Events Books

"Africa Unchained" is a very interesting book. It proposes "the blueprint for Africa's future." To find out how workable the proposal is one has to read the book. However, here is how the author goes about the subject. First, he explains why Africa is poor. Four themes form the answer. One, Africa is poor because of the failure of Western policies. Second, Africa is poor because of the ill-conceived development model African countries pursued upon political independence - its ideology, strategies, mistakes, and a feeble leadership. Third, colonial and neo-colonial policies hampered progress "by imposing an alien system that destroyed Africa's heritage". Finally, Africa is poor because of unfavorable development finances, which made possible a resource curse, widened resource gap, and facilitated aid dependency.

Out of the failure emerged a new set of problems such as an exploitative state, which promoted wrong-headed industrialization policies, along with self-destructive agricultural, inflation, and foreign debt policies.

To avoid further failure and get out of poverty, Africa needs a new approach. The proposal recommends development of indigenous economic systems which are supportive of property rights, and free market and voluntary exchange mechanisms. The book cites Botswana as an example that development is possible in Africa if one follows the "Atinga development model". The Atinga model centers on a new strategy that is taking place at the village level, is inclusive of the informal sector and invests in it. If that happens, an African Renaissance will follow.

This is a credible effort, indeed. My hesitation is that focus on Africa, instead of African countries is unlikely to produce helpful results. In the age of globalization, endogenous systems are likely more productive than indigenous systems. Strongly recommended.

Amavilah, Author
Modeling Determinants of Income in Embedded Economies
ISBN: 1600210465

Excellent, very well written, researched and a must for anyone who is serious about economic development in Africa

This is the most brilliant text on Africa I have read, and I don't say that lightly. With almost 500 pages of small text, it's not exactly a breeze to get through, but it is worth every second spent. The author unapologetically describes the mess that the "Hippo" generation following decolonization made, and how it ruined the continent. His prescriptions, which amount to `Africans must solve their own problems in their own way, growing out of African traditions', is right on. I hope that anyone interested in Africa reads this book.

This book, in a word is: Remarkable! God created "All Men Equal", and suffice to say, African's wherever they are in the Diasporia, are, apart of the Human Family. We all know the history of Colonialism/Slavery; however, Africa, through the Post colonial period has had about a little over 40 years to work toward: Social Stability, Nationhood, Systems of Government-that works, and developing strategies of amalgamation/unity and [Order] Social Order, that would ensure, development in all phases of social acceptance, and a recognition that Africa is ready to join the Nations of the Industrial Revolution. Sadly, Africa, has not reached the rate of development that is required and that other continents under Quasi-Colonialism have achieved. This has always troubled me. This book tells in stark terms, why the Sub-African Continent continues to lag behind the Universal Determinants. This book puts the blame on African Leadership and in details supports it's thesis with inexplicable evidence. Sure, it speaks of the lingering vestiges of Colonialism, but, the emphasis is on the modern leaders who have "shortchanged" Africa's [Greatest Resource]...the People. This book, was the "cornerstone" for my research and understanding of the chronic problems of Africa's Underdevelopment. The Premise in my view is this: If Africa remains in it's current state, the Peoples of African Descent around the Globe with find Freedom and their proper place in the World of Division of Races and Ethnicity, wanting. I recommend this book to all scholars and those who seriously long for the remedy of how to resolve and solve and find the Social Solutions to Africa's problems. Africa remains: The sleeping giant!

He put's his faith on africa's young up and coming "cheetahs", and so do I. I feel empowered by George's bare knuckle rumble in the jungle with the political elite and can't wait to join this fight.
They'll fight dirty, and we'll fight smarter and faster and with a good old man like George to show us the tricks, we shall overcome.

This is simply the best book for those analyzing longitudinal data (data measured at more than one time point). Singer's coverage of Hierarchical Linear MOdeling (HLM) is clear, well-written (sprinkled with humor, it's like a lecture by the most popular prof. at your school), and geared towards researchers who need their programs to run, not just learn the mathematical underpinnings. Singer and Willett (the coauthor, not listed above!) set the standard for presenting math/statistics book examples.

THe authors accomplish the latter by keying her examples to data located at a UCLA website; you can run the same programs on the same datasets used in the book (wow!), and compare your output, troubleshooting any problems you may have. Singer and Willett (her coauthor, not listed here!) provide outputs and programs correspoing to several of the most popular statistical programs, including SAS and SPSS.

SInger and Willet also explain the rationale for using HLM over more traditional techniques such as regression. Simply stated, regression aggregates at a level that cause one to lose information (and hence the power to detect differences.) HLM allows one to look at overall differences due to time, but also the trajectories of individual differences who are "nested" within those time points. It's the (relatively) new thing, and is increasing used by investigators, and desired by peer reviewers.

As supplements, I suggest using the UCLA website mentioned above, subscribing to an e-mail LISTSERV for interesting (though sometimes compicated discussions of "multilevel modeling" (MULTILEVEL@JISCMAIL.AC.UK), and searching for Judith Singer's website through Google or A9 (if you use A9--"Alexa"--enough you'll get a small discount at Amazon.com). Also, compare Amazon's and Judith Singer's (through her website) current prices on this book.

I find Professor Singer's Book to be a most informative and useful tool for anyone who wishes to better understand Multilevel Modeling.

