Fascism, Madeleine Albright

Fascism:  A warning by Madeleine Albright is a book I picked up because it is hard to resist a Secretary of State talking about Fascism.

Started: 5/20/2019?

Completed: 6/24/2019

Recommendation: Mild recommendation

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

Secretary Albright offers this quotation, "A lie is not another side of the story; it is just a lie."  I cannot find the source of this quotation, it seems to be a saying. I think it is an important saying and I will remember it.

The book is not a call to arms to protect the USA from Fascism.  Rather it is a historical overview followed by a caution.  The "warning" of the subtitle is that things are trending really well right now in many places, the USA included.

I liked listening to Secretary Albright narrate this book.  She provided emphasis where I knew she intended that emphasis to be.  It was interesting to hear her nuance of her comfortable prose.  The book is a good overview and I learned interesting trivia (Putin's grandfather was Stalin's cook, Mussolini was a meticulous ruler, and Kim Jong Il was well spoken).  I picked up a biography of Mussolini as a result of this book and it will eventually show up (maybe 10 years from now, but he will be no less dead in the interim).

Gifts of Unknown Things, Lyall Watson

Gifts of Unknown Things:  A True Story of Nature, Healing, and Initiation from Indonesia's "Dancing Island" by Lyall Watson was recommended to me by my neighbor, Lucy.  She told me it was an adventure to understand how science and religion are both views of the same thing.

Started: 06/19/2019
Completed: 06/20/2019
Recommendation: Not Recommended
Recommended By:  Lucy D.

Words/Phrases for which I sought help:

prau -- A type of sailing boat originating in Malaysia and Indonesia that may be sailed with either end at the front, typically having a large triangular sail and an outrigger.

Review:

A sort of new age religious effort to look at the world as a mystic place we have the possibility to know better by attuning senses of which we are barely aware.  I find the approach neither interesting nor useful.

The Meaning of it All, Richard Feynman

The Meaning of it All:  Thoughts of a citizen scientist by Richard P. Feynman is another book by Feynman and that is enough.

Started: 05/25/2019

Completed: 6/18/2019

Recommendation: Mild Recommendation

Recommended By: Nobody

Review:

These lectures, given in April 1963, have some fundamental truths that resound today:

"No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, not to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated.  Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines.  Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race"

It is interesting that Feynman felt the need for this sentiment after the goal to go to the moon had been announced but long before it had been realized.  He definitely argues that the current age is the "Unscientific Age" which is part provocation (if you use an interesting title, you draw a larger audience) and part argument that while science has pervaded our lives in many areas--generally technology--it still is not a fundamental part of how we live.  We do not live with a scientific mind set.

All in all, however, having a physicist lapse into philosophy is bound to have some disappointments.  So, while this book is interesting and provocative, it is not really a treatise on philosophy just the musings of a genius.

The Undoing Project, Michael Lewis

The Undoing Project:  A friendship that changed our minds by Michael Lewis is a book recommended to me by my father.

Started: 6/3/2019
Completed: 6/17/2019
Recommendation: Highly Recommended
Recommended By:  my father

Review:

My father is a psychologist, so I was not shocked when this book started talking about psychologists.  The book is truly about the friendship and shared work of two men.  Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman worked together to understand how humans think.  Their work has influenced almost every field, probably with the largest impact being in economics.  The book is really about the friendship and the close, intimate relationship the two shared.  It is truly a biography of the relationship the two men shared.  Michael Lewis also spells out the nature and impact of their research in layman's terms so that it is accessible to everyone.  This is a great book, it is well written and the story line is compelling.  Highly Recommended. 

Proof of Collusion, Seth Abramson

Proof of Collusion: How Trump betrayed America by Seth Abramson is a book that I came to slowly and only decided to buy after the Mueller Report had been released.  I have read too many of Seth Abramson's tweets and consider him to be a reasonable person with insight on this issue.

Started: 5/18/2019
Completed: 6/17/2019
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Nobody

Words for which I sought help:

inculpatory -- implying or imputing guilt

Review:

Seth Abramson provides the long view...from 2013 to late 2018, he demonstrates why and how Trump engaged in collusion.  The motive seems to be personal gain.  Anyone who says that there was no collusion should have to read this thoroughly documented book.  There are footnotes to reflect virtually every sentence.

"Whatever happens, America--which has been spiritually, psychologically, and politically paralyzed by Trump's toxic insinuation into its culture--will continue in a state of paralysis that won't be broken until Trump's exit from American life."  About sums it up.  Abramson names names, he spells out sequences of events, and he identifies the endless lies, misdirections, and conflicting responses that have characterized the people around Trump who were directly involved in the collusion.

It is likely that Trump colluded directly and it is undeniable that his campaign did.  It seems highly unlikely that his campaign did these things without Trumps knowledge and approval.  Worth the read and it will be on my shelf as a reference until Trump exits American life.

The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu

The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu, and read by Luke Daniels came to my attention on a top 100 list.  This is the first science fiction book I've read by a Chinese author and I am curious to see if there are cultural influences.

Started: 5/15/2019

Completed: 6/3/2019

Recommendation: Recommended

Recommended By:  A top 100 list

Review:

The cultural differences were there as expected.  In the meantime, however, this was a great science fiction read.  It looks at both the issue of a planet in the Alpha Centauri system and addresses the idea of humans interacting with aliens.  Cool concepts and an oddly dystopian way of looking at potential first contact.