United States Books

The book is well written and entertaining. The story was nicely presented around the letters of Mary Pringle. All the similar names of the characters make it a little confusing. A nice reference chart showing the relationship of the characters should be included at the beginning of the book. Did the author hide some things to make the family look better? I wonder. It's hard for a Northerner to muster up a lot of sympathy for this family of slave owners. Perhaps Julius, who likely became a Unionist, was the real hero of the family. It's ironic that the South nearly destroyed our country in the 1860's, but is saving it today.

Mary's World helped me to understand life in the Antebellum South and the culture that thrived on slavery. But it also showed the North's response to winning the Civil War, which was anything but forgiving. It was a thrill to see the Miles Brewton House and the St. Michael's Cemetary on my recent visit to Charleston, and to feel the connection with the Mottes, Alstons, and Pringles.

In Mary's World Richard N. Cote has succeeded admirably where so many others have tried and yet missed the mark. With his succinct style and exceptional organizational skills he has laid bare the thoughts,emotions and lives of Mary Pringle, her family and their slaves, and done so in a way that has given us a book
that is informative as well as enjoyable. By putting their lives
into context with the times Mr Cote has given the reader not only the opportunity to learn what they thought and felt but the ability to understand why they thought and felt the way they
did. This book will appeal to historians and the average reader
alike.
It took me only 2 days to read Mary's World and I found myself
so absorbed that when interrupted I was momentarily confused to find I wasn't in 19th century Charleston.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN ANTEBELLUM CULTURE AND THE CIVIL WAR, THIS IS A MUST READ. EVEN FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T A STUDENT OF THE ERA, "MARY'S WORLD" IS STILL A FASCINATING GLIMPSE OF THE LIFE OF AN ELITE SOUTHERN PLANTER FAMILY. TAKEN FROM FAMILY PAPERS, THE STORY OF THE PRINGLES IS A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THEIR INNERMOST THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS.

THE READER GETS TO WATCH WILLIAM BULL AND MARY ALSTON PRINGLE'S CHILDREN GROW UP. BY THE END OF THE BOOK YOU FEEL AS IF YOU HAVE KNOWN THEM ALL. I DREADED FINISHING THE BOOK BECAUSE I FELT AS IF I WAS LEAVING OLD FRIENDS.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND MAKE TIME FOR THIS BOOK. REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU ARE AN "ANTEBELLUM-OPHILE" LIKE ME OR NOT, THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK.

I found this book in Charleston on vacation after touring this home. I loved this book! Now I want to visit again because I am so much more invested. I read this book for pure pleasure, and di it deliver! One doesn't need to visit the south to enjoy, the book takes you there. It gives such insight to the era and history the reader gets pulled right in.

Wow, Joy Butler has just made our lives easier. The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle is a user-friendly, detailed, wealth of knowledge for authors, producers and anyone who wants to use copyrighted material. I've written 4 books and had to wind my way through the jungle of permissions on my own, which was tedious and painful (news flash, your publisher doesn't track that stuff down for you and YOU are legally responsible for any inapporpriate use of material your use in your books and productions.) Thank you Joy for making every book I write in the future a breeze with your book now on my shelf right next to my desk.

Joy Butler's The Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle arrived promptly and I was blown away. The guide expertly covers rights, clearance issues, how to obtain clearance, minimizing risksThe Permission Seeker's Guide Through the Legal Jungle: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions (Guide Through the Legal Jungle). It also has a section at the end for resources and forms. Butler enables the reader to navigate through complex issues with ease. Her style is comfortable. You can pick it up and read straight through or skip to the sections that are of immediate concern.

This book should be required reading for all of us creative industries. Sure wish I'd had it earlier!

Shannon Grissom
Author: Monkey Made of Sockies
Television Producer: Give Your Walls Some Soul!

Joy R. Butler is endlessly impressive as she charts and details all of the legal choices, decisions and ramifications behind being a producer: that higher stage of artist which combines talent and inspiration with the realities of the global marketplace. This is, definitely, a book for the artist who is taking their craft and their lives to that next level.

The degree to which she covers virtually every subject that could be covered re copyrights, permissions, trademarks, etc. is daunting. The book in fact is so detailed and voluminous that being shellshocked or momentarily disheartened as an artist will be inevitable. Showing once again how litigious our society is, amongst her many examples of interpretations of the law--and what artists and producers must contend with in that context--include the following: a treasured Muslim friend & assistant of Spike Lee unexpectedly suing him for the right to be considered a co-writer of his masterpiece MALCOLM X; and Eminem's fourth grade bully suing him to get a share of a song written about him being overcome later in life after it broke the Billboard charts! (And we wonder why stars can be so aloof.)

Butler does say at the outset, however, that there may be big chunks of the book not designed for you, given your artistic specialty. And indeed, every artistic specialty is covered: from visual arts to computer arts; dance to drama; music of all genres to literary works; videos to commercials, TV, cinema and documentaries.

You may walk away from this book thinking as I do: I gotta hire her as my lawyer! But either way, in the end, you'll walk away from this book feeling inspired, as the wealth of information provided supplies you with new ways to approach your work--beginning with the degree to which it is or isn't dependent on the inspiration and marketable work of others. Knowing your options regarding trademarks, copyrights, and other rights to use or transform works that have either come before you or are part of your individual and unique production teaches you how to think big time--really big time--as an artist. And helps make the inevitable success associated with taking this mindset on possible.

Highly recommended.

Serendipitously, I received entertainment and business attorney, Joy R. Butler's "The Permission Seeker's Guide through the Legal Jungle" when a good friend of mine was in the process of designing and launching his website. Knowing that he had some trademark issues ( he had recently come up with a logo for his goods and services and wanted to protect his intellectual property) I promptly handed over this book and awaited a detailed synopsis of his first hand experience with it.

