(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best ethnic & national biographies

Hi!

>A bit disjointed, no direction, I just have to let some out.

This has happened to all of us. It will change.

> Our first indication of something needing addressed was the fact that he wasn't talking. When I express this to people close to us, they seemed to think oh he must be using baby talk or can say momma and dadda. Nope. None of that. Not even assigning nonsense words that we could decipher. I personally did not think this was a big deal, I didn't start talking until 3. However, tons of people around me told me to talk to our PCP and get him speech therapy. Ok, what could it hurt?

> Our PCP informed us that she was going to set up an evaluation. I assumed a basic inventory of his health and hearing, blood tests, etc. What I did not expect was a full battery of experts. The day lasted nearly 6 hours. 5 different experts, MDs and PhDs, and many other initialed experts among them. I was pretty impressed with their demeanor, much of the time was spent "playing" and observing. Questions and directions. I did not realize from what looked to be pretty simple process how much info was gained and being interpreted.

> The indicators. At first, it seemed ridiculous. I'm certain based on my son's demeanor they had arrived at their conclusion before much evidence was present. Examples, when playing with cars, the minute he rolled a wheel, they asked us if he does this often or with other objects. Nope. Just loves rolling cars about-like a normal kid! They informed me that he did not like stacking blocks-he preferred lining them up. Ok.... He stacks them all the time at home. Last doc we visited with seemed especially keen on his habits, noting he only chose the cars, ignoring everything else. Asked us if he flaps, nope. Upon wrapping up, he gathered the cars (very gently, not in a mean way) and of course our son gets mad. "That's flapping!" An immediate reaction, I was surprised this wasn't "normal" for a two-year-old? Doc said it with such authority I didn't question it.

Your evaluation was performed in the best possible way. Our twins were evaluated along that procedure (ADOS-2 probably). Since your kid doesn't talk yet probably you will need a second evaluation in the future. Our ST made us wait before evaluating our kids (like or pediatrician, he also suspected at least one of them had ASD). His approach was to produce a communication channel before the evaluation to have a better assessment. After the long evaluation, kids were diagnosed with 18 and 22 on the ADOS scale. This put them above the Asperger range, but at a mostly functional range. Our neurologist (the head of the evaluation team) told us that this evaluation was their last. No further evaluation was needed.

> On the drive home, my emotions ranged. First, these guys don't know my boy. It seemed like they made a big deal about everything. How could they have gathered enough info to make such a huge diagnosis???

Because they are trained, they know where to look. The other positive point is your boy is very young so all the symptoms are there to catch and no bias because of age is present. So it is easier to pinpoint the level, and produce a set of 'countermeasures' through early intervention to make him feel better about the world and himself.

> Eventually, I realized, I do know my boy. I know him deeply. He reminds me of myself. Him playing with little pieces of carpet in a room full of toys, me sitting down in the outfield playing with grass instead of playing T-ball. Intent on his particular toys, as I was with my Legos. In his own world. Throwing the blankets off at night, perhaps this is a skin sensitivity? Banging random objects, is that stimming? This and more, many more little signs...they add up.

You know a part of him, but being autistic there is another part that is hidden behind a veil and you can't access to it and he cannot explain to you that yet. One book (recommended here) that I found quite enlighten is The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism. You can read it in an hour.

Also, I also told the psychologist interviewing my wife and I that my kids remind me of myself as I shared some traits with them. She told me, they were the ones being evaluated and whatever similarity was not relevant to them. Thus, don't overcomplicate yourself, try to build from your shared traits upwards to guide him into a fulfilling life.

> And I well up. I love my boy. He isn't a set of signs or indicators. How do they have the temerity to think they can assign labels or know what he is? I know WHO he is. And I worry. About programs that aim to "normalize" him. About teachers who may not give him the benefit of the doubt or the opportunity to excel. I worry that a diagnosis may hold him back and instead of building him up they'll remove his essence. Family who sees him differently.

Acceptance will come, but this doesn't mean you won't demand them to excel. Yet, you need to know his boundaries and be very aware of his strength. I wrote a lot about my kids here. Every kid is different, so you have to look for yourself.

Our twins are 4 y/o now. They started ST at 2.5, then moved to an inclusive school (50%ASD-50%NT) with ST, OT and PECS oriented classroom. This environment has helped a lot to develop their spoken language, feel more comfortable around people, and communicate their needs. You NEED every therapy available NOW.

Our neurologist told us the following: "if you do nothing now, they can go to a regular school without problems. They will adapt, but you won't have the best version of themselves. If you support them in every possible way, go to [this type of school] then you will drive your kids to become the best they want to be.

But for you, doing this will be the hardest five years of your life. So, you need psychological support and live a healthier life. You need to be there, every hour for your kid now."

So we took the second option.

Our kids, can speak now (not with the fluidity of a 4 y/o) and communicate most of their needs. Their tantrums and quirks are mostly contained (they appear when they are really tired or anxious). They are very clever kids, that love numbers, words, and music.

They excel at numbers: count from 1 to 30 (understand the symbols and their relation to quantities) in Spanish (mother language) and English. They can do basic sums (without finger counting) and now they are learning subtraction. They also have a strong interest in words: know the full ABC (some letters from the English pronunciation), read some words, understand words in English (colors and shapes; also many animals), and now they are learning to construct words from syllable.

We are using iPads to strengthen these areas. I bought them Tiggly when they were very young (two years ago) and this fourth birthday (yesterday) they received Osmo's Genius Kit. They loved the Tangram because puzzle-solving is one thing they love to do a lot (and this is in another level).

> I don't know the future. I only know that we will exercise agency in every decision along the way. We will advocate for rights and opportunity. We will be better than our parents. He will not be called "doofus" or "f-ggot." I'll hug the sht out of him but never hit him. He's our boy dammit, I love him, and that's all that matters.

Nobody knows​ the future, even us 'normal' people.

What you feel about parenthood is what I felt, even before knowing they had ASD. The thing you mention may even happen to a regular kid with special interest, whether has ASD or not. In our special case, we need to learn about ASD to approach to learning in the best possible way for the mind of our sons.

Be patient, It will be better.

EDIT: grammar.

You are baptized, so you're Catholic.

1. To rejoin the Church you start attending Mass on Sundays, you can go to confession, and you talk to the priest. You'll probably have to go through RCIA before you can receive Communion (and you'll be confirmed).
   
   
2. You'll find that the church stances depend on the core beliefs and practices; it depends on what you mean by stances. Some things are matter of faith - we are required to assent to the teachings that all killing of the innocent is absolutely evil, etc. Does that mean we do it well all the time? No. It is absolutely useless to try to convince the Church to change on those things, so the best way to take them is to say, "I do not see how this can be, but the Church says it" and ask God for insight. As you learn more about the Faith, you start to see how everything fits together, and how "necessary evils" that the Church forbids are often the result of other evils that the Church also forbids. (Note that this has to do with beliefs of the Church; ideas of specific churchmen are in a different level; being Catholic doesn't mean you have to support a specific economic idea, even if some do. It's more about keeping the Truths of the Faith in view.)
   
