DDR: The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History by Odd Arne Westad

 

Saw a blurb for this, thought it looked like my kind of thing, asked the library to send it to me, here it is. I think I'm the first person to check it out.

244 pages. Let's see what Westad has got. 

Day 1 (DDRD 3,069) March 27, 2026)

Read to page 39.

Oh. Oh. Get this: "The best example of how British politics went from complacency to fear is the sudden appearance of the question of tariffs." (35) As it flails about in its death throes, Britain decides that imposing tariffs is the way to maintain their hold in the competitive trade market. Mmm-hmmm.

DDR: Eucharistic Miracles and Eucharistic Phenomenon in the Lives of the Saints by Joan Carroll Cruz

xxii + 330 = 352 pages

Had to think hard about which of the many books in my Want To Read pile should be next. But since reading the St. Carlo book to Jacqueline--which went into some detail about several eucharistic miracles--I've been very interested in this topic...which was new to me. And just for the record,  I'm not becoming a religious nut, just doing due diligence in the name of my reigning philosophy: What the hell do I know? Thus....

Day 1 (DDRD 3,064) March 22, 2026)

Read to page 57.

I've read The New Testament four times, but somehow this section...which was referred to on page xiv...escaped me:

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

That is some very, very heavy material.  The flesh counts for nothing. It also seems to imply that once you have taken communion, Christ is in and stats in you...which is definitely not Catholic teaching. Must ask ex-wife about this. She'll laugh at me, but she'll probably have an answer.

And...

So that wasn't very satisfying,  but since she's got a Master's Degree in Divinty studies from Notre Dame and a couple of decades' worth of working in Catholic education programs,  I guess it's as good as I'm going to get.

😕 

Meanwhile, I've been thinking about My Life With Communion. I grew up in the Lutheran Church, was Confirmed, and have a distinct memory of my first Communion...though I'm not sure how old I was then. 13? I might have to check on that. At any rate, even though communion was not offered every Sunday at Emmanuel Christian Church. I'm sure that I partook of it a fair number of times until I went into the Army at the age of 19. And continued for a bit even then, but fell off the wagon by the time I'd gotten to AIT at Ft. Devens, Massachusetts. And since then (1977), I've probably had communion less than a dozen times, because most of the time I attend Catholic services, and non-Catholics aren't welcome at that table.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,065) March 23, 2026)

Read to page 140.

This book is pretty interesting,  but some of these miracles are...dissettling? Like the guy who had communion, later threw up, and after the vomit was pitched into the fireplace  (questionable solution) the host reappeared. These Catholics just Go There, y'know? I like the fact that the book has many pictures, but I wish they had gone the extra mile and made them color pictures with better definition / reproduction value. It's often difficult to discern what is even in the picture.

When I was on New York with Jacqueline last year, I took communion twice. In two Catholic churches. The first was St. Patrick's Cathedral. We were in a Small chapel for mass, and it was so crowded that we were squashed together when communion was being given out. (I usually step out of the aisle when people are going up.) I had no way to escape, and it didn't even occur to me to do the arms crossed across chest thing. So I took communion. I didn't mean to do it. But the next day, when we went to the church of Saint Lucy in the Bronx, I was thinking hard about communion. I felt like I hadn't had the entire experience since there was no chalice of wine at St. Patrick's. So I did a bad thing. I got up in line and deliberately went up and took communion. I let my desire overcome my sense of propriety. Only to find out that there was no chalice of wine there either. (What's up, New York City?) At any rate, I felt pretty bad about violating the rules of the Catholic Church. So I asked for forgiveness. 

Ever since then, though, I've been thinking I would really like to take communion in an above board way. I could go to the Lutheran church, whete I'm officially authorized to partake. But that hasn't been a good experience for me when I tried to go in Louisville. So now I'm thinking that the Episcopalian church might be the way to go. 

And they have open

communion. Next Sunday I don't take the kids to St. James I'm going to see if I have it in me to go for it. 🤞ma,n

Day 3 (DDRD 3,066) March 24, 2026)

Read to page 213.

Oh man this book. Chapter 22 describes Sir Oswald's experience of demanding the Large Host at communion-- with his armed fellows and while clothed in his full armor. According to the story, Oswald sank into the floor up to his knees, then reached out and grabbed the altar to steady himself and left his handprints in the altar. We're told that the hole in the floor and the handprints in the altar still exist, yet the pictures which follow the story show neither of these. What the actual fuck?

More "What?" After Chapter 32 (which ends on page 201) we have Chapter 33, "More Eucharistic Miracles." And then follow short (a paragraph or two), unverified Eucharistic Miracles.  The puzzlement here is that there were some really good EM stories in the St. Carlo book I just finished reading to Jacqueline which have not been included here. What up? This book is copyrighted 1987, so I don't think it's a time issue. But it IS a puzzlement!

