The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 "Wherever you are, death will find you,

even in the looming tower."

With these words, quoted from a passage from the fourth sura of the Quran,  bin Laden "sent an obvious signal to the hijackers who were on their way" (p. 350).

Today's headline announcing the most recent hijacking attempt illustrates the relevance of Lawrence Wright's The Looming Tower:  Al-Qaeda and The Road to 9/11.  For those seeking to understand the philosophical underpinnings and motivations behind these kinds of terrorist attacks, Wright's book provides a highly readable and informative primer on the sources of the most pressing conflicts of our time.

Wright's book traces the emergence of Al-Qaeda ("The Base") from a rag-tag bunch of largely uneducated religious zealots who got their first taste of jihad fighting against the Soviets in the late 1970s and early 1980's to the highly disciplined force capable of executing international acts of terror such as embassy bombings, an attack on the USS Cole and the destruction of the World Trade Center towers and the death of thousands.

By analyzing the intersections of radical Islamic thought, Middle Eastern political developments and the rigidity of the U.S. intelligence and investigative bureacracies in the post-Cold War global context, Wright helps to explain how America came to be the target of Al-Qaeda's struggle against "The West" and how the very agencies charged with our public safety let us down.  In so doing, he provides details on how these developments culminated in the global conflict we find ourselves engaged in today.

Wright's narrative make a crucial distinction between more traditional Islamic laws -- against murder (especially of innocent bystanders) against suicide, etc. -- and the ways bin Laden and other radical Islamists twisted teachings from the Quran to justify killing and mass destruction.  Like adherents of fundamentalist Christianity who espouse a so-called "Pro-Life" position, yet see no contradictions in the bombing of abortion clinics or the murder of doctors who provide safe procedures for women, the advocates of radical Islam engage in similar contortions of logic fueled by religious zealotry.

As Wright makes clear, the central contradiction of Al-Qaeda's actions on 9/11 is that while they sought to strike at "the head of the snake" (the source of the evil of The West) by attacking a symbol of American dominance, they left a vast array of humanity in their wake:

"In so many ways, the Trade Center dead formed a kind of universal parliament, representing sixty-two countries and nearly every ethnic group and religion in the world....The manifold ways in which they attached to life testified to the Quranic injunction that the taking of a single life destroys a universe.  Al-Qaeda had aimed its attack at America, but it struck all of humanity."  (p. 368)

The Looming Tower connects the legacy of Al-Qaeda's attacks on 9/11 with our ever deepening military entanglements in Afghanistan.  Wright's analysis provides much needed historical context to help us understand why more troops and more expenditures in a misguided attempt to gain control of this region will not make us more secure.  Wright explains that through Al-Qaeda's terrorist strikes:  "Bin Laden wanted to lure the United States into Afghanistan, which was already being called the graveyard of empires" (emphasis added mine -- p. 272).

If the United States is not to end up buried in "the graveyard of empires", we would do well to read and draw lessons from the history Wright so articulately presents.

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What's wrong with America's Health Care System...

Money-Driven Medicine: The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much by Maggie Mahar


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Maggie Mahar's fascinating and compelling book, Money-Driven Medicine:  The Real Reason Health Care Costs So Much, contributes much to our understanding of the current health care crisis.  Mahar takes the reader behind the hysterical ranting about "pulling the plug on grandma" and "socialized medicine."  In doing so, she provides the reader with a clear and accessible analysis of why we pay more, for less. 

The disciples of the "free market" would have us believe that competition between insurance companies serves to dampen soaring prices.  Unfortunately, as Mahar shows, the fiercely competitive health care arena pits doctors against doctors and hospitals against hospitals.  In the current system, everyone gets paid on a piece rate basis.  The more procedures, prescriptions, surgeries provided, the higher the profit.  The problem with this kind of arrangement is that often times, more is not necessarily better.  That is, more treatment does not result in better health outcomes for patients.

Mahar is at her best when she presents strong evidence for the failure of more treatment to foster greater health.  She details examples of how the flurry of unproven treatments, unnecessary tests, and defective medical devices actually threatens patients' well-being. 

