Events Books

I read the Spanish version of this book, which I am still trying to find. It is very moving and interesting as it gives the reader who lacks knowledge of the atrocities that occurred in El Salvador a vivid and real insight from the individuals that experienced it. As an educator in a very diverse area in California, I would defenitely recommend this book to any of my students interested in learning about the history of their people. It is a very simple yet moving book which will make you think about how people struggle to survive yet are determined to do so against all odds.

This book's story is a little example of how cruel power could be against a people. El salvador gave the world some decades ago one of the most gallards fights in order to preserve freedom, justice, wealth, independence, work. Power, land and money inside a fisk and in the other hand a defendless people, armed only with reason. The resulting damages of salvadoran pro- USA death squads are horrendous: massacres, sexual violations, catholic nuns, union leaders, peasants, teachers, children killed. And the School of the Americas is still open :)... And still current El Salvador government refuses to cooperate with justice.... ... A great homage for those killed.

"Rebel Radio" is inspiring, moving, and impossible to put down, and not just for radio fans. It's the story of how a small band of young rebels put a guerrilla station (like a pirate station) on the air and kept it there for years against all odds, told in their own voices. We see them develop as journalists, as artists, and as revolutionaries. The Salvadorans are resourceful, creative, and audacious beyond belief. They tear down the station at a moment's notice and carry it off on their backs, staying just ahead of the government forces who want to destroy them, then taunting the generals on the air, like Wily Coyote and the Roadrunner. You'll fall in love with these people; they're fearsomely brave and committed, yet they have their funny and deeply human moments too. You'll want to run off to El Salvador immediately to see the museum that honors Radio Venceremos.

I bought this book in El Salvador in one of the few visits that I have made to my natal land, the strugles that all the fighters have to go thru to keep the radio waves opened for all the listeners was horrendous. The book tell the story of the freedom fighters moving all the equipment from site to site and hiding it from the attacks of the salvadorean army. The heroism displayed or let's say described in the book is to be admired. I am not a former guerrilla member nor do I like comunism in any form, but being salvadorean myself I could not hold some tears after reading some of the chapters in the book.

Hola Marvin, me llamo R. Manolo Mendez,24 años, vivo en Canada, Montréal.Leí este libro y me pareció fantastico, increíble, no sabes cuanto lo disfruté. Bueno, solo quería saludarte, soy un gran admirador de la gente que pelió por nuestro país, me han recomendado un libro llamado: Carceles Clandestinas, dicen que es muy bueno, pero no lo encuentro en ninguna parte.Bueno, fue un placer saludarte, adios.

"Blahous has produced a timely, comprehensive, accessible . . . review of the issues involved in financing Social Security after 2020. . . . Blahous is aware that the complexity of Social Security means there is no single best financial and political solution. Interested readers will find this a sound addition to the literature. Useful index. All collections." CHOICE

Given that I am a Democrat, now long gone from D.C. and that Dr. Blahous and I both happily sit at opposite ends of the political spectrum, one might think I'd have little interest in reading a book on Social Security reform by a member of the Bush administration. Frankly, the sole reason I bought this book was that I once had the pleasure of working with Chuck in Washington when we were both staffers in the office of Alan Simpson. Without a doubt, he was both one of the brightest people I'd ever met and one of the most human staffers ever to grace the Hill.

Chuck's book, "Reforming Social Security: For Ourselves and Our Posterity" is a reflection of that. One element of Blahous's brilliance is that he can gracefully translate the most complex issue into something anyone - even I - can easily grasp.

In a modern political environment, in which the five-second screambyte passes for reasonable discourse, Chuck thoughtfully presents a case for an approach to Social Security reform that I would normally not even consider, largely because the folks on "my side" are making political hay out of opposing it. I wish that Chuck's approach to the thoughtful discussion and development of policy were the standard in Washington. We'd all be the better for it.

Ignore the rhetoric from both sides on this issue. Take the time to read the book, consider his arguments, mark the heck out of the margins (despite that hefty $68 price tag), check his sources, weigh the evidence and then reach your own conclusions. You may well be surprised that your position has drifted somewhat. Odds are good that you'll be a bit closer to the truth for the effort.

Since Chuck's talents have largely been focused on Social Security issues for most of this past decade, it's often easy to forget that his PhD. is in chemistry and that much of his early work on Simpson's staff was devoted to questions of foreign policy. I, for one, would be pleased if his talents were relied upon in other areas as well.

Chuck's presence - indeed, Chuck's presence alone - reassures me that there is still some hope for this administration.

This easy-to-read book is a must read for anyone who is concerned about the future of Social Security and sick of the way politicians typically talk about the issue. This book provides hard facts about the problems facing the system and straight answers about the benefits and drawbacks of reform proposals.

I live and work "inside the Beltway" as we like to say here in Washington, DC. We tend to use a lot of big words, talk endlessly about inane topics, and congratulate ourselves that we have the American people "figured out".

In reality, there's a lot every Washington insider could learn simply by picking a point on the compass and driving a couple of hours away from DC in that direction. We need to hear what people really feel about issues that are important to them. Conversely, we need to educate the American people in a logical way, to give them all the information they need in digestible portions -- as Thomas Jefferson noted, "to set before mankind the commonsense of the subject in terms so simple as to command their assent [paraphrase]." It is in these terms, that Dr. Blahous writes.

Social Security reform is a weighty, complicated issue. Because it is not readily and easily understood by most, it is demagogued by politicians of every persuasion. Charles Blahous cuts through the demagoguery and provides a clear explanation of the Social Security retirement program's history, the need for reform, and events of the last few years that have led to the current debate on reform.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and tone. He conveys his message as one who earnestly wants to communicate the truth. Opponents of reform should pay heed -- with logic like this, there is nowhere left for them to hide.

Read this book. Get informed. Contact your elected officials in Washington and urge them to support Social Security retirement reform.