You know, if I keep up this pace, I'm going to finish this book in two more days.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,067) March 25, 2026)

Read to page 253. 

Stories of levitating hosts and people living on the Eucharist alone for years and years. Also, priests who say mass from daybreak to nightfall because they get caught up in rapture. Which is kind of cool.

Day 5 (DDRD 3,068) March 26, 2026)

Read to page 330, The End.  This was a good book, to be sure, and I'm glad to have read it...but it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. So the journey continues. 

There's a reference to Jesus spending 40 hours in the tomb. I had to stop and count, and that seemed like a reasonable estimate. But just to be sure I Googled, and sure enough.... Learn something new every day. So when I write that novel, there going to be 40 chapters, and, needless to say, we'll be moving from darkness and pain to light and joy.

St. Francis de Sales says, "...behave in such a manner that by all your acts it may be known that God is with you." (318)

The Black Widowers books by Isaac Asimov

I started reading the fourth book in this series today,  which inspired me to write to my sister, who reads a bit of "detective fiction"...and who knows a bit about Isaac Asimov...to see if she had read any of these books. She wrote back and indicated that she had not and asked for more information about them. My first instinct was to pack up the books that I owned and send them to her. But then it hit me that I only owned two of them--the first and the third--so that wasn't very satisfactory. When I looked online to see about purchasing the other four books I was somewhere between surprised and astounded. All of them cost more than I usually pay for used books, and some of them were outrageously priced--$100, sometimes much more. But I had found books two and four at Internet Archive, so I thought I would give that a try. I had no luck at all. I found the two books I had already found there (including the one I am reading now), but none of the other four books seemed to be available. Then I remembered how tricky the index to Internet Archive can be at times. I started trying variations on titles and author, and eventually hit upon one that worked. I compiled a list of the titles and links to Internet Archive for the series to send to my sister. I thought someone else out there might be interested as well, so here you go. 

Oh. And as for background information, here's the short version: The Black Widowers is a group of men who meet once a month to share a dinner. They also invite a guest who is interrogated, usually beginning with the question, "How do you justify your existence?" More than a little bit corny, to be admitted, but it usually doesn't linger there. Inevitably the guest has a problem which the Black Widowers then try to solve. They prove themselves incapable of this, however, and the waiter Henry (who is an honorary Black Widower) then comes in to present the solution. There is little variation from this scheme, yet even after reading 36 of the stories (12 per book), I find myself wanting to read more. One warning, however: Asimov cannot resist allowing misogyny to creep into his stories.  Sometimes he manages to rise above himself to counter that cretinous attitude, but it's still very irritating (and completely unnecessary), to say the least. So caveat emptor.

Tales of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/talesofblackwido00asim/mode/1up

More Tales of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/moretalesofblack0000asim

Casebook of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/casebookblakwido00isaa

Banquets of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/banquetsofblackw00asim/mode/1up

Puzzles of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/puzzlesoftheblackwidowersisaacasimov/mode/1up

The Return of the Black Widowers

https://archive.org/details/returnofblackwid00isaa

DDR: Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored League of the Maritimes 1895 - 1925 by George and Darril Fosty

I heard about this book a long time ago, but the library didn't have it and I didn't want to shell out the bucks to buy it (it's a bit pricey), so it just hung in my mind, Damoclesian style. And then...finally...it occurred to me to try for an interlibrary loan. A few weeks later...

And check this out:

That's a long way for this little book to travel.

When I opened up to the title page, I was surprised to see this:

An autographed edition! Here's the cheapest autographed edition I found online:

Yowza!

So let's go. ix + 235 = 244 pages, so this shouldn't take long.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,058) March 16, 2026)

Read to page 45.

Lots of history and boxing, but not much hockey yet. Maybe mañana. 

Here's an interesting bit of history I'd never heard before*:

"...at the time of the American Revolution, there was no such thing as thirteen colonies. There were actually nineteen--six of those colonies did not agree with the Revolution. Those colonies became Canada." (12)

 * And which I've been unable to confirm elsewhere. 

Day 2 (DDRD 3,059) March 17, 2026)

Read to page 77.

Finally into some hockey. Here's a thing which caught my attention:

"It is...not surprising that aspirating Black Canadians would also see hockey as an acceptable tool for social upward mobility." (67) If you've ever looked at current American sports such as football and basketball and wondered why there were so many black players in these sports, which used to be either dominated by or exclusively White, I think this is the answer.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,060) March 18, 2026)

Read to page 113.

There have been quite a few bizarre proofreading errors in this book. Like this: "...the Sea-Sides would defeating the Eurekas by a score of 4 -2." (87)

I mean...seriously?

Another strange bit of history: "hockey was the first sport to be played at night" (92) because the locals would dig through snow and ice to expose coal lines and then ignite the coal. Very strange! This would make an excellent scene in a film, by the way. I'd better writer to Michael B. Jordan about this. (Michael B., if you're listening, 🤙.)

