Events Books

I was teaching Huck Finn to my junior class this year, and I tried getting to some of Twain's extra writings so that I'd have a little more background information to offer. This was the gem that I found. I've read plenty of Twain, and I've loved just about all of it, but Eve's Diary, especially, was something that both entertained me and moved me.

It is hilarious. Eve's observations on men are priceless, and her naivete is just so charming. More than that, though, Eve's Diary urges the reader to look at the world with the same innocence and exuberance as Eve does. I know that this little book was Twain's love letter to his deceased wife, but it's also a love letter to human life. This is Twain at his least cynical.

This edition blends the diaries of Adam and Eve together, but they were written separately, and I actually prefer them that way (I much prefer Eve's Diary by itself). I also sort of prefer the original edition's woodcuts, though the engravings in this edition are nice. Those originals are readily available online for free.

However you read it though, don't miss this one. With the exception of Huck Finn, this is the essential Twain read.

I have always wanted to get a copy of this particular work of MT's under one volume. This appears to be it!

It doesnt take comments from people such as myself to speak of the brilliance of Mark Twain (Samuel Clemmons). His body of work simply speaks for itself. If you are new to Twain's work I would highly reccommend that you try reading this novel first. It is short, entertaining, witty, and beautifully portreyed. This novel is worth absultely every penny you pay for it!

Stepping Off the Edge: Learning & Living Spiritual Practice

Short and very sweet. The Diaries present a charming and enlightened view of the relationship between the First Humans. Written late in Twain's life, the Diaries are considered his most personal work. Contain typical Twain wit, iconoclastic thinking and sardonic good will. Adam's later entries are believed to reflect Twain's feelings for his beloved, deceased wife, Livy. Adam and Eve's love for each other and Adam's grief for Eve moved me to tears. Beautifully illustrated.

I truly loved this book and have shared it with many people. Few books are so funny and end with such a good heartwarming message. Not everyone, I have found, thinks it is as funny as I do as their humor obviously needs a little refining. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes to laugh, has a sharp wit, and likes the Twain type of writing style and charm it posesses.

Thom Hartman uses a serious comic-book style to show the danger of giving up our freedoms, mega-corporate power, and having a corporate-controlled liar like G.W. Bush as President. Hartman shows a keen understanding of danerous historical trends, particularly the Alien-and-Sedition acts of the late 1790's, and the harmful stranglehold of railroads in the late 1800's. Now we have large corporations counting our votes on non-verifiable electronic machines - can you imagine a more evil scenario? Not that the author is 100 percent. His anti-NAFTA view seems foolish, and he lays off the egotistical jerk (Ralph Nader) that put Bush in office - no matter how much Nader denies it. Still, the rest of this book makes perfect sense and is surprisingly educational.

I enjoyed reading Thom Hartmann's WE THE PEOPLE: A CALL TO TAKE BACK AMERICA. The comic book style made reading interesting and fun, as Hartmann takes the reader through a brief history of the USA and exposes how our government is being hijacked by big corporations.

Neo-Conservatives might find the book leaning too far to the left, but I think Hartmann takes a centrist stand. He does a good job explaining "corporate personhood," a corporation that claims to be a person therefore entitled to legal protections like a real person, and how corporations have slowly started taking more and more control over our government.

One thing I wish he did would've been to describe certain events like the "Alien and Sedition Acts," which comes up in the book. But Hartmann does provide website addresses to find out more info.

Even though the book was written in 2004 it's still very relevant to what is going on today. The illustrations by Neil Cohn are fun too.

A copy of this book belongs in every library in America and in every home. If it was so widely distributed and read, America would not have come to the crossroads it has reached, and we would all know how to protect ourselves and our country.

This is a simplified version of Thom's political and historical insight. It's done in cartoon style making it entertaining and a valuable learning aid for children or even adults who can gain knowledge about our nations democracy.

At last, a succinct summary of what has gone wrong in the American experiment that anyone intelligent enough to vote can understand. This book should be required reading in high schools across the nation, while there is still time to reverse the dumbing down of history and civics that is threatening the future of democracy in America. Thom Hartmann's arguments that we must act now are based on sound historical reasoning. They will resonate with the true conservative, while offering hope to the progressive that together we can take back America.

And if you are not yet sold, perhaps the fact that it is written in the form of a comic will interest you. If not, it should interest your teenagers. If you don't get it for yourself, get it for them. Better yet, join me in encouraging the authors to make it available online.

