Book Description
In this, his first major book, Mark Steyn--probably the most widely read, and wittiest, columnist in the English-speaking world--takes on the great poison of the twenty-first century: the anti-Americanism that fuels both Old Europe and radical Islam. America, Steyn argues, will have to stand alone. The world will be divided between America and the rest; and for our sake America had better win.
Customer Reviews:
Unfortunately True.......2007-10-14
Every single American should read this book! He explains exactly how the Muslims are conquering the world. More wives = more babies = more Muslims = more terrorism. This is a religion that should nor even exist in the 21st century. They are commanded to murder everyone that refuses to convert to Islam. Most Americans do not understand that the greatest threat to the future of the world (especially America) is the Muslim religion.
America Alone.......2007-10-11
Every person in the USA should read this book. Today in the Dallas Morning news(10/10/07)there is an editorial by Anne Applebaum verifing one of the facts stated it this book. Ms. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who is under death threat because of her comments about the mistreatment of women in the Dutch Muslin community had to move to the US because the Dutch say it is too expensive to protect her and she will not shut up. No free speech for her. Mohammed Bouyeri murdered the Dutch writer, Theo Van Gohg, because he made a film about the oppression of Muslim women.
Funny, but also an important message........2007-10-11
While I cannot say that anybody reading this should have more kids just out of the guilt this book might give you, it is an important message about the sad effects of low birthrates. Mark Steyn has a quick wit and funny tone that is clearly not politically correct (good for him). Anybody who enjoys a good laugh or is concerned about terrorism should read this.
A Must-Read!.......2007-10-10
This book was every bit as good as I had heard. I've always enjoyed Mark Steyn, but hadn't gotten a chance to read this yet because I had a stack of books in front of it. That's my loss, because this was one of the most profound and eye-opening books I've ever read. To be honest, I pay pretty close attention to this conflict we find ourselves in, so most of the individual facts in this book weren't exactly foreign to me. But Steyn pulls all this together and presents it in such a concise, clear and entertaining way that I was able to put the pieces together in a way I hadn't even imagined. His demographic data alone is shocking, and should make every person in Europe and Canada sit up and take serious note - I'll be paying very close attention to what happens over the next few years "across the pond", as they say, for how goes Europe, so will eventually go America. I plan to buy several more copies of this book and hand them out to friends and family. I highly suggest it.
Excelent book. Really crunches the numbers like no other book........2007-10-05
This book really lays out the problems with hard numbers and facts in a way I have never seen and is easy to understand. I recomend this book to anyone who is worried about the muslim issue. People in Europe better read it asap!
Amazon.com
Celebrated economist Jeffrey Sachs has a plan to eliminate extreme poverty around the world by 2025. If you think that is too ambitious or wildly unrealistic, you need to read this book. His focus is on the one billion poorest individuals around the world who are caught in a poverty trap of disease, physical isolation, environmental stress, political instability, and lack of access to capital, technology, medicine, and education. The goal is to help these people reach the first rung on the "ladder of economic development" so they can rise above mere subsistence level and achieve some control over their economic futures and their lives. To do this, Sachs proposes nine specific steps, which he explains in great detail in The End of Poverty. Though his plan certainly requires the help of rich nations, the financial assistance Sachs calls for is surprisingly modest--more than is now provided, but within the bounds of what has been promised in the past. For the U.S., for instance, it would mean raising foreign aid from just 0.14 percent of GNP to 0.7 percent. Sachs does not view such help as a handout but rather an investment in global economic growth that will add to the security of all nations. In presenting his argument, he offers a comprehensive education on global economics, including why globalization should be embraced rather than fought, why international institutions such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank need to play a strong role in this effort, and the reasons why extreme poverty exists in the midst of great wealth. He also shatters some persistent myths about poor people and shows how developing nations can do more to help themselves.