And then came The Cakewalk. There's a reference to two of the Black hockey players doing The Cakewalk during halftime. I had to look that up...and found some pretty interesting things. For one thing, The Cakewalk looks like THIS. So far as I can tell, it is a parody / mockery of formal White dances, but apparently the White folks didn't understand that, so they liked watching it performed. On plantations during slavery days, the masters would have a cake baked, then, hold a competition for the best cake dance. Whoever won received the cake. And thus we get the phrase, "that takes the cake."

Ta da.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,061) March 19, 2026)

Read from page 198 to 235...the nitty gritty detail stuff. Not actually worth the effort as it's mostly just a series of lists with few details, but I suppose it's for street cred. Reading it now means I don't have to end the book on such a low note. 👌

Day 5 (DDRD 3,062) March 20, 2026)

Read to page 143.

For the most part I've tried to ignore the (many) proofreading errors in this book, but this one...

...is just too much for me. Versus? Come on, FF'sS.

Day 6 (DDRD 3,063) March 21, 2026)

Read to page 175...which means a mere 21 pages to go. Might even finish it off later today...as I'm kind of tired of this book now. Glad I didn't pay for it. 

3 things:

(1) for reasons unknown,  we've left ice hockey and are now discussing (at great length) Black Canadians in World War I. If I'd wanted to read about World War I, I'd have gotten a book on it!

(2) Sorry to say it, but the Fostys are terrible writers. The regularly go off point and follow a digression for no apparent reason. 

(3) The proofreading fuckups are killing me. They're making me want this to be over with.

Oh...a 4th thing:

(4) Why are White people so awful to Black people? I don't understand.

Later That Day....

Here's a line that sums up a lot of evil. " The Black man's problems were never complex. The problem had always been the forces within the White upper classes of Nova Scotian society who were aligned against them." (187) Of course you can leave out "of Nova Scotian" here.

And this...this is so shameful that I don't know what else to say about it.

"Tyranny is the heritage of the silent." (193)

Read to page 235, The End.

Pete Hegseth

 

Pete Hegseth just referred to "the new, so-called, not-so- supreme leader of Iran." So...the new Supreme Leader, then.

What a fucking idiot.

The World of Children

 

"...the world of children...so easily opens itself towards something other than that which exists, and which is so full of hope."

Winter by Karl Ove Knausgård 

Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone

I know, I know. I've got thousands of books...and and I've only read about half of them. And I probably only have a decade or so (at best) left on this planet. And the library has tons of books I want to read, including this one.

But in my defense, (1) I have intended to read some Wilkie Collins ever since my Dickens binge, when I found out that they were buds and even wrote stuff together, (2) it was only $4, and (3) who could resist that pulpy cover? Not me. And since I'm struggling a bit...a BIG bit...with Zombie Capitalism (my current DDR)...I thought it might be fun to make this my side hustle. (Well...ONE of my side hustles.) 

So let the games begin.

News as it happens.

Oh, by the way, I went online to see how much other people were selling this book for and was astonished at how many different covers there were. This book has been published many, many times. Check THIS out.

And oh oh...there's also a movie. And the LFPL's got it. (Soon I will, too.)

Breaking News 

I've been taking it slow (as I am also reading Zombie Capitalism, Black Ice, Winter, and five books--four of them religious--with my daughter every day), but I'm enjoying this book quite a bit...and looking forward to watching the movie (which I just picked up from the library today). There have been a few moments whuch brought me up short, though. Such as when the narrator refers to two young, buxom girls as "the Bouncers.) 😶 Or, even more inappropriately, when a group of Indians (dot, not arrow),obviously innocent (can't tell you of what as that would be a spoiler), are kept in jail for a week, Just In Case, and the narrator's only comment on this travesty of justice is, "Every human institution, Justice included, will stretch a little, if you only pull it the right way." Yowza. That's some ice cold shit, man.

And how's this for some real haha?  "The cook looked as if she could grill Mr. Superintendent alive on a furnace, and the other women looked as if they could eat him when he was done." (69) That is really 😁. 

"

DDR: Zombie Capitalism: Global Crisis and the Relevance of Marx by Chris Harman

424 pages on the evils of Capitalism. What's not to like? I bought this book years ago after reading a reference to it in something or other, and lately it's been on my mind, so time to get out of my dreams and into my car. Do I have the stamina to read a 424 page book on economics? I kind of doubt it, but let's see.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,043) March 2, 2026)

Read to page 30.

It only took a few pages before a reference to Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations came up. Which is not a surprise, but it did remind me that I've long intended to attempt to read that book.  It probably would make a good follow-up to Zombie Capitalism, eh?

A pretty tough read for me, as I am ignorant of event the most basic concepts of economic theory, but I think I can stick with this. As always,  🕰 will tell...and so will 👁.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,044) March 3, 2026)

Read to  60. But it took me until 8:30 pm to get there. Math is hard. 

