Ordinarily, a sensible person would stay away from
Regnery
publications. The Fox news of the book world, it has a continuous right
wing slant and its authors aren't shy about low road propagandizing.
However, Steyn strikes at the weakness of the left; its unwillingness
to face and stand up to real threats to our civilization. In this case
it is the Muslim threat.
Predictive forces are few and far between but demographic trends are
substantial because, like a giant tanker, it will take time to turn
them around. And the direction is looking bad for Europe. As Ben
Wattenberg described in Fewer,
the population reproduction rate there is falling rapidly. The same is
true for isolated Japan which has resisted immigration. But to insure
support for the aging population Europe must invite young people and
the Muslim world has the excess to provide. "Islamofacation" looks
unstoppable. France is already being compromised in the war on Muslim
extremists and Great Britain is under assault. Terrorists were just
rounded up in Germany. Spain capitulated right after the train
bombings. Italy is weakening. Secularism cradle to grave government
health and welfare programs and women's equality are likely prominent
factors contributing to European "birth dearth".
Russia is also losing native population and will face Islamic and
Chinese incursions. Africa is not strong enough to withstand
conversions there. The only leading industrial nation that is
repopulating, and barely so, is America, and its cultural superiority
is under threat from Hispanic immigration.
But there is another troubling factor that Steyn calls attention to and
that is Western will--or actually lack of it. Confused and self
deprecating, caucasian populations are unwilling or unable to see the
realities coming at us and take sufficient action to turn back the tide
of hostility. Rationalization, accommodation and appeasement are all
too prevalent. Our aging populations just want to ride it out, leaving
future generations with the consequences. Muslim extremists sense this
weakness and are exploiting it. Without military might or economic
power, except for oil reserves, Muslim militants pick away at infidel
resolve because they are willing to stoop to any depraved tactic and
throw their lives away to accomplish, little by little, their goal of
total rule.
A comforting myth is that moderate Muslims pose no threat and the
meaning of jihad has been distorted. In actuality, "moderate" Muslims
are hunkering down, proclaiming their innocence and letting the
radicals do the dirty work which they expect, one day, to benefit from.
Until they stand up and lead the fight to expunge those who riot,
intimidate and kill in the name of their religion, they act as covert
enablers if not actual supporters. It is not improper stereotyping to
regard all Muslims with suspicion until they expose and denounce their
jihadist brethren.
Steyn argues that even in the Muslim heyday they sponged off others, as
many of the disaffected are doing now. And we let them get away with
it, in the name of multicultural equality, an equality which isn't
justified. A Muslim takeover would bring about a new, dark age.
This book could have been shorter than its 214 pages. The reader has to
climb over the repeated lame attempts at humor which are unnecessary.
He finishes up quoting passages from an Arthur Canan Doyle book. But
aside from the filler, Steyn makes cogent points we would do well to
understand before it is too late.
September 6, 2007
JBM
GO BACK TO TOP
The Two Income Trap
Elizabeth Warren & Amelia Warren Tyagi
2003
Critical Condition
Donald L. Barlett & James B. Steele
2004
The U.S. health care system isn't the best in the world
as GW
Bush has declared, it is an over complicated, wasteful, fraudulent mess
according to the authors and they have plenty of citings to support
their evaluation. This book starts off with several anecdotal stories
about how individuals are screwed and even killed by the system that
increasingly relies on profit expectations of Wall Street.
In 2001 Americans spent almost $5000 per capita on health care while
Canada spent upwards of $3000 yet Canadians live longer. We charge 205%
more than the Spanish and they live longer. In terms of overall health
we rank 29th. "[Our] culture of cronyism has created an environment in
which fraud thrives. So much so that the United States not only has the
world's most expensive health care, but also the most fraudulent." Our
drug companies, HMOs, insurance companies, brokerage firms, accounting
firms, researchers, publishers, ad firms, leading politicians and many
health care professionals are all in on it. The market competition
which was supposed to wring out waste (Stanford professor Alain C.
Enthoven is blamed for this idea) has created a nightmare of
complications and isolated businesses which add close to 30% in
administrative costs as compared to Medicare's 2%. Those costs and the
profit imperatives come at the expense of quality, efficient care.
