Category Archives: Politics

These are very U.S. focused since I live here, we are the craziest nation on earth of developed countries, and have a hell of a lot of nuclear weapons

Book review of “The Death of Expertise: the campaign against established knowledge and why it matters”

Posted on November 5, 2020 by

Preface.  Those who attack experts are exactly the people who will not read this book review (well, mainly some Kindle notes) of Nichols “The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters”. They scare me, they … Continue reading →

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Why we need more women leaders

Posted on October 27, 2020 by

Preface. Hector Garcia makes the case that women make better leaders in an excerpt from his book below. His conclusion is that “scientific literature shows that when women are allowed greater political and economic power, which is inseparable from the … Continue reading →

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Book review: How Democracies Die

Posted on October 24, 2020 by

Preface.  This is a book review with excerpts from the first half of “How Democracies Die” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. A few main points: We tend to think of democracies dying at the hands of men with guns. … Continue reading →

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Donald Trump: Sexual Predator

Posted on October 21, 2020 by

Preface.  This is a book review of “All the President’s Women: Donald Trump and the making of a Predator”.  Trump is clearly as much a sexual predator as Jeffrey Epstein (who he hung out with for a long time) and … Continue reading →

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Republicans way ahead of Democrats on voter data

Posted on October 15, 2020 by

Preface.  This is a book review and Kindle notes of Nelson’s “Shadow Network:  Media, money and the secret hub of the Radical Right”. It tells the sad history of how Republicans got Trump elected and took over the House, and … Continue reading →

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Book review of “Siege: Trump Under fire”

Posted on October 12, 2020 by

Preface.  Wolff’s book continues the mordant humor of Fire & Fury.  His books are the best, by far, of the dozens I’ve read about the Trump Administration.  There will never be any books as insightful because Wolff was given unprecedented … Continue reading →

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Book Review “conservatives without Conscience” by John Dean

Posted on October 9, 2020 by

Preface. This is a book review of “Conservatives without Conscience” by John Dean. It is the best book I’ve read in explaining the history of conservatism and leaders like Newt Gingrich on the increasing authoritarianism of Republicans, It also explains … Continue reading →

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Kurt Andersen on Trump & Covid-19 in “Evil Geniuses”

Posted on September 27, 2020 by

Preface. If you want to know all the economic and political history that got us to the right-wing extremist Trump and Republican party, there’s no more entertaining way to do so than Kurt Anderson’s latest book “Evil Geniuses”.  Better yet, … Continue reading →

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Russia has been bombarding Ukraine with fake news since 2014. Sound familiar?

Posted on February 13, 2020 by

Preface.  Long before Russia bombarded the U.S. with fake news in the 2016 election campaign, Ukraine was the target, where Russia honed its propaganda skills.  The parallels with their fake news assault on the U.S. are striking, perhaps if more … Continue reading →

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Fox news estranges millions of families and instills hate and fear in its cult members

Posted on February 10, 2020 by

Preface.  This is a book review that has key excerpts of “Foxocracy”, by Tobin Smith, who worked at Fox for 14 years and was friends with Roger Ailes as well as the staff that decided what the propaganda of the … Continue reading →

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