Events Books

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

An invaluable glimpse into the lives of the people affected by "free trade." Concise and eloquent: the perfect book to hand to someone who believes that more trade is necessarily better trade.

Shafted is a powerful and punchy read! I recommend this book to all those concerned about the future of our economy and the effects of free trade on working people in America. The testimonies reveal the devastating effects of free trade on workers, family farmers and farmworkers. These testimonies also reveal, however, that people refuse to sit back and allow biased economic policies to destroy their livelihoods and their families. By fighting to expose the myth of "free trade," the working people in Shafted are demanding a shift in the values of America - from the unjust and exploitative values of corporate America to fundamental values of the global community - human rights, justice and dignity of people everywhere.

I've always been a domestic policy wonk, and for a long time kept my head buried in the international sand. This book made me wake up and realize that the line between domestic and international is no more, and that it's time to get serious about a cohesive, solid global movement to protect the environment, workers, and basic human dignity. Not a movement based on ignorance, slogans, and bandanaded rebels, but one based on solid information and real-world relevance. Shafted could prove to be a huge step in that kind of a movement. I hope so.

This may be the best introduction available both to the problems of "free trade" and to what a congressional hearing might look like if Congress were focused on the needs of people rather than the needs of campaign contributors.

"Shafted" is an easy-to-read and powerful window into the human side of the effects of free trade. It's one thing to read statistics and another to hear stories directly from those affected. The book is based on a congressional briefing in Washington D.C. where a delegation of America's working poor was able to tell members of Congress and the American public how free trade has impacted their lives. "Shafted" is separated into four parts: Farmers, Workers, Farmworkers, and Analysts. What is great about the book is that it includes stories and analyses from people of different backgrounds, including racial, ethnic, and work backgrounds. I especially liked the contributions in the Analysts section (the analysts coming from the Public Citizen organization, Cornell University, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, and California Senate Select Committee on International Trade). I found them accessible and to the point, lacking loads of economic and political jargon. Throughout the book you'll also find short excerpts from important historic documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil Political Rights, American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man.

This is an important book that addresses a growing menace in our society and in the international arena. It does not provide a suggested plan of action, however it does include resources to further educate yourself and to get involved.

"Shafted" is a quick and powerful read that'll open your eyes to another side of America that we hardly get the chance to hear from. And it shows how people are bravely standing up for what they believe it. An invaluable book!

I had originally grabbed this book from the local library "new books" shelving thinking that anything with small in the title might be worth my time... and some relevance to www.small-house-building.com. Lyle Estill does talk about housing, and his attempt to foster a real estate development that focused more on offering a chance for people to build their own affordable housing. They named their development "Abeyance" and had a vision of attracting young families with children that would play in the woods and migrate from household to household in their play time. They even offered a covenant with NO minimum square footage. For awhile it worked, but over the years it devolved into the usual neighborly squabbles as families grew up and ownerships changed. It would be interesting to see it today.

"Small is Possible" is an example of all the local economic and social interaction in Mr. Estill's Chatham County, NC. You could almost look at it as a biography of a community that has succeeded in building that elusive sense of community, but displays all the warts along the way. Surely not a smooth process, but one with great rewards. As Lyle says "forget homeland security... we need homeTOWN security". Keep your dollars, time, and energy in your local economy... what better way to build local security?

Also check out Lyle Estill's Energy Blog at Piedmont Biofuels for his latest essays. A good read!

Globalization is becoming more and more the name of the game in recent years, but is it really needed? "Small is Possible: Life in a Local Economy" is a look why smaller economies are still viable in the modern world. Focusing on self-sufficient towns and cities that produce almost everything they need on their own, and how such locations improve their own economies while importing very little from the outside, "Small Is Possible" is an interesting read which offers something new from an oft-overlooked source - the past.

I need to first point out my conflict of interest in this review. lyle is my brother.

He calls this a non-fiction book and I am sure it is but it is unlike the other non-fiction books that I read. I would call it more of a storybook and Lyle is a great story teller.

It is a story about Lyle's life in a small town and the characters in that town.