A few names are named. Ben Lorello and Richard M. Scrushy
(HealthSouth), Jerry C. Barbakow (Tenet) became fabulously rich while
doctors and nurses are increasingly squeezed by shrinking
reimbursements, denial of procedures and deficient facilities. Many are
leaving under the stress of being on the front line of inadequate care.
Most Americans are unaware of the medical coders (The American Academy
of Professional Coders), the "sweatshop" call centers, Milliman
guidelines, procedure bundling, downcoding and McKesson's ClaimCheck
yet these regulations, and those who set the standards, often determine
the care that you get, even more than your doctor.
Pharmaceutical companies, not surprisingly, come in for particular
excoriation. The idea is to get Americans to buy evermore pills at ever
higher prices, needed or not (many are ineffective) and dangerous or
not. All resources are marshalled to this end, after all, investors
don't care who dies in order to keep maximizing profits. And with
increasingly complexity and abundance it is difficult for even the
honest official to administer proper controls--that is if one can find
an official who isn't compromised. One result is FDA approved drugs
such as Posicor, Seldane and Rezulin as well as fen-phen, Redux and
others which were removed from the market because of deadly side
effects. Others pills have been making similar headlines recently as
well as the compromised position of the FDA. So-called "off-label"
prescriptions account for about 1/2 of the total. These are drugs which
were not developed or approved for the illness or injury given.
We have no health care system. "Rather, it's a stunningly fragmented
collection of businesses, government agencies, health care facilities,
educational institutions, and other special interests wasting tens of
billions of dollars..." And with notable exceptions, the mass media
plays along. You can find more about those exceptions at www.ire.org.
All congressmen should be required to read this book, then explain why
they haven't legislated a single payer system as suggested by the
authors. None should be allowed to remain in office if they don't
immediately redress our health care monstrosity. If you can tolerate
getting mad, you should read this book too.
6/March/2005
JBM
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Jill Andresky Fraser
2001
You're going to better appreciate the job that you
have, unless
you are one of those big corporate staffers described in Fraser's book
because she paints a dark picture of work overload, job security
anxiety and diminished compensation that has become the big business,
white collar norm in America in the last 2 decades. This transformation
has changed the psyches of these workers from loyal, upbeat, team
oriented, semi-workaholics into cynical, everyman for himself,
disgruntled, coffee drinking and Prozac popping, disconnected (in and
out of the workplace), competitive (fighting to hold on to the job at a
fellow employees expense), drudges. This is an aspect of the anything
goes, greed is good deregulated corporate mentality that emerged from
the Reagan era. The criminality in the executive suites and the
outrageous CEO compensation packages have been well publicized but the
toll cited in this book has gained little attention.
During the merger and acquisition stampede in the '80's, American
corporations bought and sold, frequently leveraging acquisitions with
junk bonds. In order to recoup, personnel cutbacks were combined with
increased workloads to save money in order to please stockholders.
Other corporative executives were unwilling or unable to resist ever
greater profit pressures and also took it out on employees. And while
more for less was expected from employees, many top executives were
paying themselves indefensible amounts. Fraser cites "chainsaw" Al
Dunlap and GE's Jack Welch as primary examples. Intel's Andrew Grove is
also singled out.
Specific examples of downward pressures on workers include cutting back
work space, hiring temps and contingent workers to replace permanent
hires, cutting health care benefits, changing pension plans, requiring
401k vesting, mandating home work with the advent of cell phones,
pagers and internet connections, including e-mail while laying off
competent, productive, middle aged employees anyway. Motivational
seminars and exercises have simply incurred more resentment. Forcing
everyone to work longer and harder has sapped parent and citizen input
to local communities.
Fraser describes conversations with numerous white collar workers in
fields ranging from banking to high tech. The quotes she uses
personalize her generalities and make for quick, easy reading.
Fraser ends on an upbeat note saying that workers are saying "no" more
often, beginning to unionize and band together using the internet.
