A Bleg for a Blog-Friend

One of my blog-friends — who has been at bloggng almost as long as I have been — is Kate Berry, who used to blog at Venomous Kate. She lived in Hawaii way back then, but like me, she moved on to other things. In her case, the mid-west and a housekeeping blog, and writing some rather nifty cookbooks and housekeeping guides. (This is her Amazon author page.)

Kate’s husband, Mike, developed some serious health issues two years ago; issues which were alleviated by surgery, but only temporarily. His condition has worsened in the last two or three weeks, to the point where he will have to retire immediately on medical grounds. Kate has set up a site for donations, with the whole story here. My daughter and I are planning to contribute on Friday, when my pension and her VA payment is made. Kate and Mike are good people, and long-time blog-friends. There was a time when I was absolutely strapped by a sudden economic catastrophe, and those friends that I had never actually met in person came through for me. Here’s hoping that the same can happen for Kate.

Israel/Mideast History Book Bleg

A friend emails:

I am becoming very disturbed seeing otherwise intelligent people that I know and respect starting to succumb to the anti-Israel drumbeat in the mainstream press. What books could I recommend to people like this so that they get a more factual picture of the history and evolution of Israel in general, and the evolution of the Israeli- Palestinian (and other Arabs) conflicts in particular?

Great question. Any recommendations?

UPDATE: My friend provides additional info in a follow-up email:

Sir Martin Gilbert has written several good books but I am looking for others. I especially want to turn younger folks onto some good books because they have mostly been force-fed propaganda if they graduated within the last 10-15 years. I will watch the blog to see what your readers recommend. They are a pretty sharp bunch!

Martin Gilbert’s books are a good start. And I agree about CB readers.

Skype Headset Bleg

I need to get a Skype headset to do radio interviews.

Quality is important, so I can’t go rock bottom cheap.

Any suggestions, particularly from first-hand experience, would be greatly appreciated.