Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
About 4 years I decided to try a book by Ann Cleeves based liking the Shetland TV series which was based on a series of her books. The book I tried was the first of her Two Rivers series featuring Detective Matthew Venn. Since then, I have read the second of this series as well as several from the Shetland and Vera novels.
I have long enjoyed David Von Drehle’s writing via several books, Time magazine, and the Washington Post. So when I read about The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man, I figured I’d like it.
To my surprise, it was available from Netgalley, my usual source for advanced readers, so I do thank Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read this book after publication.
David Von Drehle was thinking about writing another book and this neighbor proved to be a remarkable subject for many reasons. The neighbor was Charlie White MD whose long and remarkable life contains many useful life lessons for us younger folks. (The Retired Guy doesn’t get to include himself in that group very often.)
It is not a very long book (about 200 pages) and well worth your time. I recommend this book as an interesting blend of history as seen by Dr White and his philosophy of life in dealing with both change and challenges.
Previously, I had written about the Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade. I do not believe an originalist interpretation of the Constitution makes sense or at least should not be the most important consideration.
But some Justices on the Court seem to believe that the interpretation of the Constitution and laws should be based on 18th or 19th century beliefs. Or guesses as to what we think was believed.
But here is a bit of the relevant history.
Continue reading “History on Abortion Laws – Roe v Wade”
I read an interesting piece on 14th Amendment of the US Constitution today. It was written Heather Cox Richardson, an American history professor. We’ve only been free subscribers for a week or so and enjoy these articles.
It covers quite a bit but I just wanted to comment on one part of it:
Continue reading “Did the Supreme Court ignore the 9th and 14th Amendments in Roe v Wade ?”
I liked this book. I agreed with much of it but disagreed strongly with one part. I’ll get into that later in this review. It is the type of book that gets you thinking. The book is The Purple Presidency 2024: How Voters Can Reclaim the White House for Bipartisan Governance by C. Owen Paepke.
I thank both Netgalley https://www.netgalley.com and RealClear Publishing for the chance to read this before publication. The book will be published on June 13.
I enjoyed the book but don’t think it is right for everyone. I think the target audience is people already invest with investment advisor or considering doing that but the book also has important messages for the rest of us who prefer do-it-yourself investing.
The book is “Lessons for Long Term Investors” by Richard Rodman. I found it to be a quick and easy read. The author has his own website at https://richardrodman.com/ where you can learn about him, this book, and his earlier book.
Continue reading “Lessons for Long Term Investors by Richard Rodman”
He’s lived it in the nonfictional real world and now he is bringing it to us in a great fictional story.
The book Is Central Park West: A Crime Novel by James Comey. I thank both Netgalley https://www.netgalley.com and Mysterious Press for the chance to read this before publication. The book will be published on May 30.
Continue reading “Central Park West: A Crime Novel by James Comey”
Another good mystery by Jodie Lawrance. I had read and reviewed two by her a few years ago (https://www.jackreidy.com/blog/tag/jodie-lawrance/). So I was happy to see this available. I thank both Netgalley (https://www.netgalley.com) and Joffe books (https://joffebooks.com/) for the chance to read this before publication. The book is “The Missing Woman” by Jodie Lawrance.
Continue reading “The Missing Woman by Jodie Lawrance”
At first it just seemed a bit stupid and a bit wrong. Then the more I thought about it, I came to think that it was not only stupid and wrong but possibly unconstitutional. Or maybe just outdated by more recent laws
Congress has the legislative power (see Article I of the U.S. Constitution). They make the laws. They say what will be spent and appropriate the funds. They would borrow money if needed. Then the Executive Branch carries out the law (see Article II). A simple division of responsibilities. It was designed by the Founding Fathers, enshrined in our Constitution, and worked well for over 100 years.
But Congress tried to improve things. They passed a debt ceiling law which gave borrowing to the Executive branch which did make life a lot simpler for Congress. But they blocked the Executive branch from exceeding a certain amount of debt for any reason unless Congress agreed to raise the debt ceiling. It seemed kind of stupid but since the debt ceiling was always increased before it was exceeded, it did not seem to be a major problem.
An enjoyable mystery. I thank both Netgalley https://www.netgalley.com and Joffe books https://joffebooks.com/ for the chance to read this before publication. The book is “The Norfolk Beach Murders” and it comes out on May 11.
First, we meet Mu and Roger, a homeless young woman and her dog. Next comes the murder that they witness. And then we meet Detective Sara Hirst, who had been with the Metropolitan Police in London but inherited and moved to her father’s cottage in a coastal village. More murders.
We slowly learn how these murders fit into the larger picture and along the way meet a number of other characters. The story is well-written and told via several points-of-view. I found this to be a wonderful mystery and crime thriller.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I have!
I found this book fascinating. When I mentioned that, I was asked what I was reading. When I replied it was about ideas from evolutionary biology applied to investing, I was told I was probably one of 10 people who would find that interesting. I think it is more than that and I hope I am right.
The book is “What I learned about investing from Darwin” by Pulak Prasad and I thank Netgalley (“https://www.netgalley.com/) for allowing me to read it before publication. The book comes out on May 9.
Continue reading “What I learned about investing from Darwin by Pulak Prasad”
I picked this one for 2 reasons. One is that I was preapproved at Netgalley so I thank both Netgalley (https://www.netgalley.com) and Joffe books (https://joffebooks.com/) for the chance to read this before publication. The second is I was a fan of Colin Dexter’s novels which were also set in Oxford. As it turned out this was very different from Colin Dexter’s novels but it was a great read.
The book is “The Oxford Murders” by Peter Tickler. It will be published May 2.
Continue reading “The Oxford Murders by Peter Tickler”
There is a group in the House of Representatives that does not want to pay the debts the federal government has borrowed to pay for past spending. An appropriate name would seem to be the deadbeat caucus. The group consists of 217 Republicans who voted for H. R. 2811. 4 Republicans voted against this bill and 1 did not vote. All Democrats voting opposed the bill.
I think if you owe a valid debt, you should pay it. I think most would agree. Those who refuse to pay the debt or want to make re-payment subject to conditions not in the loan are deadbeats’
I think there are valid arguments about what the government should spend going forward but refusing to re-pay loans already made unless you get your way for future spending negotiations is the wrong way to go about it.
The credit of the United States is at stake in this debt ceiling stand-off. If the deadbeat caucus has their way there will be catastrophic consequences. Reember this is not about future spending but about payinf debts we owe.
The bill does a bunch of other things which you may of may not agree with so it is definitely worth learning about it.
It starts out very differently from many investment books (and I have read quite a few).
Continue reading “Uncertainty in investing”
Dr. Robinson starts us off with a murder in 1980 and then moves on to another mystery in 2019 involving the DCI Banks team and a skeleton found in an archaeological dig. It seems likely to anyone who has read a few mysteries than the 2 stories will come together but the author takes his time in getting us there.
Continue reading ““Standing in the Shadows“ by Peter Robinson”