After the excellent "The Real Deal" (by Schieber and Shoven), is there anything more to say? Yes, a lot, actually, as Blahous's very original and valuable book makes clear. I loved several aspects. The honesty of the comments shines through. He criticizes the press, the demagogues, some unions, not in partisan fashion, but only where their bias or lack of knowledge contradicts facts -- a feature that earns the gratitude of all of us who want an honestly considered solution, whatever it turns out to be. His insider's view of the political evolution of Social Security's recent history is totally fascinating and another valuable feature. I'm a student of this subject, and Blahous's book helped me understand some things I didn't see clearly before. One is why certain factors in the NCRP plan were phased in over that particular 20-year period. Another is how valuable is the proposed raising of the benefuit for the lower-paid. A third is why he describes Senator Gramm's proposal as an add-on when I considered it a carve-out. Perhaps it's unnecessary for all members of Congress to read this book. But I do hope the necessary few on staff and others who help members decide how to vote read it, because the more it influences their deliberations, the better for the country.

The author writes that the costs of the Vietnam war weakened American economic power ; in the meantime West Europe/Japan had grown into full-fledge economic competitors with the U.S. In order to better compete in this environment, corporations decided that they couldn't tolerate the New Deal concessions to unions and other measures, so America began its rightward shift.

He writes, quoting the New York Times and Paul Krugman in The Nation(see endnotes), that from the early 1970's to 2000, the average income in real terms fell by seven percent for the bottom ninety percent in this country. Meanwhile, the income of the top one percent rose by 148 percent, the top tenth of one percent rose by 343 percent, and so on. The unemployed and "working poor" today comprise 40 percent of our employed class. Reagan's tax cuts helped this upward redistribution. In 1998, General Motors, Pepsi, Chevron, Texaco and Enron paid no federal taxes. Bush tax cuts have targeted the wealthy in obvious ways: taxes on capital gains and dividends,, which the vast majority of Americans do not report on their returns. Then there was the estate tax...Meanwhile a treasury department report suppressed in Bush's 2004 budget report projected the national debt reaching eventually reaching 44 trillion dollars. . Bush has proposed the further draconian measure of allow tax-shelter savings accounts where if enough money that only the rich can afford to save is placed it will be tax-free forever.

He should have quoted David Stockman's admission that the Reaganites embarked upon their insane military spending produced deficit in part in order to have an excuse to slash social programs. Bush is repeating this. Bush has already set in motion a partial Medicare privatization. Our political order encourages companies to move overseas to exploit repressed third world labor while leaving in wake a horde of workers who have to grasp for short term/temp jobs and have no health insurance, etc. It allows speculators to move two trillion dollars around the globe a day and leave financial disaster in their wake. It allows for companies to manipulate their stock value with their accountant's complicity. Now mutual funds are getting ready to have the government give them social security funds, so they can gamble with them on the stock market, an alarming prospect giving the recent accounting scandals on Wall Street. He quotes Fortune magazine as saying that the Enron-style chicaneries were quite widespread, not a few bad apples. Meanwhile the trade deficit may become completely unmanageable. The rich continue to get their corporate welfare, speculative bonanzas, etc but the country in the long term is heading towards a catastrophic debt.

He notes that the Cold War was a cover to support right wing dictators and death squads that repressed third world workers for the benefit of corporations. He mentions the flat tax imposed by Bremer on Iraq and the giving away of Iraq's economic assets to foreigners. He notes that Bush later admitted that there is no evidence of an Iraq-9/11 connection; for the Iraq war, he invoked a law that allowed the president to move against countries who played a role in the 9-11 butchery. Obviously the law didn't apply here. The "war on terror" is mainly about distracting Americans from Bush's draconian domestic measures and a cover to increase support for such pro-American, pro-oil and gas company murderers as Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan. He observes that Wolfowitz, Feith, etc. set up a Pentagon body (OSP) that would feed them the bogus intelligence for the war they needed.

Kerry would be somewhat better than Bush, but both are supporters of the current monstrous corporate order, though less extreme than Bush. The Republicans can gerrymander themselves into congressional victories.. They can throw voters off the rolls. But student, labor and other currently growing grassroots groups can affect a great change. He points to Moveon.org mobilizing its grassroots to get congress to repeal an FCC deregulatory measure . "An amazing organization!" he gushes about Moveon(but will they treat a democratic president as harshly when he does similar things as Bush?). He observes that Dennis Kucinich is one who has been overwhelmingly re-elected by the "Nascar Dads", "Reagan Democrats," by strongly articulating a populist economic message. Half of Americans don't vote; the dems could mobilize them but....

The author is a little simplistic in his invocation of American nostalgia. Teddy Roosevelt preached that corporations needed to be controlled in the public interest but that was mostly fraud. Corporations may have been paranoid about FDR but they were still very much in control. Inequality stayed the same from the beginning to the end of his rule. But his empowering to some extent of unions did play a role in eventually creating the American Middle Class. Gene Debs was a much better American hero.

The author's "new democracy" scheme for America, though accepting capitalism, goes a long way towards expanding democracy in this country.

I think the author should have made his factual points less vague; as it is, his main concentration seems to be to exhort the reader.

Derber has hit the nail on the head again - in this case it's a bulls-eye, with Bush in the center. But much more important than Bush the individual is Derber's penetrating analysis of the corporate/political elites' control of our democratic processes. By exposing the underlying structure of this control, Derber gives us a meaningful vantage point to understand how the unabashed self-interest of a powerful minority negatigvely impacts the vast majority. I found Derber's upbeat style and witty presentation ultimately hopeful. It's a complicated topic, but this is a readable and important book. We need to wake up ourselves and our country to the reality of what's really happening under Bush (not to mention whoever wins in Nov) - let's demand our leaders and institutions do a much better job of implementing the fundamental ideals and human rights that our country was founded on and that we teach school children to believe in.

When I first heard that Charles Derber's new book was entitled "Regime Change Begins at Home," I chuckled, and figured that he'd joined the Al Franken/Michael Moore wing of political sloganeering. Not that I have anything against Franken and Moore -- far from it -- but I expect greater depth from Derber, whose fine "Corporation Nation" was the first book to not only sound the alarm against corporate power but also dig into its roots.

So I got a copy of "Regime Change Begins at Home" -- and found not only the hoped-for depth but also a entire new perspective on politics that, once seen, is obviously true. This is quite simply the most important political book I've read in years. I urge you to get a copy as soon as you can, read it, and spread the word to your friends to do the same. This is a book that can make a difference in the direction of our country and the world, but only if lots of people read it. Happily, Derber writes not like the academic he is but in a clear, simple, populist style.