Day 3 (DDRD 3,045) March 4, 2026)

Read to page 90.

I'm swimming against the current here as my brain tries to grasp the nuances of economic theory, but I'm determined to keep at it. The major point thus far seems to be that the crises which occur in the capitalist system are not abberations, but are built into the system. Or, more eloquently, "Capitalism does live by crises and booms, just as a human being lives by inhaling and exhaling." (68) That's Leon Trotsky, folks. Let's give him a big hand. 👏👏👏👏👏

"The drive to accumulate leads inevitably to crises. And the greater the scale of past accumulation, the deeper the crises will be." (72) 

Or...

Senses never gratified

Only swelling like a tide

That could drown me in the

Material world

(George Harrison)

Day 4 (DDRD 3,046) March 5, 2026)

Read to page 100. Yeah. 😫 I'll go back for more, but right now it just feels like trying to swim through dough. (Though I did read 40 pages of The Moonstone with no strain.

Sigh.

Later...made it to 104. That's it for today.

Day 5 (DDRD 3,047) March 6, 2026)

Read to page 125.

I was thinking pretty seriously about quitting this book, but then I read this line: "The relationship between states and capitals are relationships between people, between those engaged in exploiting the mass of the population and those who control bodies of armed men." (109) That's a big gulp. Enough to keep me going for another page or two, anyway. (But no promises.)

Day 6 (DDRD 3,048) March 7, 2026)

Read to page 155.

Finished Part One: Understanding the System: Marx and Beyond and started Part Two: Capitalism in the 20th Century, and felt like somebody clicked the treadmill down from 30 degrees of incline to flat. I think it's the difference between political theory and history. For the first time I thought, "Maybe I will finish this book."

Labor = the "capacity to be productively exploited" (133)

Gotta give the Commies that one.

In discussing causes of The Great Depression, Harman says that we still cannot explain why it happened today. He then goes on to list several possibilities, one of which caught my eye: "...the raising of US tariffs by the Smoot-Hawley Act in the summer of 1930 unleashed a wave of protectionism preventing a recovery that would otherwise have occurred if free trade had been allowed untrammeled sway. " (145)

Uh-oh.

Day 7 (DDRD 3,049) March 8, 2026)

Read to page 185.

According to this text, "78 percent of Palestine " (185) was seized to create Israel. Must check Israel, The Hijack State by John Rose asap.*

* Which, fortunately,  is available HERE..because the only copy I found for sale was $125! **

** Here are the last two paragraphs of the Introduction:

After discussing the vision of Israel as the beleaguered fiction of terrorism, Mr. Rose says,

"However, the history of Israel suggests the opposite interpretation. The state of Israel was founded upon just those principles of terror: for at its foundation Israel expelled three-quarters of a million Palestinians through assassination and murderous destruction. The “terrorists” that Israel and the US want put to death are often the sons and daughters of those same dispossessed Palestinians.

"Israel’s evolution has seen the increasing use of state terror on a monumental scale. This, combined with American backing for the militarisation of its economy, has turned Israel into a ruthless outpost for Western domination of the Middle East. The pious noises about “terrorism”, from Israel, America and indeed Britain, conceal this deeper motivation."

Wow.

Day 8 (DDRD 3,050) March 9, 2026)

Read to page 215.

Day 9 (DDRD 3,051) March 10, 2026)

Read to page 245.

Day 10 (DDRD 3,052) March 11, 2026)

Read to page 263.

Day 11 (DDRD 3,053) March 12, 2026)

Read to page 285.

Referring to the Project for a New American Century, Harman says, "The Republican electoral victory of 2000 and then the national panic caused by the 9/11 destruction of the world trade center gave them a chance to implement their policy." (271) Well...that's one way of looking at it.

Can this possibly be true? "[Only] 1 or 2 percent of the fiber optic cable buried under Europe and North America has even been turned on." (286) That's what Financial Times 6 September 2001 says. So I guess we're ready for the future... unless, of course, something new comes along that makes fiber optic cable completely obsolete.

Day 12 (DDRD 3,055) March 13, 2026)

Read to page 315.

"US households must spend more than their incomes. If they fail to do so, the economy will plunge into recession unless something changes elsewhere...." (288, quoting Martin Wolf)

This

Just arrived in the mail. Must. Focus. On. Zombie. Book.

Speaking of...here's are two quotes from Karl Marx that pretty much sum up this whole Capitalism thang:

"Après moi, le déluge" which = "After me, the flood"...meaning "I'm hoping the shit doesn't hit the fan until after I've got my goodies."

&

"Ought these to trouble us since they increase our profits?" (with reference to dangers to workers, the environment,  etc.)

As Harry Styles puts it, "Stop your crying, it's a sign of the times."

Day 13 (DDRD 3,056) March 14, 2026)

Read to page 331.

Yet another article which I think I need to read: 

"Peak Oil and Energy Imperialism" by John Bellamy Foster, which you (and I) can find HERE. 

