Claude is a Frenchman who lives in Dublin. His birthplace is famed as the city of lovers, but so far love has always eluded him. Instead his life revolves around the investment bank where he works. And then one day he realizes he is being followed around, by a pale, scrawny man. The man's name is Paul Murray. I liked this book better than the two that I read previously by this author. Perhaps I'm learning how to read his satire but I found this book to be much funnier that the others. A recommend.
Federalist No.58 Objection That The Number of Members Will Not Be Augmented as the Progress of Population Demands Considered
Author: James Madison To the People of the State of New York:
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.”
