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"This book leads the reader through the story of two young people of wealth and affluence who escape to a simpler way of life for a time. Their adventures in simplicity are watched over and guided by a wise pastor who has an almost messianic effect on his parishioners. At the end of the book they have not only found the joy of truly living, they have fallen in love with each other." -- Paul Whetten at www.goodreads.com/book/show/778664.Invitation_to_Live
This brings to mind a quote attributed to George R. R. Martin: "Love is poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same."
Poison
Chocolate coated
100 tablets No. 1369
Strychnine sulfate
1/30 grain
(0.0022 GM.)
DOSE - 1 tablet
2104 977378
Lilly
Eli Lilly & Company
Indianapolis, U. S. A.
Notes
This bottle is displayed in the Rothschild's apothecary museum in Syracuse, NY's Museum of Science and Technology.
According to the Wikipedia page the entire bottle theoretically contains less than the LD/50 dose for a small child.
“The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson” is one of Twain’s lesser known novels, but it may be one of his best. Set in the early years of the 19th century, this pre-Civil War satire tackles social issues still being debated today. Here is what the Goodreads website has to say about the novel (at www.goodreads.com/book/show/682793.Pudd_nhead_Wilson):
“At the beginning of Pudd'nhead Wilson a young slave woman, fearing for her infant's son's life, exchanges her light-skinned child with her master's. From this rather simple premise Mark Twain fashioned one of his most entertaining, funny, yet biting novels. On its surface, Pudd'nhead Wilson possesses all the elements of an engrossing nineteenth-century mystery: reversed identities, a horrible crime, an eccentric detective, a suspenseful courtroom drama, and a surprising, unusual solution. Yet it is not a mystery novel. Seething with the undercurrents of antebellum southern culture, the book is a savage indictment in which the real criminal is society, and racial prejudice and slavery are the crimes. Written in 1894, Pudd'nhead Wilson glistens with characteristic Twain humor, with suspense, and with pointed irony: a gem among the author's later works.”
The book contains over a thousand illustrations, which are distributed in the margins throughout the text, a technique that had never before been used for a Mark Twain text. Two artists, F. M. Senior and C. H. Warren, supplied the copious, cartoon-sized pictures required for this mode of illustration.
The first edition of the book also has a bonus story called “Those Extraordinary Twins.” "‘Those Extraordinary Twins’ was published as a short story, separate and distinct from its origins inside Twain's ‘The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson.’ As Twain explains, he extricated ‘Twins’ from ‘Pudd'nhead’ when he found, as he was writing, that he'd created a farce inside a tragedy. This is the excised farce, a story about Italian Siamese twins who completely take over a small Missouri town, splitting it down the middle with half supporting one head and the other, the other.” [From the Introduction by John Greenman for the LibriVox audio edition of the “Twins” story at librivox.org/those-extraordinary-twins-by-mark-twain/]
Vicksburg, Mississippi est. 1825, pop. (2013) 23,542 • MS Delta
Marker:
U.S. Three-Inch Ordnance Rifle,
Made in 1863 by the Phoenix Iron Company, Phoenixville, Penn.
The original carriages were made of white oak and iron.
These, made around 1915, are of iron and concrete.
• site crowns the highest hill in Vicksburg • land donated by the family of the city's founder, Newitt Vick • built by the Weldon Brothers, immigrants from County Antrim, Ireland • Greek Revival design attributed to William Weldon in collaboration with slave John Jackson, a noted draftsman & artist who "drew the plans for many of the public buildings erected by [the Weldon's], including the courthouses still standing at Raymond and Vicksburg." —"The Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom in the Old Southwest: Mississippi, 1770--1860," John Hebron Moore, 1988
"The Weldon Brothers... Well known in Mississippi as large building and bridge contractors, owned and educated to mechanic pursuits, 100 slaves, many of whom are now residing in the river counties of the State, and most of them are well-to-do. Their draughtsman, John Jackson, a natural genius in that line, lives now at Port Gibson, the scene of much of the work of the Weldons. He painted the handsome drop curtain at Odd Fellow’s Hall, Port Gibson, and assisted in drawing the plans of the handsome Court house at Vicksburg, which the Weldons built in 1858.
"The writer had large dealings with these brothers in the days of their activity, and knows that while they were strict and exacting with their slaves, they were yet kind in their treatment; feeding and clothing them well; and they were not unmindful of their proper enjoyment; the suppers and music at their Christmas balls costing sometimes as much as $600. Tom Weldon was a very passionate man, as well as powerful and brave. Sometimes he would strike the negroes with his fist, and if they showed fight, it was his boast that he always gave them a white man’s chance, and fought fairly with them to the end. He had a fine mind, and but for his profanity was an eloquent talker.
"He equipped a company for the war at Natchez – the Weldon rebels [Co. L, 44th Mississippi Reg., C.S.A.] – but was employed, himself, chiefly in the secret service of the Confederate Government. George, the oldest of the three brothers, was very loquacious, and a great reader. William was a milder mannered man than the others, and very intelligent." —"Random Recollections of Early Days in Mississippi", Horace Smith Fulkerson, 1885
• Thomas Weldon (1816-1865) is said to have been instrumental in developing an electric spark underwater torpedo (naval mine) • on 12 Dec, 1862 it sank the USS Cairo, the first US warship ever destroyed by this type of weapon • "USS Cairo gunboat sunk by an IED" —Standing Well Back
• the Weldons utilized ~100 highly skilled slave artisans at the job site to burn brick & erect the $100K courthouse • the Ionic capitals were cast by Baker Iron Company, Cincinnati & transported to the site by river boat • stucco finish applied to exterior, 1907 • bldg. retains original iron doors & shutters
• Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), a local planter who became president of the Confederacy, launched his political career on these grounds • bldg. targeted by Union warships on Mississippi River during the American Civil War's 47-day Siege of Vicksburg • became the symbol of Confederate resistance • following the city's surrender, 4 July, 1863, Union soldiers under Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant replaced the Confederate flag with the Union flag on the Courthouse cupola [photo]
• U.S. Presidents Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley & Theodore Roosevelt spoke here, as did woman's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt & black American icon Booker T. Washington
• bldg. was neglected after the completion of the New Warren County Courthouse (1940) • damaged by the 1953 Vicksburg Tornado • demolition considered • aware of the building's historical significance, Eva ("Miss Eva") Whitaker Davis (1892-1974) established the Vicksburg & Warren County Historical Society in order to to preserve it • on 3 June, 1948, the courthouse reopened as the Old Courthouse Museum • exhibits reflect the heritage of the area from pre-historic Indians through the present day • has one of the largest Civil War collections in the U.S.A.
• named one of the 20 most outstanding courthouses in America by the American Institute of Architects • Old Courthouse History • Court House Lagniappe Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Historic Vicksburg District • HABS MS-119 • designated Mississippi Landmark, 1986 • National Register 68000029, 1968 • designated National Landmark, 1968
Manhattan, NY (settled 1624, pop. 1.6MM) • East Village
• Grace Episcopal Church • French Gothic Revival design by 25 yr. old James Renwick, Jr. (1818-1895), his first major commission • cornerstone laid, 1843 • church consecrated, 1846 • church history
• built of “Sing Sing marble,” actually Tuckahoe Marble quarried from the Sing Sing Quarry [photo] by Sing Sing Correctional Facility prisoners
• spire, 226’ high, was among the tallest points on the early NYC skyline • originally wood, was replaced by a marble spire, 1883
• situated in one of the most visible locations in Manhattan, the corner of East 10th St. where Broadway bends S/SE, aligning w/ the city’s avenues [c. 1900 photo]
• for much of the mid/late 19th C., considered NYC’s most fashionable church & most prestigious site for marriage or burial • like many other churches, charged “pew rents,” an annual fee for the use of its seats • initial pew rents were $3/wk. (= $114 today), thus the congregation in the early years consisted largely of wealthy New Yorkers [1918 video]
“In his 1882 New York by Gaslight, author James, D. McCabe, Jr. would point out, “At the morning service a greater display of wealth and fashion is presented here than at any other city church. Grace Church has been the scene of more fashionable weddings and funerals than any other place of worship.” —Daytonian in Manhattan
• on 10 Feb, 1863, the American Civil War was raging, demonstrations, protesting the country’s first military draft were on the verge of becoming full-blown draft riots, and a widely anticipated event took place in Grace Church; Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) — a wealthy, international celebrity better known as General Tom Thumb — and Mercy Lavinia Warren (1841-1919) exchanged wedding vows • both were proportionate dwarfs in the employ of P.T. Barnum, performers at his American Museum
• Stratton was a gifted entertainer who sang, danced & performed physical comedy, stage name taken from “The History of Tom Thumbe,” a story first published in 1621, attributed to London romance writer Richard Johnson (1573–c.1659) • Lavinia began her career performing on a river boat, signed w/Barnum, age 21
“The church was comfortably filled by a highly select audience of ladies and gentlemen, none being admitted except those having cards of invitation. Among them were governors of several of the States, to whom I had sent cards, and such of those as could not be present in person were represented by friends, to whom they had given their cards. Members of Congress were present, also generals of the army, and many other prominent public men. Numerous applications were made from wealthy and distinguished persons, for tickets to witness the ceremony, and as high as sixty dollars [= $1,400 today] was offered for a single admission. But not a ticket was sold; and Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were pronounced ‘man and wife’ before witnesses.” —P.T. Barnum, “Struggles and Triumphs”
• the Brooklyn Eagle editorialized, “We are surprised that the clergy, or representatives of so respectable a body as the Episcopal Church should, for a moment, allow themselves to be used by this Yankee showman to advertise his business”
• amid widespread criticism of the church for it’s complicity in what was widely viewed as another Barnum publicity stunt, Stratton responded, “It is true we are little but we are as God made us, perfect in our littleness. We are simply man and woman of like passions and infirmities with you and other mortals. The arrangements for our marriage are controlled by no showman.”
