Atlantis Arisen
March 28, 2024, 11:29:29 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Scientists uncover Inca children's countdown to sacrifice
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-10/wt-sui100107.php
 
  Home Help Search Arcade Links Staff List Login Register  
  Show Posts
Pages: 1 2 [3]
31  Modern Historical Mysteries / the Middle East: Past & Present / "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror" on: June 29, 2010, 02:58:04 pm
"All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror" [Paperback] Outstanding Exploration of How the Current Theocracy in Iran is a Backlash to the CIA/British Coup of a Democratically Elected President In Iran Over Oil. The Costs of Empire and Evil.
By Stephen Kinzer

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
This is one of the most remarkable books BuzzFlash has sold in the past years. This is a reprint of Stephen Kinzer's riveting and revealing untangling of the 1953 CIA coup against a popular Western style democratically elected president of Iran. Why did the CIA remove him from power and replace him with the SAVAK Shah? Because of oil, of course. The British ran the oil concession in Iran as if it were on British soil and Mossadegh thought that was a little unfair, so the CIA gave him the boot and today we have the backlash.

If you want one story the encapsulates all the facets of the American empire's real motives (natural resources and hegemony, not democracy), this book captures it all.

Highly, highly recommended.

There is even a BP connection, because their forerunner pumped the oil in Iran for the remnants of the British empire and American interests.

"With breezy storytelling and diligent research, Kinzer has reconstructed the CIA's 1953 overthrow of the elected leader of Iran, Mohammad Mossadegh, who was wildly popular at home for having nationalized his country's oil industry. The coup ushered in the long and brutal dictatorship of Mohammad Reza Shah, widely seen as a U.S. puppet and himself overthrown by the Islamic revolution of 1979. At its best this work reads like a spy novel, with code names and informants, midnight meetings with the monarch and a last-minute plot twist when the CIA's plan, called Operation Ajax, nearly goes awry. A veteran New York Times foreign correspondent and the author of books on Nicaragua (Blood of Brothers) and Turkey (Crescent and Star), Kinzer has combed memoirs, academic works, government documents and news stories to produce this blow-by-blow account. He shows that until early in 1953, Great Britain and the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company were the imperialist baddies of this tale. Intransigent in the face of Iran's demands for a fairer share of oil profits and better conditions for workers, British Foreign Secretary Herbert Morrison exacerbated tension with his attitude that the challenge from Iran was, in Kinzer's words, "a simple matter of ignorant natives rebelling against the forces of civilization." Before the crisis peaked, a high-ranking employee of Anglo-Iranian wrote to a superior that the company's alliance with the "corrupt ruling classes" and "leech-like bureaucracies" were "disastrous, outdated and impractical." This stands as a textbook lesson in how not to conduct foreign policy."
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2290
Other Reviews
With a New Preface: "The Folly of Attacking Iran"
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2290
32  General Category / Opinions & Editorials / "You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You": Great Handbook from Top Comics on: June 29, 2010, 02:57:07 pm
"You're a Horrible Person, But I Like You": Great Handbook from Top Comics
By a Plethora of Top Comedians
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
“For a swift, re-motivating kick to the rear, I’ve never read anything like the gems dished out [in] You’re a Horrible Person, But I Like You.”
— Caitlin Donohue, San Francisco Bay Guardian

"Every contributor to this book is hilarious--but you must already know that. The sense of humor varies widely throughout, but everything is on point. So rarely does a collection like this (well conceived, beautifully put together) come about. This is a must-buy for any person, horrible or not, in need of some tongue-in-cheek advice."

"A compendium of 'advice' from the producers, writers, and actors of The Office, Saturday Night Live, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Knocked Up, Flight of the Conchords, The Daily Show, Arrested Development, Reno 911!, and The Hangover along with other people who should really never give advice.

