Jeff Madrick’s Seven Bad Ideas: How Mainstream Economists Have Damaged America and the World deals with all the goofy, wrong economic predictions that politicians and decision makers have made over the years. We’re seeing that same misapplication of economics today with calls to cut spending (exactly the WRONG move with a weak economy). And the paranoia over rising interest rates (hasn’t happened) and inflation (hasn’t happened, either). It’s my personal belief that most politicians flunked ECON 101. Seven Bad Ideas shows how basic economic principles have been misconstrued and misapplied–sometimes inadvertently, sometimes on purpose–to produce devastating blunders. If you want to read a clearly written and concise guide to contemporary economics, Seven Bad Ideas hits the target. GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Introduction: Damage
One: The Beautiful Idea: The Invisible Hand
Two: Says Law and Austerity Economics
Three: Government’s Limited Social Role: Friedman’s Folly
Four: Low Inflation Is All That Matters
Five: There Are No Speculative Bubbles
Six: Globalization: Friedman’s Folly Writ Large
Seven: Economics Is a Science
Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index

I grew up reading Astounding which was the most popular science fiction magazine of the Fifties and Sixties. This collection from the early 1990s brings together some of the most famous short novels Astounding published over the years. Poul Anderson’s fine “Introduction” provides a survey of the role of Astouonding in the history of Science Fiction. If you’re a fan of classic SF, this is an excellent collection of iconic works.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
“Introduction” by Poul Anderson
“Sucker Bait” by Isaac Asimov
“The Stolen Dormouse” by L. Sprague de Camp
“The Fifth-Dimension Tube” by Murray Leinster
“The Shadow Out of Time” by H. P. Lovecraft
“Bindlestiff” by James Blish
“We Have Fed Our Sea” by Poul Anderson

I met Judy Crider decades ago at a Bouchercon in Philadelphia. I loved judy’s droll sense of humor. Over the years, hanging out with the Criders was always one of the highlights of Bouchercon. At the last Bouchercon in Toronto, I took Judy and Bill to see the stage version of MAMMA MIA! The Criders loved it (Bill is the biggest ABBA fan in the world). But eight years ago, Judy started her battle against cancer. For eight long years, she beat it down. But today, cancer won. And we all lost a wonderful friend.

Despite her demons and personal problems, Whitney Houston was one of the greatest singers of my life-time. Whitney’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl is the best I’ve ever heard (it’s here for you to judge for yourself). This new CD/DVD collection brings together several of Whitney Houston’s live performances that haven’t been available until now. If you’re a Whitney Houston fan, this is a must-buy. If you’re a casual fan, you’ll still enjoy these wonderful songs. What’s your favorite Whitney Houston song?
TRACK LIST:
1. Home (The Merv Griffin Show, 1983)
2. You Give Good Love (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1985)
3. How Will I Know (The Brit Awards, 1987)
4. One Moment In Time (The 31st Annual Grammy® Awards, 1989)
5. Greatest Love Of All (That’s What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert, 1990
6. I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) (That’s What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert, 1990)
7. The Star Spangled Banner (Super Bowl XXV, 1991)
8. All The Man That I Need (Welcome Home Heroes, 1991)
9. I’m Your Baby Tonight (Welcome Home Heroes, 1991)
10. A Song For You (Welcome Home Heroes, 1991)
11. Medley: I Loves You, Porgy/And I Am Telling You I m Not Going/I Have Nothing (The 21st Annual American Music Awards, 1994)
12. I’m Every Woman (The Concert For A New South Africa, 1994)
13. I Will Always Love You (The Concert For A New South Africa, 1994)
14. My Love Is Your Love (Late Show With David Letterman, 1998)
15. I Believe In You And Me (The 16th Annual World Music Awards, 2004)
16. I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (The Oprah Winfrey Show, 2009)

The Princess Bride is one of my favorite all-time movies. This 25th Anniversary Edition in Blu-ray includes plenty of goodies in addition to the dazzling movie. And TARGET is selling this version of The Princess Bride for $5.00. This is certainly the Bargain of the Week!
EXTRAS
Audio Commentary by Rob Reiner
Audio Commentary by William Goldman
As You Wish: The Story of The Princess Bride
Cary Elwes Video Diary
Miraculous Makeup
The Dread Pirate Roberts: Greatest Pirate of the Seven Seas
Love is Like a Storybook
The Princess Bride The Untold Tales featurette
The Art of Fencing featurette
Fairytales and Folklore featurette
Original theatrical trailer
Easter Eggs

After the Buffalo Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins in a 5-day disastrous period a week ago, the Bills now face the Jets today in a meaningless game for both teams. The 2-8 Jets are going nowhere and the 5-5 Bills have a 4% chance of making the Playoffs. Playing this game on Monday night in Detroit–on a neutral field–in front of “fans” who got free tickets to attend the game makes the whole thing bogus to me. What do you think?

The NFL wisely moved the NY Jets vs. Buffalo Bills game from Ralph Wilson Stadium at Sunday at 1 P.M. to Detroit on Monday night. Seven feet of snow proved too much even for the NFL. Hopefully the stadium will be cleared of the 220 tons of snow for the game against the Cleveland Browns next Sunday. How will your favorite NFL team do today?

I’ve read Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games trilogy and enjoyed the first two movies. Jennifer Lawrence is great as feisty Katniss Everdeen (who is pretty good with a bow and arrow). In a dystopian future, the 1% enjoy luxury as the rest of humanity struggles in poverty. Each year, gladiatorial games feature fights to the death with the survivor named a Champion and showered with treasure. The first book in the trilogy was my favorite. But I thought the second book, which brings back the Champions to compete again, would be the better movie (it was). But the greed of Hollywood resulted in dividing the third movie into two parts (more money!). Sadly, Philip Seymour Hoffman died before this movie was completed. His role has been reduced. Other subplots have been elongated. The result is a mess. Don’t hurry to see this disaster. GRADE: C-

For another review of Mockingjay, Part One click here.