Book Reviewed: Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

The digital invasion (Two stars) In this book the author focuses on big data, predictive policing, and digital surveillance technologies, and the protections offered by the Fourth Amendment which requires that the government cannot conduct unreasonable searches or seizures, and all warrants must be based on probable cause. Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, who teaches at George Washington University observes that the law enforcement relies on "threat scores," like automated license plate readers, smart phone locations, facial recognition, and video data from cameras owned by the private and public. His main argument is that the lack of transparency in the world of constant digital surveillance infringes upon our "reasonable expectation of privacy." He examines how everyday “smart” tech turns us into digital informants. Smart cars, watches, homes, medical devices, social media, and AI sensors create trails that the Law can access. However, the author ignores to state that the information obtained from privately owned devices is accessed with warrants or as allowed by the respective state laws. During the trial, the defense attorneys can object to evidence obtained from searches that are deemed unconstitutional. The author’ suggestion that a shift from reactive policing to predictive policing (identifying "hot spots" or "persons of interest") will cause racial and socioeconomic biases is unfounded. Because in many actual cases crimes are solved successfully without violating the constitutional rights of the individual, and warrants are issued by the judge after studying the case. The author’s core argument is that the Fourth Amendment is not in pace with technology, and the lawmakers must study this situation. But as a law professor he does not suggest how laws could be written to protect people from unconstitutional searches. The complexity of the technology may be a reason many states are not acting quickly as the author believes. And such laws could become old and unnecessary as technology progresses in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and space exploration. One example is the flaws in hands‑free/texting ban in many states. Because a driver may need to use the phone for the map guidance or GPS which is not necessarily “texting.”

Book Reviewed: The Complete Valmiki Ramayana Bibek Debroy

Ramayana Darshanam; an immortal story of Dharma, Bhakti, and Karma yoga. This is an unabridged English translation of Valmiki Ramayana from its original. This work expresses the beauty of the Sanskrit poetry. The tone and style are direct, in austere prose with minimal embellishment and faithful to structure and dialogue of the Sanskrit epic. This translator avoids theological overlays with the narrative closer to the Sanskrit original. There are many questionable actions of Rama in the story that include Agni pariksha (purity (fidelity) test) for his wife Sita, and killing of his friend Vali in a clandestine fashion both of which are presented without his own observation. This work is based on the Critical Edition (Baroda / Oriental Institute) and reconstructs the text from many manuscripts. This is very readable, and recommended to anyone interested in Hinduism, Ramayana, and ancient Indian history.

Book Reviewed: Portals to a New Reality: Five Pathways to the Future of Physics by Vlatko Vedral

The quantum information is central to physical reality (four stars) This is a speculative manifesto that suggests a new theory shed light on the nature of physical reality with better understanding of spacetime and quantum gravity (bending spacetime at subatomic level). This book debate five “portals” (thought experiments) about his ideas of future theories. He proposes that quantum mechanics is universal, which applies to both microscopic and macroscopic systems. He explores experiments in quantum gravity, quantum effects in living organisms, the superpositions of macroscopic objects, and the quantum nature of time. Some of these are thought experiments but he believes that they are within experimental feasibility. He suggests that quantum information is key to the new physics theory in which consciousness plays a role in quantum physical processes, and the human perception could be altered to experience quantum reality directly in ways that were only imaginable. The theme is that reality is fundamentally informational, and unified with cosmic reality and life. The Vedantic concept of Māyā and perception of material world remains firmly within the scientific framework. The author stretches his imagination a little too far hoping that this will lead to better life. Parts of the book are dense for an average reader interested in cosmic reality.

Book Reviewed: The Last Line of Defense: How to Beat the Left in Court by Eric Schmitt

Fighting wokism This book is a memoir, a political manifesto, and a legal strategy that is based on his term in the office of the State of Missouri’s Attorney General. His arguments are that the courts have become the central battleground in U.S. politics, especially for conservatives resisting liberal policies of the federal government during the Joe Biden’s administration. He discusses lawsuits against the COVID-era mandates, student loan forgiveness, federal immigration policy, and the assault on free speech coordinated with legacy media. Senator Schmitt portrays the judiciary as the “last line of defense” when legislative and executive branches are controlled by liberal democrats who show disregard to the law and constitution. The most notable is the non-enforcement of U.S. immigration policy by the Biden admin that led to a massive crisis during the second term of President Trump. The book’s strongest feature is its behind-the-scenes narrative of real lawsuits. It reads at times like a legal “war room” memoir, and not a comprehensive study of the courts. One of the drawbacks of the strategy debated here is that activist judges appointed by the democrats interfere in the executive authority. Many activist prosecutors do not prosecute violent individuals. However, this book is argued very well. Highly recommended to readers interested in fighting woke media, and corporations who collaborate with progressives.

