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When Race Trumps Merit: How the Pursuit of Equity Sacrifices Excellence, Destroys Beauty, and Threatens Lives  by Heather Mac Donald, DW Books, 2023.  In medicine, the political Left is trying to water down objective measures of medical excellence such as:   Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)  United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Medical Student Performance Evaluation (MSPE) Several chapters of this book are about the damage that has been done to the performance of

The Diversity Delusion: How Race and Gender Pandering Corrupt the University and Undermine Our Culture  by Heather Mac Donald, St. Martin’s Press, 2018.  At the UCLA Graduate School of Education, Professor Val Rust was surrounded by students who read a Day of Action statement. This statement accused Professor Rust of racial micro-aggressions in his classroom. One of the micro aggressions the students complained about was his habit of correcting their bad grammar. The educatio

The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America  by Coleman Hughes, Penguin Random House (2024)  Color Blind The author believes that the color blindness principle, also known as race neutrality, is valid for all times, not just for when full equality is achieved.  He writes: “Colorblindness embraces our common humanity.” Racial Preferences He states that the euphemism “affirmative action” has come to mean racial preferences. He believes that we should return to

Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky, Anchor (Doubleday), 2012.  The author gained entry into the hospitality industry via being a parking valet at a Luxury Downtown Hotel in New Orleans. At hotels the main division among the staff is between the front desk and the back, which is housekeeping. The front desk is higher status. At one point he moved from New Orleans to New York City. The book contains many stories of pat

Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer, Harper Perennial, 2016.

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by Steve Dublanica, Ecco Harper Perennial ed., Paperback,, 2009.

Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust  by Richard Rhodes, Vintage, 2007.  The Jews in Hitler's Mind While Hitler pandered to the envy that many poor German gentiles had for the prosperous Jews, he himself seems to have been more motivated by paranoia rather than by envy. The Jews were seen by the Nazis as parasites and looters.  Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany losing WWI. Hitler also believed that the Bolshevik revolution in Russia was

Salt: A World History  August 27, 1883 by Mark Kurlansky, Penguin Books, 2003.  First of all, salt is needed by humans to live. And not just people, but also domesticated animals need salt. Secondly, salt has been used for thousands of years to preserve food. Salt prevents decay. Salted food keeps without spoiling, over time and distance. Foods protected with salt: fish (sardines are salted fish from Sardinia), red herring, shrimp, cheese, pickles, sauerkraut, ham, corned bee

The Forsaken: An American Tragedy in Stalin's Russia  by Tim Tzouliadis. The Penguin Press (2008)

The Battle of Salamis: The Naval Encounter That Saved Greece-and Western Civilization  by Barry S. Strauss, Simon & Schuster, 2005.  Greco-Persian War: Ancient Persia had expanded its empire to include the Ionian Greeks, the Greeks on the west coast of Anatolia, and was attempting to expand its empire to include Greece itself. This book describes a sea battle in this war that took plane in 480 B.C near the island of Salamis. If the Greeks had lost the war, perhaps western civ

A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War  by Victor Davis Hanson, Random House, 2006.  Peloponnesian War   The author describes the Greek civil war between Attica and Sparta.  Athens and Piraeus   Athens was the capital of the region called Attica. Athens was a major naval power and the center of a huge commercial empire. Many of the city states around it were its subjects. Athens build not only a wall around itself, but a long wall to

Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilization by Lars Brownworth, Crown, 2009.

Greek Ways: How the Greeks Created Western Civilization  by Bruce S. Thornton, Encounter Books; Revised ed. edition, 2002.

The Other Greeks: The Family Farm & the Agrarian Roots of Western Civilization by Victor Davis Hanson, Free Press, 1995.

Hungry Ghosts: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962  by Jasper Becker. Holt Paperbacks (1998)  Collectivization of the Peasant Farms In 1950 Liu Shaoqi argued that the property of rich peasants should not be confiscated, because they were needed for Chinese agriculture to function effectively. In 1951 Liu attacked Mao’s plan for forcing the peasants into large collective farms as Utopian agrarian socialism. He believed that collectivization should occur only after China had ad

Tombstone: The Great Chinese Famine, 1958-1962  by Yang Jisheng (Author), Edward Friedman (Editor, Introduction), Stacy Mosher (Editor, Translator). Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First English Language Edition (2012)

Mao ’ s Great Famine: The History of China ’ s Most Devastating Catastrophe, 1958-1962  by Frank Dikötter, Walker Books, 2010.  China and the Soviet Union Mao saw himself as a competitor with Khrushchev and the Soviet Union for the leadership of the Communist movement. Mao Zedong was upset about Khrushchev’s 1956 secret speech denouncing Stalin, because it implied that it was now permissible to criticize the leader of a Communist country. In fact, in late 1956, the CCP moved

Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ  (Revised Edition) by Giulia Enders, Greystone Books, 2018.  A book for the lay person written by a German gastroenterologist. Topics:  Mouth Tonsils Esophagus Stomach Small intestine Vermiform appendix Large intestine Fat absorption by lymphatic system Celiac disease Lactose intolerance Feces Acid reflux Intestinal nervous system Nausea Flatulence Motion sickness Constipation Irritable bowel syndrome Immune system Gas

Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are  by Robert Plomin. The MIT Press; Updated edition (2019)

Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters  by Abigail Shrier, Regency Publishing, 2021.  Psychic Contagion The transgender and gender dysphoria fad is an example of psychic contagion. Earlier examples include lobotomies, multiple personality disorder, recovered-memory therapy and anorexia nervosa. This doesn’t mean that these disorders don’t exist, but only that they are much less common than their advocates assert.