The books that bite and sting

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2012, Uncategorized

Tags

books, Jared Diamond, postaday2012, racism, reactions, Reading, writing

The last book that I read that really moved me on many levels is "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. His fundamental argument is that human civilization and its development can be traced to the availability of resources or lack thereof. We humans globally owe our success' and/or failures, primarily on the bounty of our primordial environment, not primarily on our "racial" superiority. This is very well explained when you examine why the New World was conquered by the Old World and not vice a versa, the Old World was host to the Fertile Crescent, a bountiful oasis that gave rise to food production and then specialized trades, the New World on the other hand was lacking in many of the nutritional staples and thus were unable to succeed in complex food production hence hindering their access to specialized trades of any kind. In their world there simply was no time beyond hunting and gathering to allocate men or talents to other ventures. Building on my vastly over-simplified synopsis throughout the entire book,there are examples and theories built upon evidence that led me to find that Diamond's thesis crushes any justification for imperialism whatsoever. It made me very happy to read this book because despite the fact that the U.S elected its first African-American President, there resides a racism that is both overt and latent and both forms derive their justification in inaccurate "theories" that Mr. Diamond brilliantly tramples and dismisses. I highly recommend the book.

Tis the season for awards

08 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by laurieanichols in postaday, postaday2012

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

awards, blogger of the year, postaday2012, writing

I am honored to report that I have been nominated for the “Blog of the Year 2012″ Award by http://camsgranny.wordpress.com . She has an interesting blog that is worth your while to visit; her life experiences are inspirational.

I have to confess that though I appreciate the thought and the award itself, I am the type to shy away from them. I also feel shy awarding them out to others because I feel that since there are rules associated to these awards, I dislike the feeling of imposition that comes with the award. I also feel bad that I don’t follow that many, so I apologize in advance to anyone who may feel slighted. I have another confession to make, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to provide the link to the blogs of my dear friends. I am frustrated and I apologize for any inconvenience to those who would like to pop on by to visit them. The heart is in the right place though the technological abilities are severely lacking.

I therefore nominate http://Thelaughinghousewife.wordpress.com She puts a smile on my face everyday and has been my mentor though she didn’t realize it for a time.

http://weescoops.wordpress.com I started my journey with her and her gift of words is amazing

http://getreadingnow.org My friend Jackie Paulson has a tremendous blog devoted to book reviews and she has the gift.

The ‘rules’ for this award are simple:

1 Select the blog(s) you think deserve the ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award

2 Write a blog post and tell us about the blog(s) you have chosen – there’s no minimum or maximum number of blogs required – and ‘present’ them with their award.

3 Please include a link back to this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award – http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/ and include these ‘rules’ in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

4 Let the blog(s) you have chosen know that you have given them this award and share the ‘rules’ with them

5 You can now also join our Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page ‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Facebook group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience

6 As a winner of the award – please add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award – and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar … and start collecting stars…

Yes – that’s right – there are stars to collect!

Unlike other awards which you can only add to your blog once – this award is different!

When you begin you will receive the ‘1 star’ award – and every time you are given the award by another blog – you can add another star!

There are a total of 6 stars to collect.

Which means that you can check out your favourite blogs – and even if they have already been given the award by someone else – you can still bestow it on them again and help them to reach the maximum 6 stars!

‘Blog of the Year 2012’ Award Badges

Here are the six badges for you to collect – you can either ‘swop’ your badge for the next one each time you are given the award – or even proudly display all six badges if you are lucky enough to be presented with the award six times!