Don's Book Corner

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Anyone read Everything I Want to do is Illegal?  I love the title.     Sounds like something I could relate to... so, I'm hoping to get a copy fairly soon and read it.  I'm reading a book my neighbor loaned me about food allergies right now... not because I have that many that I know about, but it was something that we got to talking about one day.

[MountainDon]

Everything I Want to do is Illegal.... looks like an interesting/good book.

Drawing upon 40 years' experience as an ecological farmer and marketer, Joel Salatin explains with humor and passion why Americans do not have the freedom to choose the food they purchase and eat. From child labor regulations to food inspection, bureaucrats provide themselves sole discretion over what food is available in the local marketplace. Their system favors industrial, global corporate food systems and discourages community-based food commerce, resulting in homogenized selection, mediocre quality, and exposure to non-organic farming practices. Salatin's expert insight explains why local food is expensive and difficult to find and will illuminate for the reader a deeper understanding of the industrial food complex.

Available at amazon.com


Has anyone read Ken Follett's Pillars of the Earth? It's a novel he wrote almost 20 years ago and I enjoyed it greatly back then. I am nearly finished the sequel World without End which came out in late '07. It's over 1000 pages; Pillars of the Earth is just under that.

The story in Pillars of the Earth revolves around the building of a Gothic Cathedral in an English town. World without End takes over after Pillars of the Earth, but the books can be enjoyed in any order. These are good stories as are the rest of Follett's work. I think over the decades he's written about 17 novels; I've read 'em all.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I halfway figured Drew had read it because I think he mentioned the other day about going to hear Joel Salatin speak... I've read a few articles by him and would like to read more.  I like his sense of humor even when he's talking about something serious...

[glenn kangiser]

I'm still trying to read all of Countryplans.Com.

Everytime I get close to done somebody adds something to it. 

[MountainDon]

Leviathan, by Eric Jay Dolin.
The History of Whaling in America

An interesting 300 year story of whaling in America beginning with the retrieval of beached whales in New England. Then advancing to "shore whaling" where land based crews would row out to kill and tow whales they had sighted back to the beach. And finally building ocean going ships that traversed every ocean of the world in search of whales. The ships were outfitted with rendering vats to extract the oil on site and then continue the hunt. These ocean trips often ended up spanning a period of up to 4 years.

At the highpoint of world whaling (circa 1850) the US had over 700 ships prowling the oceans for whales, more than the rest of the worlds fleets combined. The discovery of oil in Titusville, PA virtually overnight finished off the whaling trade.

There were three main products of whaling; Baleen [from the mouth, used in corsets], whalebone [assorted ues] and whale oil. Whale oil encompassed 2 types, regular whale oil from the blubber and sperm oil from the heads of sperm whales. Sperm oil was for years the best oil for lighting and for making spermaceti candles, the brightest, longest burning, cleanest candles ever made. It was also the best lubricating oil up to that point having great resistance to heat. Whale oil was the oil that lubricated the industrial revolution. Kerosene from coal and then petroleum oil was so cheap and plentiful it quickly supplanted whale oil as the oil of choice.

So the discovery of petroleum [technology] undoubtedly helped prevent the otherwise likely total extinction of whales. OMMV

[benevolance]

if we did not severly overfish the worlds oceans there would be a population explosion with whales as most of the world has stopped hunting them and the countries that do hunt them only take a few....Native inuit still harpoon a few... but the whale has rebounded and will thrive  mostly because they have no natural preditors

[Sassy]

Except for HAARP & other facilities like it around the world that sends out high frequency electromagnetic waves that confuse the whales & cause them to beach themselves...  http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/faq.html

[MountainDon]

I am currently reading Fatal Shore, The Epic of Australia's Founding. 112 of 600 some pages so far.

Trivia:   The American Revolution is indirectly responsible for the founding of Australia by whites. Up to the Revolutionary War England shipped convicts to America to be used as slave labor. With independence the American government forbade that. England muddled along for a few years with bursting prisons until they hatched the idea of sending convicts off to Australia. At that point there had been little interest in AU by any of the powers at that time; the British, the French and the Dutch.

[Sassy]

I'm reading a book called Heaven by Randy Alcorn.  If you've ever wondered what heaven will be like, he takes you through the Scriptures & explains it wonderfully, like I've never read before.  Comforting when you lose a love one.  I've also read some of his novels.   

