Mexican American Relations Book Review
The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War by Peter Guardino
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4.5 stars
I honestly couldn’t recall anything about the Mexican-American War when I started this book. That’s relevant because I went into reading this without any preconceptions or half remembered high school history lessons.
Guardino does an excellent job of not just reporting the battles and other events that normally make up history books but covers the roles of patriotism and the perception of its lack in Mexico (which wasn’t true; Mexicans were just as invested in Mexico as a distinct nation with its own culture, heritage, people, and ideas of how to govern and be governed), the role poverty and economics of both countries especially in regards to military service, the role of racist and anti-Catholic ideology/beliefs, and the nature of regular army versus volunteer army units in both countries.
This is not a history that buys into the idea that USA is the best and that is why they won. “Winning” a war is more than fighting battles and in the end both sides lose because of the loss of life. Both sides committed atrocities but many of the American volunteer units were the most egregious perpetrators. These are not parts of history that get covered in a high school history class.
Guardino does an excellent job of covering social aspects of the war and the war itself while maintaining a nearly unbiased approach. He doesn’t glorify the winners and doesn’t excoriate the losers. In war, everyone loses.
Review: Deadly Choices and the Anti-Vaccine Movement
Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All by Paul A. Offit
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A good history of the anti-vaccine movement.
Review: The real truth about vaccines
Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad by Peter J. Hotez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It’s good to finally have a work that shows someone who has a family member with autism AND deals with vaccines.
Vaccines do not cause autism.
I would have appreciated hearing more from Ann about raising Rachel, especially since the burden of childcare and dealing with Rachel’s autism fell on her. It would have been good to hear from Rachel too, but then she may have opted out of putting her point of view in the book and that’s okay.
It was helpful showing how Rachel progressed and how she behaved along with the input from Ann who had noticed something was different with Rachel before the diagnosis of autism. Showing the struggles, battles, heartache, and the good was helpful in showing that those on the autism spectrum and their families have to deal and cope with behaviors from their loved ones without a lot of support especially as an autistic child becomes an adult. It was also helpful to show an autistic girl because autism in girls has increased in the last few decades. Having a face to put to the diagnosis rather than a meaningless phrase of paper will help many see the humanity of those with autism rather than a impersonal diagnosis.
It’s genetic and has about a 1000 genes that affect the development of autism with only 65 genes currently identified. The genes that cause autism affect development in the womb, not caused by vaccines. Autistic behaviors start before certain vaccines are given, ones falsely accused of “causing” autism. People are born with autism, not infected with it. Those with autism are usually born with a larger head (macrocephaly), don’t bond or don’t bond well with parents, cry easily and can’t be consoled as babies, start overdeveloping their brains starting at 6 months, may regress in development milestones or be slow to meet them and are usually diagnosed between 18-24 months.
We don’t provide enough services and support for those with autism and families that have an autistic family member. Vaccines are safe. Let’s put more effort into developing and funding support and services for those on the autism spectrum and their loved ones. That’s what we really need more of.
Review: After the Fire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. This was an excellent read. The world building was fantastic. Seeing everything through Moonbeam’s eyes was gripping especially her memories of her time in the cult. This is a book I would recommend to everyone especially those that want to what it is like living in a cult.
Review: The Razor
The Razor by J. Barton Mitchell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Engineer Marcus Flynn has been sentenced to 11-H37 alongside the galaxy’s most dangerous criminals. A hard labor prison planet better known as the Razor, where life expectancy is short all roads lead to dead ends.
At least until the Lost Prophet goes active…
In a few hours, prison guards and staff are evacuated, the prisoners are left to die, and dark mysteries begin to surface.
Yes, Razor is a prison planet. Well, more accurately the thin strip of land between the Cindersphere and eternal night. Prisoners are forced to mine xytrilium, the most sought after power source, one that fuels everything to the Crawlers used to mine xytrilium to computers and space ships. It’s valuable and the Razor has the largest known deposit.
*SPOILERS AHEAD*
Marcus Flynn had been convicted of murder, a murder he didn’t commit because he was planning to leave Mass-Dorian the company that designs and builds all equipment to mine xytrilium. On arriving on Razor, he meets James Maddox, a former Ranger prison guard who used to work on Razor until he killed his CO. Key, a prisoner on the Crawler Charon, has been tasked with killing Flynn. That doesn’t go as planned and he and Key end up shackled together. Maddox is also nearly killed by one of the gangs on Charon.