I won't go on and on. Suffice it to say that Derber, a sociologist and political economist at Boston University, uses the word "regime" not as an epithet but in its deepest meaning. He says that American political history since the Civil War has had only five regimes, each spanning several presidencies; we are now living in the Third Corporate Regime. The First Corporate Regime lasted from 1865 to 1901, when it was supplanted by the Progressive Regime; that was supplanted by the Second Corporate Regime during the Roaring Twenties; it gave way to the New Deal Regime, which lasted longer than any other but ended in 1980 as the Third Corporate Regime took power with Ronald Reagan. Regimes come and regimes go, Derber makes clear, and he delves into why they go and the necessary ingredients of regime change. Read this book and you will see George Bush, John kerry, and Howard Dean in new light.

The good news is that Derber sees and describes wide cracks in the Third Corporate Regime, and suggests how to stick crowbars in them and get on with regime change. It all makes elegant sense. Please, for the good of our nation and the world, get this book and read it -- and act on its wisdom.

If you have read either Corporation Nation or People Before Profit, I am sure you will want to read this new book by Charles Derber. In my opinion his new book provides an even more readable introduction to the ideas of an author who is on the path to becoming one of the nation's foremost public intellectuals. As far as I am concerned this is not a good book, it is a great book.

According to Derber we are currently in the midst of the "Third Corporate Regime," a political regime that began with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 and continues to the present. In case you were wondering, the "First Corporate Regime" ran from 1865-1901 (the Gilded Age) and the "Second Corporate Regime" ran from 1921-1933 (the Roaring Twenties). Thus regimes, as Derber uses the term, refer to broad swings with major realignments of power. All three are referred to as corporate regimes reflecting the marriage between corporate and political power, with big corporations having a great deal of control over the national government. A distinctive aspect of the Third Corporate Regime is that is has power that can be compared with that of both the British and the Roman Empires. It rules "not only America but much of the world."

If Bush wins in the 2004 election, Derber's view is that this will further solidify the Third Corporate Regime, particularly if he wins with substantial majorities in both houses of Congress. The fear is that the nation will become even more of a "corpocracy," his name for a pseudo-democracy in which a formally democratic government become a vehicle for corporate control. Kerry's election would reduce the damage done during the next four years, but it would not, by itself, represent genuine regime change.

A strength of this book is that Derber offers solutions. The entire third section of the book is devoted to what can be done to bring about the needed regime change. The election of a Democratic president and a Democratically controlled Congress might prove to be a regime-tipping election that would help create the conditions under which social movements dedicated to regime change could flourish and set the stage for eventual regime change down the pike.

While this book is written primarily for a Democratic and progressive audience it will inform and be of use to traditional conservatives and even some corporate elites. Those who are in close contact with corporate elites would be well advised to read this book because it provides a roadmap as to how progressives could topple the Third Corporate Regime. It also makes a very persuasive case as to why there is likely to be a strong movement to do just that in the not too distant future.

This book is a very easy read. It is hard to put it down and it could not be dealing with a more important set of issues. If enough people read this book, together we are going to be able to make a difference.

This review is a modified version of my original one published in the Autumn, 2005 issue of the journal, Personnel Psychology, pages 815-818.

Charles Derber, a prolific author (nine books since 1988), media commentator, and professor of sociology at Boston College had hoped this book might help derail the Bush administration. Alas, it was not meant to be, apparently. Nevertheless, Derber's book is still essential reading for thoughtful citizens worried about the status and direction of our nation, for much remains to be done, and Derber gives us the rationales and imperatives for acting and some suggested directions.

The general public is conditioned by its government and media to think of "regimes" as bad governments abroad to be neutralized if not overthrown by our country's might. Derber refutes this notion. The dictionary's definition, after all, is a nutral one-a regime being "any `system of rule' at home or abroad." There have been, in his assessment, two good and three bad regimes in the course of our history. The bad ones, including the current one, have all been "corporate regimes."

In the first of the book's three parts, he portrays the first four regimes, starting with the corporate regime that "was built by the robber barons" of the Gilded Age. The public backlash to it ushered in the trust busting regime of Teddy Roosevelt. Big business responded with the second corporate regime presided over by corporate toady's Harding and Hoover. FDR bowled it over with his New Deal regime. The corporate reaction to it ultimately created the third and current corporate regime, the subject of the second part of the book, with President Bush carrying this regime to the extreme in Derber's opinion.

Derber claims the current corporate regime was "conceived in the 1970s and shaped by the election of President Ronald Reagan. Yet Derber acknowledges that the current regime's self-preserving strategy of "marrying the enemy" (Iraq) had its precedents in the Cold War and the Vietnam War. Thus, I think he erred in not dating the start of the current regime with President Eisenhower. I personally think the latter's valedictory address about the military-industrial complex was as much a mea culpa as a warning and that the defense industry together with its demagogic and tenure-loving allies in Congress had a self interest in America's militaristic actions after WWII, the fear (hyped as it was) of the Soviet Union notwithstanding.

Derber likens regimes to "political houses designed and run by groups or organizations that control the money." Carrying the analogy further, he says the "house rests on five pillars; a dominant institution, a mode of politics, a social contract, a foreign policy, and an ideology." Each has a distinctive form in the current corporate regime.

The dominant institution is the transnational corporation, headed by the "top ten" (e.g., GE), with their total assets alone worth around $4 trillion, more than the whole economy of many countries. Look at the book's subtitle to see just how dominant Derber thinks big corporations really are. They rule America. Many other authors whose books I've read share his views or are even more critical of Corporate America. David Korten, a former Harvard economics professor, for instance, believes big corporations are ruling and ruining the world, not just America (Korten, 2001).

Like the other authors, Derber marshals considerable arguments and evidence on how such corporations through their actions are predatory, domineering, and destructive of the common welfare. These actions include sacrificing American labor by downsizing and outsourcing work, causing "one-third of all workers to resort to tempting, freelancing, part and timing; privatizing government for profit (e.g., the grabbing of public wilderness forests by mining and timber companies; abandoning the conservative foundation of democratic capitalism through speculative financing and lobbying for corporate subsidies and tax breaks (e.g. seven of the largest corporations paid no federal taxes at all in 1998); controlling the mass media to indoctrinate the public; eroding countervailing forces, such as unions; and making the public passively dependent on corporations for almost every sphere of life; etc., etc.