A MAGNIFICENT BOOK. I LIVED FOR A YEAR WITH THE KURDS OF NORTHERN IRAQ, AND THIS IS THE ONLY BOOK I KNOW OF WHICH DOES JUSTICE TO THEIR BRAVERY AND SUFFERING. TUCKER DID NOT JET IN COUNTRY FOR A FEW DAYS, CONDUCT A FEW INTERVIEWS AND THEN RUSH HOME TO WORK ON HIS MANUSCRIPT AND MEET WITH HIS AGENT. HE HAD THE FORTITUDE AND INTEGRITY TO SPEND MONTHS IN COUNTRY, LIVING WITH THE KURDS, GAINING THEIR TRUST AND LEARNING THEIR HISTORY AND TRADITIONS. AS A RESULT, HE WAS ABLE TO COMPILE A STUNNING COLLECTION OF INTERVIEWS OF ASTONISHING QUALITY. IF YOU WANT TO COMPREHEND THE INHUMANITY OF SADDAM AND THE UNPARALLELED COURAGE AND STRENGTH OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE, READ THIS BOOK.

Mike Tucker.
Hemingway is back.
Hell is Over.
5 stars.
This is a great book. What genius! To
go to Iraqi Kurdistan, in the immediate
aftermath of the liberation of Iraq, and
interview the people who, for the first
time in their lives, can speak freely and
without fear of how they sacrificed,
struggled, and survived years of oppression
and brutality. The Kurds. What Tucker
does in this book is not only brave, as
Bob Kerrey states on the cover, but
it is honorable and noble. This is
the voices of Kurds from all walks of life.
And they are fascinating people. Thanks
to the many reviewers whose insightful
comments on this site led me to purchase
both this book, and Tucker's other great
book from Iraq, AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ. 5 stars.

Like AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ, HELL IS OVER is a jewel of
a book. Definitely 5 stars. Mike Tucker lets the Kurds
of Iraq tell their stories. His insight into the
intelligence campaign in Iraq, and how the Kurds can
help us defeat insurgents and terrorists in Iraq,
is more timely than ever. I very much enjoyed all of
this great book, especially the last section,
"The Road Ahead," where younger Kurds speak of their hopes
and dreams for the future of Iraqi Kurdistan. 5 stars.

Engrossing, vivid, and magnificent. Tucker journeyed to
Iraqi Kurdistan and returned with the only book that
lets the Kurds tell, in their own voices, their stories,
their tales of suffering and endurance and hope.
Incredibly timely, as Saddam's war crimes trial is now
underway in Baghdad, and Tucker has previously-unreported
Ba athist war crimes perpetrated against the Kurds in
HELL IS OVER: VOICES OF THE KURDS AFTER SADDAM.
This is landmark work, like his other great book from
the Iraq War, AMONG WARRIORS IN IRAQ. Mr. Tucker is now
back in Western Iraq, with Marines and special operations,
and he will no doubt write another great book from
Iraq. But thank God he wrote this one, HELL IS OVER.
I really appreciate what the previous reviewer said,
on the people in this book being "salt of the earth,"
yes. You hear the backbone of Kurdish culture and
all Kurds, here, in this historical gem. Earthy,
warm, rich, raw, gripping and insightful. 5 stars.

Since the end of the United States-led war to liberate Iraq, journalists and authors have descended into Iraqi Kurdistan to try their luck at telling the Kurds' story, taking advantage of the fact that, after decades of war and isolation, the area is once again easily accessible.

Tucker, a war correspondent and former U.S. marine, traveled throughout Iraqi Kurdistan in July 2003, and Hell is Over is a collection of his interviews. The collection divides into three parts. One focuses on stories and recollections of the peshmerga, literally "those who face death," a term used both for Kurdish guerilla fighters and their militias. The second highlights torture by interviewing former political prisoners and family members of those raped, tortured, and killed, as well as the reaction of U.S. servicemen who witnessed the excavation of mass graves. The final part takes up the story of artists, politicians, and women's rights activists.

Hell is Over adds color to the Kurds' history. It does not, however, give context. Aside from a short scene-setter describing little more than the period following the 2003 ouster of Saddam Hussein, there is no history. While Tucker dedicates his book to the memory of Kurdish nationalist hero Mulla Mustafa Barzani (1903-79), he does not explain who Barzani was or why many Kurds hold him in such esteem. For that matter, Tucker does not explain who Patriotic Union of Kurdistan leader Jalal Talabani is, a glaring omission given that Talabani controls half the Kurdish zone and is now president of Iraq.

Tucker surrenders balance and accuracy to his own romanticism. He thanks Kurdistan Democratic Party leaders in his acknowledgments and appears to have had no contact with independents or with officials in areas controlled by Talabani. Accordingly, he uncritically accepts canards about Talabani, such as his having sided with Saddam Hussein against Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani. While Talabani may have sought Iranian assistance in the 1994-97 Kurdish civil war, it was Barzani who invited the Republican Guard into the northern Iraqi city of Erbil, where they rounded up and executed Iraqi opposition figures. Tucker does describe Saddam's mass graves, but he makes no mention of the 2,000 Kurds who disappeared during the 1994-97 Iraqi Kurdish civil war. While Tucker describes Masoud Barzani's son Masrour "as one of the young lions of the Kurdish leadership," he neglects to mention Masrour's role as the head of KDP intelligence and as the enforcer for Barzani's business interests.

