Brendan Buschi

Monday, April 15, 2024

Reading List Update - April 2024

My 2024 reads:

The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John

Maynard Keynes

M: Son Of The Century by Antonio Scurati

The Warmth Of Other Suns: The Epic Story Of America's

Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson

Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned

Democracy by Elaine Tyler May

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson

Late Fascism: Race, Capitalism and the Politics of Crisis

by Alberto Toscano

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel

Maddow

American Prometheus: The Triumph And Tragedy Of J.

Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin

My 2023 reads:

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

Death of the Great Man by Peter D. Kramer

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Shadow Network by Anne Nelson

Dismantling The Empire by Chalmers Johnson

The Second Amendment by Michael Waldman

The Fight To Vote by Michael Waldman

Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal

How the South Won The Civil War by Heather Cox

Richardson

Here's a list of the books I've read during Biden's first 2 years:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Dopesick by Beth Macy
The View From Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
Hiding In Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Here's a list of the books I read after Trump was elected:

Ziblatt
Kushner Inc. - Greed. Ambition. Corruption. By Vicky

Ward
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland
Proof Of Collusion by Seth Abramson
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff and David Corn
The Case For Impeaching Trump by Elizabeth Holtzman
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
The Mueller Report by The Washington Post
The Only Game In Town by Mohamed A. El-Erian
The Threat by Andrew McCabe
This Fight Is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren
Tough Love by Susan Rice

Here's a list of other books I've read since 2016:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi)
The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran

Holy Moly!

Monday, January 8, 2024

Reading List Update - January 2024

My 2024 reads:

Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism by Rachel

Maddow

American Prometheus: The Triumph And Tragedy Of J.

Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird & Martin J. Sherwin

My 2023 reads:

Man's Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Lessons In Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Night by Elie Wiesel

The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

Death of the Great Man by Peter D. Kramer

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Shadow Network by Anne Nelson

Dismantling The Empire by Chalmers Johnson

The Second Amendment by Michael Waldman

The Fight To Vote by Michael Waldman

Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal

How the South Won The Civil War by Heather Cox

Richardson

Here's a list of the books I've read during Biden's first 2 years:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Dopesick by Beth Macy
The View From Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
Hiding In Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Here's a list of the books I read after Trump was elected:

Ziblatt
Kushner Inc. - Greed. Ambition. Corruption. By Vicky

Here's a list of other books I've read since 2016:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi)
The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran

Holy Moly!

Saturday, December 16, 2023

On The Verge Of 78

I'll be 78 years old next month.

Is it enough to become aware of yourself? Must you share all such awarenesses with others?

What's the point of memory?

No matter where I go or what I do, it's me. It's always ever me.

What's insight? Is insight different than memory?

What is acceptance of self? What do you do once you've accepted yourself? Is there anything beyond acceptance of self?

Can you reject yourself? I imagine rejecting yourself would be hell - literally.

What's conscience? If you're an old agnostic, what's conscience beyond conclusions you've drawn about what you will and won't do?

What's consciousness?

Kathy, Zoey, Zach and I all live together. We're a family. We're a family that exists solely because we choose to be a family.

This is my only family - my intimate family - my nuclear family.

Did Zoey and Zach really choose to be part of a family with Kathy and me?

Zoey and Zach are my constant companions. They're with me all the time. They're ever vigilant. Their vigilance is clearly a matter of choice.

Kathy and I own roughly 1.5 acres of land. We designed and oversaw the building of a house on it. The house is our home on our island.

We maintain our home and our island. Maintaining is a daily process. Our maintenance actions are our daily chores. Some days we have more to do than others.

I love Kathy. I love Zoey. I love Zach. I want to be with them. Wanting to be with them is love.

I believe each of us will eventually die - cease to be. I accept our finiteness. It doesn't prevent me from loving each of them.

Loving is about being in the moment. Loving is always a matter of choice - a matter of freewill.

Loving is a choice I make every moment of everyday.

Life is being in the midst of chaos. Chaos is beyond definition. Chaos is infinite. Chaos is all there is.

Life is choosing to survive every moment of everyday. Life is love.

