by Rupe | Oct 9, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Author: Jonathan Kozol
Date: 09-Oct-05
Over the past several years, Jonathan Kozol has visited nearly 60 public schools. Virtually everywhere, he finds that conditions have grown worse for inner-city children in the 15 years since federal courts began dismantling the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. First, a state of nearly absolute apartheid now prevails in thousands of our schools. The segregation of black children has reverted to a level that the nation has not seen since 1968. Few of the students in these schools know white children any longer. Second, a protomilitary form of discipline has now emerged, modeled on stick-and-carrot methods of behavioral control traditionally used in prisons but targeted exclusively at black and Hispanic children. And third, as high-stakes testing takes on pathological and punitive dimensions, liberal education in our inner-city schools has been increasingly replaced by culturally barren and robotic methods of instruction that would be rejected out of hand by schools that serve the mainstream of society.
My thoughts: Very disturbing book. Not surprising though. Having grown up in the city and going to the school in the Bronx, I have experienced first hand what Mr Kozol discribes in his book. This is a must read for anyone who cares about the future of this country.
by Rupe | Sep 16, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Author: Bill Maher
Date: 16-Sep-05
Bill Maher first came to national attention as the host of the hit Comedy Central and ABC-TV program Politically Incorrect, where he offered a combustible mixture of irreverence and acerbic humor that helped him to garner a loyal following, as well as a reputation for being a hilarious provocateur.
My Thoughts: Hillarious, funny, but many truths abound. A must read.
by Rupe | Aug 28, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Author: C.S. Lewis
Date: 28-Aug-2005
For centuries Christians have been tormented by one question above all, “If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?”
My Thoughts: Not exactly earth shattering stuff, but does make you go hmmmm?
by Rupe | Aug 9, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Author: C.S. Lewis
Date: 9-Aug-2005
Mere Christianity is C.S. Lewis’ forceful and accessible doctrine of Christian belief. First heard as informal radio broadcasts and then published as three separate books, The Case for Christianity, Christian Behavior, and Beyond Personality, Mere Christianity brings together what Lewis sees as the fundamental truths of the religion. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity’s many denominations, C.S. Lewis finds a common ground on which all those who have Christian faith can stand together, proving that “at the center of each there is something, or a Someone, who against all divergences of belief, all differences of temperament, all memories of mutual persecution, speaks with the same voice”.
My Thoughts: Pretty good read that goes a good ways into explaining the Christian mind, especially without the trappings of denominational constraints.
by Rupe | Jul 7, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Authors: Michael F. Roizen, M.D. and Mehmet C. Oz, M.D.
Date: 7-Jul-2005
You probably think you know a lot about the human body. The reality is that most of us know very little about this miraculous, scientific, and artistic system of anatomy. When it comes to your longevity and quality of life, understanding your internal systems gives you the power, authority, and ability to live a healthier, younger, and better life.
My Thoughts: Great read! Got a lot of keen, insightful notes from this. I would really recommend it to anyone who cares about his or her body.
by Rupe | May 29, 2005 | Not So Recent Reads
Author: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
Date: 29-May-05
Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? How much do parents really matter? What kind of impact did Roe v. Wade have on violent crime?
These may not sound like typical questions for an economist to ask. But Steven D. Levitt is not a typical economist. He is a much-heralded scholar who studies the riddles of everyday life, from cheating and crime to sports and child rearing, and whose conclusions regularly turn the conventional wisdom on its head. Thus the new field of study contained in this book: Freakonomics.
Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner show that economics is, at root, the study of incentives; how people get what they want or need especially when other people want or need the same thing. In Freakonomics, they set out to explore the hidden side of…well, everything. The inner workings of a crack gang. The truth about real-estate agents. The secrets of the Ku Klux Klan.
What unites all these stories is a belief that the modern world is even more intriguing than we think. All it takes is a new way of looking. Steven Levitt, through devilishly clever and clear-eyed thinking, shows how to see through all the clutter.
My Thoughts: A great read that does a decent job in tie a number of really remote idea together. Would recommend a read.
By the way, misguided biggots like Bill Benneth, the former republican Education Secretary tried to use it as a basis of one of his racist thoughts. Sorry, didn’t work dude!
