Reading Banned Books--A Commitment You Should Make

I sincerely hope that this version of this blog post turns out more successfully than the first attempt I made a couple of years ago.  After nearly finishing this important and rather lengthy post, somehow or other I managed to lose the entire thing and I still don't know why or how.  I have left it untouched for quite some time because I just didn't have the heart to see it disappear once more literally before my eyes and because I also had a constant stream of ideas which needed to be completed also.  But I have been reading the book "Reading Lolita In Tehran: A Memoir In Books" by Azar Nafisi and both that book and its author have been banned in Iran for quite some time.  From my personal point of view, I firmly believe in reading every book I can get my hands on which has ever been banned in any jurisdiction and I have read many and will continue to do so as long as I have the capacity to do so.  So should you!  The world needs to know the truths contained in books which are important enough to induce power brokers to attempt to prevent their messages from being seen and heard.  I honestly do not know when I read my first previously banned book or what the title was.  It might have been "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain or "Alice's Adventures In Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll or some other relatively innocuous work by an author who is considered mainstream in today's world. The bottom line is that I began reading banned books at a very young age without even consciously doing so and I have never read a banned book from which I did not learn something which has proven to be informative, helpful, and worthwhile in my later life.

I recently had a conversation, quite by accident, with a worker at my local post office who has known me for several years and has seen me receive and ship hundreds of books.  But until that recent day I did not know that she was a steady reader and often read banned books.  In the course of that conversation, one of us, her as I remember, brought up the concept of reading banned books and she informed me quickly that she also reads every book she can get her hands on which have been banned.  I had previously seen her at an annual picnic which is sponsored by a local conservative church and I was somewhat surprised to hear her agree with me on this subject.  She rose several steps in my estimation after that conversation. So will you if you read a banned book and post a comment on this blog post about the experience and what you learned from it!

One of my favorite websites about banned books is run by a site known as Punchnels and they have an article entitled "10 Reasons for Banning Books, and 5 Much Better Reasons Not To".  I will be using that article as an outline for this blog post and will attempt to expand on their key points while also making several dozen of my own.  I will discuss each of their reasons one by one and attempt to further elucidate my reasons for why they are correct while also providing further examples of books which fit into each of these categories they discuss.

1) Racial Themes: Numerous books have been banned in America, or portions of the country, for this very reason.  "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" was banned in many locations for many years after its publication because it cast two runaways, one a white juvenile running from a drunken and abusive father and the other a runaway black slave.  In recent times, it has been banned for an absolutely different reason, the use of the "N" word several times.  In my estimation and that of many others, neither of these reasons justified banning a masterpiece such as "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn".  "To Kill A Mockingbird" was also banned for many years because it was written about a white southern attorney who defended a black man in a court of law.  John Howard Griffin's "Black Like Me" was also banned because Griffin, a white author, successfully posed as a black man in the Deep South in order to understand racial prejudice.  There is a much longer list of wonderful books which have been banned over the last 250 years in America because they addressed racial themes.

2) Alternative Lifestyles: Nearly as many books have been banned for this reason as have been banned for discussing racial themes.  Numerous books which have addressed LGBTQ themes have been banned in America.  Many of them are still banned in small enclaves such as religious based schools, Third World Countries, tyrannical and despotic countries, conservative communities, and other unique areas.  This list of books may also include books about crime, gang activity, drug use, polygamy, polyandry, polyamory, mental illness, and prostitution.  Some of these reasons for banning also touch the edges of sexual and/or racial themes which are actually a completely separate reason for banning books. There is actually quite a bit of such crossover in book banning where stated reasons for banning a book may actually reveal that the book banners were publicly stating one reason but also thinking of another which might have been less publicly acceptable.  One of the most famous books banned in America for being about alternative lifestyles is "The Outsiders" which was written by S. E. Hinton when she was only about fifteen or sixteen and published when she was eighteen.  The book is about gang life in high school and was banned by many school boards and libraries in 1967 when it shot to the top of the best seller lists and deservedly so.  "Junkie" and "Naked Lunch" by William Burroughs have also been banned all across the United States because they depict the lifestyle of drug addiction. "Howl", arguably one of the finest books in all of American poetry, was banned in many jurisdictions upon its release in 1956 because the author was both gay and Jewish. Several of the books by his associates in the Beat Generation including William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac were also banned almost en masse because the authors were known to be members of that wonderfully progressive school of writing.  Many lesbian, gay, transgendered, and witchcraft books have also been banned along with books about Satanism, communism, socialism, and other lifestyles at the fringes of mainstream society and that banning still occurs today.

3)  Profanity: Profanity alone has also caused many books to be banned including the works of Erica Jong, John Steinbeck, and many others.  Ms. Jong's books were also frequently banned due to their highly sexual nature so she often found herself and her work caught between a rock and a hard place although she has still managed to publish more than 25 books in at least three genres.  More power to her!  "The Grapes Of Wrath" and "The Great Gatsby" have also been banned because of their salty language.  "The Great Gatsby" plays a large role in the book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi which I have recently read and written about on this blog.  Ms. Nafisi's highly acclaimed work has been banned in her native Iran for similar reasons.  I cannot recommend any book more highly than hers.

4) Sex: The article "10 Reasons for Banning Books and 5 Much Better Reason Not To" on the Punchnel's website which I am referring to frequently in this blog post states in their discussion of this topic that "not just graphic sexual content, but also dialogue of a sexual nature, any and all references to reproductive acts, and even the barest, briefest, Disney-approved sensuality" can result in a book being banned by the small minded and heavy handed book banners anywhere.  Books which have been banned because of sexual content include "Fanny Hill" by John Cleland, "Fear Of Flying" by Erica Jong, and "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway.  All are excellent literature and have proven themselves to be far more consequential in America and the world than the people who banned them.

5) Violence: Violence can sometimes be the official public cause for banning a book when the real reasons may  be nebulous, unnamed, and more questionable in nature.  Books which have been banned because of their violence include "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey but the real reason for its banning was often related more to the fact that the protagonists in the book were residents in a mental institution.  "Lord Of The Flies" by William Golding was probably banned most often because it involved teen age boys in a setting where they had to wear no clothes.  "Fifty Shades of Grey" by E. L. James was often banned ostensibly because of violence when the real reason was that the violence is sexual in nature.  But with more openness in America about sexual activity outside the societal norms, book banners sometimes look for other reasons to ban books with sexual content which arouses their ire.

6) Negativity:  There can be no more broad and nebulous term in relation to the content of a book than "negativity".  That word to a book banner is much like the term "disorderly conduct" to small town judges, police officers, and juries.  It will cover nearly anything with which the person in power disagrees.  "The Diary of A Young Girl" by Anne Frank was banned in Alabama for being "a downer" which was a wolf whistle word for the fact that it was actually about Jews dying in the Holocaust at the hands of Nazi's when the banning was being done in a state where the Ku Klux Klan still holds power today and that power in growing today as the White House is being illegally occupied by a TRAITOR who is supervising the deaths of children in cages.  In Corona-Norco, California, in 1993, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley faced banning because of "negativity".

