Chen Lehong Lehong itibaren Nong No, Mueang Saraburi District, Saraburi, Thailand
This book is the the third installment from Chalmers Johnson that was preceeded by Blowback and The Sorrows Of Empire. It is the continuation of his thesis that spans the three books contending that militarism and a permanent war economy are incompatible with our republican form of government. In Nemesis (with a subtitle of "The Last Days of the American Republic," Johnson's primary objective is to demonstrate his fear of what the future will hold in terms of current patterns of preventive war and the role the US military, the CIA, and especially the power of the Executive will have in shaping that future. This is by far Johnson's most dire and chilling warning as the book never fails to reach with validity, evidence, and solid allusions to the past. It is a vital read for any who still believes there is something to be salvaged of the United States' constitutional democracy.
Love, loneliness, the constant desire to connect. It's a gentle, beautiful, haunting novella. Midori: "So I made up my mind I was going to find someone who would love me unconditionally three hundred and sixty-five days a year." Watanabe: "Wow, and did your search pay off?" M: "That's the hard part. I guess I've been waiting so long I"m looking for perfection. That makes it tough." W: "Waiting for the perfect love?" M: "No, even I know better than that. I'm looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortcake. And you stop everything you're doing and run out and buy it for me. And you come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortcake out to me. And I say I don't want it anymore and throw it out the window. That's what I'm looking for." W: "I'm not sure that has anything to do with love." M: "It does. You just don't know it. There are times in a girl's life when things like that are incredibly important." W: "Things like throwing strawberry shortcake out the window?" M: "Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologize to me. 'Now I see, Midori. What a fool I've been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortcake. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I'll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate mousse? Cheesecake?' " W: "So then what?" M: "So then I'd give him all the love he deserves for what he's done." W: "Sounds crazy to me." M: "Well, to me, that's what love is. Not that anyone can understand me, though. For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn't begin at all."