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Reading Paper Books


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2021 Jun 27, 8:34pm   21,515 views  221 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

In my early retirement, I've decided to read at least an hour a night in real paper books. So far, I've read:

- my dad's old college English book (always felt I needed to improve my grammar)
- Candide by Voltaire
- Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche
- The Politics by Aristotle

Now I'm reading The Prince by Machiavelli, and really enjoying it. One tip: before invading, look for minorities who will help you because they resent the traditional rulers in their own country. They may in fact invite you in to help them overthrow their own country. This makes me think that the Chinese have read The Prince and are using BLM, gays, and militant feminism as allies in their fight against America.

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117   Patrick   2022 Mar 3, 3:26pm  

I finally finished The Origin of Species by Darwin. Florid and obscure Victorian language, but quite a good book overall imho. Learned lots of tidbits about evolution that I did not know, like how flowers can be the same on widely separated mountain tops (glaciation, then retreat) and that the skull is just a greatly modified vertebra.
118   RC2006   2022 Mar 3, 4:33pm  

AmericanKulak says
RC2006 says
Been reading this eerily sounds like today. Group from Chicago that formed a group with bug out location in Idaho.


Let me know how it is.


It's ok got some ideas out of it. A lot of these kind of books have ideas that I find useful but the writing at times is a little less refined. This one I was intrigued with because it takes place in Idaho.
119   NuttBoxer   2022 Mar 3, 10:08pm  

Finally finished Tesla's autobiography. One of the last inventions he details is an engine design which sounded almost like perpetual motion. At the least it seemed to guarantee an efficiency I don't think we have today. Again, patented around the turn of the 20th century. Fucking genius.
120   Ceffer   2022 Mar 3, 10:19pm  

Stolen history site outlines the lost history of Tartaria and its amazing buildings. They postulate that many of these elaborate structures were designed for free energy collection by their shapes, much as postulated by the free energy inventions of Tesla.
121   Patrick   2022 Mar 4, 3:03pm  

I've started reading United States of Fear by Mark McDonald, MD.



It's a short book and I'm halfway through already. Very good so far.

The author explicitly links feminism and the resulting weak men with anxiety among white liberal urban women, and their frankly insane over-reaction to the virus Fauci created in Wuhan.

Women are not safe with weak men as husbands and they know this at a deep level.

Other trends which contributed to the Covidian Cult:

Safety and self-esteem were elevated over accomplishment, mastery, and truth. This become law.

Liberals prefer the promise of safety to liberty.
Conservatives prefer liberty to the promise of safety.

Women were far more affected by fear of the virus than men, especially unmarried women (women without any man at all to protect them, not even a weak man).

Public officials wildly over-reacted to the small threat of the virus in order to avoid blame. There was no political benefit to being reasonable. This greatly increased women's fear.

Feminism claimed to be about freedom and opportunity, but turned out to be mostly misandry.

American men no longer play their traditional role of grounding and containing women's anxiety in a crisis. Instead, male weakness amplifies women's anxiety.
122   Patrick   2022 Mar 4, 3:34pm  

More insights:

Liberal women paradoxically demand that men be more feminized, and then strongly resent the feminized men they have helped to create.

Testosterone and grip strength have been dropping among men.

The more formal education a man has, the less likely he is to rate himself as "very masculine".

Republican men are twice as likely to rate themselves as "very masculine" than Democratic men.

3/4 of Republican men view masculinity as a good thing, but only 1/2 of Democratic men do.

"As feminism exults in its triumph over men, both sexes lose."

"The surrender of real courage by men inevitably produces fearful women, and fearful women channel their fear into controlling others."
123   HeadSet   2022 Mar 4, 4:44pm  

Patrick says
Testosterone and grip strength have been dropping among men.

Why would testosterone drop? Pot use? One's politics will not affect juice level.
124   mell   2022 Mar 4, 4:47pm  

HeadSet says
Patrick says
Testosterone and grip strength have been dropping among men.

Why would testosterone drop? Pot use? One's politics will not affect juice level.