7) Witchcraft: I grew up in Knott County Kentucky and did not know until two years ago in 2017 that Jessie Wicker Bell, the author of the most famous witchcraft book in America, "The Book Of Shadows", had been a native of Knott County and that her children scattered her ashes in a family cemetery about a mile from another cemetery in which most of my paternal aunts and uncles are buried.  Since I wrote about her, her importance to Wiccans worldwide, and her writing on my blog, two of her children have contacted me to thank me for helping to make the world aware of her work and her books which are all available still today on alternative bookseller sites.  They also told me that a son of hers and the grandson of a former tenant of my parents whom I had known as a child was actually their sibling.  This kind of suppression of information in a small community which arose from the banning of books and making her a pariah is a shining example of the kind of damage book banning can do in such a small populace.  It is also relevant to this discussion  that Knott County has an unusually rich literary history with James Still, Albert Stewart, William Howard Cohen, Verna Mae Slone, May Stone, and myself all having either grown up, writing and publishing in, or living and teaching in the county.  But Jessie Wicker Bell is not the only writer of such literature to have their works banned.  Anton Szandor Lavey, the author of "The Satanic Bible" and four other books saw his work banned in nearly every state in America and in most mainstream book stores.  Nearly every other book about witchcraft, Satanism, or similar beliefs has been banned somewhere in America and most of them have been banned in many jurisdictions. Even Roald Dahl, a very mainstream and revered author of children's books, had his book "The Witches" banned.

8)  Unpopular Religious Views: Both C. S. Lewis' "Chronicles Of Narnia" and J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord Of The Rings" have been banned as being anything from "anti-Christian", "satanic", or "atheistic" when both authors were deeply religious and created these works as Christian allegories.  In fact, in addition to the banned children's books, Lewis also wrote two highly respected non-fiction works on Christian theology, "Mere Christianity" "The Weight Of Glory", and the fictional "Screwtape Letters" which is also deeply religious but couched in the form of letters home by a junior devil sent to earth to help the efforts of Satan.  Other unpopular religious works have included those related to Scientology, atheism, agnosticism, Judaism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Later Day Saints, and most other religions which can viewed as being outside the mainstream in a Christian country.  Additionally, several Muslim countries have banned religious books such as the Holy Bible, the Khama Sutra, and works related to Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and most other non-Muslim religions. 

9)  Unpopular Political Views: Many political books have been banned in many countries of the world depending on the beliefs they expressed and the beliefs of the reigning officials.  Oftentimes, these books have been diametrically banned in opposing countries with the opposing beliefs in power.  Such books include "Mein Kampf by Adolph Hitler, "The Communist Manifesto" by Marx and Engels, "Poor Richard's Almanac" by Benjamin  Franklin, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut, "The Rights Of Man" by Thomas Paine, and "Wealth Of Nations" by Adam Smith.  The bottom line is that, just like book banners who ban religious books because of opposing beliefs have also often been involved in banning political books which support beliefs other than their own.  And you can bet that if the current criminally minded TRAITORS who occupy the White House based on the TREASON of the nameless TRAITOR who ostensibly leads them believed they could do so successfully they would also begin banning most books of a decidedly democratic or liberal bent. When I use the word "democratic" in the previous sentence, I use it in a universal not a party sense.  Any book banning based on political belief is an affront to the US Constitution and the Founding Fathers who wrote.  Actually, any banning of books is such an affront and in direct conflict with the concept of Freedom Of Speech which is firmly enshrined in our constitution and our democracy as a whole. 

10)  Any Theme Judged Unsuitable For A Particular Age Group: In many ways, this reason for banning books is a bit nebulous and left largely to the interpretation of the book banners at any given time in any given jurisdiction.  It is often used to ban books with even mildly sexually based content even to the point of banning discussion of anatomy and gender.  While I do understand that children of what are sometimes called "tender years" should not be allowed to read "Fanny Hill" or "Fear Of Flying", I do not believe they should be denied the knowledge that such books exist which they must wait a few years to read.  A single curse word or the use of the "N" word in the classic works of Mark Twain do not constitute legitimate reasons for banning a book.  Perhaps they do justify making a young reader wait but no book should ever be completely destroyed, banned, and wiped from the face of the earth.  What would the fields of sociology and gender studies do without books such as "The Tea Room Trade" by Laud Humphrey or "The Human Experience Of Sex And Gender" by James Doyle.  While I can understand an argument that either or both are not mass market books, I would never agree that they should be denied to the adult reader, especially the specialist in the fields they illuminate.  But this last of the ten reasons for banning books is, in many ways, an open door through which many narrow minded people have walked in order to do great damage to the body of literature of many a country. 

The Punchnel's article which I have referenced freely to write this post ends with five reasons for reading banned books and they are all wonderful reasons.  But they are not as clearly written or created as the ten reasons books are commonly banned.  But I will comment on those five reasons for reading such books and, perhaps, add a few of my own.

1) You may not like something, but that’s no reason to take it away from everyone: This is a perfectly good reason for reading banned books.  But it is more a reason to allow others to read them than a reason each of us, as an open minded individual, should be reading banned books as often as possible.  As citizens in a democracy, we must accept the right of any sound minded person to read whatever the hell they choose or to write it for that matter.  You have the right to your opinion that "Tropic of Cancer" or "Fear Of Flying" is smut for instance but I also have the right to say I love that kind of open minded, honest language and literature and I am going to read it as I damn well please.  The bottom line is that if you believe in free will for citizens of a  democracy then it is none of your business what anyone else reads.

2)“Protecting” children from the difficult realities of the world is an exercise in futility—and privilege:  This reason for reading banned books is also a bit shaky if we sincerely believe that parents have the right to raise their children as they wish so long as that method of rearing them is not abusive or seriously neglectful.  I tend to believe that depriving children of free will as their age and maturity suits the subject under question.  But I also believe that some children due to age, immaturity, or intellectual problems may well never reach a point where they can freely choose their reading material, life circumstances, or other aspects of daily living.  In such cases, parents should be able to make choices for their children.  But as soon as the children reach emotional maturity, they should have self-determination on all subjects. 

3) Books are among our best teachers:  This is by far the most valid of the Punchnel's reasons for reading banned books so far.  Without books to broaden our views of the world, provide necessary information of thousands of subjects, and to provide simple, basic entertainment, we would be a dull, under educated, and unsuccessful species.  Books are our most basic and wonderful source of information other than word of mouth.  They are our best teachers and we should always have a book by our favorite chair or bed.  We should never allow the negative opinions of others to prevent us from learning about something another human obviously believed the world needed to see and know about.  I have met a few books I didn't like.  I have met a few books I hate.  I don't believe anyone should endanger their brains by reading "Mein Kampf" but I also firmly believe that those who choose to do so have that freedom of choice and it is an "inalienable right" guaranteed by the US Constitution. 

4)  Many of the most frequently banned books are—or go on to become—celebrated classics. And that’s not a coincidence: Quite often books which are banned were so attacked because the ideas they contained were simply too big, in an intellectual sense, for the minds of the people who chose to ban them.  The works of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, Adam Smith, and Thomas Locke were very often larger than the people around them who found themselves inordinately fearful of the ideas they contained.  The best, most futuristic, most visionary, and most consequential works are far ahead of their times and small minds cannot accept that the world will be better place with those books being freely read, supported, and followed.  Read every banned book you can find.  Read them and pass them on to others.  Always defend the universal right to read banned books.  Always defend democracy in all its manifestations and books, by forward thinking authors, will defend you. 

5)  Books really can change the world:  None of us know when we will be reading a book which will lead us to greatness or happiness within our ordinary lives.  None of us know when another book will be released to the world which will change the world.  As we look back to the days before the Gutenberg press, we can see and remember a long list of books which have been consequential in making the world a better place.  Those books have been found in all genres over time.  No book is too complicated, too simplistic, or too ordinary to change lives and the world.  I am reminded of a little book called "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russel Conwell which on an initial examination appears to be a simple little fable about a man who left home, was unhappy, and returned to find success in the land of his birth.  But, on much deeper levels, it is one of the greatest motivational books ever written and should be mandatory reading for every student in every school in the world. 