In the book he did mention me:

"He (that would be me) is an insatiable entrepreneur who insists he be measured not by the vast pile of bad ideas, heaped at the bottom of the wall - but rather by those ideas that stuck. As a risk-taker he has figured out a way to stay in the possible, and not dwell on those ventures that stung him."

At one point he talked about his blogging and how he was finding it difficult to come up with topics and someone suggested that he needs to entertain people. I found his book very entertaining and this is something that I should probably consider more in my blogging.

I love the book and found it easy and quick to read. Lyle is a great writer (and always has been).

I don't agree with everything in the book. I think supporting small just for the sake of supporting small has some flaws. His book lays out many reasons why small can be better value. And if it is better value - then clearly I support it.

Although small is possible, I am going to strive for big. I wonder if Lyle will still like me?

I just finished the book and found it very interesting and well written. As a reporter for a small weekly newspaper that covers Pittsboro, NC, I was fascinated to learn more about the many personalities, businesses and organizations that make up this small town. I certainly see Pittsboro as a more dynamic and exciting place through Lyle Estill's eyes. I initially had low expectations of the book since I thought it would just be a compilation of essays, blog entries and newspaper columns, but it contained about 98 percent original writing. I have been telling many people around town about the book as a great way to learn more about Pittsboro. I think the book will be popular on a national scale since it talks about many ways that communities, and individuals, can be more self sustaining and this is an important issue nationally. On another level, it is interesting as the story of an entrepreneur who had the courage to renounce a very high-paying conventional job to pursue his dream.

It is easy to be overwhelmed with the doom and gloom consequences of American's thoroughly unsustainable lifestyle: climate change, pollution of air, water, and soil, declining ecosystems, and the very real risk that in 60 years, nobody will be living what we today consider to be a first-world lifestyle. What to do?

For starters, read Lyle Estill's Small Is Possible, a wonderful collection of writings that chronicles Lyle's own shift from get-setting deal-maker to homesteading community-builder.

Lyle's writing style is excellent: concrete, humorous, and often self-deprecating, Lyle's stories spring to life from the pages, and then linger in details which keeps the community and its members, not Lyle himself, in the foreground.

This book variously strikes me as: non-fiction Huckleberry Finn, a North Carolinian Omnivore's Dilemma, a contemporary Guns, Germs, and Steel, and The Tipping Point as played by actors in Chatham County.

Let me say again: the book is very well written, the material is extremely compelling and relevant to the 21st century, and, in the great tradition of open source software (which Lyle himself acknowledges), it is designed to be a resource for others who believe that small is possible.

At the Tehran Conference in 1943, Stalin toasted the summary executions of 50,000 German officers, Churchill privately proposed a number of some 100 major war criminals, Roosevelt kept silent, swayed alternately by Hans Morgenthau, Jr., who proposed some 2500 summary executions, and Henry Stimson, who preferred trials. That Stimson should ultimately prevail in the debate owes as much to accidents of history as to any profound historical moment culminating in Nuremberg. How Nuremberg ultimately played out, and the subsequent notion of holding leaders personally responsible for war crimes, is a tale well worth reading.

Gary Jonathan Bass's book, Stay the Hand of Vengeance, debunks several of the myths that grow from such moments. Still, in reviving the story of Leipzig (trials of German officers after World War I) and Constantinople/Malta (trials of Ottoman officers after World War I), Bass has presented not just a useful set of anecdotes on trials that failed and one that succeeded beyond expectation or intention, but a careful history of what drove efforts to hold such trials in the first place, of the limited political will behind them, the complexity and likelihood of failure.

Bass offers two principle insights: first, liberal states have a tendency to support individual accountability through trials for leaders responsible for war crimes that is unique (illiberal states prefer summary executions without second thought). Second, the tendency for liberal states to desire individual accountability and punishment ("legalism," as Bass uses the term) varies directly with the quantity of suffering experienced by that state: France loses 14 times as many men as America in World War I, and Britain 10 times as many men, and both are far more interested in war crimes trials. America, on the other hand, supported prosecutions for those responsible for unrestricted submarine warfare. The first goal of liberal states is to punish those who have harmed their own citizens. The second goal is to do so without risking their own troops. Bass calls this "selfishness."

