Spinozasgalt wrote:

NamelessFaceless wrote:No. Ewwww.

Too scared. Can't imagine how this could possibly be made into a movie.

You're joking right?

The film is graphic and disturbing because of its subject matter and it's interesting for its treatment of its source, but it's also interesting in itself as a film. There's quite a bit more to the violence and power in the film, as I recall. The distance from the subjectivity of the victims and the intent of the perpetrators does something weird.

Maybe I'll give it a try then. If I finish the book. I've never not finished a book, though. I thought I wouldn't be able to finish Wuthering Heights, but I powered through it and I finally finished it. It only took ten years.

Why do I do this to myself!

I just finished reading Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge. It's about the Family International cult, fka The Children of God, which practiced "free love" and was widely known for sexually abusing children.

It made me think about a former member here who mentioned at least once that she was raised in the cult. She just suddenly stopped posting about a year ago. Does anyone know what happened to her? Am I allowed to say her user name? According to the book, a large number of second-generation members have committed suicide and now I keep worrying about her. I hope she's ok.

NamelessFaceless wrote:It made me think about a former member here who mentioned at least once that she was raised in the cult. She just suddenly stopped posting about a year ago. Does anyone know what happened to her? Am I allowed to say her user name? According to the book, a large number of second-generation members have committed suicide and now I keep worrying about her. I hope she's ok.

Is the person you are talking about from Australia?
.

I don't think so. IIRC she had moved around a lot though.

I think it was Imagination Theory.

Yes, that's her. I hope she's ok.

Yes. She seemed to have had a lot of stuff going on.

smudge wrote:

Macdoc wrote:

if you can read this without crying at man's inhumanity you left your heart somewhere.... and it hasn't ceased... When you get the litany of horrors all in one place.....it is just astonishing...truly open eyed genocide.

It's a superb book. An all time favourite of mine.

I tried to read this sometime in the '80's and only got about halfway before abandoning it in distress. Up until about a year ago its stared accusingly at me from a bookshelf.Its now boxed and residing in my loft. I don't properly understand why I felt so emosional about the story when I've read so much about other calamities, WW1, WW2 etc ad nauseum.
A couple of months ago I came across something on the www regarding one of these events. There was a description of the negotiations by the US army to release some white women who were held captive. When the women arrived it was found that they had been gang raped by the men of the tribe and the wives had thrust burning branches up their noses over a period of time until their noses were non existant. The result was that the accompanying Indians were quickly shot down.
I have no idea how authentic this account is or whether it is mentioned in the book but I could well imagine such atrocities taking place given the circumstances.

Where can I go to vote against war?

It is a tough read indeed .... there were atrocities on both sides and of course warfare between tribal groups went on long before the Europeans arrived.....yet some groups the Iroquois Confederation had mosty peaceful structure and exists till today ( Six Nations and still maintain their sovereign stance ). Part of the US constitution is based on their decision structure.
Lumping all native Americans into a single culture is as wooly headed as lumping all of European cultures.

New information shows that there were something like 25 million preColumbian inhabitants of North and Central America and that was reduced to somewhere around 6 million purely by Euro disease....much of before there was any interior exploration ....

The eradication of the American indigenes is a shameful episode ( we've got our own - and ongoing issues in Canada ) but should not be avoided. It gives a much needed look into the amazing variety of cultures and informs the kind of resistance needed to preserve the little wild lands left ( I notice the Dumpf wants to sell off the National Parks ).

It is a tale not in any way ended as yet.

I read one about the Horse Warriors on the plains where they were compared ( very favourably ) against the Mongols as unstoppable warriors
.....where was a Khan of Khans when the Sioux and others needed one? If anything comes out of my last few reads ( currently on Cochise ) ....it's that the indigenes by nature of their culture were not going to ever form into a consolidated force so say get their way with the Black HIlls and the eastern interests exploited the lack of solidarity to literally divide and conquer right down to small group pursuit in the South West.

I think what we will never know is the history of the impact of horses on the entire native population once the Spanish came. Horses certainly set some tribes in dominance over others.

Have a go at it again.

I read an account you might find interesting some while ago: it was lent to me by my close friend who taught on the subject. She's sadly dead so I can't check but I'm pretty sure it was The Trail of Tears by Gloria Jahoda.

Thanks - not available on Kindle but picked up this for free on Kindle Unlimited based on the actual events but told in novel form.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GW6NBES

Blip wrote:I read an account you might find interesting some while ago: it was lent to me by my close friend who taught on the subject. She's sadly dead so I can't check but I'm pretty sure it was The Trail of Tears by Gloria Jahoda.

I've read that one too. Very good and moved me to tears.

Ok Macdoc, I'll dig it out and give it another go and hope I don't get hit by depression too much! I've heard of Trail of Tears and chose to ignore it because I didn't want more of the same but I'll review that decision based on my Dee Brown experience.
A few years ago I holiday'd in Quebec and overheard our tour guide being very disparaging towards the local Indians and their employment plight. 'They're coloureds' she smirked. She didn't get a tip. Incredibly the reason she was working was because of some law that made all tours have to have a local guide. We were a coach party come over from the US and our own guide was redundant for that leg.

just finished "Caffienated" by murray carpenter, interestin look at caffeine consumption, in todays products, I was quite interested in psychological effects of to much caffeine consumption

As for me, having had my socks knocked off by The Book of Night Women, I'm in the middle of A Brief History of Seven Killings. What a writer!

Blip wrote:As for me, having had my socks knocked off by The Book of Night Women, I'm in the middle of A Brief History of Seven Killings. What a writer!

Those look intriguing. I'm going to have to add them to my list. Thanks for the tip!

After reading this article,

http://www.salon.com/2016/08/21/when-i- ... d_partner/

I think I want to read this next.

Bloody hell



guy is just mind bending .... starts with Hard Wired then accelerates...Angel Station is just incredible hard sci-fi

Catch 22 for the nuclear age.



First hand account of being a guinea pig for the nuclear tests in the Pacific but the human interaction of the men and officers is dark opera. Glowing toenails and 3 eyed fish ???....yup. Walking on ground zero 1/2 hour after a nuke ....that too ...with no hazmat gear..... sure why not. An honest recount with some humour and navel gazing and horror in a toxic mix.
The men did pay for it down the line in ill health coin but not the author in any significant way...despite close exposure to some of the largest nukes ever lit off, direct fall out and other radiation delights. It's a fast read.

I can't help but wonder what a woman reviewer might have to say.

Who knew ??



Reminds me a bit of Song of the Dodo - it's a good tale...well told with solid science and I'm better informed. Can't ask for much more than that. Highly recommended