David R.

China Takes Advantage of Fools

Revisado: 04-14-24

The author understands and explains many of the top problems with China and our trade policies and practices with it. Western businessmen have been foolishly operating in China under the rules and requirements of a communist dictatorship. The businessmen have given away their intellectual property (and had it stolen from them) and China was all to willing to let them make massive amounts of money during the process. As we see in the automobile industry, these businessmen may be driven out of business as the Chinese auto giants crank out cars cheaper and faster. It's a foolish belief that westerners have that joint ventures and trade with communist nations will turn those nations into Capitalist Democracies. They are now paying the price for that foolish belief, we are paying the price. I recommend this book for those who want a deeper understanding of these problems and especially for those who are hearing about them only recently or for the first time.

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A Christian who Behaved Like a De Facto Priest

Revisado: 04-14-24

The author painted a picture of Carter as a devout Christian who behaved as a de facto priest. I believe that this personality is what made it so difficult for Carter while serving as President. He couldn’t get into the personality of an executive of a massive bureaucracy who had to work with congressional leaders representing hundreds of congressmen and their districts. Christians have an uncompromising faith in God and in their righteousness, it’s their faith. This was a major problem to his understanding of Israel as a modern liberal Democracy, to its leadership and their position on the tiny fraction of land they controlled in the Middle East. The author himself had difficulty in understanding this as well. Israel is a geographically tiny fraction of land surrounded by relatively massive nations filled with people who want them gone from the region and some who want them gone from the face of the earth. Israel’s entire history is one of being attacked, scapegoated and driven from their land (what little of it they had). Carter (and the author) could not understand that giving up any amount of land put Israel significantly closer to the very people who want them gone. Carter just couldn’t believe that Israel wouldn’t give up, what to Carter, was a tiny piece of land. Carter treated Israel like a problem child and he treated Egypt and the PLO like helpful older brothers. This leads me to a major problem with this part of the book where Carter (and the author) painted a picture of Yasser Arafat as humble friend of the world looking to help make peace — this couldn't be further from the truth; Arafat’s speeches to Palestinians are filled with venom for Israel. After this section of the book, it felt like the author had a political agenda and I became skeptical of the veracity of much of what came before it.

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A Great Biography about Jack and the two Joes.

Revisado: 12-16-23

I enjoyed the writing and the narration. Throughout the narrative, I found my self both admiring and disliking both Jack and his father. Two very consequential figures in the world during their times. I almost felt sorry for brother Joe. I look forward to listening to a good book about the next ten years of the Jack's story. As always, one has to know the temper of the times before passing judgment. Still, these two had to be in the right tail of the normal distribution of philandering for their times.

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The Insufferable Busybody

Revisado: 06-25-23

Wilson was president during WWI in which he and Congress enacted the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act. Imprisoning many Americans for what they said, not for what they did. I wondered why the author didn’t have much to say about this abuse of power. The author also gave little to no discussion of the the 1918 flu pandemic that killed more than 50 million people worldwide. I think that these are not omissions by the author but the result of capturing Wilson’s MO that crises are opportunities to impose his “God given superior” intellect on the world. The man was an insufferable busybody of the worst kind. I don’t really know who was worse, TR or Wilson.

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President McKinley and the Temper of his Time

Revisado: 04-08-23

Rove writes well, but his read performance is average at best. Nevertheless, this bio is well worth listening to as it is one of the most accessible explanations of the birth of 20th century politics.

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Just the Facts, Ma’am.

Revisado: 01-14-23

Well written for a book loaded with facts and explanations of climate and why it matters to trust people with the information as it is. The author is not happy with the current use of fear mongering to manipulate the public on climate change. The amount of misinformation that results from the fear mongering does more harm to the public trust resulting in poor policy decisions and wasteful spending. It’s a good read and very enlightening.

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A Good Story of Heroism and Redemption

Revisado: 01-14-23

Shane is heroic character who brings out the best in good people and the worst in bad people. At one point, he explains what a gun is: “A gun is tool, Marian, no better or no worse than any other tool, an axe, a shovel, or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

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Energy, Climate and Human Flourishing

Revisado: 09-11-22

I really liked the use of reason and logic to discuss energy, climate and human flourishing. The author argued the positives and negatives of the various fuels that provide our energy, the foundation of all human flourishing.

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Some Men with the Right Stuff at the Right Time

Revisado: 11-30-21

The Berlin Wall and the Stasi were nearly perfect in their purpose, to keep people from escaping the communist regime controlling East Berlin. Tunnel 29 is the story of the people who defied the wall and the Stasi. If you know the story of the Berlin Wall and the Stasi, you'll really appreciate this book. If you don't know the story, you really need to get this book.

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When Ideas Matter More than Results

Revisado: 11-05-21

This book is a compendium of the ideas developed to deal with drug addiction, mental illness and vagrancy in San Francisco. It goes into the implementation and the results of the implementation of these ideas. The following quote from Winston Churchill would have been a good subtitle, "However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."

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