Category Archives: Politics and Civic Interest

Disaster by Choice

Posted on March 5, 2021 by smellincoffee

Disaster by Choice: How our Actions Turn Natural Hazards into Catastrophes© 2020 Ilan Kelman180 pages What makes a natural event — rising waters, a hurricane, a sudden slip of tectonic plates — a disaster? Human suffering — and Illan Kelman … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , | 9 Comments

A Walk Around the Block

Posted on January 15, 2021 by smellincoffee

A Walk Around the Block: Stoplight Secrets, Mischievous Squirrels, Manhole Mysteries & Other Stuff You See Every Day (And Know Nothing About)© 2020 Spike Carlsen336 pages One of my favorite books to think back on is Scott Huler’s On the … Continue reading →

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Mary Roach in bed, Frank Underwood’s crib notes, and a love story for libraries

Posted on November 13, 2020 by smellincoffee

It’s been a week of …very different books here. First up, Mary Roach’s Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex. All of Roach’s previous other works, all mostly-humorous attempts to review the science of taboo or often overlooked subject, … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

A Bright Future

Posted on October 15, 2020 by smellincoffee

A Bright Future: How Some Nations have Solved Climate Change and How the Rest can Follow© 2019 Joshua Goldstein & Staffan Qvist245 pages It is past time for the global community to take climate change seriously. In order to make … Continue reading →

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Of Putin, Hamilton, wars, and corona

Posted on September 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

I entered quarantine on Tuesday, immediately after having my COVID test done. Since then my physical condition has improved (coughing is minimal, energy levels are much better) although until I test negative I’m still locked away from the public. I’ve … Continue reading →

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Go Directly to Jail

Posted on August 27, 2020 by smellincoffee

Go Directly to Jail: The Criminalization of Almost Everything © 2004 ed. Gene Healy 194 pages What good are laws so numerous they cannot be known, or so opaque they cannot be understood?  James Madison knew enough to ask that … Continue reading →

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The Great Ron Paul

Posted on August 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Interviews, 2004-2019 © 2019 ed. Scott Horton 315 pages Selected quotes Who is Ron Paul?    That question was on posters across my university campus in 2008, and I couldn’t help but be curious.   … Continue reading →

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The Left, The Right, and The State

Posted on August 11, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Left, The Right, and the State © 2009 Lew Rockwell 556 pages “Society is held together not by a state but by the cooperative daily actions of its members.” Who’s up for six hundred pages of essays on politics … Continue reading →

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Losing an Enemy

Posted on January 8, 2020 by smellincoffee

Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy 472 pages © 2017 Trita Parsi Losing an Enemy is now a profoundly depressing book,  being an extensive history of an agreement that could have started erasing fifty years of … Continue reading →

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A Warning

Posted on January 2, 2020 by smellincoffee

A Warning © 2019 A Senior Trump Administration Official 272 pages In 2018, a disturbing op-ed ran in The New York Times declaring the existence of a secret band of White House staffers who were ‘working diligently’ to frustrate part … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments