Red Ink: Inside The High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget (Review)

Jul 04, 2018

It's been a while since my last book review -- not because I haven't read books that I think you guys HAVE TO READ, but because of school. Nevertheless, I hope to put a review a week out for the next few weeks. Maybe I'll throw a more fun and contemporary summer read. IDK. (I usually just read Hemmingway over and over again all summer.) Comment suggestions if you have them. This week's book was a short but powerful one that I think should be put in every baby's hand right after they are born.

A Case for Technocracy in America

Jun 27, 2018

Policies grounded in ideology can’t help but ignore information that may upset that ideological foundation... According to World Values Survey data, 49% of Americans (60% of these under the age of 29) rather have decisions be made by experts than the government. Considering that lack of experience is rampant in US leadership today, it seems like this 49% is definitely losing the battle. In fact, the views of Americans hungry for evidence-based governing are nowhere to be found. But they exist

Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician (Book Review)

May 17, 2018

This book was on a required reading list for my healthcare policy class. Despite the fact that I had to gulp it down really quickly, I enjoyed it. Sandeep really covers most of the bases when it comes to our healthcare problems from the side of the provider. Written by a physician, Doctored: The Disillusionment of an American Physician by Sandeep Jauhar, even gets a lot right about the patient experience. I really think that the one perspective that is more than crucial but often overlooked is

How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking (Review)

May 04, 2018

If you are generally interested in mathematics, this is the book for you.  But going into my reading it, I wasn't. I went into this reading from a standpoint of wanting to get a stronger grip on the policy/ practical implications the theory and nuance statistics hold. I read the book in the semester after my first graduate level stats course, and I immediately found it's real world applications helpful. How Not To Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking by Jordan Ellenberg is essentially

The Color of Law : A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America (Review)

Apr 24, 2018

This week, I read The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. My interest in this book began as that of scholarly endeavor, as I am constantly looking for 1) ways to communicate the honest/naked truth about segregation as an American vestige and 2) policy prescriptions to fix what I think is the biggest contributor to inequality, stratification, and so many of our societies' problems. Ta-Nehisi Coates called the book "Brilliant". I'd call

Is It Time To End The War on Drugs? Senator Cory Booker Thinks So.

Apr 09, 2018

If you want to see a Congressperson blush, ask him or her a question about marijuana. With four states (California, Massachusetts, Maine and Nevada) having legalized it last November -- making that seven states and DC, where pot is now legal for recreational use --  this is one topic that is becoming more and more unavoidable. Last year, one Senator decided to take marijuana legalization head on.... To see who it was, read the rest my article on the Daily Clout blog here:

The Street Lawyer by John Grisham (Review)

Mar 10, 2018

I decided to read this book after spending -- what was really just -- moments in the capital building at the center of Jackson, Mississippi. There were not many pieces of Mississippi that endeared me to the state (with exception of course to the wonderful girl I met there that turned out being my soulmate). Everything creeps along there. It's as if the ticking timepieces of New York exist in a different segment of the universe or perhaps a different multiverse than the unhurried empty region

Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount (REVIEW)

Mar 09, 2018

This week I read Fanatical Prospecting: The Ultimate Guide to Opening Sales Conversations And Filling The Pipeline by Leveraging Social Selling, Telephone, E-mail, Text, and Cold Calling by Jeb Blount of Sales Gravy [dot] com.

America Doesn’t Need Any More Common-Sense Gun Control

Mar 06, 2018

We don’t need common-sense gun control measures. We need law enforcement to focus on domestic abusers.

Is God Dead in American Politics?

Jan 06, 2016

Two quotes have always made a lot of sense to me. They both are about leadership and were stumbled upon in school while working to find "catchy" ways to begin essays. "Great leaders don't set out to be leaders...They set out to make a difference. It's never about the role -- always about the goal." -author (I'm not sure.) "A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less than his share of the credit." -Arnold H. Glasow I can appreciate a good tempo and rhythm in

The Only Way: Why Plainfield Will Always Be Violent

Dec 22, 2015

[Go to the profile of Iziah Thompson] ziah ThompsonNov 135 min read I can not tell the future. But, it doesn’t take powers of precognition to predict that the next town council meeting will see an unusually high turnout. Angry residents will look to the new police chief, council, and administration for answers. Then a number of the well-known Plainfield bloggers and city officials will hold a forum, and surely, there will be a march down Park or Leland Avenue. The NAACP will hold a rally. There

Your Grandparents Disobeyed Better

Dec 06, 2015

This is the generation that brought Joseph Koney to justice. We fight our battles with hashtags and memes. No fact goes unchecked, and we can't shake the feeling that the federal government is run by Bavarian Free Masons. If you think our society is a cauldron of "isms" and are sick of being called a self-indulgent millennial, you may be surprised to find that your displeasure is not new. In fact, the origin of your very seething distrust of institutions and your daily battle with numerous