Day 14 (DDRD 3,057) March 15, 2026)

Read to page 424, The End. 

This was a bit of a struggle,  to be sure, but I'm glad that I hung in there with it...and despite coming up short of my 30 pages a few times, I still ended up with a decent 30.29 pages per date rate.

"What we can say with certainty is that...the world by the end of this century is going to be intolerable for the majority of those who live in it." (352)  published in 2009, so the clock is ticking.

Sometimes I wonder: where DO we end?

 

DDR: How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women by Zoe Venditozzi & Claire Mitchell

 

xxi+ 296 = 317 pages

I'm not sure how I encountered this book. Possibly via an ad on Facebook. At any rate, it seemed interesting, the library had a copy, and I put in a request for it. The library's stamped RECEIVED date is January 23, 2026, so I might be the first person to read this copy of this book. For some reason that thought pleases me.

Day 1 (DDRD 3,039) February 26, 2026)

Read to page 73.

"...when the going gets tough in any society, it is the most vulnerable who are accused of causing the damage." (xviii)

There are some VERY gross descriptions of the tortures "witches" were put through. This is definitely not for the faint of heart...of whose number I count myself, alas. Despite that, I find this book quite compelling. That's due in part to the occasionally sarcastic voice of the writer(s). Sarcasm is a balm for my soul.

Day 2 (DDRD 3,040) February 27, 2026)

Read to page 146 (halfway point).

This book has actually FOOTnotes. That's the way you do it, folks. (As opposed to hiding them at the end of the book with no indication that they exist until you reach the end of the book. I'm looking at you, Mr. Brando Starkey.)

"If a woman's behavior is unacceptable or suspicious, Could it be she's a witch?" (98)

I couldn't help but think of my daughter when I read this. She is a very odd human being. Also, my favorite female human being. But if you met her, it would not take more than a few seconds to realize that she was, at very least  odd. We volunteer at the hospital once a week. As we were leaving one day, she went into the women's room. Shortly after she entered an old woman came out, her eyes wide. She whispered to her son, who was waiting for her,  "There's a woman in there talking to herself. I think she's crazy!" For a moment I was offended and was going to say something in my daughter's defense...and then I realized, No, that's fair. 

So my daughter might have been labeled a witch back in those days, simply for being her autistic self. A frightening thought.

In a first draft opinion on the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted Matthew Hale's opinion that abortion is a great crime. Matthew Hale was a judge who presided over a Salem witch trial in which two innocent women were hanged on the testimony of several children who said they were attacked and threatened by invisible spectres of these women. Dobbs v. Jackson WHO is the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Still hunting down those witches, I guess.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,041) February 28, 2026)

Read to page 222. So tomorrow will probably do it. Good read!

BTW, you can find the Witches of Scotland podcast HERE.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,042) March 1, 2026)

Read to page 296, The End.  A good book. At the end it linked past treatment of women with present treatment of women with the possible future degradation of women. It was necessary, of course, but also a bit screedy. As a man who has tried very hard not to mistreat women, it's hard for me to listen to blanket condemnations without thinking, "Hey, wait a minute." I understand why it's done that way, and maybe even why it's necessary to do it that way, but it still hurts. 

Isaac Asimov did make me smile hard.

 

https://archive.org/details/moretalesofblack00asim/mode/1up

I'm reading my second collection of Isaac Asimov's Black Widowers stories (More Tales of the Black Widowers) And enjoying it quite a bit. As a matter of fact, I'm spending a lot more time with it per day than is my wont, and thus am already halfway through the book after just a few days. (Normally it takes me several months to read an Asimov book because I only read a few pages per day. (Sotto voce: in the bathroom.)

The stories delineate the regular dinner meetings of this men's group, which is modeled after a real group Asimov belonged to. At these meetings, a guest is grilled, and some kind of mystery evolves out of the grilling. Invariably, the waiter, Henry, is the one to solve the mystery. It's very formulaic and you would think it would have gotten old after a few stories, but it actually has not and I'm anxious to read more. (There are quite a few more by the way. I'm glad that Internet Archive has them available, since some of the prices for these books are way out of my league.*) In the VIIth story in this volume, entitled "Season's Greetings," A character named  Gonzalo suggests that the Black Widowers should put together a book of limericks. He is immediately (and rudely) shot down for the suggestion, and then he surreptitiously begins to write, "There once was a group of dull bastards...." 

It didn't make me laugh...few books do...but it did make me smile. Smile hard. I think that's the first time this has happened whilst reading an Asimov book.

So there's that.

* 

Leon Russell

 

Thats why romance is so hard you have ribe open and honest while you lie through your teeth.

Others words to say how ww feel 

 

That's what I wrote last night whilst in the throes of drug-induced delirium. Here's what I remember about it:

I was just about to tumble into sleep when Leon Russell's "A Song For You" began to play. I'd heard the song before, but never really listened to the lyrics. This time, they hit me. Some of the lines reminded me of my friend Pat.