In these pages Fred Armisen offers help telling your dad you’re a lesbian—give him the phone number and he’ll do it for you. Mindy Kaling provides guidance on ending things with your mistress—dude, you totally have to kill her. Rainn Wilson offers insight on contacting that girl you dreamed about last night—he has created all-purpose web portal for such interactions. Amy Sedaris identifies the best way to a man’s heart—bone saw through the chest cavity.

Aziz Ansari, Judd Apatow, Fred Armisen, Maria Bamford, Todd Barry, Samantha Bee, Michael Ian Black, Andy Borowitz, Michael Cera, Vernon Chatman, Rob Corddry, David Cross, Larry Doyle, Paul Feig, Jim Gaffigan, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo, Daniel Handler, Todd Hanson, Tim Heidecker, Ed Helms, Buck Henry, Mindy Kaling, John Lee, Thomas Lennon, Al Madrigal, Aasif Mandvi, Marc Maron, Adam McKay, Eugene Mirman, Morgan Murphy, Bob Odenkirk, John Oliver, Patton Oswalt, Martha Plimpton, Harold Ramis, Amy Sedaris, Michael Showalter, Sarah Silverman, Paul F. Tompkins, Sarah Vowell, David Wain, Eric Wareheim, Rainn Wilson, Lizz Winstead"

Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2289
Product Description
Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2289
33  General Category / Sports / LeBron-O-Meter on: June 28, 2010, 11:08:17 am
34  Media & Film / Documentary / Capitalism Hits the Fan DVD: How Did the American Dream Turn Into the Nightmare on: June 28, 2010, 10:56:24 am
Capitalism Hits the Fan DVD: How Did the American Dream Turn Into the Nightmare on Wall Street?
By Richard Wolff

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"Capitalism Hits the Fan" is a DVD at its most basic (a lecture as if you were back in college) brimming with an electrifying explanation of how the "American Dream" evolved into the "Nightmare on Wall Street."

Our guide (lecturer) is economics Professor Richard Wolff of the University of Massachusetts. As much as we have read at BuzzFlash about the economic meltdown, Wolff shed a new comprehensive perspective on the Wall Street bubble (now bursted) at the expense of the decline of the middle class.

Wolff tautly strings together an economic theory (some of the observations with which we might differ)that offers a persuasive explanation of how Wall Street exploded by increasing our indebtedness as individuals and as a nation, at a time when wages remained stagnant.

Normally lectures (if you remember them from college) leave a lot of time for day dreaming, but Wolff's explanation is so timely and cogent that you won't want to break away. Beyond Wolff's final conclusion about worker-owned companies, he succinctly has built a case about why leaving the arsonsists on Wall Street in charge of putting out the fire that they started is an untenable strategy that will lead to even more economic implosion.

BuzzFlash is one of the few outlets that the Media Education Foundation(MEF) allows to sell their DVDs for home viewing at a much reduced price. (MEF mostly sells their DVDs to educational and public institutions at a much higher cost for large audiences.)

The relevant and trenchant analysis offered by Wolff more than compensates for the reality that the DVD is not a drama or comedy.

This is serious business, so to speak, and Wolff distills our economic dilemma into a scintillating 57 minutes of food for thought.

About the DVD from the Media Education Foundation:

"With breathtaking clarity, renowned University of Massachusetts Economics Professor Richard Wolff breaks down the root causes of today's economic crisis, showing how it was decades in the making and in fact reflects seismic failures within the structures of American-style capitalism itself. Wolff traces the source of the economic crisis to the 1970s, when wages began to stagnate and American workers were forced into a dysfunctional spiral of borrowing and debt that ultimately exploded in the mortgage meltdown. By placing the crisis within this larger historical and systemic frame, Wolff argues convincingly that the proposed government "bailouts," stimulus packages, and calls for increased market regulation will not be enough to address the real causes of the crisis, in the end suggesting that far more fundamental change will be necessary to avoid future catastrophes. Richly illustrated with motion graphics, this is a superb introduction designed to help ordinary citizens understand, and react to, the unraveling economic crisis."

