Current Affairs


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Reckless: How Debt, Deregulation and Dark Money Nearly Bankrupted America (and How We Can Fix It)


By Byron Dorgan
"In this scathing indictment of the Bush administration and the excesses of big business and corporate gluttony during the past eight years, North Dakota Senator Dorgan (D-N.Dak.) chronicles how Americans' faith in government has been undermined by a lack of regulation and untrammeled greed. ....Dorgan's decidedly Democratic approach to repairing Americans' "broken trust" is to increase regulation, police Wall Street and to tax the wealthy. Readers who can wade through his rehashing of wrongdoing will find his practical solutions persuasive and in alignment with the new administration. "
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Jimmy Carter: The Liberal Left And World Chaos


by Mike Evans
"...Argues that Jimmy Carter's plan for peace in the Middle East--a plan supported by Barack Obama and the liberal left--would divide Jerusalem, weaken Israel, and surrender to radical Islam."
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Thursday, May 21, 2009

To Live Or To Perish Forever; Two Tumultuous Years In Pakistan


By Nicholas Schmidle
"A clear account of the dystopian politics of Pakistan. Journalist Schmidle arrived in February 2006, as the authoritarian rule of Pervez Musharraf was coming under attack.... He traveled with ethnic rebels and marched with student protestors, all the while avoiding the attention of the ubiquitous government intelligence agencies. The author lets his subjects speak, allowing the reader to understand the logic of their emotions and intentions—some evil are evil, some benign, but all are more than political caricatures of the Western imagination... Schmidle also follows the return from exile of popular former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and her near-immediate assassination, as well as the August 2008 resignation of Musharraf. A fully realized portrait of a nation struggling to survive its internal divisions and hatreds."
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Eliminationists; How Hate Talk Radicalized The American Right

By David Neiwert
""Conservative commentators, including Rush Limbaugh and Bill O Reilly, have become the "transmitters" of a rage against liberals that has repackaged for mainstream consumption the dangerous notion that opponents should be eliminated "either through suppression, exile, and ejection, or extermination." Neiwert, a reporter who grew up in Idaho among John Birchers and Republicans, is very familiar with conservative sentiments. But he notes a growing trend toward demonizing political opponents and encouraging violence rather than debating and discussing political differences."
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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Ad Nausem; A Field Guide To Consumer Culture


By Carrie McLaren
" ...Carrie McLaren and Jason Torchinsky (as well as contributors such as David Cross, The Onion’s Joe Garden, The New York Times’s Julie Scelfo, and others)discuss everything from why the TV program CSI affects jury selection, to the methods by which market researchers stalk shoppers, to how advertising strategy is like dog training. The result is an entertaining and eye-opening account of the many ways consumer culture continues to pervade and transform American life."

Idiot America; How Stupidity Became A Virtue In The Land Of The Free


By Charles P. Pierce
"Journalist Pierce delivers a rapier-sharp rant on how the America of "Franklin and Edison, Fulton and Ford" has devolved into America "the Uninformed," where citizens hostile to science are exchanging "fact for fiction, and faith for reason," and glutting themselves on "reality" TV and conspiracy theories. Pierce makes no apologies for his liberal bias, and some conservatives, notably evolution opponents and Rush Limbaugh, endure a good deal of bashing. Pierce writes that in the U.S., "Fact is merely what enough people believe, and truth lies only in how fervently they believe it." "

Monday, May 11, 2009

40 More Years; How The Democrats Will Rule The Next Generation

By James Carville
"The election of Obama in 2008 was partly due to a shift in American demographics that will favor the Democrats for the next 40 years, proclaims Democratic political advisor Carville. American voters are younger and more ethnically and racially diverse, a trend that favors Democrats. The old canard that young Democrats are prone to switch parties as they age and pay taxes doesn't stand up against data showing a drop in Republican vote share. Republicans have sealed their current fate by persisting in ignoring the political middle and appealing to their ultraconservative base. Carville points to failed policies of the Bush administration and Republican philosophies:.... Carville argues that contrary to the myth that Republicans are better on the economy, Democrats have more often delivered strong economies while providing needed social programs. The big challenge for Obama and future Democratic political efforts will be to restore confidence in government. .."
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