Category Archives: Non-Fiction

Juan Williams Firing from NPR

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I was surprised to learn that Juan Williams appears on Fox News.  I understand that NPR can’t pay much, but Fox?  Ah well.

I will say, however, I don’t agree with his being fired for having very human reactions towards those Muslims that dress outwardly as Muslims.  He, unlike those of us in other parts of the country (Metro Detroit), did not grow up with the culture being a part of the natural landscape.  If it isn’t a full-fledged niqab, the person is probably not completely radical. 

I have other issues with wearing a niqab when someone is driving, but I digress.  (I have experienced drivers wearing a niqab, and do not want them on the road!)

Anyway, I found the outcry against Helen Thomas, a Christian Arab-American taking the side of the Palestinian cause disconcerting as well.  It is not racism to believe that the nation of Israel has no more right to exist than the Palestinian state.  It really isn’t.  It is a matter of socially and racially charged politics.

Personally?  I don’t care whether Israel exists or not.  History shows that whoever has the firepower to keep the land is the one who wins.  That is the business of the folks who live there.  I don’t agree with material support of either either side by the US government with my tax dollars, but that is because I’m an isolationist on all fronts and would limit aide to emergency relief.  I’d also pull us out of almost all foreign military bases.  (Certain semi-protectorates would have to be examined closely.)

Anyway, I understand that NPR wants to be seen as neutral on all accounts.  Even their letters to the editor often highlight when interviewers or hosts are not being even-keeled.  What bothers me is this growing expectation that everyone in the press and politics must tow some party line.  This does nothing to help engage the necessary conversations.

The reality is that, yes, Juan Williams said things that can be construed quite negatively.  On the other hand, what he said only tends to indicate that he is a human being with all the foibles that comes with.

No one is without prejudice.  His admitting his is not the worst sin ever.  It might even have been seen as a way to open dialog among a more mature audience.  But, I have long given up the idea that the US is made up of a mature audience unless it comes to prurient interests.

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U.S. (Halliburton?) Identifies (Admits?) Vast Riches of Minerals in Afghanistan

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I realize that this sounds a bit on the conspiracy side of things.  I know that this may cause me to lose any credibility with many folks out there.  And perhaps I have just been enjoying too many Conspiracy and Paranormal Podcasts.  But, in the end, it seems way too convenient that the Soviets knew of these resources and Halliburton is a major contractor for the US military and mining and oil interests for there not to have been some level of purpose there.

For those who are unaware, the US military has long been used by business interests to forward their goals to make more profit.  It is something that some history teachers touch upon, but many don’t.  Smedley Butler – the man who saved the Union before World War II – even wrote a book called War is a Racket after serving as a general.

Why did Smedley Butler think this?  Well, the very lucrative banana and other plantations of South America were major financial interests of the robber barons of the era.  We stayed in the Philippines for the same reason.  It was always about money and trade.  Also, the opening of Japan was because the US Navy threatened to open fire if the Japanese didn’t open their ports to trade.

So, Afghanistan has the largest known deposits of lithium (batteries, computers, etc.), cobalt (more high tech), and other minerals crucial in the creation of computers, batteries, and other technologies which run our world today.

Why wouldn’t I think that Halliburton – or Brown and Root, or some other incarnation – influenced things so that we would have a strong military presence in Afghanistan?  I find the protestations of this being a surprise rather hard to swallow when the Soviets knew before they left Afghanistan.

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Voice of the Detroit Tigers Now Silent

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I remember driving Up North in my father’s pick-up before the days of satellite radio – even before CB radios were all the craze. From Detroit to Alpena most weekends through the months when our property wasn’t completely snowed under. There was only one radio station that stayed with us through the entire drive, WJR. As we would drive north in the summers on US-23 the voice of Ernie Harwell told the story of the Tigers’ game.

For millions who grew up in Michigan, Southern Ontario, and Northern Ohio a voice as comforting and as familiar as family echoed through the night when the Tigers played. Many a radio was snuck into a school or workplace when Ernie Harwell was calling the afternoon game.

Ernie started his career in Georgia as a young radio announcer in the minor league. He was traded for a pitcher to some unimportant New York team before finally settling in as the Tigers’ voice on the radio. Ernie Harwell was baseball. His voice is what I, and many others, hear when thinking of a baseball game.

Detroit has lost not only the voice of the Tigers but a man who gave so much back to the community. Ernie Harwell was well-known for his charity work – which he did not trumpet. He is part of the time when Detroit was one of the top media markets in the world. A time when WJR and CKLW still ruled the airwaves of the Great Lakes region.