   
3. The Church has not split in any major way since the Orthodox wandered outside into the garden, where they seem happy to remain. There are factions inside the Church who are grumbling at each other - the way to understand this is that the Church is a family which includes everything that goes along with it - the devoted children who believe Dad is basically God, the rebellious teenagers who don't want to listen to Dad because he's not cool (but will call to be picked up late at night when they're worried), the Mom who loves Dad beyond belief but can't understand what he's doing, the Grandma who keeps talking about how it was in her day, and so on. Remember that anyone who says "The Church says" or "You must say" needs to back it up with the Magisterium. The way the Church works is that we trust in the Authority of God, who manifests His Authority through the world; if you have a question you ask your pastor; if he's wrong, God will let you know in time. Becoming more Catholic than the Pope is not recommended - knowing the Truth the Church teaches is good, but if you cannot see how something said applies, it may be your understanding that is missing. Living in the Church is much more about those around you and trying to be Christ to them than determining the exact doctrinal specifications - salvation is a process not a checklist.
   
   
4. I would recommend reading some books - Rome Sweet Home is good, as is No Price Too High. You can also start going to your local parish, and get to know the pastor. After Mass, tell him you're interested in the faith and would like to go to dinner or something at some point. You might find a rare grouchy priest, but God will look out for you. You may also want to see if there's an FSSP parish nearby, they'll do the older form of the Mass, which can be quite beautiful and often strikes people differently.
   
   THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER THAT THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ON EARTH CONSISTS OF SINNERS
   
   You will meet bad Catholics, good Catholics, extremely holy Catholics, racist Catholics, altruistic Catholics, annoying Catholics, intelligent Catholics, dumb Catholics, reddit Catholics, traditional Catholics, and more. The Church on earth "the Church Militant" has many imperfections, many people working out their salvation in fear and trembling. We are called to be loving to them as Christ would be loving to them, which is what He wants us to do. God so loves everyone that He wants to share the joy of this love with us, and the way to do that is to sacrifice for others as Christ sacrificed for us all.

I don't rely on "paleo" evidence to determine appropriate human diets, but I do like reading it. I think the best application for it is learning about the environment that our basic systems evolved within. But the maximum you can conclude from the best paleo evidence is that whatever diet was consumed was sufficient for reproductive success under the conditions that existed at the time. The milieu of human evolution involved: a specific environment and climate (African savannah); a spectrum of foods eaten; a certain amount of exercise (lots, constantly); frequent parasitic infection and physical wounds that had to be survived; whatever microbiome we had then; food scarcity; complex cultural factors; and selection pressure to have many children and see them into adulthood, but not to live a long time.

Whatever we can conclude about diet applies only to that environment. If some of the variables change, uncertainty is introduced. A trait or strategy that was beneficial could become the opposite, or could be completely irrelevant. Thus, I prefer to look to human populations from the last 100 years. Not only do they live in an environment much more similar to mine, but we can actually gather accurate data on their dietary patterns and their health outcomes.

That said, I like this book for thoughts on dietary animal products and macronutrient ratios: The Paleoanthropology and Archaeology of Big-Game Hunting

A short paper as a reminder that all "just so stories" should be questioned, because even the most basic "paleo" hypothesis, the thrifty genotype, is contested: Evolutionary Perspectives on the Obesity Epidemic

This one is fascinating for social factors: Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy

And this one is just a great ethnology, especially for considering gender roles and what makes us happy: Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman

>it's just surreal that the natives of this land only gained the right to vote in it less than one century ago and it's kind of sickening to think about how archaic this time is.

I don't want to look like I'm forming a pity party, but the Civil Rights Movement didn't really help out Indian Country. We had to have our own round of protests and fighting in the 1970s. Check out the American Indian Movement, the Occupation of Alcatraz Island and especially the Alcatraz Proclamation, among others. What really stunning is that the American Indian Religious Freedom Act didn't come about until 1978, let alone the fact that they had to pass it at all!

>Are there any books, movies, or another form of media that are true stories or realistic fiction that depict American Indians in a way that you find to be interesting and faithful?

Anything by Vine Deloria, Jr. is awesome, although he is more historian and scientist than he is story-teller. A short list of my favorites:

• Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
  
• God Is Red: A Native View of Religion
  
• Red Earth, White Lies: Native Americans and the Myth of Scientific Fact
  
  If you want to read some great fiction that depicts American Indians accurately, start with Sherman Alexie:
  
  
• Smoke Signals
  
• The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven
  
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
  
  Outside of those authors, some popular picks are Black Elk Speaks and Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
  
  As far as movies go, any self-respecting Indian has seen the movie Smoke Signals dozens of times. Powwow Highway is a favorite of mine, and Dance Me Outside is movie gold, although it doesn't get enough attention.
  
  >I'm thinking - why hasn't HBO or some big network done a drama that focuses on American Indians? This could be a very interesting book, as well... Or is this idea something even somewhat appealing to you as a young American Indian?
  
  I'm not sure what you are thinking, but I have my own ideas. I'd like to see a series that focuses on a single reservation for each episode, and details the hardships that the people of that reservation deal with on a daily basis. Call it a pity party, but there are children in the United States right now that live in houses with dirt floors and sleep on pallets and go to school on 30-year-old school buses on unkempt dirt roads (and sometimes off-road) where they learn a curriculum outdated for a decade or more........ I can go on and on. Get in your car and drive to Pine Ridge Reservation RIGHT NOW, you'll be convinced that you walked into a third world country in the middle of a war. Its not pretty. The corruption in the tribal government needs to be put in the spotlight, and the part that the Federal and State governments have played in this tragedy need to be righted. That's the facts.

As /u/seppi56210 mentioned, /r/Catholicism is a great resource. Definitely check it out.

As for books outlining this journey, with you coming from a Lutheran background, I'd recommend Scott Hahn's Rome Sweet Home, Devin Rose's Navigating The Tiber, Trent Horn's Why We're Catholic and Deacon Alex Jones' No Price Too High.

As far as books dealing, historically, with the Reformation and Great Schism, that may depend on exactly how academic you want to get. What sort of historical context are you looking for? I'll see how I can help.

And, lastly, as for that Rosary... keep learning to pray it, and stick with it, even when it seems dry or mundane. I recommend the following reflections as starting points for meditations as you go through each decade:

The Joyful Mysteries

The Luminous Mysteries

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries

I'll say an extra prayer for your journey today, and feel free to reach out via PM with any other questions or if you need any other guidance.

Peace to you!

DK

Stop second-guessing your choice of major. Keep your eyes on what you actually want, and remember that the steps along the way will all build there eventually. Check in on your plans when you're picking classes each semester, to make sure you're still on course and still want that ultimate goal. The REU and some lab time will all help.

Try reading some science-related books, not actual science but stuff about scientists themselves or stories about specific scientific discoveries. Like The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Double Helix, Eighth Day of Creation, The Disappearing Spoon, and Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman. Your school should have copies of most of them, and they aren't textbook-heavy (though not quite as light as fiction novels).

Don't forget to stay at least a little rounded. Someone on just about every recruitment weekend for grad school will ask about your hobbies. I'm pretty sure they're required to do so :) Or you'll discover you and your interviewer both do ceramics and can chat about that, leaving a stronger impression than if you were yet another person talking about science. It's good to be done with the requirements, but make sure you keep up something outside your major, even if it's just ultimate frisbee.

