Unpatriotic Memorial Library
I have put together the official Thought Mechanics Unpatriotic Memorial Library. I would hope the term "Unpatriotic" comes accross as the sarcastic polemic that it is (if not, then I guess it can just be a joke amongst us liberals). You might be wondering who the library memorializes. I decided to memorialize the concept of free thought, something that seems to be dead these days. So, I put together an initial collection of books written for those who still believe in the concept and I will continually add books and also reviews where practical over time. All of the books listed in the library are books that I own and have read.


Howard Zinn is a conservative's worst nightmare; he's a liberal activist with a Ph.D. who writes books about American history. A People's History is written from the perspective of those who have had to endure great hardship and tragedy at the expense of our "progress" as a nation.

Thus, he prefers to "tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves," etcetera. I haven't finished reading it yet, but what I've read so far has been very informative.
Rereading America is an anthology; one of the most important anthologies in recent times I think. It contains essays from Horace Mann, Michael Moore, Jean Anyon, Claude M. Steele, John Gatto, Malcom X, and so on.

Chapter two studies the myth of education and empowerment with some of the most compelling essays I've ever read and that changed my views about education forever. You can read a sample essay from the book here.
Jeremy Iggers completely dissects and then puts back together the concept of ethics in journalism. Conflicts of interest, objectivity and fairness are all concepts that are covered thoroughly and shown in a way that far exceeds everyday discourse.

I learned in this book how the media has gone from being a social institution to a commodity and news readers have gone from being interested citizens to customers and how those changes have redefined journalism ethics.
Want to know why we REALLY went into Iraq? Richard Clarke has the answers and much more in his book, Against All Enemies. The book should have been called "The History of Terrorism and the United States," because that's what it's really about.

Clarke asserts that a "successful and comprehensive counterterrorism effort" would have involved the strengthening of "open governments" to "make it possible politically, economically, and socially for them to go after the roots of al Qaeda-like terrorism." Clarke: The priority countries are Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. Nowhere on the list of things that should have been done after September 11 is invading Iraq.
The 9/11 Commission Report reads like a fiction novel, but unfortunately, as you know, it's all fact. I found chapter eight (Heroism and Horror) to be informative and heart-breaking at the same time.

It was informative to learn how the radio systems broke down to cause such catastrophic failure in firefighter communications, and it was heart-breaking to learn how over 300 of my brothers died trying to save the lives of others.
Alan Colmes put together a great little gem with facts, figures and talking points that every liberal should read. There are also a lot of very funny emails from conservatives for your viewing pleasure.

Colmes: If you believe conservatives, they are the sole proprietors of the flag, and the sole practitioners of love of country. They own God, patriotism, the military, national security, and family values. They believe that points of view other than their own don't belong in America. . . . Amazingly, these are the same people who decried the former Soviet Union for having only one political party.
When Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in 1953, no one could have guessed that a science fiction novel written 50 years ago would end up being an accurate description of the world in which we currently live. In this futuristic world, if a book offends someone, it must be burned.

But in today's society, it's not just books that are burning. Looking around, one can easily see the destruction of speech, art, books, music, film, poetry and, if possible, thought. More of my thoughts on Fahrenheit 451 can be found here.