Now I will add my very on best reason for reading banned books.  They will relieve you of your ignorance and there is no ignorance worse than self imposed ignorance which is exactly what occurs anytime we allow any one to prevent us from reading a book we wish to read.  Now go out and read as many banned books as you can.  Feel free to return to this blog post and leave a comment about which banned books you have read and how doing so positively affected your life. 

Korean War Photographs--Willie Isaac

My neighbor for the past 27 years has been Willie Isaac who lives about a mile and a quarter from my house where he has lived nearly all his 91 years.  Willie and I have known each other ever since I moved to this community 27 years ago although we did not become close friends until the past several months after his wife, Flora Cook Isaac, died in October of 2018 after 66 years of marriage.  Willie and I had frequently encountered each other in our home town of West Liberty, Kentucky, at local stores and other public places.  We had always been friendly but not close until a couple of weeks before Flora died and I saw Willie's truck parked in the local ARH Hospital parking lot and inquired if he or his wife were in the hospital.  I visited them there as he stayed by her side during her final hospitalization and transfer to nursing home where she actually died a few days later.  But I had known for about three or four years that her health was failing and Willie was taking care of her diligently, cleaning the house, mowing the yard, and driving her to her appointments.  

Willie Isaac, about 1951--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

They had no children other than a son whom Flora had before they married and adopted to a couple from the area who lived in Ohio and raised him.  After Flora died, Willie continued to live in the little three room brick house he built many years ago and where they had operated a used shoe and clothing business for more than thirty or forty years.  As a trained and retired mental health professional, I was worried that Willie would suffer from the grief, loss of socialization, and loneliness and began to visit him.  It turns out he actually has a fairly large support system for a man his age with no children.  He has two nephews who live in the area and they visit him regularly and one of them does his weed eating although Willie still does his lawn mowing with a riding mower.  He also attends a local church each week and the minister also visits with him frequently.  He has a few friends and a sister who also call him nearly every day to check on him.  We have developed a system quite informally where I either visit him or call him every two or three days. Since I know that he is having regular contact with several others I don't visit or call every day but we stay in touch.  

Willie Isaac, Korea, photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

Not long ago he brought out a collection of photographs which he and others took during his time in the Korean War in 1950-1952.  A few days ago he agreed to allow me to post them on this blog although he has never used the internet and doesn't have a clear idea of exactly how a blog works.  But his mind is still sharp.  His memory is well above average for a man his age and he loves to talk about his life, extended family, and his years spent "in the shoe business".  I actually have met dozens of people in this community who talk about having gotten nearly all their shoes from Willie and Flora as they were growing up.  But this blog post is primarily about these photos and the stories Willie has told me about his time in the Army  during the Korean War.  First and foremost, Willie makes a point of saying that he was attached to an engineering unit which built bridges and roads during the war and "nobody ever fired a shot at me and I never fired a shot at anybody".  He also talks sometimes about one R & R episode he spent in Japan during his Korean duty but he apparently has no photographs from that trip.  Willie does have a few photographs of other soldiers some of whom he remembers their names and some he does not.  I am adding the names he either remembered or wrote on the photos. Some will have to be nameless.  But maybe some of their relatives might recognize them and I will add their names if you do.  Willie has also never mentioned a unit name and number for this engineering unit but a retired Army person I know says that it might have been the 103rd Engineer Regiment.  If you have a definite answer other than this please tell me what it was and I will add that to this post also until we can come up with a definite answer.   

Walter H. Handley, Alabama--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

One of the photographs is of a local man who also was assigned to the same unit and Willie now says that man is dead.  Here is his photograph as identified by Willie. 

Bill Ison, Crockett, KY--Photo by Willie Isaac & Roger Hicks

Willie also tells a story of being classified as a truck driver during his time in Korea.  He says "They told us they were giving us driver education and we were in a classroom for about a half a day.  Then we went out in a parking lot and had to drive a truck around the parking lot one time and they let us go."  Later he says, "One day my sergeant came to me and told me to report to the motor pool.  I asked why do I have to go to the motor pool and the sergeant said 'They need a truck driver and you are a truck driver."   Willie says he said, "I'm not a truck driver.  I never drove a truck in my life."  He says the sergeant said, "It says right here you are a truck driver.  It's in your record.  You're a truck driver."  Willie says he reported to the motor pool and they put him in a big truck and told him to drive twenty or thirty miles down a river to pick up supplies.  He says, "I tried to tear the transmission out of the truck on the way there but I couldn't."  He also says that on the way back to his unit he met two men in a jeep whom the motor pool had sent out looking for him afraid that he had driven the truck into the river.  But when the entire thing was over, Willie was a truck driver and was proud enough of it that he sent the photograph below to his parents with the caption, "This is my truck."  It seems most likely that the truck Willie drove was a 2 1/2 ton truck commonly known as a Deuce And A Half. 

The Truck Willie Drove--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Being able to survive driving the truck apparently got Willie a promotion since he also sent home a photograph of another soldier driving a jeep and added the caption, "This is the jeep I used to drive."  

"Hauser from Alabama" driving the Jeep Willie used to drive--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Willie also sent home a few photographs of himself with other soldiers whom he could not name or simply did not write their names on the shots including this one below.  It might be "Hauser from Alabama" since they are standing behind a large flat bed truck.  

Willie Isaac & Baker from Central or Western KY--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Willie was assigned to a bridge building unit and also took a few photographs of a bridge they were building over an unnamed Korean river including the next two, one with an unnamed soldier in it.  Willie tells a story that his unit was getting their water from the river a mile or so below this bridge and "one day after they pumped a truck load of water they found five dead Korean bodies in the water upstream above where they were pumping the water."  He says that he tried to not drink anymore water for several days after that.  

Bridge Over An Unamed Korean River With An Unnamed Soldier--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks

The photo below, although unlabeled, is of Willie Isaac in front of what appears to be a mess tent.   Since it is a tent, I have to assume it is also from Korea.  

Willie Isaac In Front Of A Mess Tent--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

When Willie returned from Korea, he spent some time at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and eventually left the Army in 1952. He was discharged from Fort Knox at the end of his hitch. He still has his discharge in a frame hanging in one bedroom of his home.  He also has one photograph of himself in what appears to be a barracks building at Fort Knox with a friend but does not remember that man's name.  

Willie Isaac and a fellow soldier at Fort Knox 1952--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger D. Hicks

Willie also sent home one photograph from Korea of what he described as "an 8" gun".  Maybe somebody with military experience can tell me exactly what this weapon was called.  

"8 inch gun"--Photo by Willie Isaac and Roger Hicks

Despite my fears about Willie after the death of his wife, he is doing remarkably well for a 91 year old widower living alone in Eastern Kentucky.  He does his own laundry, recently steam cleaned his carpets, mows his own grass on a riding mower, talks to family and friends every day,  take care of a stray dog who showed up at his house and eats food but won't let him touch it, and he drives to church every Sunday and does his regular trips to town for groceries, medical visits, and bill paying in his brand new car he bought a few weeks after his wife Flora was buried.  Here is one recent photograph of this old Appalachian soldier beside his new car.  

