Open Books

The art work of this Swiss-born artist cannot help but bring abstract expressionism to mind at first glance. But on actually looking at any piece--whether painting, record album cover, print, or mixed media--one is instantly moved to realize they do not fall into this category. While Bucher's art works strive for a minimalism, in this they are not mute, remote representations of or paeans to ethereal ideas, absolutism, or purity as in abstract expressionism. The "breaks" of Bucher's art works such as broken or slanted lines, off-kilter shapes or ones which seem to start to disintegrate at an edge, or darker-toned spots suggest the rough, broken ground of the human condition. And the mixed media works containing letters and numbers somewhat reminiscent of Barbara Kruger or Ed Ruscha affirm Bucher is an artist of the day exploring the finer stylistic points and the mediums of contemporary art. The newly-published art book exemplifies the range of this artist's work that was exhibited at a 2002 exhibition at the U. of Brighton.

This book aims to develop children's mathematical abilities and enthusiasm through a series of stories that (a) many children will enjoy and (b) require creative thinking about how to solve problems. The stories are designed to be read by the teacher and break frequently with questions asking the second grade students about what one might do at that point to try to solve the problem. For example, in the title story two children are trying to weigh a dog who will not sit on a scale. As they try various unsuccessful approaches, the questions ask why the ideas would not work, and how they might be improved. The authors in this book and in "How deep is the water" for first graders and "Bargains galore" for third graders have a cast of adult and child characters that are sympathetic but who consistently view the world in peculiar ways that can lead them into inferior solutions. Despite their appeal to mathematicians such as myself, the series had to be radically modified to sell, as elementary school teachers and parents were uncomfortable with the limited amount of drill. I used these books successfully to tutor my children in China for a year when they had no regular schooling, and later in volunteer weekly math "enrichment" sessions at their local school. I think they could be very valuable in home schooling or enriching standard school courses for children age 5-8, although they would have to be supplemented with some arithmetic drills.

If you are a thinking and well informed person with a feeling that something is not right in the world about you, this short work will awaken you to why. Think of this lecture as "the red pill" which will shake you lose from The Matrix.

While overtly totalitarian societies use brute force to extract cooperation from their subjects, the society Chomsky reveals, the one you and I live in, merely limits our cognitive options through propaganda, control of information, and psychological warfare. In the end, we become more the slave than our dictatorial counterparts, as our "democratic" showplace controls us through our range of thoughts and beliefs - taking our minds as well as our bodies.

Sir. Daniel provides an excellent overview of the issues related to distance learning and the impact it will have on society.

I bought this book not necessarily to learn Scottish music but because it provides the best "quick start" to playing reels, jigs, and traditional music in DADGAD and Open G tuning (I keep my OM in DADGAD and my slope shouldered 12-fretter in Open G).
While browsing through a large selection of books on Celtic music in DADGAD at a sheet music shop, I happened upon this one by Rob MacKillop and immediately purchased it. This shop had about ten books in the "Celtic" section and this was by far the best one. The first section is on technique, second section is songs in Open G, while the third section is on DADGAD. Lot of songs to learn. Highly recommended!

For readers concerned with the current debates about boys' education and gender justice, this is the best guide available. Bob Lingard and Peter Douglas have written a book that is judicious, very well informed, carefully argued and creative. It combines a commitment to equality with a practical concern for good schooling. R.W. CONNELL, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

Lingard and Douglas have produced a brilliant contribution to the tradition of men's pro-feminist theory and politics. This is that rare treat: a theoretically sophisticated and politically balanced intervention into an important and contentious public issue. Especially useful for teachers and educational theorists is their account of how men's negotiations with various conflicting feminist theoretical agendas play out for issues about educational policies and practices. SANDRA HARDING, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

"Men Engaging Feminisms" is a most engaging book, challenging both men and women to consider afresh their political commitments and practices. It argues against those who would resist such considerations about changing gender politics and it openly commits to a pro-feminist stance which is robustly argued. It is a must for all interested in issues of social justice and is particularly important for those concerned with issues of gender equity in schools. MIRIAM DAVID, INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, LONDON UNIVERSITY

This book was just as described and arrived earlier than expected. I would definitely shop here again!

For those interested in the welfare of the first, best and most-potentially democratic form of the electronic mass media (I'm speaking of radio of course) then this is a great book to add to your collection. If you are new to the issues facing LPFM and radio in general, this is a great place to start. Ruggiero does a great job of presenting the LPFM case, the roadblocks it faces and in a neat twist, tells us what we can do to help change things. Of course, you can only go so deep in 63 pamphlet-sized pages, but the book is definitely a good first step. For anyone who wants to dive in deeper, check out Chomsky, McChesney, Bettig or Jhally, just to name a few.

On the down side, the book is a bit dated in its description of the LPFM movement, but that shouldn't be held against it. The biggest problem I have with the book is the number of typos - I mean come on - if you want people to take your message seriously you should do a better job of proofreading. But if you are not so narrow-minded that you can't get past it, then the book is solid.

For me, the message is more important than picking at the mistakes. Radio has the unique power - over TV, computers, the internet - to be the world's best democratic force in terms of dissemination of messages, cost and portability. If the day comes where anyone can go to the drugstore, buy a *computer* for under five bucks, get free access to the outside world, and not get a hernia from carrying it around, then radio may have to hang it up. Since that won't happen anytime soon however, radio is still the way to go. Its just a shame that there is a need for the LPFM movement to exist, given the current dearth of truly public programming on the radio.

Anyone who wishes to debate this issue, feel free to email me - I need to sharpen my teeth a bit :)

Viva la radio! Power to the people!

I love these DVDs. For Seekers who want to become Finders, Adyashanti is a Great Light in the darkness. Every video satsang he does is terrific.

Rarely is a book able to both address both industry development issues and practical deployment issues impacting new technology adoption. This book does a great job doing exactly that for standards-based factory floor networks.