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December 26, 2005

Christmas Book Review: Michael Chrichton's State of Fear

I generally don't review books, but since I'm on vacation in California and not really keeping up with the news (and since the weather has finally turned for the worse and I'm stuck indoors) I thought I'd drop a quick note about the book I just finished, Michael Crichton's State of Fear.

For full disclosures sake, Harper Collins offered me the book for free awhile back, but I turned them down. So, even though they sponsored the site for awhile, I forked over the $7.99 at the airport for the book myself. The reason I'm commenting on it at all has nothing to do with their former sponsorship, but has everything to do with this: The book was absolutely awesome!

That's it. Just wanted you to know how awesome it was. Go buy it if you haven't done so. It's the perfect Hannukah gift. Inexpensive and much more fun than another boring freakin' dradle!

I read 80% of it in one sitting on the trip to California. The rest the next day. So, it's easy reading. The kind of reading that is captivating and kept my normally ADHD afflicted brain busy.

Best of all it lays out the case that the hype about global warming is just that: hype. Footnoted, too.

More than than, it talks about the discourse Nazis who have hijacked all rational discussion about the environment. The people who use the language of science to bolster what are essentially their religious beliefs about the ideal state of nature. A state which never has existed and is as much myth as any fundamentalist Christian's vision of the Garden of Eden.

And here's a teaser to get you interested. Hollywood limousine-liberal gets eaten alive by cannibals. Does it get any better than that?

Posted by: Rusty at 03:30 PM | Comments (51) | Add Comment
Post contains 310 words, total size 2 kb.

1 Completely concur. I polished it off going to and from Vegas.

Posted by: Vinnie at December 26, 2005 03:40 PM (Kr6/f)

2 Would you two shut up. I'm right in the middle of the damn book. It takes me at least 3 months to read a book, due primarily to laziness.

Posted by: Preston Taylor Holmes at December 26, 2005 03:59 PM (XLLC7)

3 One author I highly suggest to anyone, save those with short attention spans, is Thomas Sowell. He isn't the most fiery penman ever, but my IQ jumps a few points just reading the indroduction.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at December 26, 2005 04:14 PM (0yYS2)

4 Oh, and yes, liberals getting eaten by cannibals always makes for a Merry Christmas.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at December 26, 2005 04:15 PM (0yYS2)

5 Totally awsome book. I'm working through some of the footnotes now. I've never seen a work of fiction with the underlaying reasearch so well documented.

Posted by: bRight & Early at December 26, 2005 04:17 PM (YkmII)

6 I finished the book last night. I enjoyed it thoroughly. While arguing against an effect of man's contribution to global weather changes, the book also speaks about the possibility of man made tsunamis (an interesting idea). As a scientist working under contracts to the military, I have personally felt the pressure to package data in a "marketable" fashion, as Crighton suggests. I refuse to do so. Recently, the DOD sent out a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIRs) topic to explore the effects of squalene and DU, despite their 14 year old insistence that Gulf War Syndrome doesn't exist. Squalene is produced naturally in the body during the metabolism of cholesterol, but at very low concentrations. It is used in vaccines at high concentrations as an adjuvant to strengthen the immune response to the vaccine, presumably making the vaccine more efficacious. It's possible that by boosting an immune response too much, the body becomes confused and exposed people develop intolerance to many substances (paint thinner, perfume, etc.) For a good review on chemical intolerance see Dr. Claudia Miller's work (Univ. of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio). DU is only 40% depleted and produces alpha, beta and gamma emissions as it decays. Be honest, would you knowingly allow your children to be exposed to either of these compounds? Not me.

Posted by: Greg at December 26, 2005 04:23 PM (O0OOp)

7 You know guys, there are liberal/leftists looking in on this board right now who are shocked - SHOCKED I TELL YA - that people here read "books". I'm still in the Christmas Spirit so .... Liberals/leftists! Hondo doesn't read "books"! In fact - hondo can't read! ... Now, do you feel better about yourselves? Good! Now Merry Christmas!

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 04:32 PM (3aakz)

8 The book was an easy read . . the books referred to in the footnotes will take all of '06 though . . . Heh, heh . . . But, all I can offer is . . "Suspicions Confirmed" . . . .

