NONFICTION BOOK REVIEWS OF CONTEMPORARY INTEREST
Faith, Politics, and Sexual Diversity in Canada and the United States edited by Dr. David Rayside, a Canadian, and Dr. Clyde Wilcox, an American, is a thoughtful and informative presentation of a hot-button topic in contemporary society. These editors come from different backgrounds with dissimilar sexual preferences. Published in 2011, the book grew out of a conference of the same name held in Toronto in 2007.
The opening sentence of the Introduction states: Religion and sexual diversity are intertwined.
Each chapter introduces a different aspect of the relationships.
You can choose areas of interest out of an almost 500-page book divided into several sections including Public Opinion, Mainline Protestants, Non-Christian Responses, Evangelicals, Roman Catholicism, Political Parties and Rights Claiming with a variety of tables supporting the text.
The Political Parties section offers a detailed look at how the two different political systems work through issues. To quote from the text, But the differences between the two party systems are far more important than are the similarities and they help explain the different patterns of religious mobilization in each country.
This section is worth a read first, perhaps, to lay the groundwork for details in the other sections.
Two appendices present Canadian and American legal documents and related timelines. The Canadian appendix has excerpts of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and timelines under headings of Canadian Statutory and Constitutional Milestones on Sexual Diversity and Canadian Statutory and Constitutional Milestones on Religion.
The American appendix has excerpts from the U.S. constitution and timelines under headings of US Supreme Court Decisions on Sexual Diversity and on Other Major Law and Policy Landmarks and Selected US Supreme Court Rulings on Religious Rights, 1945+.
Besides the appendices, there are footnotes, a list of references--a bibliography like on a term paper, an index and contributors’ biographies.
The editors state, An exploration of similarities and differences between Canada and the United States in how such issues and debates get played out requires nuance.
This book makes an important statement and has a place in a reader's hands almost a decade later. Plan to be enlightened. Don't express an opinion that might have gaps until you've read through this book.
Blockchain: The Next Everything
The book, Blockchain: The Next Everything, explores the recent appearance of a technology—blockchain. Written for lay readers, Stephen P. Williams believes they require a conceptual understanding of blockchain for the technology to reach its full potential.
Published in 2019, the 189 pages of text show a learning curve is indeed upon us. In four chapters, Williams unwraps what blockchain is, its unique features, and its potential uses and benefits. He describes blockchain as a permanent, unhackable ledger for almost any kind of information you’d like to record. Yet it turns out this simple ledger technology makes an ideal platform for building all sorts of innovative and radically new applications
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The blockchain ledgers can track the flow of data, through many hands on different types of devices. This is what Williams calls a level playing field. He states succintly in chapter one that blockchain is software. In a few sentences, he also distinguishes between blockchain the software and bitcoin, the currency.
In the Introduction the epigraph that’s attributed to Melanie Swan, a philosopher of blockchain unfolds her perspective, There is something new and fundamental happening in the world which could be the start of the next enlightenment period. The core of this is shifting from centralized to decentralized models in all aspects of our lives, both individually and societally.
Although privacy is not rock-solid, the decentralization attribute will create the level playing field in society, according to Williams.
Williams uses anecdotes and metaphors to help readers grasp how blockchain ledgers function. He packs many details into the text, but limits description of the software code to a few samples. One analogy demonstrates Swan’s reference of decentralized models: The stars are computers, phones, or other devices, all connected, all sharing the duties of running the computer code that is a blockchain.
Williams lists the myriad of uses blockchain technology can have and gives current uses. One is Dubai and the intention to be the world’s first blockchain city by 2020. He also names China as poised for breakthroughs with blockchain. And he describes the game CryptoKitties, a blockchain creation with annual sales around $20 million.
It’s clear that Williams is an advocate of blockchain. He acknowledges there are others who aren’t. One individual is Warren Buffet who apparently doesn’t understand “how the technology works”. And of the role of bitcoin, Williams includes a 2018 Marketwatch quote of Buffet, You can’t value bitcoin, because it’s not a value-producing asset
. To counter this observation, Williams compares it to recognized currencies and gold as a commodity. His startup Wm. Williams uses blockchain technology, although it’s not mentioned in the book.
For readers who want to delve further into the subject, Williams includes a Further Reading section.