Articles Books

Don't be fooled by the title, which was added by the editor of Midstream. This is basically Michael Melchior's statement to the infamous 2001 Durban Conference "against" racism. This statement was actually delivered on September 3, 2001 by Mordechai Yedid, the head of the Israeli delegation to the conference.

I've often pointed out that although Zionism is Jewish nationalism, it is in fact merely the application of human rights for all to a group of humans (namely the Jews). Well, if that's true, what did Zionists such as Herzl think of human rights for, say, Blacks? Melchior points out that Herzl was strongly in favor of such rights, and that he felt that Jews could empathize with Blacks in this respect as both groups had been slaves and both had been deprived of their rights.

Some folks at Durban pretended that they were "anti-Zionist, not antisemitic" but Melchior shows this to be a lie. He points out the "despicable caricatures of Jews that fill the Arab press and are being circulated at this conference." And he asks about modern ad hoc libels, such as Israel using poison gas, or depleted uranium bullets, or injecting babies with the Aids virus. Are they the same in spirit as ancient blood libels? It sure looks that way to me.

Melchior gets to the root of the problem, namely that today, generations of Arab children "are being deliberately and systematically indoctrinated with textbooks stained with blood libels and children's television programs dripping with hatred." And he reminds the audience that his own cousins, "two little daughters and their brother lost their legs only a few weeks ago in a terrorist attack on a bus carrying children to school." Clearly, the "vicious libels, the delegitimization, and the dehumanization" at the Durban conference will just make matters worse.

Melchior quite rightly fears deeply for the victims of racism. Such people had high hopes for the Durban conference, but instead saw it turn into farce. As he tells us, instead of learning from history, Durban buried history. The conference perverted the values entrusted to it for political ends. And instead of serving the victims of racism, it perpetrated yet another atrocity.

I love this book. I did wish that it was in color, but the pictures and the notes are so voyeristic, I almost felt guilty for reading them! My favorite was the one where the mom and son were writing sitcky notes to each other about these scrambled eggs that had been in the refrigerater. And a grocery list that included 1 lb of Heroin....oddly interesting. I noticed that some of the names looked as if they had been cut out and re-written, so I wonder if they changed the names to protect people's privacy? Anyway, this book stays on my coffee table, along with PostSecret, and everyone who comes over is instantly addicted to it...so its been borrowed many times..a good, interesting read.

There were some really good ones, but most were totally boring. Again, read at Barnes & Noble

Davy Rothbart, Found: The Best Lost, Tossed, and Forgotten Items from Around the World (Fireside, 2004)

Rothbart speculates, in his preface to Found, that the reason this stuff is so fascinating is that it gives us a glimpse into the lives of strangers and shows us that our feelings are universal. I don't get that, so I'm not approaching the book from the same angle as Rothbart and a number of people he interviews here. I see it more as an interesting artifact of modern archaeology (or sociology), a roster of odd things people felt it important enough to write down, draw, or take pictures of. As such, it's interesting, but ot mandatory; I'm sure I'd get more out of it if I got that emotional connection Rothbart is on about.

Still, there's some interesting and/or amusing stuff to be found, no pun intended, in the pages of this volume; needless to say, if you're a fan of the magazine, you're going to love it, but it would also serve as a fine intro to the Found culture. ***

The book is, of course, funny and interesting, but I was disappointed when I opened it and found that there was no color inside.

This book would be great if it simply presented the finds and allowed the viewer to think for himself. The black and white xerox copy format looks like a cheap pamphlet, and it is not enticing at all. It really annoys me that after reading an intriguing, beautiful note in the book, the author feels the need to ruin it with extraneous captions and silly drawings. I feel a little insulted that the author includes so much information with each note. It ruins the fun and the mystery of the entire idea. Overall, if you can get past the horrible black and white layout and the obnoxious side comments and stupid illustrations, this book is pretty original!

I would recommend it if you have extra money to spend. It is fun to look at, but not one of my prized pieces in my book collection. It is fun to flip through once in a while.

I never return books. But after reading the first two chapters of The Successful Writer's Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles, I dug the packaging box back out of the recycling bin. After skimming through the rest of the book, I was rummaging through the trash for the packing slip. The writer may have good advice but I just couldn't get past the dull, flat writing and the disorganized content to find it. As another reviewer commented, it's inspiring to know that if the author of this book could get published, there's hope for the rest of us. Disappointing to say the least.