Posted by: large at December 26, 2005 04:34 PM (fEUSs)

9 greg Why do you do this? The one line opening then ... zooooom! Want a man-made tsunami from hell? Drop one very big nuke down a hole in La Palma. GWS remains too vague and non-discript - a portion may be associated with chemical exposure after an "incident" at an Iraqi weapons storage bunker facility. Others with environmental & biological acclimation problems - indigenous and little understood (sometimes unknown) bacterial and viral factors. Transporting large populations from on region of the planet to another "alien" and isolated region does sometimes produce unexpected biological reactions in a percentage of the transported population. Gamma? as far as I know - no - but I could be wrong - I have played with some remote sensing SAT photos of the region and I don't recall any tell-tale signatures. If your a scientist - you would know what I'm talking about (hint hint - I can tell the difference between an elm and a maple from 500 miles up - n' their health too). Why am I doing this? Guess I'm bored tonight. Maybe I should go and not read a book.

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 05:04 PM (3aakz)

10 Thomas Sowell is awesome, Maxie. Funny you should bring this up, Rusty. I read the book when it came out and recommended it to my son just last night. He's an avid reader and will swallow it in one sitting. As I was reading it I checked as many sources as I could and looked up as much corroborating evidence as I could find on the web. Crichton is pretty damn accurate. Another good read of his, although not related at all to State of Fear, is Timeline. I was disappointed a bit in Prey. Just didn't have the punch his other stuff does. I'm reading VDH's new book right now, A War Like No Other. I have an autographed copy. ;-)

Posted by: Oyster at December 26, 2005 05:21 PM (YudAC)

11 Greg: 1) DU has been proven American and European organisations to not be associated with health problems. 2) DU only emits alpha radiation 3) If you've flown on a modern aircraft or walked by a construction site with large cranes you've exposed yourself to DU. I don't hear you complaining about any long term health problems. Unless DU is the cause of all the crap you tend spew on a regular basis.

Posted by: Graeme at December 26, 2005 05:30 PM (AkfSY)

12 Graeme, You are wrong. But hey, go ahead and snort some DU and report back to us in a couple of years. There were several instances of friendly fire upon American tanks in the first Gulf War. Clean up teams then salvaged the tanks by decontaminating them. As a consequence, members of these teams are getting very ill. Furthermore, birth defects have sky rocketed in Iraq since 1991, bolstering the possibility that DU has health consequences. We just don't know what the effects are at this time. As I said, the military is now focusing on DU's potential health consequences. Those labs who report that DU doesn't harm people are the ones most likely to get repeat funding. This is another example of the experimental bias that Crighton speaks of in his book, "State of Fear". "Depleted uranium is approximately 40 percent less radioactive than natural uranium. Depleted uranium emits alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays. Alpha particles, the primary radiation type produced by depleted uranium, are blocked by skin, while beta particles are blocked by the boots and battle dress utility uniform (BDUs) typically worn by service members. While gamma rays are a form of highly-penetrating energy , the amount of gamma radiation emitted by depleted uranium is very low. Thus, depleted uranium does not significantly add to the background radiation that we encounter every day. When fired, or after "cooking off" in fires or explosions, the exposed depleted uranium rod poses an extremely low radiological threat as long as it remains BODY. Taken into the body via metal fragments or dust-like particles, depleted uranium may pose a LONG-TERM HEALTH CONSEQUENCES to personnel if the amount is large. However, the amount which remains in the body depends on a number of factors, including the amount inhaled or ingested, the particle size and the ability of the particles to dissolve in body fluids." http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/faq_17apr.htm

Posted by: Greg at December 26, 2005 06:08 PM (O0OOp)

13 BODY=OUT OF THE BODY

Posted by: Greg at December 26, 2005 06:11 PM (O0OOp)

14 Man, I wish I got the Chrichton book for Christmas. Instead, I received Richard Clarke's novel, The Scorpion's Gate. I opened it and randomly read one page which was predictably dominated by a leftie talking-point lecture being given by some muslim character to an American. I'm pretty sure that the book is going to be astonishingly terrible, but I'm gonna read it anyway. If nothing else, the blog-fodder I'll get out of it in the form of my review should be worthwhile. I'll order myself a copy of State of Fear to clear my brain with afterwards.