“The more than 2,000 invited wedding guests [photo] appeared to be a who’s who of American nobility, including a number of congressmen and high-ranking generals, in addition to the thousands of average New Yorkers who showed up hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous tiny couple.” —A General, a Queen and the President
“The wedding party’s arrival outside the church at half past noon touched off a stampede among combatants fighting for a close-up view. The police restrained them only with extreme exertion. Inside, ‘an instantaneous uprising ensued,’ The New York Times reported the following day. ‘All looked, few saw. Many stood upon the seats, others stood upon stools placed on the seats. By many, good breeding was forgotten. By very many the sanctity of the occasion and the sacredness of the ceremonies were entirely ignored. As the little party toddled up the aisle, a sense of the ludicrous seemed to hit many a bump of fun, and irrepressible and unpleasantly audible giggles ran through the church.’” —Boundary Stones
• the couple received wedding presents from wealthy Americans, including a miniature horse-drawn carriage fashioned by Tiffany & Co. • the ceremony, officiated by Stratton’s hometown minister, Junius Willey, was followed by a reception at the Metropolitan Hotel, attended by guests who had purchased tickets from Barnum
• the newlyweds [illustration] then traveled to Washington where Charles’s brother was stationed w/ the Union Army • checked in to Willard’s Hotel
• on 13 Feb, 1863, a well-publicized reception for the couple was held in the East Room of the Lincoln White House, hosted by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln & America’s tallest president [illustration] —Andrew Martin
Livinia Warren: “[The] President took our hands and led us to the sofa, lifting the General up and placed him at his left hand, while Mrs. Lincoln did the same serve for me, placing me at her right… Tad, the favorite son, stood beside his mother and gazing at me… whispered to his mother, ‘Mother if you were a little woman like Mrs. Stratton you would look just like her.'”
“The marriage of Gen. Tom Thumb cannot be treated as an affair of no moment -- in some respects it is most momentous. Next to LOUIS NAPOLEON, there is no one person better known by reputation to high and low, rich and poor, than he…
“Those who did and those who did not attend the wedding of Gen. Thomas Thumb and Queen composed the population of this great Metropolis yesterday, and thenceforth religious and civil parties sink into comparative insignificance before this one arbitrating query of fate -- Did you or did you not see Tom Thumb married?” —NYT 22 Feb, 1863
• Stratton retired wealthy • couple lived in a Bridgeport, CT mansion, owned a yacht, a summer home in Massachusetts [photo] and a custom-built cottage on Cut in Two Island East in Connecticut’s Thimble Islands • in 1855, when bad investments forced Barnum to file for bankruptcy, Stratton provided financial assistance d& became Barnum’s business partner
• 28 yrs. later, Charles died of a stroke • the couple’s lavish lifestyle had reduced their wealth but enough remained to support Lavinia’s retirement • chose instead to return to the stage, used the stage name “Mrs. Tom Thumb” & assembled a troupe of touring “Liliputians”
• married Italian proportionate dwarf Count primo Magri (1849-1920), who, with his brother, joined the troupe • Count & Countess [photo] lived in Middleborough, MA, • summers, operated a roadside general store for auto tourists called Primo’s Pastime, where they posed for photos w/customers —Atlas Obscura
• the Mrs. Tom Thumb company toured the country [photo], garnering favorable reviews, e.g., “The entertainment given by the Mrs. Tom Thumb Company Saturday was really a fine thing. The little people cannot help being interesting and the tricks of magic were also good, as were the music and trained birds, but the suspension in mid- air of the little countess and change of character was the best thing of the kind ever seen here,” —Newburyport (MA) Herald following a 2 July, 1889 performance at the Exeter (NH) Opera House
• shortly after Stratton’s death, theaters began staging re-enactments of the couple's nuptials • “Tom Thumb weddings,” aka "miniature weddings, became a fad in the 1890s-1900s and continued to be staged by churches, community organizations and charities well into the late 20th C., mainly as fundraisers [photo]
• Grace Church is a National Historic Landmark designated for its architectural significance and place within the history of New York City, and the entire complex is a New York City landmark • one of seven New York City buildings designated by the Municipal Art Society as being of national importance, to be preserved at all costs
designations:
NY Landmarks Preservation Commission:
• church & rectory landmarked, 1966
• Fourth Avenue church houses landmarked, 1977
National Register of Historic Places:
• church & dependencies, # 74001270, 1974
• national historic landmark, 197
Day 378- Today two things arrived in the mail for me. The first is a hat my cousin sent me from LL Bean. The second is a book I won from Goodreads.
Cover2-Best quote book ------- An organized collection of very best quotes of all time in very systematic way as an interactive PDF. Customized according to alphabetical order & Contains quotes of Great legends & some top most categories as books, music, A.I, movies, teamwork, Business etc. An organized collections of 200+ pages & 2000+ quotes. The great book of best quotes of all time.
Get the book from Direct Link:
From Goodreads
GONE MISSING - Rumspringa is the time when Amish teens are allowed to experience life without the rules. It’s an exciting time of personal discovery and growth before committing to the church. But when a young teen disappears without a trace, the carefree fun comes to an abrupt and sinister end, and fear spreads through the community like a contagion.
A missing child is a nightmare to all parents, and never more so than in the Amish community, where family ties run deep. When the search for the presumed runaway turns up a dead body, the case quickly becomes a murder investigation. And chief of Police Kate Burkholder knows that in order to solve this case she will have to call upon everything she has to give not only as a cop, but as a woman whose own Amish roots run deep.
Kate and state agent, John Tomasetti, delve into the lives of the missing teen and discover links to cold cases that may go back years. But will Kate piece together all the parts of this sinister puzzle in time to save the missing teen and the Amish community from a devastating fate? Or will she find herself locked in a fight to the death with a merciless killer?
HER LAST BREATH - An extraordinarily beautiful Amish woman, a dangerous femme fatale, is the central figure in a story that reveals a dark side of Painters Mill and its seemingly perfect Amish world
A rainy night, an Amish father returning home with his three children, a speeding car hurtling toward them out of nowhere.
What at first seems like a tragic, but routine car accident suddenly takes on a more sinister cast as evidence emerges that nothing about the crash is accidental. But who would want to kill an Amish deacon and two of his children? He leaves behind a grieving widow and a young boy who clings to life in the intensive care wing of a hospital, unable to communicate. He may be the only one who knows what happened that night. Desperate to find out who killed her best friend’s husband and why, Kate begins to suspect she is not looking for a reckless drunk, but instead is on the trail of a cold blooded killer amid the residents of Painter’s Mill. It is a search that takes her on a chilling journey into the darkest reaches of the human heart and makes her question everything she has ever
believed about the Amish culture into which she was born
********************************************************************************************************
MY REVIEW - I think I have learned a few things while reading Linda Castillo's Kate Burkholder series. They are as follows:
1. If Painters Mills is a real town, I don't want to go anywhere near it. There is way too much death and deceit going on there and I'm not sure if the police department would be able to keep my ass safe.
2. I think I have established an un-natural fear of the Amish. No seriously...
3. I will never pass by any abandoned farmhouse and not think of someone strung up in a dirty smelly room.
4. I will never look at the Underground Railway and tunnels the same way.
5. Everytime I pass a farm and smell manure I think of manure pits and how easily someone could be pushed into one.
6. Two words...Abandoned Silos
Now about the Book(s) - Kate has more baggage attached to her than a whorehouse full of ex nuns. WTF is wrong with this woman? As the books go on she seems to fall deeper and deeper into despair. She seems to be one of those people who does not learn from her mistakes. She figures out what went wrong at the end, but doesn't figure out how not to eff up the next case. She puts the Amish of Painters Mills on such a high pedestal that she seems to forget that they are people just like the rest of us who make mistakes and are capable of committing all kinds of heinous acts of crime. She may have physically left the faith, but mentally she never left. That is what she seems to struggle with in every book. Don't get me wrong, I love the flawed character. I think that is what makes these book so exciting. However, I'm hoping to see Kate grow a bit if more of these are to be written.
Pickle, Toby, Tiffany, Buddy and Jasper!! :)
“Motivo y variación sobre el fortuito encuentro con Thomas Bernhard“.
ISBN: 978-1-4092-1550-9.
Get it on paper of download it for free @ Lulu / Bubok.
Se trata de un cuadro teatral basado libremente en los peculiares textos de Thomas Bernhard.
Edición bilingüe (español-english).
Diseño: Estudi Prats
Imagen de la cubierta: Fernando Prats
Costante collaborazione importante: Rivera Valdez
Versión inglesa: Emilia Cavecedo
Additionalités: Alicia Pallas
Prólogo: Oriol Espinal
Wydrukowano w Hiszpania
Inregistrata in SUA
Skriving i Argentina
La primera versión del presente texto se representó en directo en buenos aires, julio 1999, de acuerdo a la siguiente ficha técnica:
actores: eleonora mónaco, alejo recalde, sony báez, fernando prats
música original: sony báez y fernando prats
una producción de ‘teatro del vértice’
asistencia de dirección: mónica castaño
dirección de actores: eleonora mónaco
dramaturgia y dirección general: fernando prats
La presente obra se ha basado libremente en los siguientes textos de Thomas Bernhard:
“En las alturas” (1959) Anagrama (1989)
“Sí” (1978) Anagrama (1985)
“Extinción” (1986) Alfaguara (1992)
“El sobrino de Wittgenstein” (1982) Anagrama (1988)
//////////////
It's about a drama scene freely based on Thomas Bernhard's peculiar texts.
A bilingual edition (español-english).
English version by Emilia Cavecedo, design by Estudi Prats, cover photo by Fernando Prats, prologue by Oriol Espinal, additionalités by Alicia Pallas and Rivera Valdez' costante collaborazione.
The present text’s first version was performed live in Buenos Aires, July 1999, according to the following cast:
actors: eleonora mónaco, alejo recalde, sony báez, fernando prats
original music: sony báez & fernando prats
a production of ‘teatro del vértice’
assistant director: mónica castaño
performing director: eleonora mónaco
general director and dramatist: fernando prats
The present play is freely based on the following thomas bernhard’s texts:
“On the mountain” (1959)
“Yes” (1978)
“Extinction” (1986)
“Wittgenstein’s nephew” (1982)
# # #
Motivo y derivación
por Oriol Espinal
Sí, le digo sin mirarle el rostro, un rostro que por otra parte nunca he visto y a cuyo dueño le digo que sí a pesar de que la inexorable y cercana extinción de otro rostro que sí conozco (algo menos el alma que oculta) me empuja a decir que no, a recriminarme que cuando uno se encuentra atrapado en ciertas honduras emocionales no es recomendable refugiarse en las alturas de la palabra, y que para hablar de lo que no se puede hablar, mejor callarse, como por otra parte dejó escrito el famoso hermano de un no menos famoso pianista manco. Pero como a juicio de Aristóteles la amistad no puede considerarse como tal si uno no se comporta con el amigo como consigo mismo, hablaré, todavía no sé de qué, tal vez de fríos, de sótanos liberadores, tal vez de Thomas Bernhard, acaso de un tal Fernando Prats, ese amigo, artista y animador cultural cuyo rostro nunca he visto, o tal vez sí y yo no sepa que alguno de los rostros que he mirado a través del visor de mi cámara/máscara está asociado a la referencia onomástica con la que el susodicho firma sus heterogéneos pasos de baile: ayer una fotografía sostenida por una hermética peana textual, mañana un poemario antipoético de lo cotidiano, hoy el texto de un cuadro teatral estrenado en Buenos Aires, como el que me acaba de mandar por correo junto a una invitación a prologarlo, un texto acerca del cual que no puedo continuar hablando sin antes haber escuchado su verdadera dimensión mostrativa. En ello estoy. Callo, minimizo mi procesador de textos y me dispongo a descender los peldaños del motivo y variación sobre el fortuito encuentro con la bestia negra del católiconacionalsocialismo austriaco.