Despite some crushing statistics, The End of Poverty is a hopeful book. Based on a tremendous amount of data and his own experiences working as an economic advisor to the UN and several individual nations, Sachs makes a strong moral, economic, and political case for why countries and individuals should battle poverty with the same commitment and focus normally reserved for waging war. This important book not only makes the end of poverty seem realistic, but in the best interest of everyone on the planet, rich and poor alike. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
A landmark exploration of the way out of extreme poverty for the worldÂ's poorest citizens
Among the most eagerly anticipated books of any year, this landmark exploration of prosperity and poverty distills the life work of an economist Time calls one of the worldÂ's 100 most influential people. SachsÂ's aim is nothing less than to deliver a big picture of how societies emerge from poverty. To do so he takes readers in his footsteps, explaining his work in Bolivia, Russia, India, China, and Africa, while offering an integrated set of solutions for the interwoven economic, political, environmental, and social problems that challenge the poorest countries. Marrying passionate storytelling with rigorous analysis and a vision as pragmatic as it is fiercely moral, The End of Poverty is a truly indispensable work.
Customer Reviews:
The End of Poverty?.......2007-10-16
I recently read Jeffery Sachs' The End of Poverty. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but was excited to pick up at development best-seller- not a common combination! While I usually try to avoid non-fiction when I'm not at school or working, and tend to have a fiction addiction, I think TEOP will find its way onto my 2007 top ten list.
The book does a great job of summarizing most of my four year international development degree, from discussions of absolute versus relative poverty, to the best way to address the issues of environment, health, education and livelihoods in the developing world. And Sachs does it in a way that makes development concepts accessible: he looks at development as a ladder, and those facing extreme poverty have not been able to get their feet on even the first rung. Thus, the requirements of aid can be seen as inputs to help that group reach the bottom of the ladder and begin to work their way up. He also brings down the issues to a single number: $75billion dollars a year until 2025, at which point he believes that all human kind could be on the development ladder and extreme poverty would be eliminated. Hence, the End of Poverty!
Situated, as he is, in the heart of American development politics and economics, Sachs was also able to do a good job of explaining the successes and deficiencies of his country's aid contributions. Like the discussion in the previous post, this has helped to give me a more detailed view of America's role in the development world, which I find really interesting. He called on a number of American thinkers and activists to give power to his arguments for the potential of the end of extreme poverty. Paraphrasing Martin Luther King, Jr, Sach's says "The bank of international justice is not bankrupt," and explains how people like King, Gandhi, and Mandela "transformed the impossible into the inevitable." While many people think ending poverty is impossible, and that we in the West can't afford it, Sachs is busy making us realize that we can, and we should.
His point is obviously more and better action, which is heralded over and over again by poverty activists like Bono, Angelina Jolie or Bob Geldof. But the good thing about Sachs is that he manages to mainstream his ideas about aid and development, and introduce them in more conservative economic circles than would usually listen to the rockstar rolemodels. In his final "to do list", Sachs calls everyone to "make a personal commitment," something I believe in very strongly. He ends the book with this quote:
Let no one be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills- against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence...Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. -- Robert Kennedy
Passionate, but conveniently ignores historical reality.......2007-10-15
Sachs passionately promotes the Millenium Development Goals devised by the UN and pleads that if the developed economies of the world commit the resources they've promised these goals will be met. The book is well written and very engrossing.
Unfortunately, much of what Sachs promotes does not relate well with historical reality. The UN and its associated aid agencies have consistently developed grandiose goals which are never met, mainly because the personnel developing the goals are not the same ones determining the contributions and don't determine their objectives based on financial limitations. Sachs does not indicate how the developed world's contributions will be more effectively managed than in the past. Also, since it's apparent the developed world is not going to provide the funding required by the MDGs, he provides no suggestion on how the MDGs can be scaled to provide the most effective use of resources. It's an all or nothing proposition.
Sachs links too many items simply to dollar figures and fails to take into account ethnic conflicts, religous and societal beliefs, as well as any of a number of other factors that can derail aid providers' well-intentioned efforts. He brushes aside poor governance in Africa by stating there are a select few other countries around the world that are even worse. Poor governance and corruption prevent development regardless if it's the worst in the world or not.
Regardless, Sachs does promote a number of ideas that are valid and likely to be successful, such as malaria nets and debt relief to countries that have shown they have taken steps to govern their finances in an acceptable manner, especially if applied and monitored separately and not part of a comprehensive plan to fix everything at the same time.