This is an excellent book. Multilevel modeling and survival analysis are becoming increasingly important in psychological studies, but are pretty complicated procedures. Singer & Willet offer both a conceptual background and practical ways to do the analyses in a clear, understandable manner. The book is very readable and will be an important reference for future analyses!

Clearly written text... and usefull for researchers.
I would recommend it to anyone starting to learn about the subject!

This book does a particularly good job of explaining the substantive meaning of the equations involved in multilevel modeling analyses. It spends a lot of extra time explaining what the equations mean in real world terms using examples from actual data sets. I teach a graduate level course on HLM and I much prefer this book to the Raudenbush & Byrk book because it not only does a better job of explaining the math (for graduate students less comfortable with statistics) but the chapters are also sprinkled with incredibly useful advice on actually running the analyses (getting them to converge, interpreting them, etc.) The Raudenbush & Bryk book probably does a slightly better job of presenting the equations, but it falls short on explanation and practical advice. If you were only going to buy one HLM book, I would start with this one.

As an adult convert to Catholicism struggling for now five years with infertility, a non-American and the daughter of a founder of my hometown's Family Planning Association, I ordered this book wondering if it would help me sort out my mixed feelings about abortion. When it arrived my heart sank: though I had been interested in the topic, it looked long enough to remind me of the first-grader's book report, ``This told me more than I wanted to know about penguins.'' But it's so well-written, well-peopled and thoughtful it's a joy to read. When Cynthia Gorney describes a pro-choice activist she does it so carefully you feel certain she's pro-choice, and certain you must be. But when she describes a pro-life activist, you realize she might be pro-life -- and so might you be. If we were all be so generous and balanced, so readily able to enter into the subtleties of other people's positions, abortion might never have become a ``war.''

This book was wonderful. Though on first glance it seems very long and likely dense and dry, it is anything but. Gorney does a fabulous job of presenting both sides of abortion evenly and without bias. And she ties in the thoughts and feelings of the players with the actual battles of the day so smoothly that the book ends up being an easy and very enjoyable read. It should be mandatory reading for anyone involved in, interested in or having an opinion about abortion.

Before Roe vs. Wade thousands of women a year were getting illegal, unsanitary and oftentimes dangerous abortions. Articles of Faith does a great job of presenting both sides of the abortion argument. The book focuses on the abortion wars in Missouri. It starts in the 60's with Judith Widdicombe, who is an obstetrics nurse and who had an abortion herself. She is a key figure in the underground abortion world in St. Louis. She recruits doctors and she directs women to doctors. Her opinions on abortion are formed from personal experience as well as occupational experience. She was strong in her opinions that a baby and a fetus were different. She had seen hospital beds full of women dying of infection from getting illegal abortions. This led her to her calling.
While Judy was directing women to safer but still illegal abortions, the laws state by state were slowly starting to break down. This created a movement of concerned citizens who were against abortion. These citizens would give presentations using medical and scientific information to support their position that life begins at creation. As to drive their point home, they would show pictures of aborted fetuses. These pictures featured a trash can full of little fetuses and a bloody mass of appendages. What they didn't realize is that people like Judy Widdicombe looked at the same stuff, in real life-not in photographs. She would bring women with gauze and bandages stuffed up their vaginal cavities and let them miscarry in her home. She would then examine the remains of the miscarrage and make sure there wasn't anything left inside the woman.
After Roe vs. Wade, Judy set up a clinic specifically for performing abortions-the first one of its kind in Missouri. She wanted it accessible for all women, and wanted a warm and medical environment that set women at ease-they knew their situation was understood and they knew they were safe. This is where Samuel Lee is introduced. He arrived in St. Louis in 1978 intent on studying theology at Saint Louis University's seminary. As soon as he arrives he becomes involved with the Franciscans. They hosted a meeting of people planning a protest on the steps of an abortion clinic. This was how Sam became drawn into the abortion argument-he was exhilarated by it. Sam researched both sides of the abortion argument, but the more he read the more he became convinced that abortion was never justified-it was putting an end to human life. He left the seminary and became engulfed in the protests and the research-he would protest and be arrested until there was no longer a need to protest abortion.
The abortion argument came to a head in the 80's when Sam and Lou DeFeo wrote a bill that was passed by the Missouri state Senate and the House. It became a Missouri law in 1986. The bill stated that public funds may not be used for abortions and public employees may assist in abortions. The bill also stated that life begins at conception, unborn children have interests that should be protected and the parents of an unborn child have protected interests in the child. But that's only the beginning. The bill says that unborn children at any stage of development should have the same rights of all of other people. This was the first attempt to reverse the ruling of Roe vs. Wade, and it seemed well on its way.
One month before the law took effect, a lawsuit was filed against the bill by Frank Susman. He approached Judy, who had been fighting for almost 30 years for the woman's right to choose, and she was hesitant to join the lawsuit. She was tired of the fight, but she couldn't turn her back on this lawsuit-this one was too dangerous to reproductive health. The judge in that suit came back in 1987 declaring that every provision in the bill was unconstitutional. In 1989, the law suit went to the U.S. Supreme Court for appeal and the justices left Roe vs. Wade alone. The problem with this ruling is the vagueness of the language in the ruling-saying that parts of Roe needed to be more defined, but that it needs to be argued for years to come. When I read the ruling in this book, I really didn't understand exactly what it meant. It almost seemed like the judges had very definite opinions, but they were all different from each other.
After reading this book, I was more affirmed in my own opinions of abortion. It was really interesting to read the other side of the argument. There's no arguing that at life begins at conception-just like a every cell in our body is life, so is a zygote. However, the foundation of my belief in the pro-choice movement lies in the belief that a woman has the right to decide if a fetus should be born. One of the best bumper stickers I've seen about abortion is "Don't like abortion? Don't have one." A woman deserves the choice, that's it-PERIOD.

