The Economics of Food: How Feeding and Fueling the Planet Affects Food Prices by Patrick Westhoff

Published in 2010 by FT Press.

I picked this book up because I am a resident of Indiana and biofuels are a controversial topic. Some hail biofuels as a boon for local farmers, a green energy source, a creator of new jobs, and a step towards energy independence. Others  decry the whole project as stupidly burning our food in our gas tanks and a massive waste of money - cutting off our nose to spite our faces.

What's the good news?

This is truly a comprehensive introduction to topic of biofuels vs. affordable food. It is chock full of graphs, well-documented and is written in clear, easy to understand language.

What's the bad news?

It reads with all of the excitement of an introductory level college economics text, which is fitting since the publisher of this book is FT Press, an imprint of educational textbook giant Pearson.

The other real problem is that if you are looking for an answer to the biofuel dilemma, it is not here. What you learn is that the relationship between the food prices and biofuels is amazingly complicated. Government supports, tariffs, rising incomes in China and India, speculation, the value of the dollar and the weather all have an effect food prices and even if someone were able to program a computer model with all of these variables included they still wouldn't be able to truly demonstrate to what extent the diversion of grains to biofuels affects the price of food.

So, the book familiarizes the reader with the issues, but doesn't really supply any answers nor much excitement.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5 and it can be found here: The Economics of Food: How Feeding and Fueling the Planet Affects Food Prices.

Reviewed on April 26, 2010.

The Smalcald Articles by Martin Luther (Kindle version)

A 1921 translation of an important piece of Reformation theology

The Smalcald Articles were designed to be be a presentation of the basics of Lutheran theology that was to be presented at a Council of the Church in Mantua in 1537 - a Lutheran/Catholic discussion about what Lutherans and Catholics believed. As Luther notes in his brief introduction these articles laid out "what we could accept or yield, and what we could not." (location 2) They are named for the Smalcald (Schmalkaldic) League - a union of Lutheran cities and territories that opposed the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor.


The Council never happened and the league never adopted the Smalcald Articles as an official statement of faith because of Luther's strident, I would even say enthusiastic, attacks on some core matters of Catholic faith, especially the office of the Pope.

The Smalcald Articles were incorporated into the Book of Concord and are considered traditional standard Lutheran doctrine.

The Smalcald Articles are a lively presentation of the basics of Lutheranism. In reality, one would get the same information if you read Martin Luther's Small Catechism but it would not be presented in Luther's best argumentative style. Luther often knew no restraint when it came to arguing the points of Christian faith. He follows his arguments to their logical conclusions and is quite ruthless, devestatingly effective and fantastically politically incorrect in passages that condemn the office of the Pope, ultimately concluding that the position of Pope is that of Antichrist (locations 225-268). One can see why the Smalcald League wanted to tone down the rhetoric for the purposes of discussion.

However, Luther's rawboned, no-holds-barred, street fighter style of argument is really the star here. Luther had precious little patience for those that were, in his view, perverting the teachings of Christianity in order to follow the traditions and practices of human institutions. While Luther's Small Catechism patiently lays out the teachings of Lutheranism in an easy to digest format, the Smalcald Articles are a whirlwind, alternately attacking and defending (even his defenses are mostly attacks) highlighting Luther's early training as a lawyer (and what a great modern-day criminal lawyer he would have been!) with elaborate arguments that show little mercy to any that would interfere with the work of God amongst his people.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: The Smalcald Articles.

Reviewed on April 30, 2010.

Tourist Season by Carl Hiaasen

Relentlessly violent screwball book.

Published in 1986.

This is my first Carl Hiaasen book. It is also Hiaasen's first book as a solo author. Hiaasen goes for over-the-top funny, much like Elmore Leonard and Dave Barry. but, in the end it wore me down rather than keeping me intrigued.

The premise of Tourist Season is that a Miami-based newspaper columnist is sick of all of the development in and around Miami and the Everglades so he decides to start a campaign of terrorism to scare away the tourists and to discourage more development. 

The columnist (whose anti-development commentary rarely deviates from Hiaasen's as the narrator) is joined by an anti-Castro bumbling bomb specialist, an African American that is a former star member of the Miami Dolphins who hates almost all white people and a native Indian from the area who is flush with bingo and gambling money. Throw in a newbie Private Detective and an Orange Bowl Queen that is sick of the pageant scene and you have a potentially powerful mix but, in the end, it wore me down rather than keeping me intrigued.

I'm not sure if I'll read any more of his books - I was left with that much of a feeling of indifference.

I rate this book 3 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: Tourist Season by Car Hiaasen.

Reviewed on May 5, 2010.

Going the Extra Smile: Discovering the Life-Changing Power of a Positive Outlook by George Foreman

I'm usually not into self-help or inspirational books but I enjoyed this one.

Published by Thomas Nelson in 2007.