This book should be read with William Easterly's "White Man's Burden", as Easterly provides the counterpoint to Sach's big Planner approach to foreign aid, and suggests that a more market-based approach, with limited, clearly defined goals would provide a better use of the limited resources available to aid providers.
Smarter than I'll ever be, but still..........2007-10-12
Sachs makes some great points but spends way too much time patting himself on the back. He really has amazing ideas, if you can put that stuff in the back of your mind. He focuses a TON on the successes he's had, and tends to gloss over the countries and economies he made mistakes with. But it's a captivating read- you'll want to pick yourself up and change the world.
Read with a grain of salt. .......2007-10-05
This book covers some concepts that at face value and first read - especially people like me who are not economists - seem quite enlightening. But the more you read, the more you have to question how it seems that the view he presents is a seemingly simplistic solution to what is in reality a complex problem. One of the reviews on here talked about how it is not "infrastructure" that is key to solving the problems, but rather an access to market. I'd have to agree. Companies are not flocking to sub-Saharan Africa to utilize the labor there. Companies are moving to China and India. This is not a simple matter of infrastructure, but a matter of economic policy and much more.
The book points to some villages in rural Africa where things appear to be improving - a choice village or two where Jeffrey Sachs and the Earth Institute at Columbia pour in their resources (these are subsequently called Millennium Villages to coincide with the Millennium Development Goals) - and it makes you think that he might possibly be making some sense. However, what about generalization to a whole country? Of course if you take all your resources, all the scientific knowledge accessible to you from the Earth Institute, and then some, and pour these into a village, what village will not transform? But is it sustainable? Is it generalizable to the whole country? Change needs to occur at the policy/governmental level concurrently, in order for real success and improvement.
While this book may be interesting, it is important to remember that it is not THE way; it is A way, and along with it, it has its flaws. Ask some other economist what they think - I did, and got an earful. The opinion was that Jeffrey Sachs is just recycling his ideas that he used decades back during the 80s, and that to counter this viewpoint, I must read William Easterly. I'm sure there are others out there to read. But again, one good read does not solve all the world's ills. If you don't have access to an economist, read ALL the reviews on here because there are some other points that need to be considered. And I don't appreciate the impression I get that ideas for solving poverty in places like sub-Saharan Africa comes from a simplistic seemingly-enlightened Westernized view of "this is what is wrong with Africa".
We need to end poverty.......2007-09-28
The book is great. It puts the poverty of the world, including America into light. It lets the reader know that poverty can be ended in our lifetime. It is very serious topic and book. We have the opportunity to end poverty, but will we be the generation that sits by and watches our fellow humans starve and die of disease or not?
The book got to me in a very timely manner and was inexpensive.
Book Description
Why is it that our current twenty-first century a.d. is so similar to the twenty-first century
B.C.? At a time when religious fanaticism and a clash of civilizations raise the specter of a nuclear Armageddon, many ask: Is history destined to repeat itself? What does the future hold? Will biblical prophecies come true, and if so, when?
Ever since Zecharia Sitchin, in his first trailblazing book The 12th Planet, brought to life the Sumerian civilization and its record of the Annunaki—the extraterrestrials who had come to Earth from their planet Nibiru, fashioned mankind, and gave us civilization and religion—questions have abounded. Are the ancient gods still here, or did they leave? Will they return? What will happen then? Will there be another Deluge or Apocalypse when Nibiru meets Earth? What about “Planet X” and the Mayan 2012? What about Jesus?
In The End of Days, a masterwork that required thirty years of additional research, Sitchin dares to give the answers by presenting compelling new evidence that the Past is the Future—that mankind and its planet Earth are subject to a predetermined cyclical Celestial Time.
Tracing historical events from the messianic fervor and use of nuclear weapons in the twenty-first century
B.C., Sitchin resolves ancient enigmas like the Nazca Lines or the origin and significance of the Cross, the Fishes, and the Chalice, places in context the events of the Last Supper and hidden clues like those in Da Vinci's painting, explains the space-related reasons for the everlasting centrality of Jerusalem, and—following in the footsteps of Sir Isaac Newton—deciphers the Time Code in the books of Daniel and Revelation and of the Day of the Lord and the End of Days prophecies.
