All Consuming : jonathanb

Consumed "The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 11:45:46 GMT

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are

by Henry Petroski

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Confluence: A River, the Environment, Politics and the Fate of All Humanity"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:55:49 GMT

Confluence: A River, the Environment, Politics and the Fate of All Humanity

by Nathaniel Tripp

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Maxwell's Demon: Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:42:38 GMT

Maxwell's Demon: Why Warmth Disperses and Time Passes

by Hans Christian Von Baeyer

Consumed "The Road (Oprah's Book Club)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:13:40 GMT

The Road (Oprah's Book Club)

by Cormac McCarthy

Consumed "Just a Geek"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:53:04 GMT

Just a Geek

by Wil Wheaton

Consumed "War is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:19:11 GMT

War is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General

by Smedley D. Butler

WORTH IT!

Consumed "SIMPLEXITY: WHY SIMPLE THINGS BECOME COMPLEX (AND HOW COMPLEX THINGS CAN BE MADE SIMPLE)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:30:36 GMT

SIMPLEXITY: WHY SIMPLE THINGS BECOME COMPLEX (AND HOW COMPLEX THINGS CAN BE MADE SIMPLE)

by Jeffrey Kluger

Consumed "The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:30:01 GMT

The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations

by James Surowiecki

Consumed "Everything Bad is Good for You"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:41:46 GMT

Everything Bad is Good for You

by Steven Johnson

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Ice Palace That Melted Away, The: Restoring Civility and Other Lost Virtues to Everyday Life"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:28:04 GMT

Ice Palace That Melted Away, The: Restoring Civility and Other Lost Virtues to Everyday Life

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:08:58 GMT

The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations

by Brian Fagan

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:17:35 GMT

The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible

by A. J. Jacobs

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 23:16:00 GMT

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

by A. J. Jacobs

Consumed "Einstein: His Life and Universe"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:40:47 GMT

Einstein: His Life and Universe

by Walter Isaacson

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:19:55 GMT

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

by Michael Lewis

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb: And the Architecture of an American Myth"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:33:10 GMT

Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb: And the Architecture of an American Myth

by Gar Alperovitz

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:39:21 GMT

Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent

by Robert F. Barsky

WORTH IT!

Consumed "A Short History of the American Stomach"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sun, 25 May 2008 12:32:06 GMT

A Short History of the American Stomach

by Frederick Kaufman

Consumed "Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Wed, 21 May 2008 00:45:09 GMT

Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper

by Nicholson Baker

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:06:44 GMT

The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory

by Brian Greene

WORTH IT!

A review of "How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok"

nobody@allconsuming.net (jonathanb) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 22:47:53 GMT

How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok

by Glenn Greenwald

Of all the scathing indictments of the Bush administration, this book may be the most so. Not hysterical at all, no knee-jerk liberal reactionary, constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald lays out in a jam-packed-with-information 128 pages (I used 68 page markers in all on this book, well more than my ususal 50 or so for a book twice that length) exactly how and why this administration is the most lawless ever to hold office. Not only are they lawless, he shows, but they are attempting to fundamentally alter our system of government through a pattern of deceit and unilateral decisionmaking. Completely bypassing or ignoring laws such as FISA, by eavesdropping (something no one has a problem with) without a warrant (something MANY people have a problem with), antitorture legislation, etc., the administration is putting forth a theory of the Constitution, laid out in black and white by administration attorney John Yoo, that the President has UNLIMITED authority in matters of national security. Thus, he can do, quite literally, ANYTHING he wants if he deems it necessary to national security, and cannot be checked by either of the other two branches of government. This includes tha ability to lock up American citizens, without a hearing of ANY KIND, nor access to legal representation, FOR LIFE. Therefore, under this theory, if the courts make a decision, or Congress passes a law, he can simply ignore it – it does not apply to him. There have been at least two instances of American citizens being jailed for years at a time without access to courts – and when challenged by others, they simply punt – in one case, charging the individual with an unrelated crime to what he was jailed for and insisting that the challenge to Bush’s authority was now moot, and in the other, simply forcing the person to renounce his citizenship and setting him free. There is really no way of knowing how many others are in this situation.

This is dangerous stuff, and Greenwald does an excellent job of laying out before the reader how exactly the administration is doing this, I can only encourage all persons of liberal, moderate, or non-authoritarian conservative bents to read this book. The one criticism I have would be that there are no footnotes, but all of these items have been reported by major media at one point or another, and are easily uncovered with a simple google search.

While Greenwald barely mentions impeachment in this book, the implication is clear – this President has openly admitted committing what amount to high crimes and misdemeanors.