[glenn kangiser]

I read forums.

[mvk]

speaking of:


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/worldbusiness/29swiss.html?ei=5065&en=be96c778a5f8828a&ex=1207368000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

I just read The Swiss Account, by Paul Erdman It's about our efforts to stop Nazi Germany's efforts to build the A bomb. They were really close I guess, any way it took place in Switzerland and it talks about the Swiss collaboration, at least the bankers they got away with a lot of looted gold for sure. It's a novel but many of the characters are real. It's one of the books that tells you what happened to the real people at the end. Interesting. We have a paperback library at work to fund something 3 books for a $1 so I read at breaks and lunch or I would have never read this.
Mike

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I just started reading Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  I've listened to her on the radio before and thought it would probably be a pretty good read.  Only a few chapters deep thus far.  Of course it might take a while to finish it with all my copious spare reading time!  Most of my reading these days consists of lessons with the kids and I'm reading Treasure Island to my 5-year-old, who thought the cover looked exciting.  So far, she's pretty interested, but I don't think she likes it as well as the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.  My little one likes the Little House books, too... I got tickled listening to her playing the other day and she was talking about how Daddy was Pa, Mama was Ma, Sissy was Mary, she was Laura, and the baby is going to be baby Carrie.  Oh, and Grover the dog is Jack. 

[MountainDon]

My newest read is Desperate Passage, The Donner Party's Perilous Journey West, by Ethan Rarick.

It's a new book, copyright 2008. I knew the basic premise of the Donner Party, getting stuck in the snow in the Sierrs'a, the cannibalism, but that was about it. They were an unlucky group. There were many bad decisions made by the group from a late start at the jump off point of Independence, Missouri to trying an unproven route. They had the option of correcting the "bad moves" but always made the "wrong" decision. Ninety-five out of 250 so far. Lots of footnotes, references, which I like to see in a history.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I have actually finished far more of the book above than I would've thought by now.  Maybe about 3/4 through it?  Would be a good study book for a group. 

Also decided to finally read Fast Food Nation.  Have wanted to read it for a while and found it at a thrift store for 50 cents, so it's been sitting on the shelf (or in moving boxes) for a while.  So, should start it today.

[MountainDon]

Piece of trivia... from Desperate Passage...

The first life insurance company in the US was formed in 1843. The policies they wrote did not cover you if you went west of the Mississippi. It was too dangerous and the likelihood of the insurance company having to pay out too great. It wasn't until the CA 1849 gold rush that the, by then, many insurance companies would underwrite someone heading west. The premiums were higher than for those who stayed east.




also, the Donner Party missed getting over the last range by one day. And they had wasted many days along the journey. 

[mvk]

I have read several books on this and will probably read this one at some time. I do recall that at least some of the group missed by one day. Weren't they kind of spread out at different camps by then or did it come later. That book said it snowed 7 ' in a storm starting that night. I also remember there incredible bad luck . And  also poor judgement at times. I also remember them cutting a road only and making about 1/4 mile a day for a long time?

mike

[MountainDon]

You're right mvk, some of the group missed by one day. There was another splinter group another day behind them.

The route they took through the Wasatch Mtns of UT forced them to cut trees through dense  forest on steep ground. Their progress was so slow that during that time they didn't even move camp several times for a few days. It was easier to walk the short distance to where they had left off clearing, than to move the campsite. That's slow progress.

It's an incredible story.

[MountainDon]

My latest book read is another by Jon Krakauer. Krakauer wrote Into The Wild, the story of Chris McCandless, a young man who set off to live in the wilds of Alaska where he unfortunately perished. Krakauer also wrote Into Thin Air, a first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. Krakauer is a mountaineer and has one other book on the subject of mountaineering and adventure, Eiger Dreams. I greatly enjoyed all three of those books, so when I noticed that Krakauer also had penned a book that centers on the FLDS church I had to get and read it. The library notified me last Friday that Under The Banner of Heaven was ready for me to pickup.

In Under The Banner of Heaven Krakauer examines the extremes of religious belief as held by the FLDS church. Specifically, he focuses on  the practice of polygamy among fundamentalist Mormons and the issue of absolute obedience required of women to their husband. Marriages are always arranged by the leaders; the leader assigns brides as he sees fit.