Willie Isaac and his new car--Photo by Cakes For You and Roger D. Hicks

"Reading Lolita In Tehran" by Azar Nafisi--Book Review

I have just completed reading the book "Reading Lolita in Tehran" by Azar Nafisi and I have never been more pleased with a book in  my life.  This memoir is a masterpiece which explains why it was on the New York Times Bestseller List for more than 100 weeks after its release in 2003.  I never read a book because it is or was a best seller.  I read books because I want to and when I want to.  I am very glad I never read this book when it was a best seller.  Today is the time when every American should be reading this wonderful book.  It is a memoir about life in Tehran in the years immediately after the Iranian Revolution and written by Azar Nafisi, a college professor at two major Iranian universities before she was forced to leave the country and now teaches at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  The title comes from a secret reading group or class which Dr. Nafisi set up in her home with a small group of her hand selected female students after she was expelled from her teaching position in Tehran.  She set up the group in order to continue teaching books which had been or were about to be banned in Iran and to continue contact with this small group of her best, most dedicated, and most liberal female students.  The book does an incredible job of documenting the increasing oppression of the revolutionary government against women, intellectuals, Americans, and non-Muslims.  Simultaneously, for the student of great literature, the book can serve as the reading list for a seminar on the development of the novel and of literature about women, especially about women in oppressive environments.   But it can and should also serve as a warning to every citizen of America about what is happening in Washington, DC, and in the soul of the United States of America as we suffer through this terrible time with the illegal occupation of the White House by an agent of Vladimir Putin and Russia; the steadily increasing oppression in America against immigrants, women, and liberals; the increasing unconstitutional pressure being brought to bear on our government by Right Wing Radical religious forces; and the wide ranging attacks on American Democracy by all these forces and the outside forces in Russia which control many of them.  

I have said for many years that in order for the Religious Right Wing Radicals in America to believe the things they say about religion and politics that they have had to go through all the identical psychological changes that the fundamentalist mullahs in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan went through.  Their supporters become incensed at this statement and spout stock phrases about how they are different from Muslims and they are "God's chosen people" which is exactly what the mullahs told Iranians, Iraqis, and Afghans.  First, in order for either group to believe the things they claim they do, they have to believe they have a direct line to God, that they understand God better than anyone else alive,  and that God is telling them what to do.  Secondly, they have to believe that God is also telling them to tell the rest of us what to do.  They all, both mullahs and "Christians", have to believe they are God's appointed emissaries on earth.  Personally, I believe that if God intended to take a long vacation and leave anyone else in charge of our hearts, minds, and souls, He/She/It would have told the rest of us in advance who was in charge.  The bottom line is that in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the mullahs are fake imams, fake mullahs, and fake Muslims; and in the United States of America, these self-described "Christians" are fake preachers, fake leaders, and fake Christians.  In fact, they are Hypochristians and guilty of everything that compound word describes.  

Now, let's get back to "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and how this all ties in with what is happening in America. This book does an incredible job of explaining on a personal level what happened as the radical Muslims in Iran gradually, step by step took over the lives of every citizen of Iran.  It is also an incredible signpost about what the Hypochristians, Right Wing Radical Repugnicans, and agents of Russia are doing in America.  The parallels are stunning and this book should serve as a warning toward anyone who is not already fighting tooth and nail to put an end to the Right Wing Radical Russian Owned Criminal Syndicate which is illegally occupying the White House after committing TREASON with Russia in order to steal an American election.  It describes step by step how more and more oppressive changes were foisted on the people of Iran in the name of God.  In America, the steps being taken are very similar.  We are now seeing children dying in chain link cages on American soil and being killed in the name of America.  We are seeing incredibly oppressive laws being passed to control, abuse, and nullify women, liberals, Democrats, and anyone else who opposes the criminals who support the TREASON.  There is no difference between the illegal occupiers of the White House and the Iranian mullahs in all their black, shriveled, little souls.  

This book also has a wonderfully insightful discussion of most of the works Azar Nafisi and her group of Iranian women, some of who spent years in prison during the time period of the book, read during their life as a class or book group.  Dr. Nafisi's understanding of literature is tremendous and she provides a lengthy reading list at the end of the book.  But there is also a much more lengthy reading list scattered throughout the pages of this book with the mention of dozens of other important and educational works of literature which Nafisi used to educate the women in her class.  Each of us would be well served to devote ourselves to reading and understanding every book mentioned in this incredible memoir.  We would all be far better people and citizens of the world if we did so.  We would reach the end of that long literary quest with a far better understanding of both politics and literature, both Iran and America, both Democracy and the enemies who wish to destroy it. 

Watching The Documentary "Big Sonia" July 5, 2019

A couple of nights ago, on July 5, 2019, my wife and I watched the award winning documentary "Big Sonia" on the Scientology Network.  Lately, we have watched a few documentaries on this network which still leaves me somewhat apprehensive as it should since I firmly believe that the so-called "religion" is  nothing more or less than one of the most dangerous cults in the world.  For that reason, I have not included a link to their website in this blog post.  Enough said about that topic.  The documentary was released in 2016 and I had never known about it until now.  It is a documentary about Sonia Warshawski who was 91 at the time the movie was made.  She is a Jewish Polish born survivor of the Holocaust and was imprisoned by the Germans when she was in her early teen years.  Nearly her entire family were victims of the Holocaust and she had to watch her father and brother removed by the SS never to be seen again.  She watched her mother marched into the gas chamber but somehow managed to survive until liberation by the Allies.  She met and married her husband in the death camps and they came to America where they ran a tailor shop until his death.  

Sonia continued to operate the shop in a dying mall until she finally received an eviction notice as the owners prepared to sell the severely deteriorated property.  But, simultaneously, she was speaking in any forum available to her, about her experiences in the Holocaust including prisons and schools.  Sonia Warshawski is presumably still alive at this writing and is a tiny force of nature in her 90's at a time when most of her age peers are long dead.  Her story should be required viewing for every student in school in America, in every prison and jail, and in every church of the more mainstream denominations. I have not seen a more inspiring, and on some key levels, terrifying documentary in many years.  

At this time in America, we have seen racism, hate speech, hate crimes, and all other forms of Right Wing Radical acts expanding and sweeping across the country just as any other virulent disease would. Those acts have included murder as seen in Charlottesville, Virginia; beatings, harassment, and arson all across the country.  And as this has been happening, the nameless TRAITOR who currently illegally occupies the White House based on his TREASON with Russia has not attempted to say or do anything stop it because of his own clearly delineated acts of hatred, racism, ignorance, and up to the caging of babies.  America and American Democracy are in greater danger than they have been in more than 60 years and we need a thousand people like Sonia Warshawski speaking out against hatred, calling the perpetrators to task for their crimes, and serving as examples for the entire human race.  As a nation, we simply cannot afford to allow these crimes to persist!  We cannot allow their perpetrators to go unpunished!  We cannot stand by and watch our country turned into a Third World bastion of all these destructive, racist, misogynistic, debilitating, and corrosive values.  Watch this documentary the first chance you get!  Tell every friend you have to watch!  Practice the values which Sonia Warshawski expresses in the movie and tell the entire world that Sonia Warshawski is an American Heroine. 

"While Earth Still Speaks" by Nancy Werking Polling--Book Review

Poling, Nancy Werking, Illustrated by Jerald Pope, While Earth Still Speaks (Black Mountain, NC. Screech Owl Press In Conjunction With Old Mountain Press, 2019)

Nancy Werking Poling is a writer who lives in Western North Carolina but has spent most of her life in other areas of the country.  This is not and is not billed as an Appalachian novel.  It is more accurately described as an environmental novel and is the author's second novel and fifth book overall.  It comes from two presses in Western North Carolina, one of which is a small vanity press,  possibly an imprint of the author, and the other a small press which actually did the printing.  The work on the book printing and binding is an aspect which I watch closely when I read such essentially self published books.  Many, if not most, of these presses are simply in it for the money and unless the author is very diligent and oversees every aspect of the process from start to finish they often produce shoddy work which simply does not appear professional to the trained eye.  This book has a few errors in the review copy which I received but they are minimal and the work is  acceptable overall .

