My latest guilty pleasure-- yes, I've been BAAAAD

[TexasLawyer]

Fire wood has gotten very expensive around here-- $3.00 a bundle ON SALE.

Meanwhile, used right-wing propaganda books, some several inches thick, sit in thrift store shelves and go begging at $.25 each, and often less. Stuff like Tim LaHaye's "Left Behind" books, and lovely hard-backed tomes by Newt, Shawn, and Rush.

For Christmakwanzakah, my family and I splurged and bought a beautiful, brass outdoor fireplace.

You can probably guess where this is going!!!!!!!

[wtmusic]

1. And you thought they were useless

Get yer marshmallows out!

[sakabatou]

39. LOL

:rofl:

[AlCzervik]

2. you're helping everybody by doing that.

[linazelle]

4. LOL. nt

[TexasLawyer]

5. I'm at least saving trees...

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

3. Wouldn't A Bundle Last Longer, Burn Cleaner, And Provide More Warmth Than

12 books?

[acmejack]

6. I think even Umbra Fisk would be proud!

Best use for a La Haye work I have heard of!

edit: Umbra

[Tsiyu]

7. I must admit

While starting a leaf-burning fire Wednesday(let's not get into why last year's leaves are still on the ground) I burned a copy of "The Way Things Oughta Be."

I had saved it for specific quotes, but find I just need to purge this crap from my surroundings entirely.

The bizarre thing is, BlubberBoy's face turned an eerie green while burning, like he was morphing back into a lizard. :scared:

[emdee]

8. That's hilarious! Make some smores!!

:thumbsup:

emdee

[sproutster]

9. :( Books are not meant to be burnt. I don't care WHO wrote them.

[Mind_your_head]

11. I agree with you sproutster

I am totally repulsed by the idea of 'book burning' of any sort.

[TexasLawyer]

14. Fascists burn books to terrorize and to chill free speech

These books that I am "taking permanently off the after-market" were themselves written to terrorize.

And I'm taking off the chill of a cold evening.

[Mind_your_head]

21. Isn't that what "They" do?

The 'radical right' has decided what is propaganda, what is 'good and correct' and they want to 'protect us all from harm' (by getting rid of our right to choose ~ what to see, what to watch, what to hear?) All points of view must be heard/available. How else can people really learn/decide what is good and what is bogus?

What happened to "I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it?"

[TexasLawyer]

26. Hey, these "authors" can say all the stuff they want to say

But the market has spoken re what certain used books are worth. Next to nothing.

Rush costs way less than firewood. Meanwhile, Amy Tan, John Grisham-- they cost more because people actually keep buying those books second-hand.

Plus, well, yes... I do confess that I am getting tremendous, private jollies in my back yard from my little bonfires.

[txindy]

27. Then the wingnuts can pay full price at Barnes & Noble

TexasLawyer, meanwhile, can help make room at Half-Price Books for even more books by helping them clear their cheapest stock. Besides, if anybody wanted them, they wouldn't be that cheap at any used book store. Nothing I ever buy in those stores is on deep clearance. But for some funky reason, there always seem to be a boatload of Left Behind books....well, left behind. On the deeeeeeeeep clearance shelves for a quarter a pop. Now, why is that?

[rman]

74. using books as fuel is not organized book burning

as the RW does on occasion.

[Mind_your_head]

49. You convict yourself with your own words TexasLawyer

You said:
Fascists burn books to terrorize and to chill free speech

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x134794 (Post #14)

And you started that very thread with the allusion to the fact that you are burning books.

You're admitting to being a fascist by your own definitition!

NO ONE has a right to decide for other people what is 'good' or 'bad' for them. 'God' gave each of us a good brain, and he expects us to USE it! We don't need other people "kindly" doin' our thinkin' for us.....No THANKS!....and that includes 'people like YOU'.

(needless to say I don't think we'll be on each other's 'buddy list' any time soon.)

[GodHelpUsAll2]

57. Sheeshs

Chill out will ya. You are acting as if TexasLawyer is going store to store and buying up ALL books and holding huge bon fires and burning mountains of them in the middle of town square. If I buy a book and it turns out to be crap it is my choice if I choose to toss it in the trash or toss it on the fire.