I know your image of me
Is what I hope to be
...
There's no one more important to me

... 

I love you in a place where there's no space and time

I love you for my life, you are a friend of mine

And when my life is over

Remember when we were together

 

It's a beautiful song, and hearing it and thinking of Pat jolted me out of my stupor long enough for me to text a link to a performance of the song along with the comment that even though there were some things about the lyrics that didn't fit (the stuff I left out above), I immediately thought of her.

 

After she replied (thanks, touched) I thought about texting back again. I was going to say, 

"Isn't it funny how sometimes we need the words of others to express how we feel?"  And then I thought about that and I thought, "That's why romance is so hard: you have to appear to be open and honest while lying through your teeth."

 

Which isn't completely true, of course...but there's some truth in it. Plus I think it's funny.

 

ANYway...it's a beautiful song. Check it out if you're not familiar with it.

 

The Book I Just Started Reading Today: Karl Ove Knausgård's Winter

 

I wasn't all that thrilled with the first book in this series (Autumn), but it was a foregone conclusion that I would read Winter because (1) I bought it from the bargain shelf at Half-Price Books before I'd read Autumn and (2) it has beautiful illustrations. Like this one:

Who could resist that? Not me. So I bought it...$4...and then got the first volume from the library and the rest is history. The library also has Spring and Summer, so I'll probably carry on through...but here's hoping that Karl Ove doesn't spend too much time explaining toilets and such (as he did in Autumn--I shit thee not).

News as it happens.

The Book I'm About to Read: I, Robot: The Illustrated Screenplay by Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov

2/12/26

I've had this one on my shelf for many years. Decades. But I've never read it. Despite the fact that I'm quite fond of both Harlan Ellison and Isaac Asimov. Mostly because though I've read quite a few Harlan Ellison books, that was a long time ago, back in the Pyramid Ellison days...and when I got the itch to re-read him awhile back I chose Memos From Purgatory, and that ground me to a halt. In it, Ellison, undercover as a gang member, commits statutory rape, intimidates old people, and does other unsavory things. I don't think you can use Writer's Research as a cloak for that kind of shit. Also, in the second part of the book when Ellison is jailed for a weapons violation, he is incredibly whiny about what amounts to a very short time of incarceration. It's a bit histrionic, to say the least.

But that was then, this is now. I have read 49 Isaac Asimov books in succession. I wanted something special for my 50th. So I chose this.

🤞

2/16/26

I don't usually read my Asimov books this quickly. But I have to admit that even though there were great flaws in this script, I did find it a compelling read. As for the flaws, most of them were just Harlan Ellison being Harlan Ellison. He tends to write characters who explode into anger and violence at the slightest provocation...a kind of wild macho perspective. And his dialogue often suffers from affectation. "You're bugfuck! I'm bugfuck, too!" FF'sS.

So...50 Asimov books down now. Starting #51 tomorrow. 

Agatha: The Real Life of Agatha Christie

 

I've seen a few of the movies based on Agatha Christie novels (the Kenneth Branaugh ones...were there two or three?), but I've never read any of her books. My friend Susanne's mother is a big A.C. fan, though, so I'm always on the lookout for stuff related to The Dame, and when I spotted this graphic biography at the library, I picked it up.

It's a nice looking little book: sewn binding, good European style art (whatever that means; I can't define it, but I know it when I see it):

 

I think it has something to do with an uncluttered, open look and slightly wobbly "straight" lines.  Some of the character illustrations reminded me of Chester Brown, who is still one of my favorite artists:

The writing was very smoothly carried along, largely on the back of interactions between Agatha and her creation, Hercule Poirot. It made for interesting confrontations as Agatha was not overly fond of Hercule, and also allowed for "natural" meta-commentary on both Agatha's life and her writings. 

A very satisfying and quick read.

I'm thinking I might need go read some Agatha Christie in the near future. But which one? She wrote a lot.

According to this book, Agatha Christie's own two favorite novels were Crooked House and Ordeal By Innocence. She also wrote an autobiography: An Autobiography. You've gotta love that, right?

Somewhere along the line I also remembered that I had seen the movie Agatha when it came out in 1979...starring Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie, Dustin Hoffman as Wally Stanton, and Timothy Dalton as Archie Christie. I don't remember anything about it, but I would like to see it again now. And since it's the 21st Century...here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQj23PTy6cQ.

☮ ➡

DDR: Their Accomplices Wore Robes: How the Supreme Court Chained Black America to the Bottom of a Racial Caste System by Brando Simeo Starkey

 

This is a big book...672 pages. 

Day 1 (DDRD 3,018) February 5, 2026

Read to page 30.

In 1784, Thomas Jefferson said, "I advance it...as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to whites both in body and mind...." (11)

Thomas Jefferson! What the actual fuck!