His comments exceeded my initial impression of this guide. While my reading of the book revealed a tightly crafted compendium of situations and solutions that arise during the identification and elimination of rights clearance problems in media production ----think anything through which people communicate and express themselves i.e., film, video, television programs, newspapers, magazines, posters, computer games, comic books, paintings, photographs, fine art, advertisements, websites, sculptures, books, etc.--my friend's opinion waxed practical as he followed the steps to insure that his production contained no material that violated the rights of another person.

Specifically, he wanted to use a song and CD photo on a website that he had heard on a CD and change key lyrics to reflect and promote his product and personal enterprise. Author Butler explains how to identify the rights owner - in this case the owner of the recording and the photographer of the photograph used on the CD cover----and how to seek permission to use the music and the photo. Using Butler's techniques, my friend successfully accomplished his mission and both the edited song and the photo appear on his website without the fear of kindling a lengthy expensive and tiresome lawsuit.

Butler's guide is definitely well organized; the summary table of contents, the table of contents and the index lay out with an encyclopedic precision exactly what the book contains. She presents an overall format for using the book, defines and explains relevant rights and laws, relays clearance issues for each media type, details the process of clearing rights and seeking permission, while minimizing risks and protecting oneself from possible lawsuits. Specific information is extremely easy to find within this volume; all topics are comprehensive, well documented and easy to read and comprehend with procedural information as well as examples of up-to-date cases and court rulings.

Bottom Line? On a real and practical level, Joy R. Butler's "The Permission Seeker's Guide through the Legal Jungle" provides a wealth of information that every writer and publisher should own and reference to avoid rights clearance problems in any media production. Recommended highly for all those who need to know the law and make it work in their favor.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

This book is written for publishers, writers, visual artists, muscians, music producers, film & TV producers, producers of Web sites and software, people, celebrities, and businesses. They all have or want intellectual property, and by reading this book they can learn how the commercial licensing of intellectual property works. The book has 28 chapters:

1. Guide to using this book
3. Copyright basics
4. Trademark basics
5. Common elements of privacy, publicity & defamation law
6. Right of privacy
7. Right of publicity
8. Defamation
9. Other relevant rights & laws
16. Getting organized (to seek permission)
17. Putting your own house in order
18. Submitting the request for permission
19. Negotiating the rights agreement
27. Methods of minimizing risks
28. Dealing with lawsuits

2. Checklist of clearance issues
CLEARANCE ISSUES FOR ...
10. Publishers & writers
11. Visual Artists
12. Musicians & music producers
13. Film, TV, & audio-visual producers
14. Producers of Web sites and software
15. Business
CLEARING RIGHTS AND SEEKING PERMISSION ...
20. To use books & other printed material
21. To use visual art
22. To use music
23. To use film, TV, & video footage
24. To use Web site & software materials
25. With respect to people
26. To use trademarks, products, & locations

The numbers above correspond to the chapters as they are sequenced in the book. I have rearranged the chapters in the order in which I would have liked to have seen them included in the book. Also, I would have liked the book better if it had been split into two parts instead of six. Part A would have included the chapters "1-28" as cited herein above. And Part B would have included the chapters "2-26." As a result of the way the book was organized I almost gave it a 4-star rating. But this book really is a gem and full of content.

My favorite chapters were chapters 2 & 3 (intellectual property law) and chapters 6-9 (tort law). And chapters 18 and 19 were really good, too. Clearly much of the book is aimed at topics an entertainment lawyer handles in her legal practice. But from my perspective as a SCORE small business counselor I think chapters 3, 4, 10, 14, 15, 20, and 24-28 are the most relevant to my clients' concerns. 5 stars!

I was very young when I read this book, still in grade school. While I admit, much of the rhetoric and philosophies concerning the sexual revolution were indeed lost to me, being that I was so young; I took with me, unto adulthood the humor and witty excerpts, which are indeed both so simple and clever. Years later, I still make references to this book; whether I regard it in terms of how it introduced/helped me, personally examine and evolve my ideas of sexuality or how much it still makes sense, it is a classic work of art. Read this book!!

Those who Get It should be printing up and handing out this book like Gideons. Every home should have one. Allan Sherman succeeds, as very few authors have, in laying out the terms and conditions of our domestication, and exhibiting nakedly the sad state of slavery under whose shadow we furtively fornicate. This is a hilarious book, which is a symptom of the wisdom it contains. In order to unravel the mystery of how the Sixth Pleasure got so screwed up that a sexual revolution was necessary, Sherman disentangles threads of politics, religion, and culture, all with a light touch and human sympathy. There is no other book that you need more urgently to read.

I'm just about finished with this book, it is absolutley the funniest book I have ever read. His detailed history of the "corruption" of our minds starting with the dawn of man is wonderful. The only tragedy to this book is that he isn't alive now to see how things have progressed since 1973. . .

It is an absolute must-read.

While Allan Sherman's musical offerings are witty and fun, this book is one of the most amazing documents ever published. Like most of the other folks here, I first read it when I was young (16) and have bought and lost (as loaners) several copies. I found a hardcover in a used bookstore about ten years ago and will never let it leave my house now, as replacement copies are amazingly expensive and hard to come by.

I consider it the funniest book ever written, and this comes from someone who absolutely adores Twain, so take that as extremely high praise.

I was lounging around at my grandparents house and saw this book on a bookshelf in one of the old rooms that nobody ever goes in anymore. I picked it up, and out of curiosity at the title, decided to read the first page...I must have sat there for HOURS reading! It is so hilarious (and at times not so hilarious.) It is also incredibly insightful. I just finished reading it today (I started 2 days ago) and have demanded that all my other 19 and 20 yr. old friends read it...it's THAT good, and still a great book even now in 2002, and even for us kids who weren't even alive until the 1980s! READ THIS BOOK!!!

Archbishop Chaput hits the nail on the head with this book written for all Christians of good will. This book is an easy read. I read it in a couple of hours. Yet the points that he makes are excellent. We really do need to stop leaving our faith at the church door and get out and change this country for the better. Read this book... it will challenge you and maybe even change you... for good.

