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Carla Rising

What happens when greed rules?

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Picking Apart the Rush to War

I just watched Chris Matthews’ interview with Mike Morrell, the reluctant blower of a long-delayed whistle. The interview reminds me of some of my reasons for writing Carla Rising.

As the CIA’s chief liaison to the Bush-Cheney White House, Mike Morrell painfully confirms that US President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney fabricated the amazing lie they told Americans and the world: That Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed nuclear and biological weapons, capable of hitting targets in the United States. During the interview, Chris Matthews grows increasingly angry and tells Morrell why….

Matthews angrily wants to know why President Bush and his administration lied in connecting Saddam not only to weapons of mass destruction but to the radical islamacists’ attacks of September 11, 2001 – a lie that, remarkably, persists in the minds of many Americans today.

Further, as Morrell confirms, Cheney and his convicted aide “Scooter” Libby smeared the work and reputations of others, including CIA operatives, who tried to set the record straight. Bush and Cheney clearly lied to the American people to inflate the threat from Saddam in Iraq and used their offices and power to isolate rational opposition in the United States and abroad.

Matthews presses Bush’s CIA briefer: “Why?”

Morrell refuses cross that line. “I don’t know,” he says. “You will have to ask them.”

But Matthews gets it right anyway: The Bush Administration was determined to go to war against Iraq — likely even before 9/11/2001 — and they needed to turn any possible opposition into a US “enemy.” Matthews describes “very objective people” in the newsroom who “finally” were cowed into backing the war, exactly because of the Bush-Cheney lies, based on CIA “intelligence” that did not exist.

Matthews is clearly angry because of the way that Bush and Cheney lied to convince Americans that Iraq — and, by extension, the Middle East — was a much more dangerous place than it actually was in 2002. The lies about nuclear weapons and WMDs had the effect of removing any middle ground. Anyone who openly questioned the lie became a target for official, very public criticism — and, sometimes, professional ruin — in the newly polarized atmosphere that was created by these very same, very big lies.

“If you’re not with us, you are against us,” Bush announced — in a line I borrowed for a pro-war speaker in Carla Rising.

Like the hyping of threats from long-ago civil-rights and labor protesters, Bush’s fiction of a threatened attack from Saddam’s Iraq had the effect of shutting down even newsroom conversation about it, contributing to the American media’s own rush to war, and the self-fulfilling prophecy of spreading violence in the region.

“Intelligence gets politicized all the time in this town,” Morrell says. “On both sides.”

This is a weak reiteration of the “both sides are guilty” argument. The side he served, however, was clearly determined to drive America into an awful, deadly war — killing more than 100,000 innocent people —  “on false pretenses,” as Matthews says.

Part of the plan was to polarize the political environment in the United States — even to the detriment of the Republican Party. Bush/Cheney’s early most high-profile victim of the lie from their own ranks was Colin Powell, once representing hope for a new, more rational GOP.

It’s good to see Mike Morrell doing something to set the record straight, however late and “safe” it is.  It’s troubling, however, that Bush and Cheney and their loyalists  are still “at large” in Washington, some of them in public office, getting away with the fabulously weak “Mistakes were made” position in order to maintain their choke-hold over US public opinion.

 

May 25, 2015 by Topper_Sherwood Posted in Media Commentary Reply

Protect books and readers

(This is my own interpretation of a printed defense of the German Book Price Regulation, endorsed by the Market Association of the German Book Trade.)

“This law serves to protect the book as a cultural good. The establishment of a binding price in each sale (of a new book) to the final customer ensures the preservation of broad book diversity. At the same time, the law guaranties a further good for the public interest, in that it advances the existence of a large number of book outlets.”

The book price regulation’s guarantee:
Every single book counts.

Each reader is different. Each has different needs and wishes. Books serve our need for entertainment, for information or for getting advice. And then, sometimes we have to immerse ourselves in a unique area of study — taking joy in discovering an obscure title within the boundless sea of content.

For more than 500 years, since the time of Gutenberg, we have been able to satisfy these needs, in part, because our culture of books has offered us infinite diversity. Each book exists as part of an economic market, as a material good. Collectively, books also define a broad cultural good.

No single title is interchangeable with another.
Each one counts.

This is why each individual book needs protection in the bigger marketplace. In Germany, each new title is sold at the same retail price — the price that is established by its publisher. This is true whether that book is sold in Dusseldorf or Berlin, whether it’s purchased in a small, cozy bookshop or in a big, beautiful department store. Or on the Internet.

The German Book Price Regulation protects all books published in Germany from the excesses of the “dog-eat-dog” marketplace, in a market where one “big player” has automatic and easy advantages over his “mom and pop” competitor down the street. Left unregulated, the marketplace would soon destroy the diversity of books and our literary culture.