Tucker concludes Hell is Over with a plea for U.S. policymakers to listen to the Kurds more closely. Unfortunately, his collection is more a testament to the skewed narrative that can result from listening without a critical ear to Kurdish officials. A far better option for historical and political context is Christiane Bird's A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan.[1]

[1] New York: Ballantine Books, 2004.

Middle East Quarterly, Summer 2005

Political Ponerology is not one of the easiest books to read, yet it contains concepts that are absolutely essential for any person struggling to understand exactly what is happening today to the governments, corporations and societies of this planet.

Andrew Lobaczewski spares few words in outlining the core problems facing the contemporary study of psychology and the humanistic "natural world view" that tends to gloss over the facts when confronted with the conscienceless manipulation that is the hallmark of the psychopath. Rationalisation and pseudo-moralising are two of the biggest tools that the psychological predator has in its toolkit, and Lobaczewski explains in somewhat technical terms how they proceed to carve a trail of emotional and psychic destruction in the lives of those they come into contact with.

Less of the book is devoted to the nature and behaviour of the psychopath and "characteropath" (a psychopath by nurture rather than nature), than the process of what Lobaczewski describes as "ponerogenesis", or the creation of complex social networks inside otherwise normal organizations which then attain complete control in order to use the organization to exclusively fulfil the self-serving goals of the psychopaths. Lobaczewski uses observations of the Nazi German and Communist Soviet regimes to demonstrate how whole governments can become infected by these networks to the point that nations begin to display pathological behaviour (aggression, expansionist agendas, social policy decay, suppression of civil liberties and terrorising the population, and eventually large-scale murder and genocide). Advanced cases of ponerization result in what Lobaczewski calls a "Pathocracy" - government by the pathological.

He also describes the way that normal citizens in a developing pathocracy begin to display increasingly hysterical behaviour and this in turn abets the rise and formation of an advanced pathocracy as the masses lose their "common sense". His references to the phenomenon as being similar to a virulent disease that can kill an otherwise healthy organism are disturbingly apt when one considers the collapse of Germany after WWII, and Russia after the fall of Communism.

The proposed solution for immunizing oneself from the effect of both individual predators and pathological systems is to learn the psychological knowledge required, and put it into practice by becoming a keen observer of human behaviour. Not an easy task, but one that may eventually become essential to one's survival in these troubled times.

I would class this book as mandatory reading for anybody who wants to learn how to protect themselves from abuse by psychological predators and how bureaucracy, corporate, and government systems can become propagators of similar abusive values.

We are living in a society that is ill ... we (society in general) have been overtaken by psychopaths at the highest level. Those individuals who govern and rule our lives have worked at creating a world where inhumanity has become the norm.

Reading about ponerology, you will come to understand what "it" is and why it is so important that we recognize the immoral behaviors of some, that have set in motion wars, upon wars, upon wars ... never to end.

But hope is not lost. Read this book and find out why.

Most people on earth just want to live a good life and take care of their families, and live in a world where goodwill and tolerance reign supreme despite differences. With six billion people on the planet you would think that our reality would reflect this, but it doesn't. Ever wondered why, or more to the point HOW? The answer is that a SECRET SCIENCE has been used on the masses by an elite 4% of the population for literally millenia! This unique scientific work will make you aware of the workings of this invisible science and how agents of lies, obfuscation and perversion, infiltrate every civil organization on the planet to weild their dark magic to effect change, which manifests ultimately on the macro-social level. It's a science of how to change minds and hearts toward their selfish political agendas. By simply reading this scientific work in my opinion, would empower every one of us with sufficient knowledge to reclaim our world from the genocidal, psychopathic, warmongering agents of death and suffering who became our overlords by virtue of our ignorance.

As I understand, the odds of this extensively researched book being published were slim to none. It attacks the system -- whatever name or ideology it may go by, be it "communism" or "democracy = free market reign [yeah, right]" -- at its very core.

The book exposes the true perpetrators of evil and deviance on the planet -- psychopaths -- and the psychological mechanisms via which the control over the population is instituted and maintained. AFAIK, it is the only book out there that puts all the available information into a coherent whole which has far-reaching implications. No wonder such knowledge would be considered dangerous and would be suppressed by all means available.

The author, Andrzej M. Lobaczewski, had been through hell and beyond, and I applaud his determination and wisdom. The publisher, RPP press, is no less deserving of praise: editing this book, supplementing it with comments on recent research and bringing it to us readers is truly an act of service to humanity.

The book is written in an academic style, appropriate for the complex ideas that it conveys. It is not a light read; prepare to dedicate time to it and come back to the important passages. It will surely be a time well spent.

As written on the book , this is the most important book , is a must read to whoever feels the drive for understanding the reality today , the ponerization of the world as described by lobaczewsky is something that , in his words, shouldn't try to cure if not understood and that book is an amazing step towards understanding , and truth and again as the author points out "truth is a healer", really the most important book to read today

This was a wonderful addition to my Christmas advent celebration (audio version)! Others have explained the story line, so I'll only add that I found the quality of the narration and sound to be excellent (one demon has a very funny/cheesy voice, but upon reflection, it seems appropriate that a lesser demon would have to pretend to be scary since the poor things have no true power over us!) This production reminded me of the excellent Focus on the Family Radio Theatre productions which I also enjoy.

