book reviews
Reviews for political die-hards of books about politicians, civil rights, Supreme Court rulings and the ever-changing Swamp.
3 Books to Read If the George Floyd Case Has You Fired Up
So, I don’t know about you, but 2020 has been one heck of a year so far (to put it lightly). It seems like time has flown by, but so many things have happened that it is hard to keep track of the days. I have been struggling with my mental health for the past year and have been trying my best to manage it through COVID-19; however, I have felt a fire growing within me as things have escalated, and when the George Floyd case came to light, I just about exploded.
By Ashley Nestler, MSW6 years ago in The Swamp
Big Brother In The Twenty-First Century
Big Brother in the Twenty-First Century -Or- Why I Am Proud to Be a Prole Seventy years ago on June 8, 1949 what would become George Orwell’s last book Nineteen Eighty-Four was published. An instant success, it has continued in its popularity and terms such as “Orwellian” and “Big Brother” have become part of the standard dystopian lexicon. Nineteen Eighty-Four tells the story of Winston Smith, a man at odds with a political system that seeks to maintain absolute power and control over its citizens’ actions and thoughts. In many ways, Orwell’s work has proved prophetic. We are living in a society where nothing we do is private. Our thoughts - and in turn our reality - are being continuously monitored and controlled. While Orwell’s book deals with a strictly political antagonist, the forces at work in our society are not as easily identifiable. This paper will discuss the main images of Nineteen Eighty-Four and compare them to their contemporary counterparts. While this may seem a bleak topic, rest assured that along with his dire predictions, Orwell also indicated a method of fighting back against the oppressiveness of the system.
By Phillip Merrill6 years ago in The Swamp
'Talking Brook: Yaron Brook Show: Middle East & War'
Dr. Brook enters into the matrix once again. speaking about the Middle East and a little economics. He explains that Kurds remain in Syria. Kurdistan is the freest region and “more hospitable to markets and property rights than Turkey.” Dr. Brook says that Turkey funded and aided ISIS. Betrayal against the Kurds continues to be a hot button issue for Dr. Brook. Trump, to Dr. Brook, represents a zero sum game with no strategy or “America First.” World War I, Vietnam and slavery crop up in the talk as President Trump says that going into the Middle East was the worst decision made in this country. Dr. Brook points out to his audience that there will be people who say that Trump is playing “4-D chess.”
By Skyler Saunders6 years ago in The Swamp
Jefferson and Hamilton
American historian Claude Gernade Bowers, born Wednesday, November 20, 1878, in Westfield, was the ambassador to Spain (1933-1939) during the FDR administration. As an ambassador, Bowers successfully kept the United States out of the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Immediately following his ambassadorship to Spain, he was assigned to fill the ambassadorship to Chile (1939-1953).
By Shain Thomas7 years ago in The Swamp
Japanese Internment
Farewell to Manzanar is an autobiographical memoir of Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston, one of the thousands of Japanese-Americans who were forced into internment camps in the 20th century by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December of 1941. At the age of seven, young Jeanne and her family were evacuated to Manzanar—an internment located in Owens Valley, California.
By Sophie Jiwoo7 years ago in The Swamp
The Dream and the Nightmare of 'Red Plenty'
The Cold War has receded into history. With it went the Soviet Union, the communist superpower born out of the Russian Revolution of 1917 that collapsed in 1991. Making sense of it has been a difficult proposition at best. Going some way to fill in the gaps for a popular audience is Francis Spufford's Red Plenty with its compelling look into the era of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, that time when the dream of Red Plenty seemed within grasp.
By Matthew Kresal7 years ago in The Swamp