It’s not long until Lost Prophet, an evacuation protocol activates and everything turns into chaos. From there, they meet science experiments gone wrong and a planet about to be destroyed.
While the characters aren’t that deep, they do keep the story going. Gable is a very dark character that has no morals or ethics. Zane seems like he should be the worst thing to exist ends up being a more morally inclined person than Gable. Key is angry at the universe. And others have contrary motives.
The plot is a bit predictable (messing around with alien artifacts that end up blowing up in your face and science experiments that backfire). This could easily translate into a movie with lots of explosions, guns, and gore.
Still, a decent enough read to be entertaining.
Book Review: Tell Your Children
Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence by Alex Berenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a timely book. Just because something is legal does not mean it’s good for you. Alex Berenson does an excelkent job showing the history, issues, concerns, and major reasons why marijuana legalization has gone political as well as being a major health crisis.
Marijuana had been illegal across the US until it was hit upon to turn into “medicine”. “Medicine” that has very few, if any, benefits. And who benefited from medicalization and legalization of marijuana? The people who were already using it recreationally and now had a “legal” reason to use. THC, the chemical in marijuana that gets you high, has no medical benefits whatsoever. CBD is the chemical compound in marijuana that has some very tiny health benefits at this time.
But marijuana use is not without its risks. For many people who use it once, they will have no side effects or issues. But heavy users who are also at risk for and/or have severe forms of mental illness, especially psychosis, are in danger. Cannabis psychosis is real and it is a major concern. Cannabis use along with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia is also dangerous and make their psychosis and symptoms worse. Marijuana use is detrimental to good mental health, especially for those who already suffer from schizophrenia and psychosis.
Marijuana is also a gateway drug to opiate use. This has been known for years so arguing that legalizing marijuana to stop opiate addiction is ludicrous. It also doesn’t work.
Marijuana for recreational and medical use is legal in many states and more continue to legalize it. Many people don’t understand there are negative consequences for a certain section of society who use marijuana. People don’t hear about them because it doesn’t fit the advocates for legalizing marijuana to speak about the negatives.
I would know. I live in Oregon. And yes, I’m anti legalization and anti medicalization of marijuana. I don’t believe it has any benefits and does more harm than good. I’ve had neighbors in my apartment complex use marijuana, graduate to other drugs and now those people are homeless and severely mentally ill.
I definitely recommend this book.
Year in Books
My 2016 reads.
I know, I’ve been very bad about updating but real life and health issues took precedent. I plan on doing better this year.
Current Events
With all the talk about racism and whose lives matter, this book is an important read. While some of the material is a bit dated, all of it is still relevant. I did wish there was more on certain events but there is some mention in the last chapter.
Is all that math really necessary? The author makes really good points about how experts have come to control the discussion and shut it down while demanding adherence to a curriculum that is far more likely to hurt than help students. And STEM fields are not for everyone so people should not be forced into fields/jobs/careers that don’t want just because some politician says so.
Some History to Go Around
Here are several history books I’ve read in the last few months. These are ones I’d recommend.
Very fascinating read but all the freaking mistresses got annoying. The author doesn’t quite understand the Russian Orthodox Church and uses Latin Catholic terms instead of Russian Orthodox. But that isn’t all that much. But the mistresses and ministers, oy vey.
A good history of the pro-life movement in the US starting early in the 20th century and covering a bit after Roe very. Wade. There are some issues with regards to Catholic Church teaching and statistics used in the epilogue are considered false but those are the only issues.
I had no idea North Korea had done this. I saw this book at the library and walked by it several times over several weeks before I picked it up. Rather interesting look at how North Korea attempted to pass on its ideology in a weird way but failed.
A good overview of the Roman Republic and later Empire without being bogged down in names and places. A few issues but nothing that detracts. The author does look at things outside who is emperor and the ruling class which adds to overall understanding.
While not a history per se, this book does cover the effects of the one child policy on China and its population. A policy started by military scientists with no understanding of human populations which would eventually cause irreparable harm to its own people, economy, and infrastructure.
Graphic Novels
Yeah, it’s been awhile since I’ve updated here. Here are some of the graphic novels I’ve read in the last six months. These are all ones I’ve liked, thought funny and entertaining, or like an episode of a certain TV crime drama.
The Library Made Me Do It 