The current regime's mode of politics is the "corpocracy," in which big government and big business exchange roles, except, big government keeps getting bigger. Derber illustrates this pillar with the familiar revolving door of Bush appointees from big business who while there helped write lax federal regulations overseeing their business and then, with a tour of "duty" in government, ensure that the regulations remain lax or not enforced.

The third pillar, social contract, is actually an antonym, social insecurity, in the current regime that intends to trade "the social security of workers and citizens for profit maximization." While Bush's plan to commercialize part of the safety net appears at least temporaily to be dead in the water as a result of the staggering costs accumulating from hurricane Katrina, don't write off determined neo-conservaties' persistence to downsize government, or "starve the beast," as they callously put it.
The fourth pillar supporting the current corporate regime is an imperialistic foreign policy. Its aim, Derber charges, "is to shape a global corporate order under the political and military direction of the United States." The policy reveals a disdain for international law, a proclivity for military intervention, contempt for American civil liberties, protectionism of US businesses from foreign competition, and, through such captive organizations as the World Trade Organization, a push for "inviolable corporate rights" anywhere in the world.

The last pillar is the current ideology that Derber calls the "corporate mystique," a government and corporate propaganda campaign that trumpets personal liberty and "free market" capitalism all the while pursuing an "unimagined freedom for big business and big problems for the rest of us."

The first two corporate regimes were undone by public backlash to "terminal socioeconomic crises." Derber believes the same fate awaits the current corporate regime and points to several developments that are facilitating a grass-roots civil rebellion, including the networking of activist groups via the Internet locally and globally, activist students "sprouting up on campuses," and the rising voice of such groups as "Janitors for Justice."

If bad regimes inevitably self-destruct then why, one could ask, does Derber bother to write this book, or at least its third part that is chock full of ideas for ending the current regime? My answer is that I do not think his scholarship and professionalism would have allowed him not to write this book. As for its third part, he explains that he wrote it because "most political books attack a problem but offer no solutions."

In introducing his ideas, he returns to his analogy of the political house by proposing new pillars for it; an active citizens' network, a new democracy of ordinary people, real social security, a foreign policy of collective security, and an ideology of citizen empowerment. He then suggests numerous ways for freeing America from corporate rule, some of which would require legislative or regulatory changes such as the rewriting of state corporate charters, slowing the revolving door with a ten-year freeze on reentry, and taxing short-term, speculative global investment. He also provides good rationales for uniting disparate groups such as conservatives versus progressives into grass roots social movements all "under a big tent" aimed at ending the current regime. Finally, he urges the reader to become active and lists the websites for five activist groups, each targeting one of the five pillars.

I hope my review motivates you to read his book. We all should know what thoughtful critics have to say about the corporate role in and its effects on our society, and we all should decide what we think about it and what if anything we should do about it.

Reference

Korten, DC. (2001, 2nd Ed.). When corporations rule the world. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler and Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press.

After the communism and fascism, western culture ideals and the way of life are threatened, more than ever, by an aggressive and uncompromising religion. Radical Moslems want to conquer the world and impose their laws based on Dark Ages standards. And they have no respect for human life. They want to convert the rest of the world to their religion and destroy those who resist.

Helped by an infusion of enormous amounts of western capital, radical Islam, out of an irrelevant religious movement, has become a major threat to the West.

With the precision of an engineer, Dr. Joksimovich in his book "The Revenge of the Prophet" analyzed historical facts, explained the radicalization of Islamic countries and the goals of Jihadists. His book is a must read for those who want to understand present political situation in the world and specifically in the Middle East and Balkans.

S. Djuric

Dr. Joksimovich's book is an excellent and well researched account on the rise of Radical Islam. Most people in the West "noticed" militant Islamists only after 9/11, not realizing that there was a planned strategy in place long before 9/11. This book gives a historic review of when and how it all began and how it progressed to what it is now: The biggest threat to the democratic world since the II World War and Nazis.
When reading the Revenge of the Prophet it becomes clear how our own foreign affairs "experts" in the period from 1992-1999 helped the rise of Osama bin Laden during the wars in the former Yugoslavia by making decisions without taking into consideration long term consequences.
Very interesting book and I highly recommend it.

Did we, the US, sacrifice the middle east to win the cold war? To this end, did we empower and help radicalize Islam and the historically moderate countries in the middle east? Have we allowed radical Islam to get a foothold in Europe, creating a staging ground for terrorism throughout Europe? Has the war in Irac had the opposite intended effect by further radicalizing the middle east?

This book deals with these serious issues by giving a detailed historical perspective on Islam, the countries of the middle east, the key groups and figures who shaped this region, and the current policies that are shaping it now. In fact, the information in this book is so well researched and documentated that I doubt you could find more current or pertinent information on this subject outside of a CIA file. And, if they are not currently doing so, the CIA should be using this book as a primer on the middle east for all staff/personnel.

Radical Islam is on the rise, and Mr. Joksimovich makes it crystal clear that this ideology is a fundamental threat to western ideals and culture. It is radical Islams' stated goal to destroy western culture and religion. Not since Nazi Germany has the world faced a greater threat, and just like then we cannot afford to lose this war.

If you value the freedoms western culture has provided you, you must read this book.

If you read "The Revenge" carefully you will find the book written very much straight foreword,with dates,places and people ,full with data and facts that does not live much room to reader for speculation ,in short The Islamists road is narrow and the ultimate goal is the destruction of the two other great religions Judaism and Christianity as we know it.It was interesting to learn that last century "birthed" three "great movements" :Nazism and Black shirts, Fascism and the Brown shirts and Islamism and the Green shirts.The world and societies of the past dealt pretty successfully with the first two ..the third survived and is a great problem of this century.Needles to say , it has to be defeated by positive forces ,all the same ones that defeated Nazism and Fascism.

