My current reading list and those to come..

I am currently reading two books.
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I am reading the Great Transformation The political and Economic Origins of our time by Karl Polyani
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The other book I am reading is The rise and fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
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books on my short list when I finish one reading either of the two mentioned above I will probably take one from the pool listed below.
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The Grand Chess Board by Zbignew Brezinski

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips

The Comedians by Graham Greene

Guns , Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond

Resource Wars by Michael T. Klare

FICTION

They were masters of the Universe(to coin Tom Wolfes phrase) /masters of illusion who maintained power over humanity with a fictional economy that distributed fictional goods and services , created fictional jobs, and fictional desires within the consumers, fictional reality...

End of year ramblings about trees, buildings, economy, and education

I love architecture and trees, in that order . I have less than even a surface knowledge about the architects and the species of trees but love both these things none the less.

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My favorite type of tree is called Melaleuca linariifolia also known as Snow in Summer, took me a long time to find out the name of the tree even though I would see them all over San Francisco.

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The tree is originally from Australia.

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I suppose the economy is getting better, but still a really tough grind for me here in Northern California.
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I did terrible at my SQL class this last semester, I am thinking about taking class again or maybe taking PHP along with an English class.

Merry Christmas -Happy New Year Planet

My Christmas is almost over, having my third delicious day off in row, really need the rest..
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Hope we all have a prosperous and peaceful 2011..

Saw headline today on internet “China to bailout EU”

As I mentioned in my blog entry 12.17.10 "Be interesting to see what happens to EU "
I wrote

"I think players like China and Russia will support the EU because those two entities wish for counter balance against the US."

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Without going into the granular details this headline is emblematic of the decline in US power.

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It displays the total failure for the US by it’s financial elites of profiting from and setting up trade policies that cause the US to run huge trade deficits with China and hence empowering the United States growing rival China with capital to challenge and threaten US security by weakening US strategic position around the globe.
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All for short term profits for multi national corporations who could care less about the United States.

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There is only one peaceful way to stop the downward trajectory of the US and that is a complete over haul of trade, tax , education and industrial polices to rebuild the US put value back into the country instead of selling the country off bit by bit.

Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid - The Movie..

Saw Sam Peckinpah movie the other day Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
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Very good movie, starts out with James Coburn getting shot from several different directions in slow motion and falling in a sprawling mess.
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Peckinpah is famous for his violent gun battle scenes and he doesn’t let the audience down in this movie.
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Two other Peckinpah movies I have seen are Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, The Wild Bunch.
All three movies involve lots of gunfire, violence, and touch on Mexico.
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The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett and Billy the kid also touch on themes of the free west of the US being lost to civilization and modernization.
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Hong Kong director John Woo claimed Peckinpah inspired him for some of his gun battle scenes in his movies.
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John Woo who would then influence Quentin Tarantino of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction fame among a few of Tarintino’s better films.

45 year old Bernard Hopkins fights to Light heavyweight title draw

All time great Bernard Hopkins 2 months shy of 46th birthday fights to draw with 28 year old Light Heavyweight Champion Jean Pascal.
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Hopkins after being knockdown in the 1st and 3rd rounds goes on to dominate most of the other rounds of the fight to fight to a draw in Pascal’s home town of Quebec Canada.
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Hopkins displayed grit,will, intelligence as he used feints, ring generalship, and rough house tactics to impose his will on the approximately 18 year younger Pascal.