That one is good, but honestly, read Ta-Nehisi Coates' two most recent books. We Were Eight Years in Power as well as Between the World and Me.

The first one is several fantastic essays about black issues and the black experience in America. The second is written as a letter to his son about what it means to be black in America. They are very eye opening. Toni Morrison called BTWAM "required reading" for every American and I'd agree for both books. They're not too long and a great resource for understanding the Black experience written by a modern public intellectual at the pinnacle of his power. Seriously, the dude writes extremely well.

OP, if you are looking for a really incredible book by a korean-am author, i recommend nora okja keller's fox girl. it is INCREDIBLY dark but honest and gorgeous and terrifying. i loved and hated it when i read it for an asian american lit class and to this day almost 8 years later i can't stop thinking about it. (https://amzn.com/0142001961)


esme weijun wang - border of paradise (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26196482-the-border-of-paradise)
^^CANNOT recommend this enough. it is LIFE CHANGING. haunting beautiful devastating modern gothic, mixes language and culture like nothing i've read before.

celeste ng - everything i never told you (https://amzn.com/0143127551)

annie choi - happy birthday or whatever (https://amzn.com/0061132225)

andrew x. pham - catfish and mandala (https://amzn.com/0312267177)

lisa see - snow flower and the secret fan (https://amzn.com/0812980352)

Catholics understand that Christ established one Church. There is only one body of Christ and you are already part of it even if you are imperfectly joined to it. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we share the same body, spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God, and Father. But it was Christ's last prayer on earth that we be united so that the world would believe him. As a convert to Catholicism, I am honored that I was given the opportunity to answer Jesus' dying wish. How cool is that?

This weekend I went to a retreat held by a former Pentecostal minister who converted along with several members of his family and a large portion of his congregation. You might be interested in his book: http://amzn.com/0898709199

This is an absolutely fascinating story. In college I took this History of Science course and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was one of the course books. It was a great read, very fair to all sides with good research but really great storytelling too. Totally recommend it if you like nonfiction that has to do with science but is actually written for fun reading.

These were posted to a similar thread yesterday about learning aikido, and might fit into this discussion as well. The last few are not at all at the basic level, but I enjoy them so much I thought they should stay:

For an enjoyable exploration of the history and protocol of the dojo, try "In the Dojo" by Dave Lowry: In the Dojo: A Guide to the Rituals and Etiquette of the Japanese Martial Arts https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834805723/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_4LAjxb1G1DTNG

For an entertaining, and actually true, bildungsmroman of a trio of Oxford students who find themselves in Tokyko and decide, out of boredom, to join the year-long intensive Tokyo police riot squad training program. This was Gozo Shioda's dojo, probably in the 1980's, and is an accurate glimpse of what training was like in the early days of the Yoshinkan style: Angry White Pyjamas: A Scrawny Oxford Poet Takes Lessons From The Tokyo Riot Police https://www.amazon.com/dp/0688175376/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_yNAjxb9VXJ7PN

You may also be interested in Aikido Shugyo, by Gozo Shioda, which describes his early days with O-Sensei, and his post-war experiences, along with some philosophical refections: http://www.shindokanbooks.com/shugyo.shtml

If you are looking for something meaty and practical, check out the excellent books by Marc Tedeschi, "The Art of Holding" and "The Art of Throwing" which are essentially jiu-jjtsu but form an extremy comprehensive catalog of practically every fundament technique in taijitsu regardless of the art or style: The Art of Holding: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/1891640763/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_28Ajxb9YBNQDY and The Art of Throwing: Principles & Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/0834804905/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_T.AjxbZQZ76CK

Finally, I hesitate to suggest this one since it probably won't mean anything until you have much deeper immersion in practical aikido techniques (and it might be hard to find, being almost out of print), but it's a good compendium of aiki-jitsu style, the formative roots that predate aikido, and depending on your background and mindset might add some dimension: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-hidden-roots-of-aikido-9784770023278?cc=us&lang=en&

Have fun!

I have been trying for a week to come up with a way to respond to this with, but I have completely failed, because I'm not sure how some (not I said "some", not "all") women freely choosing to wear full-face veils in Western countries is comprable to genital mutilation and disfiguring violence. I understand that they all come from the same culture, but that doesn't mean that they all necessarily go together. Male genital mutilation (circumcision) and eating Kosher are both part of my cultural heritage and I do neither of those things, yet still feel connected to the culture in other ways.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree. You seem to care very passionately about this issue, and I really admire that. If you really do care about these issues, I hope you don't mind my recommending some books for you to read: Unveiling the Truth: Why 32 Muslim Women Wear the Full-Face Veil in France, and The Politics of the Veil are good ones. I also suggest both Infidel and Murder in Amsterdam, and perhaps those two first since they're opposites. Depending on which one you end up agreeing with, the other two may not be worth reading to you, although I'd still urge you to read opinions that differ with yours, if only to help you strengthen your arguments.

The Coming War on China

>LI: In China there are a lot of problems,

Zheng Lijia, Socialism is Great!. US Commission on China, Hukou System: Sustained Reform Needed to Protect China's Rural Migrants [BWAH!]

>but at the moment, the Chinese, the state party, has proven an extra-ordinary ability to change. I make the joke how in America you can change political parties, but you can't change the policies. In China you cannot change the party, but you can change policies. So in sixty-five or sixty-six years China's been run by one single party, yet the political changes that have taken place in China these past sixty-six years have been wider and broader and greater than probably any major country in modern memory. China is a market economy and it's a vibrant market economy, but it is not a capitalist country. Here's why. There's no way a group of billionaires can control the politburo as it does American policy-making. So in China you have a vibrant market economy, but capital does not rise above political authority. Capital does not have enshrined rights. In America capital, the interest of capital and capital itself, has risen above the American nation. The political authority cannot check the power of capital. And that's why America is a capitalist country, but China is not.

“Well, I thank you for your question but I have to say we’re capitalist and that’s just the way it is.”

RE for homicidal maniacs

If you guys are interested, there's already a book on the Bulls last season. It's called Playing for Keeps

It's written by the great David Halberstrom. He got full access to following the team that year. It's not just the last season but also mini biography on most of the players and coaches, but mostly centered around Jordan.

The book is really good and would have been even better if Jordan didn't renege on his promise to sit down after the season 1-1 with Halberstrom.

BTW, the book is really great at showing how much the players HATED Krause and how hard it was for Jackson to try to balance the stars and keeping management out of the way, all while coaching that year on his own expiring contract. It has other great details, like how at the end Reinsdorff would negotiate with Jordan 1-1, no one else, no agents. They'd sit in a room and work it out on their own.

It's been a long time since I read Black Elk Speaks. It's not fiction, but I still remember it as a great book. It's short and well worth the time. http://www.amazon.com/Black-Elk-Speaks-Oglala-Premier/dp/1438425406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292062391&sr=8-1.

The Tony Hillerman series already mentioned is a good book (at least the first one) and a a light read in the mystery and detective vein.

Both of these are books that were in the syllabus of a Native American Literature class I took and the only two I can remember off the top of my head.

I have four on the go right now. That's pretty typical for me, hahahaha.