Money-Driven Medicine should be required reading for every member of Congress as well as all Americans.  We need to move beyond distracting and obfuscating hyperbole toward a thorough accounting of exactly how our health care system works and doesn't work.  Only then will we be able to develop more rational and effective policy options to ensure the health and well-being for all. 

For those interested in seeing the film based on Mahar's book, go to the link www.moneydrivenmedicine.org for more information.

Smoke gets in your...

The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America by Allan M. Brandt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is difficult to find a person who has not been touched in some way by the all-encompassing reach of the tobacco industry -- from the carefully crafted marketing manipulations to the well-documented health risks associated with smoking and second hand smoke.  The cigarette has featured prominently in our culture, politics, legal system and public health debates for more than a century. 

In The Cigarette Century:  The Rise, Fall and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America, Allan Brandt draws upon an exhaustive array of historical documents (i.e., secret in-house memos, court records, advertisements, government reports, scientific research, etc.) to illustrate "how the cigarette reflects the most powerful cultural and political debates of our time." 

Brandt sheds light on the tobacco industry and its masterful efforts, at the turn of the twentieth century, to capitalize on Edward Bernays's (Sigmund Freud's nephew) insights from the budding field of public relations or "the science of 'group mind' and 'herd reaction.'"

Long before the latest health insurance industry staged "town hall" fiascoes, Bernays's approach called for the manipulation of public opinion by "staging" public events that could then generate news that could be tainted to serve the self-interests of the corporation.

Under the guidance of the PR expert, the tobacco industry initiated a campaign to solicit new female smokers by planting photos and news items in local papers connecting cigarette use with women, beauty and smoking accessories. Thus, the new science of public relations delivered a fresh new group of consumers upon which to profit.

When scientific evidence, supporting a connection between cigarette smoking and disease, began to accumulate in the 1940's and 1950's, the industry shifted tactics.  Industry representatives began to raise questions about the basis for research findings that established a link between smoking and chronic illnesses like cancer.   Tobacco companies hired their own scientists to create a smokescreen that effectively hid the mounting truth about the health impact of cigarettes behind a shroud of "controversy". 

Throughout the latter part of the twentieth century, as these strategies effectively shielded the industry from accountability, tobacco executives managed to deftly dodge a variety of efforts to limit the potential harm of cigarette smoking through efforts to bring forward civil lawsuits and governmental regulation.

Even in the moment when it looked like the weight of whistle-blowers' disclosures of previously hidden documents, class action lawsuits and punitive damages would bring the industry to its knees, cigarette manufacturers demonstrated a keen persistence in "cultivating" new markets in the developing world for its deadly products.

As Brandt makes painfully clear, the tobacco industry has employed a variety of tactics to explicitly market and profit from the sale of a product that caused death and disease for millions for over a century.  They conducted this campaign largely beyond the scope of public scrutiny and government regulation.

In documenting this sinister history, Brandt has provided us with an important, well-researched and engagingly written analysis of exactly how corporate greed and power have come to take precedence over our health and well-being.

Check out this video segment of Jon Stewart's interview with Allan Brandt on The Daily Show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Allan Brandt
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

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Republican Gomorrah...tales from the dark side

Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party by Max Blumenthal


My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Max Blumenthal has done what few contemporary commentators have managed to do. He has sifted through the extreme rhetoric of the Right Wing of the Republican Party to analyze the underlying conditions that have fueled their assault on our democracy. Republican Gomorrah helps to cast a bright light on the dark side of Fundamentalist Christianity and its bigotry.

In doing so, his book goes a long way toward helping those seeking to understand why ordinary Americans often align themselves with the interests of the rich and powerful against their own well-being. It is a familiar strategy -- divide and conquer -- that wraps itself in the flag and twisted interpretations of the Bible.

Blumenthal has provided a well-written and richly documented account of the tendency toward authoritarianism in American politics. Highly recommended.

You can see a video segment on Republican Gomorrah with Max Blumental below.



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Shock and Awe...