The issue I want to introduce in a nutshell, and it is not really an over against critique but an expansion on this excellent theme, is this: When it comes to moral teachings that are not fully transparent to one's human reasoning, for example, involving the metaphysical distinctions regarding human life and human personhood (and especially as such distinctions might, for many in the political arena, reasonably raise parvity of matter questions that are particularly pertinent when values begin to conflict and compete), to the extent one obeys such teachings out of deference to a teaching authority and not rather as a consequence of reasoning one's way from an is to an ought, how could one then coherently urge such deference (what amounts to an obsequium religiosum or even fidei?) on others in a pluralistic society? It is not enough to claim that such a teaching authority's moral reasoning is grounded philosophically and is not essentially theological? That reasoning must also be genuinely compelling (perhaps especially to one's own flock, not to mention to a pluralistic society as a community of value-realizers writ large)? Metaphysical questions are at stake and metaphysics, by its very nature, is an exploratory and not an explanatory enterprise; it traffics in vague references and not robust descriptions, its language employing more so heuristic and less so theoretic concepts and categories, whereby metaphysics can legitimately probe but not conclusively prove realities. Hence, our deontologies should be considered as tentative as our ontologies are speculative, and urged, therefore, more modestly, which is to say more fallibilistically?

1) American democracy does not ask its citizens to put aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs for the sake of public policy. In fact, it requires exactly the opposite. (Inside Cover, Render Unto Caesar)

2) Catholics strongly support a proper and healthy separation of the civil and religious dimensions of our national life. Of course, everything depends on how we define "proper" and "healthy." No one in mainstream public life wants to force uniquely Catholic doctrines into federal law. But the "establishment clause" does not mean that religious believers, leaders or communities should be silent in public affairs. In fact, healthy democratic life requires the opposite. (Separation of Church and State, Render Unto Caeser)

Indeed, the American response to the Enlightenment critique stands in stark contrast to the Continental approach, which marginalized religion with its secularistic, Enlightenment fundamentalism, marked by an empiricistic rationalism and scientism.

3) The author draws significantly upon the thought of the late theologian, John Courtney Murray, S.J., who played a considerable role at Vatican II in the elaboration of the Council's pioneering Declaration on Religious Liberty, "Dignitatis humanae." Murray argued (and Chaput agrees) that the founding documents of American democracy drew upon a natural law vision that affirms universal truths about the human condition. Thus Catholics, with their commitment to the natural law tradition, have a crucial contribution to make to American public life and the political process. Indeed, how can one possibly contribute to the common good unless one brings to the discussion and debate one's deeply held values and moral convictions? ('Render Unto Caesar' answers crucial questions about intersection of faith and politics By Fr. Robert Imbelli L'Osservatore Romano)

This is all very consonant with Pope John Paul II's words from Fides et Ratio: "Although times change and knowledge increases, it is possible to discern a core of philosophical insight within the history of thought as a whole. Consider, for example, the principles of non-contradiction, finality and causality, as well as the concept of the person as a free and intelligent subject, with the capacity to know God, truth and goodness. Consider as well certain fundamental moral norms which are shared by all. These are among the indications that, beyond different schools of thought, there exists a body of knowledge which may be judged a kind of spiritual heritage of humanity. It is as if we had come upon an implicit philosophy, as a result of which all feel that they possess these principles, albeit in a general and unreflective way. Precisely because it is shared in some measure by all, this knowledge should serve as a kind of reference-point for the different philosophical schools. Once reason successfully intuits and formulates the first universal principles of being and correctly draws from them conclusions which are coherent both logically and ethically, then it may be called right reason or, as the ancients called it, orth(o-)s logos, recta ratio."

Also, consider these reflections of R. Mary Hayden Lemmons ( First Things, April 1995, On Natural Law: Carl F. H. Henry & Critics):"Moreover, believers ought not deny the universal accessibility of moral norms. For if moral precepts were not universally accessible and if their justification belonged only to the realm of faith, then moral norms would bind only believers. ... ... Moral claims are justified through logical arguments that appeal to the requirement of human nature and dignity."

However one grounds one's moral philosophy, indeed, the Catholic affirmation of human moral reasoning capacities over against any fundamentalistic fideisms recognizes and affirms the efficacies of moral discourse even in pluralistic societies. However ...

4) Pluralism is a demographic fact. Nothing more. It is not a philosophy or ideology or surrogate creed. It does not imply that all ideas and religious beliefs are equally valid, because they are not. Pluralism never excuses us from speaking and acting to advance our beliefs about justice and the common good in the public square. (Introduction, Render Unto Caesar)

5) Obviously the common good demands a respect for other people with different beliefs and a willingness to compromise whenever possible. But for Catholics, the common good can never mean muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity. Christian faith is always personal but never private. This is why any notion of tolerance that tries to reduce faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public, will always fail. (Introduction, Render Unto Caesar)

6) We can't separate our private convictions from our public actions without diminishing both. In the words of the author, "How we act works backward on our convictions, making them stronger or smothering them under a snowfall of alibis." (Inside Cover, Render Unto Caesar)

This affirmation of the willingness to compromise seems in line with a Catholic tradition of political realism, wherein the best is not allowed to become the enemy of the good. Such compromises are practical and not theoretical, which is to say not a capitulation to any insidious indifferentism, facile syncretism, false irenicism or moral relativism but, rather, an approach that is both incremental and principled.

