Recommended Holiday Reading for the Agitated Mind by Ralph Nader

1. The Invisible Soldiers by Ann Hagedorn (Simon & Schuster, 2014).
Ann Hagedorn, a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal tells the troubling story of the corporatization of America’s national security—a “bold, new industry of private military and security companies,” embedded deeply in and sometimes outnumbering our armed forces and always pressing for more influence, power, and markets.

2. Why Not Jail, Industrial Catastrophes, Corporate Malfeasance, and Government Inaction, by law professor Rena Steinzor (Cambridge University Press, 2014).
Professor Steinzor zeroes in on the highest level of corporate crime, culpable executives, and argues that criminal prosecution of these corporate bosses is not only more just but is the most effective deterrence of corporate crime that has been repeated time and again with impunity.

3. The GMO Deception, edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber (Skyhorse Publishing, 2014).
This is a project of the Council for Responsible Genetics, started by MIT, Harvard and other scientists. This book, for which I wrote the foreword, takes a comprehensive look at the social, political and ethical implications of genetically modified food from secrecy-ridden companies like Monsanto to farms and markets worldwide. It shows the power of distorted, non-peer-reviewed corporate science and its political marketers.

4. The Dictionary of American Political Bullshit by Stephen L. Goldstein (Grid Press, 2014).
This book delivers on its title to make you angry and laugh at the same time. Coming off the November elections, you may resonate with the author’s definition that “political bull derives from the universal ‘language’ of hyperbole, duplicity, and braggadocio.”

5. Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well, Make a Difference edited by Sarah Van Gelder and the staff of Yes! Magazine (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014).
This is not a touchy-feely psycho screed. It has political, civic, environmental, consumer and personal viewpoints from leading thinkers and doers such as Wendell Berry, Vandana Shiva, Annie Leonard, and John McKnight. A fast and engrossing read.

<SNIP>
http://www.commondreams.org/views/2014/12/20/recommended-holiday-reading-agitated-mind

I may be investing in The Dictionary of American Political Bullshit