Big difference between buying a few books authored by people you despise and torching them and organizing a mass of people and going on a public crusade to have public book burnings.

[TexasLawyer]

61. Oh, lighten up

Why must the 2 millionth copy of a dumb book, with a water-damaged cover and which nobody wants, be preserved, just because it is a "book."

[leeroysphitz]

63. Rationalization.You are wrong. Stop. n/t

[rman]

73. wow, that's persuasive - not

[Horse with no Name]

15. Books that spread propaganda and hate should be burned

The fewer that will "just happened to be picked up" and read by an unsuspecting dolt.

[Zebedeo]

54. What if everybody did that?

"Books that spread propaganda and hate should be burned"

So, liberals will burn conservative books, because they don't agree with them; conservatives will burn liberal books for the same reason; pacifists will burn war books and the military will burn pacifist books; you'll burn Christian books, and Christians will burn books you like.

Is that really such a great idea? Think about it :think:

How about letting people people read what they want, instead of trying to prevent certain books from getting into their hands.

[XOKCowboy]

19. So If I Use The Books Pages...

to wipe my butt that's OK? As long as I'm not burning the books? The books are trash and trash should be burned. I don't get your anguish here.

[leeroysphitz]

65. Read your own avatar image there, geniuse... n/t

[kevinbgoode]

23. If he purchased the books, he OWNS them.

As far as I'm concerned, he can do whatever he wants with them. This isn't a public book burning of public library collections.

[TexasLawyer]

28. Hey, I'm a SHE

a girl's gotta keep warm somehow!

[stanwyck]

29. OK. But if you buy the books

they're yours to burn if you wish. You're not burning library books, school books, or books which belong to other people. So. Why not save money on firewood.

[Rigby Reardon]

37. Hear Hear!

I agree

First you are burning books, then you are telling people how to think.

[txindy]

38. She's burning her own books, not a library's, not a school's, & not yours

Or did you miss that part?

[wtmusic]

41. The act of burning them is free speech nt

[txindy]

42. Yes, it is.

It's her own property, too. She has the right to dispose of it as she pleases.

[TexasLawyer]

46. More like free whispering

Other than my confession tonight to like-minded DU-ers, no one knows about my guilty little back yard fires except for my husband and my 14 year old son, Tom, aka "Pyro".

So, not much of a public statement. Mostly just fun.

[wtmusic]

47. Tom is noticing which books get burnt and which don't

and you're passing some values on to the next generation

[Ksec]

10. I would think that binding the whacko books tightly

with wire would help them burn longer. We all know how much hot air those types give off.

[MODemocrat]

12. They'd also be perfect to use in Ye olde outside privvy

Does anyone here at DU remember the old outside toilets, where you were sure to see some old catalogs and newspapers lying around? The right-wing propaganda books and news items would be perfect to use.
The idea of using them in your fireplace makes an awful lot of sense. I've been seeing some for a dime at the DAV store lately. That's all they're good for. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[justgamma]

17. And the catalog was a welcomed sight.

The alternative was the pile of corncobs in the corner. Yikes!!

[MODemocrat]

22. That must have been painful

It's really hard to believe what people went through.

[kineneb]

24. catalogs were great for the outhouse

but Grandma warned me about using not using the shiny pages...(I'm not kidding...).

As to burning up a bit of pulp fiction, it is a better use than some books came to. Our Rotary Club had a giant yard sale, and so many books were left at the end that they had to take them to the dump. Burning would have least kept them out of the landfill.

[Richard Steele]

33. My dad and his brothers were kids in the 50s-60s...

...and I remember my grandma once talking
about how their COMIC BOOK COLLECTIONS eventually
met their ends doing 'catalog duty' in the old outhouse.

That's gotta be the world's most expensive toilet paper.

[CornField]

13. Please shop for Dr. Laura & have a smore for me. :-)

[stanwyck]

31. Not sure her books will burn

considering what a slimey snakeoil salesman she is.

[TexasLawyer]

36. Gays are "biological errors,"

says Dr. Laura. No wonder her 2nd-hand book sales are slow-- no one wants a psychological spanking from that dumbo.

