Review:
This is a very technical review of economic policy in general and tax policy in particular. I learned a bunch and feel like I understand the situation much better. This seems like the kind of reference that our congressional leaders need.
Review:
This is a feel good book where the librarian is a hero! How great is that. The characters are all interesting and compelling. This short book does not do development so much as revelation and the interactions between unrelated characters are sufficiently minimal to make them realistic, but sufficiently present to bring coherence to the whole story. Extremely well done.
Review:
It is good to hear a Republican condemn Trump (as Cheney did). This book, however, feels like a story of how Trump betrayed his party as much as how Trump betrayed the United States. Since I feel like the GOP made Trump (yes, Trump took over the party, but it was sliding his direction since Mitch McConnell decided to make the Republicans the Stop Obama party and worked to make him a one-term President. Some might point back to Gingrich, but I think the "win at all costs" mentality may have been formulated by Gingrich, but it became a party mindset under McConnell and has culminated in Trump. So, Karl does his best to point Trump as a non-Republican and as a loser (I agree that in many ways he is both), while not accepting that the Republican party has fully embraced Trump and it is hard to see where that will end.
Review:
Indeed, Dickens is a word smith. Lots of detail and tons of nuance is lost in the adaptations. The way in which the ghosts are described, the methods by which Scrooge and the ghosts move, and the nature of the change of heart. I always felt that Scrooge thought of himself as liked, but is shocked to discover he is not. The actual story shows the incredible lack of introspection that governs Scrooge's life and how his devotion to money was not a last grasp, but a fundamental part of who he was which grew out of his own impoverished and largely unloved history. Scrooge is much more human in Dickens' telling and represses his memories and feelings leaving him bitter and unfeeling. The ghost of Christmas past is critical in the original telling, because this is what awakens Scrooge and forces him to remember his loving past. The ghost of Christmas present is fleeting in the original telling, though, he seems to dominate in modern adaptations. The use of words to describe people moving (they don't just flock into the street, they appear in large groups and slip into the scene from back alleys and side streets calling out to one another and roiling into a larger group--a description of "flock" which is much more enticing) is wonderful and lush with both description and a sense of motion. He is truly a wonderful author.
Review:
This book starts to address how to save democracy in the United States. The steps laid out are those laid out by almost anyone who thinks about it. The process of correction, however, is interesting. The authors argue for voter registration drives and grassroots organizing at the state level. While they recognize that this is where Democrats are weakest, it is probably for that reason that they point it out. They are also quick to point out that this is not a one term or even one decade effort. The current Republican ethos is draining and wearing away at Democrats who mostly seem to want government to help those in need rather than becoming engaged in rule games. Republicans, however, seem to revel in the games and thrill at the "winning." I don't know how this is going to go. The lack of Republican approach to reality means that they claim to win while they are losing. Indeed, a single short-term victory seems to fill their sails for numerous more journeys into uncharted waters where it feels Democrats are truly spending their time dealing with a constant barrage of nonsense.
Review:
What a staggering book. The concept is that there is no free will. Sapolsky makes a compelling case that free will is an illusion and while I am not ready to accept everything, the evidence is pretty strong. It is pretty overwhelming to imagine that we do what we do because that is just the way our bodies and brains are wired. Oddly, it is equally overwhelming to imagine that is not the case. If Sapolsky is correct, then our criminal justice system is kind of like burning people at the stake for being witches. It is wrong, it is inhumane, and it is horrifying. I do not know what to make of it right now, but Sapolsky does a decent job of arguing that we simply treat each other poorly. He makes the argument that we have overcome fear and bias in other areas and now attribute actions to a disease and not the person in numerous cases. Our society is no worse for this attribution and is truly better. It is hard for me to imagine where this goes--what a society based on no free will looks like. Very worth thinking about, however.
Review:
This is a hard read. The details are significant. The heroes of the day (the framers of the Constitution and the early American rebels) are almost all taken down a notch and several many notches. The intertwining of slavery and the formation of the country are no shock, but the details of how this happened and, particularly, who supported it and why, are marked. My favorite, John Adams, suffered under the glare of reality (as he has in so many other ways). This is a good look at what it means to be on the "right" side of history.
Words for which I sought help:
tyro -- a beginner or intermediate
Review:
This is a short book, but it is heavily packed with quotations and analysis. It took me a long time to read because I wanted to spend time with each concept and I wanted to work through the arguments being made. Around the chapter on logic, the book became increasingly analysis and less quotations (though it was still dense with quotation). By this time, however, the book was hitting Aristotelian concepts with which I was much more familiar and some of which I still remembered from reading Aristotle in translation. At this point, the book went much quicker and was, for me, walking down a well marked path.
