Saturday, May 28, 2011

Books and thoughts

I've been able to read some very interesting books lately. They include Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali; The Half Brother by Lars Saabye Christensen; Desert Queen by Janet Wallach; Freedom by Jonathon Franzen; Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay; While I Was Gone by Sue Miller and I re-read Giants in The Earth by Ole Rolvaag. All of them are very good! I'm now reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller again, for book club, and I'll soon read Cutting For Stone, by Abraham Verghese also for book club.
I recently heard Bill Moyers interviewed on MPR. He said since the 80's when both political parties, Democrats and Republicans, began accepting cash from the same donors, the distinction between parties has been blurred. He said the real issue today is the influence of the oligarchy; wealthy individuals and corporations. A book that I've been urging on everyone, (with limited success) is Griftopia by Matt Taibbi who is a reporter for Rolling Stone. Griftopia really lays out the influence of the oligarchy and the effect on housing, banking, commodities, and the economic situation in America. If anyone reading this blog has read or reads it I'd like to hear about it and I do hope more people will read it!

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