Tras un descenso un tanto precipitado, preludio suicida al que ha seguido una detenida y no-mística ascensión, regreso a las alturas de mi procesador de textos y me pregunto si resulta lícito hablar de aquello que ya habla y calla por sí mismo. En todo caso, diré que durante mi expedición me he preguntado si todo intento creativo (abocado irremediablemente al fracaso, como piensa Bernhard y muy probablemente Montaigne) justifica el sacrificio de una vida en estado puro, una vida sin una lógica que haga del trueno un silogismo, sin una música que desafíe el zumbido de una mosca, sin unos artilugios que traten de atrapar lo que ya dejó se ser, ofreciéndonos como triste trofeo un espejismo cuya contemplación nos arrebata la oportunidad de un nuevo instante de pureza, de rayos de luz y baile de polvo, de ausencia de mugre y de peste, de griterío de chusma de escuela secundaria ante las personalidades extraordinarias que adora. ¿Merece la pena renunciar a esa vida sin tiempo ni memoria y decantarse por las grietas y supresiones que dividen el mundo, aunque a través de ellas se haga difícil escuchar, sin que se desmorone como si fuera un montón de piedras, la voz ubicua de Julio Cortázar diciendo: “Toco tu boca, con un dedo toco el borde de tu boca”? No sé. ¿Acaso lo saben Ele y Ejo? ¿Y Hamm y Clov? Qué saben del mundo esas cuatro maneras de sentir y razonar que no supieran Bouvard y Pécuchet. La siempre irreductible realidad es una palabra hueca que torpemente define una exégesis neuronal a la cual no nos queda otro remedio que agarrarnos si no queremos que nuestra propia nada nos precipite a la nada de los otros, al infierno sartriano, al infierno urbano de Ejo, al infierno inacabado que las lumbreras del fascismo refinan de noche y maquillan de día.
//////////////
Motif and derivation
por Oriol Espinal
Yes, I tell him without looking at his face, by the way, a face I have never seen and to whose owner I say yes in spite of the inexorable and close extinction of another face I do know (a bit less the soul it hides) pushing me to say no, to reproach myself that when one is trapped within certain emotional depths it is not advisable to take shelter in the word’s heights, and that to talk about what cannot be talked about, better keep quiet, as the famous brother of a no less famous one-handed pianist left written.
But, as to Aristotle’s judgment, friendship cannot be considered as such if one doesn’t behave towards the friend as towards oneself, I’ll speak, I still don’t know what about, maybe of colds, of releasing cellars, maybe of Thomas Bernhard, perhaps of some Fernando Prats, that friend, artist and cultural host whose face I’ve never seen, or possibly I have and didn’t notice some of the faces I’ve seen through my camera/mask viewfinder are associated to the onomastic reference with which the aforesaid signs his heterogeneous dance steps: yesterday a picture supported by an hermetic textual stand, tomorrow an antipoetic collection of poems of everyday life, today the text of a drama scene premièred in Buenos Aires, such as the one he has just sent me by mail, together with an invitation to write its prologue; a text I cannot keep talking about before having heard its true demonstrative dimension. I’m working on it. I make silence, minimize my word processor and prepare myself to descend the motif and variation steps on the fortuitous encounter with the Austrian Catholicnationalsocialism’s bête noire.
After a somewhat hasty descent, suicidal prelude after which a detailed and non-mystic ascension has followed, I go back to the stage of my word processor and ask myself if it’s legitimate to talk about that which talks and silences by itself. In any case, I’ll say during my expedition I’ve asked myself if every creative attempt (inevitably doomed to failure, as Bernhard and probably Montaigne think) justifies the sacrifice of a life in pure state, a life with no logic making thunder a syllogism, without music defying a fly’s buzz, with no gadgets trying to catch that which already is no more, offering us as a sad trophy a mirage whose contemplation seizes our chance of a new instant of purity, of rays of light and dust dance, of absence of filth and stink, of high school rabble shouting faced to the extraordinary personalities they adore.
Is it worth renouncing that life without time or memory and pour off through the cracks and supressions dividing the world, even if it is difficult to listen through them, without crumbling as a stone pile, the ubiquitous voice of Julio Cortazar saying: “I touch your mouth, I touch the edge of your mouth with my finger”? I don’t know. Do Ele & Ejo know it? And Ham & Clove? What do those four ways of feeling and reasoning know about the world Bouvard & Pécuchet didn’t know already? The always irreducible reality it is a hollow word clumsily defining a neuronal exegesis we have no other remedy but holding on to, if we don’t want our nothingness to rush us into somebody else’s nothingness, to the sartrean hell, to Ejo’s urban hell, to the unfinished hell the fascism luminaries refine at night and make up by day.
Oriol Espinal,
Barcelona, july 2008
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Love After Love - by Derek Walcott. The time will come when, with elation you will greet yourself arriving at your own door
www.goodreads.com/quotes/11193-love-after-love-the-time-w...
"Perhaps death represents the severing of the living organism's connections with the orderly quantum realm , laving it powerless to resist the randomizing forces of thermodynamics". Jim Al-Khalili
Ok I'm done feeling like a fake reader. My friends were reading heavy duty stuff like Five T'ang Poets and The Living Mountain and all I was doing was reading a page a week of Count Zero and calling myself a book lover! I should be a book liker. A book glancer maybe.
Now I realize, I HAVE been reading books but at a slower pace, and I've been reading selectively and now I'm making lot of time for other things in life (real people, omg!) and it's not a bad thing. So no book pictures with big posts of the interesting bits but I look back, and I see I have finished Echopraxia, Dune, Neuromancer, some good sci-fi progress, started some manga exploration yay, and so I ain't no poser. And, I still have a backlog of Crichton to go through. I need to hunt down my copy of Dragon Teeth next.
Timeline was a really great fun read, that was a given since I love time travel stuff. Especially medieval time travel :P.
Some good bits from the book:
--
He had a term for people like this: temporal provincials - people who were ignorant of the past, and proud of it. Temporal provincials were convinced that the present was the only time that mattered, and that anything that had occurred earlier could be safely ignored. The modern world was compelling and new, and the past had no bearing on it. Studying history was as pointless as learning Morse code, or how to drive a horse-drawn wagon. And the medieval period - all those knights in clanking armor and ladies in gowns and pointy hats - was so obviously irrelevant as to be beneath consideration. Yet the truth was that the modern world was invented in the Middle Ages. Everything from the legal system, to nation-states, to reliance on technology, to the concept of romantic love had first been established in medieval times. These stockbrokers owed the very notion of a market economy to the Middle Ages. And if they didn't know that, then they didn't know the basic facts of who they were. Why they did what they did. Where they had come from.
Professor Johnston often said that if you didn't know history, you didn't know anything. You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree.
"Now, two things happen to quantum theory. The first is that it gets confirmed, over and over. It's the most proven theory in the history of science. Supermarket scanners, lasers and computer chips all rely on quantum mechanics. So there is absolutely no doubt that quantum theory is the correct mathematical description of the universe. "But the problem is, it's only a mathematical description. It's just a set of equations. And physicists couldn't visualize the world that was implied by those equations - it was too weird, too contradictory. Einstein, for one, didn't like that. He felt it meant the theory was flawed. But the theory kept getting confirmed, and the situation got worse and worse. Eventually, even scientists who won the Nobel Prize for contributions to quantum theory had to admit they didn't understand it.
"So, this made a very odd situation. For most of the twentieth century, there's a theory of the universe that everyone uses, and everyone agrees is correct - but nobody can tell you what it is saying about the world."
"Eh?" Oliver said. "Wit? My Lady Claire, what wit is here?"
The woman shrugged. "Only the witless, my Lord, see wit where none is writ."
In the field below them, archers in maroon and gray were practicing. Ignoring the excitement of the nearby tournament, they patiently fired at targets, moved backward, fired again. It was just as the old texts said: the English archers were highly disciplined, and they practiced every day.
"Those men are the new military power," Marek said. "They decide battles now. Look at them."
Chris propped himself on his elbow. "You're kidding," he said. The archers were now more than two hundred yards from their circular targets - the length of two football fields. So far away, they were small figures, and yet they were confidently drawing their bows toward the sky. "Are they serious?"
The sky was black with whistling arrows. They struck the targets, or landed close by, sticking up in the grass.
"No kidding," Chris said.
Almost immediately, another thick volley filled the air. And another, and another. Marek was counting to himself. Three seconds between volleys. So it was true, he thought: English archers really could fire twenty rounds a minute. By now, the targets bristled with arrows. "Charging knights can't stand up under that kind of attack," Marek said. "It kills the riders, and it kills the horses. That's why the English knights dismount to fight. The French still charge in the traditional way - and they're just slaughtered, before they ever get close to the English. Four thousand knights dead at Crécy, even more in Poitiers. Large numbers for this time."
"Why don't the French change tactics? Can't they see what's happening?"
"They do, but it means the end of a whole way of life - a whole culture, really," Marek said. "Knights are all nobility; their way of life is too expensive for commoners. A knight has to buy his armor and at least three war- horses, and he has to support his retinue of pages and aides. And these noble knights have been the determining factor in warfare, until now. Now it's over."
He pointed to the archers in the field. "Those men are commoners. They win by coordination and discipline. There's no personal valor. They're paid a wage; they do a job. But they're the future of warfare - paid, disciplined, faceless troops. The knights are finished."
"And now the latest king, Edward III, has learned the lesson of his forebears - that he must perpetually lead a war, or risk death at the hands of his own subjects. Thus he and his dastard son, the Prince of Wales, bring their barbarian ways to France, a country that knew not savage war until they came to our soil with their chevauchées, murdered our commoners, raped our women, slaughtered our animals, ruined our crops, destroyed our cities and ended our trade. For what? So that bloodthirsty English spirits may be occupied abroad. So that they can steal fortunes from a more honorable land. So that every English Lady can serve her guests from French plates. So that they can claim to be honorable knights, when they do nothing more valiant than hack children to death."
