I don’t normally write book reviews, but this one had to make the blog. It was refreshing to read something so simple and yet so stirring. “Going Rogue” by Sarah Palin is an autobiography diagramming much of her upbringing and eventually honing in on her vice presidential bid with John McCain.
In the first number of pages she reeled me in like I was a family member across the table from her. She told me of her early family years and of her expanding family from definitely a Christian female’s perspective - a mom’s perspective.
By the time she got around to the politics of her book, I felt as if I knew her personally. She chose not to use big words and therefore made the reading easy. I didn’t need a dictionary like with a lot of the intellectual books I read! I didn’t have to stop every thirty seconds to ponder what I just read. She made her points simple and easy to follow.
I could not put this book down! I may disagree with her on some issues, but when she labeled herself as a “common sense conservative” toward the end, I could definitely see things from her perspective.
Reading this book put me right there with her in the decisions that were made by ‘headquarters’ and how she was labeled “rogue” by simply stating things from her perspective. Her perspective is not that of a politician, but as a caring person for her state of Alaska, and as a mom. She is principled and has a backbone!
I took the time to read on the Internet some vicious attacks by her opponents that seem like unfounded emotional rhetoric. It saddened me that Americans can’t get along in our current climate and resort to sand box tactics to win campaigns. Why can’t we get back to the Little House on the Prairie ethics where people make the backbone of this nation? Have we become savages?
Sarah points out that we as a nation are growing into the entitlement mentality and that our posterity will pay for it if we don’t turn it around. Her points are very “common sense” and illustrated nicely for the casual reader.
Good book!
Muna and her son live in the West Bank. She gets an opportunity to live in America with her sister’s family. “Amreeka” explores what it is like to live as an Arab immigrant in Illinois at the time America Invaded Iraq post 9-11.
In this podcast I discuss growing up and finding the meaning of life.
conradsconcerns.com
Four kids are on a road trip to turtle beach in the midst of a global highly contagious very deadly pandemic. They wage all sorts of battles for self-preservation. Each scenario seems to pit rivaling deep-seated philosophies against another. What is interesting is all four of the kids agree on three basic rules that are not to be violated. Those rules get tested to say the least.
I didn’t give this movie a low rating because of the cinematography, acting ability, or direction. I simply didn’t like the film. It was a depressing story, that remains depressing, and even the aftermath is depressing.
However, from a standpoint that this is a story that needs to be told, it definitely has to be told. This reminds me of flipping channels and seeing the starving children in other countries that need our help, but we simply change the channel. We tend to ignore other peoples problems like the bum that wants to wipe your windshield. We ignore them and want them to stay away from us with their problems. This movie throws this helpless little girl’s problems in your face. And you have to squirm through the whole thing. How much I wanted to change channels, but thought I would be a scumbag for flipping! I made myself finish it!
One flaw in this film is the vantage point is from a linguist. This is fine from a clinical point of view, almost turning this film into a documentary. So the angle is wrong for a moving story line. It is a story with a message that the system is messed up and people can be unusually cruel.
Don’t watch this unless you need to be depressed.