I wanted to like this book. I really wanted to like this book. Eva Shaw has written good books; as an example, check out "Writing the Nonfiction Book". That one was tight, polished, and useful. The Successful Writer's Guide to... I can't even finish typing the title; the book is just that bad. The content is in the book, but so inaccessible. Dr. Shaw knows her business, and her approach to success will likely work for the aspiring writer. The sad reality is that this book makes the reader work for every bit of useful information, and not in the way that is productively challenging. Rather, the book presents constant obstacles in the form of comma splices, sentence fragments, and incoherent verbal trips around the block that had this reader constantly going back to the chapter title and headings to find orientation. This book reads as though Dr. Shaw typed it in a stream-of-consciousness drive to finish it over a weekend. To think that an editor saw this book before publication strains credulity and insults the editorial profession. Another reviewer wrote that these liabilities are inexcusable in a book about writing, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Eva Shaw knows how to write. She also knows how to be successful in the writing business. Readers new to her books would benefit from reading one other than this as an introduction to her work. The Successful Writer's Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles proves the thesis that anyone can succeed at writing and get published, but uses itself as its own shoddy proof of the low barriers to entry in the business.

Even after reading previous reviews about the sloppiness of this book, I purchased it anyway because the reviewers found the content very helpful. But when I opened the book, I couldn't get past page 10-- no matter what gems of wisdom lay within, the mass of typos and incoherence make it impossible to justify finding those gems. The fact alone that Dr. Shaw has managed to sell thousands of articles convinces me that I can break into this field. The reviews at the front of the book laud her enthusiastic teaching style, which she may very well have in person, but on the page she just stinks. Even her examples of "queries that sold" contained weak and redundant sentences, such as "Please consider this topic, and thank you for your consideration." Wha? There are so many books on this topic, I recommend skipping this one. Any good advice is probably found elsewhere.

As a former on-line student of Eva's, I couldn't wait to get this book, and I was not disappointed. Less than two weeks after completing her class and the book, I have already had two essays published. Eva's help and guidance was invaluable and I strongly recommend both her books and her courses.

Others have noted the sloppy editing, and I agree. But the info here is invaluable for someone who already know how to write for magazines, but needs to be more savvy with the marketing.

As a freelance journalist I can assure you that she tells you like it is. The key is to know thy markets and to be savvy about your skills, and Eva Shaw gives good suggestions on both topics.

I have followed her advice and it has definitely improved my sales.

this book is absolute garbage. the author has no concept of history and completely disregards the archaeological and historical record. If you you want to know more about ancient history, go to the experts. heck, even Livy is better than this guy!

Looking through this book reminded me of the movie "A Beautiful Mind". A brilliant mathematician constructs a fantasy world complete in every detail. The only problem is that it doesn't exist, and that he's as mad as a hatter.

Just two examples of the many "possibilities" suggested by our schizoid author:

(1) The Biblical flood and the Trojan War were the same event because Noah was Aeneas, who fled Troy to found Rome. (Noah and Aeneas had names that sound alike. Thus it is proven.)

(2) Nine kings fled the fall of the Tower of Babel and seven kings founded Rome. Therefore, Rome was founded by the kings who fled the fall of the Tower of Babel. (In the author's words, the Biblical figure of nine is "close enough" to the Roman figure of seven.)

Need I go on?

The professional historians faint as prominent mathematician Doctor Fomenko et al research the known historical data and come to fairly controversial conclusions.

For example, the English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. As the sign of recognition of the special role of the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Russian historians brand it as pseudoscience because Dr Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by over two centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called `Tartars and Mongols' were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a trilingual state and aspiring Global Empire with Arabic and Turkic spoken as freely as Russian.

The ancient proto-Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities and the hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called `blood tax'). Their `invasions' were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion.

Fomenko proves for a fact that official Russian history is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scholars brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs. Their ascension to the throne was the result of conspiracy, so they charged these German historians-imports with the noble mission of making Romanov's reign look legitimate.

Dr Fomenko et al prove Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. These rulers represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate Godounovs and the ambitious Romanov upstarts.

The European historians fume not only because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History but for asserting that all medieval European Kings and Princes were but breakaway vice-regents and vassals of the Global Empire who badly needed glorious and very `ancient' past in order to legitimize their new independence from the Empire.

Dr Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one: the Ancient Rome: the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the 14th century A. D., the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, the Ancient Egypt: the pyramids of Giza become dated to the 11th to 14th century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global Empire, no less.

The civilization of the `ancient'' Egypt is irrefutably dated to the 11th to 15th century A. D. following the breakthrough in decoding of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone and painted on the temple walls.

Arabic historians may find some consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire as a part of the Global empire in the 15th - 17th century. The trouble is that this Empire was initially a proto-Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, but built in 1550-1557 A.D. by Sultan Suleiman according to Fomenko and Islam with all its key figures is datable to 15th 16th century A. D.!