Customers and investors can also pressure corporate managers to lighten
up on the work force and this trend may actually pay off in greater
worker productivity. But it is hard to see a return to former standards
in the face of globalized job stealing, an issue Fraser doesn't
address. And will politicians help or hinder a more egalitarian
distribution of work and wealth?
For those unacquainted with this described white collar plight, the
book is an eye opener. How widespread the dissatisfaction is needs to
be further explored.
6/August/2004
JBM
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War On the Middle Class
Lou Dobbs
2006
This book is red meat for those who are very unhappy
with the
direction America is going. It is easy to read and touches all the
major basis of discontent. The title describes the theme:
profit-motive-at-any-cost corporate America and the governmental
officials it controls have hammered and dissolved much of the middle
class in this country. The wage earner class is no longer represented
by congress or the president and no longer respected by those in
charge. The costs keep going up for the middle class and the resources
keep dwindling.
Dobbs, a conservative, admits coming late to this understanding.
Apparently the illegal immigration issue was the catalyst, calling his
attention more fully to the other areas of neglect which liberals have
been complaining about for decades.
Dobbs cites 2 factors which changed the relationship between corporate
management and employees. The 1st was the advent of Mike Milkin's junk
bonds which broke long standing agreements between management and labor
as companies leveraged takeovers and buyouts put solvency at risk. The
2nd was the development of stock options for management, accelerating
the gap between the best paid and average compensation. Governmental,
elected officials failed to support unions and have sold out American
workers in the name of globalization. Consequently, along with illegal
immigration, decent paying jobs have been offshored or reduced. And
given the Republican pursuit of plutocracy, with Democrats on board, we
have seen a regressive distribution of the income and wealth remaining.
The consequences are failing schools, inadequate health care,
vulnerability to terrorism, huge debts we can't see how to repay, loss
of sovereignty, deteriorating infrastructure, a downgraded environment,
reduced world standing and a consolidated mainstream media that won't
tell us what we need to know and make us care.
Dobbs returns to our immigration and trade problems again and again. He
believes that our so-called "free" trade agreements such as NAFTA and
CAFTA and our trade subservience to China have been terrible. The
consequences are more important than the wedge issues, such as flag
burning, stem cell research, abortion, gay rights etc. which take up
too much of our governments time. He believes in public financing of
congressional campaigns, changing to Independent registration, testing
in schools, automatic college tuition for the top 10% of graduating
seniors, teaching civics, merit pay for teachers, "universal" health
insurance in some form and so forth.
The book concludes with copies of the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution for those who want to compare and contrast what our
founding fathers had in mind with the current state of affairs.
An excellent primer for those who want to know why they feel uneasy
and/or disheartened.
June 15, 2007
JBM
GO BACK TO TOP
Reich's Reason is a little over 200 pages of
his views on
the "Radcon" takeover of our governing philosophy and the faults which
lie within. He distinguishes between true conservatives and the neocons
who now control the federal government and warp efficacious governing.
He notes their '60s paranoia and their obsession with supposed
intolerable sexuality morality while ignoring the more devastating
economic immorality that allows the top 1% to own almost 40% of the
nation's wealth, which is more than the bottom 95% have. The ranting
Radcon media stooges keeps much of the religious public brainwashed in
the service of the greedy rich.
The problem this country faces is the competition from emerging
countries which are taking our jobs and lowering our incomes. This is
not the time for Darwinian solutions which are accelerating the growing
class bifurcation we see and can project. Not only do we need secure
access to health care for everyone but much more funding for job
retraining is vital if the U.S. is to keep up. And in increasing the
gap between the best and worst off countries ten times over in the last
30 years we are incubating more terrorists. We need to stop deceiving
ourselves about foreign aid.
Reich goes into the corporate scandals and CEO compensation to
illustrate how market fundamentalism has diverted us from a healthy and
moral distribution of wealth. Combined with the elimination of
progressive tax rates (which were about 90% for the top in the '50s)
and other tax cuts favoring the rich, we have slumped back to the
Gilded Age in distribution terms. Equal sacrifice has been abandoned
and it must be restored, especially in war time. After tax earnings,
between 1980 and 2000, rose 150% for the top and about 10% for the
middle class. Legalized bribery of federal officials keeps it that way.