Posted by: Alex Nunez at December 26, 2005 06:51 PM (Il/dZ)

15 After all these good reviews, I've decided to go out and buy Michael Crichtons new book. It might just be a real winner. I also have two books I suggest for Greg's reading enjoyment and enlightenment. I just finished reading 'The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam' by Robert Spencer and recommend it highly for Greg. The best book on the subject, however, is 'Jihad in the West' by Paul Fregosi, who happens to be French, so there is hope for Greg yet, if he will stop drinking the kool-aid and do some reading.

Posted by: jesusland joe at December 26, 2005 07:11 PM (rUyw4)

16 Yeah Graeme, you're dead wrong. Don't you know that DU, (and Jooooos), are the causes of everything from cancer down to hangnails? They are also the reason greg is a moron and has never known a woman in the Biblical sense. On a more serious note, it scares the shit out of me that a certifiable idiot like greg has anything to do with research our government uses. He's probably giving secrets to our enemies, and if he were to disappear mysteriously, it wouldn't be a loss.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at December 26, 2005 07:21 PM (0yYS2)

17 HOW THE FUCK DID WE END UP ON DU? State Of Fear - good book!

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 07:51 PM (3aakz)

18 Oh, I gets, I gets. I've got babes hanging on my dong. I eat so much pussy that my face looks like a glazed jelly doughnut. Poor Impy has got to fuck the same hag over and over. Is it any wonder that he has a propensity for violence? That's what happens to the sexually unsatisfied. I'm souced on Souza and bonding with my brother-in-law tonight. Last Christmas we nearly came to blows. He's not so bad after half a bottle of tequila. I'm filled with the Christmas Spirit and other spirits as well. Impy, I love you man. Come to Austin and I'll set you up with some nice, Yellow Roses of Texas. And I'll help you find out who Agent Smith is too. All you circle jerk boys need to chill out and find the Spirit even if it's in a bottle. Seriously!

Posted by: Greg at December 26, 2005 08:28 PM (O0OOp)

19 Crichton always does his research. I've made several posts based directly on the book, and on information from the book.

Posted by: The Dread Pundit Bluto at December 26, 2005 08:44 PM (RHG+K)

20 I've had the book for several months and just recently found the time to begin reading it. I've been watching, in addition to some other reading, a lot of Discovery channel-type shows on 'global warming' in the last few weeks and most neutral people will tell you that the earth constantly goes through cooling and warming trends and any warming trend that we MAY (or may not) be going through right now has not been impacted by anything man has done or even can do. The people that like to scream about global warming are those that that have millions of dollars worth of government grants or donations from the sheeple at stake. The lesson here is to always be leery of someone's opinion when that opinion is influenced by the money in their wallet. Organizations like the Sierra Club wouldn't exist if it weren't for scaring up the masses into donating millions to them. From what I've read, 'State of Fear' delves into the politics of separating people from their money by scaring them into believing in their cause. I bought it for that reason alone.

Posted by: slug at December 26, 2005 08:50 PM (VPa19)

21 Some of you might not remember this, but back in the 70's there were several experts who warned against another ice age, and the NYT, Time, Newsweek, etc. all ran stories on the new ice age. Shortly after this the nuclear winter theory came into vogue, and we were all hit with a new crop of silliness. Just wait long enough and who knows, an ice age is bound to be predicted, or isn't that what happens now with the 'New Global Superstorm' book that came out a couple of years ago. An ice age due to global warming, now that takes an imagination.

Posted by: jesusland joe at December 26, 2005 09:10 PM (rUyw4)

22 WE'RE DOOMED I TELL YA! DOOMED! DOOMED! DOOOOOMED! Whatever happened to that cartoon caricature - the guy with the beard, robes, and sign "REPENT! THE END IS NEAR"! ..? Too overtly religiously orientated for the New Age Eco Religionists I guess.

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 09:20 PM (3aakz)

23 Agent Brown opines on fear and DU: There once was a war for Arabians That led to firing of lots of uraniums The vets got sick and "Sam" went prick And fear keeps yall smacked in the craniums.