It is the voice of Ernie Harwell that reflected very much what Detroit was all about. This was the city people came to to create the middle class. This was the city people of all colors, creeds, and originations came to to create a better place. Cancer of the bile ducts took the man who started as a 5 year old bat boy for his local minor league team. Will his legacy be forgotten by a city that is suffering from its own cancers of poverty and abandonment? Or will his death inspire those who remember him to make Detroit the best hope for a strong middle class again?

His were not grand dreams or aspirations. Ernie Harwell died at home in Novi, Michigan – an upper middle class suburb of Detroit. He was a dedicated worker and giving individual who touched many a person through America’s game, baseball, on many a night. Whether hidden under covers, trekking across Michigan, or sneaking that listen at work, his voice was delivering baseball and sneaking stories of those days of yore. And, sometimes, including a bit of Scripture with that favorite pastime.

For those of you who never got to hear what baseball really sounds like, here is the farewell speech when Ernie Harwell retired:

Ernie Harwell will be sorely missed by a town that loves its sports and local media. With his passing, I feel like we, as a nation, are losing an icon of what we could have become and what we have lost. This was a man who could be held up as a real role model for anyone. Had he faults? Of course. But, unlike so many of us, he strived to be the best he could be with the talents and resources God gave him.

May Ernie Harwell find peace in the arms of Our Lord, Jesus Christ. And, maybe, he will be announcing a heavenly baseball game.

Binnall of America (Podcast)

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Do you enjoy a wide array of esoteric topics? Everything from superstitions in baseball, to the influence of professional wrestling on culture, UFOs, conspiracy theories, and esoterica you might never come across otherwise?

If you do, Binnall of America is the podcast for you. Tim Binnall has created one of the best online radio shows about the things that many of us will talk about late at night – but may not admit to wanting to know more. His guests have included journalists, physicists, historians, and a wide array of people from all walks of life who have been touched in some way by the strange and unexplained. (Yes, professional wrestling does count for the unexplained.)

Tim Binnall comes to this arena with no preconceived notions. His interview style comes very much from the “I don’t know if what you say is true, but I want to learn more.” He also, unlike many, takes the time to read or watch the media his guests have produced before interviewing them. This makes for insightful interviews that deserve more airplay.

I wish more of those involved in this fascinating part of the human experience would follow his lead. This is one of a handful of podcasts that I listen to regularly. And, yes, his archives are available to listen to online.

Chicago Diversion : Environmental Threat and Economic Opportunity?

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In 1885 Chicago built a diversion to carry waste water to the Mississippi out from Lake Michigan. This led to a number of locks and such that supersede the Great Lakes Compact and the Boundary Waters Treaty that govern water usage in the Great Lakes basin due to a SCOTUS decision from around the 1890s (I already returned the library book – The Great Lakes Water Wars).

Since this time, there have been major diversions that have gone into the Great Lakes – notably the one developed during WWII in Ontario that feeds into Thunder Bay. The rule of thumb has been that if it remains inside the basin there isn’t much to worry about, but if it is outside the basin (excepting Chicago due to an antiquated SCOTUS decision), it is not approved.

For those unfamiliar with how the Great Lakes basin governance works, it takes the agreement of all the governors of the states or the executives of the provinces to allow a diversion if it is under a certain volume. If it exceeds that volume, the Boundary Waters Treaty comes into play – as does the updated Compact – and all the executives in both the Great Lakes States and Provinces must approve with subsequent approval in Ottawa and D.C. (Yeah, how long do you think that would take?)

Anyway, the Chicago Diversion has continued to add more and more suburbs outside the basin by staying within their overall volume allowance from an over 100 year old SCOTUS decision that SCOTUS just decided it would not re-hear. For whatever reason, Michigan’s case to cut off the links that allow for the carp to enter the lakes (and genetic materials have already been found on top of the fences) despite the likelihood of them destroying both fishing and tourism interests in an already weakened economic area.

Now, the main diversion and overall waterways surrounding Chicago are antiquated. Would it not make sense to use Federal monies to not only prevent the carp from invading international waters (Canada is still the USA’s largest trading partner); but, also, to engender a major infrastructure project in one of the areas of the country suffering from massive unemployment by updating an over 100 year old water system?

Or, are Chicago and federal politicians so corrupt and short-sighted that they cannot see this will turn into a major international incident if not headed off at the pass?

The Great Lakes Water Wars

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Water, fresh water, is, possibly, the most precious resource on earth. In some parts of the world the controversies and battles are obvious. In those areas with a seemingly endless supply, there are underlying tensions that most of the world doesn’t recognize.

Peter Annin’s The Great Lakes Water Wars takes the reader through the major legal battles regarding diversions – from 1855 to the state of the Great Lakes Compact in 2006. (It passed all legislations as of 2006.) This is a lighter read than one might expect for a book mired in complex legal settlements and international entanglements.

