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"How am I not myself? "—I (Heart) Huckabees
SPINSTER LIBRARIAN
 The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood’s frighteningly prophetic story about the loss of women’s freedom in the wake of a fascist take-over of the United States, was first published in 1986. In those days, the idea that the U.S. government could imprison and torture people who disagreed with its views or force women to follow reproductive laws written by Christian fanatics seemed far-fetched. But times change, and the bleak existence she depicted for both men and women no longer seems like a remote fiction dreamed up by a feminist Cassandra. In fact, a world in which ecological degradation so threatens the future of the human race that governments might begin to pass draconian laws to virtually enslave women in an attempt to reverse the effects of low birth numbers in the western world might not be science fiction after all. continued
Book Reviews: The Handmaid's Tale, God is Not Great, The Year of Magical Thinking, Not Remotely Controlled, Fear Up Harsh, The Worst Hard Time and The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog.
PLUS BRIEFS: Super America, Dough, Campus Sexpot, Naked in the Marketplace,The Real Wealth of Nations, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Why I Write, Sugarcane Academy and Silent Spring.
Don't Forget: Card Catalog: The Book Review Archive: A decade of book reviews. Use the search engine below to find specific titles or authors.
COSMIC CIRCUMSTANCES
 TAURUS: In this historic year of heated-up passion shifting to concrete manifestation, we have reached the moment of peak earth power reinforcement. The gravity of reality is undeniable. Primal nature is redefining us. We began the month with an intensely feeling full moon on April 20, and will end with a second one (a blue moon) on May 19. At the Taurus new moon on Monday, May 5 (the midpoint of spring), the big planets that have all shifted into earth signs will combine with the new moon to make a solid core of reinforced physical nature, activating fertility to break through resistance with the power of a flower. continued
OWL CAT
 It was the best of times and the worst of times for television in 2007. In the minus column were celebrity sycophant shows like TMZ TV, the frighteningly early news coverage of the presidential horse race and the dozens of reality shows about creepy, shallow, loudmouthed dumbkopfs. In the plus column was the final season of the Sopranos, The War,  Ken Burns’ WWII documentary, The Minor Accompishments of Jackie Woodman, Bill Moyers Journal, Thirty Rock, Extras and HBO’s moving drama, The Wire. The 2007 season of The Wire centered on the lives of four inner-city kids in Baltimore who were, in the main, crushed by the failing system. The story was by turns, Oliver-twisted, riveting and heartbreaking. The final season, which begins in January ‘08, promises to be just as compelling with its look at the death of the newspaper industry and journalism as we know it. continued
DR. ZODIAC
Janitors of the Zodiac: Will the Pluto in Virgo Generation inherit the torch from the Baby Boomers in the 2008 Presidential Election?
If the January presidential primary in Iowa illustrated anything, it was that Americans are ready to entertain a changing of the generational guard. The Baby Boomer presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, who could have ushered in a new era of personal freedoms, instead presided over a 16-year period of growing corporate power, erosion of government oversight, the destruction of the social safety  net and a decided shrinking of our civil rights. Not so groovy for graduates of the Summer of Love, eh? But the surprise victory in the Iowa caucuses by Senator Barack Obama, the bi-racial, Democratic Senator from Illinois, sent a message right at the electoral starting gate, that Americans are not thrilled with the rule of the Boomers. Though Obama was born in 1961, and the term Boomer is generally defined as those born during the years 1946-1964, he’s no Boomer. Because, astrologically speaking, that generation really ended in 1958. continued
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Year of the (Fat) Rat
2008 is the Chinese year of the Rat, and this time around our furry friend has a new mascot. It’s named Josephoartigasia monesi, and it’s a one-ton ancestor of the pint-sized, modern mammal. The skull of this hippo-sized, über rodent, nicknamed Mighty Mouse, was uncovered in Uruguay several years ago and stored in a South American museum. It wasn’t until 2007 — just in time for the start of this new zodiac cycle on February 7— that paleontologists realized that the fossil deserved another look.
Mighty Mouse probably lived four million years ago, and though Chinese astrology is thought to have been around for five thousand years, it’s still not ancient enough to have included this frightening, behemoth in its lexicon. Still, even without the weight of a prehistoric critter behind it, Rat is impressive in its own right.
Rat is the first sign in a 12-year Chinese sequence in which each year is assigned a different animal personality. According to legend, the Buddha determined the organization of the zodiac by holding a race. The order in which the animals finished would determine their place in the line-up. Rat, it is said, caught a ride on the horns of the ox leading the pack, and when they approached the deity, he leaped down and ran to the head of the line.
Because Rat got there first, Rats are considered to be leaders, and the years they rule are characterized by new beginnings. Rats are also charismatic, fastidious, clever, thrifty and very hard working.
During a Rat Year, that hard work will be rewarded — but not immediately. 2008 should a good year to begin a new job, relationship, business venture or to make a fresh start of some kind. While the Pig year was a time of abundant harvests, the rat year is once in which to plant seeds. Decisions made this year will carry long-term consequences, so be clever like a Rat, choose well and you too may end up a Mighty Mouse.
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