Review: Caliban's War

Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book is definitely a good read. However it was not as good as either the first or the third (I am currently almost done with it.) I felt that the new characters were a little difficult to really empathize with and there was a huge build up to a less than satisfying climax. The book is important in that it sets up the 3rd book, but the additional characters have not made any additional presence so far in the series.

It does introduce and explain ganymede and marine expeditionary armor. Also more captain Holden being Holden.

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Review: Leviathan Wakes

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My brother suggested I read this book a few days ago when I was in a bit of a mental health crisis and it was the perfect medicine. I was hooked from the first chapter. Recently I have not been able to find a science fiction story that could be on a similar level to the fantasy series I have read through, but this one is a must pick up. It is a gritty story which takes place in the not to distant future as humans have expanded through the solar system in an age of discovery and settlement.

The story is extremely gripping and fluid, with turns and surprises which I respect. While the dialogue and character development are alright, the story really shines with its action sequences and description which makes you feel like you are in the heat of it. I definitely recommend this series to anyone who is looking to pick up a new science fiction saga and am already well into the second book.

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Review: Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book took me a long time to read. Not because it was awful, but because life sorta got in the way and certain elements of the story were too disturbing to read in one sitting like I normally do with books. My friend Josh asked me to read it and even after the first chapter I was starting to feel a little bit off reading it. But after finishing it, that is actually the appeal of the book. It shows what the Western expansion, and US and Mexican genocide against the indigenous populations actual was in all its gritty violent forms.

The violence in the book was gratuitous at times and many of the main characters involved in such awful activity that it didn't deliver any uplifting feeling. The main character, the kid, which the book follows through pure survival instinct and later a PTSD desensitized outlook goes on from one outfit after another falling in with brutal people who in many cases receive official sanction and praise for their brutality. The book is a serious indictment on the romanticism of westerns, manifest destiny, toxic masculinity, and US exceptionalism. To that effect, it was quite amazing and really lives an indelible impact.

The Judge, is a particularly interesting character, because though he is larger than life and the most educated, uses his views of civilization to be the most unsavory of all.

The book is violent and disturbing, but if you can make it through that it is actually quite good and should leave you feeling a bit less proud to be an American.

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Review: The Face in the Frost

The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book on recommendation from a good friend in Providence. While I liked the slow build up of existential dread and the geographic/political background that the author was able to fit into a short story, I had a few issues with the book that prevented me from giving it a higher rating.

First of all, I thought that the magic system, was pretty silly. I understand that there is a long standing history of this sytem where words and items create magical effects. Thats not my concern,

Spoiler ahead......








There is a part where a character creates a miniature replica of a model ship, which somehow has everything working inside it, from the canons and lamps, to exact copies of books. I could understand if everything was just vague copies of it, but this seems absurd. A similar thing happened with a plant elevator which for some reason on its own (without attributing agency or intelligence) lifted the characters up a mountain, let them off at the top, and then unwraped around them without any additional commands other than the first one. I find that a bit sloppy.


Lastly, I thought that the end was seriously anti-climactic and this was unfortunate because after all the good build up, I was curious about how it would end. There was also a deus ex machina character who just saves the day right at the end. Ughhhh.... could have been so much better... thats why it only gets a 3 out of 5

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Being an Anarchist During Election Season is Like Being a Jew on Christmas

Since I am both of those things, I figured I would express the snark that I couldn't over facebook and other social media.  It is sometimes best to choose ones' battles and to develop peoples politics through experience with the system and success of collective action.  Rubbing such things in peoples faces, while possibly cathartic after some peoples' religious experiences with Sanders, is not an ideal tactical decision.

I cant decide if the feeling of being powerless for song long as given a longing for a quick easy solution, one which has no basis in actual reality or historical fact.  Messianic religious tradition came from the same roots and offer similar rewards for not actually collectively altering the material reality.  Arguments against electoralism without competing results is worthless and can seem insulting for those who have no experience with the far left.



As a result, I am putting increasing emphasis on building popular power through actual activity.  We are discussing setting up a food pantry as a serve the people project for a working class community.  While in tune with our politics, this discussion actually emanated from multiple experiences with homeless people approaching us and asking for money for food....only for us to say "we actually have a lot of food left over from food not bombs" and giving them a whole packet of stuff.  If, this can be replicated on an organizational level, it will pay enormous dividends and actually help alleviate some of the worst conditions of the capitalist system.

105th Anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaise Factory Fire

On the 105th anniversary of the fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, where the bosses deliberately locked the exits to prevent breaks and 146 Italian and Jewish workers (mostly young women) died in the blaze or jumping to their deaths, I will share my favorite poem written four days later:





Neither battle nor fiendish pogrom
Fills this great city with sorrow;

Nor does the earth shudder or lightning rend the heavens,
No clouds darken, no cannon’s roar shatters the air.
Only hell’s fire engulfs these slave stalls
And Mammon devours our sons and daughters.
Wrapt in scarlet flames, they drop to death from his maw
And death receives them all.
Sisters mine, oh my sisters; brethren
Hear my sorrow:
See where the dead are hidden in dark corners,
Where life is choked from those who labor.
Oh, woe is me, and woe is to the world
On this Sabbath
When an avalanche of red blood and fire
Pours forth from the god of gold on high
As now my tears stream forth unceasingly.
Damned be the rich!
Damned be the system!
Damned be the world!
Over whom shall we weep first?
Over the burned ones?
Over those beyond recognition?
Over those who have been crippled?
Or driven senseless?
Or smashed?
I weep for them all.
Now let us light the holy candles
And mark the sorrow
Of Jewish masses in darkness and poverty.
This is our funeral,
These our graves,
Our children,
The beautiful, beautiful flowers destroyed,
Our lovely ones burned,
Their ashes buried under a mountain of caskets.
There will come a time
When your time will end, you golden princes. Meanwhile,
Let this haunt your consciences:
Let the burning building, our daughters in flame Be the nightmare that destroys your sleep,
The poison that embitters your lives,
The horror that kills your joy.
And in the midst of celebrations for your children,
May you be struck blind with fear over the Memory of this red avalanche
Until time erases you.
--Morris Rosenfield, yiddish slum poet, 1911



Check my other post on Yiddish radical songs for a song about the fire: http://ianchinich.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-collection-of-yiddish-anarchist-and.html

My mother is one tough cookie

I dont know if my mom is reading this but I just wanted to express relief that after my dad's passing, she was so vigilant on mamograms, because it saved her life.  By having early detection, she was able to discover breast cancer early, get the tumor removed, and get started on radiation.

She did all of this with record speed and without falling apart, getting chromosomal tests, testing her lymph nodes, and spending several days at different doctors offices.  The same mother who is afraid to pull off a band-aid, look at a needle, and who gets shivers even thinking of a tattoo was willing to get a double mastectomy if she had to.  It is hard to express the feeling of loss with one parent and I feel very fortunate that my mom will stay with us.  <3 <3


So I thought to celebrate I would share a picture of my mom from 1969.  Shes the one on the right.