It was, Stern thought, a classic real-world scientific problem. Weighing risks, weighing uncertainties. Most people never understood that the majority of scientific problems took this form. Acid rain, global warming, environmental cleanup, cancer risks - these complex questions were always a balancing act, a judgment call. How good was the research data? How trustworthy were the scientists who had done the work? How reliable was the computer simulation? How significant were the future projections? These questions arose again and again. Certainly the media never bothered with the complexities, since they made bad headlines. As a result, people thought science was cut and dried, in a way that it ever was. Even the most established concepts - like the idea that germs cause disease - were not as thoroughly proven as people believed.
"Today, everybody expects to be entertained, and they expect to be entertained all the time. Business meetings must be snappy, with bullet lists and animated graphics, so executives aren't bored. Malls and stores must be engaging, so they amuse as well as sell us.
Politicians must have pleasing video personalities and tell us only what we want to hear. Schools must be careful not to bore young minds that expect the speed and complexity of television. Students must be amused - everyone must be amused, or they will switch: switch brands, switch channels, switch parties, switch loyalties. This is the intellectual reality of Western society at the end of the century.
"In other centuries, human beings wanted to be saved, or improved, or freed, or educated. But in our century, they want to be entertained. The great fear is not of disease or death, but of boredom. A sense of time on our hands, a sense of nothing to do. A sense that we are not amused.
"But where will this mania for entertainment end? What will people do when they get tired of television? When they get tired of movies? We already know the answer - they go into participatory activities: sports, theme parks, amusement rides, roller coasters. Structured fun, planned thrills. And what will they do when they tire of theme parks and planned thrills? Sooner or later, the artifice becomes too noticeable. They begin to realize that an amusement park is really a kind of jail, in which you pay to be an inmate.
"This artifice will drive them to seek authenticity. Authenticity will be the buzzword of the twenty-first century. And what is authentic? Anything that is not devised and structured to make a profit. Anything that is not controlled by corporations. Anything that exists for its own sake, that assumes its own shape. But of course, nothing in the modern world is allowed to assume its own shape. The modern world is the corporate equivalent of a formal garden, where everything is planted and arranged for effect. Where nothing is untouched, where nothing is authentic.
...history is the most powerful intellectual tool society possesses. Let us be clear. History is not a dispassionate record of dead events. Nor is it a playground for scholars to
indulge their trivial disputes."The purpose of history is to explain the present - to say why the world around
us is the way it is. History tells us what is important in our world, and how it came to be. It tells us why the things we value are the things we should value. And it tells us what is to be ignored, or discarded. That is true power - profound power. The power to define a whole society. "The future lies in the past - in whoever controls the past.
--
Main Topic: Silence Quotes
Related Topics: Life, Experience
Let silence take you to the core of life.
Author : Rumi
Quotation Reference:
www.goodreads.com/quotes/395586-let-silence-take-you-to-t...
www.braintrainingtools.org/skills/let-silence-take-you-to...
Probably stopped down a bit - but not much, between f6 and f8. Sharpness is not bad at all - not as snappy as the Summaron 28 though.
The Book Ware Hoise for some reding material. including Bill Bryson's latest "The road to little Dribbling".
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Miami est. 1896, pop. 2.6MM
• masonry vernacular house with oolite perimeter wall
• Spring Garden is a residential development on the north bank of the Miami River • advertised as "the most exclusive subdivision in Miami" (and now the oldest on the river) • developed by John Seybold (1872-1940), an immigrant from Germany who was a prominent Miami baker & businessman
• When Seybold purchased the Spring Garden property in 1913, it already had a colorful history • from the late 1890s to the early yrs. of the 20th c., the point at the junction of the Miami River & Wagner Creek – now Spring Garden Point Park — was the site of Alligator Joe's Crocodile and Alligator Farm, a tourist attraction owned by Warren Frazee (1873-1915), aka Alligator Joe • his main business was shipping animal hides & eggs to U.S. markets, e.g., 600 alligator hides & 2,892 alligator eggs shipped in 1898 • won $200 staging an alligator vs. crocodile fight (the gator won) —Florida's Warren Frazee — The Original Alligator Joe, Jim Broton, Tequesta, Issue 68, 2008
• from the 1910s through mid-20th c., an array of popular attractions entertained locals & tourists on the opposite side (south bank) of the Miami River • one of them was owned by Spring Garden resident Charles O. Richardson (1868-1935), an actor & theater operator said to have exhibited the state's first motion picture • his Miami tourist venue began as Richardson Grove (aka Richardson Plantation), founded in 1896 by his father, Otis Richardson (c. 1819-1901) • located on the S. bank of the river, close to today's 25th Ave. • in the renamed Musa Isle Fruit Farm, the word Musa being the botanical genus of bananas • became a favorite stop on river tours
• in 1907 Richardson sold the farm to John A. Roop (1866-1962), who dropped "Fruit Farm" from Musa Isle's name • Richardson returned to the theater business • purchased the Alcazar Theater & attempted to provide Miami's 1st air-conditioning by raising the floor & installing a fan to blow air, cooled by ice blocks, through holes under the seats —The Early Years Upriver by Donald C. Gaby, Tequesta 48 (1988)
• Musa Isle's new owner, erected an observation tower at what is now NW 22nd Ave • in 1919, he leased a section of the grove to a Seminole named Willie Willie (c. 1886-1929), presumably to compensate for reduced income following a 1917 hard freeze that wiped out the the crop & damaged his fruit trees • the move was also a response to a Coppinger's, a competitor on the river who had opened a Seminole village that was attracting the tourist boats • in 1921, on his newly leased land, Willie Willie established the Musa Isle Seminole Village & Trading Post, where trappers brought their bounty for sale to wholesalers
• Willie Willie was unique in that he was comfortable among whites & in fact married to a non-Indian • outside of the village he wore stylish clothes • his frequent speeding tickets warranted notices in the Miami Herald • profits from his various enterprises were an estimated $50K annually, equal to about $600K in 2016 dollars • “[He] had more money than he could use. He married outside his tribe and burned up the highways in his high priced car. However, Alan W. Davis, a hunter who became the foreman of the Musa Isle Indian Vilage, and Lucien A. Spencer, the special commissioner of the Seminole Agency, identified the sale of egret plumes as the business in which Willie Willie made his real money." —The Enduring Seminoles: From Alligator Wrestling to Ecotourism, Patsy West
• in 1911-12, Cardale Resort, with a skating rink, dance floor & the ~90 foot observation tower, opened in Cardale Grove (formerly Richardson Grove) at Musa Isle • the telescope-equipped tower offered expansive views of Miami & the adjacent Everglades • guests arrived at Cardale Landing via the Cardale boat (aka Car' dale, Car Dale)
• horticulturist & landscape designer Henry Coppinger Sr. (1848-1924), an Irish immigrant, arrived in S. Florida c. 1898 • in 1911 he purchased 10 acres of south bank riverfront property near Musa Isle • after trading for an adjacent, less rocky parcel at S.W. 19th Ave., he created a botanical garden to grow, hybridize & sell exotic plants • named the venture Coppinger's Tropical Gardens • Henry Coppinger hybrids soon decorated homes throughout the city
• in 1914 the attraction opened to tourists, featuring a Seminole camp that was already on the property when it was purchased • in the early 1900s, canals built to drain the Everglades had decimated hunting areas, diminishing the Seminoles' main source of income: animal hides & pelts • remaining as an exhibit at Coppinger's offered the Indians a decent living —Memories of Old South Florida, Don Boyd • —The Florida Anthropologist, Dec. 1981, Dorothy Downs
• the attraction expanded, becoming Coppinger's Tropical Gardens, Seminole Indian Village and Alligator Farm • Coppinger's Pirate's Cove added alligator wrestling in 1919, introduced by "The Alligator Boy," Henry Coppinger Jr. (1898-1976) • said to have been the second white child born in Miami —Henry Coppinger Jr." By Chris Mayhew, Palmpedia • video: Seminole Alligator Wrestling (2:28)
• "Chief" Jack Tigertail (1872-1922), a winter resident at Coppinger's, was murdered there in 1922 • this was big news in Miami because Jack was well known there, especially after leading a rescue team into the Everglades To find a missing surveying party • after a sensational trial, a white man was convicted of the crime, then acquitted on appeal • although the case was never solved, Indians at Coppinger's suspected Tigertail's cousin, Charlie Billie • the "Chief" was the first Miami Seminole buried in a white cemetery —The Enduring Seminoles: From Alligator Wrestling to Ecotourism, Patsy West
• after his death, the camp's name was changed to Tigertail Indian Village, & advertised as "home of the late Chief Tigertail," at least until 1926 • a towering image of Jack Tigertail soon greeted motorists entering the young city of Hialeah —The Long Sleep of Jack Tigertail, Stuart McIver, Sun Sentinel, August, 1993
Kamera: Nikon FE2
Linse: Nikkor-S Auto 55mm f1.2 (1970)
Film: Kodak 5222 @ ISO 400 -1EV
Kjemi: Xtol (stock / 9 min. @ 20°C)
Wednesday 19 June 2024: To understand Israeli society today, you have to know about both the fascist ideology of Zionism and it’s present-day blend with extreme jewish religious fundamentalism.
There is a lot that has been written about Zionism; but personally I feel there is not so much knowledge in the West - or in the World as a whole, really - about jewish religion in general and jewish fundamentalism in particular. However, if as a Westerner you visit Israel you will pretty soon be subject to a plethora of quite insane and weird archaic jewish religious kookery (I speak from personal experience). Having knowledge about jewish culture, their religious traditions, historical background and past and present-day religious practices is essential if you want to understand how and why the already quite fascist Zionist military State of Israel has become such a totally religiously unhinged, irrational and all-out genocidal society in the past few decades since 1967.
