Goldberg does not deny the tensions involved in this conservative project within a liberal democratic capitalist system but rather accepts it as the challenge we face. The question is whether we are up to it.
Continue reading
Under attack from the left and the right are the very values and ideals that sustain our civilization. Democracy, free speech, free market capitalism are all increasingly treated with hostility. If the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves shape our society, then these dramatic changes in rhetoric should be deeply concerning.
Continue reading
From New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon, a gripping narrative history of the largest manmade detonation prior to Hiroshima. A great book on a very unfamiliar subject.
Continue reading
An excellent narrative of the blue-collar destroyers. Destroyers did not have the firepower of battleships or cruisers or the glamour of the aircraft carriers, but they had the grit and versatility to be vital parts of the U.S. war effort in the Pacific.
Continue reading
The book is a fascinating look at urban planning (or lack thereof in some respects) from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries in America’s largest city – New York City. Koeppel goes into great detail on the origins of New York City’s grid network, including looking at the three men that had such an impact on the plan that was used to form the grid.
Continue reading
Honor Before Glory is the story of the 442nd, a segregated unit of Japanese American citizens, commanded by white officers, that finally rescued the “lost battalion.” Their unmatched courage and sacrifice under fire became legend.
Continue readingCommodification has led most people to view God as a device to be used rather than an all-powerful Creator to be revered. This also explains our abundant and careless words about him. Is it any surprise that a divine butler would fail to provoke reverent silence? What need is there to rein in one’s tongue if God is merely a cosmic therapist? The god of Consumer Christianity does not inspire awe and wonder because he is nothing more than a commodity to be used for our personal satisfaction and self-achievement.
— The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity” by Skye Jethani
Norman’s literate, slightly odd, but ultimately humane style makes for easy and thought provoking listening on the daily commute. It was both captivating and relaxing; even if unsettling at times.
Continue reading
Anyone with an interest in Cockburn and his music will want to read Rumors of Glory. Anyone interested in the interplay between life, art, music, and politics would also find this memoir engaging and insightful. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Continue reading