Book Reviewed: The Fractal Symphony of Time: A Journey Through Dimensions, Imagination, and Creation by Itoshiro Zuna

Multidimensional reality The book chronicles a worldview in which time and reality are not linear fixed products. But they exist in a multidimensional fractal symmetry. In this type of symmetry, a spatial pattern repeats itself at different scales. Unlike familiar symmetries like mirror symmetry or rotational symmetry, fractal symmetry is about self-similarity: when you zoom in or out of one unit of a structure, you continue to see similar structures. In the fractal structure each part resembles the whole, and fractal symmetry is not exact repetition; it is often a statistical or a near approximate operation, and may exist across many scales. It expands the idea of symmetry beyond rigid geometry into a dynamic and realistic state. It is unlike mirror symmetry (left-right reflection) or rotational symmetry (unchanged after rotation), both of which are rigid. Consciousness and higher-dimensional structure are suggested to be embedded in the fractal patterns of the cosmos. Therefore, each moment, each choice, each personal experience, and each “point” in time could be part of a larger structure. Time cannot be like a shooting arrow moving from past → present → future, but it is all together in one physical reality. The interconnectedness across time, matter, and consciousness is an integrated holistic reality. Real-world systems like clouds, mountains, blood vessels, weather patterns, etc., do not follow a geometric symmetry, but it follows fractal symmetry that connects to chaos theory, where simple rules can generate intricate and unpredictable patterns. This formalism will describe the organized complexity of life and cosmos. It also reflects on parts of a body is part of the whole system, echoing philosophical ideas of microcosm and macrocosm of Advaita philosophy of Hinduism. The author does not discuss the relevance of Advaita but discuss the Yoga philosophy, another school of six Hindu philosophical systems in which each chakra, an energy center in the subtle body corresponding to each dimension of existence. Chakras are energy waves the flow inward and outward with heart chakra as the center. They have fractal geometric logic embedded in them. This book is written beautifully, and the author does not invoke physics concepts (no physics equations) or mathematical formulations. But he uses metaphysical ideas to describe the physical reality we observe and experience. Consciousness is not found in any physics formulas, but it is required in the interpretation of quantum reality. The observer (consciousness) and the observed (cosmos) are inherently connected. But my gripe with this work is that the author’s worldview describes the existence (physical reality) in terms of time, and not spacetime. He refers to fractal symmetry with spatial repetition that implies space, but references to spacetime would have been scientifically more accurate than time alone.

Book Reviewed: The Making of the Bible: From the First Fragments to Sacred Scripture by Konrad Schmid and Jens Schröter

The birth of New Testament This is a book of scholarship that examines the development of Bible into a sacred text over many centuries from early “oral traditions,” scrolls, and fragments. The authors conclude that there was never a single fixed Bible for the first three hundred years of the millennia, but advanced into one holy book from several collections of evolving texts. This is not new to academia since many biblical scholars strongly agree with this conclusion based on their own research. It was a historical process shaped by emerging communities, intervention of church leadership, debates among diverse believers, changing religious identities, and political climate favorable to the ministry of Jesus Christ. The hub of the author’s observations is that there was no fixed canon in early Judaism or early Christianity, and different Jewish and Christian groups preserved different versions and different collections of texts. The Old Testament and New Testament did not evolve independently. The Jewish canon stabilized earlier, around the 2nd century CE, while the Christian canon remained fluid for longer. The two faith systems developed in dialogue and even competition, influencing each other. Some texts are composite or edited over time with pseudonymous (written in another’s name). It is worth considering this work with the books of Bart D. Ehrman, and Richard Elliott Friedman who respectively examine the development of early Christianity and its texts, and how Torah (Hebrew Bible) was composed from multiple sources. This is a fascinating work that integrates archaeology, textual criticism, and history. Strongly recommended to readers interested in the history of early Christian texts and its development into one comprehensive Bible.

Book Reviewed: Black Dahlia: Murder, Monsters, and Madness in Midcentury Hollywood by William J Mann

Sobbed in terror Elizabeth Short was a young American woman who struck out on her own after the postwar WWII. She wanted to explore the world as a young woman and enjoy for what it is. She was not a proto-feminist or a femme fatale as many previous authors make her to be. She was “Black Dahlia” for them. She left little clues about her personal life. She never gave interviews to the reporters, and left no diaries. There was an address book, and a few letters. Most writers have turned her story over to the detectives and journalists who investigated her murder. This author claims that previous accounts of the murder have been colored by confirmation bias. John Gilmore’s book, “Severed: The True Story of the Black Dahlia Murder” was a non-fiction book but included disputed details, and the Steve Hodel’s books focus on conspiracy with sensational claims. However, author Willam Mann does not name the most likely suspect responsible for her murder, but he believes that his approach shed light on this crime from a different angle. Recommended to readers interested in the history of Hollywood and the life of Black Dahlia.