Now, let's talk about the book itself.  The protagonist is a woman of middle to late middle age who has spent her life in a very conservative and restrictive religious sect which devalues and restricts women to something not quite a beast of burden but far less than an equal to their male counterparts.  She is the mother of two essentially grown children, a son and a daughter.  The book is broken into segments which include the family life on the farm, the protagonist's eventful month or so with her daughter in a revolutionary environmental group which kidnaps the head of the North Carolina environmental agency, and interspersed visions which come to the woman from Mary Surrat and the Virgin Mary and can be loosely connected to the main story line. For those  of you who have never heard of Mary Surrat, she was a boarding house operator who was arrested, convicted, and hanged for taking part in the Booth plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln.  She was the first woman executed in the United States. Mary Surrat is seen, by the author, as an example of the fact that dying for a cause is not always virtuous.  The author states in her acknowledgements section that several people who had read the manuscript had suggested that she remove Mary Surrat from the book.  I agree with those people. But there are hundreds of stories of highly successful authors who resisted strong opposition to their first drafts from editors, family, friends, and the unsuspecting strangers upon whom they foisted their unpublished work in public places. However, in my life, I have known quite a few well known and successful writers who often doubled as mentors, professors, and friends.  I like to believe that I learned at least one or two things from every one of them.  One of the most important things I ever learned was voiced by many of them. That truth is the overly simplistic admonition to write about what you know best.  I also found that truth to be wonderfully expounded upon in the classic motivational book "Acres Of Diamonds" by Russell H. Conwell although his discussion of the subject applied to life and personal achievement instead of writing.  It could be that I have already or will in the future learn something from Nancy Werking Poling.  She has already reinforced a concept for me that many others have expressed in the past: Writers should write every day and avoid the naysayers.  Ms. Poling has published five books and this is her second self-published book while I have only accumulated a couple of dozen publications in three different genres and a book chapter or two while approaching the grave without a published major work while diligently eschewing the vanity presses. But I am not certain that Ms. Polling was writing about what she truly knows in this book.  I do sincerely believe that she is fully and deeply committed to the environmental and the women's rights movements just as is her protagonist.  But I doubt that Ms. Polling has ever joined or even had personal knowledge about a deeply secretive environmental activist group.  I doubt that she ever engaged in a kidnapping to prove a political point as her characters do.  And, in spite of the validity of Stockholm Syndrome and the shining example of Patty Hearst, I doubt that she ever fell in love with a hostage or hostage taker.  I believe her book would have been stronger if she had stuck to the things she knows best in her heart of hearts and written an activist environmentalist book without kidnappers, their victims, or their implausible love affairs. I believe she could do a much better job of writing non-fiction on this subject.  She has actually written one non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black-White Marriage (1945-1987)", which I have not read but would like to do so before I make any all encompassing blanket judgments about her skills as a writer.

Speaking of Ms. Poling's skills as a writer, this book is well written but not exceptionally so.  The linguistic skill is above average but the plotting and character development of most of the characters other than the protagonist is thin.  Many of these characters other than the protagonist and her daughter are one dimensional.  They do not live and breath in the highly credible manner which the best writers have developed.  To go beyond what I said earlier about having learned at least one thing from many, if not most, of the writers I have known, I have, for many years, held firmly to two of my own beliefs and theories about good writing.  The first of these ideas espouses a comparison of good to excellent writing as being similar to human DNA.

I have always thought that in the best books I have read in my life  plot is a lot like the double helix spiral structure of human DNA as discovered by Drs. Crick and Watson.  The double helix spiral of DNA is a twisting spiral of two long strands which wrap around each other and twist from one end to the other much like a pair of snakes or two strands of ribbon. Along each of these strands, there are chromosomes and genes for the entire length of the spiral which serve to make up the multi-faceted contents of the DNA structure.  An above average plot also works in much the same way.  In the plot we have parallel plots and subplots which progress for the length of the novel.  Along each of these “strands” of plot and subplot we also have characters, characterizations, key pieces of information, human interactions between characters, individual and group actions, and other elements and portrayals which advance the major plot or subplots throughout the length of a novel.  "While Earth Still Speaks" is not such a well plotted book.  It does not contain that double helix style of writing.  But I will not say that I believe it is the best writing Ms. Poling is capable of producing.  It could well be within her grasp to develop that level of writing.  She has not fully developed what I believe to be her best potential in this book.  


My second idea about good writing is a comparison to good boxing.  Superficially, it seems to be illogical to compare a purely mental vocation such as writing to what many people consider to be a fully physical vocation like boxing.  But good boxing is not purely physical.  It requires a great deal of thought both before entering the ring and definitely inside the ropes against a worthy opponent.  A good to exceptional boxer must think on their feet, constantly assess their opponent and his actions, swiftly adjust to changes in the opponents style, and always counter with both the best defense and offense for fifteen rounds.  A good boxer has an arsenal of several different punches and styles which they use as the circumstances require.  They have jabs, uppercuts, roundhouse blows, body pounding short punches, and every now and then a few kidney punches.  Good writing combines long, complex, well structured sentences.  But it becomes boring if every sentence is ten, twenty, or fifty words long.  Good writing must also have some jabs, short sentences composed of, at most, a subject, object, and verb.  When these combinations are used in writing it is a lot like watching Larry Holmes box during his streak of 48 consecutive wins.  In such novels, there are jabs, roundhouse punches, uppercuts, and a few kidney punches, and the total load of such writing literally knocks the reader out.  "While Earth Still Speaks" does not have that kind of arsenal.  It moves along successfully from the scene in which we meet the protagonist to the scene in which she and her co-conspirators are arrested for their crimes.  But it is not holding you on the edge of your seat.  You are not striving to literally lean on the outside of the ropes to see that knockout blow delivered.  It is functional but not dazzling.  It is readable if you are committed to the environmental or women's rights movements.  But it doesn't leave you asking "OK, what happens to these characters after they were arrested?"  

This is a book which you might want to read.  You might enjoy it.  But you are not likely to return to it every few years to remind yourself of what role Mary Surrat played in the story or to remember just why the protagonist divorced her husband to become an environmental activist.  But it did leave me wishing I could read Ms. Poling's non-fiction book, "Before It Was Legal: A Black White Marriage (1945-1987).  Keep writing and watch a lot of good boxing, Ms. Poling. 

An Independence Day Declaration

As we approach July 4, 2019, the United States of America is in the worst constitutional crisis since April 8, 1865, the day the Civil War officially ended.  US democracy is in greater danger today than it has been at any time since then and perhaps since the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  For more than two years, the White House has been occupied by a nameless TRAITOR, Russian Agent, self-confessed sex offender, draft dodger, tax cheat, pathological liar and career criminal who conspired with Vladimir Putin and Russia to steal an American election.  Despite overwhelming evidence of the collusion and further even better documented efforts to derail and obstruct the evidence into his crimes, this criminal still resides in the White House, still acts in his charade as the official leader of the greatest democracy in the world, and still works daily to destroy America, American Democracy, and the entire free world.  Despite the public outcry from numerous elected officials and authors who have called out the nature of his crimes against our country, a major section of the populace still swagger along with him in support of his TREASON. The US military has been forced to transport US Army tanks to Washington for their use in an event for the first time since the end of World War II at a time when the country is being held hostage by a would be dictator who has never been legally elected to any position and has openly sided with numerous dictators including his Russian Owner Vladimir Putin, the murderous Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Kim Jung Un of North Korea, and President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines who has openly murdered citizens in his country.  This TRAITOR is running actual concentration camps along the US border with Mexico, holding children in cages, and has recently openly defied the US Constitution's mandate for a ten year census.  I repeat, the US is in the greatest constitutional crisis it has been in since 1865.  This TRAITOR must be indicted, convicted, impeached, and imprisoned where he should have been fifty or more years ago.  