Once again polymath Dr. Joksimovich has authored a book notable for its deep research and thought-provoking analysis. Dr. Joksimovich illustrates in impressive detail how Islamic extremist terrorism was brought to life by U.S. support for the most retrograde elements in Afghanistan during the 1980s (the most massive CIA operation in history), and how this movement that the Western world helped to create turned into a classic case of blowback. Through mismanagement, the U.S. focus on short-term (and short-sighted) goals in its intervention in the Balkans and its blind support for Saudi Arabia has only fed this growing movement, the consequences of which we are paying for today. The Bush Administration's reckless invasion of Iraq, based, like the war on Yugoslavia, on deliberate lies, has only given Al Qaeda and like-minded movements a rallying cause with which to recruit many new adherents. 'The Revenge of the Prophet' documents these and many other disturbing developments in hard-hitting fashion. A book not to be missed.

Prof. Finkelstein gives us a crucial perspective on the effects both of the Israeli Occupation and of the Oslo accords on the people of the West Bank. Finkelstein's book is helped immeasurably by his excellent writing style; clear, concise and easy to read, this book will be attainable and required reading for laypeople and Mideast scholars alike. Rather than focus on the actions of politicians and self-aggrandizing "leaders", Finkelstein instead gives us a view of the Palestinian PEOPLE. We meet a wide array of folks in Finkelstein's book and we emerge, necessarily from the experience far more understanding of who these people are than when we started. Perhaps most important of all is that Finkelstein never lets us forget that he himself is a Jew. He therefore lets everyone know that to be Jewish is NOT to be Zionist and it is most certainly not to be necessarily supportive of the actions of the Israeli government. There are many books that amply chronicle Israeli brutality and the crimes of the Zionist regime (another by Finkelstein that I highly recommend among them, called "Image and Reality of the Israel palestine Conflict) but I can think of no book more important to the understanding of the dilemma of the Palestinian people and to open the door for Jewish opposition to Israel than this one

a brutally honest account of the palestinian intifada experience as written by a jewish american. exposes fallacies in the representation of the case as well as in foreign policy. very necessary in understanding the israel-palestine conflict

This book provides a welcome dissent from typical American Jewish political views, and provides refreshing objectivity towards the Arab/Israeli conflict. Finkelstein portrays West Bank Palestinians before and during the Gulf War: the effects of thirty years of brutal repression on these people, their lives, hope and aspirations--and why they might have cheered Saddam's scud missiles. One chapter is dedicated to Finkelstien's methodical summary of American foriegn policy toward Israel on one hand, and Iraq on the other--Finkelstein refrains from judging either of these two countries during his comparison--and the result demonstrates an undeniable double standard in the application of international law. There is much evidence--much of it taken from declassified Israeli documents--that suggests Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon was entirely an offensive operation, the sole purpose of which was to avoid having to come to political terms with the PLO, and Finkelstein touches on this as well. Overall, an excellent, insightful book well worth reading.

Finkelstein's book is that rare gem of a monumental work housed within a slim volume. What makes his ideas so astonishing, in addition to their being meticulously researched and footnoted, is that his parents were survivors of the Nazi holocaust. Based on encounters with Elie Wiesel and the like, one would not expect a Jew of this background to have such a profound understanding of the Palestinian people and of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This book is a must-read in that it convincingly defies, with powerfully sculpted arguments and towering research, the tired and frequently hypocritical views of the New York Times and other news authorities.

Finkelstein will convince you.

As a Jewish woman living in the U.S. it was difficult for me to hear but one side of the story in the Israeli-Arab conflict. That side was the Zionist perspective. It wasn't until I spent time in Israel (ironic as this is) that I began to understand the fallacies in the arguments I grew up hearing. I read this book after picking it up at a friend's house, and now I'm feeling brave enough to buy a copy of my own. That courage comes from Finkelstein. I feel like I'm in good company. There ARE other Jews who can see and dare to shed some light on the OTHER SIDE--the Palestinian viewpoint. Finkelstein presents us with the Palestinian perspective in the context of the Israel-Arab conflict with such integrity and simplicity. As descendents of a terribly oppressed group of people, I whole-heartedly support all efforts to stop dehumanizing the "enemy." Finkelstien shows us the humanness of Palestinians.

Excellent book, it's helping me a lot with my Thesis at School.... I love it

incredibly depressing and negative, leaves one with a sick feeling in the stomach. but its happening in China every day.

This is an astounding book, but very difficult to read. I still shake my head in disbelief.

"The River Runs Black" by Elizabeth C. Economy is an intelligent analysis of contemporary China and its burgeoning environmental crisis. This engaging book helps us understand how globalization is reshaping China and issues an urgent plea for international cooperation to help monitor and rectify an increasingly worrysome situation.

Ms. Economy tells us how China's environment has been steadily deteriorating over the past centuries due to wars, political power struggles and overpopulation. However, today's problems
are attributable to specific policy decisions by China's government that has favored rapid economic development through engagement with the international business community. Unfortunately, the particular kinds of economic development favored by China's rulers has led to myriad environmental problems including deforestation, desertification, and air and water pollution. The collusion of local government and business interests has made it difficult to obtain reliable data or to implement solutions where it is feared that plant shutdowns might
result in mass unemployment and social unrest, making difficult problems seem untractable.

Environmental consciousness in China has increased as the problems have become more visible and as the country has engaged with the world economy. Ms. Economy profiles some of the courageous and inspirational individuals who have struggled for conservation, urban renewal and grass-roots democracy such as Tang Xiyang, He Bochuan, Dai Qing and others. While environmentalists have achieved some successes (such as protecting endangered species of monkeys and antelopes), the author believes that the government's championing of highly destructive projects such as the Three Gorges Dam proves that much more needs to be done.

Ms. Economy recounts the experiences of the former Communist nations of Eastern Europe to gain insight into how China might resolve its environmental problems. The Chernobyl disaster catalyzed local environmental groups into pushing for political reforms that brought down the Communists in the USSR and elsewhere. Recognizing that China's Communist Party is a "patronage machine committed to rapid economic development" and devoid of any ideological purpose other than self-perpetuation, Ms. Economy believes that increasing democratization in China could easily undermine the country's single Party system. Of course, China's leaders are keenly aware of this threat and consequently have tightly circumscribed the activities of environmental organizations, but the author is hopeful that the contradictions between increasing environmental degradation and the lack of a meaningful democracy will eventually force China's political system to change.