510kdKc-NPLAnnin starts with the tragedy of the Aral Sea. Some people may not see the relevance of the devastation to the central soviets of the former Soviet Union, but it is a stark reminder of what could happen to the Great Lakes basin if just diversions were mismanaged.

Once Annin brings us back to the Great Lakes, he starts with the Chicago Diversion. Back before modern waste treatment was available, the Chicago government saw fit to change the course of the Chicago River. The other states surrounding Lake Michigan were livid. Wisconsin brought this in front of the Supreme Court which handed down one of the most complicated mathematical decisions ever in U.S. history.

Chicago keeps adding new suburbs to this diversion due to their being grandfathered in under all the newer agreements. This is despite the fact that their water system is in much needed disrepair, and, unmentioned in the book, the diversion has become a major ecological threat. (The book does not go into anything other than diversions.)

The Chicago diversion caused a great deal of panic throughout the basin. Soon the states and provinces surrounding the Great Lakes pressured their federal governments to create the 1909 Boundary Waters Treaty to help prevent major diversions. (Of course, during WWII there was the diversion into the Great Lakes at Thunder Bay in Ontario, Canada.)

This set up a somewhat informal system where each state’s governor had to approve any given diversion – excepting the existing Chicago diversion. If it was under a certain amount, the Canadian provinces did not have to be involved, however, if a certain threshold was not met. If that threshold were met, both federal governments would have to approve the diversion as well.

Annin takes us through a variety of approved and denied diversions and addresses the weaknesses that they highlighted in the system. The basin governments set out to correct this with The Great Lakes Charter of 1986 – which went through many revisions and challenges until the adoption of the Compact.

Annin also goes through the very interesting use of a western water law expert by those involved in creating the Compact. There was a very real disagreement from those steeped in the traditions of eastern water law about his conclusions. Eastern water law holds water as a commons, while western law holds it as a “first come, first serve” resource. This is, of course, an oversimplification, but the best explanation I can contain in a book review.

The Great Lakes Water Wars is an excellent addition to any library seeking information on the state of the Great Lakes. Though he does not address anything but diversion, diversion is a topic that deserves its own book.

Introduction to the Lakes : Introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway

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More on Our Freshwater Seas.

Introduction to the lakes: An introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway by Frederick Louis Whitlark was written in 1959. It was one of the first books I found in our library system and though it is very outdated, it still has a wealth of historical information on the shipping industry of the lakes.

Whitlark goes through the commonly used ships and their routes in the mid-twentieth century. The routes taken are detailed in the book as well. When this book was written, the Mackinac Bridge was still brand new. He goes through the many lighthouses that dot the shores of the Great Lakes mentioning the (now retired) Lightship Huron that guided many a vessel through the waters surrounding Port Huron.

An entire section of the book is dedicated to the commerce that was current in the 1950s when the lakes were plied with outgoing industrial wares and raw materials. Mention is made of the then dying pleasure cruises and steamships that dominated that industry on the lakes.

Each lake (Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario) and major waterway (St. Marys River, Waterlink between Erie and Huron, and Welland Ship Canal) within the basin as well as those making up the St. Lawrence Seaway (Thousand Island, Internation Rapids, Lake St. Frances, Soulanges, and Lachine) are given their own sections. Each section details common routes and the ships that ply them.

Rudimentary maps and drawings are interspersed throughout the book to aid the reader in understanding the unique geography of the area. Though mentioned, Whitlark does not spend much time on the many, many shipwrecks that make the Great Lakes considered some of the most treacherous waters in the world.

Introduction to the lakes: An introduction to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Seaway shows its age in such memorable quotes as:

We are quite sure that the first civilized men to see any part of the Great Lakes drainage basin were Norewegian Vikings. A replica of the DragonShip in which Leif Erikson sailed to the New World in 997 A.D. is located in Duluth. p. 158

Despite that, this is a worthy read for those interested in the history of the Great Lakes.

Freshwater Heritage : A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918

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From time to time I will be reviewing books on The Great Lakes and Michigan as part of a series celebrating the grandeur of North America’s freshwater seas. If anyone wants to join in, I will be happy to start a read-a-long.

Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 by Don Bamford is a delightful history from the beginnings of sailing on the Great Lakes. I am not someone familiar with sailing terminology or boating, for that matter, but this book was very accessible to even me.

Mr. Bamford takes the reader on a journey from the early discovery by the French of Lake Ontario – and their expansion into the other freshwater seas and rivers that intersect the center of the North American continent. He has us follow LaSalle’s efforts to control the waterways despite issues with his fellows and sponsors in France.

