Short Stack

The Internet as the real world

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 05:30:04 -0500

How do you ensure trust on the Internet? In the world of Facebook, Twitter and blogs, it's hard to know who is who and what is true? These issues are tackled in "eTrust: Forming Relationships in the Online World," published by the Russell Sage Foundation in September. Edited by Karen Cook, Chris Snijders, Vincent Buskens, and Coye Cheshire, the book explores a range of questions ranging from how to assess a reputation online to the limits of Internet trust. GUEST BLOGGER: Coye Cheshire In popular discourse, the online world is often treated as a fundamentally different place than the offline world. Discussions about risks and uncertainties on the Internet tend to lean toward one of two extremes. At one end are optimistic utopians who point out that the Internet provides unlimited opportunities to interact in large-scale conversations and e-commerce transactions without geographic restrictions. Many hoped that the Internet might redeem

Barnes and Noble's Nook, best airport books, Sarkozy and Camus, James Patterson's new series

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:40:47 -0500

Barnes and Noble says it has sold out of its e-reader, the Nook. New shipments won't go out until January. ... Hudson Booksellers, the bookstore travelers turn to while waiting it out at the airport, has released their list of the best books of the year. ... Conservative French president Nicolas Sarkozy has the left in a lather over his decision to award the country's highest political honor to Albert Camus. The left accuses Sarkozy of trying to score political points. ... James Patterson's new series for young readers debuts on Dec. 14 and the publisher is going all out to attract teens and tweens. ... Waldo Hunt, credited with reviving the art of pop-up books after they fell out of fashion in the U.S, has died...

The euphoria of silence

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:30:41 -0500

Sara Maitland fell in love with silence while living alone in the countryside. She was in her late 40s and had been at the center of a noisy world most of her life: as one of six children and then as a vocal feminist and mother. In "A Book of Silence," published in October by Counterpoint Press, she describes her exploration of silence across the world in the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. We asked her to explain the euphoria of being in the presence of silence. GUEST BLOGGER: Sara Maitland In September I went back to the Sinai desert. I wrote about my first visit there when I was researching some of the world's silent terrains. It was very good to be back. Desert silence is unique for various reasons. There are few people and no roads. There is less

Macbeth and other guilty souls in literature

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:30:39 -0500

In his book "Guilt: The Bite of Conscience," published by Stanford University Press in October, Herant Katchadourian explores the many manifestations of guilt across disciplines, religions and philosophies. Here, Katchadourian, emeritus professor of psychiatry and human biology at Stanford University, assesses the role of guilt in literature. GUEST BLOGGER: Herant Katchadourian Clinicians and behavioral scientists focus mostly on the subjective and psychological aspects of guilt -- feeling guilty. Prophets, theologians, philosophers and legal scholars are more concerned with the objective element in guilt as culpability -- being guilty. Literature offers a vast array of descriptions and insights into guilt that provide compelling illustrations of the experience of guilt, as well as penetrating insights into its nature. The oldest, and most compelling example is the Greek tragedy, "Oedipus Rex," by Sophocles. The story of King Oedipus -- and Freud's Oedipus complex derived from it -- are well known. Oedipus admits to

A chance encounter -- and a literary delight

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:30:45 -0500

By Dennis Drabelle Here's why bookstores will always be important to me. Last week, on a visit to Philadelphia, I stopped in at the Book Trader, a roomy secondhand store on Second Street, looking for something to read, wanting to be surprised. While browsing the fiction shelves, I noticed "Chad Hanna" (1940), by Walter D. Edmonds, and a bell rang in my head: The book was made into a movie (also 1940) with Henry Fonda. Not a movie I'd seen, but one of whose existence I was aware. I picked up the volume, an old Bantam Pathfinder paperback, saw that the eponymous Chad is a circus roustabout circa 1836, and that was all I needed to know -- I made the purchase. "Chad Hanna" may not be an incandescent masterpiece, but it's nicely paced and evocative, not to mention intelligent, informative, diverting, frank (but not lewd) about sex. Its author,

Wrath of Capt. Sully, manly titles, Supreme Court's Cuba book decision, an attorney's tale of DC sniper

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:30:04 -0500

Capt. Sullenberger vs. William Langewiesche on landing in the Hudson. ... Best books for boys and young men. ... Supreme Court declines to enter fray over Cuba book. ... Attorney plans book on D.C. sniper. ... Must-read social media books. ...Google, Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers submit new version of digital book settlement.