In this remarkable and relevant conclusion to his bestselling The Earth Chronicles series, Sitchin shatters perceptions and uses history to reveal what is to come at The End of Days.
Customer Reviews:
Awesome FICTIONAL work........2007-09-26
What a great story! From a purely fictional point of view that is. But please don't take Mr. Sitchin seriously. Yes, he's done a lot of work and he's very passionate and I believe HE believes all that's in his books. But if you want facts, follow the work of true scholars.
There are plenty of reviews on this book and even more opinions I'm sure.
What's more important than a review is a call to reason. People - please... Just because you want or need to believe something is true doesn't mean that it is. When dealing with history and languages, I would highly recommend reviewing the work of true and accomplished scholars. Do this and you will likely get complete (as much as is possible) and the most accurate picture of the past as one can.
His credentials in no way qualify him to make such claims. If nothing else, look at his credentials and ask yourself how is this man qualified to make such claims?
I drive a fancy sports car and can give you the exact specs on the engine and body, from top to bottom. I could WOW the best of them with all the tech talk about the engine, transmission, suspension, etc. I could even carry on a detailed conversation with the mechanic if I had to. But I can tell you with certainty that if I was given a shop full of tools all to myself I couldn't fix my fancy sports car if it broke.
If you take your car into the shop be worked on, do you want the guy who talks like he knows what he's doing working on your car or do you want the guy with all the certificates on the wall that's PROVEN he knows what he's doing working on your car?
This is the case with Mr. Sitchin and his books. He talks a good line but has no credentials to prove he's anything more than just a fanciful talker.
Mr. Sitchin graduated from the University of London, majoring in economic history and he was a journalist and editor in Israel. How does this make him an expert in ancient Hebrew and the old Testament? In Sumerian culture? IMHO, this is a classic case of someone learning enough about an ancient language "to be dangerous". He absolutely sounds like he knows what he's talking about and sadly that fools a whole lot of people.
Like many, I was very taken initially with his ideas. But too much didn't add up. After months of research I was quite disappointed to realize that the basis of at least some of his theories (the ones I researched anyway) were too full of holes to be true.
There is an upside though - this a GREAT fictional story!
Real seekers of truth will check multiple sources and validate claims from many different sources. Do this and in time you will find the truth.
If you are looking to be entertained, look no further.
A LITTLE BIT CONFUSING..........2007-09-13
The book somewhat confused me because of some claims. The author also states that the reader should read his other books to understand this book clearly. Nevertheless, I still admire Zecharia Sitchin for all his efforts.
A Keeper.......2007-09-06
Buying a book is one thng haveing it be worth the storage space another. This is worth the storage space.
Creative .......2007-08-27
Sitchin can spin a tale of fiction that is inspired to say the least. He is universally hated in the astronomical, archaeological, and historical communities for his attempt to pass pseudo science off as fact. If fact is not what you are after, then buy this book and invest in a tinfoil hat.
A little disappointing ****** SPOILER ALERT *******.......2007-08-21
I've read all of Sitchin's books and was always pleased at the conclusion of each one. They were like adventure quests of hidden knowledge with the worst case scenario being a nice scifi story (and what a story!). This one left me wanting. I believe he just wanted to put his two cents in about 2012 even though he doesn't think it will be a date that anything significant happens. I think he's got a better theory floating around in his head but didn't want to share it for whatever reason. The beginning of the book is a bit boring as he has to tell the back story. The middle is more interesting with more detail about the tales of the annunaki and their petty power struggles. The end was a bitter disappointment to me. His theory on the davinci last supper painting, in which he thinks the space between jesus and mary/john is where elijah should be and the missing cup being the grail that elijah took, is just lacking. To me the alternate grail theories make more sense and have better documentation. Obviously this book is a must read if you've read the rest of the series as how can one not read the supposed last one but it doesn't hold up to his prior standard. When does Sitchin think the annunaki will return? Sometime in the age of pisces .... and that only leaves up to anywhere from 100 years from now to about 800 years from now depending on if you are going by the math or by sight.
