Review By Barron Laycock

Few works of contemporary non-fiction have had more lasting impact on the social consciousness of the overall society from which it arose than "The Other America: Poverty in the United States", Michael Harrington's now classic tome on the egregious conditions under which what we would now call the "underclass" lived in mid-20th century American society. With an uncommon verve and uncanny precision, Harrington painstakingly detailed the disgusting and shocking realities of life for those many millions of Americans of both color and ethnicity living lives of desperate poverty in the midst of the affluent society. Millions of readers, myself included, were shocked to discover the extent to which this world coexisted with our own, and many of the social action programs that arose in the 1960s and thereafter used this book as a kind of reference guide to the realities of poverty in contemporary society. Indeed, what is most disturbing about anyone re-reading the book is the discovery of how little conditions have changed for those who through the accident of birth, color, and ethnic origin, find themselves inexorably trapped in the vicious cycle of poverty.

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Review by TellsTheTruth

Thieves is the true story (nonfiction narrative) about the safe robbery of the multi-millionaire television evangelist, Mike Murdock. Witnessing first-hand some of the most shockingly depraved acts and blatant corruption in the secretive world of "profit-preaching" Christianity; Trey takes you on the journey through his decisions, planning and ultimate execution of stealing the well-known minister's tightly guarded safe. After the robbery, it is a gripping thrill ride of the most engagingly unique kind: A man on the run from a TV preacher.

This is an awesome book!

The author (Trey Smith) claims to have been a life-long friend of Mike Murdock's only son. He claims to have been inside Murdock's house, on various occasions.

The author alleges that Televangelist Mike Murdock films himself having sex with women; owns a huge collection of pornography; has a vast collection of jewelry and other items that were donated to his "ministry;" is cruel; is a greedy, dishonest con artist; has a terrible anger problem; mistreats his employees and those around him; steals from people, by conning them out of their money; and lives an incredibly lavish lifestyle, fit for a king.

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Review by Nomi Prins

“Why do we Occupy?” he asks, animated, beneath his signature fedora.

Vultures' Picnic answers that question in dramatic detail and biting whodunit monologue and dialogue, the kind that could easily fill a riveting Mission Impossible film where Tom Cruise ricochets into the lairs of the bad guys to save the world from the big bad oil company. Yet all of Palast's and his team’s findings are shockingly true and infinitely more visceral. Palast and his team get everywhere.

In Chapter Three, “Pig in the Pipeline,” Palast dines with Etok (‘one bad-ass Eskimo’) inside a whale-carcass. He discovers the extent to which BP (which dumped a quarter million gallons of crude into the tundra via the BP/Alaska pipeline, blessed by the drill-baby-drill mentality in the minds of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama alike) faked pipeline safety reports. Meanwhile, the firm’s oil spillage is displacing the polar bear population to such an extent that there are campaigns to find them new homes.

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Interview by Silvia Cattori

Gilad Atzmon talks about his latest book “The Wandering Who?” Gilad Atzmon somehow manages to express his thoughts, ignoring any recognized taboos or restrictions. His style is innovative, fresh, and consistently well informed. We have read with great interest his latest book “The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity” (*). It is a very moving account that should be read by everyone.

Silvia Cattori: “The Wandering who?” — What stands behind this provocative title?

Gilad Atzmon: “The Wandering Who?” attempts to search for a deeper understanding of Jewish culture and Jewish identity politics. It is there to tackle some issues most of us prefer to avoid. Three years ago Israeli historian Shlomo Sand published his ground breaking work on Jewish history, thus dismantling the phantasmal Jewish historical narrative.

In my book, I attempt to take Sand’s quest one step further and elaborate on the problematic Jewish attitude towards history, the past , and temporality in general. Five years ago American academics Mearsheimer and Walt published an invaluable study on the Israeli Lobby in the United States [1]. I again try to pick up their research where they left off. I try to explain why lobbying is inherent to Jewish politics and culture.

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SYNOPSIS

The 1913 Federal Reserve Act let powerful bankers usurp money creation authority in violation of the Constitution's Article I, Section 8, giving only Congress the power to "coin Money (and) regulate the Value thereof...." Thereafter, powerful bankers used their control over money, credit and debt for private self-enrichment, bankrolling and colluding with Congress and administrations to implement laws favoring them.

As a result, decades of deregulation, outsourcing, economic financialization, and casino capitalism followed, producing asset bubbles, record budget and national debt levels, and depression-sized unemployment far higher than reported numbers, albeit manipulated to look better.

After the financial crisis erupted in late 2007, even harder times have left Main Street in the early stages of a depression, with recovery pure illusion. Today's contagion has spread out of control, globally. Wall Street got trillions of dollars in a desperate attempt to socialize losses, privatize profits, and pump life back into the corpses by blowing public wealth into a moribund financial sector, failing corporate favorites, and America's aristocracy.

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“A fascinating and deeply disturbing tale of hypocrisy, corruption, and insatiable greed. But more than that, it’s a much-needed reminder of just how we got into the mess we’re in—a reminder that is greatly needed when we are still being told that greed is good.”
-Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, The New York Review of Books

“The timing could not be better for a book like Age of Greed . . . A solid review of half a century of economic history . . . A commendable compendium.”
-Adam Lashinsky, San Francisco Chronicle

“Excellent . . . Straightforward . . . We owe Madrick thanks for what he has done.”
-Richard Parker, The American Prospect

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Memoir of a Baltimore Homicide Detective

Book Review by William Hughes

“[He] was breathing when his body was doused with gasoline and set on fire. He was burned alive!” - Kelvin Sewell

How bad is the crime situation in Baltimore City? Leaving the grim statistics aside for the moment, it’s so bad that I no longer watch the local TV newscast at 11 PM! (1) Who wants to go to bed with gory images of mindless violence dancing in their heads?

The mantra is always the same from the news reader--murder, mayhem, drugs, tears, blood and outrage! The only thing that changes are the names of the victims. Some are totally innocent, such as children and teenagers who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

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