Sin, Redemption and the State

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:30:56 -0500

So you've sinned. Now what? Gary A. Anderson, a professor in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame, may have an answer for you. In his book "Sin: A History," published by Yale University Press in September, Anderson explores the roots of sin and atonement. Hint: help the poor. But what if the state moves in, as it has in the past 500 years, and takes on a large responsibility for aiding the disadvantaged? How, then, does the average sinner pay off his debt? GUEST BLOGGER: Gary A. Anderson During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama gave a landmark speech on race relations. He remarked that the "original sin of slavery" had left a "stain" on our nation. The usage of the biblical metaphor of sin as a stain allowed President Obama to say something quite profound. In the Bible, sin is not just a vague mental notion that something has

Fort Hood and the invisibility of Arab Americans

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:30:41 -0500

A memorial to the victims of the Fort Hood shooting stands on the grounds of Casa Del Norte, the apartment complex where the gunman Maj. Nadil Malik Hasan lived in Killeen, Texas. (Eli Meir Kaplan/Getty Images) The Fort Hood shootings have re-ignited conversation about the place of Arab and Muslim Americans in U.S. culture. Syrian-American civil rights attorney Alia Malek has probed the question deeply in her book "A Country Called Amreeka: Arab Roots, American Stories," published by Free Press in October. The book tells the individual tales of Arab Americans working the assembly line, holding public office and serving in the armed forces. Malek has discovered that despite their contributions Arab Americans remain mostly sidelined in the story of America. Here she reflects on Arab-American invisibility which tends to vanish only in moments of national tension. GUEST BLOGGER: Alia Malek Arabs - both Christian and Muslim - began

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Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:30:41 -0500

Top 10 most destructive government actions

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:30:56 -0500

Martin L. Gross has a beef with the way Washington works, or rather, the way Washington has of mucking things up. In "National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z," Gross lays out how tax dollars are wasted, government programs fail and scams are perpetrated. Gross has also written "The Government Racket: Washington Waste from A to Z." We asked him for a Top Ten list of most destructive government actions. GUEST BLOGGER: Martin L. Gross 1. FALSE DEFICIT FIGURES. Washington habitually understates the federal deficit. President Obama, following the tradition of Presidents Clinton and Bush, said it was $1.417 trillion in 2009. But figures at the Bureau of the Public Debt shows it to be $l.885 trillion, the balance being money taken from the various trust funds and spent -- gone forever as part of the national debt. 2. LOOTED SOCIAL SECURITY. In the

The new Cold War: the War on Terror

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 05:30:53 -0500

An Afghan mobile vender pushes his cart through war damaged buildings in Kabul, Afghanistan, last week. (Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP) Some policies die hard. In "America's Cold War: the Politics of Insecurity," published by Harvard University Press in October, authors Campbell Craig and Fredrik Logevall argue that American policy formed during the Cold War was dominated by alarmism, political grandstanding and militarism. We asked Craig, a professor of international politics at Aberystwyth University in Wales, to weigh in on how this U.S. political tradition informs American policy today. Logevall is a professor of history at Cornell University. GUEST BLOGGER: Campbell Craig In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the United States embarked upon a stunning campaign of military spending and war. Vast new bureaucracies were created almost overnight, not least the Department of Homeland Security, employer now of some 200,000 people. Ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to

Racial reconciliation: Mississippi leading the way?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:30:10 -0500