Over the past three years on this blog I have written about the well documented, factually researched, and legitimate works of numerous authors in their efforts, like mine, to bring this country to its senses and put an end to the illegitimate occupation of the White House.  On October 28, 2016, I wrote about the incredibly dangerous cult of personality which had been built around this TRAITOR.   On November 24, 2016, I wrote about how little this country had to be thankful for after the TREASONOUS result of the election on November 8, 2016.  On December 12, 2016, I wrote about the comparisons between the disastrous results of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the outcome of the 2016 stolen election.  On December 18, 2016, as the US Electoral College carried out their disastrous certification of the November election I wrote about the fact that the CIA had already stated they had sufficient evidence to prove that Russian hackers had managed to alter results in the November election.  On December 21, 2016, I wrote about a family dinner with my wife and several of my cousins at which my cousin, more like a brother, Jack D. Terry, had given every attendee at that dinner a copy of the US Constitution because his concerns about this TRAITOR were then and continue to be just as great as mine.  I add the information at this time that Jack D. Terry is a retired US Army non-commissioned officer who also retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers.  His patriotism cannot be questioned since he was in Viet Nam at 19 and in Mosul, Iraq at 59.  

On January 7, 2017, I created my first version of a list of books I had read or planned to read and have since actually read those and numerous more which constitute my Reading List For The Resistance.  I implore all of the readers of this blog post to begin by simply choosing one of those books to read.  When you find a single truth in them, and you should find major terrifying truths in each of them, then move on to read others and educate yourself about the crimes which have been committed by this TRAITOR against the United States of America and the entire free world.  On January 20, 2017, I wrote about that day as one of the darkest and blackest in the history of this country and it has proven already to have been just that. The likelihood that it will prove to have been even blacker is just as great as was the likelihood that  the US Civil War could have destroyed the country.  On January 31, 2017,  I wrote about my mourning for the country as it became more apparent what a menagerie of criminals and Russian connected co-conspirators were being assembled in the White House under the putative leadership of this TRAITOR.  

On February 4, 2017, I wrote a review of George Orwell's "Animal Farm", one of the books on my Reading List For The Resistance.  I still implore all of you readers today that if you have never read this book, read it now and pay close attention to the writing about the damage a totalitarian dictatorship can do to a community.  I will also suggest that you read everything that George Orwell wrote in his highly productive life.  On February 17, 2017, I reviewed a book I had just read entitled

"A Nation Defiant Polish Resistance To The German Occupation Of Poland" by Richard S. Fuegner.  This book became the first of several works I have read about European Resistance efforts in World War II against the totalitarian regimes of Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini since I believe that the only thing which can save the United States from an even worse slide into totalitarian Right Wing Radical political polarization will be the firm, unyielding resistance of the rational portion of our populace.  I would also like to suggest to my readers that you actively study the entire European Resistance during World War II, the overall history of World War II, and the honest biographies of Benito Mussolini, Adolph Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Vladimir Putin.  You will also find inspiration to continue fighting for America in the best biographies of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.  

In March of 2017, we saw the beginning of the TRAITOR's open attacks on a Free Press which still continue today.  On March 1, 2017, I wrote a blog post entitled "Unconstitutional Attacks On A Free Press" which I began with the following quotation from a man named Owen Lattimore in his testimony before the McCarthy Committee during their equally dangerous attacks against the United States in the 1950's which were created, directed, and inflamed by US Senator Joseph McCarthy a man who was very similar to our current TRAITOR in his personality, willingness to destroy America and American Democracy, and his mental instability.  

"...the sure way to destroy freedom of speech and the free expression of ideas and views is to attach to that freedom the penalty of abuse and vilification...It is only from a diversity of views freely expressed and strongly advocated that sound policy is distilled. He who contributes to the destruction of this process is either a fool or an enemy of his country." Owen Lattimore in Senate testimony before the McCarthy Committee in 1950.

On nearly a daily basis since I wrote that blog post on March 1, 2017, we have seen the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House attack the constitutionally guaranteed Free Press in America.  He is every bit as dangerous to this country and every bit as focused in his attacks on it as Joseph McCarthy was in 1950, as Adolph Hitler and Benito Mussolini were from 1938 to 1945, and as Vladimir Putin is today.  Also on March 1, 2017, I reviewed "1984" by George Orwell, the second of his books which I have read and reviewed as a part of my Reading List For The Resistance.  Just as he did in "Animal Farm", Orwell writes about the extreme dangers of totalitarian governments.  But in "1984", he writes about a fictional government run  by humans as opposed to the porcine run government he created in "Animal Farm".  

On May 2, 2017, I wrote a post about the term "Fellow Travelers" which Joseph McCarthy had used to denigrate, belittle, and damage the credibility of his innocent targets in the 1950's.  However, I now use that term to describe the current TREASONOUS and illegitimate occupant of the White House and those who believe his extremist and totalitarian rants.  They are "Fellow Travelers" of Vladimir Putin and his Russian oligarchy as it is assisted by this American TRAITOR. 

On June 25, 2017, I used a quotation from an old country doctor I knew in my childhood, Dr. Mark Dempsey, to defend universal health care in America as it was being disastrously attacked by this Russian Owned TRAITOR.  To quote Dr. Dempsey once again, "(a)ll people should have free health care" and "(e)very man, regardless of who he is, should be trained to do skilled work".  I said then and I say now that those are two of the most brilliant statements I have heard come out of the mouth of a human.  All taxpayers, in the long run, pay for all health care for all persons in a democracy and preventive health care if far cheaper than emergency medicine for chronic conditions which always develop in people who do not receive regular preventive medicine.  The state of Tennessee is now paying for two years of free post-secondary education for every eligible citizen of Tennessee which should long ago have become a federal mandate.  The current TREASONOUS and illegitimate occupant of the White House fights daily to destroy both health care and education in America which is just one portion of the total plan to destroy American Democracy which he carries out for his Russian Owner Vladimir Putin.  

On Independence Day 2017, I wrote just as I am today, two years later, in defense of America, American Democracy, and all the rational aspects of our country as it suffers this attack from a TREASONOUS gang of Russian Owned criminals.  Sadly, very little in America today, two years later, is any better than it was on Independence Day of 2017 and many things are far worse.  On July 4, 2017, I returned to my discussion of the crimes of Senator Joseph McCarthy against America and American Democracy and their comparisons to the crimes of the current American TRAITOR as I reviewed a book by a man named Lately Thomas called "When Even Angels Wept A Story Without A Hero".  In today's times, we are possibly somewhat better off than we were during the crimes of Joseph McCarthy since we do have a few heroes in America who are fighting to save the country, the US Constitution, and our Democracy in general.  Thank God, we have Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Elijah Cummings, and others who support their efforts in the US congress to hold this TRAITOR responsible for his crimes against America, American Democracy, and the entire free world. They deserve the support of every American until their work is done and this criminal sits for the rest of his life in a federal prison cell.  On Saturday, July 8, 2017, I wrote about my experiences with a large private medical practice in Lexington, Kentucky, where I had been a patient with a practitioner for several years.  My first doctor had left the practice and I chose to attempt to work with a second provider who, in his first encounter with me, had spoken out against the Affordable Care Act.  I called him on the error of his ways, stopped going to that practice and they had called me to try to get me to return.  I told the employee who called me why I left the practice and that I would never return to such a practice again.  In the blog post I wrote about it, I called, as I often do, for my readers to to Stand Up, Speak Up, and Speak Out against the wrong in America.  I do the same with all of you once again today and I will continue to do so as long as my fingers and brain can work to write, so long as my tongue works, and so long as these crimes against are still being committed and breath still flows through my body.  So should each of you!   On July 16, 2017, I wrote a little blog post about "Sins I Will Never Need To Confess" involving speaking up and speaking out against this TRAITOR and his co-conspirators as well as their crimes.  Once again I can tell you that I will never have to confess the sin of having failed to stand up against these criminals and their crimes.  Neither should you!  If you have been diligent in your efforts to defend America against these TRAITOR, I commend you!  If you have had a few failures to do so, I urge you to make a personal commitment to never allow that to happen again.  Choose to make the day you read this blog post the day you made that personal commitment to America, yourself, your creator, and your family that you will never again fail to fight these criminals and that this day can be your day to say "Not since July 4, 2019, have I ever had to confess the sin of silence or failure to support my country and its precious Democracy."  On July 29, 2017, I wrote about having attended a rally in support of health care at a place called Coal Run Village, Kentucky.  On that day and many others I have taken direct, public action in support of America and American Democracy.  I hope you have also and I implore you to do so at the next and ever other opportunity you have to do so.  