7) American Catholics and other persons of good heart are part of a struggle for our nation's future, says Charles J. Chaput. Our choices, including our political choices, matter. Catholics need to take an active, vocal, and morally consistent role in public debate. We can't claim to personally believe in the sanctity of the human person and then act in our public policies as if we don't. (Inside Cover, Render Unto Caesar)

Religion News Service caught up with Archbishop Chaput to talk politics and theology, as the Democrats were holding their national convention in his backyard. RNS asked: "Why should non-Catholics agree with church teaching on abortion?" and Chaput replied: "This is not a Catholic position, it's a human rights issue that our faith encourages us to support. To identify this as a Catholic issue is a trap. It was the law of the land for decades. It was the way human beings thought human beings should be treated. That's the kind of question that irritates me." (http://ncronline3.org/drupal/?q=node/1760 )

Chaput also recently corrected Joe Biden: "Sen. Biden is a man of distinguished public service. That doesn't excuse poor logic or bad facts. Asked when life begins, Sen. Biden said that, "it's a personal and private issue." But in reality, modern biology knows exactly when human life begins: at the moment of conception. Religion has nothing to do with it. People might argue when human "personhood" begins - though that leads public policy in very dangerous directions - but no one can any longer claim that the beginning of life is a matter of religious opinion. (http://www.catholic.org/politics/story.php?id=29157 )

These are all excellent commentaries on the place of religion in public discourse and are consistent with the document "Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship: A Call to Political Responsibility from the Catholic Bishops of the United States," wherein it is written: "What faith teaches about the dignity of the human person and about the sacredness of every human life helps us see more clearly the same truths that also come to us through the gift of human reason. At the center of these truths is respect for the dignity of every person. This is the core of Catholic moral and social teaching. Because we are people of both faith and reason, it is appropriate and necessary for us to bring this essential truth about human life and dignity to the public square. The Catholic community brings important assets to the political dialogue about our nation's future. We bring a consistent moral framework--drawn from basic human reason that is illuminated by Scripture and the teaching of the Church-- for assessing issues, political platforms, and campaigns. We also bring broad experience in serving those in need--educating the young, caring for the sick, sheltering the homeless, helping women who face difficult pregnancies, feeding the hungry, welcoming immigrants and refugees, reaching out in global solidarity, and pursuing peace. The Church equips its members to address political and social questions by helping them to develop a well-formed conscience. Catholics have a serious and lifelong obligation to form their consciences in accord with human reason and the teaching of the Church."

Some Relevant Distinctions

Some of the distinctions that have been introduced are those between faith and reason, the teaching of the Church and human reason, personal and private issues, religious and civil dimensions, justification in the realm of faith and justification through logical argument, private convictions and public actions, the beginning of life and the beginning of personhood, and so on and so forth.

From a sociologic perspective, such distinctions bring to mind additional distinctions that have a direct bearing on our present consideration. In a pluralistic society, we might recognize that not all of our definitions and distinctions, concepts and categories, seem to enjoy universal acceptance. This holds true whether we employ them in descriptive, normative, interpretive or evaluative modes. Our concepts and categories can be characterized in many ways. I have found it useful to distinguish them, from the standpoint of any given community of value-realizers, as negotiated or nonnegotiated by that community. The nonnegotiable concepts and categories I like to call semiotic for they make our communications possible and without them we could not establish any meaning at all; they would include various first principles and other noninferential propositions to which we all pretty much assent out of practical necessity, however we might otherwise attempt to ground them philosophically.

The negotiated categories and concepts then fall into three buckets: the dogmatic or nonnegotiated, the heuristic or still in negotiation, and the theoretic or negotiated. The reason such distinctions are salient to our discussion is that, as we move from a religious community of value-realizers into a wider, pluralistic community of value-realizers, the lingua franca is going to necessarily change, which is to recognize that --- not only are our descriptive, normative, interpretive and evaluative stances going to possibly (probably) differ, which is enough of a problematic, but --- many of our concepts and categories are going to be subject to renegotiation, which is to suggest that many of our dogmatic beliefs will have to be bracketed and some of our heuristic placeholders will have little normative force for others.

Usually, we will still have all of our semiotic concepts and categories and most of our theoretic ones, too, which, serving as givens (the is), can help us reason together toward the normative (the ought). Now, there are some who, with Hume, would deny our ability to reason from the descriptive to the prescriptive, from an is to an ought, from the given to the normative, who do not affirm even the inherent normativity of epistemology, itself, and all I can suggest is that, if they should come for tea, hide your silver spoons.

All of this is to suggest that the Society of Jesus is correct in saying: "When abortion laws are changed, it will not be the imposition of a narrowly confined religious position upon an unwilling majority, but rather the consequence of a new broad-based consensus grounded upon persuasive and reasonable arguments accessible to people of all faith traditions and people of none ... ... ... ... ... ... ... We must acknowledge, however, that phrases such as `the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' and `the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family' in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, are phrases with contested meanings that others understand differently than we do." (A Statement of the Society of Jesus in the United States on Abortion)

As Catholics enter into public discourse, there are additional distinctions that come to bear. One involves the Church's hierarchy of truths and doctrinal authority; see this discussion by Cardinal Dulles at http://woodstock.georgetown.edu/church_studies/reese/ec/ec-7dulles.htm , this one by Dr. William May at http://www.ignatiusinsight.com/features2006/wmay_authority_nov06.asp.

What is at stake in these discussions are distinctions between the various "voices" of the Magisterium and the types of responses they require from the Faithful, sometimes distinguished as the assent of faith (obsequium fidei) and religious assent (obsequium religiosum). There are further distinctions that come into play such as: a) obsequium religiosum, which means to be acknowledged with reverence and adhered to sincerely (somewhat analogous to that which is commonly called "the benefit of the doubt") or one with the searching church, working for clarification; b) voluntatis obsequium or obedience; c) intellectus obsequium or deference; d) attention bienveillante or cordial attention; e) docilité d'esprit or willingness to be instructed; and f) obsequium fidei or the unconditional acceptance of faith, which is an unqualified mental acceptance (beyond but not without the propositional), whereby we are one with the believing church holding firm to a doctrine.