 

Day 2 (DDRD 3,019) February 6, 2026

Read to page 64.

The subject matter of this book is compelling and horrifying, and I'm pretty sure that I will continue to forge my way through it, but Starkey is not a good writer. He tries to make his narrative more immediate by placing the reader into it, which is a bit forced. He also relies upon repeated phrases such as "We the People" far too much. I am currently on page 46, and I would estimate that he has used that phrase at least 100 times (no hyperbole*). He also has a very bizarre way of wording some thoughts. For instance, "Some thought Black men need not the ballot."(47) That is some strange syntax.

In fact, I found his writing so bad that I looked up a video to see how he spoke. I found several short ones, which seemed fine, so I thought I would check out a longer one. I found this one, with a rather startling picture at the front, of Supreme Court justices in Ku Klux Klan roNow.

https://youtu.be/cZT6kkf6_fA?si=VmvYHnBHDjaLru0m

It's actually an image I've had in my mind since I picked this book up and was planning to photoshop, but I suppose, I don't have to now.

Starkey also regularly (and by that I mean far too often) refers to the 13th, 14th, and 15th Ammendments to the Constitution as "the Trinity," which I find (1) too cute by half and (2) inappropriate in that the religious connotations of the word are inescapable. 

* He uses the phrase 5 times on page 46, for instance.

Day 3 (DDRD 3,020) February 7, 2026

Read to page 100.

William Woods Holden called the Ku Klux Klan the "terrorist arm of the Democratic Party" and said that they "had caused the defeats of Republican candidates through voter intimidation and brownbeat [sic] state officials into discharging their duties in ways the Klan demanded." (65) Oh, how doth the 🪱 turn.

Another turn of the 🪱: "The states' rights party lacked feasible means to attract southern black voters, and reducing them to nonvoters would help." (70)

All of this talk about Republicans being the good guys fighting for Black rights, especially voting rights, led me to check current political party demographics. Here's what I found:

https://www.google.com/search?q=racial+demographics+of+political+party&oq=racial+demographics+of+polit&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCAgBEAAYFhgeMgYIABBFGDkyCAgBEAAYFhgeMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IBBAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEKMjA1NjZqMGoyOagCALACAQ&client=ms-android-verizon-us-rvc3&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe

Hmmmm.

Day 4 (DDRD 3,021) February 8, 2026

Read to page 137.

After the confusing election of 1876, on February 8th 1877, a consortium of 15 gave the election to Rutherford B. Hayes. As a result, Federal troops (sent to defend Black folks) were removed from the South: "Republicans had concluded that claiming the mantle of Black rights hamstrung their political ambitions." (111)

Nothing new under the fuckin' 🌞,  is there? 

Day 5 (DDRD 3,022) February 9, 2026

Read to page 159.

Mississippi Plan 1875

😔 😟 😠 😡 

Day 6 (DDRD 3,023) February 10, 2026

Read to page 192. To reiterate: I'm not a fan of Starkey's writing style. He continues to write grammatically incorrect sentences (including sentence fragments), intrusive authorial addresses to the reader (e.g., "Come now and we'll take a look at _____ ), and annoying euphemisms ("The Trinity" for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Ammendments, "We thePeople" for the Constitution). These subject matter, however,  is riveting (and horrifying). And so I soldier on. 672 - 190 = 482 pages to go, ÷ 30 = 16 days. I can do that.

Day 7 (DDRD 3,024) February 11, 2026

Read to page 223. (15 🍺 🧱....)

"People work hard and follow the rules if they believe they can win." (201)

Which is kind of the whole story? And look at the converse: if you believe that you can't win, if you believe that the game is rigged, then you will not work hard and you will not follow the rules. Why would you? To do so would be stupid.

Day 8 (DDRD 3,025) February 12, 2026

Read to page 254. 

A white Southerner meets Booker T Washington and tells him, "Say, you are a great man. You are the greatest man in this country!" Booker. T. downplayed the praise, but the man shook his head and reiterated, "Yes, sir, the greatest man in this country." Roosevelt, Booker T. responded, deserved that honor. "Huh! Roosevelt?" he replied. "I used to think that Roosevelt was a great man until he ate dinner with you. That settled him for me." (228)

Ummm...what?

"Laziness and shiftlessness, these, and above all, vice and criminality of every kind, are evils more potent for harm to the black race than all acts of oppression of white men put together...." (241) That's beloved President Theodore Roosevelt speaking. For fuck's sake.

Day 9 (DDRD 3,026) February 13, 2026

Read to page 287. So many racist white men in our history.... 😔 

I'm thinking that I should read a biography of Lyndon Johnson. What made him sign the Civil Rights law? 

This

looks like it might do the job. The library has an e-book, but I'm thinking I want a real book.

Day 10 (DDRD 3,027) February 14, 2026

Read to page 320. 

