Reviews (Books & DVD) – Page 168 – Public Intelligence Blog

2009/10/312009/10/31

Review: Business Stripped Bare–Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur

5 Star, Banks, Fed, Money, & Concentrated Wealth, Best Practices in Management, Biography & Memoirs, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Change & Innovation, Complexity & Resilience, Consciousness & Social IQ, Disease & Health, Economics, Education (General), Environment (Solutions), Leadership, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Philosophy, Priorities, Survival & Sustainment, Technology (Bio-Mimicry, Clean), Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution, Water, Energy, Oil, Scarcity

Inspirational and Practical as Well

October 31, 2009

Richard Branson

I picked this up half-price at Copenhagen airport, and I liked it so much I have ordered Screw It, Let's Do It (Expanded Edition): 14 Lessons on Making It to the Top While Having Fun & Staying Green.

I must note that normally I would reduce one star–Virgin Books evidently has no clue–or no interest–in using the many Amazon tools provided to publishers (I am one) and therefore we are not seeing so little as a Table of Contents and the Index (always huge for me in evaluating a non-fiction book for possible purchase) or even better, “Look Inside the Book,” which is no harder than uploading the book pdf via Amazon Advantage. Bad dog.

Here are my fly-leaf notes.

Continue reading “Review: Business Stripped Bare–Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur”

2009/10/31

Review: Prisoner of the State–The Secret Journal of Premier Zhao Ziyang

5 Star, Best Practices in Management, Biography & Memoirs, Civil Society, Complexity & Resilience, Country/Regional, Economics, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), History, Leadership, Power (Pathologies & Utilization)

Editors Did Great, Could Have Gone Extra Mile

October 31, 2009

Zhao Ziyang

Most people miss the two bottom lines that I found engaging:

1. China's government is a screwed up bureaucracy with petty egos just like ours.

2. China produced moderate pragmatist Premier Zhao Ziyang, promoted him, and empowered him.

With all due respect to all those wailing and moaning about the years of house arrest, this book is phenomenal for documenting the above two points alone, and Premier Zhao Ziyang will stand in history as one of the greatest leaders along with Mao Zedong (their rendition, I always preferred Mao Tse-tung) and Deng Xiaoping.

2009/10/312009/10/31

Review DVD: State of Play

Media, Misinformation & Propaganda, Reviews (DVD Only)

Heroism and Curiosty from Behind a Desk

October 31, 2009

Russell Crowe

This review is primarily for the folks that follow my stuff, which includes, apart from all the non-fiction books, great DVDs for serious people with little patience for most idiocy.

I watched this on a flight to Europe and it was fully satisfying.

In this genre see also:
Conspiracy Theory (Keepcase)
The Pelican Brief (Snap Case)

2009/10/272009/10/30

Review: The Fourth Star–Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army

3 Star, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Force Structure (Military), Insurgency & Revolution

Been There, Done That, Shinseki & LISTENING

October 26, 2009

Greg Jaffe

This is unquestionably a great book but it is so narrow, and so oblivious to the larger context within which the U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Shinseki GOT IT RIGHT and knew exactly what was needed, and the impeachable offenses of Chenez, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and Feith, that I have to respectfully limit it to three stars in order to make the points that no one seems to want to acknowledge:

1) General Powell let us all down when he failed to resign on principle and challenge Cheney who committed 23+ documented impeachable offenses, including letting 9-11 happen and taking us to war against Iraq for the oil, on a platform of 935 documented lies. ALL of our generals, but Colin Powell especially, should be shamed for not protecting America against domestic enemies bent on bankrupting the country morally and financially

2) General Shinseki, and General Schoomaker, and General Garner all got it right, but did not go the distance in challenging a corrupt civilian leadership. I have often fantacized about what would have happened if Shinseki had thrown his stars on the table, resigned, and thrown Wolfowitz down the steps of Capitol Hill as he so richly deserved.

Continue reading “Review: The Fourth Star–Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army”

2009/10/272009/10/27

Review: National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z

5 Star, Congress (Failure, Reform), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Public Administration

Great Airport Book, Really Substantive

October 26, 2009

Martin L. Gross

The publisher has failed to use the tools that Amazon provides, so “Look Inside the Book” and especially the Table of Contents, are not available. Shame on the publisher. I would normally take away one star for this lack of due diligence.

This author and the books this author provides are serious investigative journalism and great reporting. Below are just five of his eleven previous books, all non-fiction, all blowing the whistle in detail.
The Government Racket 2000: All New Washington Waste from A to Z
Political Racket
Tax Racket
Medical Racket
The Conspiracy of Ignorance: The Failure of American Public Schools

Although the author certainly has a formula, I do not consider these formula books or light in any sense of the word. The author's introduction is a proper overview of all that follows, and the conclusion connects the dots.

I am not going to list the 44 alphabetical topics here, from Alasakan Oil to Zip Codes–the publisher really needs to do their duty to the reader and the author and get Inside the Book details posted.

I am hugely impressed by the details in this book, and its over all coherence. If the public ever wanted a czar for both structural and financial reform of the federal government which is, as Ron Paul, the author, and I and manz others agree, totally broken, this author is the man for the job.

Continue reading “Review: National Suicide: How Washington Is Destroying the American Dream from A to Z”

2009/10/232009/10/23

Review: The Agency And The Hill–The CIA’s Relationship With Congress, 1946-2004

5 Star, Congress (Failure, Reform), Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Hands Down Best Reference on Topic

October 23, 2009

Britt Snider

Few people realize that Britt Snider is one of two people on the planet, Loch Johnson being the other, that have served on the staffs of both the Church Committee and the Aspin-Brown Commission (where Britt was the Staff Director). He is the single most important expert on this topic, a priceless resource for anyone actually interested in substantive transformative reform.

2009/10/232009/10/23

Review: Ecological Intelligence–Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature

3 Star, Consciousness & Social IQ, Environment (Solutions), Nature, Diet, Memetics, Design, Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution

Badly documented and therefore suspect

October 23, 2009

Ian McCallum

Of the two reviews, the second more critical review is more helpful.

I am not buying this book, which has a very engaging title, for three reasons:

1. The second review provides clear warning of a light-weight schoolkid apporach to the material.

2. The publisher has failed to provide adequate documentation which combined with the page count leads me to suspect, as a very heavy reader and frequent reviewer, that this is a lite work.

3) The other books tend to confirm this book does not fall into serious non-fiction.

Instead, see Ecological Intelligence: How Knowing the Hidden Impacts of What We Buy Can Change Everything which is much closer to the “true cost” non-fiction meme that I have been pursuing.

Continue reading “Review: Ecological Intelligence–Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature”