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Dubai: Pumping Sewage, Jailing Lovebirds, and Growing

CitizenSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Dubai is everywhere. Well, not everywhere, it's specifically on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates and the most populous city of the UAE. On the plane to the RNC I read Ben Mezrich's new book, Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil From Wall Street to Dubai. It's excellent and piqued my interest for this rapidly expanding city blending western ideas deep in the heart of the Middle East. Then my dad forwarded a photo taken from the top of the construction of the world's tallest skyscraper being built there. Seems like Dubai is a glittering paradise?

Sort of. To see what I mean,

Voting by the Book: Amazon Maps US's Political Reading List

CitizenSugar — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:00:13 -0700

If our electoral map were as red as Amazon's map of our political book-buying habits, things would be looking up for John McCain. Yet while Americans are buying up conservative books, our electoral map is getting bluer and bluer each day.

I initially chalked up this discrepancy to how unscientific Amazon's map is. After all, so many variables could affect this. Like how book publishers began feverishly launching conservative imprints five years ago to keep up with an increasing public demand. Could there just be a lot of conservative books to buy right now? Maybe they are better? Republicans tend to be older and older people read print over websites. Or maybe Democrats are at the library, or just buying all their books at indie stores. Who knows?

However, I became more convinced of a real connection when I compared the 2008 map to the 2004. I couldn't help but concoct a few theories about what we're ~~reading~~ buying. To see what I found,

Jerome Corsi, Author of Obama Nation Is Being Held in Kenya

CitizenSugar — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 07:45:02 -0700

The author of the controversial book Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality has been detained by Kenyan authorities. Jerome Corsi is being held under the claim that there's a problem with his work permit papers — he had been in the country to unveil his best-selling book to a Kenyan audience. Obama Nation has been accused of being a smear against the candidate, whose father was from Kenya.

According to the press release issued before Jerome Corsi's trip to Kenya, the author intended to, "expose deep secret ties between between US Democratic presidential candidate Sen Barack Obama and a section of the Kenyan government leaders." A police official contradicts the notion the arrest is political saying, "We have nothing to do with the book or whoever it's about. It's about the law of Kenya."

What's the tie to Kenya? To find out, and the Obama campaign's response,

The Long and Short of the Guinness Book of World Records

LibertySugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 10:00:24 -0700

The 2009 Guinness World Records went on sale today. To mark the release, the world's shortest man, 2 foot 5 inch Pingping from China, posed with the world's longest legs, which stretch 4 feet 3 inches and belong to Russian Svetlana Pankratova.

Her are some other fresh records:

Most searched person on the Internet: Britney Spears, displacing Pairs Hilton
Most powerful actor: Brad Pitt, ending Tom Cruise's four-year domination
Most powerful actress: Angelina Jolie, knocking off Jennifer Aniston
Most lucrative movie partnership in history: Tim Burton and Johnny Depp, thanks to five films netting $570.6 million

Are you picking up the 54th edition of Guinness Book of World Records?

Film Magic

Summer Reading: Last Call For Beach-Worthy Reads

CitizenSugar — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 10:03:46 -0700

August. Any way you slice it, it's hot and hotter — even the name sounds oppressive. This month, beat the heat with true tales of corruption, hypocrisy, scandal, and white-on-white racism. A couple of these books and your reading will be as hot as sand on the barefoot walk back to the car. Check out the latest books on my radar:

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
The New York Times featured The Dark Side on the cover of the Sunday Book Review this week, calling it "brilliantly researched and deeply unsettling." Author Jane Mayer, New Yorker staff writer, examines how a cabal — lead by Cheney, not Bush — within the administration set out to restore the unprecedented power of the presidential office. Power which they believed had been unjustly eroded since Nixon left office.

The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality
Is anti-Obama rhetoric more your thing? Obama Nation is a heavily footnoted, detailed argument against the senator's bid for presidency. Before you cozy up, let's meet the source. Media Matters notes its author, Jerome Corsi, is the coauthor of Unfit for Command — a scurrilous book that falsely attacked John Kerry's military service in 2004. What an odd genre to specialize in?

Wait there's more! I promised white-on-white racism and true-life sexy times! To see them,

Bookmobile: Lewd American Wife Based on Laura Bush?

LibertySugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 10:00:48 -0700

Best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld has written American Wife — a novel about a quiet librarian, and wife of a bumbling American president. The main character "Alice" might as well be called "Laura," as the story meshes snippets from Mrs. Bush's life with the stories of Sittenfeld's imagination.

Radar has provided some arousing excerpts from the book. Details of the presidential sex life are chronicled, as well as the realization that "Alice" had an abortion, and that her grandmother is a lesbian. The book graphs details from Laura Bush's pre-White House days, including a fatal car accident she was a part of when she was 16. But, Sittenfeld amplifies the drama by writing that "Alice" proceeded to have sex with the brother of the boyfriend she killed with her car.

Do fascinating public figures make for good literary muses? Would you indulge in a good read even if it bothered you that the author treated the First Lady disrespectfully to sell books?

