short stories, programming, adventures abroad and more. enjoy!

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quotes from "the right to pain relief and other deep roots of the opioid epidemic"
02 november 2023 | books
A thought-provoking book that should be read by anyone interested in the study and management of pain. I provide select passages fr[...]om the book and will update with additional quotes in the future.

book review: who we are and how we got here
31 march 2018 | books
Who We Are and How We Got Here is an excellent book that, even with its flaws, is worth reading for the great overview it gives in[...]to the emerging ancient DNA field that could have profound impacts on culture, politics, and science. Goodreads review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2343817531.

book review, part 1.0 — the rediscovery of man: the complete short science fiction of cordwainer smith
18 november 2017 | books
Chinese conquests of Venus, cats fighting off extra-dimensional dragons, Soviet telepathic experiments gone wrong, and much much more! Cord[...]wainer's The Rediscovery of Man is a grand, unique vision of Mankind's future and is a must read for anyone interested in a delightful journey that will both get them to ponder many new ideas and leave a smile on their face.

book review — private empire: exxonmobil and american power
21 march 2017 | books
A review of Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power, a book that provides an excellent view of how a large multinational cor[...]poration deals with adversity, planning on horizons unheard of in political or other arenas, and deals with hostile, often unstable governments in far flung reaches of the world. This review was written back in December 2016, but I am posting it here largely unchanged.

the long journey by johannes v. jensen — creating the definitive e-book
07 february 2017 | books
I have created an updated and corrected E-book version of Johannes V. Jensen's The Long Journey. It is easier to use on ebook read[...]ers and when using text-to-speech since header/footers and other errata have been removed from the PDF converted text. I've included HTML, EPUB, and MOBI files along with an explanation of major fixes/changes made. Enjoy!

book review — don quixote
05 february 2017 | books
How do you disentangle the period in which Don Quixote was written, it's stature as a literary classic, and all the other baggage [...]that accompany this epic? Forget all about it and just enjoy the reading experience.

book review — the revolution: a manifesto
29 january 2017 | books
An old review of The Revolution: A Manifesto, a book that is well worth revisiting from time to time.[...]

book review — the road to serfdom
25 january 2017 | books
For those willing to take the plunge, The Road to Serfdom is endlessly rewarding and well worth the intellectual effort. A [...]re-post of a book review I did back in July 2008.

book review — barbarians at the gate: the fall of rjr nabisco
07 january 2017 | books
Barbarians at the Gate is an excellent journalistic endeavor and a non-stop thrill from start to finish; highly recommended.[...]

book review — all the president's men
29 december 2016 | books
All the President's Men offers a compelling description of Woodward and Bernsteins investigative journalism but suffers from a nar[...]row presentation of the events surrounding Watergate and its exposure.

book review — the smartest guys in the room: the amazing rise and scandalous fall of enron
17 december 2016 | books
What an adventure. In short, the book describes the key players, their personalities, ambitions, and background, along with the financial f[...]orces at work that created the culture of Enron and thus the seeds for its dramatic rise and fall. Highly recommended.

book review: harmony black
07 january 2016 | books
Harmony Black starts with an old premise, there is[...] a normal and magical world, and barely builds on it. If you are looking for a fun weekend read, this book will fit the bill. But don't expect to come away with a novel view on the world or a new set of wondrous ideas to mull over.

book review: steve jobs - walter isaacson
31 october 2015 | books
Walter Isaacson has done an admirable job of trying to tackle such a complicated biographical subject. But for many aspects of his life, fr[...]om his childhood upbringing to his relationship with Patty Jobs to his time at NeXT, the book is lacking.

book review: the power broker
17 september 2015 | books
As has been stated many times, Robert Caro has written a tome that will show you in minute detail how a man manipulated the law, people, an[...]d money to obtain, use, and abuse power in quest to reshape NYC. It is absorbing, thrilling, informative, and much more. Read this book.

book review: capital in the twenty-first century
29 july 2015 | books
A flawed and deceitful rant against free markets in the guise of an objective analysis about the dynamics of capital. Piketty focuses almos[...]t exclusively on the inequality of wealth/capital and its accumulation. He then spends vast portions of the book attempting to put this inequality in a bad light without clearly articulating why. Couple that with a tendency to qualify every claim so as to avoid taking a definitive stand and you have a book that leaves you more confused and less informed about the topic, the dynamics of capital, than you entered with.

I'll update this review as I continue to chew over the book's many claims/assertions.

book review: zero to one
20 march 2015 | books
A short review of the excellent Zero to One, mostly analyzing an important question it ask early on: "What important truth do very few peop[...]le agree with you on?"

book review: the old man's war
13 february 2015 | books
A brilliant science fiction novel that raises many questions and sets up an intriguing universe.[...]

book review: the path to power
29 august 2014 | books
The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson) is a sweeping tale about the early years of LBJs life and political career. It is easily on[...]e of the best books I've read in awhile and would heartily recommend to others. Here i'll do a brief review of the book.

book review: the power of myth
11 august 2014 | books
Recently finished The Power of Myth, which covers interviews with Joseph Campbell about myths, and was greatly disappointed. I'll [...]briefly outline why in this review.

reading list and book mini-reviews
21 may 2014 | books
Below is the current crop of books I'm reading along with ratings and mini-reviews for other novels I've recently finished. I'm always exci[...]ted to start a new book, so recommendations are welcome!

NOTE! The ratings are a combination of how impactful the book was on my thinking about a particular topic or how well I think it was written/got its point across. Thus, at times whether I agree or disagree with the content/thesis/etc. of the book, it could still get 5 stars if the point it makes gets me to think about the subject in a new way or changes how I interpret the world around me.

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