And to all those who might be eyeing used Dr. Laura books-- sitting unbought on the shelves of "Value Village"--

they're MINE.

Find your own kindling!

[Catherine Vincent]

16. Very good idea!

Did you take a snapshot of throwing the books in the fireplace? :thumbsup:

[TexasLawyer]

20. Hi Cat Girl!

No-- the burning itself is already quasi-fascist.

I don't want to take pictures of doing it, too.

That would just be too, too baaaad of me.

But I must say that the feeling of warmth that washes over me as I watch Rush's ugly words disappear into the night is, well,... you would just have to feel it for yourself...

I want to do it again, and again, and again, and...

someone stop me!!!!

[librechik]

18. be sure to video tape it sometime

sounds like legitimate art

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

25. You are a wise, frugal person - try papering birdcages as well.

:D

[txindy]

32. Yep, the satisfaction would last even longer.

Watching the birds bless the pages, time and again.

:rofl:

[TexasLawyer]

34. Better than WhiteOut!

[Gregorian]

30. Madrone burns so much better.

But so much less satisfying.

[hootinholler]

35. Sounds cathartic.

Great idea.

-Hoot

[TexasLawyer]

40. Cathartic, but NOT premeditated...

I buy bunches and bunches of books for soldiers in Iraq. One group of soldiers I was buying for wanted "Left Behind" series books, and without really thinking about it, I bought a bunch at 2 for 25 cents (they were having a sale at Value Village. Whoo whoo!). When I got the books home, I was (figuratively speaking) holding my nose as I crated them up.

But I had second thoughts about whether I personally wanted to pay the postage and make the effort to send that kind of book-- especially to a place where books are few and far between and are likely to be read over and over again by different soldiers.

So, I sent my soldiers some other less fascist books.

BUT-- then ... what to do with the Left Behinds that were "left behind"...

So, at least my first round of book burning wasn't completely fascist. But it felt so good I had to do it again.

[Zebedeo]

55. So you ARE controlling what people read

They requested the Left Behind books, but you decided for them what they should be permitted to read. I don't call that QUASI-fascist.

[GodHelpUsAll2]

58. How do you figure?

She didn't decide what they were "permitted" to read. She decided what she was willing to provide. Those soldiers are perfectly free to purchase and read their own copy of the left behind books. Or find someone who is willing to provide it for them. When you are participating in the act if "charity" I don't recall where it is written that you provide what you are told to provide and not what you can/choose.




p.s. I have been requesting a huge salary and beachfront property for a long time now. Damn those who decided for me and failed to come through with what I requested! Who do they think they are deciding what is best for me!

[TexasLawyer]

66. Whaaa?

I had no obligation to buy these particular soldiers a thing. Not a book, not a candy bar, not sheets, not toiletries, not anything. I was just responding to a post on AnySoldier.com by someone who was a complete stranger to me. My family and I send out about 2 care packages per week, something that most people don't do and wouldn't even think of doing.

And the soldiers can order on line and get any book their heart desires. "Mein Kampf?"... coming right up sir. Or the soldiers can place requests with their friends and relatives. I am not the sole source of books for these guys by any stretch of the imagination.

I am sure if these particular guys had the choice between receiving a box full of thrillers and receiving nothing-- then they would very happily take the former.

If I'm a fascist, I think I am a pretty nice one. I am just not going to put myself out, and pay money, to promote something I absolutely don't believe in.

Some of the soldiers also ask for cigarettes. I don't smoke and I think it is an unhealthy, destructive habit, and cigarettes are EXPENSIVE. So am I "Big Brother" because I don't go mortgage my house and buy them all the cigarettes they want?

It's basically the same thing.

[Zebedeo]

76. Everyone always thinks the OTHER guy is fascist

I just find it ironic that you say you wanted to send them "less fascist" books, and yet YOU are the one who engaged in censorship, thought control and book-burning.

If you disagree with what is stated in a book, write your own book or letter to the editor stating why you think the first book is wrong. Don't burn the book. I would think that opposition to book-burning would not be a controversial position on this progressive board.