Written in 1998, and criticized for stopping its retelling of the abortion story in the U.S. several years before that, Articles of Faith is nevertheless still an important book and may be increasingly so if the abortion debate heats up again now that George W. Bush is President. A completely even handed retelling of the history of the abortion debate in the U.S. from the 1960's through the 1990's told through the lives of dedicated partisans of both sides. Yet the author tells this story with sympathy to both sides. Its hard to read this book, your emotions swing from side to side in the debate as Gorney shifts her focus from chapter to chapter from pro choice to pro life. Each side is presented forcefully, but not stridently. Its an excellent book.

Once in a while, there's a rare book that'll smack you in the noggin, grab you by the lapels and scream, "This is how it really is! Now learn something!"

Articles of Faith is one of those books. You'll learn abortion is never nearly so clear cut as "either side" would have you believe; you'll see how each side's arguments, legal status, movements and, later, extremism are developed. But most importantly, you get the honest truth about what it's all really about, or not about. Despite the serious of the issue, I was never even able to get a glimmer of what Gorney's own view is of abortion. It's not simply objective; it never fails to delve into the details of each side, while coming up with an occasional fresh insight.

Captain Vogel has done an excellent job explaining the profound impact that social / political decisions can make on our military's readiness. Constant Bearing-Decreasing Range is an enjoyable story that left me questioning positions that I had held for years. My only thought at the end of the book was "Wow".

Written by 20-year Navy veteran Skip Vogel, Constant Bearing - Decreasing Range: The Collision of Public Policy and National Defense is a novel based on true-life ramifications of President Lyndon Johnson's ill-advised choice to swell the American military's ranks by allowing freshly convicted criminals to join. The result was a souring of the nation's armed forces; the misfits and felons that entered its ranks proved difficult to integrate and sometimes became the nation's worst enemy. Constant Bearing - Decreasing Range also focuses upon the personal story of one high-risk sailor named Sam, as the military strives to shape him into a true soldier without jeopardizing the success of its missions. A captivating, action-packed read with insights about the dangers of lowering military recruitment standards too low that are immediately relevant in today's modern age.

Skip Vogel uses his 20 years of Navy experience to weave an intricate tale of life aboard a major warship in the 1970's.
The aircraft carrier USS UNION is the stage on which Vogel's story plays out. It's the 1970's, and several civilian judiciary systems have taken to allowing convicted criminals to serve in the military instead of serving their time. While this experiment bears fruit with a small percentage of misguided youth, by and large it results in several criminal and psychotic personnel being inducted into the Navy in general and onto the UNION in particular. Against this tide of dishonor stand Admiral Yorel, YN3 Byrd, and some other good sailors, chiefs, and officers who realize that they are in dire straits, and who set out to make it right. Vogel does an excellent job of capturing the leadership challenges involved, and also the frustration of the lead characters as they fight not only a criminal element in the crew, but a bureaucratic Navy that is more concerned with paperwork and political correctness than it is about national defense. Well written and engrossing, this book illustrates the conflict that sometimes ensues between public policy and defending this country. Suggested for Navy veterans, leadership students, and those interested in social justice.

I thought the author did a good job of portraying the life of some people in the Navy, and how enlistment practices affected them and affected the capibilities of the ship.

As a retired naval officer who had a tour on an aircraft carrier I found Skip Vogel's book, Constant Bearing-Decreasing Range an outstanding read. I was caught up in the story in the first few pages and had trouble putting it down until I could finish it. Skip Vogel has a wonderful writing style and is very accurate in his descriptions of life in a carrier during the 1970s. Do doubt this a reflection of personal experience but for anyone who just loves a great story this is a must read.

If you read one book in your life, make it this one.

Life-changing, bold, and unabashed.

Why? This question arises more times than one can count in A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse. This is a book about tension and contradiction in American pop culture, namely, between our hearts and minds. To put it differently, how do we reconcile our beliefs with our reason, faith and ratiocination, philosophy and theology? There are two ways of illustrating these dichotomies and their collapse: The cult classic Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk and the lyrics of the Brit por-rockers Coldplay.

Let us begin with Fight Club. "Within the soul we find Tyler Durden... He is nothing. And he has a gun in our mouths." (112) It is stark sentences like these that that make A Consumer's Guide to The Apocalypse worth reading. Velasquez reads Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club as an apocalyptic novel, as much about destruction as it is about re-creation, a man's quest for himself that ends up in nihilism. He reads deep into Palahniuk's novel to show he is not just writing about a group of guys who like to beat each other up. Velasquez highlights Palahniuk's "murder-suicide thing", which the author shows is Palahniuk's mediation on the crucified God. We are in the grips of an image of self-slaughter,
which Fight Club exploits in the service of our own personal not Godly redemption. We must be nothing before we can be something.