In Germany, the retail price of each new book is legally fixed by its publisher, and anyone selling that new book to its final owner must honor that price. There are no “special customers” who get the benefit of paying less than the book manufacturer’s price. The price for every customer is the same, whether or not the seller is big or small, private or public, profit or nonprofit.

There are, of course, different prices for different editions. The prices for the paperback, hardcover, and e-book versions of a book are generally different. Publishers have the option of waiving the regulation that binds booksellers to the fixed retail price after 18 months. Only then can the price be determined by the seller. In this case, the price becomes subject to the open marketplace….

The book market
isn’t all about the seller.

About a million different books are available in Germany — an incredible variety of fiction, children’s books, science books, manuals, young adult literature, advice guides, and textbooks in all fields of study. Every year about 90,000 new publications are produced for German readers.

On the broader market,
books are cheaper in Germany.

It has been proven that books in countries without fixed book prices are, on average, more expensive than in countries that establish a binding price law. Of course, in a US-style price war, a retail giant can sell some best-sellers at something close to “dumping” prices. The result, however, is that prices climb rapidly for the larger number of books.

The bookstore should be protected
as a well-established cultural good.

About 4,900 bookstores insure that all books are offered across the country, even in the most remote places. The trained bookseller on site should be able to offer good advice in all matters relating to books. That person also ensures that every book is available within a short time, even overnight, using a remarkable ordering service linked to a selection of more than 300,000 titles.

The German Book Price Regulation
is a law made for book buyers and readers.

The book price agreement has been an industry-wide practice in Germany for almost 150 years. The agreement was passed into law, as the German Book Price Regulation, in 2002.

May 17, 2015 by Topper_Sherwood Posted in Media Commentary Reply

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Readings

Laurie Anderson on Trump

Carla Rising Posted on November 24, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodNovember 24, 2020

Some years ago, here in Berlin, I had the chance to ask a question of American performance artist Laurie Anderson. This was in March 2017, just after Donald Trump took office as the American president. Ms. Anderson had been telling … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

‘Carla Rising’ out-of-print

Carla Rising Posted on November 24, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodNovember 24, 2020

NOVEMBER 24, 2020 — Market conditions in the United States make it impossible for a small ‘niche’ publisher to produce books at a cost and profit that make it worth trying. Once shipping thousands of books per year — titles … Continue reading →

Posted in Carla Rising, Economics, History writing, Intellectual Labor, Media Commentary, Publishing, Topper Sherwood | Leave a reply

Trump & co. criminalizing history education

Carla Rising Posted on September 18, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodSeptember 18, 2020

Reading about events in the United States today, I’m reminded of 1998, when I was working very hard to sell John Alexander Williams’ “West Virginia: A History for Beginners” to schools in the state of West Virginia. As the book’s publisher … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Tagged history education, History writing, West Virginia: A History for Beginners | Leave a reply

Bill Moyers and Heather Cox Richardson

Carla Rising Posted on August 7, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodAugust 7, 2020

A link to Bill Moyers interviewing Heather Cox RIchardson about her new American book, “How the South Won the Civil War.”

Continue reading →
Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

In this Age of Viral Tyranny….*

Carla Rising Posted on April 7, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodApril 7, 2020

The Revolution Will Not Be Shared I In this age of Trumpish tyrants, too many of us live and work in places where someone else — boss or client — is neither partner nor comrade, but our “king.” Where we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary, Resistance, Sustainability, Writing & Publishing | Tagged poetry, technology and society | Leave a reply

Kudos to a Bridge-Builder

Carla Rising Posted on March 25, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodApril 17, 2020

I just received a message from a longtime Berlin pal, nonfiction filmmaker Rick Minnich, who always seems to be working on something cool and interesting. Rick has lost a friend of his own in March 2020, a 100-year-old fellow in … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Tagged World War II

Old and New Goals of Teaching History

Carla Rising Posted on February 20, 2020 by Topper_SherwoodFebruary 20, 2020

I’m currently reading Christopher Clark’s book with the whopping title: Time and Power: Visions of History in German Politics from the Thirty Years’ War to the Third Reich. In it, Clark discusses how the Nazis “changed history” first by changing … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Tagged Fascism, Germany, History writing, Hitler

History lesson: Bush
administration’s
chickens come
home to roost

Carla Rising Posted on November 22, 2019 by Topper_SherwoodJune 5, 2020

What people might want to remember today is that the US Justice Department has convicted the sitting president’s closest associates — including his attorney and his former election campaign manager — as criminals. They are sitting in prison for financial … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

EU publishing: German PEN acts to protect Turkish writer

Carla Rising Posted on November 20, 2019 by Topper_SherwoodNovember 20, 2019

Press Release: 19 November 2019 Ahmet Altan becomes honorary member of the German PEN Centre The PEN Centre Germany is following with great concern the fate of the Turkish writer and journalist Ahmet Altan, arrested in July 2016 for “supporting … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

American Models

Carla Rising Posted on October 26, 2019 by Topper_SherwoodNovember 9, 2019

Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 — I was talking to a dear, old friend of mine some time ago. She was thinking-out-loud about her current work — for a US food processing giant — and comparing it to the work she … Continue reading →

Posted in Media Commentary | Leave a reply

What People Are Saying...

