Book Log 2010 #50: Cheesemonger by Gordon Edgar

When the focus of this book is on cheese or on the store where the author works, it's prety good. It gives a good sense of how he got his cheese education, and how he matured into someone whose passion for the product is tempered by the needs of running a department in a larger store. It's also a good look into a worker-owned grocery store in an urban environment (San Francisco), which is something most people never really experience, either as a worker or as a shopper.

I think the book works less well when it gets political, as the author frequently references his younger days when he was into punk music and activism. It's not that these topics have no place in the book, as those experiences led him to want to work in his particular store, and his personality clearly colors his experiences with cheese (from consumer to buyer to seller). It's just that there are some places where the political talk dominates, and even though it's attempted to tie it in using a cheese metaphor (there's one chapter where he compares his activist work to rennet, a coagulant that helps separate out curds from whey) it doesn't work for me.

There are also cheese recommendations at the end of every chapter, either cheeses discussed in the chapter or ones that are related to the subject matter, which is a nice bonus.

Overall, it's sufficiently different from other food books to be worth a look.

Book Log 2010 #49: The Eastern Stars by Mark Kurlansky

The town of San Pedro de Macorís in the Dominican Republic may be the worldwide per capita leader in creating major league baseball players, as they've sent 76 young men to the majors, with countless more in the minors. Why this is so is the central question of this book.

Kurlansky identifies several factors, including the area's general poverty, its reliance on the fickle sugar industry, the influx of people from outside the DR to work in sugar, the will of the dictator Trujillo to use baseball to consolidate his power, and the operation of "academies" by several major league teams looking to develop new talent on the cheap.

It should be an interesting read, given Kurlansky's ability to turn the mundane into the fascinating, but it's not. Things get too muddied between talking about the country, baseball (which Kurlansky almost always describes as if the reader knew of baseball as a concept but not as a sport), food, and other asides. The whole winds up being less than the sum of its parts, which is unfortunate.

There are a variety of books out there about Dominicans and baseball. It'd probably be better to start with one of those.

Two thoughts on Donald Trump running for President:

1. Will his hair have its own Secret Service protection and code name?

2. If elected, will he make Carolyn Kepcher Chief of Staff? And if so, can we get her some live CSPAN time so we can watch her smack down various undersecretaries? I know she doesn't work for Trump anymore, but this is the only possible reason I'd have for voting for the man. That and watching him turn the White House into a 118 story tower covered in glass and gold-toned accents.

Book Log 2010 #48: The Monuments Men by Robert Edsel

Recent news about a cache of sculptures unearthed in Berlin decades after the Nazis seized them for being "degenerate" is a reminder that, on top of all their other, more obvious crimes, the Nazis also stole a staggering amount of art, ranging from the official state organ that relocated works from all over Europe to the individual greed of high ranking party members (most notably Hermann Goering).

This book recounts how a handful of US and British soldiers were charged with the protection and recovery of Europe's cultural treasures. Getting little to no logistical support, these men put in long hours over the months and years of their service to protect what was still in place and find that which the Nazis had moved back into Germany (or former German territory).

The book focuses on France and Germany, leaving Italy for a future book. That's probably for the best, given the number of people involved and the scope of art that went missing during the war. The book follows a couple of major pieces specially, tying the hunt for them into the larger story of the Monument Men. This includes a healthy dose of biography and letters to loved ones at home, giving the Men greater depth and underscoring that they had a personal stake in the success of their mission, given that all of them were art or design professionals in their civilian lives.

The book does touch on works that are still missing, but generally in passing and in the context of what was recovered. I would have found a little more discussion on the missing pieces interesting.

Still, it's a very interesting book about a facet of World War II that isn't that well known (at least in the details), and it reads pretty smoothly, not getting bogged down in too much military or artistic detail. I'm looking forward to the companion piece on Italy.

With the silly season of midterm elections drawing to a close, time to hand out some endorsements.

