M Books

I have thought I could just read a bunch of books and then use flower essences artfully, at least on myself. You see, I have 2 books including this one, they seem to have a lot of info but at the end of the day I felt I needed more structured learning.Luckily I found it, it's a long distance class, 325 bucks for 5 lessons, I have a mentor, assignments etc. Now you're talking!
Bottomline, if you're new to flower essences don't even hope you're just going to read something and then go ahead and use them properly, no matter what book you're reading.

This book is incredibly useful for it's categories and cross references. You can find almost any symptom you're looking in this big book. You can self-diagnose psychological, physical, emotional, sexual and spiritual issues. Whatever you're going through, this book can help you pinpoint it. Each category goes through several essences, and how each one may or may not apply to you individually.

The last part of the book profiles each essences. They all list the positive qualities each essence is capable of, and the patterns of imbalance they're most likely of clearing. They're all cross referenced to the previous lists, and also makes you are aware of everything else they're capable of treating.

The beginning of the book is an overview of Bach flower therapy, how flower essences are used, and selecting and verifying the properties of each one. This part is informative, but the purpose of the book isn't to go into at length. This book is very comprehensive, but the focus book is on the last two sections. Hence my mentioning them first.

The whole notion of using flower essences not just for treatment, but to support wellness and even aid psychological and spiritual development may seem illogical.

Except that these flower essences work. The few controlled studies are not strong, but against that is a wealth of experience gained by thousands of patients and practitioners on every continent.

By a strange "coincidence" the publication of this book "coincided" with my final immigration into the United States. After nearly twenty years steeped in the use of the original Bach flower essences created in England and Wales, it seemed only right to see what the plants of the New World had provided for our ever-changing species. Much as I loved my Bach remedies, I felt sure that people on this side of the Atlantic might need something more. So I was interested to see what these New World essences had to offer and I bought my first copy of this book within weeks of my arrival.

I was astonished by what I learned and by the extraordinary work that had been done by Patricia Kaminski, Richard Katz and a small group of dedicated helpers. I soon obtained and started using many of these new remedies and I was - and remain - extremely impressed. I have seen some extraordinary results, despite being a big skeptic.

This is a classic textbook, now thirteen years old. It is beautifully produced and I would be hard pressed to come up with any major improvements.

Though the work is in no way dated, it might be nice to see a new edition, perhaps with plant photographs and more cross tables, to help introduce a new generation to these wondrous treatments.

If you have any interest in natural medicine or wellness, or if you are interested in finding out which essences were provided to help the spiritual practices unique to North America, this book should not just be on your bookshelf, but should quickly become dog-eared from use!

Highly recommended.

I've studied flower essences for over ten years. I am giving this book five stars. For anyone thinking of becoming a flower essence practitioner, this is a ~MUST HAVE~ book. This book would also benefit anyone informally giving flower essences to self, family, friends or animals. The authors work with flowers of northern California, USA (a definite plus), in addition to Bach's. A newer edition is in the works, and I'm waiting on the edge of my seat for it to come out.

BACKGROUND

These days, flower essences include flowers from Canada and USA in North America (Northern California, deserts of Arizona and New Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Florida); Scotland; Australia bush; New Zealand; South Africa; South America; Central America; much more than Bach's first 39. Bach died young in 1936, leaving his work unfinished, and many people in the last 70 years have taken up where he left off, expanding on the number and quality of essences (depending on where on the planet the flowers are indigenous).

Frankly, books on Bach's first 39 flower essences are so ubiquitous that I now avoid them in favor of books covering flower essences from other parts of the world besides England. Plants of England are not the only plants in existence! I am REAL tired of books getting published involving only Bach's original 39 essences. Even though Bach "bumped into" his first 39 essences, Bach's essences are not the holy grail of flower essences! Look further afield than Bach's.

