politics

About halfway through reading this biographical graphic novel, it struck me just how little I knew about the history of the Republic of Korea. I'm not a fan of not knowing things. This led me on a dive into at least a surface reading on South Korea’s political and cultural history, fascinating and sometimes turbulent. Imagine living in a country where the leader of the nation wages a war on intellectual thought, educational inquiry, and popular culture; where citizens are beaten and gassed by the police for protesting peacefully; where corrupt politicians are only arrested and imprisoned after

We've all seen attack ads during campaign season; the efforts to deride one candidate's political record while propping up the opposition. It's likely safe to say we've become so numb to their existence, we don't always stop to consider the source behind these messages, we viewers just assuming Candidate A has paid for & approved their ad against Candidate B.

But what are we to make of disclaimers such as this?

     "Paid for by ________. Not authorized by any candidate..."

This is the question at the heart of Dark Money, which seeks to shine a light on recent political intrigue in the

In the current political climate, one might think the transition from comedy writer to politician would be rather seamless. In Al Franken, Giant of the Senate, Franken describes his struggles trying to get elected by the people of Minnesota in 2008, the balance he has been able to find when working with ideologically opposed members of congress, the work ethic that enabled him to more easily secure re-election in 2014, and the current political climate in Washington.

Franken's latest book is, of course, humorous with several moments where I laughed out loud or held the person nearest to me

Have you ever wanted to execute a massive heist?  How about pretend to be a Japanese high schooler?  Explore Jungian psychology?  You're in luck!

This may be the fifth game in the Persona subseries of the Shin Megami Tensei games, but no prior knowledge is required (although it helps to catch references, and maybe a little foreshadowing).  You play as a student shipped off to big-city Tokyo from the country on criminal probation for assault, but you only find this out a little ways into the game, which begins in mid-heist.  You're quickly apprehended by police, informed that you were betrayed

I’m of two minds about The Hopefuls. On the one hand, it is a thought-provoking look at a marriage under stress. On the other hand, I found the main character to be a bit lackluster.

Beth Kelly is a writer who loves her husband, Matt, enough to leave her beloved New York and move to an alien place – Washington D.C. Matt is an aspiring politician who joins the Obama campaign and gets a job in the administration after Obama’s victory. Beth finds a job that is definitely not her dream job, but it’s writing, and it keeps her occupied.

She has trouble acclimating to her new environment until

I suffered through this book! (I know what you're thinking, "Why? Life is too short to read books you don't like! Yada yada . . . .") Well I finished it because I had to lead the discussion at book club. (Spoiler! I'm the only one who finished it! Everyone else quit.)

Allan Karlson climbs out the widow because he doesn't want to go to his 100th birthday party. He then manages to steal 50 thousand dollars and forms a group of unlikely friends (which includes an elephant.) They precede to run and hide from both a police detective and the criminal gang he stole from. Through mostly good luck

Robert Gates provides a thorough, no-holds-barred accounting of his 4 ½ years as Secretary of Defense – 2 years under George Bush and 2 ½ years under Barack Obama.   I was most interested to read his thoughts about our current president and, potentially, a future president (Hilary Clinton).  Although Gates and Obama had their differences, he describes Obama as “presidential,” a man of personal integrity with whom he developed a strong relationship, one in which they “largely saw eye to eye”.

For Hillary Clinton, Gates has only the highest praise: “Before she joined the Obama administration, I

Following on the heels of the critically-acclaimed Dragon Age: Origins, and its horribly rushed sequel Dragon Age II, Bioware has clearly taken customer feedback to heart and created something wonderful in Inquisition.

To get it out of the way, I'll talk about the flaws first.  I played the PS3 version, (it's also available in other formats) and it was filled with graphical glitches like slow-loading textures and falling through the ground.  The crafting system is cumbersome (if occasionally hilarious/fabulous), my controlled character trudged through battle as if the field were drenched in

In the very near future, Trent McCauley is a 16-year-old in northern England who makes videos by cutting, pasting, and editing movies starring a dead actor he's obsessed with. This isn't just a hobby of Trent's, it's his passion (much like writing Simon Snow fanfic is a passion for Cath in Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl). But it violates copyright and pirating laws, which is why the state cuts off his family's internet access for a year. Trent's mother is now unable to apply for her disability benefits, his father loses his telephone support job, and his high-achieving younger sister can't do her

This non-partisan guide is a good refresher of the whole U.S. election process, its history and the background of current political debates presented from both political views.  This book refreshes to us the purpose of the Electoral College, and provides an insider’s opinions to decoding political spins.

It tells us, for example, the difference between plurality and majority and the possible political consequences of congressional redistricting.  The book provides the history of Gerrymandering, and how to form a quorum, together with other election and politics related terminology. It

We watch many movies each year and most of them are forgotten in few weeks.  But a few of them we remember for a long time. The Fog of War is one of these movies.  This two-hour documentary is a cut from a twenty-four hour interview with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.  Mostly made in black and white to add drama, the movie is about the life and times of this once-feared, unfeeling,  unsmiling , cold and arrogant “Mac the Knife”. It analyzes his decisions and the days of the “Vietnam War chess-master McNamara, who stops just short from apologizing for some of controversial

Follow Lenny and Eunice as they try to find their way in this futuristic novel set in New York City approximately 60 years in the future. This cautionary political satire depicts a world where technology and the information age have taken over and no one knows how to communicate in person anymore, no one reads books anymore, and any semblance of values, morals, or modesty is out the window. Lenny, a near 40 year old, born of Russian immigrants, falls for a 20-something Korean girl who has been abused by her family and is struggling to find herself. Both struggle to make sense of the chaos

After reading many news stories through the years about Ted Kennedy and his family, I looked forward to the release of his memoir. In the media, Ted Kennedy was often portrayed as a stereotypical, hard-drinking, womanizing politician. His father was portrayed as a philanderer, a power-hungry man who pushed his sons into politics and who was willing to play dirty in business and politics. True Compass provides insight into the man who maintained a fair degree of privacy while living in the public eye. In his memoir, he reveals himself to be a family man. As the youngest of the nine

I have added a new name to my list of heroes - Daniel Ellsberg. As a child, I remember hearing his name and knew that he was in some way connected with the Vietnam War and what was referred to as the Pentagon Papers. The Most Dangerous Man in America, (on DVD) tells the story of Daniel Ellsberg and the pivotal role he played in American history. in the 1950s, Ellsberg served as a Marine Corps officer, then went to work for the Rand Corp, a military thinktank. He earned a Ph.D in Economics from Harvard in 1962 and then worked at the Pentagon under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and in

For those readers familiar with Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch, Ehrenreich offers a different type book here. Rather than inserting herself into a typical working-class existence, through a series of essays she examines the current state of America and what it means for the average American. From corporate irresponsibility to prisoner abuse, Ehrenreich intensely scrutinizes the duplicity of American politics and culture. Much of what she has to say, in my humble opinion, is right on target. For instance, in regards to the role that religion and spirituality play in our