The Chinese historians are also an unhappy lot because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such history. Period. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the 17th 18th century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation.

The Divinity excommunicates Dr Fomenko because the history of religions according to Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the 11th century and Jesus Christ ), Bacchic Christianity (11th to 12th century, before and after Jesus Christ), Jesus Christ Christianity (12th to 14th century) and its subsequent mutations (15th to 17th cy) into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on..; and The Old Testament written after the New Testament in xiv-xvi cy A.D., if you please! Everybody served? Saint Augustine was quite prescient when he said: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RAZQNMXM4M9CL Has history been tampered with? Yes, it has! Did events and eras such as the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Roman Empire , the Dark Ages, and the Renaissance, actually occur within a very different chronology from what we've been told? Yes, they certainly did!

The history of humankind is both drastically shorter and dramatically different than generally presumed.

Why is it so? On one hand, it was usual custom to justify the claims to title and land by age and ancestry, and on the other the court historians knew only too well how to please their masters. The so called universal classic world history is a pack of intricate lies for all events prior to the 16th century. World history as we learn it today was entirely fabricated in the 16th-18th centuries. It's likely that nobody told you before, but

there is not a single piece of firm written evidence or artefact that is reliably and independently dated prior to the 11th century.

Naturally, after what you've learned in school and university, you will not easily believe that the classical history of ancient Rome, Greece, Asia, Egypt, China, Japan, India, etc., is manifestly false.

You will point accusing finger to the pyramids in Egypt, to the Coliseum in Rome and Great Wall of China etc., and claim, aren't they really ancient, thousands of years ancient? Well, there is no valid scientific proof that they are older than 1000 years!

The oldest original written document that can be reliably dated belongs to the 11th century!

New research asserts that Homo sapiens invented writing (including hieroglyphics) only 1000 years ago. Once invented, writing skills were immediately and irreversibly put to the use of ruling powers and science.

The consensual chronology we live with was essentially crafted in the 16th century by the Jesuits.

The world history was compiled from contradictory mix of innumerable copies of ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts and other irrefutable proofs delivered by late mediaeval astronomers that were cemented by the authority of writings of the Church Fathers.

Early in life, we learn about ancient history. Children love the magical lessons of history - they are like fairy tales. Teachers recite breathtaking stories; very soon We learn by heart the names and deeds of brave warriors, wise philosophers, fabulous pharaohs, cunning high priests and greedy scribes.

We learn of gigantic pyramids and sinister castles, kings and queens, dukes and barons, powerful heroes and beautiful ladies, emaciated saints and low-life traitors.

Ancient history is based documents, manuscripts, printed books, paintings, monuments and artefacts - called primary sources.

The problem is that neither these ancient documents, nor events described therein can be irrefutably dated, moreover they contradict each other for the most part.

When a school textbook tells us that Genghis Khan in year X or Alexander in year Y, have each conquered half of the world, it means only that it is so said in some of the written sources.

There are no answers to simple questions:

When were these primary sources written?

Where and by whom were these sources found?

It is wrongly presumed that ancient and medieval chronicles, written by Genghis Khan's or Alexander the Great contemporaries and eyewitnesses, are readily available. Actually, only sources written hundreds or even thousands of years after the events are there, compiled mostly in the 16th 18th centuries, or even later.

As a rule, these sources suffered considerable multiple manipulations, falsifications and distortions by editing. At the same time,

innumerable originals of ancient documents under various pretexts were destroyed in Europe under various pretexts.

The names of persons and geographical sites often changed meaning and location during the course of the centuries.

Geographical locations became clearly defined on maps only with the advent of printing.

This made possible the circulation of identical copies of the same map for purposes of the military, navigation, education and governance tasks.

Historians from Oxford say: "hey, everybody knows that Julius Caesar lived in the first century B.C.

`Julius Caesar' statement is only a point of view as

there is simply no irrefutable documentary proof that Julius Caesar or any other great name of antiquity ever existed.

Better than that - extremely rare sources that can be reliably dated back to the 10th-14th centuries A D, do not show the polished picture of classical history.

They show a picture both contradictory and confusing.

All methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts are erroneous:

Radio-carbon C14 method produces dating with exactitude of plus minus 1500 years, therefore it is too crude for dating of events in historical timeframe!

The Almagest tractate, which lies as corner stone contemporary chronology, compiled in the 2nd century A D by Ptolemy, the founding father of astronomy, contains astronomical data of 9th to 16th century!

The Bronze Age,that has supposedly began 5000 years ago. Bronze is made of 90% copper and 10% tin, but the technology for tin extraction dates back to 14th century A D!.

