What Are You Reading

[Harp]

That sounds like an interesting book - I'll have to go check it out.

Is anyone on Goodreads? I really like it as I can keep track of what I'm reading, what I want to read, new books coming out in every genre imaginable, etc. It's like my online library.

Quite often. Book Slut is another... Check out Phi Beta Kappa's The American Scholar-unfortunately the academic types at TAS apparently have never read Emerson-
and The New Criterion is an excellent source.

 

[LizzieMaine]

"Preachers Present Arms," by Ray H. Abrams, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Published in 1933, this is a fascinating look at how the American clergy consistently subjugated itself to the interests of nationalism thruout the first hundred and fifty years of American history. Abrams contends that with the exception of a few traditionally "peace" churches -- and not even, always, them -- the clergy have consistently fought to suppress any deviation from the nationalist line in times of war, and have allowed themselves, as in the case of the Spanish-American War and, especially, the first World War, to be used a direct outlet for militaristic propaganda, often on contravention of their own traditional teachings. Instances in which the clergy has participated -- and even led -- both the political and physical persecution of dissenting groups are well-documented. A fascinating bit of careful muckraking on a topic that rarely gets sufficiently raked.

 

[ChiTownScion]

"Preachers Present Arms," by Ray H. Abrams, professor of sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. Published in 1933, this is a fascinating look at how the American clergy consistently subjugated itself to the interests of nationalism thruout the first hundred and fifty years of American history. Abrams contends that with the exception of a few traditionally "peace" churches -- and not even, always, them -- the clergy have consistently fought to suppress any deviation from the nationalist line in times of war, and have allowed themselves, as in the case of the Spanish-American War and, especially, the first World War, to be used a direct outlet for militaristic propaganda, often on contravention of their own traditional teachings. Instances in which the clergy has participated -- and even led -- both the political and physical persecution of dissenting groups are well-documented. A fascinating bit of careful muckraking on a topic that rarely gets sufficiently raked.

Sounds like a good read. Growing up, it always galled me whenever I'd encounter some pulpit screamer who was about my dad's age (old enough to have served in World War II, our last declared war) but who had avoided the dangers of armed combat in their youth through a clergy deferment. All the while wrapping themselves in the flag and playing the God & Country card for every nickel they could shake out of gullible congregation members. At the same time, I always respected committed religious pacifists who maintained that stance even in the face of popular hostility.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One thing that's particularly damning in this book is the discussion of how clergymen were in the forefront of promoting the social ostracization and physical persecution of German-Americans during the first World War -- and it wasn't just the hard-shell fire-and-brimstone types who took the lead in this. One of the worst offenders was Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, a leading exponent of the Progressive-era social gospel who became so swept up in war propaganda that he turned his back on just about every principle he'd preached earlier. He single-handedly hounded the great Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler off the American concert stage, advocated the mass sterilization of all captured German POWs, and suggested that a worthy goal might be simply to exterminate the German people. Speaking of Germans he wrote "They have no more relation to the civilization of 1918 than an orang-outang, a gorilla, a Judas, a hyena, a thumbscrew, or a scalping knife in the hands of a savage. These brutes must be cast out of society."

These were the words of a widely-respected, entirely mainstream man of the American cloth. Small wonder mainline religion fell into deep disrepute in the America of the 1920s.

 

[Fading Fast]

...and suggested that a worthy goal might be simply to exterminate the German people. ....

There is a horrible irony to this line.

 

[LizzieMaine]

There is a horrible irony to this line.

Exactly. And yet just twenty years earlier, this very same man wrote "The Investment Of Influence," one of the fundamental works of the Social Gospel, which declared over and over again the responsibility of every Christian to selflessly love and help their fellow humans.

We often wonder how "those civilized Germans" of the Nazi generation could have been complicit in what they did. I suggest that the philosophical journey of the The Rev. Dr. Hillis demonstrates that we don't need to look to them for the answer.