In the last section, Ms. Economy speculates about the manner in which China may develop in the future. The author envisions three possible scenarios: China goes green; inertia sets in; and environmental meltdown. Ms. Economy thinks that the U.S. should take the lead in encouraging China to develop its regulatory system and implement green technologies so that the country can embark on an environmentally sustainable path. Indeed, the unpredictable consequences of a Chinese environmental meltdown should give the international community pause to consider how it might help China -- and by extension all of us -- to avoid a worse case scenario.

I highly recommend this superbly written book to everyone.

Previous reviewers have said good things about this book, and I can only agree. It is notably superior to other recent books about the Chinese environment, which (though often scholarly) are long on polemics and short on comprehensive vision.
Dr. Economy focuses on politics and policies. These have been notoriously awful under Communism, but there is now a realization of the damage being done, and thus some hope. Dr. Economy is as optimistic as one could reasonably be. Incidentally, interested readers should also look up her very fine chapter in Kristen Day's worthy edited volume CHINA'S ENVIRONMENT AND THE CHALLENGE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.
I am not so optimistic. One reason is that my training is more in biology, and I am aware that the devastating damage China has done to its environment will not be clear for 50 to 100 years. It takes that long for pollution and environmental degradation to show themselves fully.
As Dr. Economy says, China wanted to be "first rich, then clean" (that's the literal Chinese; she actually phrases it more academically). They thought that the west had done this. No, the west started conservation and scientific management long ago. The United States' golden age of conservation was under Theodore Roosevelt, when the US was still poor and rural. The US and western Europe never allowed anything close to what China has done. There was much degradation, but reaction always came eventually. China, like all Communist-led countries, missed this lesson. Marx had spoken: production is all, and top-down control is the way to do it. This has led, everywhere, to dismal environmental records, though much good has come from distributing food, health care, housing, etc., more evenly (this may no longer be the case). It is now too late. The white-flag dolphin, once common and resilient, is extinct, the Three Gorges are dammed, and much else has gone beyond possibility of repair.
Dr. Economy does not draw as sharp a contrast as I would between traditional management and Communist excess. Traditional China had major Malthusian problems, but they were caused more by imperial policy than by environmental mismanagement at the riceroots level. The peasants and workers created a system based on harmony and balance. The system was full of problems, and never got as harmonious as we would now wish, but it worked; it kept hundreds of millions of people alive in spite of a premodern technology, and it managed the key resources--topsoil, water, forests, and so on--sustainably enough that there was quite a bit left by 1950. Recent books trashing the old system have titles significantly featuring elephants and tigers instead of people. Even if you prefer the charismatic megafauna, note that China had some elephants and a lot of tigers in 1950.
So a flawed, antiquated, underproductive, but still well-designed and eminently functional system was sacrificed, and the result has been a royal mess. Yields of food are way up, thanks to modern technology (some of it developed in China by the Communists--to their credit), but the future is cloudy indeed.
If you want the best account of what can be done and what is being done, look no further than this book.

Not an easy read, but one that many Americans probably should...it demonstrates well how our life styles here in the US increases demand for cheap consumer goods, resulting in corporations poisoning other parts of the planet to supply them quickly and without major expense to us.

Incredibly sickening injury to the planet is well documented and presented in a professional way, and the book is very readable.

Recommended for all of those who need a greater repetoire of evidence that we are rather quickly destroying the planet, and as a means of strengthening arguments against "globalization" and consumerism.

This book details how the top %1 in income in the U.S., as exemplified by the Bush family, gets richer and more powerful by gaining control of our government and draining our treasury. Why do the %99 put up with it?

I don't pay much attention to titles (which I consider part of the exaggerated PR to get a book sold), but the frequent references from early in the text to the "Bush Gang" as not only descendants of the "Robber Barons", but in many ways worse than them, at first almost put me off. How biased was this book going to be, exactly? I was looking for hard evidence, not unsubstantiated claims or whining.

Well hard evidence I got, in abundance. The author clearly knows his stuff, on a wide range of topics. None if this is really a surprise, much of it I already knew or suspected, and some of it I'd learned years ago and forgotten about until now, but Brouwer puts together probably the most devastating critique of Bush and those that surround him thus far put on paper -- precisely because it primarily lays out facts and history, harshly exposing many of Bush's policies and public statements to the scrutiny of reality in the form of history, the government's own numbers and the public opinions of dozens of experts.

It also draws together the motivations behind both domestic and foreign policy in such a way that it all comes into sharp releif, finally all making perverted sense. An American foreign policy that seeks to destabilize democratic governments to be replaced by autocratic regimes (which we have demonstratively done multiple times and are still trying to get away with) makes no sense, until it is viewed through the lens of NOT CARING about long-term destabilization, fairness to the people of that country, or promoting any sort of ideal of democracy or civil rights. It's all about short- and medium-term profits for large companies via control of oil and other resources, and when looked at as a motivation for all government policy, suddenly everything Bush does seems perfectly obvious. It also demonstrates that Bush and his cronies are essentially crooks, with entirely selfish motivations. Many of us already suspected as much, but this book makes it all clear, in no uncertain terms.

The language is hard and to the point -- pulling no punches. Brouwer calls a spade a spade -- and a thief a thief and a liar a liar. At first the terms used sound unfair and entirely subjective. But by the end, it's difficult to feel that this is anything other than the truth, finally called by its name.

Books like "All the President's Spin" look at how the media is letting Bush get away with continuous almost-lies that deceive just as surely as real-lies would, at how rules of media fairness are being manipulated by Republicans to force essentially favorable coverage without allowing the media to portrary conservative deceptions as untruths.

Books like "Robbing Us Blind", unlike the mainstream media, aren't limited by the rules of "journalistic fairness" that dictate equal time to both sides and disallow the reporter from expressing obvious skepticism. "Robbing Us Blind" is freely skeptical, and refreshingly truthful. Terms like "Gang" and "Robber Baron" are useful tools to frame the point of the book, but aren't really necessary -- had they been omitted, most likely the reader would have come to the same conclusion by the end regardless. But the only reason they sound shocking in the first place is because the mainstrem media has been so complicit in playing into Bush's hands, disguising his and his associates' true natures.