Day 11 (DDRD 3,028) February 15, 2026

Read to 350. A big book. An important book. But it's getting kind of boring, I'm sorry to say. Part if it is Starkey's writing style, which is wearing me out. Does be have to give physical descriptions of every character as s/he walks onto the scene? (Does it natter if a lawyer is fat, has a pointy beard, and brown eyes?) Sheesh.

Day 12 (DDRD 3,029) February 16, 2026

Read to page 380. This book has mentioned both Louisville and Baltimore  (my hometown) several times. 

I had friends who went to Catonsville High School. Glad to say that it was about four decades later, so hopefully things had changed by then. Still check this out:

Black students who wanted to continue their education after the 7th grade had to take a test...which over 70% failed...in order to go to high school. No test for the White kids, though.

Shameful.

Day 13 (DDRD 3,030) February 17, 2026

Read to page 405.

I am amazed at how many times I read things in this book that show how far back this country's racist policies go. For instance, "the Reagan administration acts as if the white male is the minority...." (385) Sound familiar? Apparently Reagan was doing his best to destroy DEI initiatives--possibly before that term was even in use. Why do the people of this country have such hatred for people of color? It baffles me.

"Reynolds and like-minded Reagan administration officials taught the conservative movement, which included Supreme Court justices, that it should convert the Fourteenth Amendment into a tool to protect White racial advantages and showed how to accomplish the feat while wearing men like Howard, Harlan, Marshall, and King as masks, appreciating that this presented an avenue to promote their constitutional vision with the public." (392) Again...sound familiar? (Looking at you, Tim Scott.)

Day 14 (DDRD 3,031) February 18, 2026

Read to page 440.

Everything old is new again.

Day 15 (DDRD 3,032) February 19, 2026

Read to page 470. So 202 pages to go, which means 7 days (more or less). It's been an interesting and often upsetting read, but I'm ready for it to be over. Might try to pick up the pace a bit to finish it in, say, 5 days. 😒 

Day 16 (DDRD 3,033) February 20, 2026

Read to page 500.

Tried to read extra. Couldn't do it. Read Return of the Black Widowers instead. No puns, please. 

Read this at 4:17 am. What a way to wake up.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/contributors/2026/02/11/kentucky-republican-senate-race-black-people-dei-barr-morris/88607165007/

Why does this nation hate Black people so much? Maybe it's at least in part because White people realize how unjustifiably awful they've been and are being, so the only way they can live with themselves is to demonize Black people. Like a wife who demonizes her husband so that she can feel justified in divorcing him, even though he's done nothing wrong. (Close to the bone, that one.) It all makes me sick. 

Day 17 (DDRD 3,034) February 21, 2026

Read to page 531.

Stop me if you've heard this one: "Alabama's disenfranchisement scheme achieved the desired result. Of the more than 180,000 previously eligible Black voters. in 1900, only about 3,000 registered under the new provisions." (516)

Same old thing in brand new drag. (Bowie)

Day 18 (DDRD 3,035) February 22, 2026

Read to 550. Can't get past 30 per day. 

Day 19 (DDRD 3,036) February 23, 2026

Read to page 590.

In 1969, Richmond's Mayor Bagley attempted to expand the city's boundaries by annexing part of neighboring Chesterfield County. Why? "...we don't want the city to go to the niggers. We need 44,000 bodies." (564)

Here's how The Washington Post remembered dear Mayor Bagley in their 1996 obituary:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1996/10/29/philip-j-bagley-dies-at-92/41479f3b-ddc3-4733-ae47-03b33466a2ec/

And is anyone else hearing "I just want to find 11,780 votes"?

Same old same old. Speakimg of...

People of color make up nearly a third of eligible US voters but cast only 22% of ballots, analysis says

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/31/voters-of-color-voting-rights-gerrymandering

And that's from 2024. I guess some people would look at that and say, " See? Black folks don't even care about voting."  Seems more likely that if you see the game is rigged, you don't waste your time trying to play.

Day 20 (DDRD 3,037) February 24, 2026

Read to page 624.

In North Carolina...in 2013 (!!!)..."  The legislature...passed a bill that cut a week of early voting, stopped out-of-precinct voting, and required voters to show certain forms of photo ID to vote. Republicans chose these restrictions after learning they would disproportionately curtail Black voting." (593)

2013!

I've finished the text of the book and am now laboring my way through the Notes. I wish I had read them as I went, but, to be honest, I was several hundred pages in before I even noticed there were notes in the back, as there were no notations in the text itself. I thought about skipping them, but I really want credit for these pages, so I martial on. I am about halfway through them now, and am pretty sure that they're not necessary for you to read, but I will update in about twenty pages. Doing it so you don't have to, brahs and tahs.

Day 21 (DDRD 3,038) February 25, 2026

Read to page 672, The End. All Notes and Index today, which wasn't a thrill, but did confirm that there is no need for you to read these pages. No, no, thank YOU.