Happy Halloween


Happy Halloween Everyone.

I am guesting posting today...

Today I am honored to be guest posting at Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf for her and Paper Cut Reviews Feast of Screams event.

I have only met Lucy from Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf recently and I consider her a dear friend so I was truly honored when she allowed me to do this for her. So if you haven't checked out her blog yet you really should and the same with Paper Cuts.

Happy Halloween Everyone.

Moonlight Gleam's Bookshelf

EMPIRE BURLESQUE AND ALL THAT JAZZ



NOW HEAR THIS: Cindy's Internet broadcasts continue!

CHRIS FLOYD!  Click here to listen or download, beginning at 2:00 PM San Francisco time.  Today, (October 30th), Cindy brings us a long-anticipated (and memorable) interview with Chris Floyd, the intellectual light shining through the pages of "Empire Burlesque."  A prolific and articulate writer, his perceptive private blog has illuminated all of us here at Soapbox and inspired many of our firm principles.  We're not yet certain WHICH topics he'll discuss with Cindy.  However, I would guess that he will discuss our recent "Police Riot" in Oakland on Tuesday night, 10/25 2011.  That was the evening that Scott Olsen sustained a skull fracture after being shot in the head with a police projectile while peacefully participating in an Occupy Oakland march.  Honor our veterans?  An Iraq War veteran who survived two tours of duty got his skull fractured in ... Oakland!  53 activists were arrested in Atlanta. while Nationally, SWAT teams were deployed to boot out peaceful protesters!  THIS is how we protect our First Amendment rights!  Cindy observed the fact that the Occupy movement's terminology about "the 99 percent vs. the 1 percent elite" is not entirely accurate; far too many of the 99 percent are serving as willing tools of the 1 percent - in the police forces, in the media, even in the general public, where you can always find plenty of people eagerly genuflecting to the high and mighty.  As Chris notes: "You can smell the fear in the boardrooms (and in their bought-and-paid-for extensions, the government offices) around the world."  He and Cindy then proceed with their most wonderful discussion!
And please be sure to use the "Click here" link above to hear Chris Floyd talk with Cindy.  

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(Meme) On My Wishlist

Its been awhile since I have done a On My Wishlist post and I thought today would be a good day to showcase a book that I have been drooling over for a little while now.

I absolutely love the cover of the book. Its very simple but mysterious. I really want to read this book and can't wait for it come out. Sadly the release date is only February 2012 so its going to feel like forever before the book is released.

About the Book:
Girl, Interrupted meets Beautiful Creatures in this fast-paced thriller

When sixteen-year-old Faye arrives at Holbrook Academy, she doesn't expect to find herself exactly where she needs to be. After years of strange waking visions and nightmares, her only comfort the bones of dead animals, Faye is afraid she's going crazy. Fast.

But her first night at Holbrook, she feels strangely connected to the school and the island it sits on, like she's come home. She's even made her first real friends, but odd things keep happening to them. Every morning they wake on the floors of their dorm rooms with their hands stained red.

Faye knows she's the reason, but what does it all mean? The handsome Kel tries to help her unravel the mystery, but Faye is certain she can't trust him; in fact, he may be trying to kill her - and the rest of the world too.

Rich, compelling writing will keep the pages turning in this riveting and tautly told psychological thriller.

Doesn't that sound so amazing?

Be sure to check out  http://www.sarawilsonetienne.com/ site.


On My Wishlist is a weekly meme hosted by Book Chick City. I always love going to her site because its fantastic. She has an amazing blog and I have been introduced to so many great books and they have been added to my every growing wishlists.

If you interested in knowing more about this meme or are curious to know what Book Chick City and others have added to their wish list be sure to go over to http://www.bookchickcity.com/.

(Guest Post) Author Robert Orfali

Title: Death with Dignity: The Case for Legalizing Physician-Assisted Dying and Euthanasia
Author: Robert Orfali
Pub Date: April 2011
Publisher: Mill City Press, Inc
Pages: 254

About the Book:
In Death with Dignity, Robert Orfali makes a compelling case for legalized physician-assisted dying. Using the latest data from Oregon and the Netherlands, he puts a fresh new slant on perennial debate topics such as "slippery slopes," "the integrity of medicine," and "sanctity of life." His engaging writing style brings clarity to these issues. The content is thought-provoking; the arguments are well-researched, air-tight, and original.