Reich believes in a national service commitment for all young men and
women. He challenges the religious left to combat the religious right.
And perhaps most important now, he cites the passion and organization
of the Right and how effective it has been in contrast to the
disorganization and torpor of liberals. The DLC, Republican lite
approach won't do. True liberals and progressives must make a solid
case and argue it vigorously over the long haul if proper balance is to
be restored.
There isn't much in the way of revelations, the evidence and the
contentions are well known; in fact Reich has made the same points
before. But in terms of balance, it is important to keep liberal views
out there and current and Reich writes in easy to understand prose.
Appendix A contains 14 pages of survey questions and response
percentages. Most clearly reject Radcon positions. Yet voters told us
otherwise in not only reelecting GW Bush but Republican majorities in
the Senate and House. Clearly, something is wrong and liberals have to
get it together.
1/February/2005
JBM
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The Eagle Mutiny
Richard Linnett and
Roberto Loiederman
2001
Remember Mutiny on the Bounty ? The book, the
movie and
the remakes? Well this is a true story of the most recent mutiny, or
hijacking, of an American ship by 2 Americans. It happened in the far
east in 1970, during the Viet Nam war.
Clyde McKay and Alvin Glatkowski were 2 young, anti war shipmates on
the merchant vessel which was headed to Thailand with a load of
airplane munitions. According to the later testimony and interviews,
McKay felt that he should intervene in the delivery of weapons meant to
kill innocent people in an unjust war and continually hounded
Glatkowski to join in. The latter, having a wife in California about to
deliver their 1st child, wavered until the last minute but carrying a
second pistol he cast his lot in the plot.
With the guns and the threat of setting off a bomb, they forced Captain
Swann to signal a fire drill and when most of the crew cast away in the
life boats the 2 mutineers and a skeleton crew steamed away, headed for
Cambodia, whose communist government, McKay believed, would give them
asylum. As the ship stood outside the Sihanoukville harbor the 2
learned that the government was about to be overthrown by Lon Nol who
was not a communist sympathizer. The Columbia Eagle
was suspected of bringing small arms to help his takeover and there
ensued continuing suspicious interplay between those on board and those
on shore while a U.S. coast guard cutter stood outside the territorial
waters, not wanting to get embroiled in sensitive diplomatic matters
pertaining to the war effort.
Even before, and certainly while this delay in settling matters was
taking place, there was the interaction of the skeleton crew and the 2
hijackers; McKay wanted to blow up the ammunition or scuttle the
Eagle ;
the plot to retake the ship; the out of his head, uncontrollable
seaman; the captain who only wanted to prevent any lost lives. The
captain and crew still on board were never quite sure if there were
others amongst them in the outsider camp. This deterred them from
making further attempts at retaking the ship. It never became 100%
certain that McKay wasn't a CIA agent who delivered small arms to the
Lon Nol forces, although there was no convincing evidence for it and
all denied it.
Finally, the 2 were removed permanently from the ship and were kept
under guard, sometimes treated well, then delivered to a prison barge
to undergo a horrific time. They were joined by an Army deserter named
Larry Humphrey and Glatowski became the odd man out.
The Eagle
and its skeleton crew were released, joined up with the cast off seamen
and returned to the Philippines, never to play an important role again.
The authors described the family backgrounds of both men and describe
their reactions upon learning of the mutiny. Glatkowski's wife divorced
him and they never got back together.
Released from total confinement, McKay and Humphrey got outside help
and escaped into eastern Cambodia. Glatkowski, too sick from his mental
and physical conditions and drug withdrawal, stayed behind. Their
eventual fates are brought up to date.
This work is extraordinarily well researched and documented for a story
30 years old. It was therefore even more disappointing that maps were
not provided, which would have made the narrative easier to envision. A
diagram and more pictures of the Columbia Eagle
or some sister ship would also have helped. But if you want a true
tale, rather than fictitious, "beach trash" for summer reading, look
this one up.