What all of these orientations have in common is that they are a form of assent, which represent an unconditional belief in propositions that can be apprehended even if not fully comprehended; the object of assent is truth. Per Cardinal Newman, simple assent is an act of the intellect "direct, absolute, complete in itself, unconditional, arbitrary, yet not incompatible with an appeal to argument, and at least in many cases exercised unconsciously," and which, via one's illative sense, the extension of assent to non-logically proved propositions is not unreasonable.

The above-discussion of the hierarchy of truth, voices of the Magisterium and responses of the Faithful vis a vis various types of assent has only an indirect bearing on our consideration to the extent we must draw a further distinction, with Cardinal Newman, between assent and inference, which he considers to be a proposition intrinsically dependent on other propositions, where the object of inference is truth-like and ultimately syllogistic. This, then, introduces another assent, complex assent, which is made consciously and deliberately with acts of inference as its antecedents.

To wit, then, per P.J. Toner `s entry on Infallibility in The Catholic Encyclopedia: "Assent is given not to the logical force of the syllogism, but directly to the authority which the inference serves to introduce; and this holds good in a measure even when there is question of mere fallible authority. Once we come to believe in and rely upon authority we can afford to overlook the means by which we were brought to accept it, just as a man who has reached a solid standing place where he wishes to remain no longer relies on the frail ladder by which he mounted. (Volume VII. Published 1910. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910.)

Now, even as we properly suggest that our fellow Catholics "[must] bring to the discussion and debate one's deeply held values and moral convictions," before we either explicitly or implicitly suggest that they are somehow a) "putting aside their deeply held moral and religious beliefs" b) "muting themselves in public debate on foundational issues of human dignity" c) "[reducing] faith to private idiosyncrasy, or a set of opinions that we can indulge at home but need to be quiet about in public" d) "separating [their] private convictions from [their] public actions ... diminishing both" e) "smothering [their convictions] under a snowfall of alibis" --- it seems to me that it is incumbent upon us to inquire of this or that fellow Catholic as to exactly what type of assent they have given to this or that moral teaching. (Hence, the Bishops' desires to meet with this or that politician?)

This is to suggest that some Catholics might have, with utmost deference and a most cordial attention, demonstrated a clear willingness to be instructed, and further, that these very same Catholics have, then, with all due reverence, sincerely and obediently adhered to and acknowledged, sometimes with an obsequium religiosum, sometimes with even an obsequium fidei, this or that moral teaching of the Church, even as they have not consciously and deliberately engaged an act of inference in following a logical argument, although, again, not unreasonably extending such assent to a non-logically proved proposition.

This is also to suggest that other Catholics, with the same deference, attention, willingness, reverence, sincerity, obedience, acknowledgment and obsequium may have assented even though they have indeed engaged an act of inference but, in so doing, could not, with all intellectual honesty, be moved by this or that syllogistic force or concur in this or that logical conclusion, perhaps, in all good faith, not even recognizing certain of the concepts and categories employed in such arguments. This is to suggest that the snowfall of ad hominem characterizations of such loyal Catholics and faithful citizens would melt before it hits the ground, because such rash judgment is one thing that assuredly has no place in our public square.

Only if one, as a believer, engages in both assent and inference, however formally or informally, can one then honestly urge such convictions on the wider community of value-realizers through such formal argumentation as is the currency of political discourse. As we know from cultural appeals and imagery, political communications also (maybe even mostly) employ our imaginations and subrational faculties. There are many believers who, not unreasonably, but without conscious reflection, deliberate assent or formal inference, sincerely hold, practice, and are genuinely convicted of, certain moral teachings; such believers can still give profound witness to the secular world through the example of their lives in protecting innocents and serving those in need, and also through narrative and storytelling; still, it behooves all to strive toward a more conscious competence and ongoing intellectual conversion that they might better contribute to formal public discourse. With St. Francis, I'm not wholly convinced that the formal discourse would be more efficacious than the living witness, but it's still best that we take a holistic approach and cover all evangelistic bases. Still, as Newman suggests, we want to eschew any "slavish reliance on the capricious ipse dixit of authority".

http://www.geocities.com/rc4o08/abortion_politics.htm

A concise review of the American history of Catholicism that calls us to better integrate our private and public life.

Archbishop Chaput has made a clear and concise explanation of the issues for which Catholics, and other believing Christians, will be responsible for deciding on election day. His emphasis on LIFE, in all of its forms beginning with conception through death is paramont. No other issue can superceed its gravity. If we continue on the path of "excusing" politicians who rationalize "choice" as a course for their votes, then our society is doomed to failure as was the Roman Empire. The book helps clarify how one must priauthorize the issues in the coming election.
Highly readable, and important for any believing adult.

Archbishop Charles Chaput eloquently explains the necessity and obligation of Catholics and all Christians to be part of the political process. This book is obviously divinely inspired and a great read!

I travelled the Mother Road in September 1960 in a 1956 Ford from Chicago to LA. The book refreshed many memories of this trip. I was quite happy to go through the pages and I will continue to do so.

I have really enjoyed this book, Route 66: The Mother Road..." It is very interesting and full of information that you probably have never known before. Also pictures of people along the way. I am not a collector of Route 66 things but we needed something for a Painting Reception and this fit in with our theme. I ordererd it and I'm so glad I did. I am planning to read it from cover to cover when our Show is over. The book was sent on time and packaged very well. All-in-all it was an excellent experience.

As a child my family traveled between Tucson and NW Missouri over a number of years to visit relatives. I vividly remember neon signs, interesting signs, gas stations and diners along the way. This book made those memories come alive. The author brings in the history behind place names and the stories of the colorful and interesting people who created the various attractions along Route 66. I don't know when I have enjoyed reading a book more than this one. Michael Wallis, thank you.

Everything you would like to know about Route 66. This book and it's author served as the main source of infromation & inspiration for the Disney/Pixar classic animated movie "Cars". A must have for the motoring history buff.