The principle defect with Bass's amazingly rich work (and apparently, his first academic work following the Let's Go Guide to Egypt and Israel) is that it was published before 9-11, before Guantanamo, the trial of Saddam, the death of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague, the ongoing efforts in Arusha and Rwanda, and the preliminary flickerings of prosecutions before the International Criminal Court for offenses in Darfur, Sudan, and Uganda. An update is urgently needed.

Vainly, one hopes Bass's insights into war crimes trials and the politics behind them will prove unnecessary. Those who anticipate that new monstrous figures will arise in this century may be well-served by a careful read of Bass's work, in that the prospects and pitfalls of trials as a means of addressing global villainy deserve this sort of well-researched, attentively reasoned, albeit somewhat disheartening, treatment.

"In the last analysis," Bass concludes, "the two international war crimes tribunals in The Hague and Arusha stand largely as testaments to the failure of America and the West."

Indeed: a bit more willpower at the right time, and gross atrocities might have been averted. The thing is, this indictment applies not only to these grand tribunals, but to all criminal courts generally: but for a bit more will, courage, restraint, honor, or whatever other moral virtue proved lacking, nearly all crime might be averted. Hence, the issue is not whether courts reduce criminality, but what to do with the folks guilty of the worst order thereof. And at the least, Bass's work provides some suggestions on when they will likely fail, or prove worse than failures, and how to limit total risks of prosecuting the worst villains of history.

Gary Jonathan Bass's book is a riveting, thoughtful read into what has been a long-neglected chapter of history. Piecing it all together wasn't easy. Mr. Bass takes sound scholarship, adds good reporting, and weaves a tale that I, frankly, could not put down. Read it. You won't regret it.

The man has courage to deal with these issues read the book

If you care even a little bit about international justice, you have to read this groundbreaking book. The research is incredibly painstaking--there's unbelievable stuff about the war crimes tribunal after the Napoleonic Wars, and a riveting reconstruction of the failed tribunal after the Armenian genocide. But there's also great journalism about the search for justice in the Balkans. It looks like international tribunals are going to be the next big thing; this is the definitive history, and the definitive analysis.

This book is thoroughly researched and footnoted and very well written. It culminates in a balanced account of the development of the International War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and exposes the role of Western nations in supporting- and in some cases, obstructing the tribunal's work. Bass' thesis is that Western nations value human rights and the rule of law,- but not more than the lives of their own soldiers - thus accounting for the sporadic Western support for War Crimes tribunals. This is provocative book which has many insights into the complexities of international organizations, human rights, and diplomacy.

Brilliant history of the game. I grab and read anything I can by Brian Glanville. Excellent.

well the book was the best and i love to play soccer when i want to. It's my to play.I want to go to collage soccer some were were they play really good and to be a good thing for me. well maybe i will be able to go and play with the big boys.

Glanville brings wit, humor and a critical eye to his history of the World Cup. More than simply a dry rehash of scores and stats, this book almost has a literary flavor, painting pungent, vivid and memorable portraits of the players and their times.

You get a feel for the drama, the excitement and the raw energy of the World Cup. For example, it is not simply stated that the Brazilians cultivated Mexican fans in 1970, but Glanville adds such memorable lines as "The Brazilians pursued a shrewd policy of 'beads for the natives..'.

Glanville's description of players, even obscure ones, shows dry wit, a keen eye and someone who has done his homework. Most writers would have dashed off a conventional 3-word blurb. Not Glanvile. For example, in describing sturdy Russian sweeper Chesternev(?) Glanville speaks of him "sweeping up diligently in his crouching bird-dog style.." Likewise another player is described not merely as a fast winger but " a strongly-built, moustached, and melancholy figure, with fabled control and finishing power."

And indeed, so he was. You get the sense that this is soccer as it should be played- with supreme confidence and absolute conviction. Despite the literary flavor, this book has meat, solid meat. Who wants a simple rehash of what went down? Glanville begins every chapter with a background to the Cup- the sometimes unsavoury politics and posturing, the jealousies, the disappointments of good players who didn't make the cut. Then he breaks down the detail of the contenders- their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said, this is meaty analysis, not another
rehash of stats we already know.