There are echoes of Fight Club in Velasquez's examination of the music of Coldplay. Before you listen to your copy of A Rush of Blood to the Head again, read the Chapter "Beyond the Edge of Reason." Coldplay reaches beyond the here and now, longs for some transcendent emancipation, which at times ends in love and at others in nothing. Love and self-forgetting are intimately related. Love is not a means for an end in itself. But Colplay lingers on mania as a way of life. And it is here that Velasquez takes Chris Martin and his gang to task. "We are not responsible for our irresponsibility" says Velasquez of Chris Martin's (the lead singer and mastermind) struggle with the meaning and reason for our existence. Though couched with beautiful ballads that at time elevate our souls, there are glimpses of "Destruction, death, and suicide," in Coldplay's music says Velasquez. This urge to destroy is "precipitated by meaninglessness." Velasquez uncovers the rage that permeates much of popular music. As to the question of meaningless, consider the
words: " `Running in Circles / chasing our tails / Coming back as we are.'" Here is a reference to the eternal return of the same, with allusions to our biological endowment. The music video for The Scientist is backwards. He starts in a city, and rewinds to him in nature, concluding with his car wreck. Are we perhaps no more than an accident? Is this a meaningless universe filled with unsolvable puzzles?


What Velasquez wants to point out is that if you look deeply, today's artists are Not simply "entertaining." The artists deftly examined in this book highlight a recurring theme; the self-destructive human propensities, the curious affinities between this propensity and Christianity - So where do we go from here. Reasders looking for easily packaged answers will not be satisfied. The answer is untold because it is unknown. It is hard to find answers when you don't know what to ask. A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse proposes put us on the right track, for at the very least we now know what questions to ask.

A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse, by Eduardo Velasquez, comprises an insightful examination of several works of popular culture intertwined with reflections on the affinity between faith and science, good and evil, and something and nothing. The book is divided into two parts, Science and Theology, which, curiously enough, serve to elucidate the innate bond between the two. Velasquez endeavors "to restore what has been torn asunder in order to arrive at a premodern or Platonic conclusion"; that is, reason and technique are inherently tied to creation and intuition (xxvi).
Part I consists of three chapters, treating I am Charlotte Simmons, Copenhagen, and the music of Coldplay, respectively. The chapter on Copenhagen contains a particularly discerning appraisal of the role of faith and intuition in the apparently rational fields of mathematics and science. A conscientious reader comes to understand that uncertainty is inevitable, as science can be no more perfect than the language and observation which describe its phenomena. As uncertainty has moral benefits, morality is necessarily interwoven in empirical results. As with morality, intuition invades rationality. This is demonstrated when Velasquez quotes Heisenberg from Copenhagen: "Decisions make themselves when you're coming downhill at seventy kilometres an hour. Suddenly there's the edge of nothingness in front of you. Swerve left? Swerve right? Or think about it and die? In your head you swerve both ways..." (41). One cannot apply a rational, scientific model to decision-making in this situation. No driver, having found himself in this situation, would proceed to consider the cost-benefit analysis of each of his options. He will think fast and do what he "supposes" best. He puts faith in his ability to make a decision.
If science cannot be independent of faith, then the converse is also true. Part II's three chapters consider the music of Dave Matthews, the novel and film Fight Club, and finally Tori Amos' struggle to reinterpret Christianity. In the chapter on Fight Club, Velasquez notes protagonist Tyler Durden's belief that "to die is not to die (105)." He adds that "we are the past and must therefore usher the past back in order to annihilate the past (107)." We must seek emptiness to free ourselves from the fettering chains of our progenitors' burdens. But what is this emptiness that we seek? And how to attain it? Velasquez's reference here to Charlie Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is fitting. If our search for the provenance of mankind will bear fruit, it must defeat evolution and creation, science and theology. As Velasquez puts it, "Fight Club the book is an attempt to take us back to that beginning, the beginning in which chaos, creation, destruction, love, and hate exist in peculiar relation to one another (117)."
The conclusion of this book is the seduction introduction of a replacement for the question of "To be or not to be." We are, concludes Velasquez. "But what does it mean to be and live in between?" He addresses the problem of the beginning, noting that we seek this nothingness, this origin, as the vehicle for something. Nothing is not nothing, but the inception of something?
This book will repay the time you put into it, so don't begin it until you have the time and desire to think about the possibility that Velasquez might not be wrong.

This book is controversial. If you don't have a thick skin, don't read it. If you're at all mildly interested in modern culture and you can take the heat of controversy, give it a try. You may get something out of it if you are open-minded enough.

A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse deals with the two topics of academic and daily life that shroud 21st century America: science and theology. It seems as though the struggle between these two apparently juxtaposed fields pits individuals against each other as they choose one over the other, but this book has no place for dogma. The close-minded evolutionary biologist and the Catholic bishop find themselves absent from this book. And for good reason.

CGA's first half devotes itself to the failure of science as a means of explaining human existence. The author refuses to accept that the study of cell structure and the activity of molecules define humanity, and in doing so, he may step on a few feet of those working in laboratories who devote their lives to atomic structure. But reverence is not the theme of the book. Self-understanding is. And self-understanding may at times be necessarily ruthless.

