Personal Musings

Links to some of my personal thoughts and writings.

Book Review – Mediterranean World in Ancient Times

The Mediterranean World in Ancient Times by Eva Matthews Sanford This was a stiff read but well worth it. There is more than a small amount of wisdom imbedded in the history that reflects on our times. While the comparison is limited due to the differences in condition and environment, the consequences of too much […]

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Book Review – Sacred and Profane Beauty: the Holy in Art, van der Leeun

Published 1963, a translation from the German. This was a hard read. The thoughts here are deep and make one work for understanding. I read parts of it and then had to start all over….but it was worth the effort. Some notes: P 68 – There is dancing in heaven P 61 – The 144th […]

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Book Review – The Sacred Fire, B. Z. Goldberg

The Story of Sex in Religion Published in 1930 so the language is a bit odd perhaps and it would fail all kinds of “political correctness” tests The last 2 sentences in the book: “All religious ceremonies of today are expressions of that intimate relationship that love introduced into religion. They who know religion know […]

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Book Review – Atlantis the Antediluvian World, Ignatius Donnelly

This is a reprint of the Illustrated Edition of 1882 In a very real sense, this is the classic source book for all the stories related to Atlantis, together with interesting illustrations. For anyone who is at the least interested in the story or the legend, this is required reading. Some notes: 1 – The […]

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Book Review – The Folk Culture of Yucatan, Robert Redfield

Once again, a wonderful addition recommended by the folks at the Alla bookstore in Santa Fe. Read 10/2010 during the period I worked at the AOC on Congressional Moves. Some notes: P 104 – An interesting mixing up of Christianity and the local spiritual systems. A story of the Lord traveling to Glory and lighting […]

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Book Review – The Mapmakers Wife, Robert Whitaker

“A true tale of love, murder and survival in the Amazon” Another recommendation from the folks at the Alla Bookstore in Santa Fe…they always seem to find the right reading for me. From the back cover: The year is 1735. A decade-long expedition to South America is launched by a team of French scientists racing […]

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Book Review – 1491, Charles C. Mann

“New revelations of the Americas before Columbus”. A most, most excellent book, full of interesting and little appreciated facts. It does an excellent job of presenting all the sides of the various controversies related to the history of the Americas and allows room for one to decide on their own. Perhaps the biggest surprise in […]

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Book Review – In Quest of the Great White Gods, Robert F. Marx

The thrust of the book is simple: The “New World” was visited by many folk long before the voyages of Columbus. This includes the Phoenicians, Romans and others. The evidence is found in the monuments and artifacts that have been uncovered but which are ignored by the standard historians. The authors case is well presented […]

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Book Review – The Homeless Transient in the Great Depression

New York State 1929-1941 This is the kind of book that I really dig….and puts 99.9% of the population to sleep…LOL Lots of nitty-gritty details and statistics and stories related to a slice of history that is little understood or appreciated but which gives a unique insight into a troubled time. I think one learns […]

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Book Review – Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less, Newt Gingrich

Ah, how some of us dreamed of a debate between him and Glorious Leader….:) The book is pretty much what the title implies…a list of things that need to be done to move us along faster to energy independence…all with an emphasis on the use of our own natural resources. A bit dated by now […]

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Book Review – The Day The World Came To Town, 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland, Jim Defede

This is a truly marvelous book and one that brought tears to my eyes several times. The back of the book tells it better than I can: “When thirty-eight jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, on September 11, 2001, due to the closing of United States airspace, the […]

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Book Review – The Case Against Hillary Clinton, Peggy Noonan

This was written in advance of Hillery’s campaign for the Senate in New York, In a nutshell, the thrust of the book is that Hillery is dishonest, corrupt and power hungry…..surprise, surprise. It details some of the sordid details of events that took place while her husband was President that reflect directly upon the character […]

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