Category Archives: Book Spotlight

Book Spotlight- Scroogenomics

Posted on December 10, 2014 by tomdwyer

If it’s true that “it’s the thought that counts”, then there is no better gift than a book. You can spend hours searching for the exact title to show your giftee that you know them like no one else. Books … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 December, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell

Posted on November 11, 2014 by tomdwyer

Legalized pot. Gay marriage. Charter schools. Tea Party and Occupy. Iggy Azalea and twerking. Hula hoops, school shootings, ebola… what could they possibly have in common? All these things, for better or worse, have popped out of seeming obscurity to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 November, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- Two Columbus Day Discoveries

Posted on October 14, 2014 by tomdwyer

Two Columbus Day Discoveries This past Monday brought the somewhat awkward celebration of Columbus Day. In our News To Make You Furious this month we talked about a push to sanitize history and leave a panoply of heroes without flaw, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 October, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- Spotlight on Police Militarization

Posted on September 19, 2014 by tomdwyer

Our Book Spotlight this month shines brightly on one of the problems in Ferguson, Missouri, that we’re facing around the country. Officer Friendly is dead, and our streets are patrolled by SWAT robots with a “kick it in and ask … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 September, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “Camp Free in the Mt Hood National Forest”

Posted on August 15, 2014 by tomdwyer

Looking back at our past Book Spotlight choices, we seem to lean a little heavily on political choices. We also seem to send you to the Powell’s website for each book we pick, and the reviews are almost invariably from … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 August, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “So Rich, So Poor: Why It’s So Hard to End Poverty in America” by Peter Edelman

Posted on July 17, 2014 by tomdwyer

Income disparities in our wealthy nation are now wider than at any point since the Great Depression. The structure of today’s economy has stultified wage growth for half of Americas workers—with even worse results at the bottom and for people … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 July, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “War Is A Racket” by General Smedley Butler

Posted on June 11, 2014 by tomdwyer

We’ve got a short read for you this month, but a relevant one. As the latest VA scandal unfolds politicians are stumbling over each other to decry the way we treat our vets, but we were recently reminded that the … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 June, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” by Thomas Picketty

Posted on May 9, 2014 by tomdwyer

In the Afterword to his masterpiece “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”, Robert Pirsig introduces us to a Swedish word, kulturbärer, meaning a “culture-bearing” book… “A culture-bearing book, like a mule, bears the culture on its back… Culture-bearing books … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 May, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “Dirty Wars” by Jeremy Scahill

Posted on April 10, 2014 by tomdwyer

“Dirty Wars- The World Is A Battlefield” by Jeremy Scahill In Dirty Wars, Jeremy Scahill, author of the New York Times best-seller “Blackwater”, takes us inside Americas new covert wars. The foot soldiers in these battles operate globally and inside the United States … Continue reading →

Posted in 2014 April, Book Spotlight, Newsletter Columns, Newsletters, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Book Spotlight- “Dog Whistle Politics” by Ian Haney-Lopez

Posted on March 11, 2014 by tomdwyer

Dog Whistle Politics: How Coded Racial Appeals Have Reinvented Racism and Wrecked the Middle Class by Ian Haney-Lopez Campaigning for president in 1980, Ronald Reagan told stories of Cadillac-driving “welfare queens” and “strapping young bucks” buying T-bone steaks with food stamps. … Continue reading →