Kathy, Zoey, Zach and I are Earthlings. Earth is the source of our lives. Earth is our Mother.

Mother is the source of ever so many lives. I have many siblings. Everything I see, hear, experience is a sibling.

Some of my siblings would end my life if they had the chance.

Mother is beyond me. I don't get to question Mother. Mother owes me nothing. I owe everything I have to Mother. I owe my being to Mother.

I don't know if Mother is conscious. I don't know if Mother knows I exist. It's truly not important.

I'm thankful. At this moment, I'm totally thankful. I love.

Love is all you need ...

Holy Moly!

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Reading List Update - October 2023

My 2023 reads:

The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

Death of the Great Man by Peter D. Kramer

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Shadow Network by Anne Nelson

Dismantling The Empire by Chalmers Johnson

The Second Amendment by Michael Waldman

The Fight To Vote by Michael Waldman

Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal

How the South Won The Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson

Here's a list of the books I've read during Biden's first 2 years:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Dopesick by Beth Macy
The View From Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
Hiding In Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Here's a list of the books I read after Trump was elected:

A Higher Loyalty by James Comey
A Very Stable Genius by Philip Rucker and Carol Leonnig
American Carnage by Tim Alberta
Becoming by Michelle Obama
Blowout by Rachel Maddow
Collusion by Luke Harding
Dark Money by Jane Mayer
Dark Towers by David Enrich
Democracy In Chains by Nancy MacLean
Everything Trump Touches Dies by Rick Wilson
Facts And Fears by James R. Clapper
Fascism A Warning by Madeline Albright
Fear by Bob Woodward
Fire And Fury by Michael Wolff
Friendly Fascism by Bertram Gross
House Of Trump – House Of Putin by Craig Unger
How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt
Kushner Inc. - Greed. Ambition. Corruption. By Vicky Ward
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Plutocrats by Chrystia Freeland
Proof Of Collusion by Seth Abramson
Red Notice by Bill Browder
Russian Roulette by Michael Isikoff and David Corn
The Case For Impeaching Trump by Elizabeth Holtzman
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
The Mueller Report by The Washington Post
The Only Game In Town by Mohamed A. El-Erian
The Threat by Andrew McCabe
This Fight Is Our Fight by Elizabeth Warren
Tough Love by Susan Rice

Here's a list of other books I've read since 2016:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi)
The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran

Holy Moly!

Thursday, August 17, 2023

Kramer And Oates

A friend on Twitter recommended "Death of the Great Man" by Peter D. Kramer. Peter is a psychiatrist.

My friend and I have several videos up on YouTube. Donald Trump and fascism are often topics for our conversations.

Joyce Carol Oates is a fan of Peter D. Kramer. She writes, "To read his prose in virtually any subject is to be provoked, enthralled, illuminated."

I had never heard of Joyce until a few weeks ago. Kathy and I started to watch "Blonde" on Netflix. Joyce wrote "Blonde".

We watched about an hour of "Blonde" and then stopped - we planned to watch the rest the next day.

We watch movies before going to bed and we're old. Sometimes we have to split a movie over 2 days.

We chose not to finish "Blonde". Before resuming the movie, I read up on it. The movie was fiction.

We were angry. Marilyn Monroe was a tragic figure. She was exploited in life and now Ms. Oates saw fit to exploit her in death.

Yes, the movie was about Marilyn Monroe, the alternative Marilyn Monroe who didn't exist.

I really don't know that much about Marilyn's life. I'm 77, so I'm familiar with her movies and I'd heard of her marriages and her involvement with the Kennedys.

If you're going to write about someone and share the intimate details of her life, I don't think you should write fiction.

Lurid details sell - especially when they concern one of Hollywood's best known sex symbols. Lurid details are what supports gossip columnists and film magazines.

I question whether or not lurid details should be reported, but if they are reported, they should be factual.

Make of that what you will. It's my opinion.

What does this have to do with "Death of the Great Man"? Fair question.

"Death of the Great Man" is also fiction. Peter makes that very clear in the lengthy disclaimer at the beginning of the book.

I'm going to make a wild guess and assume "the Great Man" is really Donald Trump. "the Great Man" is certainly hideous, disgusting and without any redeeming social value.