The viginettes and scenes are amazing, Puskas eating monkey nuts in Chile, grousing about Hungarian football, Pele's audacious attempt to beat Viktor from 50 yards out in 1970, the father of Spanish player DiStefano in 62 flying in with a mysterious "magic linament" to heal his son, the "spontaneous" 1970 Mexican crowd that conveniently and noisly gathered outside the English team's hotel, keeping the players awake all night, before the match with Brazil, the blazing speed and mesmerizing moves of the deformed winger- Garrincha of Brazil, the cheeky "street" caper of Maradona's infamous "Hand of G-d" goal, the brave comebacks of Germany in 1982 and 1986, the redemption of the scandal-smeared Paolo Rossi, and so on.. You almost get the sense of being there on the field.

Those expecting a cheerleading tome for soccer officialdom would do best to look for another book. Glanville is not afraid to expose the seedy side of the game, nor criticize the FIFA bureaucracy, hooligan fans, coaches and abominable refereeing where warranted, nor do the cynical players and tactics escape his censure.

There are some minor quibbles. In his 1966 edition, Glanville correctly describes Brazil's swift right winger Garrincha as a mulatto, but in the 1970 edition, he is transformed into a South American Indian. In fact, Garrincha was part black, and this is confirmed in Joseph Page's book "The Brazilians". Of course with Brazil, racial categories are fuzzy, but Glanville does correctly point out that the introduction of black players in that country transformed the game. Some might object to Glanville even mentioning race, but it is interesting nevertheless to see the width of the Black Disapora, and the increasing blend of cultures in sports, and how sports can, in its own limited way, bring people together. Thanks to Glanvile, these glimpses range from "the Black Diamond" Leonidas of Brazil back in 1938, to the swift black winger Andrade of Uruguay circa 1950, to Gatejens, scorer of the shocking goal that upset England in 1950 (yes, the segregated, Jim Crow US had "colored" players), to the pantherine Eusebio and silky smooth Coluna of Portugal in 1966, to the corruscating Teofilo Cubillas of Peru of 1970, to the powerfully built sweeper, Tresor, of France.

Glanville's book is also invaluable for its many pictures of past players, particularly the older editions. The newer editions chop out a lot of interesting detail- after all the book can only keep expanding as the years pass. But all in all, a must read for every true soccer fan. Something for everyone- the young fan looking for heroes and pictures, the educated dabbler, or the hard-core afficionado.

Objectivity is absent at times in this very thorough history. I generally find Paul Gardener, Keir Radnedge, & Terry Crouch to be more objective. He inflates the importance and success of British Footballers. But, since England has never won the European Cup and last won the World Cup in 1966 I guess few readers will find his bias surprising. However, he does have a computer chip Knowledge of the "World's Most Popular Sport." He gives the most detailed accounts of the World Cups of the 1930's and 50's that I have ever come across. In depth analysis , vivid portraits of great players and games are in abundance. From the offensive oriented decades of the 1930's-50's, the defensive mania of the 1960's to Holland's "Total Football" philosophy of the 1970's.

You will learn about the most classic matches. From the exciting first final in 1930 between Argentina & Uruguay, the first overtime final in 1934 between Italy & Czechoslavakia, the "battle of Berne" in 1954 between Hungary & Brazil, to the formers shocking loss to West Germany in the final.

Other more well known games from the incomparable Pele against France in the 1958 semi-final, the controversial England win against West Germany in the 1966 final, to the match of the century between Italy & West Germany in the 1970 semi-final, & lastly Italy's unexpected triumph in the 1982 finals where they started as a 25-1 shot to win. The true fan will feel like you have just been at the stadium having viewed a classic match.

Finally, a literary and creative man writing about soccer! Mr. Glanville's encyclopaedic knowledge of the game and his plethora of behind-the-scene anecdotes make this book deliciously enjoyable. Each World Cup is peppered with authentic style making the reader feel like he is smelling chalupas inside Azteca Stadium or bratwurst in Munich's Olympiastadion. The poetic narrative of legendary games such as 1970's Italy vs West Germany or 1982's West Germany vs France is almost Nobel Prize material.