Book burning is bad in general, but I find it particularly appalling when the books are religious books. People should have a right to read what they choose and to worship as they choose. Burning religious books interferes with both of those fundamental freedoms.

If everybody BURNED all the books that they disagreed with, there would be no books left on Earth.
:(

[rman]

75. It's not like TexasLawyer buys all left-behind books.

His burning some of those does not prevent others from reading those books.

Using books as fuel is not the same as organized book burning that the RW does on occasions.

But you know that don't you.

[TexasLawyer]

43. "Desecration"

This explosive ninth book in the "Left Behind" series will carry the world to the brink of Armageddon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We threw that one on the barbee tonight.

It burned up real good.

[hopeisaplace]

44. like a scene out of FOOTLOOSE!..only in reverse

:rofl:

[Nutmegger]

45. It must be satisfying...

not that I would know...

[The Whiskey Priest]

48. Never burn a book.....

That is what the other side does or wants to do...we are smarter, we know that ideas cannot be consumed by flames...ideas, bad philosophy must be exposed to the sunlight of debate and ridicule...that is what kills it; plus very good armament.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

50. Excuse me, but what do you think is of any worth...

...in the books noted above?

Additionally, those books have already been "exposed to the sunlight of debate and ridicule"...why do you think they've been relegated to the 25-cent shelf?

[Mind_your_head]

51. Let me ask you.....

How many brilliant artists have died as paupers? That's sort of a true artist's path, isn't it? People couldn't see any 'value' in it at the time, but only later....OH LATER....THE BRILLIANCE!!!!

(I'm not saying these books are brilliant...imho opinion, they're just dumb....but I DO very much respect the right of the people who wrote them, published them....and ~ over time ~ it will be 'fleshed out' what has merit to last and what shall be discarded (but not so blatantly as to openly admit that they throw it into the fire!....brrrrrrrr *chills*)

edit: typo ~ changed "could see" to "couldn't see" in 1st paragraph

[lectrobyte]

56. but if they're on sale for .25, they're close to being tossed as rubbish

anyway. might as well get some productive use out of them. it's not like they were ripped out of the shelves of the library or something.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

52. You're taking propaganda & yellow journalism off the shelves....

n/t

[Cleita]

53. I have seen in the past where some RW propaganda sites

will give you copies of books written by Ann Coulter and others for free.

[TexasLawyer]

59. NewsMax was giving out

the Swift Boat Veterans' book, free with a subscription. Regnery Press (Swift Boat, Ann Coulter, etc...) is affiliated with that RW rag, and with super-smarmy "Human Events".

These RW publishers flood the market with these books that no one wants. People don't want them used--- they might not even want them NEW.

Hence the give-aways.

[file83]

60. Burn baby, BURN....Republican Inferno!!! Burn baby, BURN!!

I hope you are all nice and toasty sipping on a hot chocolate and reading some Chomsky...(hehehe)

[leeroysphitz]

68. You are misguided. It makes me sad. n/t

[file83]

70. You have no sense of humor. It makes me sadder. n/t

[leeroysphitz]

62. Sorry, it must be a knee-jerk thing but I just can't seem to get

behind book burning. I think the very notion is silly and ignorant. You've got guts but guts is not enough. Do the right thing.

[Heidi]

64. I'm with you.

I just don't get the "It's OK when _I_ do it" school of thought.

[Catrina]

79. So, you must agree with the latest Flag Burning legislation?

The way I see it, with both books, flags or anything else, in a free society, if you own it, you can do whatever you want with it, including burning it. That is a private matter.

What is not, is if the government bans, burns or destroys books as a public demonstration to its people that it will not tolerate what it considers to be subversive and therefore a threat to that government's control.

There is a huge difference between what Texas Lawyer is doing and a government doing it with the intention of frightening the population under threat of imprisonment. She is 'saying' in the privacy of her own home, by destroying her OWN property, that she considers the books in question, to be garbage.

She is NOT issueing an order to others that they must not read those books, she doesn't have the power to do so. She can 'express' her opinion this way, as a political statement, and for personal satisfaction if she chooses.