As we get older we appreciate memories from our youth more and more. I can remember riding in my parents car on trips along Route 66. This book is full of memories and interesting information about this historic road. We plan to take the Lincoln Highway from California to New York and come home on Route 66. We bought this book as our travel guide home and plan to visit many of the places listed in its pages. We also bought The Lincoln Highway: Coast to Coast for our guide book east. Both books are a must for the adventure we are planning; a cross country trip in our 1941 Oldsmobile street rod.

I loved each and every story in this book. They are very enlightening and gives you a sense of how relationships are supposed to be and how to live a fulfilling life

I loved this book! It is absolutely wonderful..I can't put it down.Every short story is a page turner and I've learned so much through reading her books! I highly recommend this book!

This was a nice read, but not good for a book club discussion. The book includes some awesome stories that makes you feel good about love. The only thing we didn't like was that all of the stories were written in another (older) time period. It would have been good if the stories could have reflected modern times.

loved this and bascilly all of her books! Once I get started I read them till I am finished, nonstop.

Sometimes even your best friend hesitates to tell you when she/he knows you're playin' a fool, but in this book of rollicking stories, you may see yourself in a few, and Ms. Cooper will be your new best friend for pointing things out to you. Even after 20+ years of marriage, I could still find useful insights ("wake up, girl!") into life, love, and perseverance. You can sink real low, but nobody can KEEP you there but yourself. Ms. Cooper gives literary voice to a large number of African American women, and her writing is as meaningful (and maybe more so) to those who are not African American women.

"Look in your heart. What's there?"
"What's there is trying to keep my family together. Trying to heal the rift in my family. It seems like all my life, I've been trying to make sense of it, to piece it all together."
"Like the quilt?"
"Yes, like the quilt."

Hannah Chelmsford has to hold her family together. That is why she has never been able leave her father's house, to find a separate life for herself. She has become aware of the fact that her family is painfully broken, that there is an undercurrent of secrets and anger in her house, and that she, who has been the one to take care of her brothers and sisters since her mother's death, has to hold all the pieces of her family together, like the many pieces of a quilt.

Set in the post revolutionary war era, A Stitch in Time is very opulent story, abundant with human feelings. Hannah's family has long struggled under a heavy secret, a secret that destroyed her parents marriage and even now seems to be tearing apart her family. Hannah and her two sisters, Abby and Thankful, are making a quilt. At first, only pieces for family are going to be put into it, but they decide to add people who have meant something in their life, those whom they trust. When events tear the sisters far apart, their parts of the quilt link them together, and Hannah hopes that some day the quilt will bring them together again.

I love how Ann Rinaldi weaves so much into the story, which I couldn't put down until I had turned the last page. Nathan Chelmsford, Hannah's father, is distant, cold, indifferent, overbearing. He refuses to allow Hannah and Abby marry the men they wish. He is cold and indifferent to Lawrence, because he wishes to paint rather than become a merchant. He is cruel and hardhearted to poor Cabot, whom he seems to hate beyond all things. To Thankful, the only child to inherit his one blue and one green eye, he places all his fatherly love, seeing her as his only perfect child.

Abby elopes with a young Southerner. Lawrence, Hannah's older brother, goes west with their father and Thankful, where he hopes to paint the Indians. Guilt and anxiety plague Hannah, who fears for Thankful's safety. But what could she do, when spiteful and vindictive Thankful threatened Abby's happiness if she was not allowed to go west with her father?

Louis, a young man Hannah was once engaged to, shows up at her door, asking her to take in a half-Indian baby, Louis' child, whose mother was killed by Kentuckians during a raid on a Shawnee village. Can Hannah take the baby for Louis, when there will be danger both to her and the baby in Salem? Many of the townspeople have loved ones in the west, loved ones who are in constant peril from the Shawnee Indians . . . What if they take out their anger and fear on the baby?

And Richard Lander. Hannah's good friend since childhood. Already, he has asked her to marry her twice, once when she was four and he was ten. She has such confused feelings for him, especially when rumors spread about the mysterious destination of his ship, which only his investors, his crew, and he himself know. Can she learn to trust him, and to place her heart in his hands?

This is the first book by Ann Rinaldi that I have read, but I enjoyed it very much and look forward to reading the two other books in the Quilt Trilogy, Broken Days and The Blue Door. I think anyone who enjoys historical fiction would love this story, which gives a very accurate depiction of the post revolutionary war era in Salem, Massachusetts, and the kind of life the townspeople would live during that time. This is definitely a book better suited to teenagers than younger readers, because it deals with some mature and serious subjects.

The story of a rich New England family in the post revolutionary war era. It centers around three sisters who are beginning a quilt together. Only people who have touched their lives will contribute a piece of fabric to the quilt. The sisters seperate but you realize the families will be reunited in books later in the series. This novel seemed more contrived than most of Rinaldi's novels but still thrilling. Worth a read but if you haven't yet become a Rinaldi fan I would recommend Cast Two Shadows or A Break with Charity first.

I really enjoyed reading the book, A Stitch in Time. I would mostly recommend it to somone who enjoys historical fiction, like me, but the themes of trust, family, and romance can be enjoyed by all. Teenagers ages 12-16 would especially like it because they could see what life for someone their age would be like in the late 1700's. The plot has many twists and turns and has a surprise ending. This book has two sequals that are also worth reading!

I LOVED this book as it says in the title its the perfect book. I first found it when my school librarian reccommended it for a trip i was taking at first i was skeptical i mean come on "The Quilt Trilogies" where do u get a name like that? when i picked it up BOY did i feel stupid! I couldnt put it down and was really really upset when i finished it (i wanted more about Hannah and Richard!:( ) i had to wait 2 days to go to the library to get broken days i was disappointed with it it wasnt nearly as good as A stitch in time to me at least id reccommend A Stitch in Time to any one who can read not just historical fiction readers btw from how she describes him - if he didnt have long hair Richard sounds kinda hott!!!