However, his British twist is conspicuously ubiquitous in the form of inflating paragraphs about obscure Scottish and Welsh footballers that most international soccer hounds don't know or care about... or in lambasting on Maradona time and time again! Objectivity may not be his forte, but Glanville's epic writing of a World Cup history is second to none.

The third volume of five in the Chronicles of the Kings series by Lynn Austin is spiritually inspiring fiction. She writes so as to be accurate both to history and to the Biblical accounts, but develops the characters and dialogue in a way to bring everyone to life in interesting ways.

What an awesome storyteller. If you have ever had the pleasure of reading a Francine Rivers novel, you will enjoy Lynn Austin as well. While I meditated on Rivers novels for days and even weeks, I found Austin's stories a bit faster paced and entertaining yet at the same time thought provoking and nourishment to the soul. I greatly enjoyed the first three books and highly recommend them. I am waiting for the fourth and fifth!

A glimpse into the our past, our families lives, our history...A MUST READ! You will be hooked!

Wow! That's the only word that comes to mind after reading Lynn Austin. I picked this up with one lingering doubt in my mind, "Will this even match books 1 and 2?" They were THAT good, and Lynn Austin did her homework to the nth degree, and I'm sitting here astounded! I was wondering if she'd include Sannacherib, Hezekiah's fierce, taunting rival! Oh, she did all right, and had me sweating a time or two! She did an amazing work, and if you have yet to read this, you really are missing out. I really don't feel like putting the book down when I'm on my lunch break at work, or potty training the 2 year old, and it made me all the more crazy to get back to reading!! Yeah, now read on, right? I still have my review to do!

The theme in this would ultimately have to be trust. And for that matter, not trusting in ourselves. To me that is a gut wrenching matter. Especially when I think I need something, and it just ain't happening! When you look back on the times when you haven't trusted God, please don't feel so bad. It is called crisis, and we all go through it. King Hezekiah went through it, and he HAD to trust God. The question is, would he? If you know the story, well then you already know the answer. But let's not make it so obvious. What about Hezekiah's wife, Hephzibah, who has yet to birth a future king? She thought she was promised, yet no baby, not yet anyway! What about other people in this that we've grown to love... like Eliakim? The Assyrians are planning to attack Judah. Eliakim's wife, Jerusha knows about how beastly ONE of them can be. Will God protect them? Will they rely on God's strength, or will they lean to their own understanding? Isaiah, the prophet is still alive and well in this whole mess, and he plays a big part!

This also gives a better understanding of Passover. With a portrait more real than life, the passover is displayed to me in great awe. It really drives home the point, like for instance with the parsley dipped in salt water. Just an example, and you might really appreciate what an awesome God we serve after this. There is a lot of scripture, yet when you see it come alive, WOW!

All God asks sometimes is to simply trust Him. To put aside our strength, and to simply trust Him. Is it always easy? No way. Is it worth it? Yes it is, because I know from some tough experiences. Outstanding once again, Lynn Austin! I'm ready for more.

You will mostly enjoy this book if you love biblical history or if you would like to understand it better.

First, the writting is not as smooth as more experienced authors I've read. In some places its even a bit jarring. BUT Ms Austin is certainly one thing.....a storyteller!!!

I found myself reading this book and really understanding human nature versus obeying God. It made me repent of some of my own thickheadedness and at other points it made me pray not to fall into the traps that I saw the characters fall into.

Ms Austin has worked good cause and effect into her plotting of this book. Keep up the good work Ms Austin. All in all it was a good read that makes you look introspectively at yourself and hey....thats what every author wants to accomplish...right? 8-)

Couldn't put this book down. Delgado tells a touching and troubling story: I was touched by how openly he spoke about his fears and feelings. I was troubled by the reality in Iraq that he revealed. Delgado was relatively fair and honest in portraying his superiors and peers and situation in the Army--it is not easy to talk about such an important moment in your life with objectivity. It shows a great amount of maturity in such a young author.