Governor While there are four candidates in the race, it's a two person fight between incumbent Deval Patrick (D) and former Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charlie Baker (R). Baker's followed the GOP playbook for these elections, blaming the incumbent for not solving the economic mess and touting his plan, which as far as I can tell is the usual cut taxes to spur job growth line.

And with people as apparently pissed as they are, it should be working for Baker. But it's not, at least to the extent he wants. The recession, as bad as it's been, has not hit Massachusetts as hard as other states. There's been some talk that we're getting out of the recession earlier than other states as well. This sort of talk makes the economic angle harder to sell, as it becomes more nuanced, and there's nothing less capable of discussing nuance than someone running for office. It doesn't help that Baker's public demeanor can be charitably described as flippant. He's trying to improve his image, but it may be too late.

Patrick hasn't exactly showered himself in glory over his four years, and whatever case he makes for his role in the recovery gets overshadowed by the tax hikes, most notably the sales tax increase to 6.25%, which are not popular. Patrick's ads are marginally less annoying, as he keeps it mostly positive. He just comes off as a little too earnest. I won't even get into the third party ads, which are awful. Thanks again, Citizens United.

For those finding neither of these guys to their liking there's the independent, Tim Cahill, and Green-Rainbow regular Jill Stein. Cahill, the state treasurer, broke from the Democratic party, apparently over tax hikes, though it wasn't hard to read that an indepdendent may do well this cycle. Of course, Cahill has never been able to capitalize, as he's never found a consistent message. It didn't help when his running mate defected and backed Baker, or when some of his strategists did the same thing, leading to a lawsuit. Cahill's numbers are now in the single digits.

Stein, for her part, continues to do what she's done in all of her campaigns: speak consistently (if occasionally buzzwordily) about the issues and policies that impact the most vulnerable Massachusetts residents. She's also not run any TV ads that I've seen, which is a nice change from the wall to wall crapfest we've had for the last couple of weeks. Which is why Blogalicious endorses Jill Stein for governor.

Treasurer - The race here pits long-time Democratic fundraiser Steve Grossman against Republican state representative Karyn Polito. Polito has run most of the ads, again stressing the lower taxes more jobs mantra. She's also made a point of noting she's against politicians receiving pensions, which is the sort of issue that gets talk radio all hot and bothered but isn't something you'd gain widespread traction with, even with the need for pension reform.

The only thing I can think of for Grossman is that he wants to put the state's checkbook online. It's a nice move for transparency, but isn't much to go on.

A late-breaking story about Polito's role in getting low numbered Red Sox/Jimmy Fund license plates to her family, friends and other associates is finding a little traction, but it's hard to tell how big a deal this is. It hurts Polito's attempt to paint herself as a reformer and watchdog (which she stressed in an ad where she appears with a Great Dane, who had better line delivery), but it's also the sort of issue that has become more or less expected from people in state government. So it just could be more white noise.

Grossman, meanwhile, is a long-time back room guy for the Democrats, and is a former chair of the DNC. That's going to leave a number of people cold, but I suppose better the devil you know. Blogalicious endorses Steve Grossman for Treasurer.

Auditor - the last of the competitive state-wide races features female candidates for both major parties, with former state secretary of labor Suzanne Bump (D) takes on former Turnpike Authority board member Mary Z. Connaughton (R). This is the first time in a statewide race that the major party candidates are women, which drags the political culture here well into the 1970s.

(There is a third candidate, physics professor Ned Fortune (G-R), who will be luck to get more than 200 votes.)

The mini-scandal here is that Bump has been getting tax breaks on a "primary" residence in Great Barrington and a "principal" residence in Boston. She claimed that she checked on this beforehand and was told it was OK, but it turns out that might not be the case (she got her advice on the Boston house from an aide to the tax assessor rather than the assessor himself). As this is likely the only thing the average voter will have heard about the auditor's race, it's not going to help Bump.