"Carla Rising will lure many readers into imagining what it would have been like to have been part of the struggles (for change)....likely to engage both your thoughts about history and your emotions about this intense conflict."
— Paul Nyden, Charleston (WV) Gazette-Mail

"Very strong first novel from Topper Sherwood.... Sherwood's writing gave me a real feel for the landscape of West Virginia, as well as the landscape of the times. I'll eagerly read anything else he writes."
— Catherine in L.A.

"Carla Rising left me entertained and curious — so curious, in fact, that I did a lot more research into the U.S. mine wars; the book captured the time period very well."
— Forbes writer Ken Silverstein

"I read Carla Rising twice. Enjoyed it even more the second time."
— John Alexander Williams

"...a propulsive, compelling and readable drama."
— Doug Imbrogno
Charleston Gazette-Mail

"Anyone who likes a good mystery, thriller, historical drama, or just a plain fantastic read...buy this book. ...(It) deserves to be a major motion picture."
— Paula Grgich-Warke

"I can think of five friends who should read Carla Rising."

"What an adventure!"

"I just finished reading this - couldn't put it down until I did.... It's really, really good!"
— Joan C.

"What a deeply engrossing novel, Topper! You fleshed out the characters until I could visualize each one. The plot was heart-pounding, like a thriller. ...The research was astounding and made me want to dig deeper. ...Kudos, Topper, to a novel I will gladly suggest to others."
— Lynne Sandy

"A Novel Worth Reading"
— Paul Epstein

"(Topper Sherwood) has a vast reservoir of original ideas...with very worthy motives as his aim."
— Hallene M. Dick

"A tense book, skillfully evoking the Appalachian landscape and the miners' hopes of bettering their lives."
— John Borland

"(Carla Rising) has captured my heart. I cannot wait to continue reading today. ...I love how you describe in detail the characters' feelings, senses and surroundings. I feel like I'm there. The book definitely draws me in...."
— R.M.

"Carla Rising is a DAMN FINE read."
— Fish!

“I gave Carla Rising to a good friend here. She talked to me a long time about it today. She loved it, and whizzed through it in less than 36 hours. Could not stop reading. … She gets it. All of it.”
— Hilary Chiz

"Hell of a great read! I hope everyone reads this book."
— Ren Parziale

Events/Anniversaries

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‘Carla’ unavailable….

CarlaFrontCoverClick here for details….

Author’s Statement

As a journalist in the 1990s, I enjoyed researching articles on the “West Virginia Mine Wars” of 1890-1923 – although these labor battles are not easy stories to tell.

To me, the traditional “heroes vs villains” story – even the “poor underclass vs. wealthy oppressors” – wasn’t enough. Both sides could claim “victory,” for example, following the 1921 “Battle of Blair Mountain.” And both sides clearly suffered abysmal defeats in these conflicts which continue to polarize the region a century later.

In writing Carla Rising, my first novel, I was extremely mindful of parallels/allegories for today’s audience. Most notably perhaps: the rise of oligarchs, like my Sheriff Riley Gore, in local/national politics around the world today.

The political domination of energy companies of that time reminded me of the rise of “Big Data” today — of Amazon’s and Google’s effect on publishing, and media-making, especially in the United States. In a word, I personalized the plight of coal miners whose lives and work were cheapened by their employers – much in the same way that Internet firms have cheapened conscientious and time-consuming work of research and writing for news media, for books and nonfiction broadcasts.

Another allegory: During years of studying and publishing about these events of 1921, I was struck by the collaboration between the coal company’s private police/military force and public officials. Federal and state officials did not challenge the presence of a private company’s paramilitary force playing a role in the mining conflict – similar to Blackwater’s role in Iraq or, perhaps, private prisons in today’s United States.

Carla Rising also presents the split on the Left during that time – a split that resulted in the conscious purge of leftists during and after the New Deal, including the black-listing of Socialists and Communist Party members. After the 1980-88 administrations of Ronald Reagan (who participated in black-listing in Hollywood), it was easy to see how ‘mainstream’ liberals and media (the “free press”) generally were called upon to fill the void left by yesterday’s “reds.” It has also become easy to see the evolution of anti-“liberal”, anti-democratic demonization that continues today (2017), part of what has long been moving the United States further and further to the right.

Some of Carla Rising‘s characters represent the vulnerable middle class – most notably, Mary Rising, Carla’s mother – caught in the middle and pressured to take sides in an increasingly polarized political and social environment.

So, there are plenty of modern allegories to find in Carla Rising. I hope you enjoy it.

– Topper Sherwood,
Berlin, 2017

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