This extraordinary book provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. It examines the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You'll learn about terminal torture in hospital ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. With laser-sharp focus, Orfali scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He provides an insightful critique of the practice of palliative sedation. The book makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. Reading this book, above all, may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call "end of life." It can be your gentle and informed guide to "a good death" in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention.
About the Author:

Robert Orfali, the guru of client/server systems in the early days of Silicon Valley, co-authored three best-selling books that demystified the complexity of these mission-critical systems and made them understandable to a whole new generation of programmers. The books sold over a million copies. In this book, Death With Dignity: The Case for Legalizing Physician-Assisted Dying and Euthanasia, Robert uses his analytical skills to deconstruct the most complex system he has yet encountered: our modern end-of-life system. He wrote this book after helping his soulmate and coauthor, Jeri, navigate her death from ovarian cancer in 2009. The deep emotions Robert felt allowed him to look at how we die from a different perspective, another angle. Robert also wrote Grieving a Soulmate.

I haven't read this book but I thought it deserved to he highlighted. I am honored to have the author, Robert Orfali stop by to do a guest post for me. Thanks so much Robert for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this for me.

Q:  Most people don’t want to die and don’t plan for it. Most people won’t even have entertained the idea of a DNR (do not resuscitate) order in case their heart stops beating.  It is a natural instinct for people to want to fight harder to live, and physicians have taken the oath to save lives. When medical care offers all these life-prolonging treatments, at what point would someone introduce a conversation with their doctor that they want to die?

RO: You are so right. Most of us prefer to avoid the topic of death. We live in a death-denying culture. However, denial can have some serious ramifications. Closing our eyes and letting the system follow its course could easily land us intubated in an ICU at the end of our lives. To prevent this outcome, we need to protect ourselves and understand our choices. And, we need to think about it while we still can. Typically, it means having several conversations about death and dying. This is especially important for the chronically ill. It could make the difference between having a relatively “good death” and a very “bad death.” The sad fact is that dying in the age of chronic disease is an extremely complicated process that involves a lot of anguish, pain, and suffering akin to torture. The lucky few will go suddenly. But the remaining 80% will not leave life the way they would have liked to: “at home and without needless suffering.”

Ironically, some politicians called these conversations death panels, and they campaigned against having them funded by Medicare. It seems that they do not want us to have any control over how we die.  It seems that even discussing the topic is taboo. Most doctors would also prefer not to discuss the topic. Why? It’s very emotional and complicated. To do it justice would require hours of discussions with the patient. Doctors are trained to heal, not to discuss death. They are taught to fight the disease with everything in their arsenal; there is no surrender. So they would rather initiate another treatment than deal with the existential issues of dying. Continuing the treatments also protects doctors against malpractice lawsuits.

Even though insurance does not pay for these consultations, we must have these discussions to understand what our options are. In my book, I tell you about three death-related conversations you must initiate over a period of time: How do I protect myself? When do I stop fighting? Where will I die?  In states where physician-assisted dying is legal, you can have one more conversation: How will I die?

The first conversation is straightforward and practical: it’s about writing an advance directive and choosing your health-care proxy. The next two are blurrier; in the book I use my wife Jeri’s conversations to demonstrate the issues.  The bottom line is that we have two health-care systems in America today: modern medicine and hospice. (Palliative care is mostly associated with hospice, but it also has pockets within the medical system.) In the age of slow dying and chronic illnesses, we need both systems. The ICU works well for us, most of the time. It does what it was designed to do: it is a superb illness-fighting machine. Hospice is also a superb system; it provides outstanding end-of-life care for the dying (except for terminal sedation and hence the need for assisted dying, as allowed in Oregon). So, we are lucky to have two systems that work: each one superb in the function it was designed to perform. In the book I make the case that assisted dying complements hospice.  By providing both, Oregon has the best palliative care system in America.  
 
