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The storyline involves the distant future, where the South has risen again across several star systems; a war ensues against the opposing star systems who are analogous to the North. Two of the voices are shown here: the "notherners" and those of the New South, where the narratives are ordinary and in a heavy Southern drawl, respectively.
The New South are short on manpower, so they combine intelligent lizzards (third voice) with bodies stitched together with remains from battles and employ a zombie ritual (don't remember why) to bring them to life.
The imagery was so vivid for me, reading this when I was thirteen, that 23 years later I still remember this much. I still have a musty paperback copy back home in Cleveland somewhere (I hope). I never found any other books like this. Grab one if you ever come across it.
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Second, we have here a new, more serious Brookhiser, shown by his subsequent biography of Alexander Hamilton. Brookhiser cut his teeth writing for National Review, and wrote some incredibly perceptive essays on the Republican primary contestants in 1980. The good news is that he has deepened as a writer, and now shows that he can also research back in time.
This book reads fast, but sinks deep. Buy it, read it.
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Best way to Start will be
1) Read Inside COM (Microsoft) Inside Out.
2) Graduate to Andrew Troelsen's Developer's Workshop to COM and ATL 3.0. The best that any one can get.
3) And Do read the MSDN.
4) For those who want then to jump into COM+ bandwagan read through Pradeep Tapadiya's 'COM+ Programming: A Practical Guide Using Visual C++ and ATL'
That will make you day. And hey don't forget to read the postings at develop.com and anything written by Don Box/Jefrey Richter.
Bottom Line - STAY AWAY FROM THIS BOOK
On the other hand, if you are an advanced user, this is a pretty good reference for exactly what is going on under the hood with ATL.
The writing is clear and concise. No BS'ing with the history of COM and how it will change your future 10 years from now. I would recommend buying Wrox's COM IDL & Interface design to go along with this book, as it will clearly explain the syntax of IDL and why they look that way.
Beginners may also want to read Dale Rogerson's Inside COM (Microsoft Press) before starting on this book, or you might have questions that go unanswered.
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But, readers may find his review of the performance of the so-called "experts" the most entertaining feature of this book. After you read how he takes apart Alan Dershowitz and others, you'll be sure to put less stock in their outlandish "expert" commentary in the future.
I highly recommend this book for those looking for a non-partisan, dispassionate analysis of the events in Florida.
The only problem Posner's book has is that it is apparently too cerebral for many of his critics to understand. So they rant about irrelevancies, like Gore allegedly winning the popular vote nationally. But do we really know that? One must wonder whether with all the Dem vote fraud, i.e., getting non-citizens to vote et al, that if only legal votes were counted, that Bush may have actually won the national popular vote too. Recent polls suggest that something like only 40% say they voted for the loser, Gore. (That also suggest that Gore has little chance to change his status in 2004).
As for Posner and the inability of his critics to penetrate his arguments, it's not for nothing that Posner is the most frequently cited federal judge. The late Supreme Court Justice William Brennan called Posner one of only two geniuses he had ever met. This book is the product of that genius.
As for the malcontents, George Bush was and is accepted as President by all but the 5% of the most partisan and ignorant Dems that are as vocal as they are stupid. And contrary to their imflamed assertions, the Supreme Court is held in higher esteem now than it was before they stopped the rogue Fl court and Gore from stealing the election.
The result, as a whole, doesn't do much for the reputation of Judge Posner's legal brethren, especially the members of the appropriately nicknamed SCOFLA, or Supreme Court of Florida. As Judge Posner deconstructs the logic -- for lack of a better term -- employed by the Court in Bush v. Gore, you'll be left wondering what in the world they were thinking.
If this book makes anything clear, it's that the Left is correct to call the U.S. Constitution a 'living document.' It lives in the same way the Frankenstein monster 'lived,' as a monster formed by two centuries -- or at the minimum 70 years -- of 'progressive' jurisprudence. The crowning glory of this, as Judge Posner makes clear, may well be the performance turned in by SCOFLA in 2000.
This book wrestles with important issues, but it is well written and extremely readable. The final two chapters -- 'Critiquing the Participants' and 'Consequences and Reforms' -- lift this book beyond the many 'instant histories' we've seen of the 2000 election and make it something well worth studying by people on every (or no) side of the question. The legend of the 'stolen election' has already entered the Left's mythology, up there with 'Reagan's massive budget cuts' and 'impeachment was all about sex.' It would be nice if this excellent book could help us get beyond the partisan grousing so we could address more important issues. But I don't think it's gonna happen.
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