Bleh

I like direct leaders. Strong leaders. If you don't take charge, speak up, fight, I do not like you. This is my experience with my work even more this year. I have come to the conclusion that some people with view skills take high leadership positions simply by chance and being at the right place at the right time. I cannot stand it. I often am a facilitaror of problem solving events and I see it all the time. Communication is essential.


This summer I had grand ambitions to read all this continental philosophy. I had a list with dates of when I would be finished...Heidegger, Lacan, Derrida, Zizek, Baudrillard, Badiou, Althusser etc....but it didn't work out as planned as life sometimes does.

I read 45% of Being and Time by Heidegger...it was rough
I read Parallax View by Zizek and it nearly melted my brain and old Dr. Morrissey admitted he was asking the same questions I was(great...)
I read a little Derrida and some trashy fiction

The issue is that you must discuss this stuff. It requires you to bounce these thoughts around.

Somehow I started on a tangent and started to read all I could about the Middle East...something less complicated than continental philosophy. That statement can be taken at several meanings.

I read...
Taliban by Rashdi--Brilliant book, a must read. Details a great deal of the issues and history in Afghanistan. Published pre 9/11

See No Evil by Baer--Scarily interesting

Sleeping with the Devil by Baer--One of my favourite books now upon reading

History and Politics of the Middle East and North Africa--Not very good, neo-colonialist garbage that didn't give any insight

The World is Flat--Not Middle East per say but it relates. I thought it was boring and pedantic because I knew that stuff already. If you stay current you do not need to read his books to be honest. I found it funny that he thinks that all American kiddies should be scientists and engineers...coming from a career journalist with degrees in middle east studies and an MA from Oxford in PPE. Yeah Tom, you try engineering.

The Shia Revival by Nasr--learned a great deal about the Shia/Sunni split and it affects the world. Interesting point, the ayatollah's Iran was kind of Plato's Republic in way

The Looming Towers by Lawrence--Very fascinating...never knew about Al-jihad and Qtub.

Geography of Biblical Lands by Kent--neat maps

Terrorism & Democracy by Turner--Makes me dislike Pres Carter even more. Very interesting to see how the frm DCI saw things

on the list

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001-By Coll

The Al-Queda Reader

Understand Terror Networks by Sageman


Should give me some moderate insight.

quotes

"They go on for me," he said. "I am learning to get online myself, and I will have that down fairly soon, getting on myself. I don't expect to be a great communicator, I don't expect to set up my own blog, but I am becoming computer literate to the point where I can get the information that I need."-mccain in IHT