I decided to buy a book on flower essences after seeing how much they helped me. I found that, beyond other books on the subject- and there are other good ones- this one was incredibly well written, laid out, informative, you name it. It allowed me, in the absence of a trained flower essence therapist, to make well informed choices as to which essence would most benefit at what time. The cross referencing, much like a thesaurus, helps to narrow down between similar essences. These authors have another tool that I found for free online that compliments this book. That tool lists each essence and a general paragraph of its effect along with a never to always scale for you to determine which essences are core ones for you. Even without that tool, this book lays out how to approach that process. I use it frequently and, like other reviers, expect to for a long time.

I highly recommend this book for parents of, and people who work with, pre-teens and teenagers, especially those who are not comfortable using the latest web 2.0 tools (if you don't know what this is and you have children ages 10 - 16, you need to read this book!). As a school district technology specialist for grade K - 12 schools, I see and hear many stories about how kids are using social networking sites - often without parents knowing what they are doing. Even those kids whose parents do not allow them to use these tools at home are finding ways to use them elsewhere.

The book takes you step by step through the process of viewing and creating a My Space site before suggesting you try to access the sites set up by your own children and their friends. It is informative, without lecturing, and has practical advice for communicating with your children about online etiquette and safety.

This book is highly fascinating in its ability to connect to it's readers. Any parents with kids interested in MySpace should read this fantastic book. It takes you through the steps of setting up an account so you, the parent, can experience MySpace first hand. As a college student and young professional, I find this book to be a resource for myself as a social worker and for parents. I highly reccomend this book!

I wish I had the information in this enlightening book two years ago when my daughter first began using myspace. I truly like the easy yet intelligent command of the english language the author has used to portray to her audience how there are many facets to be concerned with that involve our youth and how they engage, influence, and deeply affect our children while behind closed doors in their own rooms for endless hours on Myspace. We as parents are so often busy, tired, and all to often aloof to the significant dangers of the inner psychological repurcussions that are manifesting while our children sit mesmerized and addicted in this 'unchaperoned private club.' It is not to late, and to educate ourselves is paramount if we as loving and concerned parents are to help facilitate a change in the amount of time and usage we allow our precious children to interact on this massive meeting place. Afterall, we are their guardians and we must help them with positive action at this vulnerable time in their lives. Be informed, that is what this book does in a most potent way! Excellent job Candice Kelsey and thank you! You obviously are a person who cares and who wants to make a difference to your students and to all others-far beyond the perimiters of your own classroom.

The book it good. It is written by someone who has worked with a lot of teens therefore, her understanding of teens and social networking sites seems well-founded and thus, valid. The book is balanced in that it offers a lot of statistics, perspective and experience of the author as well as first hand stories and examples from teens themselves. A must read for anyone dealing with teens and the internet.

"Sheesh! Another MySpace thing! Mom, MySpace is really not that big a deal!" -My son, on seeing the book.

And therein is the point of the book. This is not a book for teens; it is an attempt to bridge the generation gap between parents and their children, using MySpace as the point of departure.

The author is a middle school teacher in California who has supplemented her personal experience with extensive research. There are no footnotes, but expert commentary and research is well documented within the text. There is also a "Resources" section at the back of the book, listing sources by chapter, as well as a "Recommended Reading, Surfing, and Viewing" section, also broken down by chapter.

There are few holds barred as the author delves into the current world of teens. In the first chapter the author points out that it's not all about MySpace, it's about social networking sites, of which MySpace is the largest. She then proceeds to explain why social networking is so important to teens and how it fits into the overall picture of their lives. In doing so, she exposes the terms and terminology they use and their current cultural context. Although she gives frequent warnings, if you are not prepared for language that would have been offensive in prior generations, you may want to skip this book and try one of the others available.

