Policy Books

I agree with the previous reviewer's writeup of this book. It is full of very useful information.

I bought my copy when it came out almost ten years ago, and I am dismayed to find that the authors have not been encouraged to create several more-current editions during all these years.

Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr have done an exceptional job compiling useful information in this volume. The book includes the topics of air- and water quality, use and abuse of energy - including automobiles, toxic and hazardous waste, chemicals and other factors that affect us in our homes and workplaces, and governmental policies in place to help clean up our act. It also includes information and statistics on state parks and forest, fishing and hunting, water-front activities, and other leisure-time topics.

The information is laid out in an easy-to-read format with maps, charts, and statistics in each section. Every subject has a separate scale by which the states are ranked as well as an over-all ranking. Another section listing the best and worst environmental aspects of each state is also included. If you are wanting one or two quick facts about the environmental health of a certain state, these maps and ranking charts are a terrific way to find them. Quick and painless.

A list of indicators is given for each topic (i.e. air sickness lists 18 indicators and sources), as well. These "indicators" are the different types of pollution/problems that exist and their sources. In addition to the maps, charts, statistics, and rankings, is a very informative narrative further explaining the research findings. For those of you wanting a little more information, you'll find it here.

This book is a good resource for anyone, whether you're looking for the healthiest place to live or curious about the environmental health of your current home. I'd recommend it to anyone concerned about the air they breath or the water they drink. Be warned, however, the truth can sometimes be painful (and frightening). Perhaps more of us need to be aware of these statistics.

The authors have done a great service by putting this book out. My only wish is that there were a more current index. Well, Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr, when can we expect it?

Tony Barnett and Alan Whieside have done a fantastic job of placing the issue of HIV/AIDS within a comprehensive context. It is easy to read, well researched, thoughtful in it's analysis, and comprehensive - that is, it places the pandemic amidst the global forces that are affecting it and which must be understood if we're to successfully turn the tide. I am recommending it to many of my colleagues! It is the best book I have read to-date on the most challenging crisis facing the human family.

This is the only book-length exploration of the social and economic context of the the HIV/AIDS epidemics. What comes through is that the authors are not journalists who dashed off a book on AIDS, but longtime researchers, with world-ranging experience.

WHile well documented, it is readable. The next college level course I teach on contemporary issues will surely include this as required reading. My students will thank me for it.

I was so pleased to get this book so quickly. I had looked other places for it to see if I could beat the price as it is a required text for one of my classes. The seller was great in communicating with me and delivered the product in the condition it was promised.

Back in 1970, wading through a mire of academic prose in graduate school, I was dazzled by my discovery of Nancy Milio's new book, "9226 Kercheval." Not only was the author a nurse (like me), she was working in the community (like me). Better still, she wasn't pontificating or theorizing. In her own voice, she told the story of how she worked with residents of a restless, inner-city neighborhood just coming to grips with the potential of black power, to start a health center for women and children. It was hard slogging, but worth it in the end. I never would have guessed that, ten years later, I'd be engaged in a similar undertaking, albeit in very different circumstances--and writing about it. A couple of years ago, I begged a friend for her precious copy of the original hardback edition and reread it. It still elicited a "Wow!" Now I've got my own copy. I hope all of you reading this will consider doing the same.

James Mohr's "Abortion in America" is a breath of fresh air in the abortion debate. Scholarly, unbiased, and betraying no hint whatsoever of any kind of agenda -- pro or con -- regarding abortion policy, the book is nevertheless revelatory concerning the development of abortion law in this country. From the colonial and early republican period, when abortion was perfectly legal (partly because doctors, hampered by inadequate medical knowledge, -- the difference between a pregnancy and some kind of uterine "stoppage" was unclear -- frequently administered medications that caused abortions) to the 1890s, when virtually every state had a system of laws prohibiting abortions, the story is capably told. And the truth ought to startle anyone who thinks religious activism was in any way responsible for the late 19th-century wave of anti-abortion legislation. I'll leave it to prospective readers to discover who or what was actually responsible, and how self-interest (as opposed to an interest in the unborn) played a crucial role. An eye-opener, and an important read for people for either side of the debate.

Mohr's groundbreaking work is a history of abortion in the United States from the colonial days until the present (as of the late 1970s). What is fascinating about this book is how the medical establishment railed against the increased use of abortion in the 1800s but became among its foremost advocates a century later. Mohr also shows the reader how legalizing abortion in recent years was not a result of lax morals but rather was a return to the past.

This is a brief book, but it is one of the very finest books on this controversial issue.

I highly recommend reading this book. I literally started it on the plane ride to my vacation this year and could not put it down until I reached the end. As a businessman, I found it useful to read a book that identifies truths that are obvious but overlooked. James Robison does a superior job of explaining why the absolutes are important and how they can be identified in our society and finally how they look in action. This book delivers the strongest kind of message because it does not instruct the reader on what conclusions to draw but proves the truth through a logical sequence that delivers the reader to the obvious conclusion. There could not be a better time in America for this book: Everyone should read it!

Each day we are faced with decisions and events that shape the way we think, behave and what we believe - James Robison addresses several topics that influence who we are and what we believe regarding faith, others, our country and life.
James challenges the reader to think about the moral absolutes that our country was founded on - this book is for people of all walks of faith - this is not a "heavy" political book but more of an enjoyable read - with a history in both the political and religious industry James encourages the reader to make an impact in life by examining what we believe and how we live....

Deutscher's focus is on the positive actions that governments and individuals have taken to accommodate diverse racial and ethnic populations within national communities. Examples, including those of Switzerland and Ghana, and Swedan provide a more optimistic roadmap for peaceful integration of ethnic communities than is portrayed in most global media. The author conveys, in a much less technical manner than in his previous sociological texts, what can be done to foster peaceful solutions to the world's ethnic divisions.

