Drew Westen and his wife suffered the loss of an unborn child. So when he says that the Democratic party in the US needs to communicate better on the issue of abortion, he speaks from the position of a person who understands personally how emotionally conflicted we are in how we view the unborn.

My list of future book reviews is down to 1 book, and I purchased the last copy of "The Political Brain"  in Edmonton yesterday, so the list will soon be empty.Do you have any suggestions for what should be added to the list?  Let me know.  I'm more likely to review it if it has practical implications for the practice of democracy.

Here's the book Nudge in three paragraphs:

1. Human beings are bad at making rational decisions in their own self interest where they lack the opportunity to practice, with strong and immediate feedback on their choices.  That covers a lot of areas.

Malcolm Gladwell has made himself a favourite of mine.  After reading "The Tipping Point" and "Blink!", and reviewing them here, when I found a copy of "Outliers" in a Wal-Mart while doing some Christmas shopping a few months ago, I had to pick it up.It is merely the realities of being a father of two and a law student that have prevented me from finishing it, and telling you about it, until today.

It wasn't on my list of future book reviews, but I heard about Dr. Robert B. Cialdini's Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, and really wanted to read it.

The Political Mind by George Lakoff is about what cognitive science is learning about how the brain works, and how that relates to how people think politically. The book talks about how understanding is now believed to be a process by which the brain creates and links contemporaneous experiences to one another with neural connections. Repeated “activation” in the mind of a given idea makes it easier for that idea to be activated in future. As a baby you are held by your mother.

I reviewed Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" recently, and decided that I needed to read his earlier book, "The Tipping Point." I picked it up three days ago. Let me give you the rundown.

Well, I've finished reading The Black Swan. As I mentioned, the first half of the book is basically looking at all of the ways people make bullshit arguments. The second half of the book then quickly and succinctly demonstrates that Gaussian statistics are, in many cases, bullshit.

I was going to write a review of this book, but I haven't finished it, and I simply can't wait.