51qP8ZR7+JLThe end of French control of the Lakes allowed the British (and, eventually, the Americans) to gain a strong foothold in the Great Lakes basin. Mr. Bamford shows the importance of the technology of sailing ships that was imported from Europe for dominance on the lakes. The same shipbuilding skills that gave the USA the USS Constitution (oldest commissioned Naval vessel anywhere) allowed the United States to dominate the Great Lakes. Of course, Don Bamford also clearly illustrates that the majority of the time both the British and the Americans were in a game of avoiding each other’s ships – or trading them through capture.

One of the unique characters of Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 was the attention given to how the challenges of building ships in the wilderness settings surrounding the Great Lakes – even where there were older settlements such as Detroit. The skill these early shipbuilders displayed cannot be underestimated. The tools used were hand tools without the electrical power we take for granted today. You can almost see the skilled tradesmen as they carved and assembled the ship’s parts into one of the majestic sailboats that dominated the lakes through the 19th century.

The last portion of Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 is devoted to the various trades that sailing boats supported on the lakes. Starting with the fur trade that was dominated by John Astor, Bamford shows how Astor’s monopoly came to dominate. His sections on the fishing and lumber industries that decimated the fish population in the lakes and its surrounding forests brings understanding to how that happened despite its brevity. Lastly, he includes a section on the seemingly forgotten mining industry that Michigan dominated through its Upper Peninsula copper and iron mines.

Freshwater Heritage: A History of Sail on the Great Lakes, 1670-1918 is a pleasant journey through the majesty of the historical sailing vessels that dominated the freshwater seas known as the Great Lakes. It is well worth the time of any history buff or serious maritime history student. Don Bamford’s 32 years of research were well-served in this publication.

American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot (Audiobook)

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51-B5b8TfNLAmerican on Purpose CD: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot written and read by Craig Ferguson is a journey through addiction, punk rock, and early Scottish comedy clubs.

Craig takes us through his three marriages, various attempts at careers, and the birth of his son while bringing his unique comedic flavor to all. Some bits are a bit treacly, but that is to be expected in any autobiography that is, at least, a bit about redemption.

We learn about Craig’s time as a punk rock drummer. His living with enemy cats, and a character called “Bing Hitler.” He takes us through his childhood fascination with music and entertainment all the way to how he ended up on late night television.

There were many detours along the way. Some of those detours were darker than others. This is the story of a man who took his time finding out where he belonged – at least for now.

Through all of American on Purpose CD: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot, Craig unfailingly talks of his love for America (USA). His was a lifetime love affair that led him to New York and California.

I recommend this audiobook. There is nothing like listening to a Scot talking about his life – especially when said Scot is a great comedian.

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

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When I was in 8th grade my mother – at my great uncle’s behest – gave me one of the positive thinking books. I believe it was called The Secret of Success. It’s entire gimmick was to use “I am” as the statement in your head when envisioning what you want to achieve. It was a play on the English translation of the Name of God (“I Am Who Am”). Even then it struck me as both blasphemous and, well, silly.

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich is an interesting attack on the magical thinking that is inherent within the positive thinking movement.

51YsLslEljLEhrenreich starts with something I am familiar with, the “every cancer patient must be happy and positive to be cured” nonsense. I was rather surprised that she did not include the growing body of evidence that that thinking is actually detrimental and even harmful to patients who are trying to deal with very complex and often “negative” emotions. (I hold to the idea that emotions are not positive or negative, it is how we deal with them). Her observations about the “pink” movement were dead on, though.

One thing that bothered me was how she did not go back far enough to address the origins of the magical thinking. Instead, she decided to lay blame on the Calvinists. The thing is, Calvinism was a reversion to an older idea that gods and goddesses punished and rewarded their followers according to how “good” that person was. This is an ancient idea that Job was written to debunk. It saddened me to see that she did not recognize how old magical thinking is.

Ehrenreich also went into how the magical thinking of positive thinking has damaged the business environment for workers and investors. Companies spend billions on positive thinking seminars to brainwash workers into believing if they just work harder and think positively they will not join their former colleagues among the unemployed. This is also used to make people not understand that collective bargaining is the only way to fix the problems that are endemic to the United States’ employment situation.

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America goes into the infiltration of the power of positive thinking into supposed fundamentalist Christian evangelical churches. This is used to undermine the message of compassion and caring for one another that the Gospels taught. Perhaps this is the spirit of anti-christ that the Gospel warns. It certainly is not within Christian teachings to focus on material gain – which is central to the tenets of the positive thinking brigade. Christianity is not supposed to be focused on the rewards of this world, after all.

This book is worth reading as long long as it is remembered that it is only a beginning point to understanding how bad the positive thinking movement is to the very fabric of society.