So what’s the problem? The problem is that we live in a death-denying culture that makes it very hard to transition from one system to the next when the right time arrives. We, and our doctors, have a very hard time accepting death. Consequently, most of us won’t make the transition in time. We will end up dying in the ICU—a modern torture chamber for the dying. As Dr. George Lundberg describes it: “A sophisticated hospital is the last place you want to be when terminally ill. Once you’re in the hospital setting, you’re trapped. The staff owns you, and they will do those terrible things they have been trained to do to prolong life, no matter how artificially or hopelessly.”

Ironically, moving to hospice sooner may prolong our lives. In a recent study, the mean survival was 29 days longer for hospice patients than similar patients who did not choose hospice. In another study, patients with terminal lung cancer who began receiving palliative care immediately upon diagnosis not only were happier, more mobile, and in less pain as the end neared, but they also lived nearly three months longer.

The ICU was never designed to help us die; it was designed to fight disease to the end. We want our illness-fighting machine to continue doing what it does best. Instead of changing the ICU, we must change our death-denying attitude. We need to better understand the end-of-life hospice option so that we can die in peace. In other words, we must have the second and third conversations that help us make the transition to hospice care at the right time (i.e., before we end up in the ICU end-of-life torture chamber).

Sadly, the fourth conversation—how will I die?— was not an option for Jeri. Physician-assisted dying was not legal in Hawaii at the time she died. In the book, I cover this missing but very important conversation.  Let me explain what makes it so important.  In Oregon and the Netherlands requesting assisted dying initiates a final and explicit conversation about how the patient would like to die. It allows patients, doctors, palliative care specialists, and family members to conduct an open discussion.  It’s a therapeutic narrative that attempts to restore some order and coherence in the face of the forthcoming onslaught that is death. It openly deals with questions that are seldom discussed in our death-denying culture. For the first time, it provides an official venue where a terminally-ill patient can ask questions such as: How much will I suffer? How will my pain be treated? How much of myself will I lose along the way? What help do I need? What help is available? How will I die? There are many more such questions. Of course, physician-assisted dying must be legalized for such an open conversation to take place.

Sorry for my long-winded answer, but our end-of-life system is very complicated terrain.  Most of us will die in small steps. We’ll find ourselves navigating through a labyrinth of confusing end-of-life choices.  My book is about how to navigate the maze.  It can serve as a gentle and informed guide to “a good death” in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention. To help get the word out, I made the e-book available for only $0.99, which is as close to free as Amazon allows. Reading about death won’t kill you.  However, not understanding your choices at the end can have some very serious ramifications.  In this case, it really pays to be an informed consumer.

You can check out the other tour stops and what others are saying for Death with Dignity by clicking on the title of the book.

To purchase the book you can visit http://www.amazon.com/. You can buy it in paperback and on your kindle.

Thanks Robert and Pump Up Your Book for allowing me to be a part of this tour.

Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn - A Review

What I'm reading now  Across the Nightingale Floor
I listened to this book.
Go join the fun  on a spooky blog hop and win up to 400 books here
Over 30 authors came together last Saturday at Barnes and Noble in Orem for an awesome Authorpalooza. It was a ball. Heather Gardner posted this pic. of me there. I sat next to cute Jessica Day George. It was fun to sign with so many of my friends and to make new ones. Go to her original post by clicking on her name. She owns Fireandice.blogspot.com and awesome review site!
The review
Across the Nightingale Floor: Tales of the Otori Book OneWe enter the story with teenage Tomasu discovering Iida, a warlord, massacring his entire village. Almost getting killed himself, Tomasu escapes into the wild and runs into another warlord, Otori Shigeru. He saves Tomasu and then claims him as his son, renaming him Takeo. Otori teaches Tomasu the ways of the warrior and Tomasu soon discovers he has special skills. These skills are being honed by his master to free the people from the oppressive rule of Iida.

