October 2011
1 post
About to record w/ @hammerheadt talking City of... →
August 2011
1 post
@LazyRanger_Ron sleeping on my couch in a cheetah... →
May 2011
3 posts
RT @bkclb: The @Bkclb cover of I'LL BE READY the... →
The @Bkclb cover of I'LL BE READY the BAYWATCH... →
Hey guys and girls, check out our Youtube channel... →
March 2011
1 post
@Bkclb Happy world book day ! #bkclb #bookclub →
September 2010
2 posts
Sea Salt. #BKCLB →
Book Choice List
Voting Rules:
· Everyone gets 6 votes
· You must use all 6 votes – you can allocate the votes to as many books (or only 1 book if you want)
· You can’t vote for your own book
Book Choices:
The First World War Author: Gerard J. De Groot Length: 240 pages
The origins of the First World War, both diplomatic and social, are discussed thoroughly examined. The reader is...
August 2010
2 posts
Book Suggestions
1. World War I - Gerald DeGroot
Barnesy has mentioned this topic and this appears to be the best, compact WWI summary available. It’s expensive new (because it’s awesome) so I would prob go with a “pre-owned”. pp 240
http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-Twentieth-Century-Wars/dp/0333745353
2. The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels
A clear, cogent, and very effective...
Questions for Sunday
Here are a couple high level questions and then some specific ones based on references to the book. For some I’ve just included a quote – we can just see what people’s reactions are.
1. Who takes the most blame for the subprime crisis? Break out some percentages.
a. Investment banks
b. Mortgage originators
c. Ratings agencies
d. Government regulators
e. Politicians...
June 2010
3 posts
Financial Regulation Bill →
So - I’m about 2/3 of the way through ‘Big Short’ and am finding it highly enjoyable. Lewis is fantastic.
This bill has some definite positives, but I find myself wondering how much it does to help avoid systemic risk? (Wasn’t that the purpose?) And in reading the book I kept thinking - something really needs to change with rspect to the Rating Agencies (S&P, Moodys,...
The MBA Oath - Michael Lewis' Perspective →
Came out with this last week - even funnier are the Wall St oaths he comes up with, like this one (so on point):
The Morgan Stanley Oath:
We pledge to stop trying to do whatever Goldman Sachs is doing.
We, too (like GS), pledge to create Wall Street’s best-in-class oath.
Discussing Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? at... →
May 2010
3 posts
Interesting Op-ed from David Brooks →
Touches on the battle between reason and its limitations. And a little more from Thomas Paine on that generational sovereignty concept…
Questions to Stir Debate
Gentlemen,
Greetings on this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Below find some questions that we can tackle regarding our most elusive President. There are a bunch here, so we will touch upon several, and see where you all want to take the conversation. I have attempted to bring in some links to our previous reading (Fick and Keane, I’m sure you’ll be able to jump in), and I’ve...
An op-ed from our author →
Check out the following link, gentlemen. Ellis uses Jefferson’s language to defend the use of a loose-constructionist Judiciary Committee leaning for the Supreme Court nominee…
April 2010
7 posts
Randolph Family
I got curious about Jefferson’s roots.
Apparently the Randolphs were one of the most influential Southern families. To ‘build on’ some of the points on Jefferson’s Anglo-Saxon bias, perhaps it came from his youth or upbringing, as the Randolphs were descendants of Richard the Lion-Heart (King of England) and Robert the Bruce (Scotland).
Chapter 2 (Paris)
1) TJ struggled in being an affectionate father, despite his incredible talents as a writer and philosopher - “conveyed a willful distancing…what might be called an arms-length parenting in the patriarchical style.”
2) Most interesting - the Madison relationship. TJ believes a revision to the AOC is enough, laying out some specific federal responsibilities. Madison, as we know had moved...
Chap 1 (Philadelphia)
Of note:
1) The Declaration was actually the culmination of Jefferson’s evolving political philosophy and stance regarding the Colonies’ position. Earlier drafts in Summary View and Causes and Necessities had most of the major points that he polished or solidified in the Declaration. This cuts at the long held perception that the doc was written as Jefferson channeled God and John...