Here, the truth is told in not only all its unvarnished perversity but also in scrupulously footnoted, factual detail.

One of the most important books that every American should read before the election.

This book looks at the myriad of ways that average and lower-income Americans have been systematically robbed of their monetary wealth through deliberate government policy. That wealth has been given to the top 1 percent of the people, in terms of income, by a group of elites and super-rich that the author calls the Bush Gang. The Bush family has been at, or near, the seat of American power for 16 of the last 24 years.

To give one example, from 1982 to 2002, the number of Americans without health care jumped from 25 million to 43 million, a rise of more than 50 percent. In that same period, the number of American billionaires rose from 13 to 229.

The Bush Gang's plan looks something like this: Give tax relief to corporations and the very rich. Build up the military with big increases in defense spending. Be very aggressive in international relations. Deregulate business as much as possible. Overlook the criminal actions of those businessmen who support this agenda. Ignore the real possibility of large deficits. Also, attack labor and working Americans as much as possible.

This book covers a number of topics. The Bush remedy for a sick economy is CEOs who will drive up a company's stock price by laying off thousands of workers. There has been a systematic plan to keep wages low for most Americans in order to transfer wealth to the richest. The famous Skull and Bones club at Yale was originally endowed in the 1830s by the Russell Trust. It was connected to a company that, at the time, was the premier American smuggler of opium. The media, especially Rupert Murdoch and Fox News, can be counted on to keep up the fear level. One of the justifications for tax cuts is that the money will be used for new investment. Has that happened over the last 25 years?

What is to be done? The Democratic Party needs to get a backbone. It should not blame Ralph Nader for the results of the 2000 election, but itself. It needs to push its vision for America: higher minimum wage, federally funded health care for all, full employment, public works spending that fixes America's infrastructure, good public schools, etc.

This is a gem of a book. Can't get ahead financially? This book gives part of the reason. It's highly recommended.

The title, as is all too common in such forthrightly biased (though not necessarily incorrect in its assertions) political texts, is highly inflammatory and doesn't tell you much beyond the obvious--that quite a lot of a Bush bashing is contained within.

Thus, upon starting the book, I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of listing all the old, well-worn arguments presented in the more moderate liberal bestsellers, "Robbing Us Blind" focuses on one topic, the continuing economic (and as a result political) gap between the megarich and the rest of us. The book is written very clearly, and employs many sources and statistics. The data presented is interesting, but is often overly simplified, and as a result I was sometimes wondering whether numbers had been convienently left out.

Regardless, as a whole, the book is very persuasive in its case, and goes a fairly satisfying way towards suggesting possible changes. Though I'm sure most conservatives would find some way or other to unfairly dismiss or bash the book, it is recommended reading for liberals interested in learning about the many problems with America's economic situation.

After hearing Steve Brauwer speak at a Pocono Progressives rally, I was anxious to read his book. It lived up to expectations. He presents an incontrovertible argument of the long history of the Bush families taking advantage of their wealth and position with no regard for the ordinary American. He impeccably documents his facts with graphs and charts. The pointed illustrations are an added bonus.

The author goes above and beyond the "real" effects that the U.N.-U.S. imposed sanctions are producing up to this day to the average iraqui citizen.If the overkill of the iraqui infrastructure wasn't enough, sanctions have taken back the iraqui people to a pre-industrial age.

The author provides a vivid picture of the effects of the US's methodical destruction of the life support infastructure in Iraq during "Desert Storm" and its relationship to, and the continuing use of, "Economic Warfare", i.e. "sanctions" to produce hundreds of thousands of deaths, targeting especially babies and children, the elderly and the chronically ill, by starvation and preventable diseases.

The author provides a vivid picture of the effects of the US's methodical destruction of the life support infastructure in Iraq during "Desert Storm" and its relationship to, and the continuing use of, "Economic Warfare", i.e. "sanctions" to produce hundreds of thousands of deaths, targeting especially babies and children, the elderly and the chronically ill, by starvation and preventable diseases.

The author goes above and beyond the "real" effects that the U.N.-U.S. imposed sanctions are producing up to this day to the average iraqui citizen.If the overkill of the iraqui infrastructure wasn't enough, sanctions have taken back the iraqui people to a pre-industrial age.

The United States Government blockades of Cuba and Iraq are acts of genocide against national groups, `deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part'. Simons summarises: "United States policy, a slow and knowing extermination of a national people, falls unambiguously within the terms of the UN Genocide Convention."

Eight years of sanctions have killed two million Iraqis, including a million children. Bush began them, supported by Major. Now Clinton maintains them, supported by Blair, `the perfect peacekeeper', in Kofi Annan's words. Protocol I, Article 54 of the Geneva Convention states, "Starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is prohibited." The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly denounced the US blockade of Cuba as illegal and demanded that it be lifted. (British Governments usually abstain on these votes.) Ramsey Clark, a former US Attorney-General, says, "I see the blockade as a crime against humanity, in the Nuremburg sense, as a weapon of mass destruction. The blockade is a weapon for the destruction of the masses, and it attacks those segments of society that are the most vulnerable ... infants and children, the chronically ill, the elderly and emergency medical cases."

Some say we must ensure that economic sanctions respect agreed exemptions. The exemptions are for public relations: sanctions are designed to kill. A doctor might as well call for the humane implementation of torture. US and British Governments have consistently vetoed the delivery of baby food and medical supplies to Iraq. The US Government has consistently blocked contracts for medical supplies arranged by British companies.

The sanctions are a continuation of the war by other means. The war itself was more a traditional colonial massacre, with one side having a huge advantage in forces and weaponry. The US and British forces fired tens of thousands of depleted uranium (DU) shells. They are an illegal weapon, under UN Resolution 32/84 of December 1977, which bans the use of `radioactive material weapons'. The US Army admitted that some US soldiers were unknowingly exposed to DU radiation during the War. Obviously, we need not look any further for the cause of `Gulf War syndrome'. The US forces also used chemical weapons against the Iraqis. At the war's end, the US forces bombed troops no longer able to offer resistance, and those in retreat: both of these are war crimes.