This book is engaging and surprisingly readable. It shares many of the entertaining anecdotal qualities of Friedman's Lexus and Olive Tree, as Deutscher is well-traveled and has many personal observances. But it is first and foremost a usable compilation of cultural programs worldwide that work. Rather than focus on the well-known headlines-getting tragedies that erupt due to cultural differences such as the tragedies in Rwanda and Bosnia, Deutscher sheds light on policies that inhibit or put a stop to such behaviors. A must-read for public policy students, diplomats and those who are interested in peaceful solutions to cultural problems.

Indicators that the time is right for a Policy and Procedure program
* Are you within the 99% of companies which have ineffective controls over financial reporting due to a "lack" within Accounting and Finance documentation, policies and procedures?
* Does your documentation reside within many server repositories and not easily accessible by employees?
* Do different areas use the same term or acronym to mean different things?
* Does your company work cross functionally, not in silos and as a team?
* Does the documentation undergo a review and approval cycle?
* Are policies and procedures linked to internal controls and audit checklists?


It is time for a documentation strategy refresh when there is a need for:
* A clear hierarchy of documents with...
o Policy setting the rules and principles setting the tone from the top
o Procedure classifying work phases linked to policies
o Work Instructions identifying step by step details linked to procedures
* Document ownership of the content and accountability for deployment
* Standardized templates, and process which ensures cross functional content review and approval
* A focused Program Manager to coordinate and manage the strategy, content and program

More than
* GAAP
* Tasks
* Roles and responsibilities

Includes
* A complete Policy and Procedure Manual with ready-to-adapt templates
* Cross functional process definitions linking operations to accounting and finance
* A plan to implement project and program management

Policies and procedures represent the foundation of internal controls for organizations. It is important they be clearly written, current, and comprehensive. The author provides an excellent framework for organizations to use in establishing and updating policies and procedures. The book begins with a chapter on how to use the book. The book is structured as a final product that is supported by a Web site containing all the sample documents in Microsoft Word format. Rose explains the steps before getting started, followed by getting started with the program, developing the table of contents and a self assessment exercise. The rest of the book is devoted to sample policies and procedures. There is a continuity of structure for each document which details the scope, the policy, control/areas of responsibility, and contact and exhibit if necessary. Internal auditors are sometimes in a position where they recommend that management update policies and procedures or create them where none exist. This book is an excellent resource that auditors can use to steer management to as an example of a structured approach to policy and procedure development.

This book is highly readable and has GREAT examples and tips. The author shows examples where organizations succeeded and where they failed. As a novice activist, I found it to be very helpful. The examples are diverse so I think there is a great deal for more experienced activits to learn as well. The only drawback of this book is that it focuses only on domestic issues. For those whose causes are on the international level as well as the domestic level would find that to be the only draw back. Still, this is a useful book with great examples and ideas that any activist could use and relate to their own campaign.

Even if you're not an activist and don't want to be, as long as you have any sort of interest in social change, this book will be well worth reading. Packed with examples of how movements have succeeded and failed, this extremely readable handbook will inspire through its analysis of strategies and tactics that can be used to accomplish what many of us desperately want. Most of us understand already that simply arguing for social justice will fail to achieve it, but -- as Shaw demonstrates -- Herculean efforts, if miscalculated, will just as surely fail. In this book, Shaw describes successful strategies for community organizers, effective relationships with elected officials, the use of coalitions, ballot initiatives, the media, lawyers, and direct action strategies. The most persuasive theme tying each of these discussions together is that the best defense is an effective offense, that a failure to aggressively pursue positive change is a strategy for worsening the status quo.

Greg O'Leary has assembled as fine a collection of essays on the current direction of labour markets and industrial relations in China as has been written. The scholarship is cutting edge. O'Leary himself contributes a masterly introduction.

Greg O'Leary has assembled an excellent array of contributions for those interested in contemporary Chinese economy and labor relations. The book combines first-rate academic research and analysis, and covers a broad range of issues with a consistently high quality. The editor provides insightful commentaries in his own chapters, which rank among the best scholarship on China that this reviewer has read.

Although I sometimes wonder how much of the book is fiction, I think the book is an incredible blend of Rubenstein's personal life with his public career. I literally could not put the book down. The book allowed me to put a personal life with the public figure and recordings that I have of him.

Rubenstein has a very flowing, easy-to-read writing style and includes details that made me feel like I actually met him and the people he knew. Like all great autobiographies that I read, this one made me want to know what happened to some of the people he met.

I was **very** disappointed when I finished the book and yearned for more information about his life. It was only when I came across the title on Amazon.com that I found he wrote another autobiography. I can't wait to buy it.

I first read the book when I was in college in about 1974. I couldn't put the book down. At the time Rubenstein was the greatest in my mind. I later bought a copy of the book at a used book store in Sonoma Valley.

Terrific -- and it sounds like it really was written by Arthur (Artur?) himself. It's almost diary-like in its detail, and everything is fascinating. We get a lot of juicy personal stuff, including love-life stuff and, on the other side of the coin, his young failed attempt at suicide. My own favorite part of the book is his very detailed reminiscence of the piano competition that he entered, and LOST; what's interesting is how this great, beloved, infinitely-accomplished pianist and man-of-the-world apparently never lost his hurt and bitterness over this stupid competition -- kind of like if Derek Jeter or Barry Bonds went on and on about the time they got shafted by an umpire in Little League. I don't mean this as a criticism of him; if anything, the opposite -- it's an example of how much he was just like the rest of us, which probably was a big part of why we loved him so much.