John Berg's Book
Reviews
Books on today's hot topics--
This page describes books that give a special insight on the hot topics
of the day. It will change frequently, so check back often!
Oprah was right! We've all
had a good laugh about the beef industry's lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey.
But the reality of mad cow disease is not so funny. You can get more
information by reading
-
Mad
Cow U.S.A. : Could the Nightmare Happen Here? by Sheldon Rampton and
John C. Stauber.
-
Stauber and Rampton are good muckraking journalists. Their earlier
book, Toxic
Sludge Is Good for You! : Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
takes the "muckraker" label literally! It also exposes several other
public relations scams, and gives an understanding of how the industry
works.
-
Dead
Meat by Sue Coe (who is a vegetarian), with an introduction by Alexander
Cockburn, (who is not) is a broader indictment of the meat industry, covering
the treatment of the animals, sanitation/health, and the devastating ecological
impact of factory-farming as it is practiced today. The main feature
of the book, however, is Coe's powerful, disturbing art.
-
Coe fans can find more of her work in Police
State (1986).
You can find a transcript of the Oprah Winfrey interview that inspired
the lawsuit on PR
Watch--judge for yourself!
And now you can't trust the milk either! It is
probably full of recominant bovine growth hormone (rGBH), a genetically
engineered substance that increases production but has been linked to cancer.
rGBH (also known as rBST, recombinant Bovine Somatotrophin) has been banned
in Europe. In the U.S., not only is it legal, but the food industry
does not have to tell you whether or not it is in the milk you but.
Click
here to read all about it, in a page maintained by reporters who were
fired for refusing to cover up the story.
Everyone has noticed the similarity between the White House handling
of the Lewinsky affair and the plot of the film Wag the Dog.
Unfortunately, too few people take the similarity seriously. Instead,
they make cynical jokes about Clinton while still believing that the Iraqi
government is about to unleash anthrax on the world (just ask yourself,
what would they gain?) There is one important difference from the
movie, however. This is not a case of a war's distracting us from
a sex scandal; it is the other way around. The media are paying so
much attention to the Lewinsky affair that they are not asking any hard
questions about Clinton's desire to attack Iraq. I can't find a link
to the movie, but you can order the soundtrack of
Do you have other suggestions for topical books? Send them to
me, and I will consider adding them--email jberg@world.std.com
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Revised September 12, 1999