Tomasu is an interesting and likable character. In fact, I liked all the characters in this book. They were well thought out and played their parts well. With all the clan in-fighting, it could have been difficult to follow, but I thought Hearn did a marvelous job in separating all the different plots and at the same time bringing them all together to create a cohesive book. I had a hard time putting this book down (or pausing it, in this case). I was intrigued from the get-go. In fact, I decorated my house for Halloween while I listened to it.


This book is not for the faint of heart, however and it is definitely not for the audience it is intended-Young Adult. There is a ton of graphic violence and one sex scene that is definitely not appropriate for a young adult audience. This is an adult book for sure and not all adults.

I'm currently reading Bound by C.K. Bryant, Armour of Light by Karen Hoover, and The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. I just finished How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf by Molly Harper.

(Review) The Joy of Spooking: Unearthly Asylum

Title: The Joy of Spooking: Unearthly Asylum (book 2)
Author: P.J Bracegirdle
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pub Date: August 2010 (hardcover) August 2011(paperback)
Pages: 320

Source: From my own personal library.

About the Book:
Joy Wells is fascinated by the strange noises coming from the old Spooking Asylum. She knows all about the famous legends that surround the place and is certain that she is hearing the guns of long-dead soldiers. But what if something more contemporary—and truly ghastly—is going on? When Joy's pet frog, Fizz, gets away, Joy travels through the town's old sewers looking for him, only to emerge above ground—inside the locked gates of the asylum. There, she uncovers a trail of greed and madness guaranteed to thrill her horror-loving heart!

This is the second book in The Joy of Spooking series and all I have to say is WOW!

I am always a little apprehensive when I start to read a second book in a series because I always worry that the second book won't be as good as the first but in this case I had nothing to worry about because this book was just as great as the first one if not a little bit better.

This is the second book in The Joy of Spooking trilogy. The first book is Fiendish Deeds and the third book is Sinister Scenes. (I will be reviewing Sinister Scenes this week)

I should start off by saying that you don't need to read the first book in the series to read this one but if you are like me you will probably want to read it just so you know more about the characters and the history behind the book.

Joy is not like the other girls who live in Darlington. She is the complete opposite of them and this is why I love the character so much. As the book opens up we see a slight change in Joy and I think that has to do with the fact that her brother, Bryon has a friend and I think deep down Joy would love to have a real friend and not just her per frog.  This change has worried her mother because in her eyes Joy isn't like other girls. The other girls like to do girl stuff where as Joy would rather do the opposite. Her mother decides to take her to see a psychiatrist which basically didn't prove much but it let her mother know that everything was perfectly fine.

Joy is still obsessed with her favorite author E.A Peugeot and is still determined to prove that he had actually lived in Spooking and that all his stories are based around Spooking although it seems that the E.A Peugeot society begs to differ and there is proof he actually lived somewhere else and that his stories are based on that town. Although I don't think so because there is too many similarities. Will Joy be able to prove this theory that he actually lived there and that its all about Spooking?

We once again get to see Mr. Phipps and if you remember he is the mayor's assistant and this time around he is still up to no good and is now eyeing the Spooking mental asylum. He thinks that if he can get the asylum  and if he can turn it into a luxurious spa things will be good. Although he soon realizes that more is going on behind the gates of the asylum and is determined to find out what is going on no matter who gets hurt in the process.

This time around we got to see a little bit more background into Mr Phipps and the reason he seems to be so bitter and revengeful. I liked having that little bit added. I think it added to the story and the character.

Before long Joy is added into the mix with her brother and friend, Poppy. No one knows what goes on behind the gates of the asylum but its peaked every ones attention. When Joy's pet frog goes missing and ends up on the other side of the gates, Joy quickly sets a a rescue Fizz mission and stumbles into the mix of things. Will they be able to get out of there alive before its too late?

I started off not liking Mr Phipps but by the time the book was almost finished I ws growing to like him. Yes you can see throughout the course of the book its all about him and him making a name for himself but when push comes to shove and his friend needed him he was there and even though it was to late to save his friend he made sure that Joy got out of there safely.

I absolutely loved this book and I can't wait to share it with others. This was a super quick read and I was constantly sitting at the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen. This is another page turner and a fantastic middle grade book that I think boys and girls would both enjoy and the bonus part is that he is a Canadian (local) author.
I am dying to read the third book and I think I will be sad to see the series wrap up but I am looking forward to reading Paul's future books.

