Recently in Books & Reviews Category

It's not supposed to be out until Thursday, August 2nd, but Borders in Bailey's Crossroads, VA sold it to me today:

“You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value. You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women,”… “You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world, Mr. Putin, will reverberate in your ears for the rest of your life.”
- Alexander Litvinenko

"Meanwhile, as far as I know, in the medical report of British doctors, there is no indication that this was an unnatural death. There is none. That means, there is no reason for discussion of that kind.”
- President Putin

Informed advice for anyone contemplating homicide (podcast)
If you are really keen to murder a spouse, which chemical element would you choose? Arsenic is SO last year. Mercury is so - well, mercurial. Cambridge chemist John Emsley offers informed advice for anyone contemplating homicide who would like to show a little flair and impress the team from CSI. He’s the author of the book, The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison.

“People who wish to understand the Islamic tradition would do well to try to start with an examination of the role that Islam played in the development of law, rather than with the various Muslim-bashing books that have appeared recently”, says Tom Palmer.

Book recommendations;

Wael B. Hallaq’s The Origins and Evolution of Islamic Law

Harold Berman’s Law and Revolution: The Formation of the Western Legal Tradition.
Law and Revolution, II: The Impact of the Protestant Reformations on the Western Legal Tradition

Mohammad Hashim Kamali’s books-Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, Freedom of Expression in Islam , Freedom, Equality and Justice in Islam

This Law of Ours and other essays, by Muhammad Asad

Related;
Muslim Basher Robert Spencer Upset at my Dismissal of his Book (Tom Palmer post)

Islam and Economics- blog of Professor at Rice University

Podcasts;
Islam Then and Now
Daniel Peterson believes the key to understanding present Islamic attitudes lies in understanding the religious and philosophical texts of its past.

Interpreting culture
The distinguished American anthropologist Clifford Geertz died last month

Some articles worth reading;

The Great Liberator- Lawrence Summers on Freidman
On Milton Friedman's Ideas—BECKER
Milton Friedman's Case- Arnold Kling

The Young Economist by Lizbeth Scordo
Three Things You Don't Know About Aids In Africa by Emily Oster
Methodology Matters by Edward L. Glaeser
Economics focus- Third thoughts on foreign capital

How last century's money wars may lead to healthcare, pension reform
Managing Change; Is the Penny Worth Keeping?
The Flintstone EffectTracing wealth back to the Stone Age by Joel Waldfogel
My Boss Is 65 and Pregnant; How fertility advances could allow women to take over the boardroom By Tim Harford

The New Baby Boomers by Francois Bourguignon
The Zigzag of Politics- David Warsh
DEAL SWEETENERS- James Surowiecki
More Things Economists Don't Say

Patriots vs. Redskins
Beyond Insurance: Weighing the Benefits of Driving vs. the Total Costs of Driving- VARIAN
Want world peace? Support free trade. By Donald J. Boudreaux
The Undercover Economist: Round numbers By Tim Harford

Who's Counting: Which 'Experts' Make Better Political Predictions?
Grading the Pollsters
Why the successful prefer being average to extreme
America’s Anti-Environmentalists

It's time for truth in property taxation
The Social Responsibility in Teaching Sociobiology
Tracing the divine obsession; Also known as `the game of games,' chess has seduced kings and queens, beggars and madmen for 1,500 years.
When Legal Meets Marketing

How the Web Prevents Rape
Murphy’s law
What did Descartes really know?