The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
While other writers have documented the growth of corporate power, the rise of the military-industrial complex and the shredding of our constitution in the expediency of protecting us from international terrorists, few have managed to piece the shards together to provide a crystal clear view of the major crises facing our country and the world. 

Drawing upon documentary evidence of the CIA's use of shock therapy to remold human beings, Klein makes a striking comparison with the use of extreme tactics as part of the "Shock Doctrine" to remake nations along the lines of privatization schemes.

To support her case, Klein paints a grim portrait of what she calls "disaster capitalism" -- the self-reinforcing cycle of corporate pillage and neglect of the public sector, the environment, etc. that then feeds the recurring pattern of natural and political disasters which in turn, create the need for lucrative governmental contracts.  In the process, corporations enrich themselves on the public largess.  Their actions are not part of some sinister plot cooked up in back rooms, but rather the result of the pursuit of neo-conservative free market ideology.  And so it goes.  

Klein's book is profoundly unsettling in a way only true stories can be.  Yet, do not be frightened away.  In the pages of The Shock Doctrine, the reader will find a way to put together the fragments so that one can begin to make sense of the ecological, economic and political crises we face. 

Check out online interviews with Naomi Klein. http://www.naomiklein.org/shock-doctrine/video-audio

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Tales of postsuburban sprawl...and how it got to be that way

Inventing Autopia: Dreams and Visions of the Modern Metropolis in Jazz Age Los Angeles by Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As a former resident of Southern California who has often wondered how L.A. area got to be so congested, so disorganized, and so bogged down with freeways, Jeremiah B.C. Axelrod's fascinating new book, Inventing Autopia:  Dreams and Visions of the Modern Metropolis in Jazz Age Los Angeles provided me with some answers. 

Contrary to popular belief, the sprawl that characterizes the L.A. area did not just spring up in a haphazard fashion.  Instead, as Axelrod argues, this pattern of development resulted from the process of conflict over competing visions of the possible. 

Going back to the early 20's, planners in L.A. were divided between two camps.  One group sought a concentric model of L.A. with a downtown business zone and outlying areas devoted to suburbs (think of a target with the bull's eye as the downtown region and the series of circles spreading out).  This model dominated the major Eastern metropolis such as Chicago and New York City.

The other model, based on utopian visionary Ebenezer Howard's notion of "the garden city", offered a different view of urban development.  Howard proposed the garden city as an alternative to the alienation of the modern city "to disrupt and debunk the concentric emphasis on the city by replacing it with an ideal of self-contained towns ordered on a more human scale."  In this way, "the garden city would be tailored to promote social familiarity and community interaction instead of alienation and impersonality endemic to the metropolis."  This vision of L.A. sought to provide residents with a more humane balance to the onward march of modernity.

Axelrod's analysis traces how the social and political clash of these competing ideologies resulted the establishment of Southern California as a "postsuburban region."  Rob Kling, Spencer Olin and Mark Poster characterize this pattern of development as "the fundamentally decentralized spatial arrangement...in which a variety of commercial, recreational, shopping, arts, residential, and religious activities are conducted in different places, linked primarily by private automobile transportation." (p. 221)  

For a detailed analysis of this phenomenon readers are encouraged to check out their book, Postsuburban California: The Transformation of Orange County since World War II.

The impact of these changes are still being experienced today, not only in Southern California, but across the country.   Axelrod has provided us with a highly readable and informative analysis to help us better understand how "postsuburbia" became the dominant model for communities.  Recommended for those who struggle each day with lengthy commutes, congested communities and seemingly never-ending development.  If you've ever wondered how did it get this way, this is the book for you.

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A glimpse behind the wall of sound -- the life and times of Phil Spector

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector by Mick Brown


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a kid, I remember listening to AM radio while riding in the car with my parents.  Invariably, we would be serenaded by catchy pop confections -- Da Do Run Run, Be My Baby, -- to name just a few.  The music found a place deep in my soul.  When I stumbled upon Mick Brown's Tearing Down the Wall of Sound  I was intrigued -- it combined two of my favorite things -- biographies and musical history.  Brown did not disappoint.