Amazon.com
Since September 2001, the United States has "undergone a transformation from republic to empire that may well prove irreversible," writes Chalmers Johnson. Unlike past global powers, however, America has built an empire of bases rather than colonies, creating in the process a government that is obsessed with maintaining absolute military dominance over the world, Johnson claims. The Department of Defense currently lists 725 official U.S. military bases outside of the country and 969 within the 50 states (not to mention numerous secret bases). According to the author, these bases are proof that the "United States prefers to deal with other nations through the use or threat of force rather than negotiations, commerce, or cultural interaction." This rise of American militarism, along with the corresponding layers of bureaucracy and secrecy that are created to circumvent scrutiny, signals a shift in power from the populace to the Pentagon: "A revolution would be required to bring the Pentagon back under democratic control," he writes.
In Sorrows of Empire, Johnson discusses the roots of American militarism, the rise and extent of the military-industrial complex, and the close ties between arms industry executives and high-level politicians. He also looks closely at how the military has extended the boundaries of what constitutes national security in order to centralize intelligence agencies under their control and how statesmen have been replaced by career soldiers on the front lines of foreign policy--a shift that naturally increases the frequency with which we go to war.
Though his conclusions are sure to be controversial, Johnson is a skilled and experienced historian who backs up his claims with copious research and persuasive arguments. His important book adds much to a debate about the realities and direction of U.S. influence in the world. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
"Impressive . . . a powerful indictment of U.S. military and foreign policy." Los Angeles Times Book Review, front page In the years after the Soviet Union imploded, the United States was described first as the globe's "lone superpower," then as a "reluctant sheriff," next as the "indispensable nation," and in the wake of 9/11, as a "New Rome." In this important national bestseller, Chalmers Johnson thoroughly explores the new militarism that is transforming America and compelling us to pick up the burden of empire.Recalling the classic warnings against militarism-from George Washington's Farewell Address to Dwight Eisenhower's denunciation of the military-industrial complex-Johnson uncovers its roots deep in our past. Turning to the present, he maps America's expanding empire of military bases and the vast web of services that support them. He offers a vivid look at the new caste of professional militarists who have infiltrated multiple branches of government, who classify as "secret" everything they do, and for whom the manipulation of the military budget is of vital interest. Among Johnson's provocative conclusions is that American militarism is already putting an end to the age of globalization and bankrupting the United States, even as it creates the conditions for a new century of virulent blowback. The Sorrows of Empire suggests that the former American republic has already crossed its Rubicon-with the Pentagon in the lead.
Customer Reviews:
A Critical Review.......2007-08-05
This book gets everything wrong.
Johnson argues that the demise of the USSR was a great economic victory, having everything to do with the failure of socialist economics and nothing to do with the successes of American foreign policy. Unfortunately for Johnson, the wasted resources of the Cold War arms race - and the wasted resources of the Cold War arms race alone - were what bankrupted the natural-resource rich Soviet states. The United States fought and won the Cold War economically, by forcing the East into a battle it could not win - a battle where the biggest spender (necesarily the economically liberal west) wins by default. Left to its own devices, the Soviet states could have persisted indefinitely in moderate prosperity thanks to the global capital markets and the value of their domestic resources, the lunacy of their domestic economics aside. See China, India, and even Venezuela today.
Johnson further argues that the Pentagon failed to "restructure" and/or "demobilize" following the Cold War. This is categorically false. The United States military (particularly its Army and Air Force) was phased down radically in the two decades between the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the September 11th terrorist attacks. A signifigant Naval presence was maintained as a matter of apparent national necessity - even without a Soviet Union, the post-globalization world demanded the West have at least one member capable of global power projection as a simple matter of motivated self interest. The United States has ALWAYS maintained a signifigant peace-time naval capacity, however. This is nothing new and certainly no product of a "military-industrial" complex. Washington himself, that great hero of the anti-military renegades and oft-quoted as decrying standing armies, comission the first permanent and standing warships of the USN to protect the young country against - whoulda thunk it - Islamic terrorists.
Johnson then argues that the Pentagon's involvement in the war on drugs and terror is a dishonest effort at justification of a bloated budget, but this is historically inane. The American armed forces have always been intimately involved in the enforcement of extramilitary foreign policy. American soldiers pursued Mexican criminals across our sothern border over a century and a half ago. We have dispatched the Navy repeatedly throughout our history to deal with piracy and barbarism when local authorities have been noncooperative. The war on drugs - and military involvement therewith - is simply an extension of this legacy. So, too, is the war on terror.