The theme that the book begins and ends with is the story of the Lafferty brothers, who in 1984 murdered the young wife and daughter of one of their brothers in the name of their fundamentalist faith.

Krakauer takes the reader through a history of the Mormon church, beginning with the youth of the founder Joseph Smith, through the time of Smith's revelations from the angel Moroni, which led him to publish the Book of Mormon and found the Mormon faith. We learn what led up to Smith's shooting and death, the selection of Brigham Young as the next leader and Young's efforts to safely bring the membership west to the Great Basin area. We're told that polygamy was not a part of the Mormon culture in the beginning. Polygamy evolved as Smith had more revelations. In 1890 as the Utah Territory was seeking statehood, the LDS Church renounced polygamy as a tenet of their faith. That was a condition required for statehood. That rejection of polygamy was the catalyst for the formation of the FLDS and some other splinter groups.

Also mentioned is the aspect of welfare fraud being perpetrated today by the FLDS in AZ and UT, as well as in the spinoff settlement in Bountiful, BC, Canada. For example the "spiritual wives" (#'s  2, 3, 4, etc....) are not recognized by the state governments. The FLDS have wisely not attempted to register them as legal marriages. That allows those wives to apply for various federal and state aid programs as single mothers. The county where Colorado City, AZ (a FLDS stronghold) is located has a rate of food stamp, medical and other public assistance benefits that is 8 times greater than that of the rest of the state. Included are several personal histories related to Krakauer by women, who escaped from the control of the FLDS church. There's too much to go into a chapter by chapter review.

To be fair, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the LDS) has objected, declaring "This book is not history, and Krakauer is no historian. He is a storyteller who cuts corners to make the story sound good." However a brief checking on some of the references in the book, as well as some of my previous reading does confirm some of the aspects of Krakauers account.

All in all, I've found much food for thought.

Krakauer's new book, The Hero, will be released on October 14, 2008. The Hero will be about former NFL football player Pat Tillman, who enlisted in the US Army after 9/11 to become an Army Ranger and was eventually killed in action under suspicious circumstances in Afghanistan. In addition to performing research in Afghanistan, Krakauer was able to interview members of Tillman's family and read Tillman's diaries and letters, to prepare for writing the book. That promises to be a good book as well.

Available at amazon.com where there are hundreds of more detailed reader reviews as well.

[MountainDon]

Also decided to finally read Fast Food Nation. 

I added that to my library request list today... have to find room for it...   

[MountainDon]

This book is too funny!!

Delete This at Your Peril: One Man's Hilarious Exchanges with Internet Spammers by Bob Servant

at amazon.om
http://www.amazon.com/Delete-This-Your-Peril-Hilarious/dp/1602392757/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210042003&sr=8-1

Excerpt:

From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: Delete This At Your Peril
FROM HIS ROYAL HIGHNEST, JACK THOMPSON
Dear sir,
Permit me to inform you of my desire of going into business. I got
your name and contact from the chamber of commerce and
industry. I am JACK THOMPSON, the only son of late King Arawi of
tribal land. My father was a very wealthy traditional ruler, poisoned
to death by his rivals in the traditional tussle about royalties and
related matters.
Before his death here in Togo he called me on his sick bed and
told me of a trunk box containing $75m kept in a security company
where i amin the city of Sokode. It was because of the wealth he was
poisoned by his rivals. I now seek a foreign partner where I will
transfer the proceeds for investment as you may advise. I am willing
to offer you 20% of the sum as a compensation for your effort/
input and 5% for any expenses that may occour.
Anticipating to hear from you soon.
Thanks and God bless
JACK THOMPSON


From: Bob Servant
To: Jack Thompson
Subject: Greetings
Good morning your Majesty,
I want 30%, and not a penny less,
Your Servant,
Bob Servant


From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: I will speak to the bank
Hello Bob,
See these percentages was arranged by the bank and not me. If
you insist on getting 30% of the money i have to call the bank.
DELETE THIS AT YOUR PERIL
Pls send your
FULL NAME.
CONTACT PHONE NUMBER.
ACCOUNT NUMBER.
COUNTRY/STATE:
I will be expecting those details.thanks.
JACK THOMPSON.


