Posts Tagged ‘Barbara Bush’

Library Additions: Seven Non-Fiction Books

Sunday, December 24th, 2023

I usually note library additions in the other blog, but all of these but two are political or military books. Two are also signed copies replacing or supplementing unsigned copies.

  • Bush, Barbara. A Memoir. Scribner’s, 1994. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at heel and trace of wear at points, inscribed by Bush: “To Chris Hyatt/With best wishes/Barbara Bush/December 1998. Autobiography by First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of 41 and mother of 43, who died in 2018. Not my usual thing, but I stumbled across it checking for signatures in books by 41 and 43. Bought for $14.48 at Half Price Books.

  • Hemple, Stuart. Dread & Superficiality: Woody Allen as Comic Strip. Abrams Comic Arts, 2009. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Near Fine dust jacket with slight waviness, slight grubbiness to uncoated stock, and a thin scratch across bottom of spine. Received as a Christmas gift only because, many moons ago, I noted to Dwight my incredulity that this comic strip ever existed at all. Yes, Woody Allen’s neurotic nebbish character was so well known in the 1970s that a comic strip based on it (but written and drawn by someone else) appeared in numerous newspapers from 1976-1964. I am equally incredulous that someone found the strip worth of a prestige retrospective collection. Supplements my copy of Non-Being and Somethingness, which contains selections from the strip.

  • Hill, Doug and Jeff Weingrad. Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Beech Tree Books, 1986. First edition hardback, a Fine- copy with bumping at head and heel in a Near Fine dust jacket with with one 1/16″ chip at heel, crease to bottom of front flap, slight bumping at head and heel and a bit of pull to top jacket edge. History of Saturday Night Live. Part of a very small collection of books on early SNL. Most people today don’t realize how amazingly funny, daring and groundbreaking the original cast SNL was. Bought for $4.99.

  • King, Florence. Reflections in a Jaundiced Eye. St. Martin’s Press, 1989. First edition hardback, a Near Fine copy with slight bumping at head and heel and thrift store stamp to insider rear cover, in a Fine- dust jacket with slight bumping at head, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Collection of essays. Replaces an Ex-Library copy. Bought for $7.99.

  • McBride, H. W. A Rifleman Went to War. Small-Arms Tactical Publishing Company, 1935. First edition, second printing (according to Dwight’s bibliography of this press), a Near Fine copy with a slight bit of spine wear and previous owner’s bookplate, in a Very Good- dust jacket with 1 1/2″ wide x 1/2″ deep chip at head, small chip at heel, creasing along front flap fold, and general wear, but no loss of lettering anywhere, in a Mylar dust jacket protector. Memoirs of the experiences of an American rifleman who joined the Canadian expeditionary forces during World War I (my second favorite World War). A Christmas gift from Dwight, who collects this press.

  • Murray, Charles. Losing Ground: American Social Policy 1950-1980. Basic Books, 1984. Third printing, a Fine- copy in a Fine- dust jacket, with slighting bumping at head and heel, a trace of wear at points, and a touch of surface wear, inscribed by Murray: “To Dr. Harry Schmitt,/with best wishes/Charles Murray/18 July 1986.” (I wonder if this was inscribed to former astronaut and Republican senator Harrison Schmitt.) This is probably the most important book ever written about the American welfare state, in which Murray showed in meticulously researched detail why the welfare state expansions instituted by Lyndon Baines Johnson’s Great Society inflicted lasting economic and social harm to black families in America. Without Losing Ground, the welfare reform act of 1996 never would have happened. It came out back when some Democrats will still willing to look at research and data rather that automatically calling critics of the welfare state racist. Highly recommended. Supplements an unsigned first printing. (I had a second printing inscribed to me that I foolish lent out and never had returned.) Bought for $5.99.

  • Thorburn, Wayne. Red State: An Insiders Story of How the GOP Came to Dominate Texas Politics. University of Texas Press, 2014. First edition hardback, a Fine copy in a Fine-dust jacket with just a touch of wear, signed by Thorburn. This is an interesting book that describes (among other things) how leftists deliberately drove conservatives and moderates out of their own party so they could control the Democratic Party. Of course, they expected voters would simply keep voting for Democrats, but that didn’t happen. Recommended. Bought for $7. Replaces an unsigned copy.

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    Posted in Media Watch, Military, Waste and Fraud, Welfare State | 1 Comment »

    Barbara Bush, RIP

    Wednesday, April 18th, 2018

    Former First Lady Barbara Bush, wife of one President and mother of another, has died at age 92.

    She was a class act as First Lady, pretty much universally loved and respected, and she will be missed.

    A few quick reactions:

    Even the overwhelming majority of Democrats on Twitter were polite and respectful.

    A few were not:

    Most people would avoid making the death of a First Lady an occasion to score political points.

    Most people.

    Note: I’ve limited the Bush Derangement Idiocy to the Blue Checkmark Brigade…

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    Posted in Republicans, Texas | No Comments »

    A&M Newsflash: “Armed Subject at Rudder Tower” Update: All Clear, Just a Replica

    Thursday, October 28th, 2010

    According to a “Code Maroon” Alert Issued by Texas A&M.

    No reports of shots fired or such. My guess is it’s a false alarm or over-reaction, but I’ll update should it prove otherwise.

    Update: As Karl Rehn noted in email “It is A&M and the week before deer season.” No indication thus far it’s anything other than a false alarm.

    Update 2: The Houston Chronicle is reporting the following information about the suspect:

    • white male
    • wearing olive or green shirt and shorts
    • wearing back pack
    • carrying an AK-47

    (Sigh) It’s always an AK-47 in early reports, isn’t it? Just because it happened to be the case for Colton Tooley’s suicide doesn’t mean its any less likely to be wrong for the next set of early reports.

    Update 3: I can see why they might be a little touchy: Former President George H. W. Bush, as well as former First Ladies Barbara Bush and Laura Bush, are at A&M tonight to open a new exhibition at the George Bush Presidential Library. That was supposed to start at 5 PM, but I can well believe it might be delayed. Of course, the bus driver who spotted the “armed subject” might have seen a Secret Service agent. Then again, if the above description is correct (a big if), that’s pretty unlikely; you don’t often see secret service agents wear shorts in the line of duty (at least when they’re not out exercising with the person they’re protecting).

    Update 4: KBTX updates on the story.

    I would provide a link to the Bryan/College Station Eagle update page, but there’s considerably less information there than here. Evidently they couldn’t find any time out from the vital work of endorsing Democrats to actually assign someone to cover the story.

    Update 5: Seeing tweets that the “armed subject” was just a Corps of Cadets (that’s ROTC for those of you who don’t speak Aggie) member carrying his rifle to practice. Just how long has that bus driver been working at A&M? Did he not notice that they have a wee bit of military tradition there? (If true, this would also make the AK-47 bit especially absurd, since I imagine they practice drilling with rifles a lot closer to an M1 Garand.)

    Update 6: “All Clear. Person with replica weapon identified. No danger. Resume normal activity. 5:34”

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    Posted in Crime, Guns | 1 Comment »