CGA's second half devotes itself to the failure of theology as a means of explaining human existence. Drawing from the anti-Christian lyrics of Dave Matthews, the nihilism of Fight Club, and the rebellion of Tori Amos, the author manages to repulse every right-wing Bible-believing Christian since Saint Augustine. And even though the Christian reader may be far from amused, he may appreciate the wildly opposing viewpoint. The interesting part is that on many occasions, the author does not state his own opinions, but analyzes the artists' views and lets his own conclusions speak for themselves through the artists. Some may call this cowardice; others, brilliance.

And then we arrive at the grand conclusion. Laying science to one side and theology to the other, we pick up a new mentality that finds itself to be a happy medium between these two, and although not specifically stated, appears to be "spirituality."

The connection with various modern philosophers is apparent and Velasquez pays homage to them in the bibliographic essay at the end of the book. The reader will discover many flirtations with existential and nihilistic philosophers throughout--the words "beyond good and evil" seem to make an appearance every now and then. And the book of Genesis also finds its place throughout, especially in the conclusion, which is entitled "A New Genesis."

Do not read this book for answers. Read it for questions. CGA manages to pose thought-provoking queries of relevance for today's society that seems overly immersed in aesthetics over existence. Socrates would be proud.

Velasquez's A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse is a collection of commentaries on various aspects of modern popular culture, specifically the dark religious undercurrents of the song, movie and novel industry of America in the last decade. A fascination with Nihilism permeates American culture that is most easily seen in an assessment of these modern "artifacts," as Velasquez calls them. These artifacts include Tom Wolfe's I am Charlotte Simmons, which depicts the deconstruction of human individualism, soul and spiritualism, at Dupont University. Velasquez then looks to Michael Frayn's Copenhagen as an "illustration of the gap between Word and Self"(36), a continuation of the discussion of science and its affect on the human. From there we are led to an encounter with the British rock band Coldplay. We travel through the cosmos, to the tops of trees, searching for the beginning, for God, and for answers. The reader is then confronted with Dave Mathews' demonic and suicidal obsessions. Then, looking at Fight Club, God is found in the basement of a church at a men's support group. Sexually ambiguous, somewhat female and somewhat male, Bob, the testicular cancer survivor, shows us the confused, chaotic God of today. Coming through the fog of confusion we find ourselves faced with Tori Amos describing the divine feminine. The fascination with demonic imagery, with the "progress" of science turning us into machines to be disassembled for inspection, the confusion about God, and the longing to return to a beginning, are elements of American culture, or a Jungian collective subconscious even, that Velasquez lays out on the table for discussion.
Both Frayn and Wolfe's work deal with conceptions of scientific progress. Wolfe deals with reductionism that goes on not only in the field of science, but also in our institutions of education. Our passions and desires turn into synapses in the Amygdala. "Neuroscience redirects our attention back to the body" attempting to "prove" in a matter of speaking, the soul does not exist (6). Wolfe's protagonist Charlotte looses her identity in the classroom as well as in the flow of the university. She is reduced from a thinking being to an ID number on a university swipe card. "Wolfe's reduction of the various protagonists to animals...is his way of deliberately evoking a reaction against the scientific reduction of human beings to their bodies"(19). Frayn's commentary in Copenhagen on the uncertainty and complementary principals of physics lays next to uncertainty and complementary in human actions. We "do not know ourselves fully" and therefore require outside perspectives (xxii). From this uncertainty comes the possibility for a "negative theology"(xxii).
Velasquez takes us to the lyrics and images of Coldplay and Dave Matthews. Coldplay sings of the modern interaction with technology that is so much a part of our lives today. They sing of "the predicament that afflicts us as children of the modern world"(57). The struggle between humanity and science, human searching for our origins as humans, and a search for some sort of religion or spirituality are topics Velasquez confronts using Coldplay's own lyrics. From the Genesis aspects of "The Scientist," wishing to go back to the beginning, searching for some illusive answers, to "The Speed of Sound" looking at evolution for the same end, we see the theme of the Cosmos and the human state of being therein lost. In the same way we are lost with Dave Matthews between Jesus being crucified and the devil. Matthews aggressive confronts God on several occasions, by calling into question the expectation of Heaven. "the solution to our internal conflict" Velasquez suggests "is to abandon, release, even surrender"(85). Here again is the haunting Nihilism, giving in to the idea of nothing-self annihilation as Velasquez puts it.
From the Godlessness and confusion of Coldplay and Dave Matthews comes further confusion about the role and even gender of God and a "yearning for rebirth"(102). In Fight Club we find God at a support group. With newly grown breast and lacking intact male sexual genitalia, Bob or "God[,] appears as an emasculated male"(115). Here the narrator "returns to the womb" in Bob's embrace (116). What a confused depiction of God! We must further examine the female aspect of this newfound deity. The narrator also makes visits to female support groups. These images of the divine feminine brings us to Tori Amos' discussion in her works of the just that topic. Amos examines the two Marys, the virgin and the prostitute and wonders what it is about societies conception that disallows a unity of spiritualism and sexuality. Velasquez goes on to bring out her words to the affect that "we need a new genesis to go with our contemporary apocalypse"(136). Which is what he, Velasquez, proceeds to give us. He suggests where to go from here, accepting our current relationship with religion and the so-called modern enlightenment of science -- "We seek renewal"(148).

