A Year with Hafiz: Daily Contemplations by HafezMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
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Saturday, December 31, 2022
Friday, December 30, 2022
Tuesday, December 27, 2022
Review: Как убить дракона: Пособие для начинающих революционеров
Как убить дракона: Пособие для начинающих революционеров by Mikhail KhodorkovskyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I spent a month in a prison cell with Colonel Vladimir Kvachkov, a military intelligence officer and veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who became known throughout the country after being accused of the attempted assassination of Anatoly Chubais and even of organising a military coup. We’re people from different worlds and with different opinions; we are, let’s say, fierce opponents (to put it mildly). But when we discussed the question as to why our authorities and our society are afraid of our own special forces – spetsnaz – while the Americans aren’t afraid of theirs, he summed it up in a way that I still remember 15 years later:
“The American special forces’ soldier sees himself first and foremost as a citizen of the USA, and only then as being in the special forces. This is natural. If something happens to him, then he’ll be protected as an American citizen. The Russian, though, is convinced that the opposite will happen. If something happens to you, don’t expect any help from the state. The best you can hope for is that your friends and fellow soldiers will come to your aid. So our officers are special forces’ soldiers first, and citizens only after that, while for the Americans it’s the other way round.”
The Russia of my dreams will be re-established by citizens who want to organise their lives together. People for whom the national interest is more important than that of their estate, their corporation or their tribe. People who understand that it’s better to be together than being apart.
In 2014 Russia swapped one social agreement for another. To the old agreement of “stability in place of freedom”, that had been the case in Russia since 2003, the Kremlin made a significant addition: “greatness in place of justice and prosperity”. So the new social agreement runs as follows: “greatness and stability in place of freedom, justice and prosperity”. Russia’s greatness now justifies all of the regime’s villainy: despotism, corruption, cultural degradation and backwardness. All of this has to be tolerated in exchange for the possibility to attack Ukraine with impunity; to shit on “the American bastards” in Syria and Libya; and to place “our” private armies all over Africa and even, it’s rumoured, in Venezuela.
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Monday, December 26, 2022
Review: In Contempt
In Contempt by Christopher DardenMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
At Simpson's estate, O.J.'s blood was in his driveway and foyer, while Goldman's blood was on the glove alongside his house, and O.J.'s and Nicole's blood was on the socks in his bedroom. The blood was spattered on the socks-nineteen separate blood spots right around the ankles, where blood would likely splash as Simpson hacked at the victims and then walked through the pools of their blood. There were also blood smears at the tops of the socks, where he'd pulled them off his feet. The chance that the blood was someone else's besides Nicole's? One in 21 billion. Ron's? One in 41 billion. Pretty significant figures when there are only 5.5 billion people in the world.
In Simpson's Bronco, Nicole's blood was mixed with O.J.'s on the carpet. Goldman's blood was on the con- sole, and a mixture of the blood of all three was else- where on the console.
Tests were done at two different labs. Contamination was impossible. And in all this testing, no other blood was found. In these lakes of blood, there were identifiable traces of only three people: Ron, Nicole, and O.J. Simpson.
To be honest, I wasn't interested in getting rid of him. The trial had dragged on too long already and, at some level, there were more important things than winning this case at all costs.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2022
Sunday, December 18, 2022
Thursday, December 15, 2022
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Saturday, December 10, 2022
Review: Twelve From Hell 2: The Ultimate True Crime Case Collection
Twelve From Hell 2: The Ultimate True Crime Case Collection by Ryan GreenMy rating: 0 of 5 stars
When I first found about Ryan Green taking on the unrepentant psychopath Carl Panzram, I set it aside to read after watching the James Woods portrayal in film. Well, this time I didn't wait, but I did watch Carl Panzram: The Spirit of Hatred and Vengeance (Docu-Drama, 2011). In Kill 'Em All: A True Story of Abuse, Revenge and the Making of a Monster, Green examines the life and crimes of lifelong criminal and serial killer, Carl Panzram. This was a real fiend. Despite his serial sodomies and multiple prison sentences under differing names, Panzram robbed ex-president Taft's house (taking a pistol and financial instruments), was a strikebreaker, broke strikebreakers, rode with rails with brutalizing hobos (turning tables), and suffered crippling punishments in peonage. One of the things I enjoy about Green's research is exploring possible causes in personal history. This one includes a grisly, kitchen table ersatz ear operation.
Vampire Killer: A Terrifying True Story of Psychosis, Mutilation and Murder is the account of Richard Chase. This is, I think, the most gruesome true crime stories in Ryan Green’s output. The descriptive accounts of abuse and violence include cannibalism, necrophilia, Jack Ripper-like organ play, vampiric blood drinking, Renfield's syndrome, etc. Childhood development figures in here with a recounting of two-thirds of the Macdonald triad - cruelty to animals and fire-setting. No persistent bedwetting past the age of five recounted, but these acts seem to have led to the violent, homicidal behaviors. It actually made me reach out to contact my mom and thank her for keeping pets around when I was a kid: cats, rabbits, birds. Is there any opposite, does have such as a youth foster normative social behavior? At least I think it engenders care and concern for another living thing. Recalling from the Dahmer backstory, there is also it feels a formative prelude through unparenting: Chase was left alone and funded for stretches of time and generally let to develop like a weed.
No Place for the Weak: A True Story of Deviance, Torture and Social Cleansing
"rock spider wall"
Other members of this dire dozen which I have reviewed elsewhere include:
* Buried Beneath the Boarding House: A Shocking True Story of Deception, Exploitation and Murder
* The Townhouse Massacre: The Unforgettable Crimes of Richard Speck
* The Curse: A Shocking True Story of Superstition, Human Sacrifice and Cannibalism
* The Texas Tower Sniper: The Terrifying True Story of Charles Whitman
* The Kentucky Cannibal: The True Story of an Outlaw, Murderer and Man-Eater
* Gorilla Killer: A True Story of Betrayal, Brutality and Butchery
* Doctor Satan: A Despicable True Story of Hope, Exploitation, Greed and Murder
* The Beast: A Chilling True Story of a Psychopathic Child Killer
* Crimson Petticoats: The Betrayal, Brutality and Bloodshed behind the French Maid Massacres
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Friday, December 9, 2022
Wednesday, December 7, 2022
Saturday, December 3, 2022
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Literary Miscellany: containing Select Pieces by Dr. Franklin by Benjamin Franklin My rating: 3 of 5 stars ...
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Witchcraft in the Western Tradition by Jennifer McNabb My rating: 4 of 5 stars In episode one (about one...
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Transplant: A Heart Surgeon's Account of the Life-and-Death ** by William H. Frist My rating: 3 of 5 stars ...