 

[Harp]

SCOTUS slip opinion Salman cert. Alito pitched for a unanimous bench with a narrow application of Dirks respective insider trading info.
Arguably this opinion makes criminal prosecution of said ostensibly easier; however, current technology/dissemination ease will prove problematic
for successful trial pursuit irrespective of the Court's admirable intent. Very impressive work by the 'brethren,' which may be Justice Ginsberg's last bow.

 

[Fading Fast]

SCOTUS slip opinion Salman cert. Alito pitched for a unanimous bench with a narrow application of Dirks respective insider trading info.
Arguably this opinion makes criminal prosecution of said ostensibly easier; however, current technology/dissemination ease will prove problematic
for successful trial pursuit irrespective of the Court's admirable intent. Very impressive work by the 'brethren,' which may be Justice Ginsberg's last bow.

Please dear God tell me you are reading this as part of your work / job / career?

I'm in finance, and keep up on this stuff, but it is definitely not in my "fun read" bucket.

 

[Harp]

Please dear God tell me you are reading this as part of your work / job / career?

I'm in finance, and keep up on this stuff, but it is definitely not in my "fun read" bucket.

When I was in law school, I was called on the first day of Constitutional Law to recite the facts of Marbury, aced that, pissed off the prof,
and had my gluteus maximus dragged all over the Constitution as a reward. After class a small group assembled around my seat, sympathizing,
asking if I wanted to get a complaint petition going-but I enjoyed every minute of the "Socratic," and I still thoroughly enjoy the law,
though I turned down Kirkland & Ellis and left law for vagabond academe and capitalist pursuits.

 

[Fading Fast]

When I was in law school, I was called on the first day of Constitutional Law to recite the facts of Marbury, aced that, pissed off the prof,
and had my gluteus maximus dragged all over the Constitution as a reward. After class a small group assembled around my seat, sympathizing,
asking if I wanted to get a complaint petition going-but I enjoyed every minute of the "Socratic," and I still thoroughly enjoy the law,
though I turned down Kirkland & Ellis and left law for vagabond academe and capitalist pursuits.

That is impressive. Also, how great to truly and deeply love what you do.

 

[Harp]

Have you ever read Richard Teweles' The Futures Game? Teweles has had eight or nine runs since first published and is a fascinating
and extremely well written work on commodities speculation. When I was in law school I worked the overnight desk at Lind-Waldock
and I was hired largely because I had cited Teweles, but had never traded since I was flat-ass broke in college. Excellent and a fun read.

 

[Fading Fast]

Have you ever read Richard Teweles' The Futures Game? Teweles has had eight or nine runs since first published and is a fascinating
and extremely well written work on commodities speculation. When I was in law school I worked the overnight desk at Lind-Waldock
and I was hired largely because I had cited Teweles, but had never traded since I was flat-ass broke in college. Excellent and a fun read.

I have not, but will look into it. The original "Markets Wizards" book by Schwager, "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" and "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" were some of the books that helped me the most - and still do.

 

[ChiTownScion]

One of the worst offenders was Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, a leading exponent of the Progressive-era social gospel who became so swept up in war propaganda that he turned his back on just about every principle he'd preached earlier. He single-handedly hounded the great Austrian violinist Fritz Kreisler off the American concert stage, advocated the mass sterilization of all captured German POWs, and suggested that a worthy goal might be simply to exterminate the German people. Speaking of Germans he wrote "They have no more relation to the civilization of 1918 than an orang-outang, a gorilla, a Judas, a hyena, a thumbscrew, or a scalping knife in the hands of a savage. These brutes must be cast out of society."

Shocking fact: upon vetting this guy I discovered that he was at one time the pastor of the very church where my wife and I were married 31 years ago, and where my son was later christened. It appeared that he drifted to the Congregationalists after his gig there, nearly a century before we came upon the scene.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Shocking fact: upon vetting this guy I discovered that he was at one time the pastor of the very church where my wife and I were married 31 years ago, and where my son was later christened. It appeared that he drifted to the Congregationalists after his gig there, nearly a century before we came upon the scene.

