Showing posts with label keeping america stupid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keeping america stupid. Show all posts

Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter Review

Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter
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Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter ReviewJoan Williams does a tremendous job of altering the terms of the public discussion about working, caregiving, and work-family conflicts. The book is packed with data about family leave policies in this country and others. It also carefully documents some of the disadvantages that men, particularly those in blue collar jobs, experience in the workplace. This book is essential for anyone who wants to be informed about cutting edge work-family issues. It is also terrific from a narrative perspective. Professor Williams dismantles many press-constructed narratives about the working world and instead brings forth stories in the workers' own voices.Reshaping the Work-Family Debate: Why Men and Class Matter Overview

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A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters Review

A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters
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A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters Review
It has become tradition for nearly all candidates to publish a book about "their vision" a year or so before the election. Some rise to the occasion, most are fluff, some are absolutely pathetic especially if you read them a year or two after the candidate is in office. This work stands out as a different kind of book. It is courageous, a demonstration of guts because Gingrich lays out a very clear agenda of the tough decisions that must be made now rather than hand us feel good stories. Rare indeed for a candidate to declare, in writing, what his goal is not on his first day in office, (and if it does not materialize "oh well, it was just a campaign promise anyhow,") but to present a document declaring, "this is where I plan for us to be my last day in office."
The book, is a rally cry as well that America is indeed an exceptional nation, in the best sense of that word exceptional. Gingrich, an historian with a Ph.D. long before he was a member of Congress presents a clear, concise understanding of American history, conveying the message that if we are to chart a better future, we first must understand our past and how we arrived where we are now. Gingrich presents us with a fundamental question and analysis. Historians can never argue with the fact that the 20th century was indeed "the American Century," but the challenge Gingrich presents in this book is how to insure that our grandchildren can some day say that the 21st century was "The American Century" as well. This is not a candidate thinking just a few months ahead to winning a nomination, this is a man, with a sense of history, who is asking to look generations ahead and insure that our grandchildren have an America that is secure, prosperous and still a global leader. To insure that we as a nation are going to have to make some very tough, painful decisions now and not a decade hence. Gingrich has the guts to "tell it like it is." That is vision, and that is a rare thing to find today. . . But you will find it in this book and this man.
To be fair and up front, some of you reading this might recognize my name. Yes, I've co authored several books about history with Newt. And I must add here a sharp clarification. At least one reviewer on this site has made scurrilous implications about Newt's involvement in our novels. Newt truly is a co-author in every sense of the word and I am proud to work with him.
In closing I have tried to be balanced in the review of this book, transcending personal involvement and friendship. If I honestly did not see this work as one of the finest "campaign books" ever, a book I urge every voter to read, I would simply have remained silent. Even if you do not support Newt's efforts read the book anyhow to glean a wealth of information, ideas, and questions you should be asking all candidates a year from now.Whomever sits in the Oval Office on Jan. 21, 2013, this time they must be there because of their ability, intellect, understanding of the uniqueness of our country, and with the guts to make hard choices in the tradition of Lincoln and FDR, rather than a president elected with vague impossible "feel good" promises. It is time for a revolution in how we select our president, to return to the real issues, which are. . .THE ISSUES, rather than a popularity contest as trivial and absurd as American Idol.A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters Overview

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Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World Review

Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World
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Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World ReviewIf you ever watch the news, listen to the radio or check the headlines on msn.com, you must read this book. There is a battle going on for the information gateway of our country: the news media complex.
And the great general leading the charge, the brilliant strategist who has been literally on the forefront of this fight and has seen it from the inside-out and the ground-up, who makes it possible for you and I to literally hear "the rest of the story".... is Andrew Breitbart.
Anything we know today, about the JournoList, about ACORN, about Pigford is directly because of Andrew Breitbart. (And if you don't know about any of the things I just mentioned, start researching, because this affects YOU)
"Righteous Indignation" is part memoir, part treatise, part history lesson. It begins with the infamous ACORN sting investigation, in which James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles went to multiple ACORN offices around the country and asked ACORN to help them find tax breaks for their brothel, in which they claimed to employ underage illegal immigrants. Yes, they explicitly stated that was their business - underage human trafficking.
And Breitbart dropped the videos, one by one. Aside from the moral repugnance of the actions of the ACORN offices, the bigger story was that ACORN was doing this using taxpayer dollars. Within weeks, Congress unanimously voted to defund one of the largest community activists groups in the country.
All because of some bloggers and a couple of kids with a camera.
The next part of the book details how Breitbart became the biggest New Media magnate of our day, the driving force behind the biggest news stories in the last 5 years. Breitbart grew up in Brentwood, LA's upscale suburb, to middle-class, hardworking conservative parents. He then went to a liberal party school for college and wound up tens of thousands of dollars in debt with a degree in American Studies. (Which, by the way, makes me feel a lot better about that Creative Studies degree I got.) He found himself challenging both the values he grew up with and the values he acquired while in college - at polar ends of the spectrum - and having to decide which were really right.
The power of the internet was made clear in the 90s. It was the internet - specifically, the Drudge Report - that broke the biggest stories of the decade. Essentially, it was Matt Drudge that exposed not only Bill Clinton's criminal and immoral activities (yes, criminal activities, his impeachment was not about sex, it was about him committing multiple felonies.), Drudge also showed how much the mainstream media was ignoring, covering up and lying about. This is gone over in detail in the book so I won't recount it here.
Breitbart also tells about his key involvement in creating what is now the antithesis to his Big sites - The Huffington Post. Yes, The Huffington Post likely would not exist without Andrew Breitbart, and he is proud of it. He and Arianna Huffington, though on opposites side politically, are still friends. Why would he create a venue for people he absolutely disagrees with to be able to express their beliefs - often times hatefully about him? Because, above all, he's a believer in the importance of letting all sides into the conversation, and that when people are able to see all points of view, only then are they able to really decide what is true and what isn't.
In the midst of all these personal anecdotes, he drops a very heady chapter on philosophical history for the last 200 years. Wait, what? My brain was not ready for the shift, and at first it was a little jarring. But the history is important, and he is able to expertly articulate, in a very non-stodgy way, the connection between today's media and political personalities and Rousseau, the Frankfurt School, and Saul Alinsky. (Never heard of those people? You will.)
The latter part of the book is the treatise, the call to action, the good ol' fashioned Rebel Yell (if he'll pardon the expression) calling you and I to stop being merely observers of the world and be engagers. The communications landscape of our country is changing, not because of what goes in in some elitist J-school or because Jon Stewart shoots his mouth off and hides behind his clown nose, but because people like you and me, bloggers, everyday ordinary people, are doing to it.
As Breitbart puts it, it's time to walk toward the fire. It's time to stop being passive and settling for what the official story is from the government and the media. It's time to start engaging our friends and neighbors in conversation and education, to spread the truth and encourage others to seek out information for themselves, rather than being spoon-fed. It's time to start asking questions, holding these people accountable for spreading misinformation, for stoking fear and division. It's time to take up the mantle of responsible citizenship and start holding the 4th Establishment's feet to the fire. We're not gonna take it anymore.
Andrew Breitbart is to me what Rupert Murdoch was to my parents. The game-changer in the media conversation, the one person willing to go out and create an avenue for news from an alternate perspective, not just the canned official line of the establishment. The difference is, Breitbart isn't a multimillionaire doing this out of academic interest. This is his life. This is his country. This is our country. And it's time we stepped up and protected it.
Walk toward the fire.Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World Overview

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Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World Review

Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World
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Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World Review"join the Club" provides some much needed thinking for Social Workers and others interested in making a difference - especially in such difficult economic and anti-social policy times.
Ms. Rosenburg has explored a number of social problems, both domestic and international and explored how the "social cure," peer pressure as she defines it, can make positive changes. Domestically, the exploration of both teen smoking prevention and study groups for Calculus provide brilliant reporting. The use of professional thinking in marketing to engage teens is particularly helpful, and similar ideas to engage youth in political opposition to corporate manipulation in consumerism, worker exploitation, etc. spring easily to mind.
The international examples are also strong, with powerful stories in Indian, grass-roots health care, the empowerment of women and political action. She also examines the probable peer pressure factors in the success of micro-loans.
While for this reader the overly-long section on the use of groups in a protestant, suburban, mega-church doesn't measure up to the other stories - this book is good food for thought for advocates everywhere.Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World Overview

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The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement Review

The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement
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The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement ReviewIn this book, New York Times columnist David Brooks takes on the audacious endeavor of weaving together a unified picture of the human mind through various discoveries from the sciences. Oh ya, and it's all presented in the context of a story about two fictional characters, Harold and Erica.
You can get a good feel for the topics he covers from the chapter titles:
1 - Decision Making
2 - The Map Meld
3 - Mindsight
4 - Mapmaking
5 - Attachment
6 - Learning
7 - Norms
8 - Self-Control
9 - Culture
10 - Intelligence
11 - Choice Architecture
12 - Freedom and Commitment
13 - Limerence
14 - The Grand Narrative
15 - Metis
16 - The Insurgency
17 - Getting Older
18 - Morality
19 - The Leader
20 - The Soft Side
21 - The Other Education
22 - Meaning
If you think that's a lot of chapters, you're right on target. It's a pretty thick book at 450 pages, but it's easy to move through (not quite novel easy, but much more so than typical nonfiction).
Book's strengths:
- If you are familiar with Brook's social commentary (and like it) you won't be disappointed, but this isn't the real strength of this book.
- In a style that's reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell, Brooks offers a pop view of experimental psychology that is downright fascinating. The studies he explores are the real meat and merit of this book, and they expose many fallacies in the way we think that we think. Here are a few of the topics:
* The hidden role emotions play in making decisions.
* How mirror neurons in the brain are wired to mimic the person we're talking to.
* The massive role non-cognitive skills (aka, other than IQ) play in success, fulfillment, and achievement.
Book's weaknesses:
- My biggest criticism of this book is that the author created characters to personify the characteristics he wants us to understand. Allow me to explain. This is fine in theory but in practice (for him anyway) it falls flat compared to the entertaining and poignant explanations he writes when he isn't trying to explain through a character.
- As for the story itself, the narrative isn't as flat as your typical non-fiction fiction book (aka management fables and parables of other stripes), but a juicy, page-turning novel it is not. You'll get into the story enough at times that you'll want it to be a page turner, but it's too flat for that.
- I wish the book would show you how to use non-cognitive skills to your advantage. Emotional Intelligence 2.0 is a great book for this.The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement Overview

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