All eclipses contained in manuscripts, like Thucydides one, relating 'ancient' events have exclusively medieval dating. All horoscopes cut in stone or painted in Egyptian temples, like Dendera have exclusively early medieval dating solutions.

Not quite what you have learned in school? Open your eyes, and, you will find sufficient proof to reach step by step the inevitable conclusion that the classical chronology is false and therefore, that the history of ancient and medieval world universally accepted today, is also false. Have a fresh outlook on everything said or printed about "ancient" and "enigmatic" Roman, Greek and Egyptian, medieval as well as all other "lost and found" civilizations.

Antiquity and Dark Ages are phantoms invented in the 16th 18th and polished in 19th 20thcenturies. Human civilization is in fact barely 1000 years old!

This book will change your perception of History forever!
What if Ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt were invented during Renaissance?
What if The Old Testament was a rendition of events of the Middle Ages?
What if Jesus Christ was born in 1053 and crucified in 1086 AD?
Sounds Unbelievable?
Not after you've read "History: Fiction or Science?" by Anatoly Fomenko, the genius mathematician.
Armed with astronomy and computers Anatoly Fomenko turns History into a rocket science.

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

I was extremely happy to find any of Paines writings,I'm afraid it's a sign of the times but even the public library in my area did not carry Paines, Common Sense .

It does not get any better than this as far as political writing is concerned. Thomas Paine's works are required reading, no other author has moved me so. If you only ever read one author in this line of writing, Thomas Paine is your man. Common Sense started a nation, Rights of Man defined the cause for liberty, Age of Reason gave us clarity. All this from a best selling author that forwent all profit, donating the proceeds to the cause of freedom. Certainly there were greats before him. John Locke, Voltaire, and others stand tall on the stage of history, but Paine delivered the message to the masses. Thomas Paine changed men's hearts and stirred revolutions. Modern democratic republics owe a debt of gratitude to Thomas Paine. The world is a better place for having had him.

Reading Paine is as important today as it has been for over 200 years. Taxes,social inequality's or pure politics can all be found here in an easily readable and relevant format. This collection of writing's include letters and commentary and some events that history has now sidelined, As it just may happen after you read Common Sense or The Age of Reason you may find your appetite for more satisfied by these insightful inclusions. Right or Left if you believe in America and want to see the path it was meant to take read this book,then grab on to a piece of the reins of power and make it work!

This is an excellent collection of the evident, palpable reasons for self-rule, written for the common folk of the time in an inspiring style. Now more than ever we need to revisit the foundations of self-rule and individual rights. Freedom is not easy; it is hard. Freedom is not safe; it is dangerous. RS

This is my go-to book whenever I don't know what I want to read next. The only problem with this collection is that it's incomplete, but that's nothing new. I have yet to find a book that has everything Paine ever wrote. The majority of his writings are included, however, so if you're looking for a good Thomas Paine collection, you can't go wrong with this book. As with the other Library of America books I've seen, the end notes are extensive and the binding is top notch.

Good instruction here, with lengthy writing examples well worth analysis. I really wish he hadn't included some of his own stuff as exemplary, though. His writing contains summit moments, and he earned his place on the staff of a famed paper, but I don't believe Blundell is among the top hundred or so feature writers of the past half century. Had his editor found a tactful way to make a bit less of Blundell himself, this could have been a great work, not merely a good work. Still, if you can acquire it for under five bucks, add it to your work shelf.

Daniel Elton Harmon
www.danieleltonharmon.com

This is a terrific book! Buy it! You'll use it and enjoy it.

This is a tell & show book. First, Blundell tells you what is important and why. Then he supports each assertion with an example in the form of a well written piece. The examples alone are worth reading.\

This the best book I've ever read about writing.

This book is a true gem.
Set aside the absolutely helpful thoughts on generating ideas, structure, and the nexus of reporting and writing (all of which are invaluable).
The idea that there is a triad of elements upon which all good feature stories are based is an extraordinarily useful one.
Base a story on action, quotation and narration (i.e. the basic information necessary to the story) and go from one element to the next and so on, building the story block by block, says the author.
This concept alone is the best working guide for a writer on a nuts and bolts level, bar none.

Cast a cold eye on life on death; horsemen pass by. That's an epitaph. Was it Yeats, or just one he suggested in a poem? How does it apply to Blundell's book? Just this: Here is the one and only worthwhile book ever written for writers. I know, because I that's how I earn my living. Blundell is the best bar none. Throw all the others out. Unless, of course you're another wound-licker who thinks he wants to "learn" to write, in which case, horsemen pass by, and bring on the clowns!