Therefore, today I will present to you the final note on bibliographies from the 2004 edition of the book «Jewish fundamentalism in Israel», which is, in essence, a condensed summary of the book; originally published in 1998 and written by the well-known Israeli human rights advocate and activist Israel Shahak (1933-2001) together with American historian Norton Mezvinsky (1932-2022):
Note on Bibliography and Related Matters
Serious books describing a social phenomenon usually contain a bibliographical listing or essay, detailing and perhaps briefly discussing the primary and secondary sources consulted by the authors. For some years we have read a significant number of books in English and Hebrew that are concerned with Judaism and the State of Israel. In our book we decided to refer only minimally to those books in English; we relied primarily upon the Israeli Hebrew press, basic Jewish religious (and in a few cases literary) texts and some learned Hebrew articles, published in Israeli journals and magazines. We identified these in our text. Our first reason for doing this is that Hebrew sources are, with few exceptions, the most pertinent in dealing with Jewish fundamentalism in Israel. We are nevertheless aware that the number of books that focus on aspects of or background to our topic, published in English and languages other than Hebrew, is large. We wish to offer an explanation about why we did not cite, and most often ignored, much of this voluminous literature.
We believe that the great majority of the books on Judaism and Israel, published in English especially, falsify their subject matter. The falsification is sometimes a result of explicit lying but is mostly the result of omission of major facts that may create what the authors consider to be an adverse view of their subjects. Many of the books that fit into this category are comparable to much of the literature produced in totalitarian systems, whether religious or secular and whether or not embodied in a state. We do not deny that books on Israel and Judaism published in English have value; they may, and often do, contain correct and valuable information. Books about the USSR under Stalin or his successors written by Stalinists, books about Iran written by followers of Khomeini, books on Christian fundamentalism written by its adherents often contain correct and valuable information. Many other analagous examples exist. What usually makes such books unreliable are not so much the lies but rather the purposeful omissions. Regarding Judaism and Israel, the omissions are more blatant and numerous in books published in English outside of Israel than they are in Israel’s Hebrew literature. The omissions pertinent to our subject of Jewish fundamentalism exist for the same apologetic reasons as do the literary omissions in any totalitarian system. The information freely available in Hebrew can and should be used to redress apologia by omissions in English. The coverage in Hebrew of Jewish fundamentalism is more complete and is not riddled with omissions, because, as our book shows, Jewish fundamentalism poses an immediate threat to the beliefs and style of life of a majority of Israeli Jews. Jewish fundamentalism, if it increases in strength, could destroy Israeli democracy; this danger does not exist in the diaspora where Jews, even when supporting the worst aspects of Jewish fundamentalism, benefit from democracy and pluralism. In our view the State of Israel has faults that have been and still are caused by the nature of Zionism and by the open and hidden influences of Jewish fundamentalism. To exchange the present reality of the State of Israel for a Jewish fundamentalist state of either the Haredi or messianic variety would create a far worse situation for Jews, Palestinians and perhaps the entire Middle East. We believe that our book, based primarily upon Hebrew sources, correctly points out this danger for the first time in English.
To document our above comments, we shall present a short list of important issues in Israel and in Jewish history of the diaspora before the modern period, which are relevant for Jewish fundamentalism but are nevertheless omitted from the literature in English about Israel and Judaism. We shall first consider two issues, closely connected to Jewish fundamentalism, that are not specifically mentioned in our book. We shall thereafter present some issues that, although discussed in our book, are not mentioned in the voluminous literature in English. During the Labor Party primaries of the 1999 Israeli election campaigns, accusations appeared in the Hebrew press claiming that fraud in the vote counts occurred in Druze and Arab sectors of the party. The use of such expressions should raise concern. Political parties in the United States and Britain do not specify Jewish, non-Jewish or similar sectors. Readers of the Israeli Hebrew press know that an Arab or Druze, that is, a non-Jew who is an Israeli citizen, even if living in Tel-Aviv or Haifa, cannot belong to the Labor Party branch of her or his neighborhood; that person must belong to one of the two sectors that exist for Druze and Arabs respectively. Jews cannot belong to one of those sectors. Consequently, an Arab living in Tel-Aviv votes in the primaries of the Israeli Labor Party only as a member of the Arab sector and not together with her or his neighbors. Other types of sectors also exist, based upon social structure in the Labor Party. The kibbutzim sector is one example. In these other sectors membership fluctuates according to the natural movements of population, not according to racist criteria. A kibbutz member of the Labor Party who leaves the Kibbutz to settle in Tel-Aviv becomes a member of the party branch of that person’s new neighborhood; conversely, a Tel-Aviv member of the Labor Party who joins a kibbutz automatically becomes a member of the kibbutz sector. In contrast, an Arab member of the Labor Party remains an Arab wherever that person lives, confined ethnically or more precisely religiously. Such a proposal for the operation of political parties in the United States or Great Britain would be quickly labeled and condemned correctly as anti-Semitic. Such a proposal would be roundly discussed in the press and in other literature concerned with the United States and/or Great Britain. In the voluminous descriptions in English of Israel, this phenomenon, although known in Israel, is almost never mentioned.
The probable reasons for the above omission are most likely the same as those for other similar omissions. The first and most important probable reason is that many Jews and those who sympathize with them wish to avoid comparisons between what rights Jews as a minority in the diaspora demand for themselves and what rights Jews deny to non-Jews in those areas where Jews are a majority and wield the power. We believe that Jewish fundamentalism justifies, explicitly and unconsciously as a believed survival tactic, both the discrimination and its cover-up. As noted in our book, Jewish fundamentalism in Israel influences most of society. Its influence is especially significant in regard to the principles of Israeli state policies, but its hidden and often clear-cut influence upon a majority of Jews in the diaspora is strong. Two additional reasons in our view account for omissions of vital facts in the English discussion of phenomena in Israel that could be disturbing to many people. A hidden, and sometimes not so hidden, assumption made in much of the English literature about Judaism and about Israel as a Jewish state is that Jews are morally superior to all other nations. This is the most important belief of Jewish fundamentalists who condemn almost everything “not Jewish” mostly because it is non-Jewish. Any discussion of the fact that many Jews, when they are able, practice the same kind of discrimination against non-Jews that some non-Jews practice against Jews could be detrimental to the theory of Jewish moral superiority. Although we believe this is part of racist theory, which we oppose, we understand that unfortunately human beings, including Jews, often have xenophobic tendencies influenced by historical circumstances. Thus, Jews can and should be viewed within the same context as other human beings and should in this regard work to eradicate Jewish xenophobia by exposing it in its present and past forms. The second reason emanates from writers who are apologists for and from other advocates of the Israeli political left. The Labor Party in Israel has consistently practiced blatant racism. Likud, the most important party of the Israeli right, has not practiced racism so severely and generally as has the Labor Party. As opposed to the Labor Party situation, Arabs have been, and still are, able to be members of Likud in their own neighborhood branches. The idea that the Israeli right wing is in this particular case better than the Labor Party is abhorrent to the dogmatists of and apologists for the left just as in the 1930s the idea that many practices in Great Britain were better than those of Stalin was abhorrent to fellow travelers. The refuge in both cases was and is a consistent omission of facts that do not fit into the dogma.
A similar case in point is kibbutz membership in Israel. The kibbutz is one of the most admired, especially by leftist apologists, Israeli phenomena. It is a fact, widely known and discussed in Israel, that only Jews can be kibbutz members. Non-Jews who wish to become kibbutz members must not only acquire the approval of the kibbutz members; they must, as a condition of joining, convert to Judaism. The Israeli Chief Rabbinate has established conversion schools for non-Jews who wish to join kibbutzim. One of the conditions for conversion to Judaism of women in this as in other situations is that the female convert must be observed naked in a purification bath by three rabbis. Some of the other conditions for conversion of those non-Jews desirous of joining kibbutzim are lighter than are conditions for other potential converts. The Israeli Hebrew press has often focused upon the degree of difference in conversion procedures and has also mentioned repeatedly that to date not one Palestinian has become a kibbutz member. This specific, clearly influenced by Jewish fundamentalism, is almost always omitted in English language books published about and media coverage of Israel. We need not emphasize the wide discussion that would ensue if a British or American institution allowed Jews to become members only if they converted to Christianity.
Scholars and news media people who purport to describe Israel authoritatively have, as previously indicated, systematically ignored by omission critical phenomena, discussed in our book. Some examples of this follow. In Chapter 1 of our book we mentioned that the concept of Jewish blood bound together the Israeli secular right wing and religious Jews. This concept, which deems the blood of a killed or wounded Jew to be infinitely greater in value than the blood of a killed or wounded non-Jew, is of supreme importance in Israeli politics. The Netanyahu government in 1998 refused, even when pushed by the United States government, to release Palestinian prisoners who had killed Jews, whether they were soldiers killed in a clash or civilians murdered in a terrorist attack. The Jewish blood concept was the only possible reason. The same Netanyahu government, as well as some previous Israeli governments, have not objected to freeing Palestinian prisoners who had killed other Palestinians. The Palestinians killed were usually presumed to be agents of the Israeli secret police. The same situation has existed in regard to the Israeli security zone in southern Lebanon and to the South Lebanese Army. The main reason for creating those entities, which have prevented a cease-fire occurring between Israel and Lebanon, was the Israeli desire, influenced by Jewish fundamentalism, to save “Jewish blood.” A majority of Israeli Jews have paid little attention to Lebanese, who have been killed, whether they were members of the South Lebanese Army or simply inhabitants of this zone. Bursts of anguish and even protests, on the other hand, have accompanied almost every Jewish casualty. Israeli protesters demanding that Israel leave Lebanon have mentioned only the Israeli casualties. Usually, only those Israeli Jews who have openly opposed Jewish fundamentalism in all its aspects, such as Israel Shahak, one of the authors of this book, have mentioned the Lebanese casualties. The politically important distinction between Jewish blood and non-Jewish blood is well-known to most Israelis but is ignored by almost all those who write about Israel and its policies.
As also noted in Chapter 1, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013), who commands the unquestioned allegiance of ten Shas members of the Knesset, argued in a published article that Israel is not sufficiently strong to destroy Christian churches on its territory and should therefore return some of the occupied territory to the Palestinians. Otherwise, Rabbi Yosef contended, Jews might be killed in a war that could erupt. We pointed out that most writers who discussed Rabbi Yosef’s alleged dovish leanings falsified by omitting his reasons for advocating concessions. In addition to emphasizing Israeli weakness, Rabbi Yosef expressed willingness to command the destruction of idolatrous, Christian churches if Israel and the Jews were sufficiently strong to do this without serious damage to Jews. Rabbi Yosef thus illustrated the fierce and visible hatred of Christianity and Christians so evident among fundamentalists Jews and, to a lesser extent, among many other Israeli Jews of the political right. Although discrimination against and persecution of Jews in Christian countries has helped to persuade some secular Jews to accept this fundamentalist attitude, it is not the sole explanation. Oriental Jewish rabbis, and to a lesser extent their followers who came from Muslim countries wherein they were generally not persecuted by Christians, have expressed more hate of Christianity and its symbols than the fundamentalist European rabbis and their followers who were persecuted by Christians. In dealing with political factors in our book, we did not specify many of the often petty forms of hatred of Christianity that are officially approved.
