congratulations’ Neighborhood

Go forth and fill your libraries with media.

Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.

~daisy

I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.

I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.

Cheers,

daisy

Gentlemen, we're history.
     -Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

    I don't what made me pick up not one but two MORE history books at the library not long ago, but for whatever reason, I did. The two books take contrasting approaches to how one looks at history. The first book, 1688: A Global History looks at how the entire world looked during one year in the late 17th Century. The other book, The Way of the World, is a sweeping look from the first stirrings of civilization to the present age. And I must say, while I found neither book to be incredibly spectacular, I enjoyed them both.
  In 1688: A Global History by John E. Wills, Wills picks one year and travels all over the world to give us a idea of what was going on during that pivotal period in the late 17th century. I liked how Wills focused on specific people from this era to show us the world almost through their eyes. Unlike many traditional historians, Willis covered the entire earth, detailing events and personalities in China, Japan, South America and the Muslim world. His scope as well as his writing style made for interesting reading and kept this book from being a dry history textbook. I liked it.
   David Fromkin's The Way of the World: From the Dawn of Civilization to the Eve of the Twenty-Third Century is a nice, well-written history of the last five thousand years. Fromkin, known also as the author of the well respected A Peace to End All Peace, takes on the thankless job of writing a history of everything and pulls it off

.It won't win any awards, but it give you a nice, readable introduction to the history of the world. No complaints-I liked it.

    

Tomas Halik's book Patience with God: The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing In Us was another one of those books I saw sitting on the "new books" shelf at my public library that, after a cursory inspection I decided to take home with me to read. Halik, a Czech Catholic priest, Professor and adviser to former Czech President Vaclav Havel in his book tries to reach out those outside creedal belief, people like atheists, skeptics and agnostics. To Halik, these are the modern heirs of the New Testament figure of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus of course according to Gospels was the Jewish tax collector who while perched in a tree watched Jesus preach to the crowd. Since Zacchaeus was not actively participating, he was nevertheless curious and to a degree engaged by what he saw going on around him. Today while many of those individuals are not in the Church, they might be hanging outside listening, or more likely engaged in intellectual discovery or doing admirable deeds.
    In a sense, Halik advocates a new ecumenicism. He calls on the Church to reach out those whose intellectual honesty and commitment to the Greater Good make them admirable in the eyes of God. To make his point Halik uses numerous examples from Liberation Theology, literature, philosophy, the writings of St. Paul and the lives of the Saints.
    While this is a good book, alas it is not a great book. I suspect Halik, is a better thinker than a writer. And for all his sincerity, many of the modern Zacchaeuses will strongly disagree with his opinions. I do think however, his book has contributed nicely to the ongoing debate between belief and nonbelief. Some might think his book is a bit muddled, but then again, so is the middle ground when it comes to the classic argument between belief in God and the denial of God's existence.

Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.

We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.

I will keep you posted.

Thank you for being so patient.

~daisy

Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.

This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!

Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.

Can't wait to read your posts!

~ daisy

    Disease is not merely ubiquitous. It is normal. It is natural. It is even essential. Illness has shaped all living things for millions of years, and life as we know it -- we, as we know ourselves -- would not exist without disease.
                                                                                            -Marlene Zuk

   I've been wanting to read Marlene Zuk's 2007 book Riddled with Life: Friendly Worms, Ladybug Sex and the Parasites That Make Us Who We Are ever since I saw it on display at my local university's bookstore. In the interim  I've read Carl Zimmers superb book Parasite Rex as well Robert Desowitz's fine books Who Gave Pinta to Santa Maria and The Malaria Capers, so I guess I must have a soft spot for parasites. A few weeks ago while I was at the public library I grabbed Zuk's book. While I was not incredibly impressed by it, nevertheless I did find it somewhat enjoyable. But more importantly, I found the subject matter quite interesting.
    Zuk, a professor of biology at the University of California at Riverside, paints a detailed picture of the complex role of parasites as an integral part of all life on Earth. According to Zuk, since sexually reproducing organisms can create offspring with considerable evolutionary diversity, parasites are the primary reason why most if not all organisms reproduce sexually and not asexually. In fact, life in general is an ancient arms race of evolution and response between host and parasite. And as long as there's life, it will never end.
   Zuk also writes about the "cutting edge" stuff that is going on regarding human health and parasites, such as research into a possible link between toxoplasmosis and schizophrenia, as well as the therapeutic use of the porcine afflicting parasite whipworm to treat the autoimmune disorder Crohn's disease. It could all be a bunch of bunk, but it definitely made for enjoyable reading.