This book shows the nuts and bolts about good journalism: writing and interviewing techniques, how to get good story ideas, etc. It has a great deal of examples too. Every journalist should read it at least once. The best thing would be to revisit it every two or three years.

Yet several substantial books available here on amazon call for Bush's impeachment upon solid constitutional legal standing.

Even though this may appear physically the briefest of the bunch in its reasons for impeachment, its authors are practiced lawyers and scholars of American jurisprudence who cull those articles of impeachment which have the greatest standing in a court of law.

Indeed, the fact it is written by lawyers in a manner so clear even the layperson can understand it speaks wonders for this book and for the lawyers involved, ordinarily masters of the purposefully obscure.

The fact this slim treatise is compelling and convincing reading speaks volumes to the validity of its articles and to the fine technical ability of its writers.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, a non-profit organization (founded in 1966 by civil rights attorneys working in the South) dedicated to protecting the citizen rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has produced a vital, easy-to-read compendium of the dereliction of George W Bush, including a trenchant four-page introduction by William Goodman, legal director of CCR. By the formulating of four articles of impeachment, Bush's crimes come quickly into full relief, even to the basest kind of awareness of the daily events we are living through, providing along the way a surprisingly broad picture of the degredation of a nation brought low by an ignorant, bullying president, complicit corporate media, and the pathetic, even terrifying, witlessness of a society near-mystically obsessed by acquisition and consumption. Other reviews here have adequately detailed the impeachment articles. Nearly fifty pages of appendices include excerpts from the Constitution on impeachment, a useful history of impeachment, the Articles of Impeachment against Andrew Johnson, Nixon and Clinton, and pertinent notes on procedure. Finally, the book offers an extremely useful one-page webliography with links to information germane to a deeper understanding of the book's thesis. Recommended to every fellow citizen. Stop consuming! Wake up! Start reading, start thinking! Take action! WE are the nation, a power greater than any thug president, and certainly a people capable of repudiating the gross bandit who seeks day by day to diminish our birthright. The time is NOW! Also recommended is Elizabeth Holtzman's excellent 'The Impeachment of George W Bush: A Practical Guide for Concerned Citizens'.

There are certainly many books revolving around impeachment. The problem, none of them hold up. Take this books acertion that there were warrantless surveillance. First the govt can investigate under the war powers of the president. Lets assume the constitution clause for warrants applies. Well the constitution states "unreasonable". 911 certainly gives the govt reason to investigate possible terrorist activites without a warrant. All acusations can be dismissed as easily. Besides if the iraq war is an impeachable offense than you would have to chage congress as well. After all they paid for it. Mrs Bill Clinton would have to be charges as well. I wonder if that will make it into and leftest book.

Even if there were enough time left to impeach the head of the current regime in Washington, it would probably not make any lasting changes in the conduct of the U.S. government nor change the minds of the many people who support it. To speak of impeachment is therefore more of a catharsis to those who dislike the current regime. However, the fact remains that there has been much discussion in the legal community, especially in the area of constitutional law, concerning the evidence for impeachment of G.W. Bush. A few books have appeared that address the case, this one being one of the shortest on the market. It is interesting reading and avoids the temptation to engage in the negative diatribe that frequently surrounds discussion of the legality of the actions and of the morality of the current regime. It is doubtful that G.W. Bush will be impeached in the next two years, but the book could still serve as a didactic tool that illustrates how constitutional scholars put together a case for impeachment. It could also serve as a framework for evaluating the actions of a future administration, and possibly help to avert illegalities in such an administration.

Careful observations of Bush's demeanor in the time after 9/11 and before the beginning of the brutal invasion of Iraq reveals (with a fair level of confidence) that he was being deceptive in his justification for that invasion and for NSA spying programs. But such an analysis would not satisfy the needs of constitutional law. To prove lying in the legal sense requires one to show intent, and this is very difficult. The Center for Constitutional Rights however argues in this book that such a proof may not be necessary, at least for the case of NSA spying, since it was "blatantly illegal." The section "Article 1" in the book discusses the Center's reasoning in more detail. Noticeably absent in the discussion are any names of U.S. citizens who were actually spied upon by the NSA. This apparently is not required in developing a constitutional case for impeachment. An admission by the president that such spying occurred is sufficient. The Center states in the article that administration officials have admitted this, but the names of these officials and the names of the citizens subjected to this intrusion are not given.