Obama on the Couch--10/23/11 Soapbox Show


Obama On The Couch!  Click here to listen or download, beginning at 2:00 PM San Francisco time.  Today, (October 23rd), Cindy welcomes Dr. Justin A. Frank M.D. - who practices and teaches psychoanalysis in Washington, DC and is Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the George Washington University Medical Center.  A clinician with more than thirty year's experience, Dr. Frank has been a former columnist for Salon.com, DailyBeast.com, and continues to be a frequent contributor to HuffingtonPost.com on topics as diverse as politics, film, and theater.  He employs the principles of applied psychoanalysis to assemble the kind of psychological profile used in his previous best-selling book Bush on the Couch (ReganBooks 2004, 5, 7) in his new book Obama on the Couch: Inside the mind of the President, released October 18, 2011 by FreePress/Simon&Schuster. 

Frankenstein's Monster's Toes


The Eats

The giveaway hop is still going strong. Enter here

Frankenstein's Monster's Toes-Thanks Pillsbury!

Your guests won't know whether or not they should eat these yummy toes. They look so ghastly with that odd shade of green and red toe nails-gruesome. You'll have to dare them to take a bite.

1pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix ( or your favorite sugar cookie recipe
1/4cup all-purpose flour
1/3cup butter or margarine, melted
Frankenstein's Monster's Toes1egg
1/2teaspoon almond extract
7drops green food color
36whole blanched almonds
1/2teaspoon red food color

DIRECTIONS

1 In large bowl, stir cookie mix, flour, melted butter, egg, almond extract and green food color until soft dough forms. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.
2 Meanwhile, place almonds and red food color in resealable food-storage plastic bag; shake bag until almonds are evenly coated with food color. Place on paper plate or waxed paper to dry. Set aside.
3 Heat oven to 375°F. For each cookie, roll heaping teaspoonful of dough into 2 1/2-inch finger shape. On ungreased cookie sheets, place shapes 2 inches apart.
4 Press almond, colored side up, into one end of each “toe” to look like toenail. About 1 inch from each end of each “toe,” squeeze dough slightly; with knife, gently make lines in dough to look like knuckles.
5 Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until set. (Cookies should not brown along edges.) Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
Blanched almonds are almonds that have the skin removed. They are widely available in grocery stores.
For more vibrantly colored fingers, use paste food color instead of liquid food color.


Happy eating

(Review) Blood Wounds

 Title: Blood Wounds
Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer
Pub Date: September 2011
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Pages: 256

Source: I received this from the publisher for my review.

About the Book:

Blood can both wound and heal...

Willa is lucky: She has a loving blended family that gets along. Not all families are so fortunate. But when a bloody crime takes place hundreds of miles away, it has an explosive effect on Willa’s peaceful life. The estranged father she hardly remembers has murdered his new wife and children, and is headed east toward Willa and her mother.

Under police protection, Willa discovers that her mother has harbored secrets that are threatening to boil over. Has everything Willa believed about herself been a lie? But as Willa sets out to untangle the mysteries of her past, she also keeps her own secret—one that has the potential to tear apart all she holds dear.


Susan Beth Pfeffer is no stranger to young adult fiction. She has written over seventy books. I have never read anything by Susan until now and I am pleasantly surprised and I am curious about her other books.

I knew this was going to be one book that I would have to take my time to read because it was a pretty intense story. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to read or what to expect. I really enjoyed the fact that they added some back ground story to the story and it all seemed to flow perfectly.

Willa is your typical teenager (from the outside looking in). She lives with her mother, step father and two step sisters. They seem to have a loving and caring relationship except Willa has a secret that no one really knows about and that is she cuts herself. Its not something she does all the time only when she gets stressed.

In the blink of an eye Willa's world is turned upside down when her mother's friend, Faye calls and leaves a frantic message for her. When Willa tries to call her mother, she can't be reached before long the Police show up and are questioning Willa. Willa realizes that there is more to the story then meets the eye and that live as she knows it is about to change.