THE DAY I MET GOD is filled with inspiring and amazing stories of people who had an encounter with God....even the most unlikely of individuals. There's a story for everyone in this book. It will reach anyone and soften the hardest heart! If you have a friend who is need of God's healing power or truth, this is the book for them. These stories will lead them to God! I particularly was moved by the story of the young man was robbing a man who agreed to give him his money, but told the burglar that he needed to give his heart to the Lord. There's is no doubt in mind that this victim must have prayed for the man who robbed him, because he was later led to the Lord. The criminal was really haunted by the man's words until he gave his life to the Lord. I won't spoil the surprise of how he turned his life around! A great evangelical tool, this is a book that Christians can give to their non-Christian friends without fear of offending them. This book''s gentle stories speak loudly of everyone's need for God and also it shows how we are all individuals and how God meets us not just where we are but in such a special way that it validates how well he knows his children.

This wonderful collection of true stories is deeply moving. What an uplifting and encouraging book!

Bought the book last week and we are passing it around the house-everyone wants to read The Day I Met God, we have nearly worn it out! Theis collection of stories will touch your heart and move you as you see God's faithfulness. Get an extra copy for a friend!

We're buying four more copies to give away as gifts, and we'll probably buy more later. It can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. This book was so fun (and easy) to read. My wife and I loved reading the wide range of fascinating testimonials to God's life-changing power! We felt compelled to share these stories with others. Plus, where else can you find a book that is truly invaluable and inspiring for less than 9 bucks!

I couldn't put the book down. I kept reading, story after story, waiting for one to be a "dud." But I was never disappointed. Each story was equally inspiring and filled me with encouragement and hope. There are as many different stories as there are people writing them, all unique, all different.

really a great analysis! I had no clue about EU affairs beforehand, now I understand a bit better what is going on. And, I know that the official media outlets would not have helped me to understand what is going on behind the scenes.

I am not a news junkie but I liked the way Ralph T. Niemeyer presented facts in this book. It was quite entertaining although it was about EU finances, politics, strategies etc, which I usually couldn't care less about. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know a bit more about what is going on in our democracies. The author is right: The Information Age is over, the only question is whether it ever existed?!

It's true what other reviewers said: the analysis is unbeatable! I like the facts-based style of the articles and although I am neither an economist nor educated in political sciences I am able to understand complex issues raised by the author. I felt as if my granddad took my hand and explained the world to me without being teacherous.

This is really the best ever analysis of what is really going on! Everyone who is really interested in the present financial crisis after August 11 and the upcoming war against Iran should read this book as it gives a credible account of the strategies and hidden agendas when China let's the Myanmar military dictators shoot at the monks of Burma. One can learn from this book how the West and China fight proxy wars in Africa (Sudan) and Asia (Burma). Read it and spread the word for democracy for all of us is at stake!

Gorgeous! Well done, Ralph T. Niemeyer! You really made someone like me who normally wouldn't care too much about politics read through the whole book in one go and find tears in my eyes, most of them because of laughter, some because the state our society is in makes me sad, but then again, you tell me about it with a twinkle in the eye.

Awesome book is a must read if more people in DC thought this way we would still be a republic instead of on our way of being a socialist government like the old USSR

This is a collection of Prof. Walter Williams's newspaper columns. It's in his usual plainspoken, tough minded style. A must for the Prof. Williams fan.

This book is a compilation of columns by America's strongest voice of liberty, Dr. Walter E. Williams. In this book Dr. Williams offers his common sense, freedom-loving take on the vital issues of the day. He fearlessly confronts the many liberal fallacies responsible for eroding our precious liberties. A must read for anyone wanting to expand their base of knowledge and unafraid to confront stark truths. A great antidote to the toxic political propaganda many of our universities dispense. And, a great book for Blacks brave enough to challenge the ethnic grievance industry (Jackson-Sharpton).

Everything Walter Williams writes is worth reading. His amazing capacity to convey economic truths combines with his wisdom, humor, eloquence, and keen powers of observation to make him one of America's top pundits. Williams is that rare bird: a truly courageous pundit who is also a genuine scholar.

Over the past 15 years I have read numerous works by many libertarian writers. Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Ayn Rand, Charles Murray, P.J. O'Rourke, Dave Barry, Henry Hazlitt, F.A. Hayek, Ludwig Von Mises, Milton Friedman, Murray Rothbard, Julian Simon, and many others. Walter Williams is my definite favorite libertarian writer. He tells the plain, simple truth in a way that is very easy to understand. He presents the facts in such a way that only a fool could read him and then walk away without becoming a libertarian. This book is pretty much on par with his others. Which is to say, it is excellent. Mr Williams is a true supporter of individual liberty, freedom, private property rights, and strict limits on the size of government. Good for him!

As a person who was not born and raised in West Virginia, Loughry's book was an eye-opener. It takes the reader beyond the flippant comments and sound bites that emerge every political season, to give one a baseline, if you will, of the sordid past of politics in the state. The political shenanigans occur on both sides of the aisle, and some of the strange bedfellows that emerged at various times are truly fascinating.

The book begins with the Kennedy campaign and how a largely Protestant state voted for Kennedy, a Catholic, and changed the balance between Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey in a primary season very different from what we see today. Loughry takes us into the inner workings of the political machines, lubricated by money from Joseph Kennedy (who is responsible, verbatim, for the title of the book).