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China is a biography spanning three generations of women in 20th century China, and I picked it up after listening to an audio book based in 19th century China to learn more. It's horrifying and fascinating all at once and I really quite love it. I've actually been meaning to read it for years.

The Queen's Agent: Francis Walsingham at the Court of Elizabeth I is a non-fictional history book about the intelligence and spy circles Francis Walsingham controlled in the late 1500s at the Elizabethan court. I normally have at least one history book on the go at any one time and I really like this one. Some factual history books are a real slog but this isn't at all, it's incredibly immersive.

I'm also working my way through a beautifully illustrated hardcover version of The Hobbit right now.

And just to switch over to when I'm tired of history, I downloaded and started The Dragon Keeper: Rain Wild Chronicles Book 1 by Robin Hobb the other day. I love Hobb's Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies and I've been meaning to really read her Rain Wilds chronicles but haven't given them much of a go. Hopefully this will impress me just as much as Fitz and the Fool did.

Some of my standard suggestions....

Try A Life in Aikido for a basic biography, Aikido: My Spritual Journey for a look from the point of view of one of the founder of Aikido's early students, Mitsugi Saotome's books for another view from one of Morihei Ueshiba's later students, or any of Bill Gleason's books for a deeper look into the esoterica of the art.

I can't recommend "Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere", there are just too many errors and omissions. The illustrations are good, but the authors were just barely beginners when they wrote that book, and the information available in those days wasn't very good anyway.

Ellis Amdur's books are always worthwhile reading, even if they aren't "scholarly" (try Peter Goldsbury's Transmission, Inheritance, Emulation columns on Aikiweb for scholarly material - great stuff, but not for everybody).

Any of Stan Pranin's books (if you can find them in print) are well worth reading.

"Angry White Pyjamas" is fun, but take it with a grain of salt.

I would avoid most of the John Stevens translations, they're too unreliable and it's too hard to tell which parts are accurate which aren't.

If you want to understand your nonverbal autistic child, there are some great books out there to help you do that. I personally have read and recommend:

• The Reason I Jump: A short and easy but moving read. This is a book by a nonverbal Japanese autistic boy who learned to communicate through pointing to letters/writing. While we can't say for sure his experience is the same as other children like him he explains is feelings, sensations, and the reasons for many of his behaviors that are common to autistic children.
  
  
• Carly's Voice: Longer book but moving and well written. Most of the book is by Carly's father. He tells the story since infancy of his family including his daughter Carly who is severely autistic and nonverbal. Many considered her severely mentally disabled. However, when years later she finally learns and is willing to communicate through letters/writing (it is physically a lot of work for her) he learns she is much brighter and more aware then he imagined. Includes passages, conversations, interviews by Carly in the book that give information on what she is experiencing.
  
  
• Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism Written by genius animal behaviorists and well known person with Autism/speaker on Autism Temple Grandin. Tells her life, her experience, and how she thinks and experiences things differently. Between the other two books in length she is less severe on the spectrum then the Carly or Naoki but she still thinks, feels, and interacts with the world in a way that it was amazing to have insight into/I would never have guessed.
  
  Order these three books right now. They're all well written and so so insightful. You won't regret it.

I'm reading this one right now....it had an interesting beginning, and a slow and boring middle, but I hope the last few chapters get fun again. It's about an Englishmans experiences in Japan while enrolled in a tough Aikido class for policemen. It's worth a read, I'd say....just for fun.

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376

I started with Kong Yiji, it's an easy read (and short as it takes ~20 minutes to complete)- but not that easy in fact. Reading the wikipedia page it turned out that I overlooked a few important details (like what exactly is a Xiucai - I only knew the term from 武林外传). Nevertheless as far I read for now, I would advise readers to start from here. Kong Yiji is still pretty popular and I bet everyone in China knows his story (I decided to start reading 呐喊 after seeing Kong Yiji mentioned in Socialism's great where the narrator/author mentions her mother comparing her husband to Kong Yiji)

I have read 药 as well - likewise it's short, but in fact again, I missed a lot of details. I found this translation (in French) and also this analysis that made a second reading much more beneficial.

I'm now moving on to 狂人日记...

I just went and stared at my bookshelves and realized that there was a distinct paucity of minority characters.

However, some general recommendations:

feed for the teenager uninterested in the world at large or the dystopian fiction fan.

My Date with Satan Short stories, usually from a female perspective. High schoolers would probably delight in the bad language and messed up characters.

Trickster's Choice; A young adult girl-power fantasy/spy novel with a lot to say about colonialism. My strongest recommendation on this list. Lots of major minority characters also.

Infidel; A heavy-handed memoir about triumph by a woman who "escaped" Somalia and is now a European politician. Controversial for a multitude of reasons and has nothing nice to say about Islam, but you know your students better than I do.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for the scientifically inclined.

Wicked for modern classic fans who'd appreciate deeper meanings.

Stories of people doing amazing or even just proactive things while in poverty are extremely inspiring and motivating for me. The book The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a great example.

David Halberstam is probably the most well-known NBA author in long-form content. "The Breaks of the Game" is an incredible account of the Blazers 79-80 season. "Playing for Keeps" is a narrative about MJ's career and impact. These are older works though.

As far as newer stuff, the Bill Simmons "Book of Basketball" is a monstrosity that has amazing in-depth content, provided you like Simmons.

The "FreeDarko Presents: The Undisputed Guide to Pro Basketball History" is from 2010 and has amazing artwork and a unique perspective. I would highly recommend it.

Yeah, I would have said that it's absolutely worth it if you did the JD-MEM from the start, since I think you can finish that in three years. Another thing to consider is that your entire first-year law curriculum is going to be completely unrelated to environmental law, which I could see being frustrating for someone who's more interested in the policy side. The environmental law course offerings were pretty impressive, though.

Getting a high score on the LSAT is harder for some people than it is for other people. I would suggest taking a timed practice test as a diagnostic, just to get a feel for your starting point and your weak areas. After that, all I did was take a bunch of practice tests. I also went through this book, which was incredibly helpful for the logic games. Once I got the system down, I almost never missed a games question. It has been a while since I took the test, though, so I'm sure there are people here who have taken it more recently who could give you better advice.

I've read his book, it is one of my favorites. Truly inspiring, I'll read it again for sure, someday. There are several parts of the book that are really thrilling. Link to his book -> http://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-Who-Harnessed-Wind/dp/0061730335

I typically don't read. However my girlfriend gave me The Girl With Seven Names to read while we were traveling for vacation and it was absolutely enthralling.

I can't recommend it enough. It's an autobiography but the author's life is more akin to a riveting adventure movie. If you're interested the author gave one of the most viewed Ted Talks that is a super short version of her book.

Your story reminded me of the book: Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Voyage Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam

http://www.amazon.com/Catfish-Mandala-Two-Wheeled-Through-Landscape/dp/0312267177

If you don't know this book already, read it! It's really awesome. It's a free ticket to Vietnam until you get to go back :)

For anyone that enjoyed this video and isn't aware....


...There is a lovely book "written by a severly autistic kid"

His mentor helped him write it, it's very short... and took a long time... but it's completely incredible to read. It brings you straight into the mind of an autistic ....


The big take away, if you aren't going to read it is...
...These people are VERY aware of their situation and how difficult their life is making everyone elses.

It seems their inner-voice is quite normal, they just can't seem to express themselves properly.


