President Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

On Huffington Post, M.J. Rosenberg's considers why the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to President Obama today. Rosenberg wrote that the award is a tribute to the entire United States, not just the President as an individual, and that "[a]ny American who isn't proud today is . . . a Republican." Read the full post here.

It was reported in the Wall Street Journal that the President is holding a cabinet-level meeting today to discuss General Stanley McChrystal's request for more troops for Afghanistan. It might be awkward to issue an order for more soldiers after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, no?

Everything Old is New Again: Today's Right Wing Supports Book Burning

The last post here discussed banned books, which ties in neatly with what's happening today on the politically conservative side of politics in the U.S.

As you may know, Fox News, lobbyists, out-of-power Republican members of Congress with time on their hands, and the right-wingers in our population - including neo-Nazis and secessionists - are getting ready to whoop it up at so-called "tea party protests" on April 15.

These folks do not like President Obama. Use your own experience and knowledge of these people to reach a conclusion as to why this is so.

With respect to taxes and the programs they support, it's not clear what government programs these protesters won't support: national defense, our men and women in uniform? health care for senior citizens? education? Oh, yes. It's likely education, don't you think? And according to Huffington Post, at a recent event one protester even shouted out that old chestnut, "burn the books."

How 13th century.

Push back, friends. Support publication and reading of controversial writing. Meet speech with speech: don't let what these people say go unchallenged. Instead, write letters to newspapers, call or email radio programs, and talk to your neighbors. Flex your First Amendment muscles.

Best Seller Round-Up

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." ~Groucho Marx

Malcolm Gladwell's book about success, Outliers, is still selling like hotcakes. Go figure. Also writing about success, Tara Stiles at Huffington Post sets forth 10 tips for success in what I have to assume is an unintentionally funny post. Drink water and get enough sleep, she writes. Do yoga. Smile. Ms. Stiles seems to have a low threshold for declaring success. Her tips read more like preparation for life as a dancing bear rather than say, director of the FBI.

That Outliers is indeed "selling like hotcakes" reminds me that if you are a word maven, there is a new book that may be of interest: I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime, and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech by Ralph Keyes. Check out a NPR interview of Keyes here.

Below is this week's best seller round-up:

I. The New York Times.
Published March 27, 2009.

Fiction Paperback (Trade): The Shack, William P. Young.
Fiction Hardcover: Handle With Care, Jodi Picoult.
Nonfiction Paperback: Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
Nonfiction Hardcover: Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.


II. Los Angeles Times.
Published March 29, 2009.

Fiction Paperback: New Moon, by Stephenie Meyer.
Fiction Hardcover: Corsair, Clive Cussler with Jack Du Brul.



Nonfiction Paperback: Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.
Nonfiction Hardcover: Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.

III. Northern California Independent Booksellers.
For the week ending March 22, 2009.

Fiction Paperback (Trade): The Shack, William P. Young.
Fiction Hardcover: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows .
Nonfiction Paperback: Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin.
Nonfiction Hardcover: Outliers, The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell.

IV. Heartland Indie Bestseller List.
Great Lakes Independent Booksellers Association
For the week ending March 22, 2009.

Fiction Paperback (Trade): The Shack, William P. Young.
Fiction Hardcover: Handle With Care, Jodi Picoult.
Nonfiction Hardcover: Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell.
Nonfiction Paperback (Trade): Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin.

Robert Reich on the AIG Bonus Scandal

From The Huffington Post: Robert Reich, former U.S. Labor Secretary and current professor at the University of California at Berkeley, writes about how executives at AIG plan to pay themselves $100 million in bonuses while the company itself is failing and required a $170 billion government bail-out. One explanation by AIG for paying the bonuses: AIG needed to be able to retain talent in these challenging times.

Oh, yeah; you want to retain those big-thinkers at AIG.

Writes Reich, "Had AIG gone into chapter 11 bankruptcy or been liquidated, as it would have without government aid, no bonuses would ever be paid; indeed, AIG's executives would have long ago been on the street. And any mention of the word "talent" in the same sentence as "AIG" or "credit default swaps" would be laughable if it laughing weren't already so expensive." (emphasis supplied).

Or as David Waldman at the Daily Kos wrote in a clear manner, which even an AIG executive should be able to understand:

"You. Are. Failing.

There. Are. No. Bonuses. For. Failure."

The George W. Bush Era: The End is Nigh

You know how it is when you are at the dentist: Stretched out in a chair with your head tilted backward, your jaw is propped open with some new age dental gizmo. Needles appear and disappear. Cotton is packed into your mouth, and there is drilling, water and suction. Then finally, after this has gone on for what seems like an eternity, the dentist says, 'we're just about done.' At that point, you relax a little bit, feel a little giddy. Well, with respect to George W. Bush serving as President of the United States, we're just about done.

The video, below, of our fearless leader is from the David Letterman Show, via Huffington Post.

Happy New Year! Start 2009 with a Laugh from Andy Borowitz

Via The Huffington Post: Andy Borowitz My Facebook Status Updates for 2009.

Andy can't believe that shoe almost hit Rick Warren.

Andy is somehow not surprised that Bush texted the Libby pardon during the Inauguration.

Andy will miss Chrysler.

(more)

Neil Young

Neil Young writes about a bail-out for U.S. automakers on the Huffington Post. (Yes, that's your Neil Young.) Mr. Young is an interesting artist. I saw him 'live' one time - not playing music but eating dinner at a table near ours in a Colorado restaurant. He was having a good time, smiling and enjoying himself, which was neat because his public image was that of a very sober, serious person and artist.

The first music I purchased that included work by Mr. Young was Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's Deja Vu. All the lyrics from that album are firmly implanted in my memory's permanent storage. And while it is not my favorite song from the album, for some reason, Almost Cut My Hair is a tune I often find myself humming.

In the years since Deju Vu, Mr. Young has produced an amazing catalog of work. The one (1) and only DVD that I own is his Heart of Gold (2005). Directed by Jonathan Demme, this is beautifully filmed musical experience featuring Mr. Young, his wife Peggy, Emmylou Harris, and a huge cast of musicians and back-up singers concert. If you haven't seen it and are looking for something good to watch this weekend, consider checking it out.

T.G.I.F.

Gov. Palin . . . Still and Again

It's Sunday and as much as I try to not think or read about John McCain and Sarah Palin, I'm not able to stop. It's like a mosquito buzzing around your ear or having a canker sore inside your mouth: annoying.

Palin, who could be President of the United States in a few weeks, has thus far not been available for press interviews. Presumably, she is busy memorizing sound bites that she will use at some future date. Huffington Post is reporting that ABC News will conduct an interview with her sometime next week.

If you were preparing someone like Palin to be President in a couple of weeks, what would your candidate need to know? Middle East. Status of war in Iraq. Immigration.

How to spell potato.

The McCain/Palin team isn't wowing everyone. The L.A. Times went to Pennsylvania, a key battle ground state, to get a reaction on Palin from women voters there. Not everyone loved the Gov:

When Palin belittled Obama's history as a community organizer on Chicago's South Side -- suggesting he was a do-little activist while she, as the former mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, had "actual responsibilities" -- Sandy Ryan, 59, clicked the remote. "That's enough of that. I switched over to 'House Hunters,' " she said with some disgust over dessert with a group of women from the senior housing complex she manages.

Check out the whole article.

And, let's get fired up and ready to go.






This little dog is waiting for answers. Waiting for change. Waiting.

New Yorker Magazine Cover Controversy Cont.

With consensus building this week that The New Yorker's cover depicting the Obamas as terrorists is a complete flop as satire, satire strikes back: check out this post from The Huffington Post.