Nasruddin had built a new house, and there were many windows, big and small, in every wall.
“I’ve never seen a house with so many windows!” said Nasruddin’s neighbor.
“That’s my own design,” Nasruddin explained. “This new house has twenty windows! My old house had just one.”
“Why so many?” asked the neighbor.
“To stay warm in winter!” replied Nasruddin. “My old house became much warmer when I closed my window in the winter. Now when winter comes, I have twenty windows to close, so the house will be twenty times warmer. I won’t even need to light a fire!”
The Collapse of Antiquity, the sequel to Michael's …and forgive them their debts is the second and latest book in his trilogy on the history of debt. It describes how the dynamics of interest-bearing debt led to the rise of rentier oligarchies in classical Greece and Rome, causing economic polarization, widespread austerity, revolts, wars and ultimately the collapse of Rome into serfdom and feudalism. That collapse bequeathed to subsequent Western civilization a pro-creditor legal philosophy that has led to today's creditor oligarchies.
In telling this story,The Collapse of Antiquity reveals the eerie parallels between the collapsing Roman world and today's debt-burdened Western economies.
Domestic Enemies asks us to assume an America circa 2011 that has secret detention camps for ordinary citizens, an America with hyperinflation (gold $7000/ounce, gasoline $30/gallon), an America that has replaced the old paper currency with new blue bucks at a 1-for-10 exchange rate, an America where lawlessness in the big cities and political corruption everywhere exceeds anything seen in real third-world hellholes in 2006. Is this too much to swallow? You be the judge. The action in Domestic Enemies is exciting, and as plausible as you will find in works of fiction. The technical details, at least the ones where I have any expertise, are dead on. The question remains: Is the America of a few years hence portrayed in Domestic Enemies believable? This book addresses in fictional form a serious problem deserving of our attention: the problem of illegal immigration, anchor babies, and the long-term effects of a massive influx of people to our country who have no interest in adopting America s culture of individualism. My fear is that the nightmare conditions Bracken asks us to imagine for 2011 America are so far from what we have now, that mainstream readers (and reviewers) will dismiss his book as delusional ranting. That would be a grave error.
Nasruddin made a bet with his neighbor. “I’ll stand in the snow with only a blanket for warmth. If I last all night, you feed me; otherwise, I feed you.”
Nasruddin stood all night in the snow. “I won!” he shouted.
“No!” his neighbor protested. “You used the candle burning in my window for warmth. I’ll come over tonight to eat that dinner.”
When the neighbor arrived, Nasruddin explained the soup wasn’t ready.
The neighbor waited.
And waited.
Finally, he went into the kitchen and saw a pot suspended over a candle.
“Imagine that!” said Nasruddin. “The soup’s still cold.”
I did not like this 'collection' as well as the books that were written by Nabhan. The 'invited voices' spoke with too much touchy-feely language for me. The promo claimed there was "at times humorous' language but it escaped me, certainly nothing like the previous Nabhan book that I have read.
Federalist No.57 The Alleged Tendency of the New Plan to Elevate the Few at the
Expense of the Many Considered in Connection with Representation
Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison To the People of the State of New York
Nasruddin’s neighbor was complaining about how dark it was inside his house.
“It’s not at all like your nice house here,” the neighbor said. “Your house is full of light, but my house is so dark. I don’t know what to do.”
“I sympathize,” Nasruddin replied. “Light is very important.” He then thought for a few moments. “How about in your garden?” Nasruddin asked. “Is there light in your garden?”
“Well, of course there’s light in the garden. The garden is full of light!”
“Then that’s the solution!” exclaimed Nasruddin. “Just move your house into the garden where it’s light.”
...a few miles east of Silver City the heat gage pegged in the red zone and the Engine Service light came on. I pulled over and shut down with steam billowing from under the hood. The engine coolant tank was very hot so I walked circles around Desperado until it cooled down and was then going to drive back to Silver City and have someone check for the problem. I drove about a mile and the same thing happened so I shut it down on the side of the road and stood behind Desperado looking helpless until finally flagging down a New Mexico State Patrol car. The patrolman called for a tow and soon one came from G & G Towing and Repair.
He should be dead. That was what Olivia Killinger thought when her former fiance appeared at her door sixteen years after his "death." Now Jacques Sauvage was asking for her help to bring down a deadly syndicate - which was led by her own father. Olivia had never stopped loving Jacques, but how could she trust the man? She knew he needed her help…but did he also want to reignite the passion that had once burned between them?
