KINDLE UNLIMITED (Kat, Ava and C.I.)

 

In 2018, community sites took turns covering a book every week.  You can see "In 2018, we read books" to review that coverage.  We didn't want to repeat ourselves in 2019 or 2020.  So when Marcia came up with a way to cover books but with a twist, we were all for it.  Marcia's idea was for us to digital books -- we're largely a printed text crowd -- and to use AMAZON's KINDLE UNLIMITED.  So for 2021, we'll be doing a book a week and trying to just use KINDLE UNLIMITED. This week, we're talking with Kat about her "HEARTBREAKER: TWO MONTHS WITH JUDY."

So this go round you covered a book about Judy Garland.  Just give us an overview of Judy in case someone's never heard of her -- as hard as that might be to believe.

Kat: Sure.  Judy Garland and her sisters were a musical act.  She went on to become a child star.  THE WIZARD OF OZ established her as a star.  That musical has gone on to be a classic and is aired repeatedly on TV to this day.  She plays Dorothy Gale, a young girl who lands in the land of Oz when a tornado picks up her Kansas home.  In the film, she sings many songs but the classic is "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."  She'd go on to sing many more songs and make many more films.  "For Me and My Gal," "The Pirate" and "Summer Stock" -- the last one contained her classic performance of "Get Happy" --  are the three films she co-starred in with Gene Kelly.  With Fred Astaire, she made "Easter Parade."  Some of her other classic films include THE HARVEY GIRLS, THE CLOCK, MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS, A STAR IS BORN, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG, IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME, BABES IN ARMS, ZIEGFIELD GIRLS, STRIKE UP THE BAND, LITTLE NELLIE KELLY, PRESENTING LILY MARS, A CHILD IS WAITING . . . I could go on and on.  After MGM fired her, she would go on to become a world class stage entertainer with legendary concerts around the world.  Along with "Over The Rainbow," she had classics with "Get Happy," "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart," "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe," "The Trolley Song," "The Man That Got Away" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."

We wanted you to detail that because, as we said, people might not know who Judy was.  But we also wanted you to provide that overview to see if you'd offer more than John Meyer did in his book and, we'd argue, you offered more in your response to us than he did in the entire book.

Kat: I would agree.  He spent far too much time on the banal and you had to wonder why because who writes banal details and anecdotes when they're writing about Judy Garland?  I couldn't believe how boring the book was.  He claims he met her and I believe that.  He claims they spent about two months together.  A little harder to believe, but okay.  He claims he was deeply attracted to her as a straight man and I find that impossible to believe.  

You found him to be homophobic as well?

Kat: I -- I don't know.  We live in different times, I know that.  I know that we've had a huge sea change for many people.  But this book was published after everyone should have known better.  If it had been published pre-Stonewall or even in the 70s, I would've cut hm some slack.  But this book was published in 2015.  And he's so mean and cutting about this gay man -- an openly gay man.  And I thought we'd gotten beyond that -- beyond the point where closet cases felt they had to prove they were straight by attacking gay men.  I guess we really haven't or maybe John Meyer just never entered this century?  I had to wonder what he thought he was achieving with that?  Judy Garland is an icon to many gay males and Judy's non-gay fans aren't homophobic so I had to wonder who he thought would be reading his book and enjoying his tearing apart a gay man for being gay?  

Did you feel like you learned anything about Judy?

Kat: Not at all.  If the book was accurate, he had a very dull time with Judy Garland.  If it wasn't, he should have lied better to make it interesting.  There are many, many more books about Judy out there that are worth reading.  I would recommend, for example, Gerold Frank's JUDY, Gerald Clark's GET HAPPY: THE LIVE OF JUDY GARLAND, Lorna Luft's ME AND MY SHADOW and especially David Shipman's JUDY GARLAND: THE SECRET LIFE OF AN AMERICAN LEGEND.  John Meyer's book is the worst book I've ever read about Judy Garland and, please note, I've been reading books about Judy Garland since Andrea McArdle played her in the TV movie RAINBOW back in 1978 and the paperback book the movie was based on, Christopher Finch's RAINBOW: THE STORMY LIFE OF JUDY GARLAND, was available in drug stores everywhere.  That was a good book, by the way.  But it was followed by some paperbacks that weren't so good over the next five years.  Even the worst Judy Garland book that I read in the late 70s and early 80s was better than John Meyer's books.  I can't think of one reason why a Judy Garland fan would want to read it.

Okay, thank you so much for that review.  Are you enjoying AMAZON's KINDLE UNLIMITED?

Kat: To a degree.  I'm probably just going to focus on music books.  I may read a book about Elton John next.