In "The Past Is Never Dead: The Trial of James Ford Seale and Mississippi's Struggle for Redemption," Harry N. MacLean explores the issue of racial reconciliation. The book wonders whether the conviction of former Klansman Seale can atone for an era of racially motivated sins. We asked MacLean to reflect on what light Mississippi's efforts shed on racial progress across the country. GUEST BLOGGER: Harry N. MacLean In June of 2007 former Klansman James Ford Seale was convicted of conspiracy and kidnapping in the murder of two black youths in Southwest Mississippi in 1964. The Supreme Court recently refused to hear an appeal, leaving the law unsettled as to whether a statute of limitations applies to the prosecution of two dozen similar cases. With the successful prosecution of Seale and several other men such as Edgar Ray Killen in 2005 and Byron De Law Beckwith in 1998, Mississippi now leads

Animal empathy and its political implications

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:30:25 -0500

Primatologist Frans de Waal has some surprising news about human empathy: among the beasts of the animal kingdom, we are not alone in this emotion. De Waal says research shows that both lab rats and elephants, among other creatures, have an instinctual tendency toward empathetic behavior. We asked de Waal, author of "The Age of Empathy: Nature's Lessons for a Kinder Society," published by Harmony Books in September, to apply his conclusions to the political arena. De Waal is a professor of primate behavior in the psychology department at Emory University. GUEST BLOGGER: Frans de Waal Are Americans lacking in empathy? You would almost think so hearing Rush Limbaugh mock Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's symptoms or Missouri Rep. Cynthia Davis opposing school lunches, saying that "hunger can be a positive motivator." The latest indicator came when Arizona Senator Jon Kyl felt that there was no need for employers to cover

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Evangelicals' political clout: real or imagined?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:30:10 -0500

Every election cycle the political power of evangelicals and the Christian Right seems to come under fresh scrutiny. But what is the actual impact of the group's excellent mobilization efforts. Steven Brint, professor of sociology and associate dean of the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, provides some insight. He is co-editor with Jean Reith Schroedel of the two-volume series, "Evangelicals and Democracy in America," published in August by Russell Sage Foundation Press. GUEST BLOGGER: Steven Brint Evangelical Protestant denominations accounted for 85 percent of all U.S. churches in 1860, according to the historian Mark Noll. Today, evangelicals represent about 25 percent of the U.S. adult population, a distinct minority in a landscape populated not only by Catholics (who rival them in numbers), mainline Protestants, and Jews -- but also increasing numbers of Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and others. Even so, it often seems

'Going Rouge': The Sarah Palin coloring book

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:30:35 -0500

By Stephen Lowman Love her or hate her, people are drawn to Sarah Palin. Now, a new book wants you to color her. (Images courtesy of Michael Stinson; Click to Enlarge) One year after the race for the White House, publishers have released several books about the GOP vice presidential candidate. The most anticipated is her own memoir, "Going Rogue: An American Life," which lands on store shelves on Nov. 17 and is tops in pre-orders on Amazon and Barnes & Noble's websites. Will there be parodies? You betcha. In fact, the two spoof books share the same title. "Going Rouge: Sarah Palin - An American Nightmare" features essays by writers for The Nation, a liberal magazine. The other is "Going Rouge -- The Sarah Palin Rogue Coloring and Activity Book" by husband and wife team Julie Sigwart and Michael Stinson. "That other book just has a bunch of words,"

Racism without racists

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:30:50 -0500

Rich Benjamin spent two years traveling through white America and discovered a country filled with kind and endearing white individuals. In his book "Searching for Whitopia: An Improbable Journey to the Heart of White America," published by Hyperion in October, Benjamin reveals that he also found something else: a legacy of racial segregation and division resulting from habits, policies, and institutions that don't explicitly discriminate. In the following contribution, Benjamin, a senior fellow at Demos, a nonpartisan think tank, describes the nature of structural racism. GUEST BLOGGER: Rich Benjamin When those pop-up lists beckon you from your Web browser (America's 25 Best Places to Live!), or those snappy guidebooks flirt with you from the bookstore shelves (Retire in Style: 10 Hotspots), ever notice how white they are? I know a little about such places. Between 2007 and 2009, I embarked on a 26,909-mile journey through the heart of white America