strike in 1968. I could not believe that they were covering the same events I was seeing with my own eyes.

We all have to make choices. I took the covid vaccine 3 times, got vaccinated when I went to Costa Rica in 2015, have taken the flu vaccine numerous times, and when I wanted to travel to India in 1978. I am not against all vaccines. My children were vaccinated in the 1990s in California and here in Israel. I won't take any more covid vaccines for a lot of reasons. I have friends who vehemently disagree. You may also.

Bottom line. Ultraprocessed foods are a major source of disease. How to quit them is not easy for a lot of people.

Shit, Lenny! I’ll have to go through your above post. Thanks for all the links and time you put into it

The Dawn Patrol by Don Winslow.

P.I./surfer who only works enough to own a working wetsuit and have a belly full of fish tacos. A stripper ends up dead and it’s up to Boone Daniels to solve the case before an epic swell hits.

It starts cheesy—“the waves are going to be epic macking crunchy”—and yet….I totally got drawn in. It’s also set about 2 miles from my apartment, with the big wave section set at a place I’ve surfed a bunch.

Meditations Before Mass, Sophia Institute Press edition. This is a collection of essays on how one can best prepare for a religious service but the ideas can be applied more generally. It's very thought provoking, leading me to rethink some things about my default settings.

I guess I should explain that a bit. Mathias Grunwald Verlag takes the view that many of the attitudes that people bring to the Mass are disrespectful, misguided or both. He specifically mentions sentimentality as one of the traps to be avoided. To apply this to a practical experience, I used to approach nature with a very self indulgent attitude. I even thought for a while that I could commune with the trees, ffs. I'm not saying, and I'm sure Verlag wouldn't say, that the lessons in his little book are necessarily applicable to other things, but it does make me think about some things in a new way. Now I have to finish it so I can take back this review.

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.

The book starts now, in the mid-2020's, with a horrific event caused by global warming. That first chapter is a banger, but it's the only gripping chapter in the book. You get many long chapters on economics and politics, with shorter ones told from the perspective of history, or a blockchain, or a photon. There are a few main characters, and they reappear, weaving an okay story of life fighting for justice. Then there's plenty of chapters told from characters at a strip mine or living in a refugee camp or working in the Antarctic.

I did learn some interesting things, like the Spanish/Basque community effort in Mondragón—a real, interesting, and successful alternative to capitalism. And the book is hopeful and shows somewhat-realistic ways out of the climate crisis.

But mostly I'm so happy this book is over. A page-turning slog. Which leaned more towards slog in the final hundred pages. Taking it as a good reminder to not recommend books until I've finished them.

Bram wrote: ↑Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:35 pm Taking it as a good reminder to not recommend books until I've finished them.

I have to follow that rule as well. It took me forever to finish CHAOS once I posted my review. Have to not assume "oh, it will be quick" and jinx myself. Also, there's one book I liked based on the first 30 pages that I now think is bad (Change Your Brain Change Your Life by Daniel Amen).

Not Too Late by Gwendolyn Bounds

Gwendolyn is a journalist at the Wall Street Journal. In her mid-forties, she decides something is missing. After googling “world’s hardest things,” she enters the world of obstacle-course racing.

Although initially lacking in athleticism, she attacks her pursuit with admirable levels of passion and a drive to learn. Her first races are challenging, but over time she finds community, purpose, and podium-finishes.

It’s interesting reading a book in a genre that is usually male-dominated. Here you have a successful, gay woman who wants more from life, and leans on many of the books that have had an impact on myself: George Leonard’s Mastery, Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me, and so on.

I came away impressed with how filling this one hole in her life, led to a refinement of how she spends her free time, the courage to pursue a fuller life outside of racing, and who was really important: her wife, her parents, her dog, her best friend.

MJ&S,

Here’s hoping we both find thoroughly engaging books in 2025.

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett.

Wow! Some of the best writing I've ever encountered. The Humphrey Bogart film is outstanding in bringing this story faithfully to life, but the novel stands on it's own merit.

9.5/10

Arthur Rimbaud's poems. I studied French for ten years from the age of ten through university level courses. I must have read some of this but don't remember it.


I have read parts of Illuminations Les Illuminations before. I glanced at a Season in Hell Une Saison en Enfer. It's obvious to me that this is like a really LSD trip. A real bummer. He did a lot of drugs particularly hashish as a teenager which is terrible for the developing brain of an adolescent.
https://alcoholrecoveryrehab.com/alcoho ... -verlaine/

Rimbaud who wrote his major works from the age of 16 to 19 is considered a major poet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rimbaud

He influenced Bob Dylan among others.

I also started reading a book on geometric logic. I want to review calculus and actually understand it this time around - my fourth. I had it in high school, university and on studied quite a lot on my own twice in the last 20 or so years. I worked my way through 120 pages of a college calculus book about a fifth of the text and solved at least half of the problems.
Michael Spivak's Calculus. and even bought the answer book.
I have the answer book

I love to learn and have to leave Israel before this place goes down.

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.

I've heard of this book for many years, but someone suggested it recently, and thus I ordered it. As an aside, 100% of the books people recommend, I either order from the library or toss in my Amazon basket. A great policy!