    Since I am a huge fan of spicy food, I especially enjoyed what she had to say about the use of spices in cooking. According to Zuk, research has shown that cultures associated with warmer climates tend to use lots of spices in the local dishes. It is thought that such spices tend to have antimicrobial properties, just what you need when you don't want your meal going bad while dining in India, Indonesia or Thailand. This is also why the meat dishes common to these regions contain more spices than their vegetarian counterparts. The greater the variety of spices used in a dish, the lesser the risk of bacterial growth and spoilage.
     But, as much as I as enjoyed the subject matter covered in Zuk's book, Riddled with Life did not blow me away. Several reviewers on Amazon thought the book was not edited well and unfortunately, I must agree. Still, if you enjoyed Parasite Rex and/or Sharon Moalem's Survival of the Sickest, you probably should read Riddled with Life.   

With apologies to the 80's band Flock Of Seagulls, let me continue with my latest post. A few weeks ago I finished The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran by Hooman Majd, a New York City-based journalist and Iranian expat. Majd does an excellent job painting a vivid picture, both deep and wide of the fascinating nation of Iran, a nation with a people and a culture full of complexity and contradictions. Majd takes the reader on an extensive journey through the mysterious Middle Eastern country, visiting such disparate locales as hi tech opium dens, Shia seminaries, religious shrines and the household of Iran's former President. Perhaps most importantly, Majd examines the unwritten social contract between Iran's ruling clergy and the general population- the tacit agreement allowing Iranians to engage in any activities, illegal, immoral or otherwise as long as it is done privately behind closed doors. However, once dissent organized and done in the open and/or declared in newspapers or on the Internet, the theocratic regime feels its authority challenged and reacts accordingly.

    Perhaps equally important, you come away from Majd's book with a strong sense of just who the Iranians are. First and foremost they are Persians, therefore heirs to a rich and advanced culture stretching back thousands of years. And yes, they Muslims but Shia, and with a religion interpreted and practiced as the end product of an ancient Persian culture. But above all, they are Persians and not those country cousin Sunni Arabs around them.
    This is an essential book if one want to understand the nation behind the headlines. Majd's book, along Vali Nasr's Shia Revival, are must read books when it comes to addressing the culture and politics of modern Iran.

The Amazon Conduit will be working again on October 15, 2009. Thank you to everyone for your patience.

Have a great weekend,

daisy, Team Vox

It's always a good idea to read stuff by folks with whom you might not agree. If nothing else their particular opinions and arguments will help you understand where they are coming from and hopefully should challenge your own beliefs. And sometimes, it might just influence what you believe. Recently I finished two books which challenged my political opinions. And ya know, I'm glad I read them.
    The first book was an essay collection titled Why I Turned Right: Leading Baby Boom Conservatives Chronicle Their Political Journeys. Edited by Mary Eberstadt, the collection contains 12 essays written by cast of conservative writers including David Brooks, P.J. O'Rourke and Dinesh D'Souza. Each one chronicles their respective evolutionary journey from liberal to conservative. Interestingly, most if not all of these selected writers "turned right" after experiencing what they felt were the "liberal excesses" and "extremism" of the last 30 years or so. Perhaps also of interest, no small number of these featured writers attended the University of Chicago, a college long associated with the "neo-con" movement.
    Much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. All the contributors could write and write very well. I thought all of them contributed something meaningful and thoughtful to the political debate. Perhaps more importantly, all of them, regardless of their political opinions came off as reasonable individuals. Based on the writings in this collection, there wasn't a whack job in the bunch. In all, it's a fine anthology.
    The second book would be Comeback:Conservatism That Can Win Again by David Frum. Frum, a former George W. Bush speechwriter, National Review writer and contributor to American Public Radio's program Marketplace, examines the current shortcomings of the Republican Party and offers his solutions on how it can regain America's confidence and retake the political highground from the Democrats. Frum urges his fellow Republicans to instead of merely blocking Democratic policies they don't like, they take to heart the concerns of average Americans and craft constructive policies that address those concerns.After watching Frum promote his book on Book TV last year and being impressed by him, sadly I must say his book was a slight disappointment. Maybe it was his "sound bite" style of writing or maybe it was particular views but for whatever reason, I walked away from his book wanting more. Some of his ideas I liked, but some I found downright laughable. I do admire his courage to take his Party to task on a number of issues. And just like the writers in Turning Right anthology, Frum is not a whack job. And in my opinion, just like them he brings meaningful and thoughtful contributions to the political debate.