If you are for or against the war, Buddhist or not---this is a book about the moments in your life that change who you are forever. Delgado's was a beautiful and painful transformation from a confused, naive college student to a Buddhist, veteran and activist.

Everyone should read this book.

I found Aidan Delgado's willingness to share both his evolving convictions as well as his weakness and doubts throughout the Iraq experience to be deeply touching. His transparent honesty is unexpected and moving. This sifting, without pretense, of the humanity out of the horror of Abu Ghraib gives us all a glimpse of our own potential...either way.

The Sutras of Abu Ghraib is a vivid description of a soldier's life in Iraq, and also of the life that led him to war and brought him back as a conscientious objector. An American Buddhist serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq, Delgado stuck out among his fellow soldiers as well as among Iraqis, and his book highlights the difficulty of a lonely, disassociated soldier trying to disentangle himself from what became for him an intolerably immoral war. Even if often ridiculed for his Buddhist principles, made to feel embarrassed about his application for conscientious objector, and even called a "terrorist sympathizer", Delgado describes how some soldiers - even the ones he least expected - were honestly understanding and even sympathetic, and this was the real love and brotherhood he found in the Army. Ranging from hilarious accounts of the absurdities of life to gloomy and disheartening stories of the real face of war, The Sutras of Abu Ghraib flies the reader from sandy deserts in southern Iraq, to sunny beaches in Florida, back through the dark bowels of Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and into the heart and soul of a naïve soldier turned peace activist. A must read for anyone interested in the realities of the war in Iraq and in the hopeful possibility for personal growth and triumph in face of the worst challenges of life.

This well-written book will hold your attention from beginning to end. A true story that reads like a novel with a range of "characters" that you care about - or strongly dislike. Mr. Delgado helps one to understand the situations and attitudes that make the abuse that took place at Abu Gharib (and other places) possible. He can feel proud that he took a stand to live up to his principles.

Aidan Delgado's book is not about THE war - my brother's book is about his war.

Filled with some great moments, many comic and dreadful at the same time, Aidan's book shines brightest when he shows us his war, internal and external, through his eyes and then again through his hindsight.

To some, his insights and reflections may initially come off as precocious if not awkward, but as you come to know the writer, come to see him as he no doubt sees himself, you find the juxtaposition appropriate. A young man too smart and too wise for the insanity of the situation and too self-conscious and self-aware to lose himself to THE WAR. In the tradition of books like "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" a reader growths along side the writer until, at the books conclusion, you feel the mixed relief and emptiness of "what next."

Even in the writing of the book, Aidan seems to recognize this inherent clash between his youth, his paygrade, his growing wisdom and thoughtfulness and the over-wrought social context into which his words fall. Normally, books like this are penned by seasoned men, graying at the temples and we are ready to accept their memories and insights. Despite Aidan's youth, his "voice" is truly captured in his writing.

The book is full of brilliant puns that the Swami cleverly ties together into an insightful analysis of today's political culture. I really enjoyed reading it and sharing it with others.

Not see facism on the rise, the skeptic system backed up and truth decay everywhere is enough to make you cry not laugh. But Swami Beyondananda will make you laugh while enlighting you and giving concrete ideas about creating a new precedent. Lets do the A bun dance and skip Scare City! Turn off your TV and Tell a vision instead. This book is lots of fun and seriously worth reading not only for a good laugh.

I did not get to read this till way after the election and for that I am glad. This Swami is brilliant with word play and has me laughing out loud on almost every page (no easy feat). Also beneath the phenomenal humor is a sad truth, we have had out country stolen and we don't seem to know it (by the outcome of the election this is obvious). You don't need to know politics or care who is doing what, you need to like laughter, genius and living on this planet! I bought all of his books and am I glad! If laughter is the best medicine I am HEALED!

Not as funny as his previous books, this one is angrier, more in earnest, and has a darker overall tone. The Swami is pissed off at J.W.B. and what's happening in America, and he let's us know that in no uncertain terms. Unfortunately, some of the levity and subtlety of humor is gone, and some of the puns a a little contrived. Still a worthwhile read though.