To blame Castro and Saddam Hussein for their peoples' suffering is like blaming Churchill for the British people's suffering under the Nazi blockade, or like blaming the rabbis for the Jews' suffering under the Nazis.

It is a hideous mockery even to talk of an ethical foreign policy when genocide is being perpetrated. We should demand an end to the sanctions, otherwise we acquiesce in genocide.

Great writer. Brings the characters to life. Wonderful story of ordinary people doing extraordinary things with God's help. It shows that you don't have to be the wealthiest, most popular, or most intelligent for you to be used in an amazing way...even to the point of changing history!

The Scribe follows the journeys of Silas, the scribe who traveled with Paul and Peter. Along the way, it gives amazing insight into the lives and faith of early church believers and brings the New Testament to life.

This book is incredibly relevant to our lives today and made such an impact on me. So inspiring! I was in tears by page seven. It's easily one my favorites in this series (along with The Prophet) and from Francine Rivers in general. I didn't want the story to end, and I'm sure I will read it again. It made me eager to read the New Testament from beginning to end, and to live for Christ no matter the cost- a true mark of a great Christian book!

The Scribe is the last of the books in the Sons of Encouragement series. It is by far the best of them all! Francine Rivers does an amazing job of bringing the journey of Silas alive & making him a rounded character. A must read for any Francine Rivers fan!

I have read all Francine Rivers novellas. She is truly has a godly gift and blessed for conveying important stories of the Bible many readers may not be familar with. Although the story of Silas the scribe was difficult for me to get emersed into. Once, I did get into the story I was wowed with all the Silas as well as the other displines endured after the resurrection of Jesus. The story impresses upon the reader that Silas and Paul are not only men of Christ spreading the word but are the first missionaries. The story happened in biblical times but one can not help but think of todays missionaries and wonder what persecution they must endure. I would reccommend this book but be patience with the story. You may need to read of the sorrow and sadness to get to the joy and happiness.

When I was a child, I became an avid reader when I picked up my first secular novel, and I was particularly facinated by historical novels because of my love for history. When I became a Christian, I was in such love with my Savior Jesus Christ that I couldn't get enough of Christian literature. I put aside novels for years. I never thought that there were good Christian novels available, except for romances and the like which only seemed to arouse in me sinful passions and desires. I ran across Francine Rivers somewhat inadvertently. It had been so long since I read a novel that I decided to try once more. "The Scribe" was the second of her books that I read within a couple-week period. I was shocked by the expertise of skill of her writing. She intrigued every facet of my interests, from a good story, to a historical drama, to a Biblical edification. Though much of the story of Silas's personal life in this book is fictional, the concept behind the fiction is so real-to-life for any Christian, that I was greatly helped in the Christian walk. This book is particularly a story of encouragement. Its center is God and the glorious strength that He gives to pick up His despondant servants. The book exalts Jesus Christ and magnifies the unchanging faithfulness and goodness of the Lord. I highly recommend it!

I agree with other reviewers that this book is as great as political science gets -- I grant you that such is faint praise. I also agree that, having read it, one should move on to later treatments.

...Please find it in a library and let it drip off your brain like fine wine down your tongue....

I can only agree with the other reviewers. This is as good as political science gets. Pure brilliance.

When you have read this book - you really should! - then you can move on to more current studies that uses Schattschneider's ideas and develops them much further. Rochefort & Cobb: "The Politics of Problem Definition", Baumgartner & Jones: "Agendas and Instability in American Politics", Cobb & Ross: "Cultural Strategies of Agenda Denial" and Jones: "Reconceiving Decision-Making in Democratic Politics" should all interest you once you've fallen in love with the thoughts of Schattschneider. Your view of politics will never be the same again.

E. E. Schattschneider was one of the most important political scientists of the middle part of the 20th century. His work has had an influence on many analysts of politics. This slender volume, although brief, is one of his more provocative and influential works. Ideas from this book show up in the work of many others.

Let's take a look at just two of the many provocative points that he makes.

A central assumption underlying the work (Page v): ". . .the nature of political organization depends on the conflicts exploited in the political system, which ultimately is what politics is about." Understanding the scope of conflict is a central question in this book. Some want to keep conflict narrowly constrained and "private." If so, economic powerhouses will win out, because they would be dominant in that domain. Others, who wish government to get involved, try to broaden the scope of conflict so that political institutions get involved. If this is the case, then a different dynamic will be at work. In his view (Page 12), "Democratic government is the greatest single instrument for the socialization of conflict in the American community." By widening the scope of conflict, the people can become important players.

A second important argument that he makes represents a critique of the view that democracy is enhanced by the existence of organized interest groups, since these represent the views of many people and inject a democratic influence into the political process. Schattschneider demurs. First, the members of these interest groups are not typical of all people. In a famous line, he notes that (Pages 34-35): "The vice of the groupist theory is that it conceals the most significant aspect of the system. The flaw in the pluralist heaven is that the heavenly chorus sings with a strong upper-class accent. Probably about 90% of the people cannot get into the pressure system."

Anyway, this is a wonderful little book. Of course, there are some issues that emerge: sometimes arguments are not developed enough (brevity in this book is a plus, but it sometimes seems to leave some points "hanging"); he may downplay some positive aspects of the interest group system. However, in the main, his arguments remain as fresh today as they were when the book first came out, in 1960. Still worth a read!

This often-quoted book is one of the most classic works of 20th century political science. Despite its age, published in the early 1960s, this brilliant little book is still astonishingly fresh. Schattschneider's account of the expansion and privatisation (contraction) of conflicts, and his description of the structural biases of modern western democracy, is eye-opening. The book is very accessible, yet scholary. This is one of the best, most important, and in a strange way morally refreshing, books on politics I have ever come across.

I first read this book in college and have never forgotten it. During careers in politics, business and the church I've found myself returning again and again to Schattschneider's key themes. From his discussion of conflict and its scope to his simple point that whomever controls the agenda controls the outcome, Schattschneider has captured the essence of human interaction. Nearly forty years old, this is still a superb book not to be missed.