2/May/2002
JBM
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Altman spends 260 pages making the case about our new
economic
objectives, i.e. eliminating taxes on all forms of savings to maximize
investment in the economy, which will thrust future growth
acceleration. "...the government would abolish all sorts of taxes on
savings...the nation's saving rate would rise...control of a
substantial chunk of the nation's income would shift from the
government back to households, who could use it more efficiently...as
more and more companies turned household's savings into productive
capital....The first payoff assumed that consumers really could spend
money in a way that improved society's well-being...the second payoff
assumed that companies wouldn't waste money on perks and poor
investments..." After exploring these assumptions in more detail, as
they have emerged in the Bush administration, Altman goes on to offer
other logical possible outcomes and provides evidence that the
neoeconomist's predictions aren't coming true. At least not yet.
First the Bush tax cuts were sold to America as necessary to stimulate
the economy. But the cuts were spaced out and back loaded which
minimized any immediate impact. And they were mainly given to those who
might not spend the money right away (the well of)--instead of the
poor, who had the most pent up demand. The plan didn't square with the
sales pitch. After selling the plan with sunset provisions, Bush is now
campaigning hard to make the cuts permanent.
But the surplus could have been spent on improving the calibre of our
labor force (more education and training) and/or more innovation
through R&D expenditures. Both would likely improve future economic
prospects and keep us more competitive. Instead, because of the tax cut
led deficits, the Bush budget cuts back on both. This leaves plenty of
savings to be invested--abroad.
The savings mania has intruded on Social Security too. Bush wants to
change the system from an insurance plan to and investment plan, with a
projected $trillion+ borrowing. Younger investors would be allowed to
plant their retirement money in some basket of low risk stocks,
controlled by the government. Critics have wondered what would happen
if the stock market dived in any given period of time. But what Altman
points out is which stocks will get this preferential treatment? How
will this be decided? And given the way Washington works, what will
stop "outside" corporations from weaseling their way (through bribing
congressmen) into the basket. As pressures increase to maximize returns
to cover increased outlay on retired boomers, companies with higher
returns, and greater risks will move in. In the end SS could be
dependent on the equivalent of junk bonds to provide a secure
retirement for young workers today. And this doesn't consider the fee
churning and management bite that will come off the top.
Altman describes the neoeconomy as a gigantic gamble. Maybe the savings
and investment will accelerate growth, jobs and tax returns. But more
not than likely. However, there is no mention of the real likely reason
for driving down this chancy road.
"Trickle down" is just a rationalization for outright plutocratic
corruption. While explaining that the further separation of the rich
from the rest is dangerous, Altman doesn't come down on the real
Republican agenda--fatten the rich who bribe them.
Although the explanations are for the average reader, those not really
familiar with economics may find some confusing points. But don't give
up.
10/February/2005
JBM
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Fortune Favors the Bold
Lester Thurow
2003
Once again Thurow offers an array of insights about
fundamental
matters that few others have. Economics is the determining factor in
the failure or success of any society. With the abandonment of
socialism and communism everyone has moved to capitalism. And with
technological advances in communication and transportation,
globalization is upon us. How we in America and the rest of the
developed and developing world react will determine the quality of our
lives, indeed our very basic attitudes and perspectives.
Having tried to describe the importance of the subject matter let's
move on to some of his contentions:
The rich are getting richer and the poorer are getting poorer. "Western
Europe's GDP per capita is now lower relative to the United States than
any time since the 1960's." The spread between the have and have not
nations (like sub Saharan Africa) is widening. It is not that the poor
are losing ground relative to the middle and the well off so much, it
is the separation of the rich from the rest that is widening the most.
This is sometimes blamed on globalization but Thurow sees it as
inherent in capitalism. Those that have--invest. They invest in
stability and education, criteria for transnational Foreign Direct
Investment. Smaller economies become specialized niche producers to
become better off. Mid sized companies and countries are dying out. TV
induced envy are considerable problems.
Another economic problem that will descend on us will be the crash of
the dollar as the U.S. can no longer justify the trade deficits that
are supporting the world's export driven economies, especially now that
China has copied that path to success. It has already driven out the
other Asian exporters as the country of lowest costs. Governments will
not make the painful changes that would lead to a soft landing, they
will act after imports become to expensive to purchase here and
millions of workers are laid off overseas. The disruptions will cause a
world recession with all the nasty, unforeseen consequences that are
likely to emerge.