I love the fact that this story is presented in visions of warfare and heavenly battles since it is so very easy to forget that the battle that has raged since the beginning of time hasn't ended yet. We are still called to be warriors; remembering that our enemy is not flesh and blood and our weapons are not made by human hands.

Listening to this story will put you in a place of awe and wonder and maybe even cheering out loud for our conquering King! There is love, truth, and redemption in this story. A genuinely uplifting way to prepare for Christmas!

p.s. For those who critique everything "spiritual" by requiring that every word come from the Word and be filtered through your doctrinal beliefs, you are missing the point entirely. God's story didn't end hundreds of years ago when the Bible was written, nor does the Bible contain every bit of human, much less spiritual, history of the world. Nor does it contain all of the future (after all, it doesn't mention each of us who passionately believe and are "on mission" for Christ in this day and age,) and we are very much a part of God's cosmic story!

A Cosmic Christmas is without doubt one of the best books ever. I'm 11 years old, in the 4th grade, and want the book for Christmas. Even if you're not a Christian you should read a Cosmic Christmas because it is so entertaining. The plot makes you want to keep reading and holds you in suspense. This book is a major contribution to our world literature, and I think it is just as good, if not better, than Harry Potter.

Max Lucado looks at the Christmas story from a very different angle in his first novel. Loosely based upon the scriptures, the story tells of Gabriel being summoned by the Lord to go to Earth and deliver a great message3 that is reminiscent of the opening scenes of "It's a Wonderful Life". There are some fictional angels who appear now and then, but it helps to flesh out the story. The most poignant scenes are when Gabriel does arrive on Earth and actually is protecting Mary from Satan just before the birth of the Messiah - this is, of course, a fictionalized account.

However, the book does have its drawbacks. First, the size and shape of the book make it awkward to hold and read. This sounds petty, but it was a real problem for me. Also, the illustrations did not add to the story and were misplaced. I could have done without them. Most importantly however is that the book is just too short. There are not enough details and it really feels more like an outline than a compete story.

Why 3 stars?:
While Lucado's first novel is an interesting take on the story of the Nativity, it was not designed particularly well. It will make a nice addition to Lucado fans' bookshelves, but otherwise it could be skipped.

what i understood the intent of this book to be was that lucado wanted to convey the message of the vast love of God. i think he did this exceptionally. the books reads quickly (about 2 hours), and is worth buying for your personal library.

I am especially intrigued by how lucado described the Godhead (oneness) -- very accurate!

I always imagined Jesus' birth as a peaceful event, lambs lowing, all's right with the world. This book opened my eyes to other possibilities and it's probably much closer to the truth.

James W. Douglass has done a remarkable job of making it clear why and by whom John Kennedy was murdered. Mr. Douglass uses 96 pages of reference to document his account of events. Recent documents released by the U.S. Archives as well as documents released from the archives of the former Soviet Union are disclosed to us in a well written and easy to follow narrative which is gripping. It is important for every American to know how our secret government operates that not even a popular president was able to overcome.

Once begun, I could not put this book down.

I recommend this book be read by every American and be on the reading lists in all of this nation's high schools.

This is an outstanding work by James Douglass, and as one who has a library filled with books on this subject this is perhaps the best. It is well researched, extremely well written and a page turner. I will not delve too much into the contents for other reviewers have done so in very thorough manner.

I will close by saying the following....when I finnished this book I had a chill. We all know what was and is, what we don't know and never will is what might have been. I long for the day when the truth is fully divulged, those responsible for the "Unspeakable" are unmasked (it will suprise some)and Lee Harvey Oswald is fully exonerated for a crime he did not commit.

James does a fabulous job with loads of newly released information to make it very clear that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't just a patsy, but could have been a hero a few weeks earlier. If anyone doubts the CIA's hand on this, they haven't been paying attention.

JFK and the Unspeakable is a gem of a book. Due to the obfuscation of the events of that sad day in November 1963 by our own government, we may never be able to put absolute names and faces to the forces that caused the death of our 35th President. But the circumstantial evidence is overwhelming. James Douglass does a mighty fine job of painting the landscape and filling in the details of this dark period in a masterly fashion. When our own government stonewalls investigation into the killing of a president, keeping records sealed for half a century and then releasing them drip by redacted drip, is there any wonder that 75% of the population finds its intentions highly suspect? Douglass very clearly defines the motives that have shrouded this assassination discussion for so many years. And with the motive, method and opportunity of the clandestine forces to eliminate a sitting president so blatantly in place, it is a marvel of duplicity that they have painted "conspiracy theorists" into such a curious cul-de-sac. But finely written books such as Mr. Douglass's slowly prod this most obvious of viewpoints back into the mainstream of American conscience.