The book is called: The Reason I Jump.

Link for free: https://www.readanybook.com/online/565387

To buy: https://www.amazon.com/Reason-Jump-Inner-Thirteen-Year-Old-Autism/dp/081298515X

I don't know anyone that is autistic.
This book was very interesting to me.

For 5 I will ask: Do you understand celibacy for Jesus and for St Paul?

And as for 7, we believe in one baptism so there cannot be multiple - those validly baptized are baptized into the Body of Christ, which is the Church. The Church currently graciously relieves some of the requirements that would otherwise bind those baptized outside the Catholic Church so as to reduce sin.

If you'd like more reading, Rome Sweet Home and No Price Too High are both great, and the second lets you make jokes about Deacon Alex Jones (they're turning the Protestants Catholic!).

In lieu of actually going to those places, I found two books which describe Kiribati and Vanuatu from a Western perspective. If you're interested in the area please read The Sex Lives Of Cannibals, and Getting Stoned With Savages. Although I prefer the latter, they're both great books and give an interesting perspective on the region.

It's a great book. And I'm totally a "Michael Jordan is Jesus" guy. He dunked for our sins. That type of mentality. Lazenby did a great job of tearing all of that down.

At the same time holy shit Michael Jordan is still the greatest basketball player ever. But he was also a human being.

If you want a slightly more reverential view I recommend Playing for Keeps by David Halberstam: https://www.amazon.com/Playing-Keeps-Michael-Jordan-World/dp/0767904443

I freaking love Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman and I read it in high school. Would read it again. So as long as he is 13 or older, he should enjoy this book.

Or this section of this site might help you. :)

Or you could get him Run, Fatboy, Run on DVD.

Narr, this be tasteless bilge. Ye be joking 'bout the starvin' death of 30-55 million people, not just yer splitcoins. It wouldn't even be funny if WuJihan be a commie, but he ain't and neither is anyone else runnin' China, and fer good reason. If ye wants ter educate yourself about why, and what ye be making jokes about, then read this. If ye can sit through a real book instead of a website, then read this. If ye don't care for the history of the Chinese civilisation and it's people, and just see them as a source of commie-nostalgia jokes, then ye can feel free to down vote this pirate's reprimand like a cur, and begone back to playin' fallout where ye can gun down Chinese commies without thinkin'

In that case, I'd definitely recommend Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It's written as a letter to his son about growing up black in the US and it's the best book I've read recently about the topic.

I'm in law school-

1. Corporate law, or any transaction field of law is very difficult to get into with the way the legal market is right now. I'd say over 50+% of all 3rd year students are struggling to find anything at graduation, must less a job in a transaction field. This is exacerbated for areas like corporate because the majority of corporate legal work is done at "biglaw" firms, which are the highest paying and most prestigious places to go after law school.
   
   
2. Because of that, and because of the esoteric highering model of biglaw firms going after the best schools, while shunning lower ranked schools (see here for a ranking of the top-50 schools by biglaw hiring rate), I would argue that you'd be wasting an enormous amount of time and money by going to law school unless you attend one near the top.
   
   
3. Fortunately or unfortunately, law school admissions is very very heavily dependent on your "numbers" (that is, your GPA and your LSAT score). See for instance- http://gulc.lawschoolnumbers.com/stats. The graphs will give you an idea first of how closely correlated numbers are with admissions, and second what kind of stats you'll need to be competitive at the harder schools. You can also start seeing things like how Northwestern loves a high LSAT + work experience while UVA loves gpa.
   
   
4. My advice would be to talk to people in the profession about what the profession is like; get general knowledge and try and educate yourself as to whether or not you want to be a corporate lawyer. If you decide you do, take the LSAT, and study for it like crazy. The LSAT is a very learnable test, and spending tons of time working through the powerscore bibles (which, unlike what you'll find with the CPA, is actually the universal consensus credited study guide) and taking 25-30 practice tests (they publish actual old exams for pretty cheap) you can go from being awful to doing quite well. Granted, this alone is going to take 2-3 hours of study a day for about 4 months; but you'd be a fool not to put in the time because a single LSAT point can be the difference between admission and waitlist/rejection from the school you want to get into.
   
   All in all, it's a long and arduous journey, so best of luck to you.

Pretty much anything by former Presbyterian minister Scott Hahn; he has an explanation of his conversion [here] (http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/store/title/why-a-protestant-pastor-became-catholic).

There's former pentacostal pastor Alex Jones, who brought almost his whole congregation with him; he wrote [this book] (http://www.amazon.com/No-Price-too-High-Pentecostal/dp/0898709199) about the decision.

There's [this testimony] (http://chnetwork.org/2014/06/father-raymond-ryland-on-whose-authority/) by Fr. Raymond Ryland, a former Anglican minister.

Ulf Elkman was a prominent megachurch pastor before his conversion; he talks about it [here] (http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2014/04/24/megachurch-pastor-ulf-ekman-we-need-what-the-lord-has-given-to-the-catholic-church-to-live-fully-as-christians/)

Then there's lots of [personal conversion stories] (http://chnetwork.org/category/conversion-stories/) of lay folks. And there's quite a few of us here on /r/Christianity; feel free to ping us, as well.

American Shaolin is a great autobiographical story of a white kid from the suburbs who drops out and goes to the Shaolin temple to live for several years and train under the monks. Recommend for a quick fun read.

I highly recommend this book! It's hilarious and will tell you some great stuff about Vanuatu.

There's a great, easy to read book called Skeletons on the Zahara that deals heavily with this subject. 10/10 would recommend

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0316159352/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_yd4hzbCD8512F

In China Xi is actually returning to less socially liberal, while trying to stay economically liberal. Brookings has a piece on him here. It is from September of last year, and even during that time Xi and Li has moved more in consolidation of power than previous leaders (sans Mao) and has been cracking down on dissenters, online commenters and limiting freedoms inside China^2.

Many dissidents are locked up and their speech is very limited, they are taken away for weeks at a time in order for them to become 'compliant'

He has also reduced corruption inside China, which still in the days of the communist market, and now mainly operates on a form of social capitol called guanxi. Parties used to be thrown for local leaders with banquets and gifts, which are now very frowned upon and publishable.

Now most companies to try and gain guanxi will have tea in the office of the local minister. So their have been many changes provided by the new administration that are good, but the personal freedoms and expression have been taken away in a more 'hardliner' fashion. Which could be seen as 'right'. Labor disputes are arising in China because the economy is slowing down.

Under communism everyone had a job even if they stood around all day in the factory doing nothing.

China is now trying to move to a new digital age with it's workers, but is having a hard time growing innovation inside China since for many years independent thought was [not taught inside China.] (https://hbr.org/2014/03/why-china-cant-innovate)

People really need to understand this more. It is not like the people of DPRK are all hoping to get out and live "normal" lives. To them, they are normal and everyone else is strange. They have spent every day of their lives living one way and to just magically change it will not work. There is also quite a bit of prejudice towards NK folks from Chinese and South Koreans. They would not be too welcomed into society due to the gap in among other things, education.

A really good and easy read on life inside (and outside) of North Korea is The Girl With Seven Names. It follows a more middle class woman as she essentially accidentally escapes North Korea to see what life is like on the other side and then realizes she cannot go back due to the consequences for her and her family if she does. It is interesting since she was living a good life there as much as you can outside of Pyongyang and had no idea what the truth about her country was until she left.

Favorite books on amazon... Fear And Loathing and Hell's Angels or Getting Stoned With Savages!! All three are excellent in my opinion!

its amazingly true, far past the point of mere "coincidence".

good read: http://smile.amazon.com/History-Jews-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060915331/
(www.rodriguezuribe.co/histories/A%20History%20of%20the%20Jews.pdf)

many the decline of an empire, curiously, occurs in a series of random disconnected events which all seem to coincide beautifully with a climactic emptying of jews.

odd, to be sure.

The Long Walk

Skeletons on the Zahara

Both non-fiction stories of survival that I thought were incredible.

Also, not strictly survival but very good non-fiction adventure reads in the same vein are A Man's Life and The Hard Way by Mark Jenkins.

In my opinion, Paul Johnson's "A History of the Jews" is the best book for this: http://www.amazon.com/A-History-Jews-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060915331.

Simon Schama's five-part documentary, "The Story of the Jews," is also excellent: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/story-jews/

i encourage anyone interested by this to read some biographies of north korean defectors.. https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Seven-Names-Korean-Defectors-ebook/dp/B00JD3ZL9U is a good one..

I''ve always found it funny that historically, Sioux Native Americans called black people "Black Wasichu" because they only ever saw them with white people. Wasichu is their word for "White Person", so Black Wasichu effectively means "Black White Person"

​

Edit: Source, for those interested in Native history. (Great read)

>Have they encouraged black people to become police officers? Nope

Actually, Yup!

>The plans calls for . . . having the racial makeup of police departments reflect the communities they serve.

Which includes BLM encouraging black people to become police officers. If you had any real familiarity with BLM you'd know that encouraging black people to become police officers (which, make no mistake, is your advice to black people on how to protest) is a HUGE part of BLM.

I implore you to read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Read it or listen to the audiobook and get back to me. Give me your e-mail address and I'll even send you the audiobook on Audible. I'm not joking.

Sorry, I don't know of specific kung fu schools in Taiwan, only that English seems to be more commonly spoken there than on in mainland China (my parents are from Taiwan). If you're going for the cultural experience, though, you might want to stick to China after all, despite the language barrier, as China is a bit different from Taiwan in a number of ways. I've not read this book, but I've heard that American Shaolin is a great read about a guy from Kansas going to a Shaolin temple in China to study martial arts and eventually become recognized as a monk of the temple. It may be interesting to you to read of another's experience with the journey you're looking to take.

The Reason I Jump is a pretty good light-reading primer on the how's and why's of a boy with autism. Plenty of eye-opening information, particularly about how he describes his behaviors and his cognitive process.

Ido in Autismland is another favorite of mine. More in-depth and slightly longer winded, it's a book rich in information, but definitely the one I'd read second.

The market is saturated with plenty of books on autism written by psycological or disabilities professionals, but if you really want to understand, I find there's no substitute for a book written by an autistic author.

Yes, OP definitely has some research to do.

You're referring to Hyenseo Lee - The Girl with Seven Names.

They literally have white glove inspections of every household to ensure there isn't dust collecting on the mandatory Leader pictures.

Not necessarily CLS-specific but I think The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks should be required reading for any healthcare or biology student. It's a fascinating book (and I don't usually read non-fiction for fun) about race, class, and ethics in the clinical and research laboratory. It doesn't take a heavy handed or academic approach at all, it's very readable.

I don't know - I imagine the reasons are numerous and complex. In fact, this is something I would like to understand better, and I plan to pick up a history book on it at some point. If you also want to learn the actual reasons, I would suggest something like this book, it's probably what I'll read when I get around to it.

Skeletons of the Zahara was a best seller a few years back. It's the modern retelling of a true account of the American survivors of a shipwreck off the African west coast who are taken captive and then passed along as slaves by various tribes and Arabs for years, suffering many deprivations. It was pretty good and at least one screenwriter, Public Enemies writer Ronan Bennett is trying to adapt it.

What I remember most about the story is that the Americans were so hungry at one point they ate the dried skin off of each other's backs.

Actually, it is pretty much a parallel to 12 Years a Slave except a change of setting and the 'rescuer' being an African.

Prob not the same book, but Wild Swans by Jung Chang is a great book about life under Mao Zedong.

The story that the article introduces is in the book Country Driving by Peter Hessler. It's a really good book. It made me want to live in China along with other books like Iron & Silk by Mark Salzman and Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux.

I recently finished reading it. It's a good book, and the course seems rather interesting. Just realize that it's going to screw with you mentally as well as physically.

There are a number of books like that. American Shaolin and Tapped Out by Matthew Polly are both entertaining reads about martial arts training. Iron and Silk by Mark Salzman is another. Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams.

American Shaolin true story of a (white) guy who dropped out of Princeton to go to Shaolin to study kungfu and ended up winning second or third place in a Chinese kungfu competition

Good reading books:
https://www.amazon.com/Martial-Musings-Portrayal-Arts-Century-ebook/dp/B00F3GV7B2/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049500&sr=1-2&refinements=p_27%3ARobert+W.+Smith

https://www.amazon.com/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Scrawny-Lessons/dp/0688175376/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1480049639&sr=1-1&keywords=angry+white+pajamas

If you want to learn to fight, go into a bar a few times and pick one. The best way to learn.

These two ethnographies are easy/pleasant reads, frequently used in undergraduate courses:

• Marjorie Shostak, Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman
  
• Jean L. Briggs, Never in Anger: Portrait of an Eskimo Family
  
  Ethnographies written almost solely for the purpose of introducing hunter-gatherer societies to college freshmen/sophomores include ...
  
  
• Richard B. Lee, The Dobe Ju/'Hoansi
  
• Colin Turnbull, The Mbuti Pygmies: Change and Adaptation
  
• James F. Downs, The Two Worlds of the Washo: An Indian Tribe of California and Nevada
  
• E. Adamson Hoebel, The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains
  
• N. A. Chance, The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska: An Ethnography of Development
  
• Hart, Pilling, & Goodale, The Tiwi of North Australia
  
• Robert Tonkinson, The Mardu Aborigines: Living the Dream in Australia's Desert
  
  These teaching ethnographies have been around for decades, so while they don't reflect current scholarship, it should be possible to pick them all up for a couple of bucks each, and I think you'd get a lot out of browsing them that's lost in comparative work.

Skeletons on the Zahara

A supposedly true story (and pretty decent read) about exactly what you're talking about.

I second the recommendation of Erik Larson.

I have recently read and loved The Hare With Amber Eyes and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Study for the October LSAT. Kill it. Apply as soon as your score comes out (if not before).

Make sure your recommendations are great. These matter more than people think. Make sure your personal statement is great. This matters more than people think.

As far as studying the LSAT, probably get the Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible and the Powerscore Logical Games Bible to study from. Also get a bunch of preptests. If your score plateaus for a while and you can't seem to get past it, hire a tutor. Starting at a 167 means its unlikely you will need to take a course.