American Sphinx was Hand-written?
OK I’m about 150 pgs behind, but I’m on vacation so I should easily catch up by the end of the week.
Did anyone else think it was nuts that Joseph Ellis “hand wrote” the manuscript? Wow. Going into history academia must almost require you to live in the past.
More meaningful posts to come. Glad to be on board.
“the problem really began in 1066, when the Normans defeated the Saxons at the...”
– I guess Jefferson grew up reading the same books as Teddy Roosevelt.
It’s amazing that this Saxon mythology could have been so pervasive for so long, and completely vanish during the mid-1900’s.
It’s also interesting that Ellis, the author, chose not to go into the racial...
“Parliament had no right to tax the colonists without their consent, but did it...”
– Reading this, it’s clear that there really wasn’t room for a nuanced view of colonization. It was all or nothing, and it’s impressive that Jefferson got to that observation so far ahead of everyone else.
This made it clear to me why so many of the early leaders were lawyers.
...
March 2010
2 posts
Questions to stir debate
What did you find surprising about the facts introduced in this book?
How did TR’s upbringing influence his world views? How do you feel about his careful use of PR to shape his image and political ascendency? Could such a political rise happen today?
Were TR’s racial views common for the time?
The American public seemed to be against imperialism in principle. Was TR’s use of PR (ie. Phillipino...
Religion
Interesting point on the religious /Aryan similarities. It seems like man is often motivated by (or deviously willing to exploit) the tempting idea of divinely inspired destiny (in whatever form). This is what makes “greater causes” so persuasive and dangerous. Manifest destiny seems to fit at least generally in this box.
It is also interesting how people rationalize hyprocritical...
February 2010
10 posts
Chapter 1 and 2
Finally got the book and I’m through the first couple of chapters. I’m not in love with the writing (chapter 1 sets out some pretty lofty goals for this text, that I’m not convinced it can live up to), but it’s an interesting topic. My summary of the first 2 chapters:
- Roosevelt was a pretty serious rascist and a generally insecure, weird guy
- Alice Roosevelt was...
Discussion topic for our wrap-up in March
The book harps on how much of the elite’s education used to center around the intellectual superiority of the white race.
This doesn’t seem to be empirically supported by modern intelligence testing.
However, no one bats an eye when we talk about different breeds of pets having different levels of intelligence of temperament.
I’d like to chat about what traits (if any) we...
“Other politicians mocked him as effeminate when he appeared on the New York...”
– I think his father’s constantly forcing him to lift weights, threatening to send him to Denver if he didn’t “toughen up”, and constantly preaching the importance of barbarian virtues all had a lot to do with his move West.
It may have also had to do with his being taught...
“In May of 1883, Alice told her twenty-five-year-old husband she was pregnant....”
– Sounds like a quarter-life crisis (although, considering the life-expectancy at the time, it may have been a mid-life crisis).
I’m not clear on why we was anxious to invest. It sounds like he was already set for life.
“There was a tradition among highborn, wealthy college graduates to take off on a...”
– Hard to say whether or not I feel sorry for him. Being a millionaire at age 20 sounds great (especially in 1878 dollars), but most lottery winners become totally depressed, and he had no role models to turn to. I can see how this would’ve been a really scary time for him.
“Alice’s public rambunctiousness was an outward reaction to her deep inner hurt...”
– I’m not crazy about how this is stated as fact for two reasons:
From the few quotes I’ve seen so far from Nicholas, it looks like he put out a tabloid-style book to cash in on his last name. Not sure I trust anything he says, although I’ll grant that a few other sources...
“Taxpayers worried about the cost of the trip. The federal government then had...”
– I love the idea of politicians paying their own way on boondoggles, for fear of public sensitivity to wastefulness. I wonder when the shift started that eventually moved us 180º away form that?
My fraternity brother, John Hay, got a shout out →
It’s mentioned on the first page that Roosevelt was his own Secretary of State because John Hay had died.
It was drilled into my head during pledging Theta Delta Chi that Hay was probably the best brother to come out of Brown.
He was a few years ahead of me, but it’s funny to think this book may not have been written, and the US may not have embarrassed themselves, if Hay had hung...