Monthly Archives: July 2013

The Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

Herodotus | Thucydides by Herodotus My rating: 3 of 5 stars These two classics establish the poles between which all subsequent history-writing has navigated. This review will focus on Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War, since I have already reviewed The Histories of … Continue reading

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The Politics of the Earth by John S. Dryzek

The Politics of the Earth: Environmental Discourses by John Dryzek My rating: 4 of 5 stars This well-organized book, in cataloguing the different ways in which people think about the environment, shows why so many environmentalists talk at cross-purposes. I … Continue reading

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Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra My rating: 4 of 5 stars This long, loose, playful series of adventures poses a challenge to idealists, whatever their time or place. I bought and read my Penguin Classics paperback of Don … Continue reading

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The Case for Gold by Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman

The Case for Gold: A Minority Report of the United States Gold Commission by Ron Paul My rating: 4 of 5 stars This thoughtful, well-researched examination of America’s monetary predicament has only become more relevant in the 31 years since … Continue reading

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the panopticon state

The panopticon was a type of building designed by the 18th-century British philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham, famous as the leading thinker on utilitarianism. Designed with prisons in mind, the panopticon was a cylindrical building whose chambers all faced … Continue reading

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prose sketch: picnic in Cates Park

Sun. 30 Jun 2013 ca. noon Cates Park A perfect summer day on the great sloping lawn of “little” Cates. Kimmie lies prone with A Game of Thrones on our yellow blanket while boat engines chew aggressively at the water … Continue reading

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