From there the book shifts backwards to the development of political bosses of the distant past and then takes us through to some of the aspects of politics in play to this day.

I cannot verify Loughry's claim that everything he has gathered is verifiable through media excerpts, but I can say that it is a fascinating read that is a must for any armchair politician in the state, and a great read for anyone interested in how our the voting process works or does not work

After having this book recommended to me, I was a bit skeptical, figuring it too dry for my taste, but I was immediately drawn in and had trouble putting it down. Growing up in West Virginia I was startled at how deep the corruption in politics has been and its continuing nature. The book examines corruption itself in a very fair and even manner without attacking any particular group. After reading this, the need for election reform and accountability in public office is obvious. Not just for West Virginia but for the country. I found the book to be interesting, informative, entertaining at times, and very thought provoking. I would recommend it to anyone, whether or not they have an interest in politics. I can even see the value of the book as a required text for high school students because it provides a taste of history that is sometimes buried, along with a plan for the future.

Don't Buy Another Vote....is a wonderful, easy to read, eye-opening book. I think everyone including college students, West Virginians, people that follow politics very closely, and people that just vote should read. It is a very honest look at political corruption with a little humor along the way. Very well written! Go get a copy!!!!

I just finished "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay For A Landslide" and find it to be one of the most amazing books I have ever read! I started reading and surprisingly, I couldn't put it down. Being a political junkie I thought I knew just about everything about politics, but this book breaks it down to a much more detailed level in a very comprehensive, yet readable way. The detail is mindboggling, but the conversational style of the author is refreshing.
In all of my years of reading political books and following politics, this is the first time I have ever read a book written in such a non partisan manner. I was skeptical at first because individuals often proclaim to be non partisan and write without bias, but that rarely is ever the case. The author is an equal opportunity offender, but it is clear that he doesn't pick on anybody. Instead, he tells the story of incredible corruption broken down at a state level. It includes amazing information about Mother Jones, the Hatfields and McCoys, the Coal Mine Wars, governors going to jail, a state attorney general hiring hit man to kill one of his deputies, another governor having his wife bribe a juror, a judge who bit the end off of a defendant's nose, and countless other stories. What makes this book different, however, is the that author provides a step-by-step way to fix the system that can be applied to all fifty states. This guy should run for Governor or U.S. Senator because we lack these types of visionaries in state and federal government these days.
This book should be read by everyone with any interest in politics, history, psychology, elections, etc.... I was overwhelmed and have told everyone I know. Every single high school student in America should be given a copy of this book as they graduate. This book changed my life! READ THIS BOOK!!!!

Dr. Allen Loughry's "Don't Buy Another Vote, I Won't Pay for a Landslide" is truly a breath of fresh air in a genre that sorely needed it. Most books written these days about the political arena and the corrupt nature attendant to it are riddled with shortcomings and philosophical pitfalls and, in the end, simply don't deliver. More often than not they serve to advance the agenda of their own writer, and the most painful part of the whole experience is how patently transparent that writer's intentions are. They provide little more than a laundry list of rants by an author perched high atop his/her soap box driven by a far greater concern for hijacking the pages of his/her own publication to simply rail against the establishment. The greater problem with this is how rarely they provide anything substantive in the way of suggested remedies for a very broken and morally bankrupt system that rules the day in American politics.

With "Don't Buy Another Vote" Loughry breaks that mold. His writing is not only to the complete contrary of such a dissatisfying style, but it downright hits home. This is the political narrative that we've all been waiting to read, and it was well worth the wait. Unlike may authors who complain about the proverbial weather without doing anything to change it, Loughry does plenty, or at least he inspires us to do so. Not only does he call nearly 150 years worth of corrupt West Virginia officials out on the carpet for their egregious misdeeds, but he also provides suggestions for the type of reform he feels is necessary to correct this longstanding crisis.

Loughry's "Contract With the Voter" is as innovative and well thought out as it is groundbreaking. Before the smoke settles, don't be surprised if this model for change might very well be adopted as the accepted norm for those seeking office not just in the Mountain State, but in any state. It's prolific in its simplicity and after reading it you'll find yourself saying..."Yes, why can't we implement something like THAT!?" From cover to cover Loughry's message resonates and his voice is true to the mark. A crisp writing style that goes a long way toward walking us through a murky history in which nothing sacred holds. A must read for all of us, irrespective of our own political affiliations. Loughry points out that corruption is not confined to party lines. Neither, for that matter, is the book now chronicling its long and ugly history in West Virginia.

I would like not to see the parallels. Any rational and compassionate person should like not to see the parallels. But the parallels are there, and Miller lays them bare in this devastating and meticulous extended analogy.

This is an astonishing book. Its thesis is provocative, to say the least, and it may not be for everyone -- but if you've ever wondered if just maybe our current federal drug policy wasn't delivering quite what you'd hoped, crack this book open and prepare to lose sleep.

The author has done the work and now the citizens must spread the "gospel". Like a seer Lawrence is able to anticipate the insane trajectory of where this drug war is leading. Though the picture he paints is ugly, if these drug warrior zealots are not vigorously challenged now he clearly shows how much uglier it will become. The evil of Nazi Germany and that of the US drug war are clearly shown to progress via the same chain of events: identification, ostracism, confiscation, concentration, and the final solution ie annihilation. Miller is an American hero doing the best he can to awaken conciousness.