From: Bob Servant
To: Jack Thompson
Subject: Good luck with the bank
Your Majesty,
Let me know what the bank says. Tomorrow's a bank holiday here, I
don't know if you have the same ones? My full name is BOB
GODZILLA SERVANT.
Yours,
Bob


From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: Hello
Hello Bob,
I went to my bank. If you are now requesting 30% we have to go
back to the high court to change things. I and my family members
has added some amount upon your money provided you are going to
be serious and trustwordy. We have agreed to give you 25%. Pls i
think that is all we can do.
We need your telephone number, country, state, city and account
number before we can go further.
Jack Thompson


From: Bob Servant
To: Jack Thompson
Subject: Let's try the court
Good Morning Your Highness,
DELETE THIS AT YOUR PERIL
Please go to the High Court and request the 30%, I think it is a fair
figure Jacky-O.
Bob


From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: YOUR URGENT RESPONSE NEEDED
Dear Mr Bob,
In order not to waste more time I have agreed the 30% and have
notified the court and my family accordingly. Within these few days
now, I have developed that confidence in you and believe that you
will be of great assistance in perfecting this transaction.
We have to go ahead immediately. Please email me -
1. Your address
2. Private Telephone and Fax Numbers
3. Banking details to enable transfer of the money to you.
I await your immediate response,
Jack Thompson


From: Bob Servant
To: Jack Thompson
Subject: Hold Tight...
Your Highness,
I have been looking at the sums again, and I have decided that I
want 40%.
And not a penny less.
Bob


From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: URGENT FROM MR JACK THOMPSON
Dear Bob,
Please let us PROCEDE. I am not greedy. I will offer you the 40%
instead of delaying the transaction. I want it done, no matter how
little it will change my life. Send your details now. Like I told you I
DELETE THIS AT YOUR PERIL
need to meet with the security company immediately,
I await an urgent response,
Jack


From: Bob Servant
To: Jack Thompson
Subject: Taxman
Jack,
40% sounds about right. However, I do not want the money in cash,
as there is no way I could hide it. The taxman tried to turn me over
back in '89 when I was coining it in from the cheeseburger vans, and
those bastards always come back.
Can I have my share in diamonds and gold? I can shift it
gradually through pawnshops in Lochee.
Bob


From: Jack Thompson
To: Bob Servant
Subject: URGENT
Hello Bob,
I received your mail and I guess I understand it. As for the diamond
and gold, I think I have access to raw gold. You will get your share in
some amount of cash and some valuable quantity of gold. Look Bob
you are wasting some time in forwarding your details that I need
urgently. So now that we have come to an agreement can I have the
details now please,
Thanks,
Jack

This goes on for pages and pages. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I've read some of the exchanges in the past and think they're absolutely hilarious. It's amazing that the spammer went on and one with it as long as he did. 

[glenn kangiser]

Here's one I did.





> From: lindamorgan@gerfinerbk.com
> Subject: Re: Glenn Kangiser - (Reply Requested) glenn-k
> To: glenn-k
> Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2007 23:06:17 -0700
>
> To: Glenn Kangiser
> Po Box
> Mariposa CA 95338
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear Glenn Kangiser,
>
> I am Linda Morgan the credit manager of Gerfiner Bank Cayman Islands. I have a proposal to discuss about a late family member Mr. A. Kangiser's Fixed account in Gerfiner Bank, Please contact me through email or call if you are interested to know more.
>
> I am currently on a 6 months banking course in the United Kingdom so you can call me on +44-120-223-3866
>
> Regards,
> Mrs Linda Morgan
> TEL:+ 44-120-223-3866
> FAX:+ 44-709-287-9730

RE: Glenn Kangiser - (Reply Requested) glenn-k‏
From:    glenn kangiser (glenn-k
Sent:    Sun 7/01/07 12:15 AM
To:    lindamorgan00@yahoo.no

Sorry, Linda-- Possibly only a distant relative.

