Bush Books

This book addresses a highly topical issue - the 2004 election -- through an imaginative and funny trip, using the Alice in Wonderland characters to define and identify the important issues facing voters, if the Bush Administration manages to hold on through an other election. The author touches the topics of medicare, deficits, environment, labor, the Patriot Act, among others. For anyone who hasn't made up his or her mind, the book is an easy way to review the issues and understand why so many Americans believe this is a pivotal election. Its an enjoyable venture into the world of politics for even those who normally don't venture into "wonderland".

Everything that I read is very well hidden from the average person. Just following news casts, newspaper and e-mail type news does not uncover many of the facts presented in your book.

Two citizens combined their talents and expertise to give us this necessary account of the Bush administration's blunders. Clemens blended his academic prose with Morin's artistic imagination to create this cartoon history of the gang that forced the gates of the White House in 2000, allowed through incompetence the death of thousands on 9/11 and launched a bloody and costly war against a country that has never attacked the U.S. And all in only 200 pages!!! I don't know how they did it, but this is a marvelous, funny and easy read about a fundamental subject. Anyone who wants to have a reference book about the mistakes of this administration and their consequences should buy this book immediately. It is worth buying even for the notes and cartoons that decorate the sad tale of the Bush gang.

This is a very enjoyable, readable overview of the Bush administration. The cartoons and text complement each other very nicely. It can be hard to remember all of the antics of the Bush Administration, so it's very nice to have a clear, concise look at what has gone on and a brief political analysis of them. Really useful for anyone who wants to brush up on recent history, and doesn't want to read a huge volume. This is short and succinct, so it won't bore you. After all, the best way to avoid repeating history is to be aware of it. I dunno about everyone else out there, but at some point I started tuning out Bush mandates - they were just too painful to be fully aware of. Now that the end is drawing near, it's good to look back and refresh on some of the most glaring policies. The cartoons offer an interesting look at how we all felt at the time that the policies were fresh. Recommended!

I have used this book for years as my gardening bible. I have an edition with a foreward signed by James Bush-Brown and Louise Bush-Brown in Ambler Pennsylvania, September 1957. I'm glad to see the book has been updated, but what amazes me is that the older version is still so useful. Just this morning I looked up 'Hyssop' because I planted one in the back of my herb bed. The entry read, "P; 18-24" Seed: medicine, perfume, food -- Sunny; ordinary garden soil, not too rich. Prefers lime." This entry (in Chapter IX, The Herb Garden) told me the plant was a pernnial, would not overshadow my other plants, and would grow well in my herb garden which is laced with lime.

This book is succinct, useful, and too heavy to carry to bed for nighttime reading.

If I were stranded in a strange garden and could pick only one gardening book to take along, this would be the one. It's loaded with detailed information on all aspects of gardening, including photos and suggestions of exactly which species and varieties will work best in which situations. This is such a comprehensive effort that it's now possible to whittle your gardening library down to one volume and still be able to look up an answer to whatever question's bugging you.

In 1966, a midair refueling accident scattered four nuclear weapons over a remote area of southeastern Spain. Three were found quickly; the fourth fell in 2,550 feet of water and required the ingenuity, resources - and courage - of some of America's best brains to recover it.

The logistical and technical challenges, chronicled very well here by one of the leading civilian participants, makes for an interesting account in itself, but of perhaps greater interest is the reassuring sense which emerges that American nuclear weapons are indeed in responsible hands.

Maps, photos, diagrams, documents, reading suggestions, and an excellent index enhance this absorbing account.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

This book gives a fascinating true account (with pictures and diagrams) of when the US accidently dropped 4 nuclear bombs on Spain in 1966 and the corresponding weapon recovery search and plutonium cleanup from debris.

This was back at the height of the cold war, when we not only had B-52 bombers on the ground loaded with nukes, but we also *constantly* had B-52s with nuclear bombs in the air flying multiple routes. At that time, there was concern that the U.S. might not be able to survive a nuclear first strike and respond in force. So, we kept bombers in the air continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Kind of amazing we are still here to read about this, huh?

One of the 24 hour duration B-52 routes involved bombers taking off from North Carolina, flying across the Atlantic and over Spain, refueling, relieving other B-52's that had been circling in the air "on-station", circling for a few hours ready to cross borders and bomb at a moments notice, and then flying back to North Carolina when releived by the next wave of bombers. Over and over, continuosly, round the clock. Just in case...