This is one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time. Richard L. Miller deserves an award. In this book, the author details the erosion of civil liberties by the current war on drugs. For those familiar with this area, he trots out the typical points: harsh penalties for minor violations and loss of civil liberties for all.

But what makes this book special is the author's analysis of legal issues and history. Richard Miller is an independent scholar who has written about Nazi justice (in "Nazi Justiz"). I thought his application of Nazi jurisprudence to the drug war was overkill at first. Little did I know just how wrong I was. As one reviewer put it, this book will help you lose weight.

What sets this book above the others on the drug war is that Miller explains how the war effects the innocent, and how innocence is no longer an adequate defense. In fact, Miller has a Justice Department official quoted as saying that innocence was not a defense to forfeiture of assets. He argues that asset forfeiture has corrupted law enforcement at all levels.

In one example, Miller tells of an elderly couple in one California county who owned a mutil-million dollar ranch adjacent to a national park. Apparently, the Park Service wanted the land, the local law enforcement the assets (in the form of the house, possessions, etc.). Thus, police had to get a warrant to raid the property. First, they searched it illegally. This is a typical tactic of DEA agents and local law enforcement, who search a house and either plant or discover evidence that they can use to get a warrent later. Regardless, the courts have determined that even illegal searches and seizures are acceptable in the war on drugs. All of this is documented in the book. Even in the illegal search, no drugs were discovered. An elderly couple, go figure?

If you think that stopped the police, DEA, et al., then you haven't read the book. One local officer testified before a judge that "thousands" of marijuana plants were being cultivated on the property. This testimony was based on a lie told to the officer by another. Although both were aware of the lie (and the couple's complete innocence of ANYTHING), this way neither officer could be chared with perjury. Needless to say, the judge issued the warrant.

During the raid, the husband was sleeping. He was roused awake by his wife's screaming and was shot to death as he put down his rifle, which he had becuase he thought he was being robbed and was defending his wife. The agents participating in the raid evicted the wife. Even agents of the U.S. Park Service were involved, in case you doubted their complicity.

It gets better. The location of the ranch was in a different county than the one in which the local police were from! They went out of their own jurisdiction for the express purpose of seizing property from people THEY KNEW were innocent. All of this was expressed by the county prosecutor (where the ranch was), when he said that they appeared to be motivated by a desire to obtain the property and assests of its owners.

This book is meticulously documented and researched. The analysis of the legal issues with references to the Nuremburg Tribunal and Nazi legal principles is stunning. As well as his telling of the internment of Japenese-Americans to demonstrate how segments of society can be treated if the propaganda warriors desire their elimination.

If you're not enraged by the time you're finished reading this book, your heart is dead.

This is one of the best books I have read. I am against prohibition. Many people are but whenever the subject comes up in conversation the retort to my sugestion that prohibition be repealed is typically something along the line of "all you want to do is smoke pot" ...followed by some chuckling and then some stories about the days when we use to get high as kids.
This book is not about smoking pot. It is about the use of the drug war and prohibition law to circumvent Americans civil liberties. It is very well written. It helped me to form reasonable counter arguments to the for mentioned statement such as... "is it OK to strip search a child?"
This book is made even more relative when used as background material to analyze what I witness while watching the Judge Alito confirmatio hearings.
The scariest part of this book is watching the events described come alive right before our eyes on C-span.
I think you should read this if you, like me, suspect that something is rotten in Denmark and the official version of what is happening just isn't making sense.

This book is an anomaly amidst the typical drug policy literature available. Miller's argument stems from his scholarship on Nazism. He applies Raul Hilberg's "chain of destruction" to the current "war," not on drugs, but on drug users. William Bennett was less than secretive about his abhorrence for those who used drugs, especially those "hard-core users who were too far gone to care about" - stated differently, the real issue is not the drugs themselves, but the type of people who use drugs. America is full of social problems, e.g. poverty, crime, &c.; problems that most politicians are timid in addressing because of the complexities involved in solving them. Yet, politicians need a platform to stand on and the American public needs a scapegoat. Drug users, that most alien element in the population, according to Miller, are the perfect group to identify, ostracize, confiscate, concentrate, and then annihilate as scapegoats for all the ills in society: in fact this sequence of stages is Hilberg's "chain of destruction." It is from his "seminal" study on the Holocaust, later published as: The Destruction of the European Jews, that Hilberg constructed his theory of the chain of destruction. Nazi Germany, like America, was in the throes of profound social discord and the public demanded a scapegoat. The Jews became the literal manifestation of a scapegoat for the German people. Hitler, faced with harsh social problems, exercised his own prejudices to isolate, blame and thus use the Jews as a scapegoat for Germany's problems. It was identification of the scapegoat with a real entity and the eventual acceptance of this scapegoat by a German majority that led to the conceptualization and employment of a "final solution" for the riddance of social ills from German society. Miller's argument is provocative, to say the least, in that he sees a direct correlation between the processes of Nazism and the processes of the "drug warriors." Moral indignation when it is directed toward a highly specified group of people can have disastrous consequences. Miller is not the only scholar who has applied the scapegoat theory to drug users in American society, but he is the first to take it to its disturbing, but logical end.