DIGGING DEEPER LXV: Down the toilet

Details

On Mon. evening, Dec. 15, UFPPC's book discussion group will examine Rose George’s The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters.[1]  --  In The Big Necessity, published in October 2008, the 39-year-old George notes that “There is no neutral word for what humans produce at least once a day, usually unfailingly. There is no defecatory equivalent of the inoffensive, neutral ‘sex’” (p. 11).  --  Digging Deeper meets Mondays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandolin Café (3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma)....

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WHAT:  Digging Deeper LXV: Down the toilet
WHO:  Led by Mark Jensen
WHEN:  Monday, December 15, 2008 -- 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
WHERE:  Mandolin Café, 3923 South 12th St., Tacoma, WA 98405

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United for Peace
of Pierce County
Study Circle:
December 15, 2008
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www.ufppc.org
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UFPPC study circle

DIGGING DEEPER LXV: Down the toilet

On Dec. 15, Digging Deeper will examine The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters.  Publishers Weekly had this to say about the book:  “With irreverence and pungent detail, George (A Life Removed) breaks the embarrassed silence over the economic, political, social, and environmental problems of human waste disposal.  Full of fascinating facts about the evolution of material culture as influenced by changing mores of disgust and decency (the popularity of high-heeled shoes dates back to the time when chamber pots were emptied into the streets)—the book shows how even advanced technology doesn't always meet basic needs:  using toilet paper is shockingly unhygienic and millions of government-built latrines in developing countries have been turned into goat sheds and spare rooms due to poor design, a lack of regular water supply or simply because the subsidized (and expensive) cement and stone structures are often more appealing than the village huts.  George explores how discussions on the importance of clean drinking water and the eradication of infectious diseases euphemistically address how to handle human waste.  From the depths of the world's oldest surviving urban sewers in to Japan's robo-toilet revolution, George leads an intrepid, erudite, and entertaining journey through the public consequences of this most private behavior.”  -- 

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Since July 2004, United for Peace of Pierce County (www.ufppc.org) has been conducting “Digging Deeper,” a Monday-evening book discussion group, often in the form of a study circle.  Topics have included peak oil, climate change, the corporation, torture, Iran, U.S.-Iran relations, the writings of Robert Baer, Islam, American immigration policy, Barack Obama and the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Saul Alinsky’s life and writings, war and human nature, parallels between the U.S. and ancient Rome, the sustainability revolution, and the debt crisis, as well as abiding themes of war, peace, politics, and social change.  Occasionally, the group has spent several weeks reading longer works, like Daniel Yergin’s The Prize or Robert Fisk’s The Great War for Civilisation.

DIGGING DEEPER meets every Monday from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Mandolin Café, 3923 S. 12th St., Tacoma, WA.

Participation is free and all who are interested are welcome.  For more information contact Mark Jensen (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).