The ability to "illegally" copy intellectual property has the potential
to grind progress to a halt. The professional music industry may go
under because no cost, clear copies can be made easily. More
importantly, biotechnological breakthroughs may slow to a virtual stop
as research and development costs go up and generic knock-offs come to
market more quickly. Technological stagnation could cripple any
economic recovery.
Remedies are suggested. A VAT tax should substitute for payroll taxes.
Corporate CKO's would look after investment and direction decisions and
a country's CKO would be charged with finding the best way forward for
that nation. This seems akin to Plato's philosopher kings. Will it take
unbiased, super thinkers to keep us from collapse? How will we find
these people and adhere to their advice?
Thurow again offers us lots of important things to think about, if on a
macro scale. But that macro scale determines the micro environments
that we live in. Don't overlook the overview.
7/April/2004
JBM
Finishing Business
Harlan Ullman
2004
Those who follow what is going on in Washington D.C.
have
probably seen Ornstein on TV commenting on the latest aspects of what
passes for Federal governance. In this book, he and Mann give us some
historical background and a quite critical commentary on recent
congressional behavior. They make clear that congress, under Republican
majority and leadership during the GW Bush administration have taken
abuses farther than any congress in 100 years. And the consequences are
greater then back in the early 20th century.
The fierce partisanship that the public is unhappy with took off with
the advent of Newt Gingrich in the House of Representatives during the
Reagan administration and has been building ever since with the loss of
moderates from both political camps. The 2 authors have been following
congress closely for the last 30 years and can lend some perspective
here. Total Republican control led to the rise of Tom DeLay and the K
street project and the Abramoff scandal but the shutting out of
Democratic input over those years has gotten less attention. "Middle
finger" governing and the win at all costs policy has come to rule; at
least until the 2006 election. Now we'll see if Democrats revert to the
arrogance that got them thrown out in '94.
And in the last 6 years, under Hastert and Frist, congress has allowed
itself to be subsumed under the Bush administration. There has been no
oversight and no legislative independence. But there has been plenty of
pork. The authors go into the 2001 tax cuts and the finagling of the
figures. They discuss the lack of sharper questioning of the reasons
for going to war with Iraq. Several pages are devoted to the inability
of congress even to insure timely replacement of congressional members
should a devastating terrorist attack occur. Apparently no government
is better than a temporary one. Rep. James Sensenbrenner is cited as
chief culprit.
Aside from a few reform leaders, congressmen are loath to make the
systemic changes the authors suggest, and have testified to in
subcommittee hearings. The pressure will have to come from the public
and the media. Transparency, accountability and true deliberation have
to be restored. Several specifics are suggested: 5 day work weeks even
if it means 2 weeks on and 2 off, impartial redistricting, time to read
bills that congressmen sign off on, 20 minute voting time without
extensions unless agreed to by both sides, banning leadership PACs,
curtailing earmarks and automatic disclosure of members behind them and
an office of public integrity to investigate and punish ethics
violators. It went without saying that campaign expenditures have to be
reduced.
It has been repeatedly noted on this site that the decline of this
country is most directly related to congressional malfeasance. Should
you doubt this, read this book.
26/March/2007
JBM
Internal Combustion
Edwin Black
2006
Internal Combustion is a book that traces
the
vein of history that relates to the generation of industrial,
commercial
and consumer power over the last 200+ years. Black describes the power
of forrest ownership (the medieval forrest laws) in Great Britain when
wood was the only fuel to heat homes and food. He goes into detail
about
the Hostmen river transportation of coal cartel which lasted through
the
17th century, a portion of history rarely portrayed. The advent of
steam
engines and locomotives finally broke the Hostmen hold.
Then there is the graphic depiction of city life
under
the stench and pollution of horse driven power, which when combined
with
coal burning stoves and belching steam engines created a miasma of smog
that sickened the healthy and caused shortened lives. Imagine shoveling
"as much as 3.25m pounds of horse dung daily" (not to mention
the dead horse carcasses--15,000 in 1880) as New Yorkers had to do in
the
late 19th century. The flies alone contributed to several diseases. And
don't forget about the gutters filled with urine. Another aspect of
history
you don't see in our films. No wonder the public quickly embraced
electric
transport.
