So I find myself back in the internet cafe again. And I'm really proud of myself for knocking out a bunch of e-mails yesterday, so I thought I'd take the luxury of writing another post.

First off you'll notice I've re-arranged things a little on the right. I've been referencing to my friend Aaron's blog for a long time, but I finally got around to making a permanent link to it. And because I thought my list of links was getting a bit long, I re-organized it into "friends from home" and "friends from Japan". That way if you're a friend from home, and you've been thinking to yourself, "Who are all these strange people he's got links to?", then you can just look and see they're friends from Japan.
I should add that people in the "Friends from Japan" category are people I've met in Japan, not necessarily people who are still in Japan. For instance Nick in Oita is actually in Korea now. Now that I've got Aaron's link added, next on my list of things to do is change the title for Nick's link, but I'm a busy man.

Also I've been visiting the prefectural library here in Gifu, which is much better than the library in Oita, and even includes several new books. I thought I'd throw some
Book Recommendations
everyone's way.

First off is "All The President's Spin" a book on the Bush administration. I know there are a lot of polemics against the Bush administration out there now, and that I've linked to several of them before on this blog, but what makes this book unique is the credibility of the authors. The book is written by the authors of the website Spinsanity which is well known for being a truth detector against the right and the left, and has a reputation for fairness. If you don't trust Micheal Moore, than you should like these guys. (Who, by the way, have in the past also critiqued much of Moore's work ).

The book, in amazing detail, documents all the misleading statements made by Bush and his administration. Misleading politicians are of course nothing new, but this book makes the case that the Bush administration has taken it to a whole new level. It's important that many people read this book I think because even today I still hear a lot of people say things like, "Bush has made some mistakes, but I think at heart he is an honest man and we can trust him." If you think that, I highly recommend you read this book. I promise you it is not a liberal screed, and the authors make every effort to be fair and preserve their reputation as non-partisan.

The other book I read was Richard Clarke's "Against all Enemies" which really needs no introduction because it was one of the most talked about books of the year. One of the most talked about, but probably one of the least read. Who do you know who has actually sat down and read that book? I know many Republicans are refusing to read it on principle, and a lot of liberals are thinking to themselves, "I already know Bush is an idiot, I don't need this book to prove it to me. Besides, I know the general gist of it because it has been all over the news."

True, but it is rather shocking when you actually sit down and read the whole book. Richard Clarke makes some very serious charges about how George Bush has bungled the war on terrorism and made America less safe. I know Clarke's credibility has been attacked, but I think given the charges he makes his book deserves to be given consideration. Since Bush is essentially running on 9/11 and national security, (and because Dick Cheney has said that a Kerry election will mean another terrorist attack) I think anyone planning on voting for him for these reasons would do well to actually take the time to sit down and read this book before they mark their ballot.

The next book I recommend is not so current, and perhaps falls in the "Classics" category, but I finally got around to reading "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and now I'm wondering why I never read it sooner. I guess I kept putting it off because I thought it would be really dry and boring, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I don't know if Malcolm X or Alex Haley should be given credit for the writing style, but the book is not like so many other dry autobiographies out there. A good autobiography is a rare, but wonderful thing, because it allows you to feel like you know a historical figure personally. This book falls in that category.

Links and things
Aaron's weblog, brilliant as always, contains this excellent analysis of the Presidential Debate. I should mention that I don't have a TV in Japan anymore, and have been relying on other people's descriptions, and the daily show internet clips which are really funny if you can watch them from your computer. (Tip of the hat again to Bork for turning me on to them.)

Aaron then follows it up with this post which shows the hypocrisy of those moral crusaders on the right.this post which shows the hypocrisy of those moral crusaders on the right.

Video: All the President's Spin



Video: Against All Enemies



Video: The Autobiography of Malcolm X