The disquieting question that arises after reading this book is - Where was America while this was happening? Why are we so somnolent when forces in our own government make a mockery of democracy and American ideals by killing popular peace-leaning leaders [JKF, RFK and MLK] and bringing us into war after phony war against the better judgement of reasonable people?

Where is America when the chips are down?

This reviewer raptly read Mark Lane's Rush To Judgement, Jim Garrison's On the Trail of the Assassins: My Investigation and Prosecution of the Murder of President Kennedy, and Jim Mars' Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy when they were first published. This reviewer became jaded at the fictions published by the Warren Commission and the House Select Commission on Assassinations, and like America sings in Sister GoldenHair "I got so damn depressed" that I quit reading this stuff.

Since then, even more proof has piled up against the lies our "leaders" told us. JFK was 'turning towards Peace" and the "unspeakable" evil forces aligned against him and peace didn't like it. James W. Douglas has done an excellent, Must-Read compilation of that truth, especially important now that a similair scenario could be, like Carly crooned, "Comin Around Again" with a new president ("Yes we Can!" "Change we can believe in!") bucking an evermore entrenched Military-Industrial Complex - HalliBurton et. al. - that would prefer that we stay in Iraq for the next 100 years or so.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it"
George Santayana 1863-1952

Buy this book for you and all your intelligent friends and relatives and read it, so that we all can be on the same proverbial "Group W' bench with Arlo Alice's Restaurant: The Massacree Revisited (30th Anniversary Edition).

/TundraVision, "Hope springs eternal," Amazon Reviewer

According to perpetual social and political critic James Bovard, the power inherent in government is alive and well; unfortunately, as he reminds us, they are not always necessarily accomplishing the people's will. Thus we find ourselves in circumstances in which governments are both larger and more powerful than ever before, while the individual citizen's ability to control and influence the course of his or her own life and liberty is becoming more and more problematic. In this stirring expose, the author explores how the federal government increasingly poses a threat to destroy individual rights and liberties in an attempt to preserve the fiction of government as superceding the citizen. Bovard wonders along with us how this state of affairs has managed to occur, and takes a thoughtful and impressive tour of the history of government control over individual liberties in an attempt to better understand it, and the future it presents for our cogitation.

Long before it was either fashionable or popular, conservative author Bovard was railing against the accumulating power and privilege of the crony-based capitalists who now seem to control the country. Here he draws blood from a dissection of the notion of state sovereignty, which he contends amounts to nothing so much as a glossy justification for the power elite's lust for ever-increasing power and privilege. Especially egregious in the author's view is the way the doctrine is being used to justify the behavior of others, to limit their rights to protect themselves, or to keep the fruit of their own labor. Indeed, all of this is food for thought. Moreover, Bovard is an interesting and quite eclectic scholar, someone who accomplishes both meticulous research and establishes the substantiation for his claims as he proceeds, and does so quite convincingly. He also seems to be profoundly well read, based on his wide use of quotations from such luminaries as Marx, Hegel, Rousseau, and Thomas Hobbes.

Thus, he manages to raise some thought provoking issues regarding our seeming need to regulate many aspects of private behavior (such as the use of pot) that we can neither effective enforce nor usefully demonstrate to be evil for the individual. Bovard argues quite convincingly regarding the potential dangers of allowing others to regulate our Constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties according to their own moral prerogatives. Bovard reserves special scorn for the so-called "Peter Pan" theory of government as the benevolent and paternalistic defender of the commonweal, and actively guides the reader through a critical review of the two hundred year history on the subject, a history he finds rife with examples through which government has repeatedly used its power to thwart rather than support the will and civil liberties of the majority. This is a splendidly researched book that reads well and which has some disturbing thoughts regarding the state of our polity. It is also one I highly recommend. Enjoy!

James Bovard is a bestselling libertarian author and lecturer, whose political commentary targets examples of governmental waste, failures, and abuses of power.
His Books:
The Fair Trade Fraud (1992)
Lost Rights (1995)
Shakedown (1996)
FREEDOM IN CHAINS: THE RISE OF THE STATE AND THE DEMISE OF THE CITIZEN (2000) Just finished this book and it is filled with examples of the "Statist" (politicians and bureaucrats) extorting money to facilitate their appetite for power and thus controlling as many aspects of life in these "United States"(separation into red and blue states does not make much difference). The research is excellent and the sources of "wisdom" are unrivaled. The EEOC and EPA appear to be the most outrageous of bureaus but closely followed by HUD and others; however, the Supreme Court clearly wins the "stuck on stupid" award between the three branches and the Senate is a clear choice in the Congress. Much of what Mr. Bovard relates is probably well known by the average political savvy reader, but his ability to back up his message with research, i.e. facts and sagacious quotes makes for an excellent read. Still, as one other reader stated, "What exactly can be done with the current apathy and addiction to the Welfare State by so many voters?".
Feeling Your Pain (2001)
Terrorism and Tyranny (2003)
The Bush Betrayal (2004)
Quotes:
"Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner." (1994). This is my favorite and another version could be a jackass (Dems) and an elephant (Republicans) fighting over "hay" (tax receipts) that does not belong to them. They then give some back to the "original owners" (taxpayers) after eating their "fill" (outrageous retirements, perks, etc.) and providing some to their "herd" (special interests). THIS ITEM WAS EDITED--From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia--LOG ON http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

"Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy

"Your government knows your mind, and you know your government's mind." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -George W. Bush (sometimes it is more honest to deviate from the script and speak from the gut!)