In my posts I often refer to Donald Trump as an anti-Christ. I describe him as a liar, a criminal and a traitor. I say he's a world class idiot. I also believe he's a rapist and a pedophile. I also believe he's a psychopath - so much for jargon.

I'm not a psychiatrist. I was a psychotherapist - an L.C.S.W. to be precise. I'm no longer in practice, but when I was, I was licensed in 5 states.

I wasn't a psychoanalyst. I'm not an MD. I'm critical of a lot of what passes for psychotherapy and psychoanalysis is neither practical nor particularly beneficial in my opinion.

I don't know what kind of therapy Peter practices. He's an MD. I imagine he prescribes medications.

For the record, I regard psychoanalysis as a very long term - lifetime - treatment modality for wealthy, well educated people. People who can afford to pay someone a high fee for sitting and listening to them for 55 minutes.

Peter's book is narrated by Henry Farber. Henry is a psychoanalyst induced into serving "the Great Man". Henry is one of Peter's fictional characters.

Henry is farcical. In another time, he could've been created by Molière.

So is Peter's book a farce? I'm not sure. It's loaded with psychobabble. The plot is absurd. The characters, with the exception of Henry and "the Great Man" are insignificant - movie extras.

When I began reading about "the Great Man", I got caught up in it. I wanted to know where this was going to go. Peter's writing is excellent. He can clearly make something intriguing out of a very flimsy plot.

Sadly, for me it went nowhere. If it's done anything, I'm guessing it's fed into all the ramblings of those who want to analyze Donald Trump in terms of psychopathology.

I'm content to hear what Mary Trump has to say about her uncle. She knows him personally. She's a member of the family. She's informed, educated and qualified to discuss her uncle.

Here's what there is to know about Donald Trump. We cannot afford to spend time analyzing him. It's a fool's errand. He represents a clear and present danger to our country and the world at large. He's done much damage and harmed millions of people.

Donald Trump needs to be stopped. He doesn't need to be memorialized in a dime store novel - even as a villain.

He needs to be indicted and tried for his crimes and he should spend the rest of his life in prison - along with some members of his family and others who engaged in crimes and the January 6th Insurrection with him.

I bristled when reporters and others in the media started referring to Trump as "The Donald". It helped create the monster that we've suffered under for almost 7 years.

Referring to him as "the Great Man" is just adding to his mystique, his public persona.

Donald Trump is "the scourge of our times". My parents had to deal with Mussolini and Hitler. We have yet to deal with Donald Trump.

When it comes to Mr. Trump I have no desire to be "illuminated". I want to be protected.

Holy Moly!

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Current Reading List - August 2023

My most recent reads:

Death of the Great Man by Peter D. Kramer

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Shadow Network by Anne Nelson

Dismantling The Empire by Chalmers Johnson

The Second Amendment by Michael Waldman

The Fight To Vote by Michael Waldman

Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal

How the South Won The Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson

Here's a list of the books I've read during Biden's first 2 years:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Dopesick by Beth Macy
The View From Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
Hiding In Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Here's a list of the books I read after Trump was elected:

Here's a list of other books I've read since 2016:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi)
The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran

Holy Moly!

Thursday, July 6, 2023

Current Reading List - July 2023

My most recent reads:

The Supermajority by Michael Waldman (Reading Now)

The Diary Of A Young Girl by Anne Frank

Shadow Network by Anne Nelson

Dismantling The Empire by Chalmers Johnson

The Second Amendment by Michael Waldman

The Fight To Vote by Michael Waldman

Allow Me To Retort by Elie Mystal

How the South Won The Civil War by Heather Cox Richardson

Here's a list of the books I've read during Biden's first 2 years:

Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth
The Deficit Myth by Stephanie Kelton
Dopesick by Beth Macy
The View From Flyover Country by Sarah Kendzior
Hiding In Plain Sight by Sarah Kendzior

Here's a list of the books I read after Trump was elected:

Here's a list of other books I've read since 2016:

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Art Of War by Sun Tzu
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (John Ciardi)
The Bhagavad Gita translation by Eknath Easwaran

Holy Moly!