Tearing Down the Wall of Sound is a well written and engaging biography of the arc of Phil Spector's life and musical career.  Brown tears down the wall of sound, exposing the multiple layers and complexity of the man behind the music.  The book begins with his early days in tragic detail giving the reader a glimpse of the musical genius as a wounded child of an absent father (who committed suicide when Spector was a boy) and an overbearing mother.

Brown is at his finest when he traces the early history of rock 'n roll and the music industry.  Through Spector's life story, the reader gets a tour through the inner sanctum of the Brill Building and its cadre of songwriters and into the recording studio's where Spector crafted what came to be known as "the Wall of Sound" -- a bigger than life ensemble of layered sound that characterized his contribution to pop music.

The last third of the book follows Spector's spiral into madness and ultimately up to the moment a young actress, Lana Clarkson, is found dead of a gunshot to the face in his home.  It stops short of the resolution of the trial and sentencing. 

Overall, this book is highly recommended.  It is filled with behind-the-scenes tidbits and anecdotes of the history of pop music in the second half of the twentieth century as seen through the lens of "the rise and fall of Phil Spector." Those seeking a glimpse behind the wall of sound will find much to enjoy.

One of Spector's most well-known hits featuring the "Wall of Sound":  "By My Baby" by the Ronettes (1965) -- for your listening pleasure.



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Lincoln's Melancholy

Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book provides a fascinating perspective on Lincoln. Shenk draws upon letters, diaries and first person accounts to fill in the contours of Lincoln's depressive state of mind and how it influenced his thinking and approach to the challenges of his day. As such, it gives us a useful corrective to the simplistic notions of the range of human emotions. In this day and age, where anything other than a rosy outlook is suspect, the author reminds us, through Lincoln's example, that it is possible to be deeply affected by tragic events and to draw upon these experiences as sources of genuine strength. Overall, an engaging and inspiring read.

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Always look on the bright side of life....?

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

A couple of years ago, a book club I belong to read The Secret.  While many in the group felt the words to be powerful and inspirational, I had a nagging feeling that I could not quite shake.  There was something creepy about the over-emphasis on positive thinking to "attract" possessions, wealth, health, that unsettled me.  It seemed like the precepts of the "laws of attraction" promoted in the pages of the book could lead to a frightening tendency to blame the victim.  You're suffering from a terminal illness with a few months to live, then maybe you just did not visualize your healthy self sufficiently enough.  Living in poverty, having trouble getting by, then maybe you lacked the power to "attract" an ever diminishing resource -- gainful employment.

In her new book, Bright-Sided:  How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America, Barbara Ehrenreich focuses her laser-like gaze on the myriad assortment of gurus, motivational speakers, pop psychologists, preachers and other "enlightened" beings who espouse the gospel of "positive thinking."   According to this gospel, critical thinking or challenging existing conditions is somehow suspect.  At its most extreme, followers are encouraged to avoid "negative" people -- family, friends, neighbors.  And, herein lies the danger. 

Taking the reader through workshops and mega-churches, she uncovers this dark side of the bright side of life.  In so doing, she helps to explain how, even in these times of economic distress, compassion and activism directed toward social change are so rare.   She is at her best when she draws insightful comparisons between the positive thinking dogma and other rigid systems of thought (i.e, Calvinism with its emphasis on self-scrutiny to ferret out any trace of sin and pleasure; vs. positive thinking emphasizes self-scrutiny to suppress any negative thought to project a sunny disposition).

Ehrenreich concludes that ""The alternative to positive thinking is not despair."  Rather, "we need to try to get out of ourselves and see things as they are."  There is both light and dark.  In truth, we need an accurate assessment of both to live a more authentic life full of the entire spectrum of human experiences -- pain, pleasure, struggle, joy.

I think Monty Python poked fun of this sort of thinking.  Here is the classic scene from The Life of Brian.



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All aboard...