One would hope that a political tome written 7 years ago would become outdated; that politics might have changed since then. Sadly, James Bovard's "Freedom in Chains," is more relevant now than it was then. Despite a republican president (and congress) which, at one point, professed a "small government" platform, the size of the government has grown to unprecedented heights.

Bovard's "Freedom in Chains" not only documents the incursion of government into the people's liberty, but tries to dissect how this began. Not suprisingly, his first chapter points largely (but not exclusively) to FDR. With a careful eye, Bovard analyzes FDR's shifty rhetoric, which was able to effectively redefine the word "freedom": a word that used to mean "absence of coercion by the state," was now morphed to mean "safety provided by the state." Where we used to talk of freedom to buy and sell as one pleased, now we heard talk of freedom to buy and sell at "fair" prices as dictated by government. FDR (and others) were soon able to tell the citizenry with a straight face that freedom meant the ability of the government to take care of them via legislation.

From there, Bovard spends chapter after chapter highlighting examples of this paternalism run amok. "Cagekeepers and Caretakers" highlights how politicians use the idea that they were democratically elected to justify incursions into liberty under the guise that "that's what the people wanted." (And witness in 2004 the argument from the GW Bush camp that the president has a "mandate" from the people!)

In what might be the best chapter, "The Moral Glorification of Leviathan," Bovard documents how government has claimed for itself such things as: the right to tell farmers how much of what they can sell and at what price, the right to tell landlords that they may not discriminate by refusing to rent to drug addicts addicts (or any other group the government happens to like), and the right to tell companies what numbers of which "groups" they can hire. (A particularly great example was the government's failed attempt to mandate that Hooters employ as many male waiters as female waitresses!)

From here, we read documented accounts of government officials exempting themselves from laws the public is expected to obey (e.g. while it is illegal to lie to the police, the police may lie to obtain a confession!), etc. I confess that at this point, the book does become a bit monotanous. While an advantage to Bovard's "laundrey list" approach is its thoroughness in documenting claims, a disadvantage is that after so many examples, each one begins to lose its bite. (I must admit that after a while, I began to skim rather than read, as so many paragraphs began looking like ones I'd read before.)

Another small criticism is that I do not think that supporters of government's growth will be convinced by this book. In other words, this is not a book that argues forcefully that government growth is a bad thing in itself; rather, it documents the growth of government and assumes that the readers' symapthies will be against such trends. (For books actually arguing against statism, read Freidrich Hayek, Richard Epstein, or anything coming out of the CATO institute).

For all this, I must still give this book four stars. Bovard does an admirable job documenting abuses of government power and attempting to alarm an appallingly unalarmed public that a government unchallenged translates to a people unfree.

If you still labor under the delusion that the United States Government is here for your benefit, read this book. Mr. Bovard puts paid to that myth. Americans are now subject to such an unrealistic array of laws and statutes that every one of us is ripe for picking by some bureucrat looking to "get his numbers up". America has truly gone from a government "for the people" to one "against the people". Our constitutional protections are not worth the paper they are written on. If you manage to go through life without running afoul of some government functionary, you are indeed a luck individual. Read this book

I read this book when it was first published and as I was reading was half the time wanting to throw the book across the room. It was the frustration making me do that.

I re-read this book again and after 3 1/2 years of Bush I found Bovard to be very prophetic. What he said is even more true today than when he wrote it.

If you are concerned for that state of this country, don't just read this book, but think about and act on it.

Bovard is the anti- Micheal Moore.

Read this for a view of whats really happening.

Oh yes, DON'T throw the book.

One of the few books to ever make me cry while reading. Even a movie doesn't often take me there. This book made me want to kiss my children, read my Bible and give my husband a great warm hug. Life was so deeply felt even in the midst of such terror.

I need another one....get to writing Mrs. Ray.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I've read several other similar ones, but this one managed to achieve a balance that many of the others did not. It was also very suspenseful. The plot of this novel is built around the little known midwives of the Exodus story. Ray's protagonist, Puah, is an apprentice midwife to Shifrah. Puah demonstrates great strength and integrity. I felt it was very spiritual and uplifting without being corny.

Puah is the heroine of the novel. She is a young midwife living in Pharoah's world. When she is given orders by Pharaoh to kill all male Hebrew babies, Puah finds the courage within her to defy him.
I found this book to be more of a love story, than a historical fiction novel, but that didn't bother me the least bit. Puah and her husband Hattush's love story was so moving. Certain parts were real tear-jerkers. I really appreciated the quotes from the Bible at the beginning of each chapter.
I was so sad to see the book come to an end.

