Saturday, April 30, 2011

Moral Cretinism Part VII
The CPUSA, Stalin and Espionage
A Book Review

Book Cover

Ideological struggles and Academic one upmanship is as old as, well, academia and no doubt will exist as long as man exists a recent example of this is the victory dance academic one upmanship performed after the fall of Communism.

Or to give a more particular example the case of spying for the Soviet Union and the American Communist party. Case in point the book In Denial by John Earl Haynes and Harvey Klehr.1 In the book our heroes, (Because that is how they see themselves), pat themselves on the back and do a victory dance.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Jesus the Little Known
A Note

Icon of Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth will undoubtedly be considered by many people has one of them most influential if not most influential person who ever lived. It is sad that this extraordinary influential person is one we know very little about. In real terms.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Selective "States  Rights"

Map of the Confederacy

In the period before the Civil War it was accepted that yes the US government with the states could indeed abolish slavery by constitutional amendment. That was why so many in the South were so afraid of the rising number of Free states that would, they feared, eventually reach a number that would allow the abolition of Slavery by constitutional amendment.1

In fact the original 13th amendment recognized this fact by the fact it was even proposed, and further efforts were made to make it impossible to amend by other constitutional amendments further recognizing that the abolition of slavery by constitutional amendment was recognized pre Civil War as a perfectly legal possibility.2
Michael Parenti and Stalin’s Fingers*
Moral Cretinism Part VI

Stalin aka "Koba the Dread"

The writer and “progressive” thinker Michael Parenti is one of the few remaining thinkers who can be described as an apologist for the, now defunct, Soviet Union. In many respects Michael Parenti is like the old style “Fellow Travellers”,1 who were endlessly suspicious of the evil Capitalists of the “West”, but very forgiving of the well meaning(?) rulers of the “East”.

Monday, April 04, 2011

 Alternatives For the Aztecs 

Book Cover

 Spoilers!
You've been warned!!

The above novel The Other Time1 combines two interests of mine, Science Fiction and Pre-Columbian America. So of course I wanted it.

I originally came across it in a used bookstore in Ottawa c. 1984. I didn’t buy it at the time although I remembered it. I subsequently was never able to find it. I encountered it again in 1991 at what was then called The Spaced Out Library2 of the City of Toronto Public Library system. I then finally read it all the way through. I found that it was out of print and rather hard to find. It wasn’t until last few years that I was able to obtain a copy through the Internet. (Yeah Amazon!)