 

 is a 1978 American made-for-television biographical musical drama film which chronicles the early years of singer-actress Judy Garland, portrayed by Andrea McArdle. Directed by Jackie Cooper, it was written by John McGreevey based on the 1975 book Rainbow: The Stormy Life of Judy Garland by Christopher Finch

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"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Betty, Ava and C.I.)" 

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Stan, Ava and C.I.)" 

 

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Betty, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Isaiah, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Elaine, Dona, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Mike, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Trina, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Stan, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Marcia, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Kat, Ava and C.I.)"

"KINDLE UNLIMITED (Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tweet of the week

From Anthony Zenkus:

 

Amazing that with a Republican president, Dems talk about how powerful the presidency is, then when a Democrat wins they make excuses for not helping the working class by saying they have no power.

11:35 AM · Apr 27, 2021·

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why'd you do it, John, why?

John Kerry has been a US senator and the US Secretary of State. He is currently the White House's special climate envoy. So he should know better than to disclose certain information:

 
The New York Times is taking criticism for "burying" a report that former Secretary of State John Kerry told Iran that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times.

The story focuses on leaked audio of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaking candidly about Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the powerful branch of Iran's Armed Forces and a U.S.-designated terrorist organization. However, 21 paragraphs into a 26-paragraph story, the Times dropped a major revelation.
"Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed him that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said," Times reporter Farnaz Fassihi wrote.
Kerry, now President Biden's special climate envoy, served as President Barack Obama's Secretary of State from 2013 to 2017, where he was instrumental in brokering the Iran nuclear deal. The deal was heavily opposed by Israel, with whom Kerry has frequently sparred.
America's biggest environmentalists and their private planes Evie Fordham Many U.S. climate activists celebrated Earth Day on Thursday and praised the Biden administration's latest emiss... Conservative critics questioned why the Kerry item wasn't given more attention by the Times, given Iran is an enemy of the United States and Israel is a strong ally. The IRGC's influence over Iran's government is already well-known.

He should know better. Clearly, he doesn't.

We used to think John Kerry was honorable. That's back when he was a senator. Then he became Secretary of State while wanting to be Secretary of Defense. He showed no knack for the job and did a lousy job. Morale had been low under Condi Rice. Hillary Clinton had increased morale in the department. John brought it back down. He became a ridiculous figure and pushed constantly for war. And the rumors of his infidelity only increased. He became a disappointment on every level.

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, Liz, you thought the country gave a damn what you thought?

Liz Cheney? She's human trash -- not because she serves in Congress (thought that probably doesn't help) but because she's a member of the notorious Cheney mob.

Liz felt the need to declare this week that former US President Donald Trump is not running the Republican Party.

 
That declaration led us to a horrifying question: Liz doesn't think she's running the GOP, does she?

No, she's apparently not that crazy. She declared that the party was being run by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. It's an interesting claim. Neither man holds or has ever won a national election. So how would they qualify as a national party leader?

Ronna Romney McDaniel strikes us as a better choice. She is the Chair of The Republican National Comittee. One would think that if, at present, Donald Trump is not the party's leader, the mantle would go to her.

Considering that Liz's own popularity is plunging in her home state of Wyoming, we're not sure what qualifies her as the best judge of her party?

But that's the notorious Cheney mob -- when not killing people (especially Muslims), they can usually be found lying and making an ass of themselves. In that regard, Liz will always be her father's daughter.

 

Books

 

In 2021, we'll be covering digital books.  So far this year, the coverage includes:

 

Kat's "HEARTBREAKER: TWO MONTHS WITH JUDY"

 

Betty's "THE COLOR PURPLE"

 

Stan's "GOODBYE NATALIE, GOODBYE SPLENDOUR"

Betty's ""Kim Berry and Andrea Williams' DIAMONDS AND CURLZ""

Isaiah's "Marco Bonafede's WORDLESS COMICS"

Dona's "A SPY IN THE HOUSE OF ANAIS NIN (Dona)"

Elaine's "JOAN: FORTY YEARS OF LIFE, LOSS, AND FRIENDSHIP WI..."

Rebecca's "the mommie dearest diary: carol ann tells all"

Kat's "How Mabel Normand's many scandals (at least five) destroyed her career"

 

Marcia's "Paul Jay's bad Gore Vidal 'book'"

 

Stan's "Adrienne Barbeau's bad book THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO"

 

Trina's "Mexican Casserole and a book in the Kitchen"

 

 Mike's "Book review CONVERSATIONS WITH CAPOTE"

 

 

 

 

 

This edition's playlist

 

 

 

1) Nick Jonas' SPACEMAN.

 

2) Ashford & Simpson's LOVE OR PHYSICAL.