This book provides a very vivid picture of how the events may have unfolded around the time of Moses's birth. It is nice to be able to understand the characters and how they may have acted and felt. At its best, this tale is both informative and moving.

However, this is not a piece of great literature. The story is, sometimes painfully, contrived and trite. The repetition of phrases like "fine linen" and awkwardly used flashbacks quickly become grating.

The story of Puah is compelling, but the telling of it is not. Despite its weakness, this is still a good read for those who want new insight into a very familiar story.

A wonderfully written and fascinating tale of the midwives Puah and Shiphrah. Brenda Ray brought the characters to life unfolding a story filled with romance, inspiration and gripping drama. A very enjoyable book; I was a bit sad for it to end. I found The Midwife's Song to be a more compelling read than The Red Tent.

Spycraft, an important work that must be listen to/read and understood, especially in light of cooling relations with the Russians (once again). Anyone who has lived through the cold war will remember the tensions of the 'doomsday' clock and how it colored our world. As I remembered living through those times I felt there was an under current beyond our perception, struggling for dominance. This book details the struggle and fills in all the things you thought must have been happening.

This fascinating book takes you into the real world of the role technology plays in gathering intelligence. While not as magical as Q in the Bond movies, it comes awfully close and has the benefit of reality. Robert Wallace and H. Keith Melton always tie the technology back to why it was needed and the various problems that had to be overcome in creating the solution. Seeing how the technologies evolved over time and how some of the technologies eventually became parts of consumer products was quite a hoot. While this is a 500 page book, I think you will be so fascinated by it that you will have a hard time putting it down. I know I did. It reads quickly because you just want to find out what happens next.

The book is in six sections. The first two chapters provide a short background on the earliest days of spying and tradecraft (how spies do what they do). Section 2 covers four chapters and the way the CIA facilitated a spy called Penkovsky and how he was eventually caught. Section 3 shows us the work of a spy called TRIGON, the first really small spy camera (The T-100) and even how our people in Moscow wore surveillance detection gear (the SRR-100). Part of the problem with these devices, decades before the iPod was how to wear an earpiece without it being scene. The solution was to create a perfect latex year that you wore over the earpiece. Another great story was the CKTAW operation that required the bugging of a secure Soviet communications line right in Moscow. A recurring theme in this book is how our operations were betrayed by traitors in our intelligence organizations such as Edward Lee Howard, Robert Hannsen, Alrich Ames, and others.

Part IV covers the amazing achievements of the audio techs, their gear, and some of the crazy operations they pulled off. Some of the problems they had provide comic relief. Part V tells the story of one of our audio teams going to Cuba in the early days of Castro's regime, their getting caught, and their brave years in prison. Eventually, they received the Distinguished Intelligence Cross. We are also taken to the early days in Vietnam, the early days of fighting terrorism, and the world of forged documents

Part VI provides six chapters on tradecraft. The authors show us how technology supports the important work of intelligence gathering in assessing and recruiting agents, the uses of cover and disguise, in creating and protecting concealments, and in covert communications. The sixth chapter focuses on how the digital age undermined the traditional methods and created a whole new realm of opportunity and challenges for spies and the agencies that have to try and counter them and the work of terrorists.

There are also six appendices (the genealogy of OTS, its chronology, its directors, CIT trailblazers from OTS, which names in the book were pseudonyms, and instructions on how to decider the code the book opens with. There is also a glossary, selected bibliography, acknowledgements, and a good index.

The book also has good drawings, diagrams, and photos.

Obviously, for people really in the trade this stuff is all ancient and out of date, but for those of us on the outside who have an interest in this, it is terrific reading.

Great stuff.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

Fantastic! Told from the unique perspective of the technical and operations officers of the day, this is a must read for anyone interested in the period of history between the Cold War and today.

Spycraft is a well documented and entertaining read about the OTS engineers who work mostly behind the scenes to develop innovative and clever solutions to meet collection requirements. It chronicles the same problems faced the world over where the "fine arts graduates" see themselves as the master race, relegating the "techs", often dedicated engineers or scientists with multiple degrees, to subservience in the mistaken belief that techs could not analyze requirements and target using technical means in their own right.

It's hard not to be fascinated with the James Bond spy persona, what with all the cool gadgets and such. But what is the reality behind spies and their techniques? Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to al-Qaeda by Robert Wallace, H. Keith Melton, and Henry Robert Schlesinger offers up a comprehensive, detailed guide to the real-life story of the tools that make up a spy's arsenal of weapons.