What a beautiful book. It's an account of an old man slowly dying, and telling his former college student what he found valuable in the course of his life. I found it sad, of course, and shed a few tears. But I also found it wise and it caused me to break out in smiles too.

We're all going to die. But if we can fill our life with as much joy and meaning and as little regrets as possible, all the better.

Highly recommended!

Perpetual Chess Improvement by Ben Johnson.

I hate studying chess notation (1.d4 d5, etc.) and I have no interest in competition or online play, but I’m drawn to understanding chess better for the sake of moving the pieces with harmony.

This is a great book for covering all the modern forms of chess improvement: implementing chess engines, dozens of book recommendations, and great quotes and advice from master-level players (and beyond).

There are a number of positions to play through, nearly all of which I skipped, as well as each game in full they are derived from.

But the heart of this book is ideas on improving, which can be then applied to all sorts of other endeavors.

Tips that Stood Out

* “It’s important to try not to fight against what you enjoy studying in chess. If you’re like, ‘Well, I enjoy studying openings, but instead I’m just going to grind out endgames for the next two years,’ it’s easy to get a little discouraged.” — Dr. Courtney Frey

* GM Jacob Aagaard’s Three Questions Before Each Move:

1. Where are the weaknesses?
2. Which is the worst-placed piece?
3. What is your opponent’s idea?

“These questions are useful for below-average club players all the way to strong grandmasters.” — Jacob Aagaard

Another suggestion from Aagaard: “What is good about my position?”

In the past month, I read two books on shamanism:

Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide by Sandra Ingerman.

The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary by Angeles Arrien.

About eight years ago, I participated in a shamanic journey as described in the first book. Totally sober, I joined a small group and “Cousin Jeff” led us to the spirit realm. There I encountered a power animal or guardian spirit. It was a very unusual experience and is a subject that, until last month, I hadn’t investigated further.

The first book describes this process and how to re-create it, on your own or with a group. But, the author is a licensed family and marriage counselor, so it also contains less esoteric advice. This passage stood out:

“We live in a culture that encourages us to try to help people whether they want it or not. Instead, I believe that we need to respect each other’s choices—how each of us individually learns, heals, and grows. People do not heal or grow until they are ready for it. It does not work to push healing onto others. Information is a form of healing, so please wait until someone asks for help before interfering in their life.”

There is a lot of criticism of this style of shamanic journeying, called neo-shamanism, and is associated with a man named Michael Harner and his book The Way of the Shaman.

It’s pretty out there to consider a spirit realm, but I did have a vivid experience. A Beginner’s Guide is only around 100 pages and is an easy to read introduction to this possibility.

The Four-Fold Way is a distillation of indigenous advice into four general archetypes: the Warrior, the Healer, the Visionary, and the Teacher. When someone expresses each quality fully, the idea is that person is then expressing their fullest potential.

Being brave and present.
Aware of what has heart and meaning.
Speaking the truth.
Open to all possibilities, unattached to outcome.

I’ve been struggling with how to respond to a few tough situations and this book helped.

For example, I have an issue with speaking the truth when it has a high chance of upsetting the apple cart. So I keep the peace, but watch people get mistreated. It’s something I’m actively tackling because of reading this book.

I don’t have any affinity toward shamanism, but I am motivated to address my weaknesses. The Four-Fold Way asked good questions and offered good advice.

Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov by Fred Waitzkin.

Published in 1993, this is centered around the fifth world championship match between Kasparov and Karpov (the previous champ):

Garry Kasparov had been unable to overwhelm Anatoly Karpov in their previous four championship bouts, each of them exhausting and very competitive, which in aggregate encompassed 120 games, about 600 hours of play. In 120 games, Kasparov had managed to win only a single game more than Karpov.

Their match takes place right after the massacre of Armenians in Baku (Kasparov is Armenian and from Baku) by Azerbaijanis (who were then wiped out by Soviet troops).

Karpov allies himself with the Soviet machine, while Kasparov is a fierce dissident.

There’s great insights into the thought process and creation of a gifted world champion and some fun, thought-stimulating chess commentary. But by the end, I was exhausted by Kasparov’s mercurial personality. Waitzkin and him become friends, and you sense the author is tired of him too by book’s end.

On a side note, Waitzkin is also the author of Searching for Bobby Fischer, which I’m a big fan of—both the book and the movie. I enjoyed seeing characters from there, like his son Josh (who also befriends Kasparov), factor into this story.

One last bit I liked:

“He sometimes says to me, ‘Come on, Garry, you’re playing against human beings.’ But I want to find the best, best, best. I’m looking for the best move. I’m not playing against Karpov, I’m playing against God.”

7.5/10

Island Wisdom by Kainoa Danes and Annie Daly.

This is a short primer on the traditional Hawaiian way of doing things. After visiting Hawai’i last month, I was struck by the sacred appreciation of nature by some of the locals I met. As someone who loves and values nature, especially the ocean, seeing this done at a deeper level affected me.

So I googled in search of a good book to better understand Hawai’i. This was great! It’s a blend of self-help, stories, and an intro to Hawaiian words and concepts. Along with a few recipes and how to make a lei.

The Hawaiian approach of collectivism, love, and personal purpose is something that resonates and I’m glad I picked up this primer.

9/10