[Note: See 'Spitting on Christians is a Jewish tradition' (Publ. 4 Oct. 2023) - Maybe you don't remember; but this was all over international news 3 days before October 7 2023.]
One case in point is that Israeli educational authorities removed the international plus sign from the textbooks of elementary arithmetic used in the first grades of Israeli schools. Allegedly, this plus sign, which is a cross, could religiously corrupt little Jewish children. Instead of the offending cross, the authorities substituted a capital “T.” This substitution was made some years after Israel became a state; the influence of Jewish fundamentalism was responsible. If this substitution had been made by the Taliban in Afghanistan, by the Iranian regime or by China during the cultural revolution, it would probably have been discussed at length. In contrast, this easily discoverable fact has been omitted in English-language articles and books concerned with Israeli Jewish society and Judaism. This omission is but one piece of the existent evidence that most books of this genre are unreliable.
In Chapter 2 we pointed to specific acts of discrimination against and abuse of women perpetrated by Jewish fundamentalists. Seemingly unimpressed by the Israeli Hebrew discussion of and the Israeli Jewish feminist criticism of this discrimination and abuse, writers of English-language books and articles about Israel have rarely mentioned this phenomenon. They have not acknowledged that until modern times most Jewish women were kept illiterate and denied education by command of the rabbis. They and others have condemned abuses of women in Iran and other countries but have refused to specify the even more abusive acts against women in Israel. Jewish feminists have instead celebrated in their writings the few important Jewish women mentioned in the Bible and the one woman mentioned in the Talmud, Bruriah, the wife of the second-century AD sage, Rabbi Meir. The diaspora Jewish feminists and other English-language writers have neglected any reference to the disparaging stories about women in talmudic literature; they have also failed to admit that from the time of Bruriah until the advent of modern influences upon Jews in western Europe in the seventeenth century not one Jewish woman was sufficiently important to be emphasized as a leading figure in Jewish history. (This can be compared to the numerous women who became leading figures in many areas, including religion, in Western Christendom in the same time period, in spite of Christianity’s well-known discrimination against women.) The inescapable conclusion is that English-language sources are unreliable, not only in the study of the Jewish fundamentalist attitude towards women but also in the more general study of the status of women in historical Judaism.
In discussing the topic of Jewish blood in Chapter 2, we quoted both the previously mentioned Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013) and the former chief rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu (1929-2010), both of whom ordered pious Jews not to accept blood donations from non-Jews unless their lives were at risk. These two eminent rabbis, as well as others inside and outside of Israel who agree with this view did not invent this opinion. This and other similar opinions, existent from the beginning of blood transfusions, are based upon a talmudic prohibition that does not allow a non-Jewish nurse to breast feed a Jewish child. The cited reason for this prohibition is that the milk from a non-Jewish woman would have an adverse effect upon a Jewish child. In Chapter 2 we quoted the discussion of the Jewish blood topic that was published in 1995 not only in Israel’s most widely read daily Hebrew newspaper but in other Hebrew newspapers as well. We can assume that readers of this book who are not literate in Hebrew and who were not previously told about such discussion in the Hebrew press would be unaware of this prohibition of pious Jews accepting blood transfusions from non-Jews and sometimes even from secular Jews. This prohibition is not to be found in English-language articles or books about Judaism or Israeli Jewish society. (Some fundamentalist Jews may discuss this topic among themselves, but they limit that discussion to their own groupings and do not write about it for publication in English.) It would be absurd to suggest that in the last years of the twentieth century scholars, writers and others from around the world would not discuss and attack an analogous edict, issued by highest ranking Christian Church leaders, prohibiting Christians from accepting blood transfusions from Jews. The prohibition is not a secret; it has been openly discussed in the Israeli Hebrew press. This is yet another example of distortion by omission, which makes English-language coverage of various aspects of Israeli Jewish society unreliable.
In Chapter 3 we briefly discussed how followers of Rabbis Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013) and Elazar Shach (1899-2001) attempted to use magic against one another. This occurred after the struggle between these two leading rabbis became intense. The political significance here transcended the Yosef–Shach disputation; the alleged use of magic is part of the deep division between Israel A and Israel B, which are defined previously in both our text and glossary. Members of Israel B, following some historic Jewish customs, believe in magic and witchcraft; they often practice it themselves or follow directives supposedly derived from it by rabbis and kabbalists. (Books in Hebrew detailing instructions for spells and witchcraft recipes have been best sellers in Israel for many years.) Individuals who are reputed to achieve success by use of magic frequently obtain political power in Israel. Most Israeli political pundits are agreed that one of the important reasons for Benjamin Netanyahu’s victory in the 1996 election was the exclusive blessing he received during the campaign from the kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kadouri (1898-2006), and the firm refusals of many Jewish magicians and kabbalists to bless Shimon Peres (1923-2016). (Only the Hassidic Belzer rabbi said that he was neutral regarding Peres.) Rabbi Kadouri has remained to date a widely reported, highly visible Hollywood type star in the Israeli Hebrew press. He was at the center of media attention when he descended below the surface of the sea in Eilat in a device, usually used to allow tourists to see underwater sea life, and supposedly instituted spells in order to avert an earthquake that was predicted by scientists. He claimed to have diverted the earthquake from Jews to non-Jews. Many Israeli Jews believed this claim, because the predicted earthquake was light in Eilat but was much more severe in upper Egypt.
Another example of the popularity in Israel of magic was evident in the circumstances surrounding the 1999 trial in the District Court of Jerusalem of a major Shas Party politician, Aryeh Deri (b. 1959). Deri was convicted and sentenced for taking bribes in spite of tens of amulets hung on his body and blessed by the most outstanding kabbalists, who additionally engaged in other magic ceremonies on Deri’s behalf. At the same time of this trial a scientific congress on the use of magic and witchcraft in Judaism was held in Jerusalem. Tom Segev (b. 1945), a columnist for Haaretz and one of Israel’s best known authors, wrote that the use of magic by Jews was nothing new in Judaism. In his March 26, 1999, Hebrew-language Haaretz article, Segev transcribed a magical recipe found in a book, composed in talmudic times (AD 200–500) but still popular in the Diaspora in the eighteenth century. This recipe, which was devised to confuse a judge and cause him to acquit unjustly a person who used magic, called for the following: “Slaughter a lion cub with a copper knife. Gather its blood; tear out its heart and put the blood into it. Then, write the names of angels on the cub’s face, and wipe the names with three year-old wine. Mix the wine with the blood. Next, take three heaps of perfume (names omitted). After purifying yourself, stand before the planet Venus at night with the perfume and the blood, which must be put on fire.” This act would supposedly compel the bewitched judge to acquit. Segev reported that the Israeli scientists participating in this Congress believed magic to be “an inseparable part of Judaism – used in past intrigues involving rabbis.” To support this view, Segev quoted a saying in the Palestinian Talmud attributing the large number of High Priests during the Second Temple period to the fact that High Priests often killed one another by using witchcraft. This opinion expressed in the Palestinian Talmud is probably incorrect; the large number of High Priests during this period should most likely be attributed to bribery and other political actions of secular (mostly Jewish) authorities of time connected with making appointments. This opinion, which is not quoted in English-language writings on Judaism, nevertheless indicates the wide use of witchcraft by Jews’ attempting to kill one another in this time period. The typical picture, presented in English-language works, of the pious Jews of the third period of Jewish history is on balance invalid. The picture of the pious Jew of talmudic times, standing at night before a planet and attempting to perform magic rites, is more accurate and can help us understand the reality of Israeli Jewish society better than the fictional description offered by apologists. The use of magic in everyday life is also common in certain Jewish neighborhoods of New York, London, Paris and other cities.
In spite of its obvious political importance and social significance, this aspect of Judaism in modern times remains as widely unreported in English, and thus as unknown to those who do not read Hebrew, as the past use of magic and witchcraft. In all known societies some individuals have indulged, and still do indulge, in magic. The misguided attempt to hide this past and present tendency, which is widespread in Israel, has infested the English-language histories of the Jews. The substitution of apologetics for historical fact renders these history texts at least unreliable and perhaps unfit for study.
In Chapters 4 and 5 we dealt with the religious Jewish settlers in territories occupied by Israel since 1967 and with Gush Emunim, the movement that produced the settlers. Despite the attention given to the issues of Israeli settlements in the territories, English-language coverage has almost totally neglected the two major considerations, without which proper understanding of this overall topic is impossible. The first consideration is that the urge to settle has been theologically motivated and is a manifestation of Jewish fundamentalism. In discussions of the obligations that people must obey in countries ruled or influenced by Muslim fundamentalists the religious reasons are highlighted. In most English-language discussions of Jewish religious settlements, however, the religious reasons are usually either totally missing or are replaced with biblical quotations, uttered by the settlers. In our text we showed that the real motivating factors for the religious settlers, some of whom have moved to improbable sites, have minimal connections to the Bible. The real reasons emanate instead from a special idea of Jewish fundamentalism. This idea asserts that the messiah will arrive soon and postulates that the world is already in the messianic age.
We began Chapter 4 by asserting that messianic ideology, as a radical part of Jewish fundamentalism, is based upon the differences and opposition between Jews and non-Jews rather than simply between Jews and Arabs (or Muslims). Writers of English-language books, articles and book reviews have rarely mentioned this basic tenet, the major exceptions being those writers who have composed the invalid, out-of-context, virulent and poisonous anti-Semitic literature. The published reviews of Yehoshafat Harkabi's (1921-1994) book, Israel’s Fateful Hour, provide a good illustration of this point. The original Hebrew edition of this book was first published in Israel; the English edition was published thereafter in the United States in 1988. Harkabi’s book received wide attention in the United States because of its analysis of Israeli politics in the 1980s and its emphasis upon differences between the Labor Party and Likud in foreign politics. In one crucial chapter, from which we quoted and paraphrased in our text, Harkabi analyzed some major issues of Jewish fundamentalism and stressed the importance of messianic ideology within that context. Harkabi’s book was extensively reviewed in American publications, but only one reviewer in a small circulation progressive publication referred to this crucial chapter. The other reviewers in American publications avoided any mention of this chapter and/or its substance. Reviewers in Israel emphasized this chapter in their comments. The difference in reviewing between the United States and Israel is telling.