The strongest case for impeachment discussed in the book concerns the willful violation of the United Nations Charter, which as the Center argues, is a treaty of the United States signed by the president and was ratified by the Senate. The president is therefore constitutionally obligated to respect this treaty, which prohibits the initiation of force against another country unless authorized by the UN Security Council or in self-defense. The Center reminds the reader that the UN Charter does not hold a "preventive" attack, i.e. an attack against a country with the belief that doing so may prohibit a future attack from that country, to be justified from the standpoint of self-defense. The war against Iraq was therefore a violation of the president's oath of office, and this warrants impeachment. It is the opinion of this reviewer that this article of impeachment is sufficient grounds to impeach G.W. Bush, and no other justification is needed. Again, actual impeachment hearings will not happen, due to the short amount of time left for this regime to be in office, but the fact that this book was written indicates that there are some people that are willing to stand up to the current regime and not engage in the blind sycophancy, the unquestioned loyalty, that is expressed by so many of its supporters.

When I first began the book, I didn't think it would be able to change my mind that Bush, while incompetent, had done anything that would rise to the level of impeachable offense. This book, however, with its succinct style did change my mind. I am not sure we actually should impeach him, but I do, now, believe his behavior rises to a level where he could be impeached.

The book, written by a team of lawyers, is written as the articles of impeachment would be laid out against the President. It is well written, and contains explanations of why each item is an impeachable offense. In addition, the appendix holds a wealth of information, including the articles of impeachment that were written for Johnson, Nixon and Clinton.

I would recommend that this book be read by anyone who thinks that Bush should not be impeached, as well as anyone interested in how it could be done. I cannot guarantee it will change your mind, but it certainly will make you think.

The book was in the condition advertised my only complaint is the amount of time it took for it to arrive but overall it was a positive buy experience. However the wait might give me pause in buying from this seller in the future.

This is, hands down one of the best Star Trek related books that I have read. If you like the West Wing you will like this book. Second only to 'The Lives of Dax'

"Articles of the Federation" is a very good book -- it's my second-favorite Trek novel, after "Spock's World." It's not without its flaws -- several plotlines mirror plots from "The West Wing" a little too closely for my tastes, and I find some of the novel's assumptions about separation of powers a lit irritating. But the accusations that it's chauvanistically American seem off-base to me.

First off, it can't be a cross between "Star Trek," "The West Wing," and "Commander-in-Chief," because "Commander-in-Chief" had not premired when "Articles" was published in late spring of '05. It can be accurately described as "Star Trek: The West Wing."

There's some validity to the criticism that the Federation President never loses a fight, though it's not completely accurate. The Reman asylum plot ends in what can only be described as failure for everyone involved, and the re-settlement of the Reman people (a plot begun in "Titan: Taking Wing") also ends in failure for the president and her team. Further, the novel establishes pretty early on that Nan Bacco sometimes makes impulsive decisions that cost her (the slavery arc). I'm not sure what could prompt anyone to claim that they're always on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Alan Pires Ferreira claims the following: "Also, I would advise the author to travel abroad, in order to loose her All-American crap:"

Author Keith R.A. DeCandido is male, not female.

"It is amazing senior staff members of the Federation Council living in Paris have never ever heard about Germany (!),"

You might recall that the individual in question was not from Earth and was an alien.

"but they know about some obscure 20th. Century baseball player."

Only President Bacco and Esperanza were depicted as knowing much of anything about baseball -- Bacco because she's a fan, and Esperanza because she's known Bacco forever. The character that did not know what Germany was did not know much about baseball, either.

"It is also pathetic that the President regards a stupid baseball match as more important than the lives of the Federation citizens,"

This criticism makes no sense. At no point does President Bacco place baseball over the lives of Federation citizens -- and at no point is there even a question about that. There's a scene where Esperanza orders a goodwill tour of the Federation to be re-ordered so that the president can visit her home planet when baseball season starts; that's all. There's no indication that the re-ordering of the trip harms anyone whatsoever.

"considering that even now this sport is simply ignored outside the USA."

And "Articles of the Federation" makes it clear that the sport is mostly ignored outside of the president's home planet.

Far too little credit is also given in Mr. Ferreira's review to the fact that the Federation government in "AotF" is specifically designed not to resemble the American government overly-much. The US government features a popularly-elected head of government and head of state who is independent of the legislature, a bicameral legislature, an independent judiciary, and a strong partisan tradition. The Federation government of "AotF," on the other hand, features a popularly elected head of state/government who also serves as presiding officer for sessions of the legislature and must command the support of that legislature to make sub-council appointments; the legislature is also the supreme judicial authority, and gets strong input into executive decision-making. In these manners, the Federation government more closely resembles a parliamentary system of government, with its close and interconnected executive and legislative branches.

