Nick's reviews
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Nick posted a review at 2009-11-21 16:08:23 for The Anatomy of Evil.
(Language: English)
  
An entertaining and informative look at the genetic and environmental factors that cause a person to commit evil acts or to become evil, a n irreconcilable disposition. I appreciated the author's "Gradations of Evil Scale of 1 - 22" and its application to the hundreds of killer/torturer cases shared in the book. It gives a lay reader much better understanding of the complexity of evil and how to improve psychiatric and correctional rehabilitation programs to keep the public safer and to reduce recidivism. Anatomy of Evil also provides great recommendations for preventing the children of today from becoming the Ted Bundy of tomorrow.
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Nick posted a review at 2009-05-24 21:55:04 for The Face on Your Plate.
(Language: English)
Eloquently written and one of the best compendiums of the myriad reasons to adopt a vegan diet. Health, Ethics, and Environment are all affected by our dietary choices and I would posit that no meat eating man who understands the consequences of eating animal products and the dire environmental climate can describe himself as moral and responsible person. The most astounding concept to gather from this book is that livestock production surpasses transportation in regards to greenhouse gas emissions. A must read book that belongs in any collection. For those questioning my critque in light of Gina's review, please consider that her assessment is a very flawed interpretation of the author's objectives on the unknowns regarding animal pain and general health claims. In these specific instances his arguments are more philisophically based. Does one need to risk potential pain to an animal when better alternatives exist? Of course not. Can a Vegan diet raise blood cholesterol levels? I haven't seen any evidence to support this claim and the author never asserts that vegan dieting can remedy all ailments. The chapter on denialism is one of the best topics of the book and something that applies to a variety subjects.
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Nick posted a review at 2009-05-03 14:44:55 for The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008.
(Language: English)
Krugman lost me after making the claim that the complete privatization of Chile during the Pinochet years was economically beneficial to its citizens. He also trumpets the free trade canard as though the US and Britain are not complicit in employing government subsidies and trade barriers to their own markets. Ha Joon Chang's "Bad Samaritans" and Naomi Klein's "The Shock Doctrine" offer much more lucid history of the economic decisions that brought us to the brink of financial implosion.
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Nick posted a review at 2009-02-28 19:20:12 for Why Evolution Is True.
(Language: English)
An expansive multidisciplinary repudiation of young Earth creationism, intelligent design, and pantheism. Coyne has provided such a compelling argument in support of evolutionary biology that it leaves me wondering how any intellectually honest person who reads this book can dismiss Darwin's theory. Every person in the creationist half of the population MUST read this book!
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Nick posted a review at 2009-01-15 22:59:31 for 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God.
(Language: English)
Definitely the best skeptic book of the past year! The colloquial writing style is fitting for this type of book as one only needs the basics of the 50 counterarguments to theistic devotees. Every person should read this book
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Nick posted a review at 2008-12-13 15:01:47 for Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet.
(Language: English)
Succinct analysis of the IPCC peer reviewed research and honest risk assessment of the impact of climate change. The concluding chapter provides the best repudiation of the psychology of denialism.
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Nick posted a review at 2008-12-06 21:39:58 for The Delusion of Disbelief: Why the New Atheism is a Threat to Your Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.
(Language: English)
Delusional minds attempting to defend delusional religious beliefs that contradict both scientific and historical evidence. I doubt that the majority of you dimwits have even read the new atheist books to understand their unfiltered arguments. Not one of the new atheists argues against democracy and civil liberties. To attempt to distort their positions wreaks of intellectual dishonesty. Of course when your worldview is constantly assaulted with reason and logic the only escape is to reinvent reality which is exactly what you are doing.
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Nick posted a review at 2008-11-26 23:09:39 for The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.
(Language: English)
A succinctly trenchant analysis of the imperial presidencies of the past 70 years and the dependency on a panoply of Americans profligate addictions (oil, imported goods, cheap credit). Our country has subsisted with expectations that exceed the essence of our reality.
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Nick posted a review at 2008-10-17 08:27:15 for The Mind of the Market: How Biology and Psychology Shape Our Economic Lives.
(Language: English)
I had respect for Shermer prior to reading this book. The book was written prior to the recent economic collapse of the "deregulated" laise faire capitalist system. Aside from the failed history of supply side theory, the latest unraveling should amply discredit this economic religion. Terrible book. Simplistic, short sighted, and blind!
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Nick posted a review at 2008-07-06 02:46:25 for Moral Minds How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong.
(Language: English)
A thorough catalog of our naturally evolved moral faculty and the social implications of the most recent discoveries. Who says one can not be good without God?
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