I have a keen interest in the Koreas so I've read many books. You should check out yeonmi park - in order to live and Hyeonso Lee - The girl with seven names

Do you know if your brother has read Catfish and Mandala? It's about the author's journey through post-war Vietnam. Could be a good bit of historical non-fiction for your brother, as well as something to read during down time.

I highly recommend his book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, that explains in greater detail the circumstances that led to his inventions.

This website which documents fallacies should be a good start.

This is a great no nonsense book on logical reasoning actually meant for preparation for the LSAT,law school entrance exam, but serves the purpose really well.

If you're interested and haven't read it already, I heartily recommend Playing for Keeps. It tells you everything about Jordan from his upbringing right up to his second retirement in 1998. It does a great job of describing how he was forced to insulate himself from the rest of the world because of his becoming the "most recognizable American in the world."

Edit: I accidentally a word

this is an incredible description of how these ideas take hold of a person's mind, and lead society to destroy itself whilst believing it is doing good. this book humbled me. as alien as chinese culture is to my own, everything she wrote felt intuitive, personal, as if i was there and as if the people around me could and might do the very same. a very, very emotionally touching description of a seminal moment of human history - and possibly a stark warning of where we might be currently headed.

if you are interested in readin about the udnerlying pschological disorder that leads to this phenomenon, I would argue it has been perfectly described by the genius that is karen horney, as I mention here. that book too is incredible; it has really made me a better person and given me a lot more compassion for people's bad behaviour and fuckups (because it could easily have happenened to me too, through accident of birth or situation). there is a pdf floating about of this book, if you are interested.

Ultimately, it all boils down to the existence of god(s). If they can show that one exists, fine; if not; there's your answer.

As far as developing a deeper understanding of Islam itself, for a start try Ayaan Hirsi Ali's book "Infidel"... http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289684

There's always the web... http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/

Good luck...

Fantastic book about this, and one of the reasons Vanuatu is on my bucket list.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Stoned-Savages-Through-Islands/dp/0767921992

the reason i jump is a fantastic read for a look into the mind of an individual with autism.

I really enjoyed Catfish and Mandala by Andrew X. Pham. Apparently the guy just went and left his job in the aerospace industry to go on a journey from Mexico all the way up the Pacific Northwest and over to Japan and Vietnam.

LG Bible and the corresponding Workbook. Really focus on learning how to break them down, not on the time, because if you don't understand the problems there's no way you're going to finish them quickly.

Once you feel more confident about it, use the released exams as practice, especially the most recent ones. You can buy them in bundles on Amazon, or get them individually from LSAC. Don't just extrapolate your grade, actually try to figure it out.

Tell that to The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind ... he used these initially. Actually a really, really good book. there's a Ted video too. (it's a dynamo light btw)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0674004329

I read this book about a tribe in Botswana. It's one of the more inhospitable places on the planet, yet the researchers found that they worked short hours. Their study inspired this paper http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_affluent_society which is a cornerstone of modern thought on foraging tribes.

Iron and Silk (book version)
Iron and Silk (Movie version)

It's the story of Mark Salzman, a martial artist who flew to China in '82 to teach English. It features Salzman himself, as well as Master Pan Qingfu (now known as The Iron Fist of Ontario). This movie touches me as a martial artist and talks about what it means to train the way us 'old school' guys did. It is one of my absolutely favorite movies of all time - odd for what is essentially a documentary.

Some suggestions:

Oral History/Stories

• The Sons of the Wind: The Sacred Stories of the Lakota - Dooling
  
  
• American Indian Myths and Legends - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  
• American Indian Trickster Tales - Erdoes, Ortiz
  
  Historical/Educational material
  
  
• Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Contitions of North American Indian; Vol. I & II - Catlin
  
  
• Major Problems in American Indian History - Hertado, Iverson
  
  
• We are Still Here: American Indians in the Twentieth Century - Iverson
  
  
• American Indian Politics and the American Political System - Wilkins, Stark
  
  Native Authors
  
  
• Custer Died For Your Sins - Vine Deloria Jr.
  
  
• Standing in the Light - Young Bear, Theisz
  
  
• The Way to Rainy Mountain - Momaday
  
  
• Prayers of Smoke
  
  
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West - Brown
  
  Non-Native Authors
  
  
• Neither Wolf nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder - Nerburn
  
  
• The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder's Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows - Nerburn
  
  
  Region Specific
  
  
• Lakota Society - Walker
  
  
• The Lakota and The Black Hills - Ostler
  
  
• Black Elk Speaks - Neihardt
  
  And just for fun, a Movie
  
  
• Dreamkeeper - Steve Barron
  
  Feel free to point out any mistakes, I'll add more should I think of them.
  
  These are just suggestions.

To begin with, I'll tell you my methods are regarded by my friends as unorthodox.

I began with going online onto a blog which had some LSAT questions. I got like 3/5 right, and I was like fuck, what have I gotten myself into? I'm poor, so I immediately decided to study on my own. I bought this, this, and this. After taking like ten tests, I decided to spring for the Logical Reasoning Bible and Logic Games Bible. Overall, I read through those two bibles from cover to cover doing the exercises through and through, not trying to cheat myself of any material. I did it for a month, cause that's all the time I had, but I wish I had spent at least a month and a half. That consisted of four hours of studying (three of which were taking a diagnostic and re-checking wrong answers and another one or two reading the bibles) every day on the weekdays and six or seven on the weekends with no breaks.

I've heard Kaplan is shit. A good friend of mine took Blueprint, and did really well his second time, but knowing him, he would have done so studying himself. If you're going to be using the prep books, I recommend, if you can, doing so at least three months in advance of the June test. The thing is that if you fuck up, you wanna retake Sep/Oct as opposed to retaking Dec. Because admissions are rolling, you're at a huge disadvantage having your app done in December. So your 11th year around March is when you wanna start looking at it. April and May would have to be intense but seeing as finals can be around that time, I would suggest February and March.

In the end, whatever works for you. Just know that Dec applicants are at a huge disadvantage compared to October ones. Also, I was told by students in the admission committee that they look for students who've taken time off after their undergrad. Cal's ratio is 60% who haven't and 40% who have, so keep that in mind. I went straight, because I didn't trust myself.

This is a real good book too:

A History of the Jews, by Paul Johnson

He did. You can count on it. The Girl With Seven Names is a powerful read. And her TED Talk.

Another good book that discusses this is Marjorie Shostak's book Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman. In it Nisa describes a sexual openness. Since everyone in the family sleeps together they are exposed to sex at a young age and obviously want to learn more about it and to do this start exploring their own bodies and the bodies of their peers at a young age. It seemed as though although the adults tried to stop this, the attempts at stopping them were half-hearted as it was seen as something that all children do and must do in order to learn.

In Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman anthropologist Marjorie Shostak describes that it is common for !Kung marred men and women to "take lovers" and have extramarital sex, albiet clandisnedly.

I read the book for a cultural anthropology class and was able to geturn the book afterwards for a full refund, so I no longer have it to cite page numbers, but I recall that there's an entire chapter on the subject.

There's a book about it, I highly recommend it for the full story http://www.amazon.ca/The-Boy-Who-Harnessed-Wind/dp/0061730335

Black Elk Speaks by John Neihardt.

Interesting account of Native American spiritualism by a Lakota medicine man.

If you are interested in the Skeleton Coast, you should read Skeletons on the Zahara.

