Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali: This book is SO GOOD. Besides being a captivating story. And besides being an interesting/horrifying exposure of a woman's place in islam. The most important message is not for conservatives who don't care, it's for liberals who can "care" too much. We liberals are sometimes too willing to defend a culture blindly in the name of multiculturalism. Some cultures ARE better or worse. We feel guilty telling all the dark skinned people that their beliefs are wrong. But when those beliefs allow the torture, rape, murder or half their population, they are wrong, plain and simple. This seems obvious, but I notice the inclination in myself as well. The inclination to give a group of people a pass because we are too worried about being racist or intolerant. Anyway, if you need another reason to read it, check out the intro:
Breakpoint by Richard A. Clarke: Oh Richard Clarke. I really loved his first two books. The first one for exposing Bush bullcrap before 77% of the country was onboard with that practice, it was awesome. The second one because it theorized in a very realistic feeling (though what do I know) sense what could happen soon in the world, I loved it. This one is a little bit more extrapolation, and it is stretched a little thin. He's got us with a world wide self-regulating internet, and fully integrated and interfaced (with the brain) robolimbs, and brains that go on the internet, and genegineering, and all this other stuff, in like 5 years! This is all cool stuff to talk about, but it seems more like 30 years away, or 50 years away. So anyway, he's not SUCH a great writer that it's worth listening no matter what he says, it was his understanding of the current and near-future political climate. Without that understanding and relevancy of the subject matter, it's just an OK near-future scifi book.
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