 

3) Cherelle's AFFAIR.

 

4) The Jimi Hendrix Experience's ELECTRIC LADYLAND.

 

 

5) Jefferson Airplane's VOLUNTEERS.

 

6)  Harry Style's FINE LINE.  

 

 7)  Mavis Staples' WE GET BY.

 

 

8)  Bob Dylan's ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS.

9) Dionne Warwick's SHE'S BACK.

 

 

10) Ben Harper's CALL IT WHAT IT IS.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truest statement of the week

Slow-witted Joe Biden appears to think that we’re still in the age of the sole superpower, when in fact that era has come and gone.

“China’s Belt and Road Initiative involves countries on every continent and provides opportunity where the western nations offer only debt and subjugation.”

As this columnist has pointed out, Joe Biden’s foreign policy differs little from that of his predecessor Donald Trump. The imperatives of the United States hegemon require treating the rest of the world as either willing vassals or as sworn enemies. Any nation that threatens economic supremacy or the ability to thwart foreign policy directives is labeled an adversary and faces an onslaught of governmental and corporate media attacks. This dynamic remains unchanged and the Biden administration has only worsened an already bad situation.

The troubles start at the top with the president himself. When asked by George Stephanopoulos in an ABC news interview if Vladimir Putin is “a killer” Biden answered in the affirmative. The president was never known for his intellect and thought that repeating Russiagate tropes would play well. It didn’t play well with the Russians who immediately recalled their U.S. ambassador back home to Moscow. 

While Biden was dealing with foot in mouth disease regarding Russia, his Secretary of State Antony Blinken was making a mess of relations with China. He invited his Chinese counterparts to a meeting in Anchorage, Alaska and proceeded to offend them by scolding them in front of the press and repeating unfounded charges about human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.

 

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Freedom Rider: The U.S. Can’t Control the World" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Truest statement of the week II

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, popularly known as AOC, was interviewed by the Democratic Socialists of America for their online journal Democratic Left  this past January. The interview was published two months later and went viral on social media after observers pointed out AOC’s direct attacks on left critics of the Democratic Party. AOC’s disdain for the left was made clear in her answer to the question of whether Biden’s political history and current antipathy to the Bernie Sanders-aligned section of the party ensures that no “progress” will come under his administration. Her response is published in full:

“Well, I think it’s a really privileged critique. We’re gonna have to focus on solidarity with one another, developing our senses for good faith critique and bad faith critique. Because bad faith critique can destroy everything that we have built so swiftly. And we know this because it has in the past, and it’s taken us so many decades to get to this point. We do not have the time or the luxury to entertain bad faith actors in our movement. But also we have to value our solidarity with one another. For anyone who brings that up, we really have to ask ourselves, what is the message that you are sending to your Black and brown and undocumented members of your community, to your friends, when you say nothing has changed? Perhaps not enough has changed. And this is not a semantic argument. Just the other night, we in collective struggle were able to stop the deportations of critical members of our community. And that would not have happened in a Trump administration.”

AOC and the left-leaning Democratic Party members of Congress otherwise known as “the Squad” have come under scrutiny of late for their unwillingness to force a Congressional vote on Medicare for All or a $15 minimum wage. Over this period, the Democratic Party has won slight majorities in both chambers of Congress and succeeded in pushing Joe Biden over the presidential hump presented by Donald Trump last November.

“AOC’s disdain for the left was made clear.”

These conditions would suggest that there is no better time than now for the Democratic Party to push through a left-wing political agenda. Yet the exact opposite is happening. The latest COVID-19 stimulus package did not include a $15 minimum wage clause in large part because Democrats such as Krysten Sinema and Joe Manchin voted against it . More troubling is that neither AOC nor the rest of the Squad has mounted any significant challenge to the party’s corporate leadership during a violent global pandemic and economic depression, despite being elected for this exact purpose.  

While AOC decries “privileged” critiques of the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party has been busy waging class war on all fronts. Contrary to AOC’s argument that undocumented immigrants suffer less under Democrats, the Biden administration has deported more than 100,000 people in his first few months in office . Biden and the Democrats have also bombed Syria , refused to engage in good faith negotiations with Iran , and propped up a brutal neocolonial regime in Haiti while deporting more Haitian immigrants in a matter of weeks than Donald Trump in his full four years in office. The Black Alliance for Peace Solidarity Network is organizing a Day of Action on April 8th  to demand that Joe Biden withdraw fully from the U.S.’s murderous forever war in Afghanistan before the deadline of the U.S.-Taliban agreement passes on May Day.

 

 

-- Danny Haiphong, "Criticizing the Democratic Party is not “Privileged”, It is the Duty of a Revolutionary" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).