Hmm. I find its author engenders all kinds of unpleasant thoughts in my mind, many to do with dousing him with the petrol he's so fond of and... but I can't really say that on a public forum I suppose. Also I dare say he derives a great deal of enjoyment from winding up people like me who are more than a little worried about the future of the human species so there's no point in playing up to it... (bites knuckles until they bleed)

I have to say that I only read first ten or so pages.
I can understand that some things can annoy people.

The second story is called: Oops: how I dropped the US air  force right in it

There is a description how one flighing in America's military plane F-15E.

He is trying to drop a laser-guided bomb. One can only laugh trhough tears, but may be it is a satire.

The man in the back of the plane lines up the camera on the target and releases the momb, which goes to wherever the cross hairs are pointing.
These cameras have a phenomenal range. The distance they can 'see' is classified but I noticed the range dial wentup to 160 miles. That means the plane which bombed Yorkshire coudl have been over Sussex at the time.

On On my first run, the pilot, Gris @ Maverick@ Grimwald, said he's come in low and fast, jinking wildly as though we were under attack from surface to air missiles.

I'd had two days of training and figured it would be like playing on a PlayStation. And so it is. But can you imagine what it would be like trying to operate a plyStation while inside a tumble dryer? Because that's what it's like trying to operate a remote-control camera in an F-15. More realisticallyhave your children tried to play on their Game Boys while being driven in the back of a car? And that's at 60 mph in a vaguely straight lline.

Grimwald was doing about 600 mph no more that a few hundred feet off the deck, and to make matters worse he was flinging the plane from side to side so that one second the screen showed the faraway Apalachian Mountains and then the next, fields screaming past in a hyperspace fast forward blur.

By the time I'd finished being sick, we were over the sea doing a six'G turn to get back to the starting past point again.

On the third try he managed to release the bomb. He " Frantically swivelled the camera around but could see nothing ressembling a target, so I thought: I know. I will drop the bomb anyway, because by the time it reaches the ground from this hight I'm bound to have the cross hairs in place> "


I think it is a satire. I can not say that I watch his show about cars, but my friend here thinks he is very funny.
Sorry if I offended anybody.  Is he conservative or liberal? I don't know.
Since I am not native and change countries my knowledge is very superficial. So my apologies again.

You didn't offend anyone. Jeremy Clarkson however I find extremely offensive. Do you need to ask whether someone who plays at dropping laser-guided bombs for fun is a conservative or a liberal?

It seems to be, yes. There's no revenge element in the book, for one thing, and the protagonists' gender is not the same.

Her reflections on the age are typical for people. Most of my friends go through it. May be women feel the loss of their beauty more than men do, but I don't know that for sure.
This is the age when one confronts one's ego. Some people detest the idea of disappearing, most probably find it hard to accept.
Whey do we have all these experiences many of which are so unpleasant (like rejection, dissatisfaction, old age, unfairness). This is the age when we can see our limitations especially clearly. 
This is the age when one begins to understand that we all are finite creatures, but our human race lives on. It doesn't matter if one believes there is a Universal mind that created us or not. Good experiences create positive "energy" in the world. When people are kind to each other and help each other there is fewer traumas. We all know how if one is upset he/she can take the anger on the cat. One can pass good or bad energy to the world. If we are collectively angry and selfish we make the world a different place.

Also when physical beauty is gone one can see the soul of the person better.



I find that old age has many positive aspects. The best thing is that we have self expression and communication with each other. Past generations left us their experiences and we will pass our to the next generation. There is continuity in us as a human race. We have to make this earth is a better place. (at least we have to try).

It must be traumatic for people like de Beauvoir and Sartre to learn more about the Soviet Union. If we are entrenched too much with our ideology it is not good for us. May be this is the message in there.

Is it possible that elitists (intellectuals) in their nature are too far removed from the masses. I don't know really. I had to change from the other direction myself. People like me were completely disillusioned with communism and could not understand intellectuals in the West. Intellectuals in Russia as removed from masses as they are here in the West.  We are shaped by our experiences. Solzhenitsyn never understood or accepted the West. He is  a Russophile. There were many people like him. They believe in exceptional qualities and destiny of Russian people, some even believe that Russia will save the world. I don't know about that, can not formulate my opinion. May be each nation has a part to play in saving the world. 

If one lives in France and he is an intellectual he is shaped by ideas of the country. France gave us a lot in terms of ideas, fight against oppression, against absolute monarchy etc. There is a special historical connection between Russia and France, yet it is hard to understand one another. 
May be intellectuals have bigger ego than simple people; they value their ideas, their values, their something else. May be people in middle ages did not place such a big value on self. Sometimes they did not leave us names of masters that created beautiful Art. To understand that one is close to demise is  hard for all. May be one should not attaché himself to ones achievements, ones thoughts and be more humble and not so sure about who is the most righteous.

I read Berberova some time ago. It was hard for intellectuals of her generation to understand France’s intellectuals too.

Sorry to subject you all to my English and my views. I am not philosopher, often wrong and have some problems with English. But I do like to talk.

I like that formulation.

And that one too. And the photographs are wonderful - thank you.

I have to write it down somewhere.
This book sounds much better than the one I was proposing.
I lost all interest in that one and tried to explain to my friends what is wrong with it. I think they got it finally.