My wife had Going the Extra Smile and asked if I was interested in reading it. Sure, I said and promptly put it on my rather large pile of books to read where it sat, with George's smiling face looking up at me for months.

But, just this week I found out my school corporation transferred me to a different school (it was a seniority thing, not a performance thing) and I was more than a little bummed out because I like where I am at now. So, I picked up George's little book and plowed through it in about a day and a half, figuring I needed a bit of positive inspiration.

George Foreman. Photo by el grito.

Foreman talks about his two boxing careers but, more importantly, he divides his life into two parts - Old George and New George. In other terms, pre-Christian George and Christian George. George mentions St. Paul a couple of times and I'd imagine that George identifies with him because they share a common dramatic conversion experience and a massive change in lifestyle.

The book is a little bit of biography tied in with a little bit of philosophy and a little bit of religion that, when taken all together, make an interesting and helpful book.

Very enjoyable.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Going the Extra Smile by George Foreman.

Reviewed on May 15, 2010.

Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel by R. Kent Hughes

Thorough and interesting

Published in 2007 by Crossway.

St. Paul's letter to the Philippians is not a very big book but it is a treasure trove of spiritual advice, advice about how a congregation should work together, historical information and ultimately, Paul points out how the Christian life should be lived with other Christians.

R. Kent Hughes explains the historical setting of the book. He describes the city of Philippi, Paul's journey to Philippi and how Paul ended up in a prison in Rome when he writes this letter.

Most importantly, Hughes explains Paul's theme that Christian life must be that of fellowship. Not that of coffee and doughnuts on Sunday morning fellowship, but fellowship like that expressed in the books and movies of J.R.R. Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring), a fellowship based on a shared sense of mission, devotion to one another and the mission (the spreading of the Gospel) and perseverance through hardship.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel.

Reviewed on May 15, 2010.

There's A Word For It In Mexico by Boye Lafayette de Mente

Flawed but extremely useful

Published in 1998 by McGraw-Hill Education

I read There's a Word for It in Mexico the way it was not intended to be read - straight through, rather than using it like a dictionary. It can get a bit repetitive as the author tries to fully explain how Mexico's history has caused their culture to react certain ways and to see things as they do. I must have read the sordid history of the Conquest of Mexico and its exploitation by both Church and Spain 25 times.

The cultural elements are well-explained, very informative and usually well-written. FREQUENT spelling errors mar the book as do occasional historical errors. His math facts concerning the growth of the Mestizo population in Mexico also conflict with one another, depending on the entry you read.

Was the book valuable? Yes, and not just to the traveler to Mexico. If you live near or work with Hispanics in the United States it will also be of considerable value.

Despite the flaws that I mentioned above, I am still giving this book 4 Stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: There's a Word for It in Mexico.

Reviewed on July 14, 2004.

Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization by Graham Hancock

Published in 1998.

Heaven's Mirror was an interesting read. Graham's Hancock's theories are infectious and at times you find yourself marveling at all of the wonderful coincidences and halfway believing him. Other times, he takes liberal use of supposition (even going so far as to suppose what Albert Einstein would have thought of one of his ideas) and he throws out so many ideas that he reminds me of a desperate defense attorney who throws out any idea to throw doubt on the prosecutor's case. Here, Mr. Hancock throws out any number of theories, including Atlantis; aliens (but never says it - but he leads you that way); Egyptians coming to Europe, Asia, South America and Polynesia; the use of magic or an unknown force to build ancient megaliths and more.

I enjoyed the book but there are occasional bad photographs that mar the book - he refers to one picture two or three different times and the picture is not clear - the image has been worn too much over time. That would have been the perfect time for a traced outline of the picture, like he does with other unclear photos. Sometimes shadows obscure the images he would like us to see - the shadows make the pictures quite beautiful but the images are the point of the exercise. However, in general the quality of the pictures reminds me of those of National Geographic.

Mr. Hancock poses so many theories that he is sorely in need of a chart in the back of his book so that we can quickly see some of the theories and how the data looks when compared across the board.

However, in defense of his book, he quite freely admits that this is a work in progress and the research has barely begun. I would not consider this to be the final word from Mr. Hancock - rather, I would treat this as more of an interim report stating some of the interesting things he has found and a few theories that might help to explain them.

I give this book "5 stars" because he writes about so many of the interesting ancient sites and, if nothing else, has thrown an interesting new light on them (Graham points out that most 'legitimate' researchers won't even come to Easter Island anymore for fear of being thought to be one of the 'crazy' researchers). I don't buy his theories, but they are interesting.

YOu may also see Mr. Hancock on TLC or Discovery Channel with entertaining documentaries that cover most of these same topics in a less thorough but highly entertaining manner.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: Heaven's Mirror: Quest for the Lost Civilization

Reviewed on July 3, 2004.