Also not helping: Connaughton is an actual financial professional. Probably doesn't hurt to have an auditor who has actually performed an audit. Which is why Blogalicious endorses Mary Z. Connaoughton for auditor.

Attorney General - Incumbent Martha Coakley (D) is not a comfortable candidate. She proved that in spades in her incredibly inept run for the US Senate, and has made small strides in this race, in that she is actually out meeting the public (if only in a somewhat awkward fashion).

Luckily for Coakley, her opponent, James McKenna (R), is an even worse candidate. He doesn't appear to be all that well prepared, and his public appearances are often painful to watch. He won the nomination via a write-in campaign (the Republicans had no official candidates in their primary), and you get the sense watching him why the party didn't solicit him to run.

Coakley, for all of her campaigning faults, is a reasonably good AG, so Blogalicious endorses Martha Coakley for attorney general.

Secretary of State - Incumbent Bill Galvin (D) is running against William Campbell (R) and James Henderson (I). Interesting fact: Galvin won re-election in 2006 by beating Jill Stein, who garnered just over 18 percent of the vote. I imagine the two opponents in this race will fare better, but not by much. For no good reason other than entropy, Blogalicious endorses Bill Galvin for secretary of state.

OK, let's power through the rest of the ballot.

Ballot Questions - Question 1 would restore the sales tax exemption for alcohol, which is an issue I don't care about greatly as I rarely buy alcohol anymore. Still, I'll throw a bone to the retailers along the New Hampshire line and endorse a Yes vote on Question 1.

Question 2 would repeal the state law requiring affordable housing construction as part of larger developments. There is a flaw to the current law, but a wholesale repeal isn't the way to fix it. All of the governor's candidates are against the repeal, marking the one thing they all agree on. A no brainer - No on Question 2.

Question 3 would roll the state sales tax back to 3 percent. No one's really psyched about the hike that took it from 5 to 6.25 percent, but there's been little talk from the folks in favor of the question on how we could forego the 2 to 3 billion in revenue that we'd lose with the rollback. There's been vauge talk of eliminating waste and sweetheart jobs, which isn't enough. Blogalicious thus endorses a No vote on Question 3.

US House - interesting race in the 6th district, as incumbent John Tierney (D) takes on Bill Hudak (R). Tierney is fighting to get clear of his wife's involvement in money laundering, which claims he was unaware of. I can kind of see this, as I go home to my wife every day and have no idea how she does the finances. Still, in this climate, it's enough of an issue to drive voters to your opponent.

Unless you don't want to vote for an opponent who had a lawn sign that put Obama's face on bin Laden's body, or who has given aid and comfort to the birther crowd. Hudak's done both, which is enough to keep me away. Sadly, there's no third party candidate, so hoping there's no future indictments, Blogalcious endorses John Tierney for US House, MA-6.

State House - the 6th Essex district sees two newcomers, with Jared Parisella (D) up against Brett Schetzsle (R). I tend to think the biggest problem on Beacon Hill is that the legislature is 90 percent from one party. That puts an awful lot of power into the hands of the Speaker of the House, and given the string of them who've been indicted I'm not comfortable in having power concentrated in that office.

More diversity would help spread the power around, which is why Blogalicious endorses Brett Schetzsle for the Massachusetts House, 6th Essex district.

State Senate - And now I'm going to be a total hypocrite, as Blogalicious endorses Fred Berry for the State Senate, 2nd Essex district. Berry, the incumbent Democrat, does have Republican and independent opponents in Richard Jolitz and Matthew Fraser, respectively, but knowing nothing about them I figure stick with the person I know.

The rest - both Governor's Council and District Attorney have people running unopposed, so Blogalicious endorses writing someone in in both races. For Sheriff, Blogalicious endorses Damian Anketell, mostly because I met him when he was collecting signatures and seemed like a nice guy. I don't know if that'll be enough to unseat the Republican incumbent, Richard Cousins, but it's something, I suppose.