On November 22, 2017, I wrote about "Another Thanksgiving With Little To Be Thankful For".  Sadly, we have seen many national holidays come and go in this country since this terrible constitutional crisis began where we have had little or nothing to be thankful for.  Let's all make personal commitments to do everything in our power to make this July 4, 2019, the last national holiday on which we will allow this TRAITOR, his Russian Owners, and their many co-conspirators to hold our country hostage and commit their crimes against both it and us.  One week later, on November 29, 2017, I wrote a post about "Always Confronting Political Ignorance" and I am proud to say that failing to do so is a sin which I have rarely had to confess in my entire life.  I sincerely don't believe that I have to confess it at all since November 8, 2016, and I assure you I will not have to ever do so again.  I will always Stand Up, Speak Up, Speak Out, and defend our country and our democracy just as I urge each of you to do.  

On December 27, 2017, I wrote another of those sad and sadly recurrent annual posts about how little we have to celebrate and how much we have to mourn and decry in America since November 8, 2016.  I sincerely hope that this is the last of these terrible and terribly disheartening blog posts I have to write about the ongoing destruction of our country, our morals as a nation, and our democracy in general.  One day later, on December 28, 2017,  I wrote a blog post about the fact that no Republican candidate for public office should ever be allowed to run unopposed and I believe that even more strongly today.  Any Republican, or any Democrat for that matter, who is running for a public office even as low as constable or magistrate who cannot publicly call for the indictment, conviction, impeachment, and imprisonment of the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House is unfit for any position of public trust.  When I meet candidates who are calling for my vote, I tell them this to their face and I am not subtle or timid about it.  They need to know the truth.  They need to be told that if they are not fighting for this country they are, by default, fighting against it.  

On January 2, 2018, I wrote a post about the Second Amendment As It Is Written in response to gun legislation both already passed and pending, at that time, in my own state of Kentucky and in the nation as a whole.  The Second Amendment does not, never has, and should never call for the free and unfettered access to guns especially in light of the violent trend in our national temperament which is another byproduct of the Radical Right and this TRAITOR who supports hate groups, extremist ideologies, and never decries their mass murders, racism or assaults against the US Constitution and human decency.  Until guns are "well regulated" as the Second Amendment calls for, acts of unfettered violence and mass murder will continue in this country.  

On February 7, 2018, I reviewed one of the most important books to be written and published in America since November 8, 2016.  The book is called "The Dangerous Case Of Donald Trump" and was edited by Bandy Lee, M. D. and written by 27 of the most experienced and most respected psychiatrists in America.  The book makes a clear cut, well researched,  and well justified diagnosis of the current TREASONOUS occupant of the White House as one of the most dangerous humans on earth.  It should be a must read for every citizen of America.  On February 28, 2018, I reviewed a book called "Collusion Secret Meetings Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win" by Luke Harding which is another of those books on my Reading List For The Resistance.  It is an excellent book and does a better than average job of detailing, explaining, and proving the connections that were known up to the time of its publication about the illegal and TREASONOUS contacts between the current TRAITOR who occupies the White House, his many criminal co-conspirators, and Vladimir Putin and various other known career intelligence agents within the Russian government.  It is a book, like all those on the Reading List For the Resistance which every American should read before voting again. 

On May 27, 2018, I wrote a somewhat humorous post called "Republicans And Brown Headed Cowbirds" about the common qualities of the two groups.  Both are parasitic in their lifestyles.  Both destroy much of the productive life around them.  Both need to be prevented from persisting as forces working against the rest of the world.  Read it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.  On May 29, 2018, I reviewed the book  "A Higher Loyalty Truth, Lies, And Leadership" by former FBI Director James Comey.  Like all the other books my Reading List For The Resistance, it should be read by every American.  And to dispel the most prevalent myth about this excellent book, it is much more about James Comey and his commitment to America and American Democracy than about any other human on earth.  But it does do an excellent job of explaining his criminal firing by the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House.  On May 30, 2018, I reviewed the wonderful but horribly dark book "Black Earth The Holocaust As History And Warning" by Timothy Snyder which is one of the most important books on my Reading List For The Resistance.  For those of you who still cling to the erroneous and tragic belief that the Holocaust could not be repeated and is not likely to be repeated in today's world, this book will dispel that thought and does an incredible job of explaining the details of the Holocaust, its consequences, and the likelihood that it could happen again especially if we continue to allow a TRAITOR who is owned by Vladimir Putin and Russia to continue to illegally and illegitimately occupy the White House.  

On June 1, 2018, I wrote a blog post about having found several copies of hate literature books in a Little Free Library in my hometown of West Liberty, Kentucky.  I can tell you that I removed those books from that public book exchange in order to prevent their hate-filled diatribes from being spread to any more innocent and gullible minds.  They are still in my possession and I will probably read them someday in order to know better the enemies of our country and our democracy.  I took an easy, simple, but not simplistic action for the greater good of the community.  It would have been just as easy, maybe easier, to leave them there for any unsuspecting, poorly educated, and gullible mind to find them and be damaged by them.  As a rule, I do not support censorship and frequently find it hard to justify it by any means.  But hate ideologies, hate literature, and hate crimes have spread all across this country since November 8, 2016, it they must be stopped.  On June 24, 2018, I wrote a blog post about "Some Immigrants I Have Known" in a small attempt to help dispel the myths which are circulating freely in our country that somehow immigrants are dangerous, bad, destructive, or out of sync with our goals as a nation.  I assure you that any immigrant is worth more to this country than the current TREASONOUS occupant of the White House.  The great majority of them will actually work for the common good and pay taxes which he cannot prove he has ever done. 

On August 31, 2018, I wrote a blog post titled "The Fascism Of Donald Trump" and I stand by ever word in it to this day.  The current TRAITOR who occupies the White House is a Fascist.  His support of the rioters and murder at Charlottesville, Virginia, his failure to speak out against white Fascist acts of terror in other parts of America, his crude mimicry of a disabled reporter, and many other statements he has made publicly leave no doubt that he is a Fascist.  I must also state that I cringed when I typed his name in the title of this blog post and I have attempted stringently to avoid actually naming him in this blog post since I firmly believe that above and beyond the aching necessity for this country to indict, convict, impeach, and imprison him for his TREASON and multitudinous other crimes we must also work for all future time to remove his name, his face, his actions, and every mention of him from the public records.  He should be just as nameless as any other terrorist, TRAITOR, sex offender, career criminal, draft dodger, tax cheat, pathological liar, and deplorable in the world.   

On September 17, 2018, I reviewed the book "Facts And Fears Hard Truths From A Life In Intelligence" by James Clapper who was also criminally fired by the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House.  This is also a book which every American should read and, like James Comey's book, it is also much more about the life of a career public servant than about any interactions he might have had with the worst TRAITOR in history.  This book is a key component of my Reading List For The Resistance and I urge all of you to read it just as I do every other book on that ever growing list.  I have to admit that I am overdue to do another update on the Reading List For The Resistance.  I must add several books to it, some of which I have still not read myself.  And with that said, I also insist that each of us should work diligently to expand our reading of resistance history and literature until this current blight on our country can be imprisoned where he should have been fifty years ago before his crime spree had been able to do the widespread and tragic damage which it has.  