Posted by: Agent Smith at December 26, 2005 09:25 PM (LLfvp)

24 Yall? Are you from the southern part of the Matrix, Mr. Smith?

Posted by: jesusland joe at December 26, 2005 09:28 PM (rUyw4)

25 I knew you guys would like Crightons work, the problem is there is scientific consensus that anthropogenic climate change is a reality and the world knows it. That is everyone but the right wing of the USA. I find it amazing that you forward the argument that scientists who study climate change and come up with the "wrong answers" are driven by funding. What you need to do is look at the vast resaerch on the subject and look into who funds the skeptics (oil and energy companies CATA). AGain, scientific consensus folks, minus ER writers and oil funded scientists. The sad thing, and clapping hands for you, we wont do anything about it even though the poles are melting, insurance compnaies now say their property and casualty actuaries can no longer make accurate probabilities and we coninue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. This will be interesting. ernie

Posted by: ernie at December 26, 2005 10:14 PM (X4Dyg)

26 ernie, watch out! The sky is falling!

Posted by: Oyster at December 26, 2005 10:26 PM (YudAC)

27 Oyster ernie's a pseudonym. If you look at the style and presentation you will notice a relatively distinct difference from the lil' ernie we all know and love. Same mentality of course. We're all doomed of course. Think we should tell he/she/it about the trans-dimensional wormhole portal to Epsilon 3 - located just outside Crawford Tex and built by Haliburton (hugh cost over-run by the way) - Space Available Seating Only - all inquiries thru the Rove Travel Agency (number unlisted unless you know somebody). Nnnnnaaaaaahhhhh!

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 10:47 PM (3aakz)

28 Yeah, and there was scientific consensus on an ice age and nuclear winter and all that other liberal crap. I haven't seen either yet, and I doubt I ever will. The single most dangerous thing out there are diseases that have been rendered harmful by stupid liberal policies such as open borders and the forced sharing and misuse of antibiotics.

Posted by: jesusland joe at December 26, 2005 10:52 PM (rUyw4)

29 JJ If you want to be serious about the disease thing - DDT (lack of) is responsible for the deaths of approximately 3 million people (mostly children) every year. Ask a liberal - and they will talk about egg shells.

Posted by: hondo at December 26, 2005 11:11 PM (3aakz)

30 Read this book when it first came out, couldn't put it down either. Friend had bought it and we exchange books all the time, I even asked it I could pass it to another friend. The only bad part is this want make it to a movie because it tells the truth first of all and second it slams the Hollywood/Liberal elite. Glad to see it get some national expose even if it is on the blogs. Thanks!

Posted by: Debby at December 27, 2005 08:49 AM (ZN9fn)

31 Greg, I'd love to come to Austin, but only if I'm dying of cancer or something, and want to go out with a bang. The only thing a city full of filthy hippies is good for is a practice target for a tactical nuke. But seriously, I don't get you man. You sound halfway intelligent sometimes, but then you start in on all your conspiracy crap, with Jooooooooos and DU and white phosphorous and so forth, and you go right off the damned map. Seriously, do you need medication or something? You might be surprised at what the world looks like from the side where Karl Rove isn't hiding in your bushes. I really don't like to see otherwise intelligent people wasting brain power on stuff like you come up with. Is your life that boring that your only hobby is conspiracy theories and the X-Files? Look, you've got me all wrong. I'm not a "neocon", whatever the hell that is,like you said in your little posts about me on those leftard websites, (flattering in a weird sort of way, I must admit), and I'm not being paid by the Joooooos, who also do not live in your closet and manipulate the minutia of our lives and sprinkle DU and WP dust on you while you sleep, like some sort of demented sandman. If the Joooooos were so damned powerful, they wouldn't be getting suicide bombed by subhuman muslim scum all the time. So stop flattering yourself that the neocons are out to get you, because there's nothing in your closet but your own skeletons. Get out and have fun, and try not to look over your shoulder.

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at December 27, 2005 10:10 AM (0yYS2)

32 I've only read one Crichton book in my life, called Timeline. Possibly the worst book ever published.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 27, 2005 06:08 PM (8e/V4)