When Willa was a young child her mother and her ran away from him and she never really knew why or if she did she kept those memories hidden. The only father she has ever really known was Jack her step father. Willa quickly learns that her real father is a murderer and has killed his wife and children and is now making his way to Willa and her mother. Now this is where I have to say I have an issue with the book because I thought there might have been more of a story line there but there wasn't because it just seemed like they were protected by the police for a very short time.

We also learn that Willa is really isn't happy with her family situation because she has two step sisters who get what ever they want at a drop of a hat and this is mainly due to their mother being rich and poor Willa is basically scrapping by and doing without because no one really seems to care about her or what she would like and I think this also one of the reasons she cuts.

Willa is never one to rock the boat but when she decides she wants to attend her siblings funeral it seems to upset everyone but Willa is determined to go and when she does she uncovers some hidden secrets that no one wants to relive. Willa also begins to remember some things from her past that she has forgotten and i think wishes she wouldn't have remembered. I think uncovering this was good for Willa because before the book ended she became a stronger person and was willing to speak her mind no matter what anyone said or how they felt.

I have to admit I was left with alot of unanswered questions.

Thanks to Thomas Allen and Sons for sending me this book to review.


The United Rogue States of America by Cindy Sheehan


(The USA is the) most dangerous power the world has ever known - the authentic rogue state, but a rogue state of colossal military and economic might. Nobel Literature Laureate; Harold Pintar, 2001

As Khujeci Tomai put it, “Dead men tell no tales. They cannot stand trial. They cannot name the people who helped them stay in power. All secrets die with them.”

Dictionary.com defines a Rogue State as: “—n a state that conducts its policy in a dangerously unpredictable way, disregarding international law or diplomacy.” Especially since 9/11, according to this definition, the USA has sunk to the level of Rogue State.

Wow, I thought Bush was bad and that we had sunk about as low as we could go during those insane years, but Obama is excavating new territory.

Just since the Occupy movement began, the Obama regime has (among other things): 1) assassinated several US citizens in Yemen,  (without due process) including a 16 year old having dinner with his buddies; 2) Sent “advisors” to Vietnam (oops, I meant Uganda; 3) aided and abetted the assassination of a leader of a sovereign state.

Not a bad month for a Rogue President still in his first term, eh?

After the assassination of Qaddafi, at least two interesting things came to my awareness—the first one was the Rogue Libyan ambassador to the US telling our own Rogue news commentator, Wolf Blitzer, that the “rebels” were so happy that the US paid at least two billion dollars for the overthrow of Qaddafi. The second one was a tweet from the OWS movement the day Qaddafi was assassinated that said, “Congrats Libya! Your struggles against the #Gadhafi regime is (sic) over. Let's hope for a bright future #solidarity.”

Okay, let’s deconstruct and connect these two events.

First of all, Ambassador Ali Aujali was absolutely gloating and so ecstatic that Qaddafi was executed because it was “better” for Aujali that he not be captured and brought to trial—those were unexpected true words from the Robber Class--since dead men can tell no tales. In all his bloodthirsty glory Wolf, who has at last, dropped all pretenses at being a journalist, was also beaming with glee that Qaddafi was slaughtered (also without due process). 

During that interview, Wolf did ask Aujali about the chances of the “rebels” paying the US back for the literal blood money taxpayers paid for this criminal regime change. Aujali demurred.

Then the tweet from the OWS movement came to my attention, showing a profound shallowness of comprehension on its part.

The “people” of Libya did not, I repeat, did not, rise up against Qaddafi. While I am sure that there were some well-meaning individuals who wanted to see the end of the Qaddafi regime, it was more like the two billion from the US funny money mint and over 26,000 US/NATO bombing raids that killed unknown thousands of innocent Libyans that actually accomplished that feat.

How can the “struggle” of the people be over if the new government is flying the flag of the deposed and oppressive former monarchy and dividing up the spoils of blood-soaked victory between various foreign oil companies? I really wish the Occupy Wall Street movement would think harder before it parrots the propaganda of the establishment. Even though I am a member of the 99%, that kind of language does not speak for me.