That's true but they want our American money. Many of these programs are actually backed by the Chinese gov. Check out this autobiography of a guy that did this in the 1980's.
http://www.amazon.com/American-Shaolin-Flying-Buddhist-Odyssey/dp/1592402623

He wrote a book about his experience as well!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Boy-Who-Harnessed-Wind/dp/0061730335

Angry White Pyjamas is the title of an awesome Aikido book that's more about intense martial arts training than it is about Aikido.

For risk-your-life adventure, try Skeletons on the Zahara by Dean King. Eurpoean sailors get shipwrecked off the coast of Africa in 1815.

I received his book ("The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind") as a gift last year and read it. Its a very captivating read, and he talks in detail of having to stop going to school, beginning to go to library to learn, and the ridicule he faced in his village for building his windmill out of junk he was able to salvage. It goes on about how reporters discovered him and how ended up speaking at a TED conference. A really inspirational read.

Anyone interested in Vanuatu, I highly recommend reading Getting Stoned With Savages: A Trip Through the Islands of Fiji and Vanuatu by J. Maarten Troost

These don't count?

Halberstam's pretty keen on Jordan, but even he lists off some repugnant behavior.

Suzanne Collins "Hunger Games" trilogy...or, since he likes martial arts, a book called American Shaolin by Matthew Polly.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Shaolin-Flying-Buddhist-Odyssey/dp/1592402623

The Girl with Seven Names. Just read it entirely. It's a truly incredible story that really humanizes the North Korean people and their struggles.

The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind About a 14 year old boy in Africa who builds a windmill from an american textbook without knowing English. Many struggles to be overcome and is a fairly recent story. I learned a bout it when the boy apperared on The Daily show I think, so it has a fairly good ending.

If you want to think deeply, try The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Bioethics, sciences and socio-economics all play into a family's betrayal by science.

Have you heard of Henrietta Lacks ?

Here’s a book about what happened to her cells.

Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made –
by David Halberstam

Nisa: Life and Words of an !Kung Woman.

Nisa (http://www.amazon.com/Nisa-Life-Words-Kung-Woman/dp/0674004329) is a biography of an African woman who grows up in a hunter gatherer society, but whose world becomes intertwined with the modern world as an adult.

http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289684

A History of The Jews

Demult. Iti recomand o carte.

Have a read:

https://www.amazon.com/Between-World-Me-Ta-Nehisi-Coates-ebook/dp/B00SEFAIRI#productDescription_secondary_view_div_1499680202621

you mean this book didn't cover everything?

Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Might I suggest an addition?

Same guy: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLj1CxvkSStlsf9VxKmb23E6mO2kKO365O

Also this: https://www.amazon.com/History-Jews-Paul-Johnson/dp/0060915331

Nisa is very memorable.

J. Maarten Troost's "travel" books:

The Sex Lives of Cannibals

Getting Stoned with Savages

and Lost on Planet China

I went to this guy's TED talk, which you can find here.

He also wrote a biography on it.

His book was required summer reading at some of our schools here.

Here's a link to a book about William.

Here is the mobile version of your link

For most people, logic games. I didn't have trouble with them at all, probably because I worked through The Logic Games Bible like a maniac. Totally worth it. I only missed 1 question on the logic games section - the last one, because I ran short on time and guessed.

The term for live-in student in Japanese is "uchideshi". There are some places that offer an uchideshi program, both in and out of Japan, but before you consider any of these programs, I recommend reading Angry White Pyjamas (Amazon, Wikipedia).

You should be careful in selecting any program; there is plenty of room for cultural mix ups, either as a foreigner in Japan or in your home country with somebody who isn't Japanese.

> "starving for the reality of First Century Christianity"

Check out Alex Jones's story. He wanted to do church the way the early Christians did it, and whoops, became Catholic.

• http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/religion-and-philosophy/apologetics/pastor-and-flock-convert-to-catholicism.html
  
• http://www.amazon.com/No-Price-too-High-Pentecostal/dp/0898709199
  
  Edit: oh, and may as well link the Contemporvant parody: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3RJBd8zE48A
  

I know Playing for Keeps is widely considered the best-written basketball book, but it's a bit outdated and more of a hagiography. However, David Halberstam is known as the best sports-biographer for a reason.

On the other end, Michael Leahry's When Nothing Else Matters details his failed efforts in Washington in terrific detail, but it's not particularly fun to read, and has been accused of twisting information to suit its narrative that Jordan is a psychopath. Bill Simmons says the book should be avoided.

There's a great book about this called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.
I read it years ago but I remember one year that there was a drought the people thought that the windmill was creating "Black Magic" and attempted to destroy it to appease the witch doctors.

Also the witch doctors supposedly kidnap children to play Soccer with their heads.

The biggest reason for anti-semitism, is and has been perceived usury and association with lending in general.

No one likes having debt, Jews have historically occupied the position of lenders in Europe, and as a result occupied a uniquely hated position in society. Humanity's natural xenophobic tendencies combined with this reenforcement, has been a much larger contributor than people believing that Jews were coming to eat their babies. You're switching the cause and the symptoms.

And bigotry and hatred are hardly unique to the Jewish people, and to say that one can't understand it though analogy is just silly.

edit: for you downvoters in particular, check out A History of the Jews, by Paul Johnson,, especially passages on usury on page 174. Well researched and well respected book on the subject.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the book Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It may only be one person's account, but it really affected my views on Islam, especially the treatment of women.

http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali/dp/0743289684

This is a really good point. One of the reasons that you see famines in places like Africa and not the developed world is that they don't have the irrigation infrastructure to weather droughts. In many cases, it's not even a lack of available water; it's just the hardware to get the water to where it's needed. The electricity and economic activity generated by a project like this could do a lot to help people (assuming it were used responsibly and not sucked out of the area the way a lot of oil projects are).

There's an amazing (and true) biographical book called The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind about a young man who grew up in Mali. His family was middle-class for the area in that they owned some land, but it was basically a subsistence farming economy, and no one had any money to spare. Part of the book deals with a horrible drought-caused famine that strikes the country, killing many people in the area, including members of his family - it's heartbreaking to read.

Anyway, the gist of the book is that his parents aren't able to afford school anymore for him, but he he finds some old science books and through trial-and-error, teaches himself basic electrical principles and builds a windmill out of old tractor and bike parts from the junkyard. At first it's only enough to light some small lights, and people sort of make fun of him for his crazy science project, but eventually people from all over town are visiting him to charge their phones and radio batteries, and he winds up getting the attention of some folks overseas who get him a scholarship to go to an engineering school. He returns home and comes up with a cheap design for a windmill that can run a water pump to move groundwater to the fields. This allows people to harvest two crops a year instead of one, and prevents them from starving if the rain doesn't come. It completely revolutionizes the local economy. Super inspiring read. And now I've spoiled the ending :)

> She didn't. "A stranger from abroad" did.

The stranger was Dick Stolp, whom she met him in Laos, which is also where the bribery happend. you're clueless and you've added nothing of value to this conversation in your rambling incoherent responses, how about you just stop posting?
edit: links to educate yourself
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Seven-Names-Korean-Defectors-ebook/dp/B00JD3ZL9U
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hyeon-seo