On October 10, 2018, I wrote a blog post about The Deepening US Constitutional Crisis which was prompted by an e-mail exchange with a distant cousin with whom I had been reunited in the recent past.   I had put her name on a mass e-mail about the crisis and she responded by asking me to remove her name from any future political messages.  I responded by agreeing, naturally, to remove her name from such messages and went on to tell her that I would never stop Standing Up, Speaking Up, and Speaking Out against the criminals and TRAITORS in our country.  I also sent her a list of about 15 books which are on the Reading List For The Resistance and urged her to read them.  I doubt that she ever has.  We have conversed some since then but I do not recall that I have ever received an unsolicited or unprompted message from her.  That is a minor tragedy in America.  It is always a minor tragedy in America when any person of reasonable intelligence refuses to speak out against attempted tyranny and an open attack on democracy.  What made it even more tragic is that, as a part time avocation, she writes for the local weekly newspaper in the county in which we grew up.  She is in a position to affect public opinion instead of writing and publishing little stories about family and high school reunions, deaths of unknown people, and the big turnip somebody grew in their garden when she could be speaking out against the crimes against conscience, liberty, democracy, and the country at large which are being perpetrated on a daily basis.  Do no allow yourself to become such a person.  Study the facts!  Learn the truth!  Speak out about your findings in these efforts especially when they are important to the larger community whether that community is your neighborhood or the entire nation.   On October 15, 2018, I updated my Reading List For The Resistance primarily as a response to the exchange with my spineless cousin.  The link above is actually the one you should use to that reading list since it contains a few books I had not listed on the first version.  I make you a solemn promise that sometime in the not too distant future I will do a third version of the Reading List For The Resistance and post it as a new blog post so that, perhaps, a few people will visit it who have never done so.  In fact, I will mention a new book, to me at least, which I just completed today, "Reading Lolita In Tehran" by Azar Nafisi, which spent more than 100 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List in 2003 to 2006 or thereabouts.  I had never read it and find the comparisons between the actions the mullahs of Iran were taking in the late 1990's and the actions of the self-described "Christians" of America today are amazing, stunning, and totally in line with statements I had made to people privately over the last few years.  In order for American "Christians" to support the current TREASONOUS and illegal occupant of the White House and to stand by without protesting the ongoing attacks on the rights of women, children, and immigrants including placing children in cages, these self-described "Christians" must go through all the same mental steps and decisions that the mullahs of Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan had to go through in order to murder hundreds of thousands of their neighbors.  I will review Azar Nafisi's book tomorrow, July 4, 2019, hopefully, and you should read it and consider it to be an addition to the Reading List For The Resistance.  On October 16, 2018, I posted an article about a trip my wife and I took to a political rally in support of Retired Col. Amy McGrath in her effort to go to congress from Kentucky.  The title of that post was "A Day In Kentucky Politics" and is important to this discussion primarily because my wife and I took political action by attending this rally outside our own congressional district for a candidate we could not vote for.  But we could sure as hell support her.  You should take such actions for the good of the greater community every time the opportunity arises and you can afford the time and gasoline.  On October 27, 2018, I reviewed the book "The Restless Wave" by John McCain and Mark Salter which I added to the Reading List For The Resistance immediately after reading it.  I say here, as I said in the blog post, this book was the most pleasant surprise I have found in a book in quite some time.  You should read it, learn from it, and tell everyone you know about it.  It made me proud of John McCain in a way I had never been before.  On October 31, 2018, I reviewed the book "Trump/Russia" by Seth Hettena which is another of the half dozen excellent, well researched books which have been published over the last few years which document and prove the extensive links between Vladimir Putin, Russia, and the current TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House.  The only other thing I will say about this book is to insert this quotation from page 104 of the book which reports an e-mail between Felix Sater, a man with extensive connections within the Russian oligarchy, and Michael Cohen, the currently imprisoned and self-confessed fixer for the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House.  Here is that quotation: 

"Michael I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putin's private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin.  I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected.  We both know no one else knows how to pull this off without stupidity or greed getting in the way.  I know how to play it and we will get this done.  Buddy our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer.  I will get all of Putin's team to buy in on this." Hettena, p. 104.

On November 8, 2018, the two year anniversary of the stolen US election, I wrote a blog post about Birthright Citizenship in response to ranting and raving originating from the current TREASONOUS and illegal occupant of the White House.   Such a blatant attempt to subvert the US Constitution should clearly show any rational person that this TRAITOR wants to destroy the US Constitution.  Sadly, it often has not and the danger to the country on many fronts has increased on a daily basis since November 8, 2016.  A week later for some unknown reason I wrote a mildly optimistic Thanksgiving post called "A Moderately Thankful Thanksgiving".  I must have been out of my mind.  We had just managed to install an incoming Democratic majority in the House of Representatives but the same TRAITOR was living illegally in the White House.  Mitch McConnell and a majority of his co-conspirators were still in control of the US Senate.  I should not have been nearly that hopeful and the installation of two Radial Right Wing justices to the US Supreme Court should prove that to anybody.

On December 7, 2018, I reviewed the excellent book "Fascism A Warning" by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.  Today I still use a quotation from that book on my e-mail signature which states: "Why, this far into the twenty-first century, are we once again talking about Fascism?  One reason, frankly, is Donald Trump.  If we think of Fascism as a wound from the past that had almost healed, putting Trump in the White House was like ripping off the bandage and picking at the scab.”  Madeleine Albright, “Fascism A Warning”, p. 5-6. This is a key book in the recently published books on the Reading List For The Resistance.  It is a highly important, well reasoned book by a person who had extensive experience both as a professor of history and politics and as a US Secretary Of State.  It presents a chilling picture of the world today in light of how Fascist and inhumane ideologies have spread like a bad case of crotch rot all over America and the world.  

On April 26, 2019, I reviewed the book "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury which represented a return to my discussions of dystopian literature and totalitarian governments.  The book is a classic in the fields of politics, philosophy, and science fiction.  It is far more than a science fiction book.  It is a vivid warning sign to the world that allowing a TRAITOR and Fascist to illegally occupy the highest office in the land can destroy a country, any country, this country.  Read it!  Learn from it!  Do not ignore it simply because it is often labeled science fiction.   It is a key component of the Reading List For The Resistance.  

On June 24, 2019, I wrote a blog post about the Anti-Vaccine Movement In Appalachia which some of you might tend to ignore because it can be labeled as being about Appalachia not the nation, about medicine not politics, or about religion not government.  All those reasons are illegitimate one for ignoring the danger presented by the Anti-Vaccine Movement and its origins in and connections to the Radical Right and the incredibly dangerous shift toward the right in American politics.  Thankfully, the New York state legislature took decisive action by passing a law removing the religious exemption for refusing to vaccinate children.  These people are quite often also supporters of the entire gamut of Right Wing Radical causes which are based on  fallacies, fake news, and absolute lies being originated in the greater politically oriented groups who want to help the TRAITOR who illegally occupies the White House in his effort to destroy the country for his owners in Russia.  

I realize this has been a lengthy post.  I hope at least a few of you have read it to the end and that you will go back to the links and, at least, read the blog posts which you have not done so before.  The United States is in the throes of the worst constitutional crisis since the end of the Civil War and it can destroy this country, this democracy, and all our American Dreams.  Do not allow it do so to you, your families, children, parents, grandparents, and loved ones.