It does. The habits, soy food, being sedentary, not hunting women,not going to the gym but hiding in the basement, netfucks and chill. not asserting yourself, all have negative effects on T. It's been declining for decades now but leftoids are speeding it up.
125   Patrick   2022 Mar 4, 8:04pm  

I have read that psychology definitely affects testosterone levels. There is a positive feedback loop where winning men produce more testosterone. And conversely.
126   Patrick   2022 Mar 7, 1:10pm  

I've started reading The Federalist Papers as my next book.

The beginning says that the goal of our Constitution is freedom from tyranny, so it's very relevant to right now in America.
127   Patrick   2022 Apr 10, 5:48pm  

Patrick says
I've started reading The Federalist Papers as my next book.

The beginning says that the goal of our Constitution is freedom from tyranny, so it's very relevant to right now in America.


Lol, just ran across this on https://patriots.win/?source=patrick.net :



128   Patrick   2022 Apr 11, 7:57pm  

Huh, just learned from The Federalist Papers that bankruptcy law in the US is largely a federal affair because the framers of the Constitution foresaw that some people would try to move property from one state to another and then declare bankruptcy in the first.
129   richwicks   2022 Apr 11, 8:01pm  

Patrick says
I finally finished The Origin of Species by Darwin.


I love that book. I've read it several times.

Read Brave New World again. As a kid I kind of saw it as a sort of paradise, as an adult, I can see it for the dystopia it is. No progress, people are just meat robots servicing the machine. A completely purposeless life.

I have an audiobook of The Gulag Archipelago and am in the process of fixing it to remove the useless tidbits of "now flip the cassette over to side B" and so on. It's a dark comedy, or would be, if it wasn't based on reality. I'll send you a link once I edit it. It's 104 audio tapes. I think I'll break it up into 3 parts.
130   Patrick   2022 Apr 13, 7:03pm  

The Constitution has this section:


Article 1, Section 10
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.


How are they able to not use "gold and silver Coin" in payment of their debts?
131   Patrick   2022 Apr 13, 7:39pm  

Another bit of the Constitution that seems violated:


This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.


So how is it that states like California can simply refuse to enforce federal immigration law?

Or how can California legalize marijuana when it is illegal under federal law?
132   richwicks   2022 Apr 13, 7:44pm  

Patrick says
Another bit of the Constitution that seems violated:


This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.


So how is it that states like California can simply refuse to enforce federal immigration law?

Or how can California legalize marijuana when it is illegal under federal law?


The Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper - George W. Bush told you 20 years ago.

The United States doesn't enforce the Constitution any more than the USSR enforced THEIR constitution. If American citizens don't care, fuck 'em.
134   Patrick   2022 Apr 13, 8:04pm  

In Federalist paper number 45, Madison claims that the number of federal employees will always be far below the number of state government employees. He was wrong.


135   komputodo   2022 Apr 13, 8:18pm  

mell says
HeadSet says
Patrick says
Testosterone and grip strength have been dropping among men.

Why would testosterone drop? Pot use? One's politics will not affect juice level.


It does. The habits, soy food, being sedentary, not hunting women,not going to the gym but hiding in the basement, netfucks and chill. not asserting yourself, all have negative effects on T. It's been declining for decades now but leftoids are speeding it up.

Chronic masturbation?
136   Patrick   2022 Apr 20, 7:23pm  

Another good insight from The Federalist Papers, from number 50: it is necessary and good to have multiple political parties opposed to each other "because an extinction of parties necessarily implies either a universal alarm for the public safety, or an absolute extinction of liberty."

This does seem to be true. In the case of, say, attack by space aliens, I think people would work together and forget about which party they belong to until the danger has passed. On the other hand, in countries not under attack, a lack of multiple parties is a reliable indicator of despotism, as in North Korea.
137   Patrick   2022 May 5, 8:44pm  

Another interesting thing in The Federalist Papers is that the writers of the Constitution clearly intended the Electoral College to be independent. That is, the people are to vote for the electors in their state (one elector for each member of the House and Senate for that state). Then the electors themselves are to choose the president.