In maintaining that differences and opposition exist between Jews and non-Jews, messianic ideology continues to be the primary motivating factor for Gush Emunim and its major supporter, the National Religious Party. Those who have written about Israeli Jewish society and about Judaism but have avoided mention of this have distorted understanding. The significance here is most striking when the broad support, both direct and indirect, for Gush Emunim is considered. About one-half of Israel’s Jewish population supports Gush Emunim. The support, especially monetary, from Jews in the diaspora is also of great importance. Many Orthodox and other Jews as well in New York City and elsewhere have been and are encouraged to assist Gush Emunim by what they read in the largest circulation American Jewish weekly newspaper, the Jewish Press. Published in Brooklyn, the Jewish Press has been and continues to be an editorial advocate of Gush Emunim, often presenting op-ed articles written by leading Gush Emunim spokesmen. New York City and New York State politicians regularly seek backing of the Jewish Press during electoral campaigns. Not only have Jewish Press editorial writers advocated messianic ideology; they have also expressed admiration of Yigal Amir (b. 1970), the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995). The New York Times, which is read and probably influences many American Jews, has published in-depth analyses of Christian and Muslim fundamentalism but has refrained from presenting similar articles describing Jewish fundamentalism or even advocacies printed in the Jewish Press. Even so-called liberal American periodicals, such as the Nation and the New York Review of Books, which have published editorial comments and articles upholding and advocating Palestinian rights, have neglected to present analyses of Jewish fundamentalism in their own country. Readers of these and most other periodicals in the United States, and in other countries as well, would not know, unless they read books and articles published in Hebrew in Israel, that Gush Emunim’s goal is to build a “sacred society” whose nuclei are the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. It is insufficient, if not folly, to advocate Palestinian rights without understanding and referring to the principal cause of the denial of those rights: Jewish fundamentalism in general and the messianic variety in particular.
The Goldstein massacre (1994), discussed in Chapter 6, was inadequately covered in the English press. That Israeli Jewish society was divided in its attitude towards the massacre was evident in the Hebrew but not in the English press and literature. Before the massacre, Goldstein’s (1956-1994) refusal as a doctor on religious grounds to treat non-Jewish patients, including soldiers serving with him in the army, was, although mentioned briefly, treated lightly in the English coverage. Baruch Goldstein (1956-1994) clearly derived his views from fundamentalist interpretations of sacred Hebrew texts. The English coverage indicated that he merely followed the teachings of Rabbi Meir Kahane (1932-1990), a whipping boy of the American press. In reality, Goldstein’s views were more broadly based and centered in Jewish fundamentalism. Having immigrated to Israel as an adult, Goldstein, prior to his arrival in Israel, had been influenced by the “Lubovitcher Rebbe” [Menachem Schneerson (1902-1994)] and his influential disciple, Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh (b. 1944). His attitude, moreover, was condoned by important, Israeli politicians and the Minister of Defense. Articles in the Hebrew press, to which we referred in our text, discussed these points in depth; the English coverage avoided mention of much of this.
In Chapter 7 we showed how well-documented features of Jewish fundamentalism during the past 800 years, the third and longest period of Jewish history, have influenced and continue to influence contemporary Jews in the state of Israel and in the diaspora as well. Both the popular and more scholarly and renowned, standard Jewish histories, written in English, omit most of these features. The historic features of Jewish fundamentalism were manifest in the Rabin assassination and in the reactions to it. Because of omission, distortion and lack of criticism of Jewish fundamentalism, the English-language coverage could not and did not put the Rabin assassination in the correct context and thus was misleading.
Important issues are involved here, all of which are omitted in the standard Jewish histories. The first of these, well-known to serious students of the third period of Jewish history and especially to those who have knowledge of Jewish religious law and Orthodoxy, is that, before being affected by outside modern influences, Jewish society was not tolerant. On the contrary, autonomous Jewish authorities persecuted deviants, perhaps more than did Christian and Muslim authorities in their respective religions and certainly more than did pagan, Buddhist and Hindu authorities. The intolerant attitudes and activities, enshrined in the sacred texts of Jewish fundamentalism in all its varieties, influenced the behavior and politics of Jews, especially when they had autonomous power. To oppose the current dangers posed by Jewish fundamentalism, it is first necessary to expose its historical basis. As we have repeatedly stated, most writers of books on Judaism in English have not done this. Influenced by their heritage, many Jews have unfortunately either remained indifferent to the oppression of Palestinians in and by the State of Israel or have at times criticized acts of oppression as posing possible danger to Jews. Some of these individuals, for example, condemn the use of torture as being unconditionally inhumane when used by states other than Israel, but they argue pragmatically that its use by Israeli authorities is not in Israel’s best interest because of worldwide public opinion. Many of these same people in the United States are zealous in advocating and fighting for the separation of religion and state in their own country, but they react differently in regard to Israel. They do not criticize, indeed they most often support, the Israeli Ministry of Religion, which is almost always controlled by Jewish religious parties influenced by Jewish fundamentalism, for allotting only 2 per cent of its budget to non-Jews when nearly 20 per cent of Israel’s citizenry consists of Muslims and Christians. Both in Israel and in the diaspora the relatively few Jews who have attempted to defend non-Jews against discrimination and oppression by Jews have been those who have been influenced by modern theories of justice. The fact that the majority of Jews do not protest against, but actually support, Jewish discrimination against non-Jews, especially in the Jewish state, indicates, at least to some extent, the conscious and unconscious influence of Jewish fundamentalism. We believe that attempts to hide historical reality in Judaism and Jewish societies were wrong when Jews were discriminated against and persecuted in most countries. By the end of the twentieth century, when Jews have achieved greater power in many societies than any minority group of comparable numbers and when a Jewish state with nuclear weapons is protected by the United States, falsification by omission of Jewish history is purely adverse and totally unacceptable. The nearly total absence of discussion of the above intolerant aspects of the Jewish past and present in English-language books caused us to dispense with a traditional bibliographical listing or essay.
The issue of Jewish normalcy and the exceptions to it require examination. Jews in many instances oppressed their own people as other people did. During the same time period, for example, that rabbis ordered the hands of Jewish offenders to be cut, Spanish judges, as well as judges in most Christian and Muslim courts, did likewise. Rabbis ordered Jewish offenders put into stocks in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1795) just as non-Jewish authorities used the stock as a feature of regular punishment throughout Europe and in the American colonies. The systematic killing of informers, enjoined by eminent rabbis as a religious duty, has no parallel in other societies. Killing of informers has nevertheless occurred and still occurs in other societies and, as is the case in Sicilian society, is often well known. Scholarly historical works, historical novels and the classical literature in general of many countries and societies depict the sometimes-employed punishment of killing informers. In contrary fashion, the major Jewish historians who have written about the third period of Jewish history, for example, Salo W. Baron (1895-1989), Simon Dubnow (1860-1941) and Yitzhak Baer (1888-1980), have omitted such references in their works. Other highly regarded Jewish historians who have focused upon the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Christian Spain and Germany have done likewise. Numerous Israeli scholars, who have written in Hebrew and from whom we quoted and paraphrased in our text, have in contrast displayed more honesty in their scholarship by including examples of the systematic killing by Jews of Jewish informers. Consequently, those readers who are not literate in Hebrew (or have not been told in detail about books in Hebrew about Jewish history) must have distorted perceptions of this aspect of Jewish history. This reflection solidified our resolve not to include a traditional bibliographical listing or essay.
The distortions, largely by omission, in the English-language histories of the third period of Jewish history are greater and more severe than are those of the first and second periods. The reason for this is obvious. Because Judaism and Jewish history are so important for the history and theology of Christianity until and shortly after the time of Jesus, Christian historians and biblical scholars, often critical in their writings, dealt with Jewish history and Israelite society during the first two periods. The better Jewish historians of those two periods have felt obligated to follow trends established in scholarship in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; they have engaged in critical discussion, even while complaining about what they regarded as hostile tendencies of Christians who wrote about Jewish history. Few Christian or Muslim scholars have been or are interested in Jewish history between AD 70 and modern times, the third period. Apologetic writing of Jewish history is not unique. Most national histories include apologetic writings. The writing in English by Jews of Jewish history has remained far more retarded than have the writings of other national histories. A comparison that illustrates this point is the difference between the development of historical writing by American historians of United States history and the lack of development in the writing of Jewish history, especially of the third period. In recent decades standard United States history textbooks have included numerous negative features, previously omitted, of past discrimination and oppression of African Americans, Native Americans, women and other disadvantaged minority groups. As previously reiterated, most books in English of Jewish history, especially of the third period, continue to omit negative features of discrimination and oppression of both Jews and non-Jews by Jews. The harmful effects of these omissions remain.
We are finally troubled by the near unanimity in standard English- language Jewish histories regarding issues involving “Jewish interest.” Whereas the Israeli new historians of the 1980s and 1990s have sparked fruitful debate about basic issues not only of the past century in regard to Palestine but of the entire course of Jewish history, previous historians who wrote in English have omitted facts and disputations over interpretations of sensitive items. Having already detailed much of this in our bibliographical note, we, in attempting to illustrate our point, shall here present only one additional example. The famous scholar Gershom Scholem (1897-1982), early in his career raised an important intellectual issue about the nature of Judaism; soon thereafter he, together with numerous other scholars, dropped it. This issue then became virtually unknown to people who did not know Hebrew. In his first book in English about Jewish mysticism, Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism, based upon a previous set of lectures delivered in New York City, first published in 1941 and reprinted many times, Scholem questioned whether Jews who believed in Kabbalah had preserved the belief in monotheism that had been previously so characteristic of Judaism. In his seventh lecture towards the end of section five of the book, Scholem, after describing the process, which according to the Lurianic Kabbalah takes place by Jewish initiative within God, wrote: “To reconcile this process with the monotheistic doctrine, which was dear to the Kabbalists as it was to every Jew, became the task of the theorists of Kabbalistic theosophy. Although they applied themselves bravely to it, it cannot be said that they were completely successful.” These two convoluted sentences implied that the most popular form of Kabbalah, still believed by many Jews in Israel and in the diaspora, is not monotheistic. Actually, Scholem refrained from mentioning that many Jewish opponents of Kabbalah, before it became dominant around 1550 and during the Jewish Enlightenment, asked the same question more clearly and expressed more sharply their opposition to the predominant Lurianic form on the ground that it denied monotheism. Since then, scholars who have written in English about Judaism, including Scholem himself in later books, have not, with few exceptions, questioned whether Judaism in all its forms and all times was monotheistic and/or whether many pious Jews were believers in monotheism. (Raphael Patai (1910-1996) was one exception. In Chapters 5 to 8 of his book, The Hebrew Goddess, published in 1967, Patai raised this question. Israel Shahak (1933-2001), another exception, did likewise in his more recent book, Jewish History, Jewish Religion.) The scholars who have written in English about Judaism have, again with few exceptions, not considered in their books the even more important question of whether Judaism throughout its entire history has had fixed tenets.