I was astounded to discover that he was the father of one of my favorite 1930s feminist authors, Marjorie Hillis, who wrote a series of best-selling books for smart, independent women, starting with the famous "Live Alone and Like It." She did not, in anything of hers that I've read, echo in any way any of her father's more disturbing beliefs. After running across his name, I remembered that I had read, and still have a copy on my shelf, of "The Investment of Influence," and had a very hard time squaring what that book said with what he was saying in 1918.

Connections like this take me by surprise, but they probably shouldn't. I grew up reading "Doc" Rockwell's humor column ("Maker of Fine Cigar Ashes Since 1889") in Down East magazine, and when I discovered radio, I enjoyed listening to his guest shots on the Fred Allen program -- he was a fast-talking "nut comic" who had been a big hit in vaudeville before retiring to Boothbay Harbor, just a half hour drive down the road from where I live. Imagine my surprise when I realized that he had a son who went on to some degree of fame of his own, and that son was named George. As in George Lincoln Rockwell. As in, yes, *that* George Lincoln Rockwell. Brrr.

 

[2jakes]

George Lincoln Rockwell

"Hearing of his son's death, Rockwell's 78-year-old father said:
"I am not surprised at all. I've expected it for quite some time."

Matt Koehl, the second in command at NSWPP, moved to establish control over Rockwell's body and
the assets of the NSWPP, which at the time had some 300 active members and 3,000 financial
supporters. Rockwell's parents wanted a private burial in Maine, but declined to fight with the Nazis
over the question.
Rockwell being an honorably discharged veteran.
Federal officials approved a military burial at Culpeper National Cemetery
Cemetery specified that no Nazi insignia could be displayed, and when the fifty mourners violated
these conditions the entrance to the cemetery was blocked in a five-hour standoff, during which the
hearse (which had been stopped on the railroad tracks near the cemetery) was nearly struck by an
approaching train.
The next day Rockwell's body was cremated."
George Lincoln Rockwell - Wikipedia

 

[Fading Fast]

Finished "Radio Girls" by Sarah-Jane Stratford a novel based on the early days of the BBC and its progressive views (for the time) toward women in the work place.

The story - a poor young girl who gets a break by being hired as a secretary at the BBC only to flourish both professionally and personally from the opportunity - is by-the-numbers okay with the weaving in of real historical characters like Hilda Matheson (head of "Talks" at BBC) and John Reith (Director General of the BBC) a big plus. Additionally, learning something about how the BBC approach the new technology and cultural change brought about by radio is interesting.

But the story - whose political leanings I share about 80% of - are handled in such a black-and-white and modern perspective that it turned me off. The "good" characters are too good and the "bad" guys (and they are, I think, all men) are two-dimensional bad. Also, the "good" characters hold views that are too modern as if they were beamed in from 2016 to work at the BBC in the late '20s.

If it wasn't for the borderline obnoxious "perfect 2016 politics" of some characters, I might have looked past the other flaws, but in the end, I found myself annoyed at a book I could have easily enjoyed.

 

[AmateisGal]

I just started Kate Atkinson's A God in Ruins, set in England around World War II. It's sort of a sequel to her Life After Life which I thoroughly enjoyed.

 

[Harp]

A bit of chaff culled off the low hanging internet fruit: The Only Way Forward-Can the new world order be saved by humanism? by Anne-Marie Slaughter

Stuff for the commuter train.

 

[DNO]

Alex Grecian's The Devil's Workshop. Deals with Scotland Yard's murder squad in 1890.

 

[Tommy]

Recently finished I Was A Fugitive From A Georgia Chain Gang by Robert E. Burns. Good autobiographical of it's time 1920's are early 30's book, written with his brother, a guy describes his harrowing experience and escape.