Now why doesn't it work that way now? It seems that you vote for an elector who has already declared himself or herself in favor of a particular candidate. The original idea was that the people simply pick electors of good character and let them decide on a president after that.
138   stfu   2022 May 6, 6:46am  

Patrick says

Another interesting thing in The Federalist Papers


If you enjoy that, you may enjoy this :

http://resources.utulsa.edu/law/classes/rice/Constitutional/AntiFederalist/antifed.htm?source=patrick.net
139   Patrick   2022 May 6, 7:35am  

Yes, it would be nice to hear the arguments against the Constitution as well.
140   Patrick   2022 May 6, 5:05pm  

Lol, too much!
141   richwicks   2022 May 15, 2:17am  

@Patrick

Not a paper book, but a good audio presentation of 1984.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBPNrVQwqeo

I've read this book many times but I like to experience it many ways. This version is not abridged, so it's like 10 hours long.

I turned it into an MP3 if you prefer:

https://samoyed.dynu.net/~patrick/1984%20-%20audiobook.mp3

You can just download that onto a device. I'll keep it around there for a few weeks, but eventually I'll organize it. I do like to collect.
142   NuttBoxer   2022 May 16, 5:37pm  

Been reading through the Old Testament lately. I skip over the super Jewie stuff(large parts of Deuteronomy), but overall really enjoying it as I've always liked history. And next time a Jew tries that holier than thou shit, remind him of Numbers when they refused to go to the promised land. Temper tantrum of epic proportions. They whined so much God struck them with three different plague's/calamities.

Contrary to popular belief, the Bible isn't full of saints, its chock full of sinners. God doesn't ask for perfection, just that we try.
143   Patrick   2022 Jun 13, 12:48pm  

My next book after The Federalist Papers is "The Guide for the Perplexed" by Moses Maimonides, a Jewish scholar writing in Arabic in about 1100 AD. It attempts to reconcile the Old Testament with Greek philosophy, partly by analyzing words and taking them as metaphors rather than literally.

I ran across a funny passage in which he says:


In the same manner does the root "nasa" (to lift up) denote both elevation in space and elevation in dignity.
144   AmericanKulak   2022 Jun 13, 1:12pm  

NuttBoxer says


Been reading through the Old Testament lately. I skip over the super Jewie stuff(large parts of Deuteronomy), but overall really enjoying it as I've always liked history. And next time a Jew tries that holier than thou shit, remind him of Numbers when they refused to go to the promised land. Temper tantrum of epic proportions. They whined so much God struck them with three different plague's/calamities.



Yeah, I skip over the various rules and regualtions too, but I gotta get a large print in my old age. I stopped about where you are now.

The Jews are an example of why humans can't just be given some laws and obey them to prosper. They have to be graced with Spirit. But some fall into the Marcionite Heresy - not understanding the OT is needed to understand the NT, which refers to it constantly.

I think the most relevant story to today is Jehu vs. Jezebel. A bigmouthed, burly general who "Rode his chariot recklessly" and adored by women, did what a Prophet was scared to do. 2 Kings? I also believe it's 2 Kings that trashes the Oral Torah idea: They couldn't have forgotten Pesach/Passover if they had the phony balony Oral Torah fiction. Notice the Bible, including the NT, NEVER references any Oral Torah crap. Another confirmation is that ALL the Prophets and Kings descent is given through the male, not female like Oral Torah claims, line. Jewish Protestantism! The Karaites also suggest the Oral Torah is a post-Temple invention, not given to the Levites with that very vague passage in Exodus as claimed.
145   Patrick   2022 Jun 15, 7:52pm  

Also interesting: Maimonides knew the earth was spherical before the year 1200:


For a proposition which can be proved by evidence is not subject to dispute, denial, or rejection: none but the ignorant would contradict it, and such contradiction is called 'denial of a demonstrated proof.' Thus you find men who deny the spherical form of the earth, or the circular form of the line in which the stars move, and the like: such men are not considered in this treatise.


And I had to chuckle at this line:

he whose testicles are warm, humid, and vigorous, and the organs connected therewith are surcharged, will not easily refrain from sin, even if he makes great efforts to restrain himself.
146   AmericanKulak   2022 Jun 15, 7:53pm  

Patrick says



And I had to chuckle at this line:

"he whose testicles are warm, humid, and vigorous, and the organs connected therewith are surcharged, will not easily refrain from sin, even if he makes great efforts to restrain himself."