33 Greg, DU is just more mythology the Left requires to stay afloat. And before you shut your mind off to the facts, keep reading. According to a European Union study released in 2001, "most of the ingested DU (between 98% and 99.8%, depending on the solubility of the uranium compound) will be rapidly eliminated in the faeces." The vast majority of any remaining uranium will be "rapidly cleared from the blood" in a few weeks. Similarly, the majority of inhaled DU dust will also be cleared via the bloodstream and kidneys. The EU report concluded that "exposure to DU could not produce any detectable health effects under realistic assumptions of the doses that would be received." http://www.reason.com/rb/rb032603.shtml Aspirin is worse for you. And three additional reports agree with the EU report. One from 2001 to the European Parliament compared exposures to DU to those experienced by uranium miners and concluded, "The fact that there is no evidence of an association between exposuresÂ—sometimes high and lasting since the beginning of the uranium industryÂ—and health damages such as bone cancer, lymphatic or other forms of leukemia shows that these diseases as a consequence of an uranium exposure are either not present or very exceptional." Also, the World Health Organization agrees that DU is not a great health risk. Its 2003 fact sheet on the topic declares that "because DU is only weakly radioactive, very large amounts of dust (on the order of grams) would have to be inhaled for the additional risk of lung cancer to be detectable in an exposed group. Risks for other radiation-induced cancers, including leukaemia, are considered to be very much lower than for lung cancer." Another WHO report found, "The radiological hazard is likely to be very small. No increase of leukemia or other cancers has been established following exposure to uranium or DU." This is all on the link I gave you.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 27, 2005 06:13 PM (8e/V4)

34 Another gem in that belt for MICHEAL CHRICHTON i have alread seen THE ANDROMADA STRAIN several times and STATE OF FEAR should be great but no one in HOLLYWOOD will make it into a movie becuase it shows this whole idea of GLOBAL WARMING as a fruad of world wide preportions and make the usial celulous junk out of that stupid movie WATER WORLD with KEVIN KOSNER as some dopey fishman called MARINER who swam likea idiot and had dumb gills and his silly webbed hands and feet

Posted by: sandpiper at December 27, 2005 09:06 PM (nMpEK)

35 Carlos, I double dare you to snort some DU. The stuff's great man, the European Union says so! And it's ever so tasty.

Posted by: Greg at December 28, 2005 09:30 PM (O0OOp)

36 Carlos, I work with Phosphorus 32 and 33 on a daily basis. The half life of these isotopes is less than a month. They only emit beta particles, whereas DU emits Alpha, Beta and Gamma. I treat Phosphorus isotopes with kid gloves, literally. Read the Univ. of Texas Radiation Safety regulations. http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/radiation/Radiation%20Safety%20Manual%20(3-28-05).pdf Only an idiot would take this shit lightly. 99.8% clearance isnÂ’t good enough. The remainder stays with you for the rest of your life. Â“Depleted uranium remains radioactive for literally billions of years, and over these long periods of time it will continue to produce all of its radioactive decay products; thus depleted uranium actually becomes more radioactive as the centuries and millennia go by because these decay products accumulate.Â” http://www.ccnr.org/decay_U238.html And then there is GovernmentiumÂ… NEW ELEMENT FOUND! The recent hurricanes and skyrocketing oil and gasoline prices helped to prove the existence of a new element. In early October 2005, a major research institution announced the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium." Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called 'morons' which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called 'peons.' Since Gv has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Gv causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second! Gv has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay; but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact,Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming 'isodopes.' This characteristic of moron promotion leads most scientists to believe that Gv is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as 'Critical Morass.' When catalyzed with money, Gv becomes "Administratium' (Am) - an element which radiates just as much energy as Gv, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

Posted by: Greg at December 28, 2005 10:02 PM (O0OOp)

37 greg, I wouldn't snort DU anymore than I'd snort common dustballs under my bed. Nor would I be anymore concerned about it. It's a moonbat myth. End of story.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 29, 2005 09:50 AM (8e/V4)

38 Carlos:"end of story" Carlos, Are you serious? You are an idiot. The story is still developing and the military is spending millions of $s funding studies on the health consequences of DU, as we speak. Here is just one of the many SBIR solicitations on the topic from the Dept. of Defense. http://www.dodsbir.net/sitis/archives_display_topic.asp?Bookmark=19962 As usual, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

Posted by: Greg at December 29, 2005 11:20 AM (O0OOp)

39 Greg, the EU studies are funded by "the military"? lmao! moonbat myths die hard.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 29, 2005 11:36 AM (8e/V4)

40 I referring to OUR military, the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Read the fucking solicitation for your lazy-ass self. Of course you know that and are playing stupid.

Posted by: Greg at December 29, 2005 03:07 PM (O0OOp)

41 lol! funny. Yes, I know the Pentagon has given mixed signals about it to date. Which, together with the European studies, hardly puts this into the hysteria category you moonbats put it in. Final analysis: mixed signals from the Pentagon, and clean bill of health from the EU = moonbat hysteria (so what else is new).