But on this day, one of the B-52's collided with its refueling tanker in midair over Palomares, Spain. Its four nuclear bombs broke free and fell to the ground. Part of the normal delivery system of this weapon involved parachutes, which in the case of this accident fully or partually deployed on the different bombs. 2 of the 4 bombs hit the ground hard enough to detonate the conventional explosives and blow plutonium over the countryside (no mushroom cloud). 1 of the bombs went into the sea and involved a massive underwater search to locate and recover.

All in all, a fascinating true story of an important and very dangerous part of our history.

[Oh, and I've actually seen one of the recovered bombs from this accident. It is on display at the National Atomic Museum on Kirkland Airforce Base in Albuquerque, NM (free and open to the public) which has exhibits of the evolution of our nuclear weapons, with about 50 or so different nuclear weapons on display (minus the important parts, of course) -- gives you a *whole* new idea of what nuclear proliferation is all about, and its challenges. The Museum is not anywhere as much a downer as you might think, too. They give a pretty balance perspective, all things considered.]

[If you like this true story, then you might also want to watch the classic Peter Sellers comedy, the fictional movie "Dr. Strangelove" which portrays the bombers and flights during this general time of Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD)philosophy of National Defense.]

I've read this book at least 5 times - more for some chapters - and I've thoroughly enjoyed it evey time. Rob has a way of capturing stories that take you there. As a family, he, our baby daughter, and I served in Guyana six months Feb 2001-Aug 2001. It was a tremendous experience and the aviation service saved many lives. I hope that he will keep writing and that you'll look for those stories about our next project in Guatemala!

No, really, it is. You should read it.

Anton's Place is a highly emotional chronicle of a basically good person trying to live life as best he can despite the horrendous events of of his past. He lives every minute of his life with fear that his terrible history will be discovered and brought to light. Even when he finally finds true love, his fear of discovery overcomes everything and he is sure his life is once again ruined.

The reader will feel the heartbreak of Anton as he attempts to live through the many obstacles and negotiate stumbling blocks thrown in his path. There is an interesting twist in this novel which may surprise most readers

The author, D.T. Bush has brought us a moving and well written story which should appeal to a wide audience. Let us hope that Anton's Place is not the last we hear from D.T.Bush. We await the next novel.

WOW! This book is so amazing. D.T. Bush, a new, up and coming author has made her print in the sand. However, no sudden storm or surfer's wave can wash away the flowing sensation of this novel. Let your eyes, heart, and questioning souls guide you through the journey of one person's quest to be. Be you say? Yes, to be himself, an individual with a past searching for a new future. This is a must read.

Professor Jordan Paust has written a very simple book in which his sole goal is to apply the law - primarily international law - to the actions of the Bush Administration in its "war on terror."

What is unusual is not only Paust's straightforward legal analysis for a lay public, but his fearlessness in the face of great wrongdoing and his willingness to articulate exactly what is wrong. Paust, of course, has the knowledge and credentials to know what he's talking about. He has been a professor of international law at the University of Houston since 1975, is a Fulbright Professor at the University of Salzburg (Austria), a Ford Foundation Fellow at Yale University, and visiting Ball Eminent Scholar University Chair at Florida State University. He is Co-Chair of the ASIL's International Criminal Law Interest Group and his publications have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court, other courts, and international tribunals. Paust also served in the military.

It may have been no great matter for Paust to write or assemble this collection of essays (all of which have been modified from articles he published in various prestigious law journals, to which he has been a frequent contributor over the past 25 years). He is trained to write this kind of stuff.

But given the high levels of wrongdoing he catalogs, his courage and steadfast adherence to unwavering moral principle must be commended and encouraged if there is to be any hope of recovery from the moral degradation brought on by this regime.

Simply stated, Paust shows that the Bush Administration repeatedly and intentionally violated intentional laws in its so-called "war on terror." Many of these violations constituted war crimes, both under international and domestic law.

The actual text of the book is only 130 pages, with another 170 pages of footnotes. The book, therefore, while dense is concise. (One need not read the footnotes, unless one wants more information.)

When I say the text is dense, I mean it is likely to require an extended effort (and possibly a second reading) by laymen to grasp the distinctions that Paust makes. It is not that Paust's language is too technical or legalistic (although he does occasionally use terms with which the general public may not be familiar). He writes well and clearly. What is difficult to follow are the unbelievably circuitous and meandering legal propositions made by the Bush Administration and the legal rectifications to those propositions. The law itself is complex but Paust does not make us labor to learn it. He condenses volumes into sentences and paragraphs.