****

Here are some of BuzzFlash's growing line of eco-products to help create a sustainable planet:

Start with our extremely popular 27 ounce scrubbed steel water bottle that eliminates the need for wasteful plastic bottles and privatized water.

You can also buy an 18 ounce version of the bottle by clicking here to buy it liberally from BuzzFlash.com.

You can also buy a 40 ounce version of the bottle by clicking here to buy it liberally from BuzzFlash.com.

And you can also buy a version for the young kidlings in your life (or as a gift) with a sippy clicking here to buy it liberally from BuzzFlash.com.

Finally, when you go camping, bike riding or hiking, you can buy a great Klean Kanteen stainless steel carafe to keep your vino in perfect taste.

Also buy these as healthy gifts for friends and relatives.

And you can't drink from it, but it helps with sustainability and saving our planet. Go Eco to the dry cleaners with this ecological 3 in 1 garment bag.

And save the earth from indigestible plastic grocery bags with this "Obama 44" reusable Thunder Tote Bag.

And save the earth from throw away plastic utensils by using reusable eco-utensils made from renewable bamboo.

Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2148
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2148
35  Asia & the Pacific Rim / India & Indochina / Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India [Hardcover] on: June 28, 2010, 10:54:57 am
Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India [Hardcover]
By William Dalrymple

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
“Nine Lives is an absolutely beautiful book: honest, edifying, and moving. I love so much about it, but mostly I love how William Dalrymple has gotten out of the way of the story, letting the characters inhabit in their own voices every square inch of each page. It’s a delight.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

“Dalrymple vividly evokes the lives of these men and women, with the sharp eye and good writing that we have come to expect of his extraordinary books . . . Nine Lives is a glorious mixture of journalism, anthropology, history, and history of religions, written in prose worthy of a good novel . . . Not since Kipling has anyone evoked village India so movingly . . . The book gives an answer to Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and those who would condemn all religions for the sake of the fanatical fringe.”
—Wendy Doniger, The Times Literary Supplement (UK)

"Highly interesting, wonderfully researched, beautifully written, as are all of this author's works.

A main question seems to be whether often-isolated, syncretistic, devotional religious practices will continue in the face of India's burgeoning economy and, presumably, growing secularism and consumerism, on the one hand, and the exclusionary fanaticism of a militant segment of Hindus and Muslims, on the other. While much will be gained by greater educational opportunity and a higher/healthier standard of living for the rural and urban poor and powerless, rich, curious, sometimes bizarre religious practices in the name of the gods will probably fade away.

This book is not about mainstream religious practices or faiths of the great religions --- or even of "smaller traditions" that have gained acceptance, if not understanding, because of their great age. The `Sacred" referred to in the title are approaches to gods/God that are, for all the integrity of those interviewed who practice them, mightily strange.

The book certainly shows that devout, faithful approaches to belief are common to all levels of people and a belief in a "greater power" is sustaining in the most difficult of situations. The book is a wondrous "read" about good people whom most of us will never otherwise hear."


Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2287
Product Description
Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2287
36  Literature / Book Reviews / R. Crumb's "The Book of Mr. Natural: Profane Tales of That Old Mystic Madcap" on: June 28, 2010, 10:53:36 am
R. Crumb's "The Book of Mr. Natural: Profane Tales of That Old Mystic Madcap" Hardcover
By R. Crumb

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"The collection constitutes a sheer delight for those who have followed the Natch's exploits over the years, yet it is completely accessible to nonaficionados--at least those undaunted by the raunchiness that is another thing that hasn't changed since the sage's early days."

R. Crumb turned into a BuzzFlash reader phenomenon with the recent publication of his book "Genesis."

So we're back with more offerings.

This "Mr. Natural" collection is hot off the presses!


Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2286
Product Description
Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2286
37  the Arts / Music / Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers New Acclaimed 2010 CD, "Mojo" on: June 28, 2010, 10:52:40 am
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers New Acclaimed 2010 CD, "Mojo"
By Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"Some time in the last few years Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers took a left turn. Maybe it was when Petty woke up in the night with the idea of reuniting his first band, Mudcrutch, to cut the album they never got a chance to make back in the early 70's. Maybe it was when the Heartbreakers assembled the mammoth multi-disc 'The Live Anthology,' which detailed thirty years of concerts. Maybe it was when they gave all their home movies, outtakes and live footage to director Peter Bogdanovich to create the Grammy-winning four-hour career documentary 'Runnin Down A Dream.' There have been side projects and experiments since the band last went into the studio to cut a new Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers album.
With 'MOJO,' they have taken their recent freedom and experimentation to heart. They have gone off the reservation and all signs indicate they aren't coming back.

The first thing that hits you about 'MOJO' is that the spirit of the Mudcrutch sessions has carried on with the Heartbreakers. This is the sound of a band playing together in a room not a studio - facing each other, all singing and playing at the same time. The music is alive, with no overdubs or studio trickery. What you hear is what they created on the spot at that time.

Tom Petty says, 'With this album, I want to show other people what I hear with the band. 'MOJO' is where the band lives when it's playing for itself.'

As for the songs, 'MOJO' showcases a wide variety of American music from rock 'n' roll to country and both electric and acoustic blues. And then there are the images in Petty's lyrics which slip in on the melodies and set up a home in your head: The barefoot girl in the high grass chewing on a stick of sugar cane, the run-in with the law that begins when a carload of buddies decide to party with the motel maids, and the hilariously audacious idea of opening an album with an electric blues rocker about Thomas Jefferson's love affair with Sally Hemings. Petty would probably chuck a rock at anyone who called him a poet, but he sure is a southern writer of humor and sensitivity.

'MOJO' has juice and guts but it also has some sweet balladry for the slow dancers and even a wacked-out reggae number that is unlike anything that the Heartbreakers have done before. It's the kind of album nobody's supposed to be able to make anymore. It got here just in time."

"The Heartbreakers have evolved distinctly throughout their 30+ years of recording together. Listening to their catalog from the beginning to the present, one travels from an era of short, punchy garage-rock tunes in the 1970s, to the laid-back pop hits of the Jeff Lynne era, to their current period of meditative rock planted firmly in the band's primordial roots.

It's a natural progression, what with Petty's lament of modern music with the Last DJ in 2002, his efforts to keep '60s and '70s-era classic rock alive through his Buried Treasure radio show, the success of last year's Live Anthology, and a rapidly decentralizing music industry that's no longer ruled by the gatekeepers of Top 40 radio. It almost seems that Mojo just... had to be.

If Mudcrutch was Petty's country album, Mojo is his foray into blues recording (sprinkled with a little psychedelia and reggae to taste). Like Mudcrutch, Mojo is freewheeling, high-energy, and upbeat, and prone to a little jam session here and there -- which would have been unthinkable in the days of the neatly-trimmed Full Moon Fever or Into the Great Wide Open. Without a single bad song in the mix, Mojo is a cohesive album you can listen to from beginning to end.

Personally, I am digging latter-day Tom Petty. The band is as good as they've ever been, and each member seems to have increasing freedom to showcase their immense instrumental talents and unrivaled ability to complement one another. Mike Campbell's guitar is on fire through the whole album, and Scott Thurston breaks out of his shell with fine blues harmonica on several tracks.

As a departure from the past musical stylings that made the band successful, Mojo will certainly raise some eyebrows and not be to everyone's liking. Frankly, I think that's a good thing. These guys aren't trained monkeys paid to crank out the same songs over and over again. They're world-class musicians, and they deserve the chance to breathe a little. Play on, boys."

Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2288
Product Description
Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2288
38  Media & Film / Documentary / Two of the Top Progressive Thinkers: Theory And Practice on: June 24, 2010, 01:18:24 pm
Two of the Top Progressive Thinkers: Theory And Practice: Conversations With Noam Chomsky And Howard Zinn DVD (Released in 2010)
By PM Press

BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"Two of the most venerable figures on the American Left--Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky--converse with Sasha Lilley about their lives and political philosophies, looking back at eight decades of struggle and theoretical debate. Howard Zinn reflects on the genesis of his politics, from the Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam war movements to opposing empire today, as well as history, art and activism. Noam Chomsky discusses the evolution of his libertarian socialist ideals since childhood, his vision for a future post-capitalist society, and his views on the state, science, the Enlightenment, and the future of the planet."

A great memory of Howard Zine and a great tribute to the intellectual depth of Noam Chomsky.

“Chomsky is a global phenomenon, perhaps the most widely read voice on foreign policy on the planet.”
--The New York Times Book Review

“What can I say that will in any way convey the love, respect, and admiration I feel for this unassuming hero who was my teacher and mentor; this radical historian and people-loving ‘troublemaker,’ this man who stood with us and suffered with us? Howard Zinn was the best teacher I ever had, and the funniest.”
--Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple

Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2283
Other Reviews
About the Contributors:

Noam Chomsky is one of the world’s leading intellectuals, the father of modern linguistics, and an outspoken media and foreign policy critic. He is Institute Professor emeritus of linguistics at MIT and the author of numerous books and DVDs including Hegemony and Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance, Chomsky on Anarchism, The Essential Chomsky, and Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours published by PM Press

Howard Zinn was one of the country’s most beloved and respected historians, the author of numerous books and plays including Marx in Soho, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, and the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, and a passionate activist for radical change.

Sasha Lilley (Interviewer) is a writer and radio broadcaster. She is the co-founder and host of the critically acclaimed program of radical ideas, Against the Grain. As program director of KPFA Radio, the flagship station of the Pacifica Network, she headed up such award-winning national broadcasts as Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan. Sasha Lilley is the series editor of PM Press’ political economy imprint, Spectre.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2283
39  Media & Film / Documentary / Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country DVD: on: June 24, 2010, 01:17:40 pm
Sale, Save $5: Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country DVD: Released on June 15
Pro-Democracy Filmmakers Inside Burma
BuzzFlash.com's Review (excerpt)
"I had the chance to see this movie when it went on tour and stopped in my city. I loved it. It is an extremely well-made documentary, but, oddly enough, seems more like an dramatic movie than a documentary. It follows several undercover journalists in the military dictatorship of Burma. The film follows them as they document the anti-government protests that took place in 2007 (also known as the "Saffron Revolution"). The film keeps a quick pace and I actually found it quite suspenseful, even though the events took place over two years ago. The viewer is never sure whether the journalists will successfully evade arrest or even survive their next encounter. For those viewers not as familiar with the events of the Saffron Revolution, I expect the film will be all the more exciting.

On another note, the footage in the film is incredible. The journalists used primarily handheld Sony videocameras, often hidden in bags in order to evade military spies. Yet, they filmed some incredible moments. Much of their documentation was fed to the international media and made headlines in September 2007. However, Burma VJ shows uncut versions of those scenes. Some of the images, such as the massive crowds cheering on the monks as they sang Robin Hood-esque songs, brought tears to my eyes. What those journalists did was incredibly brave, and unfortunately some of them lost their freedom in their attempt to tell the truth about Burma. This film is a wonderful testament to their courage."

Read The Full Review >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/reviews/2258
Product Description
Buy more progressive premiums to support BuzzFlash progressive news and commentary (we accept no advertising, corporate or otherwise to maintain our complete independence)by going to The BuzzFlash Progressive Marketplace.
Learn More >>>
http://www.buzzflash.com/store/items/2258
Pages: 1 2 [3]
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum

Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy