Pitt Books

Pastor Pitts is an awesome man of God and he has an awesome anoininting from God that shares in this book. If you are trying to find God's purpose and will for your life, this book is for you! 2 of my fav chapters are Uncommon Love and A Time for Peace! I promise you will be blessed! If you enjoy the book, you should listen to his tapes, this man of God can preach the Truth!

Is Diesing's book an instance of "undiscipline?" He states that those socialized into a research community carry on its canon, (his term is "the main texts") and those "unsocialized translators" (referring to himself) write texts "in their own language by filling in their own tacit assumptions, problems, and ways of drawing implications" (p. 122). He sees his role as a writer as an "emancipatory" one, and he seems to call into question the role of authority or the "status quo of the discipline. He describes scholars who begin their works by using "the proper language" the positivists esteem, only to abandon the substance that language is supposed to represent later in the work (p. 84). It is true that Diesing is not directly advocating this tactic, but he does later make the statement that those who read his descriptions can act however they wish upon them, leaving acceptance of the tactic as an option open. Could the preferred action be the "trickery and deception" (p. 52) of the kind Feyerabend admired-noting that Diesing has dedicated his book to Feyerabend?

In his chapter on pragmatism, Diesing explains the process by which research is conducted by having one's results critiqued by an adversary to help establish validity. He states here that "the clinical supervisor will need sensitivity and much patience to watch the field worker produce data" (p. 101). The words chosen convey a different image to the reader than the sentence intends. That which is clinical is sterile and not sensitive (to use Freudian word-association here). Additionally, one does not see a supervisor/worker relationship emphasizing patience, but efficient, rapid production achieved by a hard-driving supervisor whose presence reminds the worker does not lapse into complacency by reminding him of the possibility of no raise, bad reviews, dismissal from the job, and so on. Diesing takes another veiled swipe at pragmatism by describing the fact that John Dewey's union, the American Federation of Teachers, is a rather right-wing group when Dewey himself had advocated socialism, yet the AFT officially and publicly still recalls Dewey's founding membership with pride (p. 81). Pointing out an awkward situation in his adversary's camp must be "delicious," to use the term Diesing chose very early in his text (p. 9).

Diesing had said he was unaware he was practicing hermeneutics in his early career (p. 144). This statement in itself is telling, as it indicates the inseparability of the scientist from the things studied, as well as from the methods deployed in those studies. Logical empiricism had attempted to erase that fundamentally human fact, as did later antitheses to positivism including Popper, who had tried to play off his pessimistic conception of human nature to achieve vertical progress (to borrow a term from Dryzek) in the sciences. Diesing responds to the Popperian modifications by employing more psychoanalysis. Diesing states that Popper's method of relying on falsification for testing a hypothesis rather than looking for confirmation takes advantage of two human tendencies-"dogmatism and the critical attitude," to make progress in scientific theory-building (p. 32). When Diesing begins to critique Popper, it seems he calls attention to yet another human tendency-hypocrisy, by stating that Popper never followed his own methods of falsification upon his own theories (p. 38)? Diesing never uses the word hypocrisy; he only describes it.

Diesing discusses Milton Friedman's imposition of the quantity theory of money in economics on the facts, conceiving of no other alternative (p. 112). This seems similar to the issue that Shapiro brought up in his article "Public Law and Judicial Politics" in Finifter's edition-Friedman's method is a case of "working backward" to make their conclusions match their desires (p. 374). Many view this type of activity as a way of biasing one's results, especially in reference to judges who use this method in deciding cases ("legislating from the bench"). Because of the way in which Diesing writes (or the way I read), it is difficult to tell whether negative connotations are being attached to Friedman (a probable ideological adversary), or to the method itself. It would be easier to believe Diesing if the criticism were attached to Friedman and not the method he describes, since Diesing should recognize yet another human tendency to make the "facts" come out in a way that is desired in advance. After all, Diesing can be easily (and deliberately) "misread" here, Diesing himself says that a major hermeneutic maxim is "no knowledge without foreknowledge" (p. 108).

Diesing admits that these schools survive by having external "political and social support" (p. 103). He adds, "the National Science Foundation is not likely to...fund research in voodoo, witchcraft, rain dancing, and demonology (p. 103). Maybe not, but the Nobel Prize has just been awarded to Robert Mundell of Columbia University, an architect of supply-side economics, famously referred to by then-presidential candidate George Bush in 1980 as "voodoo economics." Many observers say the award was given to Mundell for his work on the EU currency, the Euro, in order to boost confidence in the new regime. This indicates the discipline is itself political (even in other social science disciplines including economics). Philosophers of science, according to Diesing, are the "rule makers and judges" (p. 83). Diesing's disdain for this political authority can be seen in his description of positivists as having used their methods and influence to "colonize" the discipline (p. 84). Taken together, these assumptions make politics, power, and scholarly research inseparable.

This is an excellent source of information concerning modern trafficking. This book gives you a critical variety of views on the issue. Anyone that is concerned about human trafficking, anyone in government, and anyone that is active in the business world should read this book. We all impact and can bring positive changes to the human trafficking problem. By understanding human trafficking in the Balkans, we can understand effective ways to bring change globally.

Oh, everyone can bash Penn State so I figured I would bash pitt. This book along with the I hate Penn State book gets anyone fired up. Just make sure you do not get stabbed at pitt while reading this book.

While I like to read poetry, I must say that I have never read an entire book of poetry front to back in one or two sittings. That is, until I came across this book. These are poems like none other that I have read. They somehow capture the confusion and exhiliration of growing up in our world that is sometimes sick and sometimes sublime. I love the bravery and vulnerability of the boy that is described in these poems. "How can a boy explain wanting/to taste everything, even the detergents/of his own body: tears, nose drip, sweat of his armpit, salt/of his wrist, skim milk/of his own semen?"
Bursk's poems are addictive. You read one and then you must read more.

In IN EVERY SEAM Allison Joseph conveys a narrative voice that is distinct. Her poems give the reader the sense of experience as it happened. IN EVERY SEAM is one of those rare volumes that make readers feel better in tune with the world around them, a world that, though possibly far different from their own, becomes more and more their own as each poem is digested.

This is a wonderful book. The author has read the testimonies of Allied soldiers, who had liberated the concentration camps in Europe in WWII. Based on these testimonies, she created a set of vignettes in narrative poem form. Each mini-poem (all less than twenty lines long, with but a few words on each line) captures a thought or an experience. Since the author is recreating the experiences of others, I was worried that the poems would be derivative or schmaltzy. But such is not the case. The poems sound authentic and the voice of the soldiers comes through clearly. The poems are simple, but the ideas behind them quite sophisticated. These poems convey the confusing and painful experiences that the young men felt when confronted with the horrific suffering of Holocaust survivors. The poems deal with revulsion and pity, with fear and guilt, with beauty and horrifying ugliness.

I highly recommend this book both to the general reader and to teachers of classes about the Holocaust. Sections of the book would make good sources for discussion.

In this skillfully-written and heartfelt collection of short stories, Adria Bernardi allows us to follow members of an Italian (and Italian-American) family through several generations. The connections between the characters of these stories are not always direct, and, in some cases, are more implied than stated. The stories could be read individually, or as a whole, as presented in this volume.

Spanning time from roughly post-middle ages to the present, the pieces in this collection allow us not only to observe, but, in some cases, inhabit these characters. One of the most compelling aspects of Bernardi's prose is her obvious love of and fascination with the mechanics of language itself. At times, the characters are depicted ruminating over words and their relationships to one another -- and rather than smothering the story itself in dry semantics, Bernardi accomplishes this with a gentle touch, leaving the reader with a very natural feeling of following these thought processes so that we might know these people better.

In the second story of the collection, 'Waiting for Giotto', a simple shepherd's son dreams of becoming a great artist, of being an apprentice to the great Giotto, for whom he patiently waits to return to his mountain village, as if by some miracle the great artist would recognize the man's talent and take him away to the city with him. The man knows in his heart that this will not happen, but he follows his muse ever forward, refusing to give up his calling. He sees and hears his world going by and going on around him -- people in his small mountain village live their lives as they have for centuries. Some take it upon themselves to leave and seek their fortunes -- to him, it is a duty and an honor to wait for his calling.

One of the most breathtaking passages in this book is contained in this story, when the would-be artist hears a traveller describing the horrors of the wars that are fought on the other side of the mountains: 'They say that Peace, herself, is revolted, and that she holds her stomach and retches; she has hidden her face under a hood and has started to walk away from the battlefields, following along in the ruts made by the wheels of carts, dragging herself along a muddy road that is lined with corpses, not even bothering to lift the hem of her cloak.'

The mountain-dwelling artist goes on collecting tiny bits of colored glass to be used in his masterpiece, a mosaic that may never be completed -- or seen by anyone.

The mosaic itself is another apt metaphor for the thread that connects these tales. Up close, it's hard to see -- upon reading the stories in this volume, and viewing them from a distance as a whole, the pattern is clearer.

The stories that touched me most deeply are the ones set further away in time and place -- perhaps as the characters in the indivdual stories became more 'Americanized' they appealed less to me. The pieces follow a roughly chronological order, the last being tied in nicely with the early ones -- in a way that you'll have to read the book to discover for yourself.

Bernardi is a very skillful writer -- she has managed to lay bare the soul and psyche of the Italian-American immigrants portrayed here, as well as that of ancestors who never left their village. Without reciting daily routines in a boring, travelogue-like manner, she has allowed us an intimate glimpse of her characters' daily lives -- and has allowed us to watch them become more acquainted with themselves in the process.

I look forward to reading her novel, THE DAY LAID ON THE ALTAR.

Ingrid Pitt has starred in Hammer Films as one of the most alluring vampires to ever glide across the screen! Who better to write a book on vampires and vampire movies? This is a highly entertaining book, full of humour, but that's not all---you can tell Ingrid has done a lot of thoughtful research. If you are an Ingrid Pitt fan, or you just want to enjoy a fun, intriguing take on vampires, real or on screen, you will want this book!

This review is very simple. If you're looking at this page, BUY THIS BOOK!!! I am a steel historian and I've had this book for about 7 years. I refer to it at least 2-3 times per month. Even if you're just curious about Carnegie, Frick, Schwab or the other personalities, this is the book for you. If you're interested in the business building aspects, this is the book for you. If you're interested in history at all, buy this book. Without a doubt this is the best book on the Carnegie Steel Company. If you read any book about the steel industry, make sure this is the one.