Source

Here Comes the Bookmobile With Hot, New Summer Pages!

CitizenSugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:45:18 -0700

What to read, what to read? With serious beach towel time or an empty nightstand, you might just be looking for a new book. Here are some brand spanking new releases that I'm checking out right now.

Goodnight Bush
With lyrical rhymes and Where's Waldo? detail, this parody of the childhood bedtime favorite Goodnight Moon bids farewell to the Bush administration. Here's a little sample:

Goodnight Constitution and goodnight evolution. Goodnight
democracy and goodnight privacy. Goodnight old growth trees, goodnight detainees. Goodnight allies, goodnight Abu Ghraib 'Cheese!'

OK, I might not be ordering that one, but there's more — polygamy! Fascism! Oh, my! For more Citizen-approved books, piquing my interest

From Spokesman to Critic — McClellan's Book Bashes Bush

CitizenSugar — Wed, 28 May 2008 08:00:25 -0700

Before there was Dana Perino, before Tony Snow, was the sublime Ari Fleischer's replacement, Scott McClellan. As a sort of press secretary groupie, I have to say he never really did it for me. He was the young-looking, usually grumpy, never quite comfortable press secretary for George W. Bush from July 2003 to April 2006. But he's got a new book out, detailing perhaps what exactly was making him so crabby and shifty — and it might not be such a good news cycle for Bush.

It's called, What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception and it's the first critical account from a member of the tight circle of Texans that have surround Bush from the beginning. As the voice for the administration during the turn of public perception on the Iraq war, as well as Hurricane Katrina, McClellan's criticism is pegged pointedly to the truth and honesty factor. To see what he has to say,

Does the Conservative Movement Need Fixing?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:33 -0700

In mid-November, two weeks after the next president is declared the winner, Mike Huckabee's new book hits shelves. In it, he'll tell the tale of his failed bid for the White House and offer his vision for remodeling the conservative movement. According to the publisher, "There's going to be a lot of untold stories and untold anecdotes. But the other part is the governor's vision for the future of American politics and society and what should we be working towards? How does the (Republican) party become more unified?"Given the fact that some high-profile Republicans were anti-Huck, and conservatives like Ann Coulter have said they'd rather vote for Hillary than McCain, do you think there's a schism in the Republican party? Do conservatives need to become more unified? Source

Does the Conservative Movement Need Fixing?

Yes. Conservatives need to bury the hatchet and focus on the real opponent, Liberals.

Nope! Debate is great! There's room for all kinds — Conservatives have a big tent.

A book? Mike Huckabee's got another book coming out?

Other. I've got quite a bit to say about this. I'll tell you in the comments.

Ron Paul's New Book Hits #1 on Amazon

CitizenSugar — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:45:25 -0700

Rep. Ron Paul, former (?) outside-the-box, passion-inspiring presidential candidate has a new book — and it's become the #1 bestselling political book on Amazon.com even though it's not even being released until April 30.

The master of inspiring the grassroots revolution, Paul's book has a website where you can pledge to buy the book, making sure it will debut at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. He's either an incredible marketer or the only one with the right idea — you decide.

The book is called, The Revolution: A Manifesto. Are you buying it? Checking it out of the library?

Everyone Has Contact or a Contract With US Military

LibertySugar — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:00:21 -0700

This is a book I will be picking up — The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives, by historian Nick Turse. Apparently it's impossible to own an i-Pod and be a true pacifist.

The Pentagon has significant contracts with companies ranging from Starbucks, to PepsiCo, to Nestle, to Apple, and Google. The book explores the web of corporations and products that are tied to America's mammoth defense budget. It's not just the missile and equipment makers like Lockheed Martin and Boeing that feed the Military Industrial Complex.

I came across a very informative interview with the author in Mother Jones. For some of the highlights concerning yuppies, Hollywood, and the web,

Bookmobile: Human Smoke By Nicholson Baker

CitizenSugar — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:00:22 -0700

If you're browsing the bookstore this weekend, take a peek for this new one. It's called Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II: The End of Civilization. OK, I know it sounds heavy, but bear with! The book is set up in series of short anecdotes, newspapers clippings, and diary entries like this one that nabbed my attention pronto:

The Congresswoman Who Spoke Her Mind: Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, voted against declaring war on Germany. It was April 6, 1917 ..."‘I want to stand by my country,’ Rankin said. ‘But I cannot vote for war.’ … ‘I felt,’ she said later, ‘that the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it.’”

Wow. That event was not captured in my US History class, at all. Now I'm excited to pick up the book. Baker is an acknowledged pacifist, so seeing the stories and artifacts he pulled together about a war that still remains pretty unblemished (by US standards anyway) stands to be wildly engrossing.

Bookmobile: Major Conflict

CitizenSugar — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:00:09 -0800

I've just cracked open Jeffrey McGowan's book Major Conflict: One Gay Man's Life in the Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell Military. McGowan joined the army in the 1980s and served for 10 years before retiring as a major. Since we still have a week left of February's Politics of Love, I'm diving in. Has anyone read this book?