This is a brilliant, entertaining, enlightening, and empowering book on everything you need to know about American politics but Fox News will never tell you. It is a slow read because you will have numerous uncontrollable fits of belly laughter. Then your mind will go off wondering how does this guy come up with such loaded questions and statements. Then you realize that he must have been loaded when he was writing the book.

This book raise your sense of humor from the dead if your are feeling very blue over all those red states going for Bush. But more importantly, Swami B articulates very clearly everything we need to know about the state of American politics from a progressive and practical perspective.

"Swami For Precedent" is the Bible for spiritual political activists for the next four years Bushista America and how we can change that. His research is impeccable and gives you all the pertinent data for a spontaneous debate with a Bushbacker that will confound his or her cherished Fox News pundits. Here is the book that shut up even Bill O'Reilly.

"Swami For Precedent" is more meaningful now than ever as we all have much to do together to change the polarized political climate and the regressive direction of America under George W. Bush & Co. We were born for these times and Steve's book is the roadmap of what we can and must do to take our country back from the Religious Right to its Spiritually Radical Center.

As N. Chomsky brilliantly states, `Alex Carey draws the veil of deceit and imposed ignorance in the struggle for freedom and justice.'
Alex Carey shows how corporate propaganda protects corporate power (the few) against democracy (the many). Skilled manipulation conceals the real human nature and the needs of the common man in the interest of corporate efficiency and profit, in other words, in the interest of the privileged segments of society.

The effectiveness of propaganda depends on the availability of emotionally charged symbols and ideas. The most powerful ones are nationalist symbols. Therefore, corporate propaganda tries to identify the free-enterprise system with US national values, and strong unions, interventionist governments, communists and alleged liberal fellow travelers with threats to national security, subversion and tyranny.
A surveillance network detects early signs of ideological drifts. Corrective persuasion is immediately disseminated through the media, completely controlled by fellow megacorporations. As the social scientist H.D. Lasswell said: `propaganda is the one means of mass mobilization which is cheaper than violence, bribery or other possible control techniques.'

Another means of manipulation is the filtering of social science studies. Only those which improve the industry's image and interests are propagated.
Alex Carey shows the nonsense and fundamental hypocrisy of alleged `basic' social experiments (the Hawthorne studies, the experiments of K. Lewin and F. Herzberg), which `prove' that salary, job security and good working conditions are only of secondary importance for employees. In the meantime, corporations pocket superprofits.
Alex Carey's dissection of the Hawthorne studies is simply devastating. He unmasks social scientists as servants of power and union busters.

This book contains also excellent historical information (the McCarthy crusade, the great steel strike of 1919) and exposes rightly the link between propaganda and the pragmatism of Dewey and W. James (the promotion of false beliefs is justified if they are socially useful).

This is a very revealing book and a must read for all those wanting to understand the world we live in.

Alex Carey's work is absolutely some of the best. My favorite quote of his is this: "The 20th century has been characterized by three developments of great political importance: the growth of democracy, the growth of corporate power, and the growth of corporate propaganda as a means of protecting corporate power against democracy." This has become a touchstone for Sheldon Rampton and me in our books Toxic Sludge Is Good for You, Trust Us, We're Experts, and our writing for PR Watch. Carey is much missed.

Mr. Andrew Lohrey informs us in his introduction, to this collection of essays by the late Australian psychologist Alex Carey, that Carey was prevented from going to college by his parents after he finished secondary school as they wanted him to manage their sheep farm which he did with such success that he could sell it about a decade later and enter a university.

Here and there this book is dreadfully dry, particularly towards the end. His ideas probably would have been made clearer and much better organized if he would have been able to put together a regular book instead of a book of essays put together by someone else but he died in 1988 before he could get it done. But the topics he discusses are very important especially now when business and government propaganda has never been more powerful.