However, despite the ease with which Paust articulates the facts and laws, there is so much to learn because so much has been left out of public understanding by the executive's misstatements and the media's failures. Of course, one could argue that members of the media need to read THIS book NOW in order to be able to properly understand and write about what is happening. It would be a rare journalist today who would know how to navigate the waters of the laws of war, which have developed gradually in a somewhat haphazard manner through centuries, and have been modified continually through treaties. This book can remedy media and public ignorance of this important field.

Paust catalogs the various executive plans and authorizations; the actors, abetments, and public paper trails; the refusals to prosecute those liable for these violations; secret detentions, renditions, and forced disappearances; the "We do not torture" ploy; illegal interrogation tactics; improper use of "enemy combatant" designations; mangling military manuals; and more.

The catalog of authorizations, alone, is devastating. Paust does not hedge when he writes: "The role that several lawyers played directly in a dreadful process of denial of protections is particularly disturbing. Not since the Nazi era have so many lawyers been so clearly involved in international crimes concerning the treatment and interrogation of persons detained during war."

He writes that whether or not any of these persons will be tried for their crimes, "the plans, authorizations, and attempted justifications have degraded or military and left a shameful stain on our country that will not be removed. The resultant crimes have served terrorist ambitions, aided their recruitment of others, and exacerbated the continual armed conflict in Iraq."

And finally:

"I know of no other instance in the long history of the United States of a plan approved by lawyers and at the highest levels of our government systematically to deny human beings protection under the laws of war. I know of no other denial by a President of the United States of the fact that the laws of war apply to an international armed conflict during which U.S. armed forces engage an enemy in battle. I know of no other authorization of a President to deny treatment required under the Geneva Conventions. I know of no other instance in our history when a Secretary of Defense, top U.S. generals, or a DOD Working Group approved such denials of protection or the use of interrogation tactics that were either patently violative of the laws of war or could clearly constitute violations in various circumstances."

This statement is found at the end of Chapter One and it is probably the strongest one in the book about the abuses of law that Paust observes. The fact that Paust only infrequently allows himself to express his outrage - and even then, in muted fashion couched in well-supported legal conclusions - makes such statements even more powerful when he does make them.

If you want to know why the term "enemy combatants" (or worse "unlawful enemy combatants") is a misnomer, legally misleading, and dangerous to OUR military personnel; if you want to know why the Geneva Conventions do apply to the present "war on terror" and why they do not need to be revised; if you want to know why President Bush's claim "We do not torture" attempts to avoid answering for violations of international law; if you want to finally really understand what is going on legally, to find the moral compass that has long existed in the laws of war, please read - and reread - this book.

Jordan Paust is Professor of International Law at the University of Houston's Law Center. He has produced a thorough and definitive account of US war crimes against its detainees.

50,000 people have been detained at Guantanamo Bay, at 25 sites in Afghanistan and 17 in Iraq. As Paust writes, "The `dirty war' would involve at least cruel and inhumane treatment of captured human beings and the forced disappearance of various detained persons, despite the fact that cruel and inhumane treatment and forced disappearance are well-known examples of conduct that is absolutely proscribed under several treaties of the United States and customary international law." The International Committee of the Red Cross described the US's interrogation process as `a form of torture'.

Presidential memos and directives illegally authorised illegal interrogation methods including at least cruel and inhumane treatment and the illegal secret detentions, renditions and disappearance of human beings. President Bush publicly admitted in September 2006 that he had approved `tough' interrogation tactics and a `program' of secret detentions and secret renditions, and that this would continue. Paust writes, "during the long history of the United States, no other President is known to have authorized violations of the laws of war concerning the transfer, treatment, and interrogation of human beings."

Government officials in most European countries, including Britain, are wrongfully complicit in violations of the rights of prisoners secretly detained in and/or transferred through their territory. They are obliged under international law not to be complicit in these violations.

Paust notes the Bush administration's "unprincipled plan to evade the reach of law and to take actions in violation of Geneva law while seeking to avoid criminal sanctions." He goes on, "The common plan and authorizations have criminal implications, as denials of protections under the laws of war are violations of the laws of war, which are war crimes." The illegal denial of combatant and POW status to members of Taliban armed forces provides a pretext for similar denials to US and other soldiers.