Everything this book argues is backwards and apparently nonsensical. And everything that Johnson proports to be a "new" product of post-Cold War Pentagon amokism is as old as the Republic he so claims to love. The man could do well to get himself an elementary history lesson, and to spend 15 minutes outside the safe, secure, and utterly arealistic ivory tower that is American elite society. Our half a trillion dollar military is the foundation that keeps his - and to an extent all of our - tower(s) of ignorance erect and pristine. We would all do well to realize that our lives and lifestyles are both historically unprecedented, and unique to our borders and our civilization even today. THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES NOT LIVE AND THINK LIKE WE DO.
The United States maintains the worlds largest and most capable standing army in the history of the planet not because it wants to, but because it must. The world is a dark place. Most if its people are not like Americans (and Westerners), and most of its countries are not as benevolent as America (and the Western world). While the rest of our civilization surrenders its capacity and will to defend itself and its ideological allies, the United States has willfully chosen to bear the burden alone, knowing full well the costs and consequences of this decision. We do this because we have confidence in this old, and grand, Republic. And because we know better than to trust and surrender our fates to the good-will of our less Republican neighbors.
Secrets of our Empire............2007-07-26
Truly a revealing expose of things you never knew about our American military and related.....now you do...and it may surprise you or scare you.....read this book...very revealing.....
might does not make right.......2007-07-03
From George Washington and James Madison to Eisenhower's farewell address in 1961, some of our country's greatest leaders have warned about the dangers of standing armies and the military-industrial complex. In this second installment of his "inadvertent trilogy" about the costs and consequences of America's belligerent empire, Chalmers Johnson describes in meticulous detail the nature and extent of American militarism. In his first book, Blowback (2000), he warned that our global militarism and predatory economic policies virtually assure retaliations for decades to come. He published Blowback about eighteen months before the 9/11 attacks, and in retrospect his warning now reads like a diagnosis. His third volume, Nemesis (2006), is more like an autopsy; it describes our destiny with Nemesis, "the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris" (in Greek, "nemesis" means "to give what is due").
Unlike ancient empires, our imperial hegemony consists not of conquered territories but of military bases. Today the Department of Defense admits that America deploys 254,788 (double that number if you include dependents) military personnel to at least 725 military bases in 153 countries (there are 189 countries in the United Nations). That does not include numerous secret and officially nonexistent bases. Our own country is home to 969 separate bases in all fifty states. It's hard to believe, writes Johnson, that at the beginning of World War II our regular army consisted of 186,000 men; today it numbers 1.4 million. Nor is this any longer a citizen's army, but instead a professional warrior class (41% of whom are nonwhite).
Johnson's book documents our militarism beginning with the 1898 Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish-American war; Woodrow Wilson's fervent belief in America's moral exceptionalism and obligation to export democracy to the world; the incestuous marriage of the military to the incredibly lucrative for-profit arms industry, and merry-go-round of former military and corporate personnel; America's sale of weapons to the world; our violations of international treaties and courts that have generated global distrust of much of what we say and do; the roles of oil (our import levels are "at the highest levels ever recorded") and Israel; and the predatory nature of economic globalization.
In a final chapter Johnson suggests four sorrows of our militaristic empire that he now considers all but unavoidable: a state of perpetual war, the loss of democratic processes and institutions, endemic lying by the state (glorification of war, disinformation, propaganda, etc.), and financial ruin. Empires don't last forever, he reminds us. In the last hundred years nine "empires" have collapsed: Nazi Germany, imperial Japan, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, the Soviet Union, China, Austro-Hungaria, and the Ottomans. Despite our deep delusion about our good intentions and moral exceptionalism, we have no reason whatsoever to expect that history will treat our belligerence and hubris any differently. What we should expect is a meeting with Nemesis.