I would not tell a rightwinger either, that s/he did not have the right to burn a book written by Clinton, eg, so long as s/he was the owner of the book. They have a perfect right to do that, so long as they don't prevent me from buying or reading the book.

Telling her she is doing wrong, could be seen as an attempt to 'silence' her.

Imo, and up until recently, according to the law, she could have burned the flag for the same reasons. She, and all of us have now, have been silenced as far as expressing our political views in that way.

Would you support a law that gave the government the power to tell a private citizen which of their own possessions they could or could not burn?

To equate what she is doing with the government ordering the burning of books, makes no sense, imo.

What I'm saying is if it's your book or your flag and you burn it in your own home, it's nobody's business and you're exercising your 1st Amendment right to express a political opinion.

So, I think it's a great way to keep warm and to say what you think of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and all the rest of the rightwing propagandists.

[leeroysphitz]

67. Thread of ultimate ignorance. (You must be so proud)

I just got through saying that for some reason ignorance seems to ABOUND on DU tonight...

[ISUGRADIA]

69. Here's the reality of book publishing:

Hundreds of millions of books are printed each year. MILLIONS of books are destroyed each year. They don't sell. They get the cover torn off to return for publisher's credit. Then they are put in dumpsters. Then most likely end up in landfills.

I draw a distinction between someone buying books and privately burning them and someone or a group publicly burning books, saying they should not be published, boycotting bookstores, threatening libraries, etc. I've seen none of that in this case.

Are all books sacred? Must we keep every copy of Microsoft Word 1.0 Users Guide?

[TexasLawyer]

78. Microsoft Word 1.0 Users Guide

Very good example.

[TexasLawyer]

77. Say what you want about me

and my backyard practices. I'll still love you because of your avatar. Yes, PIG, indeed!

[renate]

71. life without books would be empty to me

Yet I am absolutely befuddled by the objections that some people have to other people's burning their own damn books for warmth.

I suspect that TexasLawyer would defend to the death (though such an extreme wouldn't be necessary, since she's a lawyer and can present a case in court) another person's right to read Rush Limbaugh's feeble meanderings.

But is she obliged as a First-Amendment-believing American, having read the book and found it wanting, to take it to a used-book store or donate it to her nearest church, just because she doesn't want it any more?

Hmmmm. My vote is a BIG FAT NO.

I don't have any problems with people burning Jimmy Carter's latest book, or Michael Moore's books, or Conyer's report on the 2004 election. I don't have a problem with anybody burning any of their personal literature, as long as they don't do it on anybody else's front lawn.

This is America. So far, anyway, we're still allowed to disagree with each other, and we're still allowed to safely and responsibly dispose of household trash, whether in book form or not.

[jokerman93]

72. Here's how I take your post TL

One thing I'm sure of is you aren't a "book-nazi". It's clear to me you're describing a symbolic act that's quite satisfying on a lot of levels. I don't think I would have enjoyed your post if I felt you were advocating suppression of speech.

To me, you're description is of a symbolic act that's actually quite primitive and intuitive. In a sense you're acting as a shaman, symbolically banishing the tyranny of the spirit these books represent to you (and many of us too, right?). In your case, as I see it, the burning is an organic regenerative act, not a nod to tyranny.

:hippie:

What can I say? lol. I was an Anthro major in college for three years. It scarred me!

But really, I've been perusing an old book of mine that I read twenty or so years ago. I remember it made a strong impression at the time. It's called "The Reenchantment of the World" by Morris Berman. --Take away the microchips and the spin machine, and human beings are pretty much the same expressive, magical, dangerous, sublime animals we've always been.

hats off
:toast:
J.

[LiberalInGeorgia2005]

80. LOL

[LiberalInGeorgia2005]

81. Doesn't this help their book sales though? (NT)

[LiberalInGeorgia2005]

82. Whoops

Never mind. USED books.

[lonestarnot]

83. heh heh heh

[ComerPerro]

84. At my New Year's Eve party, Proud2BLib seemed amused that

in order to keep my fire going, I was burning copies of the Wall Street Journal.

[Mutley]

85. I don't like book burning.

Even if I think the content of a particular book is rubbish, it's just not right to burn it.