I vividly remember when this measure was enacted. Now in its fifteenth year, I'm really hoping this book will shed some firsthand light on the subject. Not to be a spoiler, but I just flipped to the end. McGowan says:

We are diminished as a nation when our institutions fail to live up to the ideals of democracy. And the military is diminished when it fails to allow all Americans who are qualified serve openly and proudly on behalf of their country. When the awesome and terrible decision to go to war is made, all Americans must take ownership of what follows, and all Americans — rich, poor, white, black, gay, and straight — must close ranks and do their duty.

Let us marry. Let us serve. For we, too, are Americans.

What do you think of this? Have you had experience with Don't Ask Don't Tell? Even if you haven't, how do you feel about it?

Interview: Nick Ragone, Author of Presidents' Most Wanted

CitizenSugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:00:06 -0800

In honor of President's Day, we've got a double-whammy of Hail-to-Chiefy goodness. Here's an exclusive CitizenSugar interview with Nick Ragone, author of the book Presidents' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Extraordinary Executives, Colorful Campaigns, and White House Oddities, and right after, a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card with which you could buy his book. I cannot tell a lie, I'm excited. Here we go!

I'm an admitted presidential trivia freak, as I'm sure you are. Hit me with a tidbit of trivia you uncovered while you were writing this book that surprised even you.
John Quincy Adams had a pet alligator in the White House. James Madison was the shortest president — 5'4". Woodrow Wilson's picture was on the $100,000 bill, which is no longer in circulation. Wilson also played 1,200 rounds of golf while in the White House — more than even Eisenhower.

If you could head back in history to grab one president and install him in the White House again come 2009, who would it be?

It goes without saying that Lincoln would be the first choice. But not far behind is Teddy Roosevelt — I think he'd be a great leader for these times. He was an activist president and reformer. I think the office can use his energy right now. And Harry Truman as well. He had a certain resolve that seems appropriate for our challenges.

Your book uncovers the biggest presidential blunders — what snafu really makes you cringe?

Andrew Johnson's approach to Reconstruction. He was much too lenient on the South, and probably set race relations back by 50 years. Just an awful, awful blunder.

I love your quote in Page Six, "I'd send a copy to Fred Thompson, but I think he's too lazy to read it." So you're not a recovering "Fred-Head?" Have you picked your candidate in this race? To find out who,

Bookmobile: Why Daddy Is a Republican

CitizenSugar — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 14:00:00 -0800

Liberty's Little Democrats books caused quite a stir this week , so I just had to go on a search for the teeny-tiny littlest Red State version. Now I'm not going to lie, kids book or no, it's not . . . easy reading? The book's called Why Daddy Is a Republican. And well, it's not exactly the reasons my parents told me when I was little. To wit (or the opposite of wit?):

"Republicans believe in you, just like Daddy does."
"Republicans stop bullies from hurting you, just like Daddy does."

So why was the book written? According to the website, "the hope is that parents can use Why Daddy Is a Republican to help explain to their children why they are Republicans and why the Republican Party is the party of strength, values, and valor."

I suppose even the very notion of a two-party system is divisive, but I can't help but think that talking to kids about politics might be better for our country without an us-versus-them relationship? I'd love to teach kids that there's a reason behind Daddy's beliefs without implying the opposite is true for those who think differently. What do you think?

Bookmobile: Politics Lost, by Joe Klein

CitizenSugar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 14:01:00 -0800

Joe Klein, the famous "Anonymous" behind the Clinton tell-all Primary Colors, is back with his updated for 2007 book, Politics Lost, From RFK to W: How Politicians Have Become Less Courageous and More Interested in Keeping Power Than in Doing What's Right for America, (based on his 2006 book, Politics Lost: How American Democracy Was Trivialized by People Who Think You're Stupid.)

If you think campaigns have become an embarrassing display of puppet-candidates with their strings firmly tweaked by pollsters and consultants and focus groups (oh my!), let Klein take you on a gripping and highly readable tour of the beginning of the consultant phenomenon, including which candidates can make it work and which crash and burn. (Hello Gore? Kerry? He's talking about you.)

Klein pulls no punches, and my favorite section calls former Clinton campaign manager (and scandalized toe-sucker) Dick Morris unceremoniously on the carpet. For the scathing quote,

Bookmobile: Face-Time, by Erik Tarloff

CitizenSugar — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:03:40 -0800

It's not super-new, but it deserves a peek — especially since good political (non-bunker based, non-thriller, non-old man) fiction is harder to find than perfect jeans.

Following a young (refreshingly realistic) Washington power couple from presidential campaign romance to jobs in a Clinton-esque White House, this smarter-than-chick-lit romance is told from the boy's point of view (and he's a speech writer, which made me love him all the more.)

From first kiss to first affair (I'm not going to tell you who has what with whom, but it's good ) the book is peppered with authentic DC details that put fantasy-inaccuracy-fest Legally Blonde 2 to shame (don't get me started). This, plus super-compelling romance and relationships with a twist of wonky flair, means I've read this book at least a dozen times. Check it out.