Those who describe this novel as Star Trek meets The West Wing are pretty accurate. The characters in this book are as entertaining & idiosyncratically annoying as those on Aaron Sorkin's show. The President is just as big a know-it-all as Bartlett and she and her staff are just as apt to use humor at inappropriate times. I like The West Wing for the most part but as a Trek fan I prefer to keep my fictional universes separate. And while DeCandido is a talented writer who spins a good yarn, he borrows too much from TWW. His Federation government also seems somewhat confused as to whether it's supposed to represent the U.S. with President Bacco as a stand-in for the American President or the U.N. with talk of a Security Council with permanent & non-permanent members. And while there is no indication of separation of powers in the Federation, Bacco seems to have even more power than either an American President or Secretary-General. She acts as President, Speaker of a legislative body (i.e. the Federation Council), and as Chief Justice of the Judiciary Committee (which contradicts established Trek canon of a Federation Supreme Court.) But then again, canon also established that the Federation Council meets in San Francisco and Paris only serves as the location of the President's office. What bothers me the most about the main character of Bacco is that she seems unhinged at times, half-jokingly (or perhaps she is serious) threatening to beat up witnesses with her podium during open council sessions. Joking around in private is one thing, but no sane President would carry-on in such a manner while presiding in an official capacity.

It is a cross between Star Trek, The West Wing and Commander in Chief. Very interesting, light story. As long as you ignore its annoying faults: The presidential staff never loses a battle, which is highly improbable. (They also seem to be permanently on the verge of a nervous breakdown.) Also, I would advise the author to travel abroad, in order to loose her All-American crap: It is amazing senior staff members of the Federation Council living in Paris have never ever heard about Germany (!), but they know about some obscure 20th. Century baseball player. It is also pathetic that the President regards a stupid baseball match as more important than the lives of the Federation citizens, considering that even now this sport is simply ignored outside the USA. This is boring. Fortunately, the good parts of the book are really good.

The Second World War has been portrayed as a heroic struggle against evil, and the soldiers who fought are hailed as heroes. Certainly many where courageous and even heroic in the face of the horrors of armed conflict. But it seems unlikely that there were no soldiers who found themselves paralyzed by fear, unable to perform even the simplest of soldierly tasks, wishing only to find a way to escape.

This is the story of one such soldier. After arriving in Normandy as a replacement, Heck is forced to wait for orders sending him to the front lines. While he cools his heels, he meets a local French family and has a brief, almost consummated, relationship with the daughter. Even before he can sort out his feelings about this he finds himself on a truck, headed for combat. Life on the front lines is beyond uncomfortable, living in the cold and mud, death always lingering, waiting for a chance to strike. The constant fear slowly changes Heck, and we watch as he becomes a different person under its influence.

Gritty and graphic, this book portrays the role of the common infantry soldier as anything but glamorous. It is a reality that is easily overlooked by those who have never seen combat, but one that should be considered by those in power when they make decisions that place other men's lives on the line.

[This review is based on an Advance Reading Copy]

Heck is a Iowa farm boy who joins the army during World War II. He arrives in Normandy after the D-Day invasion. After training camp the first few weeks in Normandy are dull and uneventful, as Heck awatis his assignment. During this time Heck meets a French girl and her displaced family. Heck and Claire begin a relationaship which Heck finds he is not ready for and runs.

Heck is finally assigned to his unit and sent to the front. Once there Heck discovers his fears are overwhelming and can not deal with the horrors of war. The book details Heck's struggles with his brief encounter with Claire and his fears through the rest of the war.

I found the story very gripping. It brought some of the grim details of warfare to the readers attention, and it is interesting to see them through the viewpoint of Heck. How Heck deals with his fears makes one think of how other soldiers dealt with these issues. The story gave me a greater appreciation on how soldiers can perform their duties under such terrible conditions, stresses, and fears. Enjoy.

by all who care about anyone who has ever experienced war. This is a rivetting description of fear and the degredation of war told through the eyes of a simple, everyday American. The definition of courage is a central theme that crecendos with a surprising event. Not a pleasant topic but the book is so well written that I couldn't put it down until it reached a very unexpected ending. Cudos to Nick Arvin. Excellant writer!

In writing a work of fiction about World War II, an author must do something to stand out in the vast landscape of the genre. Nick Arvin has an interesting premise centered around the true story of Eddie Slovik, a World War II deserter. Unfortunately, the story seemed cold and was unable to engage me as a reader. Even knowing what was going to happen, I kept waiting for the action to take place or something to happen. The main character only seems to feel fear and reminisce about a girl he met once. Certainly there is more to war. The drawn out passages that add little to the story make me believe this would be better delivered as a short story.