Remember, way back in March when I denounced the UN “no-fly zone,” because I said that was code for, “bombing civilians?” Many people accused me of “not caring about the people of Libya,” but it appears that I was tragically correct.

Yes, Wall Street is a big problem and Obama is, once again, raking in all the ill-gotten gains from donors from there as he can. But does anyone reading this have any better ideas for ways that the US can spend two billion dollars rather than killing civilians, deposing leaders, and propping up puppet governments that will be friendly to big oil? If the war issues are not addressed in a more meaningful and comprehensive way, then I am afraid the movement has every chance of being neutralized. What happens if Geithner and Bernanke are “indicted,” and the crazy-empire train keeps chugging along?

Our Rogue State is clearly out of control and, as I have said many times, economic and social justice just are not possible without complete and unconditional peace.


The Mailbox Post (actually is the week of bought books)

Its hard to believe its that time of the week when you get to see what books came to my door this past week. Is it just me or does it seem like the days are flying by? I am looking at the calendar and just realized that we are the end of October. This is actually the last full week left of the month.

Before showing you the books I should tell you that the host for In My Mailbox is Kristi from The Story Siren and Mailbox Monday was orginally hosted by Marcia from A Girl and her Books and then she decided to put Mailbox Monday on a blog tour so this month's host is Serena from Savvy Verse and Wit. So be sure to check out their blogs.


(Sorry for some reason it looks like I recorded this vlog at night but it wasn't.)

So the books mentioned in this vlog are:
Scholastic Book Club Order:
-Pokedex Pokemon Black/White Version
-Thea Stilton Big Trouble in the Big Apple
-Bad Kitty meets the baby by Nick Bruel
-Creepella Von Cacklefur: The Thirteen Ghosts
-Creepella Von Cacklefur: Meet me in Horrorwood
-Geronimo Stilton: The Amazing Voyage book 3 in The Kingdom of Fantasy series

The next 12 books were in a pack and it was a really good price for them, and it was much cheaper ordering this way then buying them indiviually.
#34 Geronimo Stilton, Secret Agent
#35 A very Merr Christmas
#36 Geronimo's Valentine
#37 The Race Across America
# 38 A Fabumouse School Adventure
#39 Singing Sensation
#40The Karate Mouse
#41Mighty Mount Kilimanjaro
#42 The pericular pumpkin thief
#43 I'm not a supermouse!
#44The Giant Diamon Robbery
#45 Save the White Whale

In the vlog I think I mentioned that #46 The Haunted Castle was part of that 12 pack but it wasn't.

Went to chapters and bought:
-The Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
-Eve by Anna Carey

From The Kids Can Press night:
-tote bag (bought this)
-assorted bookmarks
-Emily's Piano by Charlotte Gingras and Illustrated by Stephane Jorisch
-My Dad and Me by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Illustrated by Susan Mitchell
-What Elephant? by Genevieve Cote

The following wasn't mentioned in the vlog because I recorded the vlog Friday afternoon.

Then yesterday (Saturday) I got to meet up with Tina from Bookshipper for breakfast and we exchanged items (she got a ton of magazine, a book and a comic book) and I got:
-The Scorpio Races by Maggie Steivfater (which I will be reviewing for her)
-Yellow Mini by Lori Weber (I am going to Lori's book launch this coming Thursday)
-November's Issue of Reader's Digest

Thanks so much Tina it was great to see you and your Star Trek boot.

Early in the week, Michael was given the following books from a neighbor and not pictured was an Archie comic that he gave to Tina.
 The books in the picture in case you can't see the titles are:
-cam jansen and the mystery of flight 54
-The berenstein bears and the drug free zone
-help i'm trapped in the principal's body
-arthur and the cootie catcher
-two times the fun (beverly clearly)
-les sens, comment ca marche?
-dogs and puppies
-dinosaur friends Trisha
-dinosaur friends Bronty
-humpback whales
-a pod of gray whales

So this is what I got last week, what about you?

Since I love my tote bag so much I am going to show it again. Have a great week everyone.