The main title of this book describes what big business and their intellectual and political minions have tried to do particularly in the United States as rights to vote and to organize in this country were extended to large segments of the population of this country over the last hundred years. Carey's old friend Noam Chomsky quotes in his preface the numerous intellectual advocates (Walter Lipmann, Harold Laswell,etc.) of what Thomas Jefferson called late in his life "a single and splendid government of an aristocracy" made up of the "banking institutions and monyed incorporations" whom he feared would destroy the freedoms gained during the American revolution. Many prominent liberal intellectuals devoted loyal service to the state during World War one particularly in the government propaganda agencies putting out massive bogus atrocity stories about the Germans and turning a largely anti-war population in a short period into a bunch of maniacs looking to destroy everything remotely connected with Germany and German culture. A young German soldier named Adolf Hitler was deeply impressed with the allied propaganda effort and blamed German weakness in this field for their defeat and vowed that Germany would learn its lessons by the time the next war came around.

The best part of Carey's text, by far, is about the first five chapters. The first topic discussed is the Americanization movement begun in the few years before World War one by big busisiness associatons who were particularly worried about such events as the victory of the IWW led strike of textile workers in Lawrence Massachusetts in 1912. Big business was particularly worried about the influence of IWW-type radicalism on the U.S. immigrant population which mostly worked under very bad conditions at very low wages and set to work with a somwhat successful drive to inculate immigrants as well as the population at large with "American" values like free enterprise and the status quo and social harmony and against alien values like socialism or the welfare state or non-pliable unions. Out of this campaign came the Fourth of July holiday signed into law into 1918. This campaign culminated in the government crushing of the labor movement during 1919-21 under the cover of chasing communists and German spies.

The labor movement, says Carey, did not recover until the Great Depression which forced the U.S. government to enact very basic welfare legislation and protection of unions. This greatly alarmed important segments of big business. The National Association of Manufacturers literature in 1938 warned of the "hazard facing industrialists" of the "newly realized political power of the masses."

The end of World War two saw the beginnings of a massive attack on independent thinkers and organized labor under the cover of a red scare. After a lag in the early 1970's, the elites in this country began to steer this country towards a very markedly right wing political climate, seeing the rise of previously regarded fringe elements as represented by such think tanks as the American Enterprise Institute and the Heritage foundation which featured such profound thinkers as former Nixon and Ford treasury secretary William Simon who fulminated about how the Carter administration was steering the country towards collectivist totalitarianism.

He goes into some detail examining the right wing apparatus in his native Australia. He ends with discussion of some matters dealing with industrial psychology and industrial sociology culminating in a study of the Hawthorne studies, laborious research at an Illinois assembly plant made up of female workers in the late 20's and early 30's where a group of industrial psychologists tried to secure evidence that workers don't care about money and just want to be left alone to do the wonderful jobs that the labor market has forced on them. The Hawthorne chapter is in large part almost unintelligible and very dry, probably inevitable given that it is a scientific paper.

Carey points out that citizens living in totalitarian regimes have no choice but to tow the government line out of fear for their personal safeties. In free societies, Carey explains that more subtle means are used to keep populations under control. Specifically, propaganda is used to ensure that most people will think in a manner that is consistent with the corporate agenda (such as belief in the free market and business' right to unlimited profit). Carey documents how Americans and Australians have been subjected to corporate propaganda during most of the 20th Century, and explains how these efforts have perverted our democracy (for example, American's over willingness to fight communists, real or imagined, to protect capitalism). Indeed, while many Americans were conditioned during the Cold War to believe that propaganda existed only in the Soviet Union, China and other communist regimes, Carey persuasively argues that propaganda actually played (and continues to play) a more critical role in molding the attitudes of citizens in democracies.

"Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty" is a pioneering work in the field of corporate propaganda analysis which reveals just how much of a major force corporate propaganda is in contemporary society. Alex Carey quotes the business press as stating that the public mind is the greatest "hazard facing industrialists."

"Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty" points out that there are two types of propaganda, each of which have specific societal functions. The first type is aimed at the educated, articulate sectors of the population that are involved in in decision making and setting the agenda for others to adhere to. The second type of propaganda is aimed at the unwashed masses, to keep them distracted so as they don't interfere in the public arena where they have no business in being. All in all, "Taking the Risk Out of Democracy : Corporate Propaganda Versus Freedom and Liberty remains a seminal analysis of corporate propaganda and its uses in creating an obedient elite and a subserviant citizenry. Very enjoyable.