This book was great! WOW! To tell you the truth, it wasn't one of the best Ann Rinaldi books I've ever read, but hey, it passes. Fifteen year-old Hannah Chelmsford has a mixed up life: a seperated family we could call it. Her father is a mean old man who won't allow either Hannah or Abby(his oldest daughters) to marry who they wish, he won't let his son Lawrence marry or paint, and his youngest son he hates beyond all things. Thankful is his favorite, and the only "perfect" Chelmsford in her father's eyes. Well, Hannah's mother is dead, and she takes it as her job to hold the family together. She even starts on a quilt with her two sisters. They each have a cloth, and patch together peices of people they love and trust in their lives. When her youngest brother, Cabot, runs off to sea, a secret about their mother is revealed, and Hannah finds her true love, Richard. Later in the story, we find out that when father, Lawrence, and Thankful were on their trip west, Thankful is taken by Indians. Read this to find out the rest...it's great!

This book was SO good. It is one of the best queer spiritual journeys I've ever read. Sara Miles is unpretentious and honest, and I think she captures the spiritual dilemmas that so many of us face right now.
If you are struggling with your spiritual journey and chafe against old names and categories, this book will change your life. I think it's going to be a very influential text.
Oh, and it's a fabulous read! I couldn't put it down.

Take This Bread: A Radical ConversionThis book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding the community of food! Sara Miles is a writer and was an athiest who came to understand the role of sharing a meal in building community. After a varied career of cooking in restaurant kitchens and serving as an activist in poverty stricken and war torn countries, she comes home to a radical conversion resulting from the simple words: "Take this bread" said to her at a service of Holy Communion. Her conversion leads to growth in understaning the community that God intends for all humankind. Along the way, she is drawn into the community with afforded by a food pantry program she starts at her newly found church community.

Its all about the human hunger for belonging and for the meaning that comes from sharing food!

A wonderful book and a quick read!

Sara Miles' book "Take This Bread" is a perfect read for our times. Her realization that feeding others is an ultimate act of goodness came during a worship service. But the real story is what she did next. She went out from that church and created a feeding program when others said it couldn't be done. Then she helped others create feeding programs. I have recommended the book to people of different faiths and political views. They all love it. And even more, they have been inspired to get involved in helping the hungry. The new paperback version contains a Readers' Guide - perfect for book groups.

take this bread is one of the best left-of-center spiritual memoirs i've read, ever.

sara miles is a self-described liberal, an intellectual journalist who spent much of her life covering wars from the side of the oppressed (often in stark contrast to u.s. policy). she grew up in a staunchly athiest home (though both of her parents were children of missionaries, which ends up playing into her story in surprising and deeply satisfying ways), and was, as she says, the last person her friends would have expected to start talking about jesus.

sara walked into a san francisco church one day -- called, one might way; compelled, she wasn't sure why -- and took the eucharist. and something clicked, in that moment. she had an encounter with jesus that she was never able to dismiss or shake off. eventually, her connection with jesus became a compelling call to feed others, as she was fed. sara started a food pantry, literally ON the alter of her extremely nervous church. the book walks through her multiple conversions, and those of the people around her, many of them already professed christians.

the comparisons to anne lamott are easy (especially to anne's first spiritual memoir, traveling mercies). both are brilliant with words; both are liberals from san francisco, who grew up in book-loving, athiest, intellectual homes; both are liberal in every sense of the word; and both are deeply in love with jesus and passionate about following his lead. this -- i think -- is what seperates both anne and sara from classical liberals, who spent a good deal of their time distancing themselves from jesus.

but sara miles and anne lammott are not the same. sara doesn't have annie's wit, which, while i absolutely adore annie's wit, makes this book somewhat more compelling, and a bit less like a collection of witty, liberal, jesus-y essays. if annie's "theme" is her self-loathing and insecurity, sara's strong-willed theme is: food. food weaves its way through every chapter of the book: from her childhood, to her experiences as a chef in new york, to her connections with people in the third world, to her intitial and ongoing experience with jesus, to her establishment of one, then many, food pantries. it's hard not to read this book and not simultaneously hanker for a chunk of some cheese you can't pronounce, and want to give that cheese to someone who wouldn't otherwise experience their next meal.

wonderful, wonderful reading. challenging at points. highly edible. deeply nourishing.

I love reading about converts to the Episcopal Church, I am one myself. The more unusual the story, the more it interests me and Miles' story fits that bill. Although I found some things about her puzzling- for instance: she calls herself "lesbian" but has an affair with a man (Huh?!) and then she seems to think that getting pregnant in the middle of a war was a good idea (What?!), I thought her life was fascinating. She is also admirable for starting the food pantry, and for linking food to ministry and to communion- the Body of Christ. The analogy is excellent. It also shows how a church can be so open and welcoming to all people from all walks of life, and although not intended as an ad for the Episcopal Church, it sure serves as great publicity!

Torpedo Junction is a very educational and interesting book about German submarines destroying numerous ships and their cargos and many deaths. It is historically accurate and enlightening. Once you start this book, it is difficult to put down.

I recommended it to anyone interested in history, WWII and what happened on the East Coast of the U.S., particularly from New Jersey to North Carolina.

The U-boat war off America's coast "Operation Drumbeat" was merely one of Germany's U-boat operations. This book is an interesting read. I, like others, wasn't aware of the magnitude of U-boat operations off America's coast. It's a great account. It's limited to that operation. There's hardly anything beyond Operation Drumbeat...but that was the book's intent. It's a good account.

I've read a number of books over the years, both about WWII and other topics. I can say that Torpedo Junction is the most fascinating book I've ever read. Even though the author gives lots of details about the attacks, he keeps it moving along at a steady clip. I didn't want to put the thing down. It's very well-documented (albeit with some secondary sources), but also provides a lighter narrative style along to way to break up the "action reports."