Contents:
Section 1 - At The Beginning: My Hair Stood on End; We Must Be Ruthless
Section 2 - Playing Catch-up: The Penkovsky Era; Beyond Penkovsky; Bring in the Engineers; Building Better Gadgets
Section 3 - In The Passing Lane: Moving Through the Gap; The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (and Shield); Fire in the Attic; A Dissident at Heart; An Operation Called CKTAW
Section 4 - Let The Walls Have Ears: Cold Beer, Cheap Hotels, and a Voltmeter; Progress in a New Era; The Age of Bond Arrives; Genius Is Where You Find It
Section 5 - Prison, Bullet, Passport, Bomb: Conspicuous Fortitude, Exemplary Courage in a Cuban Jail; War by Any Other Name; Con Men, Fabricators, and Forgers; Tracking Terrorist Snakes
Section 6 - Fundamentals of Tradecraft: Assessment; Cover and Disguise; Concealments; Clandestine Surveillance; Covert Communications; Spies and the Age of Information; Epilogue - An Uncommon Service
Appendix A - U.S. Clandestine Services and OTS Organizational Genealogy; Appendix B - Selected Chronology of OTS; Appendix C - Directors of OTS; Appendix D - CIA Trailblazers from OTS; Appendix E - Pseudonyms of CIA Officers Used; Appendix F - Instructions to Decipher the Official Message from the CIA on page xxv
Glossary; Notes; Selected Bibliography; Acknowledgments; Index

The authors focus less on the "human" side of spying and more on the "technology" side of the spy game in this book. Going back to World War 2, you learn about the formation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and how they started to create their own tools to aid in the uncovering of enemy secrets as well as creating havoc behind the lines. These efforts created things like the Limpet mine (designed to be used on ships and attached below the waterline), the Mole (an explosive that would be attached to trains and would trigger when there was an absence of light, like tunnels), and the Anerometer (an explosive to be used on planes that would detonate when a plane reached 1500 feet in altitude). The key in their designs was that they were not "one-off" devices never to be repeated, but instead would be manufactured on a small scale, in secret, and be available when the situation called for it. Through the years, the technology becomes more focused on surveillance and capturing of communication. I was amazed at the wide array of bugging devices and homing beacons they were able to deploy successfully to track and monitor individuals who were intent on doing harm to U.S. interests. Although not one of the now cutting-edge devices, I was fascinated over what they were able to accomplish with miniature cameras in the 1960's that could be deployed to agents and used to copy secret documents. Tucked away in devices like pens and cigarette lighters, a spy could photograph a document in seconds with a high likelihood of success.

There are also interesting stories on how certain terrorist crimes were eventually solved. The most well-known example was the bombing of Pam-Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. With debris scattered over 800 miles, it was not an easy task to assemble enough clues to determine how the bombing happened, much less who was responsible for it. Incredibly, the case ended up turning on the discovery of a small piece of circuit board and a fragment of a t-shirt. The technology gurus were able to match the circuit board to a type and design made by a certain company, as well as find the location of where the t-shirt had been sold. These clues tied the crime back to Libya and two specific terrorists, who eventually were tried in an international court. But it was only due to the extensive amount of intel uncovered on unrelated cases that allowed everything to be reassembled for this particular incident.

Spycraft is not a book you'll sit down and finish in an evening. It's long (550 pages), very detailed, and it's not written in a novel-like style. But it is fascinating reading, and the authors did an excellent job in telling the story of the hidden people in the CIA who work with no recognition but make all the difference in the world.

The book is a large collection of very short cop recollections. Most of them are sentimental and warm and fuzzy. Like one tale about rescuing GI. Joe from a storm drain. Awwwwwww!

I dont recommend the book for boredom relief.

A COP'S LIFE, by Sutton, is what you want.

I believe that this book really captures a lot of what being a cop is about. People who aren't cops that read this book will be shocked at some of the things we see and do, but it's true. I think it should help them appreciate us more. As a cop, I found the book to be entertaining and motivational.

This really reminds me of when there is a lull in calls and we are able to sit around, drink some coffee, and tell some "You remember when..." stories.

So... This is an amazing book that allows you to reach down deep into the minds and souls of the police officers. Just like Sutton's "A Cops Life" I found this book to be amazing. It also has a section dedicated to the officers of 9/11. Sure we have all heard about 9/11 but have you heard true behind the scenes, in the hearts and minds of a police officer who responded that horrible day and survives?

Randy Sutton has done a superlative job of putting together the best collection of police stories I have ever seen. He touches the soul of the law enforcement officer from the mundane to the terrifying and heart rending, with each story standing alone as a classic--and a tribute to all who have worn the badge. Some of the shortest are the most touching, and behind the solid image that all cops are asked to maintain, one gets to hear the emotions they keep to themselves because no one wants to hear them. This is not a collection for those greedy for blazing gun battles and wild chases, though there are a few, as there should be, and they are painful to read--the horror of survival is not like television, brushing off the dust and "back to work."

These are stories by men and women who work a world of darkness and strive to find, in it all, a little humor, a little humanity, a little something to hang on to. My hat is off to all who contributed to this book--I know it wasn't easy.

This is the book I suggest cops hold onto and leave for those after them to read. They'll understand.

Andy O'Hara, Badge of Life