But right from the start the path to clean, efficient
and cheap transportation was convoluted by greed and corruption. There
was the electric battery control battle. Companies formed and joined to
control patent rights. Buyouts and takeovers eliminated competition.
J.B.
Selden turned a questionable patent and subsequent abuse into a 16 year
strangle hold on development and competition. Joining with the
Association
of Licensed Automobile Manufactures, this cartel throttled all vehicle
entrepreneurs until Henry Ford stood up to it with his mass produced
Model
A's and Ts. But few know that Ford teamed up with Thomas Edison and his
battery to try and mass produce electric cars. However, Edison was
getting
old and squabbles and a course turning fire opened the way for internal
combustion engines to take over despite their relative inefficiency and
pollution.
Few like to recall that Ford and GM's A.P. Sloan
supplied
Hitler's military before and during WWII. During the depression and
into
the war years city trolley lines were bought up by GM subsidiaries,
sometimes
undisclosed, and destroyed to make way for gas busses. The conspiracy
trial
ended after WWII but conviction and punishment for such devastation
never
approached justice. To this day, other countries use electric lines for
public transportation, saving money, providing better convenience and
almost
no pollution--but not in America where the true costs of gasoline are
never
configured into the price (e.g. gas runoff more than exceeds the Exxon
Valdez spill every year etc.). The overall pollution is truly
horrendous
and the consequent global warming...well you get the idea.
In the final chapters, Black describes the current
efforts
to come up with clean fuels and efforts to retard those efforts, such
as
GM and Honda crushing perfectly good electric cars and the ignoring of
The Energy Policy Act which required the federal government to purchase
alternative fuel vehicles. Importantly, Black debunks ethanol as a
solution
because it takes too much to make and transport but the big corn
companies
control our congressmen who slap on high Brizilian import tariffs. He
makes
his case for hydrogen cars, which are buildable and serviceable--NOW,
with
fully electric cars a second choice. Independently run, "distributed
generation" vehicles are terrifying to big oil and they will do
anything
to stop them. We can have clean, efficient cars and trucks now if we
can
get corrupt politicians and blind business executives out of the way.
Black
doesn't calculate our chances of that happening but other countries are
and will surpass us, to our national disgrace. This book belongs on the
shelf of any American history buff.
9/March/2007
JBM
When Presidents Lie is cleanly divided into
6 parts: the introduction, which offers some general observations; the
lies FDR told about Yalta; The JF Kennedy lies about the Cuban missile
agreement; the Lyndon Johnson Gulf of Tonkin lies; the Reagan strategy
of lies about our Central American involvement (including Iran-Contra)
and Alterman's conclusion, including GW Bush's lies about intelligence
precluding the invasion of Iraq. The 4 case studies are quite detailed
and there are almost 100 pages of footnotes and over 25 pages of cited
references, which indicate considerable research. Indeed, the
delineation
of events is quite believable. The final pages consider whether the
American
public is sophisticated enough to handle the truth.
Alterman quickly goes into the difference between
important
and relatively unimportant lies and the part media plays in shaping
opinion.
Al Gore was painted as having a truthfully unreliable persona while GW
Bush's deceptions weren't considered to be part of his character. In
fact,
jumping to the end of the book, Alterman indicates that the American
public
may not want the truth from our leaders--it may be too complicated, too
nuanced and/or it may conflict with what we want to believe. And, given
the evidence of the last 60 years, especially Watergate (which isn't
described
in the book), we may have come to expect and accept that our Presidents
will lie to us. How that acceptance undermines the health of our
society
is up for study and evaluation.
The Presidential lies cited were told to beef up the
image of strength of our commanders in chief. We will probably never
know
why FDR gave up as much as he did and didn't disclose. We should
remember
though that in Feb. 1945 our atomic bomb hadn't been tested and an
invasion
of Japan was likely, an invasion we wanted the USSR to join in on.