George "Heck" Tilson did not want to go to war. Along the way, he falls for a French woman that he later finds to be pregnant. Is she carrying his child? While George's thoughts drift toward Clarie, he realizes he is a coward. We tries to find any excuse to avoid killing, whether getting lost or a flesh wound. His cowardice seems to come to a head when he is sanctioned as an executioner in the execution of deserter Eddie Slovik.

The ending is predictable even though the author leaves some question about the outcome. I also could have done without the graphic descriptions of Claire's anatomy. This aspect of the story reminded me more of a romance novel or chic-lit book. With all of the hopes that I had for this book, I was disappointed. With all of the potential this story had, I think he could have done more.

This story is a gem. It's compact, serene, and powerful. The writing is clear and sober. The main character is wonderfully complex, given the spare story and brief time we get to spend with him. I'd rank this up there with "Going After Cacciato" or "Slaughterhouse Five" for best war novels ever. "Articles of War" is a finely-crafted portrait of reluctance. Sample of prose: "It began to rain, and he wanted in his tent listening to the drumming of it. Idly, he tried to remember the songs his mother would sing in the kitchen, but he could recall only a phrase or two. He'd never been able to carry a melody himself. In the mess tent at lunch he sat alone. Then he pulled on a plastic rain poncho and set off to find Albert, Ives, and Claire at the chateau. While he walked the rain slackened to a misting drizzle, then tapered to nothing. Low wraits of fog rose from the hollows of the land, looking solid and sulky and unlikely to retreat before the feeble sunlight that filtered through the ashen clouds." When war comes, the writing is no less blunt or observant. When hard choices must be made, the interior thoughts of "Heck" are gripping and vivid. Just when you think you've got the sense of this novel, the plot takes an interesting and fascinating turn and you have to agree that war, as the book so bluntly makes clear, is a universe unto itself. I'm glad I own a hardback. Nick Arvin is a fantastic writer.

The Candidate (Jill Lewis Mystery Trilogy #3)The Replacement (Jill Lewis Mystery Trilogy #2[[ASIN:0800759346 The Chase (Jill Lewis Mystery Trilogy #1)
I have found this book to be invaluable in my search for a new agent, a publisher and how to query. Many writers make the mistake of launching out without knowledge of how to approach publishing houses or what they specialize in. This is a clear, consice book of how to presnt your manuscript to a market saturated with wonderful pennings of authors. If you are a serious Christian writer, then this book is a must get.

This book has shown me how to actually get published in magazines. It will not only give you the 'how to' but it will also encourage you to take the risk and put yourself out there.

If you are serious about making money writing this book is a must.

The authors of this book wrote a book that is very easy to read and provides alot of very helpful information for those trying to get published in magazines. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is laying the foundation of becoming freelance article writer.

If jokes and verbose trying-to-be-clever writing were advertising, this book would be Oprah Magazine. But more on that later--I just needed a lead as per chapter 19 "Hook 'Em Early, Hook 'Em Hard."

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles" is like an introduction 101 survey class to this topic. Among many other things, it covers the basics of the entire process from generating article ideas, to writing query letters to conducting interviews, writing basics, and even how freelance writers deal with taxes. Like a 101 class, this book provides breadth but not depth. Most beginning magazine writers will likely need more of the material on earlier parts of the process such as studying the market and writing query letters rather than dealing with taxes and contracts. However, as a survey course, they do have their place, with the exception of the chapter on writing books and book proposals. For an excellent, more in depth treatment of query letters, a topic a novice will definitely need, I recommend "How to Write Irresistible Query Letters" by Lisa Collier Cool.

Having published a handful of freelance pieces and knowing the basics of the process, I can tell you the information is provided is good, sound advice. My problem with the book is that you have to wade through so much verbose trying-to-be clever chatty writing to get to the basics you need as a freelance magazine writer. It's like the authors, unbridled from the tight word counts and no nonsense editing of magazines went nuts trying to be cute and clever. For one of many examples, there's a section called "Ratatatatat: Machine Gun Writing" which begins, "Do you feel like Bruce Willis in 'Die Hard' right about now? What the heck do we mean when we say machine gun writing?" Then there's another paragraph before they get to the definition. I think this book could have been edited by about 1/3 with no loss of content.

None-the-less, I appreciated the content in between the jokes, even though some of it was not in depth enough to my liking, such as the brief section on how to get clips. I especially liked the interviews with magazine editors discussing what writers need to do to break into writing for their publications. If you need an intro 101 survey of the career of freelance writing and don't mind wading through all the chatty wisecracking writing, this is the book for you.

I had so many questions and this book has answered them all! I have had it wire bound because I am refering to it so much.Just can't recommend it highly enough!