We are aware that the books we have not put into a bibliography contain useful data. We nevertheless believe that these books are guilty of purposeful omission resulting in grave distortion and do not necessarily deserve to be listed in a bibliography. These books anyway can be easily found in other bibliographies. We append this note in lieu of a traditional bibliography in protest against what too often happens in Jewish studies outside Israel.
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An organized collection of very best quotes of all time in very systematic way as an interactive PDF. Customized according to alphabetical order & Contains quotes of Great legends & some top most categories as books, music, A.I, movies, teamwork, Business etc. An organized collections of 200+ pages & 2000+ quotes. The great book of best quotes of all time.
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Sworn to Silence (Kate Burkholder #1)(Goodreads) - In the sleepy rural town of Painters Mill, Ohio, the Amish and “English” residents have lived side by side for two centuries. But sixteen years ago, a series of brutal murders shattered the peaceful farming community. In the aftermath of the violence, the town was left with a sense of fragility, a loss of innocence. Kate Burkholder, a young Amish girl, survived the terror of the Slaughterhouse Killer but came away from its brutality with the realization that she no longer belonged with the Amish.
Now, a wealth of experience later, Kate has been asked to return to Painters Mill as Chief of Police. Her Amish roots and big city law enforcement background make her the perfect candidate. She’s certain she’s come to terms with her past—until the first body is discovered in a snowy field. Kate vows to stop the killer before he strikes again. But to do so, she must betray both her family and her Amish past—and expose a dark secret that could destroy her.
MY REVIEW - I really love the writing in this book. It's incredibly fast paced, interesting, and a bit scary. The subject matter is absolutely fantastic.
Kate Burkholder is The Police Chief in a town called Painters Mills in Ohio. The town is mostly made up of The Amish and English. Kate grew up Amish, but gave it up after an incident happened to her when she was a teenager. She left the town, but eventually she came back and is now the Police Chief. I was concerned because she seems to be a rather young and inexperienced in the chief department. I can see how it could be possible since the town is so small and the worse that usually happens is some cows get out and get in the road. However Kate ability is about to be tested in a way that she never thought would happen.
I have to agree with the town council when they claimed that Kate was mishandling the case. She was mishandling it and in a way I think she screwed up big time. She was so desperate to keep a secret buried that she chose to not have any outside agencies help with the murder case.
This is one character who could defiantly learn from her past mistakes. This huge character flaw is what I think makes the book and lets it play out so perfectly.
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Pray for Silence (Kate Burkholder #2) ( Goodreads ) - New York Times bestselling author Linda Castillo delivers an electrifying thriller in which Chief of Police Kate Burkholder must confront a dark evil to solve the mysterious murders of an entire Amish family.
The Plank family moved from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to join the small Amish community of Painters Mill less than a year ago and seemed the model of the Plain Life—until on a cold October night, the entire family of seven was found slaughtered on their farm. Police Chief Kate Burkholder and her small force have few clues, no motive, and no suspect. Formerly Amish herself, Kate is no stranger to the secrets the Amish keep from the English—and each other—but this crime is horribly out of the ordinary.
State agent John Tomasetti arrives on the scene to assist. He and Kate worked together on a previous case during which they began a volatile relationship. They soon realize the disturbing details of this case will test their emotional limits and force them to face demons from their own troubled pasts—and for Kate, a personal connection that is particularly hard to bear.
When she discovers a diary that belonged to one of the teenaged daughters, Kate is shocked to learn the girl kept some very dark secrets and may have been living a lurid double life. Who is the charismatic stranger who stole the young Amish girl’s heart? Could the brother—a man with a violent past, rejected and shunned by his family and the Amish community, have come to seek out revenge? As Kate’s outrage grows so does her resolve to find the killer and bring him to justice—even if it means putting herself in the line of fire.
Topping her own bestselling debut, Linda Castillo once again immerses us in the world of the Amish with a chilling story that is both a fast-paced thriller and intriguing psychological puzzle
MY REVIEW - In the back of the book is a photograph of the author, Linda Castillo. She is such a beautiful lady that I find it hard to believe that her mind is what created this book..lol. When they say looks can be deceiving they were not kidding.
Once again Painters Mills is the scene of another gristly murder. I'm not sure if I would call this just a murder. It seemed to be more of a very gruesome slaughter of an entire Amish Family. Even I cringed when the scene was described. Kate Burkholder, the chief of police here, is once again hip deep in mystery that brings up the terrible incident she suffered in her childhood. She begins to draw parallels between herself as a teen and one of the murder victims.
Kate is once again carrying way too much baggage to be as useful as she should be. It's a good thing she has the help she is getting or else I believe this woman would thoroughly screw up her police career.
Kate's character flaws is why I gave the first book 5 stars. It was a way to start introducing the character into the series. Usually when we make a mistake and let down people we try and learn from our mistakes and not to repeat them. If you can't grow as a person then you become dull and just annoying. Kate does not seem to be working on her flaws in this book. In fact she seems to be making worse mistakes. At this rate the woman will be dead by book three.
I am looking forward to the 3rd book which I hold in my hands right now. I am hoping to see her grow and learn in this next book or else book three will just be redundant
Vicksburg, Mississippi est. 1825, pop. (2013) 23,542 • MS Delta
Patent Mark: Dec 9th, 1862
Marker:
U.S. Three-Inch Ordnance Rifle,
Made in 1863 by the Phoenix Iron Company, Phoenixville, Penn.
The original carriages were made of white oak and iron.
These, made around 1915, are of iron and concrete.
• site crowns the highest hill in Vicksburg • land donated by the family of the city's founder, Newitt Vick • built by the Weldon Brothers, immigrants from County Antrim, Ireland • Greek Revival design attributed to William Weldon in collaboration with slave John Jackson, a noted draftsman & artist who "drew the plans for many of the public buildings erected by [the Weldon's], including the courthouses still standing at Raymond and Vicksburg." —"The Emergence of the Cotton Kingdom in the Old Southwest: Mississippi, 1770--1860," John Hebron Moore, 1988
"The Weldon Brothers... Well known in Mississippi as large building and bridge contractors, owned and educated to mechanic pursuits, 100 slaves, many of whom are now residing in the river counties of the State, and most of them are well-to-do. Their draughtsman, John Jackson, a natural genius in that line, lives now at Port Gibson, the scene of much of the work of the Weldons. He painted the handsome drop curtain at Odd Fellow’s Hall, Port Gibson, and assisted in drawing the plans of the handsome Court house at Vicksburg, which the Weldons built in 1858.
"The writer had large dealings with these brothers in the days of their activity, and knows that while they were strict and exacting with their slaves, they were yet kind in their treatment; feeding and clothing them well; and they were not unmindful of their proper enjoyment; the suppers and music at their Christmas balls costing sometimes as much as $600. Tom Weldon was a very passionate man, as well as powerful and brave. Sometimes he would strike the negroes with his fist, and if they showed fight, it was his boast that he always gave them a white man’s chance, and fought fairly with them to the end. He had a fine mind, and but for his profanity was an eloquent talker.
"He equipped a company for the war at Natchez – the Weldon rebels [Co. L, 44th Mississippi Reg., C.S.A.] – but was employed, himself, chiefly in the secret service of the Confederate Government. George, the oldest of the three brothers, was very loquacious, and a great reader. William was a milder mannered man than the others, and very intelligent." —"Random Recollections of Early Days in Mississippi", Horace Smith Fulkerson, 1885
• Thomas Weldon (1816-1865) is said to have been instrumental in developing an electric spark underwater torpedo (naval mine) • on 12 Dec, 1862 it sank the USS Cairo, the first US warship ever destroyed by this type of weapon • "USS Cairo gunboat sunk by an IED" —Standing Well Back
• the Weldons utilized ~100 highly skilled slave artisans at the job site to burn brick & erect the $100K courthouse • the Ionic capitals were cast by Baker Iron Company, Cincinnati & transported to the site by river boat • stucco finish applied to exterior, 1907 • bldg. retains original iron doors & shutters
• Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), a local planter who became president of the Confederacy, launched his political career on these grounds • bldg. targeted by Union warships on Mississippi River during the American Civil War's 47-day Siege of Vicksburg • became the symbol of Confederate resistance • following the city's surrender, 4 July, 1863, Union soldiers under Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant replaced the Confederate flag with the Union flag on the Courthouse cupola [photo]
• U.S. Presidents Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley & Theodore Roosevelt spoke here, as did woman's suffrage leader Carrie Chapman Catt & black American icon Booker T. Washington
• bldg. was neglected after the completion of the New Warren County Courthouse (1940) • damaged by the 1953 Vicksburg Tornado • demolition considered • aware of the building's historical significance, Eva ("Miss Eva") Whitaker Davis (1892-1974) established the Vicksburg & Warren County Historical Society in order to to preserve it • on 3 June, 1948, the courthouse reopened as the Old Courthouse Museum • exhibits reflect the heritage of the area from pre-historic Indians through the present day • has one of the largest Civil War collections in the U.S.A.
• named one of the 20 most outstanding courthouses in America by the American Institute of Architects • Old Courthouse History • Court House Lagniappe Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
• Historic Vicksburg District • HABS MS-119 • designated Mississippi Landmark, 1986 • National Register 68000029, 1968 • designated National Landmark, 1968
...has little to do with euphoria and everything to do with patience. It is not about feeling good. It is about endurance. Like patience, passion comes from the same Latin root: pati. It does not mean to flow with exuberance. It means to suffer.”
- Mark Z. Danielewski, House of Leaves -
www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/passion
Colour my week: Lavender, post it then Tag it with #TP706
A brief interruption to my Glasgow uploads ; It's been a while since I uploaded any of my photos being used in print, 'In the King's Arms' by Sonia Taitz was published a couple of years back and features on of my photos of South Park in Oxford on it's cover. I must admit I've not gotten around to reading it yet but I can tell you my wife enjoyed it.
Some reviews can be found here for those interested : www.goodreads.com/book/show/11286838-in-the-king-s-arms