Stalin
had designs on eastern Europe and we couldn't save Poland in any case
without
going to war again and there was no interest in that. Then there was
FDR's
declining health and what part, if any, did that play. In any case,
Truman
was left out of the picture and had to attend to the consequences.
Alterman
concludes that Stalin lived up to his part of the bargain while we
backtracked
and vilified him. Interesting.
JF Kennedy, while acting as the hawk was actually
behind
the trade off of our Jupiter missiles in Turkey for Krushchev's
abandonment
of Cuba. Europe was scared it would be relinquished in any WWIII
conflagration
and Kennedy didn't want to support those fears.
LBJ knew that the Gulf reports did not indicate an
attack
but he was imprisoned by the tough Kennedy image and he wanted to show
strength in order to pass his great society programs. Although he also
knew that a war would be a quagmire, as it had been for the French, he
couldn't stop himself and his continuous lies greased the skids to
disaster.
Reagan was a congenital liar and/or was so confused
that
he couldn't tell reality from fantasy. Either way, only deception,
perpetuated
by the media, kept his image afloat--even to this day. Many of the
horrors
visited upon innocents in Central America can be laid on his doorstep.
Finally, Alterman brings us up to date and discusses
the founders who didn't want us to get entangled in foreign affairs and
how we have evolved into the world power without upgrading our citizens
to handle new responsibilities.
Although this book concentrates on limited cases, it
would be wise for history buffs and academics to dig in, and conjure
with
the repercussions of deception in a democracy.
10/January/2007
JBM
GO BACK TO TOP
Take It Back
James Carville & Paul Begala
2006
Perhaps the best thing about this book is its
timing;
that is if it gets into readers hands in time for the November
election.
Not surprisingly it is a Bush/Republican bashing diatribe but it gives
the Right its tactical due while going after Dems for failing to offer
a well known, and better, alternative.
To sum up, it basically indicts the Republican ethos
of selfish, divisive greed compared to their advocacy of shared values,
all together, "Progressive Patriotism". This distinction shakes
out in numerous ways which the book lists. There is some sarcasm and
attempts
at humor to lighten things up a bit.
For those unfamiliar with the particulars or who need
to be reminded, the authors recite Bush administration and Republican
controlled
congressional failures over the last 6 years in both foreign and
domestic
policy. As you would expect, the war in Iraq comes in for prominent
criticism
in the former field. But since congress has less affect on foreign
policy
and the strategy concerning Iraq seems to be clarifying, domestic
denunciations
and alternatives are more germane this year. As has been stated here
previously,
the only question is when we get out of Iraq, either by timetable or by
check points. The expectation of a successful, united democracy there
is
now gone. It is also fading fast in Afghanistan in the face of
governmental
corruption and military weakness.
The litany of domestic failures is a familiar one:
the
corruption of congress and the failure of reform, the inadequate
instillation
of national security facilities and procedures, the lack of universal
health
care (or even the modernization of life saving, record keeping), the
lack
of adequate educational funding, the eroded and polluted natural
environment
and global warming, increasing energy dependence, the lack of a
workable
immigration policy, the feckless response to hurricane Katrina, media
consolidation
and biases, the pandering to social repressives (read the Christian
Right),
as well as virtually bankrupting the country in debt. Carville and
Begala
want the Left to stand up and show the public and the world a better
course.
Point by point, alternatives are offered. For
instance,
pertaining to corruption: "Leash" lobbyists by requiring much
fuller disclosure. No more hidden meetings with a vice president to
formulate
energy policy etc. Block up the revolving door between congressmen and
lobbyists. Disclose all contacts and pork. Give congressmen time to
read
the bills they are called to vote on and radically reform campaign
finance
by raising congressional pay but prohibiting incumbents from accepting
campaign donations. Any money raised by challengers would be matched by
federal dollars. Cheat and you are automatically out. [Some kind of
impartial
redistricting for House members would also be appropriate.]
Also not mentioned is the rationale for Dems not
coming
forth with a constructive agenda this fall--it would only be a target
of
attack by the Right which is desperately trying to focus attention away
from its record. The hell with what's good for the country; Republicans
haven't cared about that for decades at least.
27/October/2006
JBM