Reading is knowledge
- Thread starter Mac Jesus
- Start date
Right now I'm reading:
"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" by Mary Wollstonecraft.
It's a simple read... eventhough it's the roots of feminism it does not come off as that. She makes some great intellectual links and really makes you think of why women were treated and acted the way they did all the way up to the books publishing in 1792.
"A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" by Mary Wollstonecraft.
It's a simple read... eventhough it's the roots of feminism it does not come off as that. She makes some great intellectual links and really makes you think of why women were treated and acted the way they did all the way up to the books publishing in 1792.
Has anyone read a book by Felicity lawrence titled "Not on the label: what really goes into the food on your plate"? Theres some scary shit in there, the foundation of the book is focussed on the industrialisation of food - gangmasters exploiting farm-hands, the big supermarkets only paying a fraction of what was promised to farmers, the importation of vegetables from developing countries when the same vegetables are being thrown out in the country of import etc.
She discusses how, because there is no tax on aviation fuel, England and Europe are going as far to sending their salad vegetables to Africa, where they exploit the workers to convert the vegetables into salad, packaging it and then flying it back to Europe - it's worse for the environment, worse for european farmers, exploits and underpays workers in developing countries, but it is CHEAPER!
Also, because of all the subsidies on maize and soy (primarily by the US and Europe), these crops are being produced in excess. This excess food is dumped on developing countries for less than production cost and are making it impossible for local farmers to compete. Also, the overabundance of this food is causing the adulteration of food to a greater extent than ever before - modified starches and soy oil are being added to 2/3 of the fast foods and, because they are very low in nutritional value and high in fats (and not the good ones!), not only is this making us more unhealthy, but it decreases the prices of junk food and makes it a cheaper than healthy foods, forcing the poor into an unhealthy eating pattern.
If you can get your hands on this book at the library, then give it a read - I guarantee it will open up your eyes!
She discusses how, because there is no tax on aviation fuel, England and Europe are going as far to sending their salad vegetables to Africa, where they exploit the workers to convert the vegetables into salad, packaging it and then flying it back to Europe - it's worse for the environment, worse for european farmers, exploits and underpays workers in developing countries, but it is CHEAPER!
Also, because of all the subsidies on maize and soy (primarily by the US and Europe), these crops are being produced in excess. This excess food is dumped on developing countries for less than production cost and are making it impossible for local farmers to compete. Also, the overabundance of this food is causing the adulteration of food to a greater extent than ever before - modified starches and soy oil are being added to 2/3 of the fast foods and, because they are very low in nutritional value and high in fats (and not the good ones!), not only is this making us more unhealthy, but it decreases the prices of junk food and makes it a cheaper than healthy foods, forcing the poor into an unhealthy eating pattern.
If you can get your hands on this book at the library, then give it a read - I guarantee it will open up your eyes!
The Bible, The Qur'an and Science
by Dr. Maurice Bucaille
Non bias book, i aint read it yet but thats what i heard, ima peep it out when i have time but heres the book http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MB_BQS/default.htm
by Dr. Maurice Bucaille
Non bias book, i aint read it yet but thats what i heard, ima peep it out when i have time but heres the book http://www.witness-pioneer.org/vil/Books/MB_BQS/default.htm
from the book:
"What no one seemed to notice," said a colleague of mine, a philologist, "was the ever widening gap, after 1933, between the government and the people. Just think how very wide this gap was to begin with, here in Germany. And it became always wider. You know, it doesn’t make people close to their government to be told that this is a people’s government, a true democracy, or to be enrolled in civilian defense, or even to vote. All this has little, really nothing, to do with knowing one is governing.
"What happened here was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to being governed by surprise; to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believing that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if the people could not understand it, it could not be released because of national security. And their sense of identification with Hitler, their trust in him, made it easier to widen this gap and reassured those who would otherwise have worried about it.
"This separation of government from people, this widening of the gap, took place so gradually and so insensibly, each step disguised (perhaps not even intentionally) as a temporary emergency measure or associated with true patriotic allegiance or with real social purposes. And all the crises and reforms (real reforms, too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter.
Duke. I am sorry for thee. Thou art come to answer
A story adversary, an inhuman wretch,
Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy
Antonio. I have heard
Your Grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify
His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate,
And thatno lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose
My patience to his fury, and am armed
To suffer with a quietnessof spirit
The very tyranny and rage of his
A story adversary, an inhuman wretch,
Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy
Antonio. I have heard
Your Grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify
His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate,
And thatno lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose
My patience to his fury, and am armed
To suffer with a quietnessof spirit
The very tyranny and rage of his
Endgame by Samuel Beckett.
It's a play, but still one of the most fascinating and insightful pieces of literature ever written. It's very short, just over 40 pages, but extremely dense. It may be hard to understand it at first because of the way the characters speak about things, but it's well worth the time. It shouldn't take anyone more than 2 hours to read, most could probably get through in a little over an hour.
Here's a link: http://samuel-beckett.net/endgame.html
It's a play, but still one of the most fascinating and insightful pieces of literature ever written. It's very short, just over 40 pages, but extremely dense. It may be hard to understand it at first because of the way the characters speak about things, but it's well worth the time. It shouldn't take anyone more than 2 hours to read, most could probably get through in a little over an hour.
Here's a link: http://samuel-beckett.net/endgame.html