> From: lindamorgan@gerfinerbk.com
> Subject: More Details For Glenn Kangiser
> To: Glenn-k
> Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2007 03:59:13 -0700
>
> Dear Glenn Kangiser,
>
> I know this means of communication may not be morally right to you as a person but i also have had a great thought about it and i have come to this conclusion which i am about to share with you.
>
> As i earlier introduced myself to you i am the credit manager of Gerfiner Bank Cayman Islands and in one way or the other was hoping you will cooperate with me in this endeavor i am about to undertake.
>
> I stumbled upon the account of a deceased client of this bank and i figured out that since you share a common name with him Kangiser, i believe you are related,i decided to contact you with this privileged information regarding his account, he goes by the name of Albert L Kangiser
>
> I also hired a private investigator who got me your contact and said your family or you as the case maybe has a high chance of being one way or another either close or very distance a relation to him being that he was traced to you through the surname similarity, now my proposal to you is that i want you to cooperate with me in seeing that these funds of the Late Mr Albert L Kangiser does not go down the drain.
>
> HOW ?
>
> Let me explain.
>
> At the end of a five year depository mandate of any bonded depository account, if such an account is not claimed or renewed to commence another tenure of 5 additional years, a 6 months period of grace is granted to the account holder or its designated beneficiary, a probate order of Mandamus is then issued to provide such a beneficiary whereby failure to do so at the end of its expiration the funds will be quarantined and shared amongst the directors of the bank at the end of that fiscal year.
>
> This is about to happen to the said funds of the late Mr Kangiser and the amount involved is $7.8 Million US Dollars (Seven Million Eight hundred thousand US Dollars), this i feel may not be to upright from both my end and also the end of the directors of the bank but i think it would rather be more beneficial to you and i who at the end of the day will use the funds to affect the lives of other people as well as close family members and well wishers.
>
> Now what i intend for you to do is to facilitate me with all your basic details such as:
>
> FULL NAMES
> HOME MAILING ADDRESS
> TEL/FAX NUMBERS
> OCCUPATION
> AGE
>
> These information will be used by an attorney which i will hire to facilitate all the
> relevant change of ownership documents apart from the basic documents which i have in my posses ion, as all copies of such documents will be provided to you as well for your records.
>
> Once this has been actualized the attorney will present the claims documents to the appropriate quarters in the bank and once they have all necessary details you will be contacted by the bank within 48hrs.
>
> I want you to please look at this opportunity as a good cause and please remove every form of guilt from your mind because at the end of the day it's either the bank officials get the funds or we get the funds one way or another someone gets to gain, i also want you to know that the whole process is 100% safe and you are guaranteed of your safety.
>
> If this is OK by you i will kindly indulge you to provide me with these basid details for confirmation
> of which after doing so i will furnish you with the claim form and i will also direct you on a step by step basis as to how you will approach this matter and secure the funds effortlessly.
>
> I await your response so that we can commence this project as soon as possible.
>
> Regards,
> Mrs Linda Morgan
> TEL:+ 44-120-223-3866
> FAX:+ 44-709-287-9730
>

[glenn kangiser]

...and --- my reply which unfortunately ended the communication...

RE: More Details For Glenn Kangiser‏
From:    glenn kangiser (glenn-k
Sent:    Thu 7/05/07 11:55 PM
To:    lindamorgan01@yahoo.no


Sorry Linda,

The memories are still too strong for me -- It's as if it was yesterday and now you are making me relive it all over again.

Poor Albert thrashing around in the water yelling -- help me, HELP ME .  I can't swim.  We threw our oars to him out in the water to help him float but he couldn't reach them.  One -- two--- three times he went under -- screaming all the way.  I can still hear his muffled screams from under the water as he went unwillingly to the bottom of the deep.

Hopelessly sucked out to the sea by the riptide at the end of the Salmon River, we no longer had control of the boat -- we had thrown the  oars to Albert.  After drifting hopelessly at sea for 7 days, we were finally rescued by a Russian trawler whereupon after taking us to their infirmary and rendering first aid, they returned us to Portland.  The only port large enough to accommodate their ship.

I'm sorry to bore you with the gruesome details.  It is much too close to my heart.  I feel no good could come from his money.  While unwillingly and beyond our control, we did let him die.  It's a bad omen.  Perhaps his children....

Sorry.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

 

That's great!  Too bad she didn't reply... it would have been fun if you could've dragged it out even more.

[glenn kangiser]

I thought it was a bit humorous.