Bush's decision to call his post-9/11 policy a `war' on terror meets Al Qaeda's desires, because it upgrades terrorism to armed conflict and glorifies terrorists as warriors. It also makes the Pentagon a legitimate military target and gives Al Qaeda combatant immunity. The USA cannot be at `war' with bin Laden, Al Qaeda or `terrorism' because Al Qaeda is not a state or an insurgent, just a terrorist group. 9/11 was an armed attack, a crime against humanity, and the USA has only the right of selective and proportionate self-defence under the UN Charter against those directly involved.

Paust criticises `the Bush administration's unconstitutional and autocratic commander-above-the-law theory'. He writes, "The claim that the President has authority to violate international laws of war, human rights law, and domestic legislation is patently unconstitutional and unacceptable. Its nihilistic essence is remarkably close to the unlimited psychotic justifications of many terrorists ..."

Paust documents case law showing that presidents are bound by the laws of war and that presidential powers are subject to restraint by Congress, or should be. In fact, the rule of law appears to be ineffective, the separation of powers is not working, as President Bush rides over all judicial and congressional limits. He has claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office.

He sums up, "war crimes policies and authorizations are not merely a threat to constitutional government and our democracy. They threaten law and order more generally, violate our common dignity, degrade our military, place our soldiers and CIA personnel in harm's way, thwart our mission, and deflate our authority and influence abroad. They can embolden an enemy, serve as a terrorist recruitment tool, lengthen social violence, and fulfill other terrorist ambitions." These consequences `are ultimately more threatening than actual terrorist attacks'.

Len Beadell, one of Australia's unassuming modern pioneers, writes of his overcoming the tyrannies of distance, heat, dust flies and inclement weather, to locate and establish the site for the detonation of the first mainland British A - bomb at Maralinga in South Australia. Len's ability as a writer to convey the ups and downs and the dangers of life in the Australian outback, is unsurpassed. He is also a consummate cartoonist, and the book is littered with many of his excellent drawings and humorous cartoons. The book contains quite a number of good black and white photos of the era, and stands as a record of an important part of Australias recent history and one mans monument to his contribution.

Len Beadell was a pioneer in the classical sense, leading the way into the unknown. His various books chronicle his adventures in his laid-back and self-effacing style. Enjoyable to read, and for those that know a little about the region he describes, you can appreciate the hardship he overcame. What is not widely known is that illness, possibly the effect of dietary deficiencies while in the bush for so many years, was one of the factors in him stopping his exploratory work.

Reading this book years ago helped form my career directions.

This book, and others by Len Beadell, are still in print and available in Australia, both from Len's family and from on-line booksellers like www.collinsbooks.com.au. Check these sources out before you despair about finding a copy.

To put it most simply, Andrew Bush's "Bonnettstown" is one of the great photography books of the past several decades. The photographs are haunting and beautiful; it is a book to return to again and again -- indeed, it is the last book I would part with from my collection.

a book i dearly enjoyed with beautifull photos of inside the house where light seems endless and shines in every corner. of this spleldid book also shows the great talent of the auther and skill in capturing the atmosphere on paper.a very interesting book from jane bolger

I really enjoyed reading "The Broken Thread". It's got such a twist on the other vampire books that I've read and the author has such a way of bringing the characters to life. I will definately recommend it to all my friends to read!

"The Broken Thread" is what you might get if you took equal parts Anne Rice, Dave Berry, and Stephen King and tossed em' in a blender with a little Peter M. Bush for extra spice. The author captivates the readers attention from the beginning and doesn't relinquish it until the book is over (even then it's not a guarantee!). While the ideas of vampires and mythical dreamlands are entertaining, the best part of the novel is the well-developed plot carried out by well-developed characters. "The Broken Thread," has better transitions than any book I've ever read. Bush doesn't end a chapter abruptly without giving you something to look forward to in the NEXT chapter. Just when you think he is going to leave you in suspense, you remember you have to catch up with the chapter before. Also, the dialogue supersedes any novel of its type, because it's true to life. The characters interact in such a way that makes them identifiable to everyone. If NOTHING else, you have to enjoy the sense of irony the book presents. If you are looking for a good read, "The Broken Thread," is perfect for you.

Cannot wait for Tonic Immobility!