Category Archives: Politics and Civic Interest

With Good Intentions? The Myth of Progress

Posted on November 25, 2023 by smellincoffee

Wait, wait, wait. Before I comment on this book, I want to say first that patience is a virtue, and so is persistence. I stumbled on Bill Kauffman nine years ago, possibly via Front Porch Republic, and was immediately taken … Continue reading →

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Racism, medieval feasting, and housing

Posted on November 21, 2023 by smellincoffee

Between work and school projects my list of read-but-unreviewed titles is growing, so…alas, it’s short rounds time. First up, The Color of Law, on how housing segregation was purposely pursued, not merely tolerated, by the federal government — primarily through … Continue reading →

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The Outlaw Ocean

Posted on November 6, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Secret Life of Groceries was a disturbing wake-up call for me last year, exposing as it did how slavery is a core part of the fishing industry that supplies seafood the world around — in which men are trapped … Continue reading →

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The People vs Tech

Posted on November 3, 2023 by smellincoffee

Democracy must bring big tech to heel, adapt itself to thrive despite big tech, or perish. Born of different times, with different expectations, they cannot coexist in their present date: the latter will surely destroy the other. In The People … Continue reading →

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How Social Media Rewired Our Minds

Posted on November 2, 2023 by smellincoffee

One of my core beliefs is that we live in a world which we made for ourselves, and yet which is not fit for ourselves. Our eyes expect to see what they do not see, our arms reach for which … Continue reading →

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Killing, fictional and otherwise

Posted on August 29, 2023 by smellincoffee

Lately I’ve gotten into the bad habit of getting almost to the end of the book, and then saying — “Okay, not enough of that to take to work, I’ll start a new one and then finish the other one … Continue reading →

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Selected quotes from “41: A Portrait of my Father”

Posted on August 5, 2023 by smellincoffee

41 is a biography of George H.W. Bush by his son, George W. Bush, and is written with affection, not objectivity. Bush offers that as a disclaimer at the very beginning. This is a tribute, written by a man who … Continue reading →

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The Last Republicans

Posted on August 3, 2023 by smellincoffee

I was interested in reading this book even before my unexpected presidential reading tangent of this last month, in part because of my age: George H.W. Bush was the first president I remember, and holds that title somewhat fixedly in … Continue reading →

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The Fight of his Life

Posted on August 2, 2023 by smellincoffee

“I’ll tell ya one thing, and I’m not ashamed to say it,” to borrow from my favorite Sopranoes antagonist, Phil Leotardo, “but my estimation of Chris Whipple as an author just plummeted. ” His Gatekeepers, a history and assessment of … Continue reading →

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July 2023 in Review

Posted on July 31, 2023 by smellincoffee

While it’s conceivable that I could finish a book today (I’m halfway through The Last Republicans, and ditto for Off the Planet: Five Months on Mir), I doubt it. I spent the weekend saying goodbye to a friend: the Harmony … Continue reading →

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