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 29, 2005 03:18 PM (8e/V4)

42 Carlos, This is a first. You have placed the EU's conclusions ahead of the U.S. Department of Defense's, which is still actively investigating the health consequences of DU and has yet to make any definitive conclusion. It is you, who is the moonbat.

Posted by: Greg at December 29, 2005 06:01 PM (O0OOp)

43 Greg, I could say the same thing about you and the Pentagon. But I don't, because evidence "against interest" is always admissible in the courtroom.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 29, 2005 09:28 PM (8e/V4)

44 Does anyone else get the suspicion that greg is a possible traitor? Maybe Rusty should forward his info on to the FBI? I don't really like the thought of a hysterical, batshit crazy leftard working as a government funded scientist, or even a pizza delivery man, as is more likely the case. I'd be much happier to give them all new jobs, digging and residing in mass graves, since they seem to think they're okay for other people and all...

Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at December 30, 2005 09:51 AM (0yYS2)

45 Carlos, What about the Pentagon? Be specific.

Posted by: Greg at December 30, 2005 07:23 PM (X0Wi9)

46 Agent Smith asks, who is Greg?

Posted by: Agent Smith at December 31, 2005 02:16 AM (HuVhz)

47 I, like millions of people all over the world, am a small fish (sturgeon) in a quest toward a better understanding of the Great Betrayal.

Posted by: Greg at December 31, 2005 02:44 AM (X0Wi9)

48 Agent Smith says that Greg is a podling worthy of respect. Uranium has contaminated whole crops and that has angered The Architect. Agent Jones says Greg does not show up under system searches, as he is moving in multiple locations at the same time. Agent Brown says that he has seen "Blinky", the three-eyed fish.

Posted by: Agent Smith at December 31, 2005 04:48 AM (HuVhz)

49 >>>Uranium has contaminated whole crops and that has angered The Architect. uh, there's a reason why it's called DEPLETED uranium, and not just uranium. But I understand, moonbat myths will die hard. Your shaky worldview needs myths, just as it needs to explain away the cold hard facts.

Posted by: Jesusland Carlos at December 31, 2005 10:38 AM (8e/V4)

50 Yikes, did we all read the same book!!?? I bought this at the CVS Christmas Eve and got halfway through with great difficulty. At that point I refused to go further. For a writer of Crighton's experience it is criminal to have spent so little effort on making the characterizations and situations more plausible. That a seasoned para-military would put civilians in harms way time and time again and that said civilians would fare as well as the characters in SOF do is utterly, utterly implausible. I resumed SOF after New Years and I am closing in on the end still no more believing of the science despite footnotes. Obviously the science can go either way but this novel is made for Hollywood and there is where it will really do damage. Mr. Crighton (sp) is looking very much to me like a tool of the status quo who want some positive propaganda for their live for today policies. I was actually looking for some other opinions on SOF before I tried to find a way to find a way to communicate with Crighton and ask him directly what the #$%@# was up. That was very bad writing. There is no way other way to say it. Shrill, and over the top with characterizations from the pulp fanzines of the '40's. I'm betting that I'm a good 20 years or so older than many of the positive reviewers and I hope you don't suffer too badly as a result of what is going down because I have kids even younger than you but I don't know, I really don't know. H

Posted by: Leisesturm at January 05, 2006 01:41 PM (n8WKU)

51 Read the eBook (I like eBooks). Good: Being able to "Pop-up video" the footnotes. Bad: Having to enlarge the charts. It was quite well-researched. Would a bunch of moonbats set off an unnatural "natural disaster" to make a point, as they try to in the book? Ohh, yeah. Currently reading (or rereading): Blind Spot (A history of US counterterrorism efforts) S is for Silence (Sue Grafton) A whole heap of textbooks (I have 8 classes (23 credits) this semester you guys X_x) The Honor Harrington series (One of my personal fave series)

Posted by: MegaTroopX at January 19, 2006 12:14 AM (yT/Rw)

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August 28, 2005

Say Goodbye to "The Big Easy!"

The media are actually underplaying the catastrophic consequences of Katrina. It will change history. The only questions are how much and in what direction? (h/t: Glenn)

Posted by: Demosophist at 07:35 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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