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
As an amateur history buff, I can usually get drawn into a well told story of a riveting episode from our past. I must admit that reading about the Puritans has never made it to the top of my list. They always struck me as a stuffy, humorless people hellbent on suffering.

Sarah Vowell's book, The Wordy Shipmates, changed all that. First of all, for those of you unfamiliar with Vowell, she writes about the past with an engaging mix of expansive intelligence and wit. Who knew one could laugh out loud while reading about the exploits of this motley crew of Bible thumping religious zealots?

While Vowell does provide keen analysis and much humor, her greatest achievement is in making the Puritans' story relevant to us today. A long line of American Presidents (such as JFK, Reagan, etc.) and politicians have made use of John Winthrop's "City on the Hill" metaphor. This idea has been twisted into a call for American Exceptionalism that has caused us to turn to a blind eye toward our flaws and overemphasize our superiority over other nations (and led us into numerous wars to prove it).

Those who have narrowly focused on this aspect of Winthrop's thinking fail to acknowledge that deeply embedded within the "City on the Hill" is a profoundly "communitarian ethos" -- the well-being of the least among us is inextricably bound up with our own. It is ironic that in this Christian land, there are some who troll through the past, selectively choosing tidbits to support their claims of greatness while missing this important point entirely.

Highly recommend for those in search of a good laugh while at the same time gaining a deeper understanding of the roots of our current political discourse and conflicts. Enjoy!

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Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold: How the Bold Dream of a Small Tribe at J.P. Morgan Was Corrupted by Wall Street Greed and Unleashed a Catastrophe by Gillian Tett


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you're like me, making sense of the economic implosion has been difficult. I am lucky if I can balance my checking account. So, the whole world of "derivatives" and "complex investment vehicles" generally soars right above my head.

That is, until I stumbled upon Gillian Tett's book, Fool's Gold. Now, I am still no economic expert, but I feel like Tett has provided me with a primer to sort through the mess brought about by a small band of investment bankers who left a devastating trail of destruction through the livelihoods of many.

Fool's Gold tells the story of how a small group of investment bankers cooked up a scheme that ultimately led to the crash of 2008. It is not a pretty story. It is one filled with greed, arrogance and blind faith in the so-called "free market." Although the narrative sometimes gets bogged down in acronyms, it is worth the effort. Highly recommend for those of us who don't hang out on Wall Street.


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Load up the gun rack...it's time to go Deer Hunting with Jesus

Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War by Joe Bageant


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Bageant writes with compassion and searing insight into working class life in America. He mixes storytelling with his own analysis of the free fall of "the great beery, NASCAR-loving, church-going, gun-owning America that has never set foot in a Starbucks." He also casts a bright light on what he calls "the American hologram" -- the mix of "televised, corporatized virtual reality that distracts us from the insidious realities of American life." The stupor of entertainment and media spectacle has successfully turn the attention of ordinary Americans from matters of the health and well-being of our democracy.

For those seeking to gain a better understanding of the turn our political discussion has taken toward the vitriolic and violent, Bageant's book offers insights to better understand the deep divides that separate us.

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The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic - and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Ghost Map reads like a detective story. Johnson tells the story of Dr. John Snow and his unrelenting quest to challenge the dominant theory of disease in 19th Century England. Leading scientists of the time were blinded by their devotion to the theory of miasma, or the theory of airborne causes of disease. As Johnson so engagingly documents this blindness led to misguided public health policy that actually exacerbated the Cholera outbreaks that plagued 19th Century cities. Readers interested in history, science and just a well-told story will be gripped by this book. Highly recommended.

I am currently reading...

Sarah Vowell's book, The Partly Cloudy Patriot which consists of a collection of essays of her observations about historical happenings, life and her unique view of the world. In places, it is laugh out loud funny. In others, it is deeply thought-provoking.

From editorial reviews on Amazon.com:

"Sarah Vowell travels through the American past and, in doing so, investigates the dusty, bumpy roads of her own life. In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell -- widely hailed for her inimitable stories on public radio's This American Life -- ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?

Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration.

The result is a teeming and engrossing book, capturing Vowell's memorable wit and her keen social commentary."