But the author is not trying to shock as much as to wave red flags. She and many experts say MySpace is not the problem, it is simply a symptom of a larger cultural shift. Kelsey believes, and offers good documentation, that the shift is driven by media and consumerism. With the red flags she also offers advice on dealing with the negative issues surrounding MySpace. The first step, also recommended by other authors of MySpace books, is to visit this part of a teen's "world" by creating a MySpace account and looking around. There is a guided tour through the process, beginning with Chapter 2, "Pimped Out: Anatomy of a Profile." The author recommends not going straight to your child's profile, but using the experience to understand the world of today's teens by seeing it through their eyes. There is a chapter later in the book devoted to assessing your child's MySpace involvement, and strategies to use.

Overall, the book is well written and well documented, promoting strategies that are recommended by experts for dealing with teens and MySpace. The book overall also has an alarmist tone, and uses very frank language. For the clueless parent (including the one(s) thinking, "Not MY teen!"), this is probably a good thing. But it may not be the book for every parent. If you want a full picture of the teen world and teens on MySpace, this book should top your list. If you'd rather not know all the gory details, but still want to know how to approach MySpace, consider something like MySpace Unraveled, by Larry Magid and Anne Collier.

The work points to many of the negations in the current health
care delivery systems in the USA. It spends too much money and
the paperwork is burdensome, generally uninformative and
inefficient. The system needs a separation between the doctor
and the pharmaceutical industry because the needs of the general
public demand an independent attitude on the part of physicians.
Emergency rooms are utilized instead of patient clinics.
This contributes to bloated costs. The HMO co-pay can be burdensome for patients. In addition, there is a slow migration
toward the universal health care coverage in order to correct
some of these inefficiencies and distribute the resource to
persons uncovered or undercovered by the present protocols
and medical delivery systems.

In more than 20 years teaching a course focusing on analysis of American health care history and policy, I have yet to discover a more persuasive diagnosis of our health care delivery system's ills or a more convincing case for how to cure them. Dr. Lebow brings to this examination direct experience as a practicing physician from which he draws numerous stirring personal accounts. To his clinical perspective, he adds an extraordinary command of the broader economic and political issues essential for understanding the context and causes of America's current health care crisis epitomized by the alarming number of our country's uninsured--now about 44 million and growing. The book is honest, engaging, and sure to stimulate discussion with its clear prescription for change. With lively prose and strategically placed humor, he makes complex matters understandable. His humanity and passion are the earmarks of a brilliant teacher. Regardless of how deeply you presently understand America's health care system, you can learn from this book. And regardless of your political inclinations in respect to his advocacy of a single-payer solution, you can't ignore his meticulous presentation of the facts or the relentless logic of his conclusions from them.

Health Care Meltdown: Confronting The Myths And Fixing Our Failing System by Robert H. LeBow (former Medical Director of an Idaho community health center for more than 25 years and who was paralyzed in a cycling accident shortly after completing this book) is a clarion wake up call focused upon the medical care system's rampant excesses, over billings, neglects, and quagmires that floods the American health care system to near incapacitation. Over 40,000,000 Americans have no health insurance. This places an unsupportable burden on Emergency Room Care (one the most expensive health care provider resources), and while money is in unnecessary and wasteful bureaucratic and law-suit avoidance oriented testing, far to many people simply go without the medical service they desperately need. A sharply worded criticism that also offers models for reform and improvement, Health Care Meltdown should be mandatory reading for health care providers, citizen health care activists, anyone charged with the responsibility of developing policies and guidelines for managing health care services.

I'd like to give this book 4 stars, but there are just too many holes for me to do so. Dr. Lebow presents many important points, but the book simply is not the answer to our prayers regarding the current healthcare mess.

As Dr. Lebow points out, in the health insurance industry, competition among health insurers has led to less efficiency rather than more efficiency. 10 different credentialing applications, 12 different contract types, no standardization whatsoever and an administrative mess for any doctor who doesn't have the luxury of a seasoned healthcare administrator in his office. Add to that the eligibility trouble. Multiple phone calls for every patient to check eligibility for every appointment. Worst of all, the current health insurance system provides no incentive to managed care to pay for preventive care.

These are the issues that single-payer would fix for the insured population, saving billions of dollars. Dr. Lebow is right on, though I wish he spent as much time on eligibility and insurance company hassles as he did on preventive care. He also does great work in presenting the myths of healthcare today. Many of them can't be repeated enough (like the corporate welfare given to prescription drug companies).

But I have several issues as well.

My biggest complaint is that his solution only delays the inevitable a little longer. He deals only with the healthcare funding system and has little to say about the healthcare delivery system. "Market Driven Healthcare" by Regina Herzlinger and "From Chaos to Care" by David Lawrence offer real long-term solutions to the healthcare delivery problems we face in our current environment. Unless those market principles are imposed on healthcare, single payor will only delay the final implosion of medical care. Once the financial gains from single-payor healthcare are realized and exhausted, the costs will continue to spiral out of control.

Another issue is that he gives few details in the "how" of his solutions. Focusing on prevention and public health is a good and obvious point. Everybody agrees on it, but I don't think simply saying "it will happen once a grassroots movement demands it" is sufficiently descriptive of how he sees prevention and public health becoming the standard. Who will implement it? How?

Because of these problems, Dr. Lebow does not make a convincing case to those in power that change is good for them. He persuades the persuaded brilliantly, but I can't imagine why someone who opposes single-payer would change his mind after reading this book. And those in power are whose minds must be changed if change is to come.

The way I see it, healthcare as we know it is a very young industry. Only 16 years ago, managed care was almost an unkown in the healthcare world. Now, it dominates. Unfortunately, that insurance model grew so quickly there was no way anyone could have planned it properly. Imagine how the computer industry would have destroyed itself if it weren't entirely made up of systems thinkers known for their planning ability. ISO-9000 was brilliant, as is settling on the PC as the standard. Healthcare needs, and is getting, more of that now. HIPAA and state-mandated credentialing applications perfectly demonstrate the government's role in fixing healthcare. It should be a regulator, an agent for the lowly to make sure the big guys play fair, and a standard-setter to make commercial insurance more efficient. But it's entirely too early to declare the market dead and single payer as the only way out of this mess.

As an Adjunct instructor in the Concordia University system, I have had the opportunity to encourage my MBA students to read this book for my Special Topics in Health care class. After reviewing other possible textbooks during the last 6 months, I have decided to now use this text as the basis for my 8-week adult education class. Offering ample examples and 'myths' that portray our fractured health care system of today, this author has summarily provided a springboard for ongoing conversations and possible answers for this country. Granted all, the HC system will not be corrected for some time, but an accounting will be made when the public becomes a focused participant at the table.
As health care professionals, it is our responsibility to study, learn, participate and educate others, as well as ourselves.
This will begin that process and it will be well worth your effort and consideration.
Thank you
ESchwarz, RN, MBA, CCM

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is very detailed and contains many illustrations. It fascinates me to sit back and think about all the people and details of Jewish history that have played out over many thousands of years.

When given as a gift, this product was really loved- so much that we bought another one for ourselves.

great information, nicely displayed. i wish i got one for my bar-mitzvah!

Professor Barnavi has done a great service both to Judaism and any students who are inclined to further their understanding of it. As a Christian proponent of this ancient faith upon which our own is based, I have found it an invaluable resource in my ecumenical studies involving history and development of Ancient and Modern Jewry and the vast knowledge accumulated over the thousands of years of its existance. It is a concise coverage of every age of its progression, along with a magnificent garnish of photographs and illustations which bring the entire process to life. I highly reccomend this book.

Few of the world's peoples can boast of a history as long and as varied as that of the Jews, or one encompassing such a range of achievements and tragedy. It spans more than three millennia and has touched most parts of the globe. This text sets forth this history graphically-in nearly a thousand detailed and accurate maps, brilliantly reproduced drawings, photographs, and paintings; plus chronologies and commentaries by dozens of leading experts. The result is a triumph of the bookmaking art-a comprehensive and dependable reference work.
Beyond the strictly historical, the Atlas also deals with many fascinating and important aspects of jewish culture-languages, literature, art, and music.