Tag Archives: Politics-CivicInterest

Garbage Land

Posted on May 16, 2013 by smellincoffee

Garbage Land: on the Secret Trail of Trash© 2006 Elizabeth Royte335 pages Where does the garbage go? In an impressive attempt to answer that most pressing question of modern life, Elizabeth Royte spends a year following her trash to landfills, … Continue reading →

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eaarth

Posted on May 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

earth: making a life on a tough new planet© 2010 Bill McKibben253 pages Oh, we’re in trouble.  For two decades, forward-thinking politicians have made noise about climate change. “We’ve gotta do something to save the world for our grandchildren,” they say. But … Continue reading →

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Crunchy Cons

Posted on April 30, 2013 by smellincoffee

Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, gun-loving organic gardeners, evangelical free-range farmers, hip homeschooling mamas, right-wing nature lovers, and their diverse tribe of counterculture conservatives plan to save America (or at least the Republican party) © 2006  Rod Dreher 272 pages … Continue reading →

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A Spectacle of Corruption

Posted on April 13, 2013 by smellincoffee

A Spectacle of Corruption© 2004 David Liss381 pages When Benjamin Weaver went to a pub, he never expected to end up fighting for his life, let alone be arrested for the crime of killing a man he only met when … Continue reading →

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Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet

Posted on April 13, 2013 by smellincoffee

Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet352 pages© 2008 Michael T. Klare For much of the 20th century, a handful of industrialized countries enjoyed access to a seemingly infinite supply of oil. But a century of economic progress has seen global demand for … Continue reading →

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Straphanger

Posted on April 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile336 pages© 2012 Taras Grescoe The cheap energy era is over, unless someone invents a Star Trek replicator that can magick barrels of oil into existence. Cities across the world are working … Continue reading →

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Pedaling Revolution

Posted on March 25, 2013 by smellincoffee

Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities© 2009 Jeff Mapes288 pages That’s some serious wind resistance there, buddy. Governments across the world today are beset by problems common to all: rising fuel prices and obesity rates, the ever-present spectre … Continue reading →

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This week at the library: sheikhs, airplanes, and VW vans

Posted on March 16, 2013 by smellincoffee

This past Thursday, some friends drove me three hours into the woods, dropped me off in the midst of some 70 strangers, and left me there. They called it “Cursillo”, and it was a spiritual retreat which I liked enormously … Continue reading →

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Waiting on a Train

Posted on February 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

Waiting on a Train: the Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service© 2009 James McCommons304 pages You leave the Pennsylvania Station ’bout a quarter to four, Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore! Dinner in the diner, nothing could be … Continue reading →

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Walkable Cities

Posted on January 31, 2013 by smellincoffee

Walkable Cities: How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time© 2012 Jeff Speck312 pages   For most of human history, cities were limited to the area that people could cover on foot within a day, but the advent … Continue reading →

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