Quickhappy

Challenging and illuminating: the new economic domination, April 9 2004

When I assigned *The Amoral Elephant* to my upper division college students, I was looking for a relatively simple book, critical of "globalization." What we got instead was a difficult, but rewarding book about the emerging hegemony of finance capitalism. My students feel overwhelmed with the macroeconomics--they are befuddled by Tabb's casual use of terms such as deflation, the World Bank, interest rates, and Shumpeterian growth. Anyone lacking some background in macroeconomics might want to avoid this book--or at least have a good reference text in hand.

But for those of us with some basic fluency in global capitalism and its financial mechanisms, Tabb's book is a rewarding and… Read more

Outstanding! A post-modern Woody Guthrie!, Mar 11 2004

Oh my my! I'm so glad I found this guy. I discovered the man on crimethinc.com, where I downloaded his MP3s and was hooked. Had to have the whole album which I promptly purchased cheaply at the same site. (You might also check out the man's own website at rappincowboy.com.) 'Been giving them to friends and family ever since.

Like Woody Guthrie, Sandman offers left-wing sentiments without preaching. He's a voice of the people, with an anarchist bent. "Ol' King Kong" is bound to upset flag-wavers and jingoists everywhere. But Sandman's not aiming for their dollars anyhow--he's a wandering bard giving us his poetic take on postmodern America.

But Sandman's also just… Read more

Underwhelming photos, but with zen-like virtues., Mar 10 2004

There is something sweet and quaint about this book. The photos are nice enough and it's appealing to think of all of the wildlife in one tiny little area. But, in the end, the book amounts to a few snapshots of racoons, foxes, and macaques.

The one thing which redeems the book is its zen-like quality. Rather than overwhelm you with staggering wildlife photos taken from a huge area, this book is modest, patient, and quiet. This is not a "greatest hits" wildlife book, with close-ups of lion's teeth or with eagles snatching trout from a river. It's the humble undertaking of one photographer in one small locale. It is a local and plain undertaking, but one which evokes nature in its… Read more