Ultimately how good I like a book is if I'm committed to finish it. Torpedo Junction by Homer Hickman is a book I had to finish, but I was so interested in what it revealed I hardly wanted it to end. Many factors were at work here. First, Mr. Hickman's writing is so clear and linear that it belies the painstaking research such an easy to read factual narrative requires. Thank you Mr. Hickman for doing the work so I could both be reviled and astonished!

This little known yet very tragic part of World War II played out right at our doorstep. Because of Japan's audacity to hit us with one massive surprise salvo the even more insideous U-Boat war on the U.S. coastline played out largely unknown to the general public. For months that seemed to drag on and on the Germans sank boat after boat after boat. Maybe for our protection or maybe because we couldn't quite get a handle on how to stop the German U-Boat threat the mounting damage was kept quiet. It was a tremendous tragedy which caused great loss of life as well as massive destruction of resources. With Torpedo Junction we can finally see how close to home death truly came. Also, we get to know the true courage of those who protected our home shores so we could both support the war effort as well as keep that all important semblance of a "normal life" at home. To know the facts surrounding the North Atlantic U-Boat war helps to rectify those long years of not talking about it.

I recommend this book as both educational and entertaining. As with Rocket Boys I was pulled inside a time and place as if I was there. Storytelling really doesn't get better than this.

As the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Dione's lead soundman during period of Hickman's book I can attest that he did a wonderful job telling our story about some real hazardous duty. Homer's collaboration with our Radioman 1st, Swede Larson really paints the futility and danger of our sub chasing before and after convoys. I'm so glad Homer wrote about us. Now maybe we won't be forgotten.

This book is awesome! If you have a child that receives special education services you NEED this book!! This book is full of the answers I have been looking for, for the last 4 years.I have read it twice and will read it again. This is an easy read it is broken down into 5 sections that everyone can understand. My favorite is section #3 The Parent as Expert. I used this section along with the others to get my son ESY services and 1:1 reading remediation.

Here is my success story, thanks to the knowledge I gained from this book......

I read section 3 while attending the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and Advocacy 2 day Boot Camp .When I got home I looked through my son's file and found 2 woodcock reading mastery test. I immediately requested a meeting with the school and requested that they give him another one this year, and give me the results before our Annual Review Meeting in May.

Well, I got the results and used power point as the book suggested and designed a graph using the Standard Scores from the test. I was not sure what cluster score they used to determine regression so I did one for each of them. In our Annual Review meeting they started talking about how well my son has done and how much progress he has made this year.( I knew what was coming next because it is the same thing they have said for the last 3 years, almost verbatim) Well before they said he did not qualify for Extended School Year Services (ESY) I asked them to explain how it all worked and what cluster score they used to make these determinations; so they explained it to me. I then pulled out my graph and said " well I had to put it in a graph because I am such a visual person and this data is so confusing and It just looks like a bunch of numbers etc etc....but what you explained to me is that we use this cluster and when I plugged in that Standard Score he has really show significant regression not progress like you were just saying. They said, "well now that we see it like that we see what you are saying, it has never been presented with that sort of twist to us before."

Well, he will be receiving ESY this year,using an Orton-Gillingham based program. I just got the Notice of Conference Decision copy in the mail and I found this statement quite amusing....

" The school presented data that indicated (child's name)did not qualify for extended year services. Mrs. Graves presented data that showed (child's name) has not made significant gains in reading during this school year and is thus further delayed by his grade placement than he was last year. The committee agreed to accept this conclusion and provide summer services."

Knowledge is truly power, This book along with the Wrightslaw Special Education Law and advocacy Boot Camp helped me get my son the help he has needed for the past 4 years!

As if being confronted with the diagnosis of a learning or developmental disability in your child wasn't stressful enough, upon diagnosis and classification, a parent is thrown into the ocean that is special education and the bureaucratic nightmare that goes along with it. This book is a treasure trove of strategies - everything from managing your paperwork to managing your emotions with respect to special education is covered. "The best way to avoid due process is to assume and prepare for due process" and "treat your relationship with the school personnel as a marriage with no possibility of divorce" are two of the most powerful "Wrightisms" I came away with and have served us well in advocating for our children with autism.

If you have the opportunity to attend a Wrightslaw boot camp in your area, bypass the purchase of this book and wait until you attend the conference - this book is often included in the conference fees.

Very simplistic language makes this a good primer for parents new to special education. For those with some experience, I found this book to be too rudimentary. However, I will lend it to parents of children just diagnosed.

This book is a wonderful asset for parents who are advocating for their kids. Many times I have let my emotions control my dealings with the school and this book explains why that is detrimental to your childs education.

FETA will help you understand why it is so critical to control your emotions and use them as a source of energy.

Chapter 5 explains obstacles that parents encounter (misinformation, school culture, etc) and how to overcome. It gives examples of several personality types and strategies for dealing with them.

Chapter 6 is about resolving conflicts with the school. It acknowledges the frustration many parents feel and gives you excellent advice on the best way to handle yourself. It describes common reasons for conflict and recommends solutions.

The other chapters are just as wonderful. I cannot say enough good about this book. It has saved me from much embarrassment with my child's school - since I am a bit outspoken (understatement!)

The book also discusses the importance of record keeping. It details how to create a file for your child, obtain confidential school records under the FERPA act, the importance of effective letter writing ("Letter to the Stranger") and it even has sample letters in the appendix.

I have an autistic son and this book has been my savior. It is a must have for anyone entering into the "world" of special needs. I have many other books but I constantly refer to this book in the end. It walks you step-by-step on how to write letters requesting information from your child's school and provides templates for many other well written letters you may need to use.

This book is not a complicated read..it reads fast and is easily understandable. I bought the Wrights Law book also and was able to read this book and refer to the Law book at the same time. As you delve into the special education system you will want to get books that help you write more complex IEP goals..but trust me you will be digging into your stack of books reaching for this book over and over again