Why is there a Quaker on Quaker Oats?

Because it's been thought of since forever, that meat and eggs makes people horny, and bland food makes people have a lower sex drive. Therefore, to be continent, be like a quaker and eat bland, grain based foods.
147   NuttBoxer   2022 Jun 22, 12:37pm  

AmericanKulak says

I also believe it's 2 Kings that trashes the Oral Torah idea


I attended a Christian college, and have never heard of an "Oral" Torah. Starting with the 10 Commandments God wrote them for the Jews on stone tablets. That's not that much to remember, but God purposely wrote them down. There's no way they just memorized all of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. There are several references to reading the law during festivals, and at other critical junctures in Israel's history.
148   Patrick   2022 Jun 22, 1:10pm  

The Oral Torah is a whole other set of laws in addition to the written Torah, which has not only the 10 Commandments, but a slew of other laws. Maimonides counted 613 rules for Jews, I think all from the written Torah, but not sure.

The Oral Torah idea sounds kinda bullshitty to me, especially because the written Torah explicitly states that nothing may be added to it, but it's accepted by mainstream Judaism.

The Karaites are a small Jewish group that has always rejected the Oral Torah and the Talmud.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaite_Judaism
149   B.A.C.A.H.   2022 Jun 24, 8:54am  

"Sins of the Father" by Eileen Franklin and William Wright. I picked this one up last month for one dollar at a used book store.

Eileen Franklin's testimony of a repressed childhood memory of her dad George Franklin's brutal murder of eight year old Susan Nason in San Mateo County was a sensational news story. The trial was in 1990 with a guilty verdict.

There was no doubt that Franklin's repressed memory about the crime was accurate, as she described details from the body dumping scene that only law enforcement folks knew. Nonetheless the verdict was overturned and George went free, because an appeals court ruled that repressed memory was not admissible evidence. So much controversy in the media about all this back in the day.

I'm about halfway through the book. So far, the narrative about the crime is more like a storytelling vehicle for life in Foster City and the Peninsula in the 1970's. So much to unpack from that narrative.

For all you Hipsters out there who think the SF Bay Area is all about Silicon Valley and "tech" and RSU's and Teslas and Status Symbol European Sedan cars and Woksterism, this would be a great read for some broader perspective. Also as you read be mindful of the concept of Latchkey Children in quiet, leafy, white, "safe" suburban neighborhoods that have schools with High Standardized Test Scores.
150   AmericanKulak   2022 Jun 24, 12:02pm  

You're exactly right. There is no oral Torah, but many Jews are taught there is one. That it was secret instructions given to Levites in the wilderness, but really fabricated by rabbis around 300ad in exile
151   NuttBoxer   2022 Jun 25, 10:19am  

Started reading Paul Schneider's autobiography. Pastor who grew up in Germany before and during WWII. Draws some disconcerting parallel's between Germany than, and America now. Especially when it comes to self-censorship of free speech, I think we are already there.
152   NuttBoxer   2022 Jun 27, 9:53pm  

Finished Schneider's autobiography, pretty short book. Close to the time he started getting in trouble with the SS a friend of his tried to tell him to tone down his opinions contrary to the Nazi's, and pointed out his wife and four children. Schneider looks at the guy with obvious emotion and says "God has charged me with my families spiritual well-being as well as their physical"(my paraphrase). In a fucking scary situation with a young family like that, for Paul to see so clearly what mattered not just at that moment, but for eternity.. wow. I hope I can be half that man if my time comes.
153   Patrick   2022 Jun 27, 10:27pm  

Thanks @NuttBoxer I did not know about Schneider.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Schneider_(pastor)
154   Patrick   2022 Jul 25, 7:39am  

https://t.me/kagbabe/8695


Tucker Carlson gives advice to young men.

"Read books. Actual, physical books. Set aside an hour every day. Any book written before WW2 has a kind of ease about it. There’s less self-censorship. This was a much freer country before WW2. It’s very obvious in the literature."
156   Patrick   2022 Oct 16, 11:45am  

I'm still on my Aunt Millie's old Latin textbook. This is going to take months, but I'm enjoying it.

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