Better Than Blowback.......2007-06-10
In the first nine chapters of the book, Johnson writes about his perception of an increasing American militarism, and also says there is an emerging American empire. He also describes the privatization of the military through war merchants and mercenaries. A solid case is made against some members of the current administration, but he doesn't spare Clinton's "globalization" in the book either. The tenth and last chapter alone is nearly worth the price. After making a very strong case for the United States to turn from its interventionist tendencies of the last 30 years, Johnson outlines four great dangers the USA will face as it wades deeper into the waters of interventionism. He finds fault with all recent past presidential administrations, and says that Congress has abandoned its duties and responsibilities in favor of greasy palmed careerism.
Like the first part of the trilogy, Chalmers Johnson writes about blowback, a CIA term for unintended consequences of covert action. His theory is that the perils of blowback are increasing, and the country is rapidly descending farther and farther away from its democratic moorings and into a militaristic empire.
This book is written in a more interesting style than part 1 ("Blowback") and keeps the reader interested through out.
Weakness-Some of the original source work is not strong and it is clearly written with a more popular audience in mind. For example, the suspect web site Capital Hill Blue is used as a source. So, perhaps some of the evidence presented is flawed, but the main theme still rings true.
This book, coupled with "Blowback" have seriously altered my thinking of foreign policy matters. I recommend both.
What else has Mr. Johnson done for the Republic lately?.......2007-06-03
Gore Vidal has been writing far longer and more eloquently than Mr. Johnson on the end of the Republic as a consequence of the American Empire. Mr. Johnson adds a dispassionate and steadily accumulating set of figures, monetary and otherwise, that show the true costs of the American Empire and its negative eroding effects on the Republic.
This is Mr. Johnson's second book in his "American Empire Project". The first Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire (Second Edition), published before the events of Sept. 11, 2001 now seems eerily prescient. That book pointed out the unintended but inevitable consequences of American foreign policy and interference abroad and suggested a consequent "blowback".
The problem I have with Mr. Johnson and other eminent diagnosticians, even Vidal (though he did try running for elected office in CA a long time ago), is they seem unwilling to go further than write books. Mr. Johnson makes much (pp. 12) of Article 1, Section 9, Clause 7 of the US Constitution which says "No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time." Now the latter clause regarding publication of accounts has been honored only in the breach, at least in recent times. I wrote Mr. Johnson asking "What legal attempts by private citizens have been made thus far to attempt to have this provision enforced?" Mr. Johnson replies that "You ask an excellent question but it would take a Constitutional lawyer to answer it." Now if I am to trust Mr. Johnson in his avowed belief in the Republic, its Constitution and the enforcement thereof, I would have expected him to have explored this avenue of enforcement already.
Given that the Republic is not yet dead, and that the rule of law is at least intermittently permitted, and that the courts are not yet entirely corrupt or partisan. I for one don't understand why those of Mr. Johnson's ilk, with their resources, don't approach the courts or petition the few honest or semi-honest legislators left to force the light of day on the costs and consequences of our empire. At least then, no citizen of this our disappearing Republic will be able to say that Mr. Johnson didn't do his best to tell them so. Only writing books doesn't cut it.
Book Description
Told with P. D. James’s trademark suspense, insightful characterization, and riveting storytelling, The Children of Men is a story of a world with no children and no future.
The human race has become infertile, and the last generation to be born is now adult. Civilization itself is crumbling as suicide and despair become commonplace. Oxford historian Theodore Faron, apathetic toward a future without a future, spends most of his time reminiscing. Then he is approached by Julian, a bright, attractive woman who wants him to help get her an audience with his cousin, the powerful Warden of England. She and her band of unlikely revolutionaries may just awaken his desire to live . . . and they may also hold the key to survival for the human race.
Customer Reviews:
Not What I Expected.......2007-09-26
This book was very different than I had expected, but I'm glad I read it. As other reviewers have pointed out, the beginning seemed to drag and the main character was extremely difficult to connect with. It seemed hard to grasp that the world could have backslidden into such a mess in so short a time. Still, the concept behind the book was fascinating and fodder for some deep discussions. Just don't watch the movie... it ruins the whole thing!
Perfect for this genre..........2007-09-26
I say "Perfect for this genre", but I'm not really sure where I'd put this book. With the "end of the world" stories probably, but without the good vs. evil power struggle such as in The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet) by Stephen King. I guess I could compare this to The White Plague, but I feel that PD James created more realistic and richer characters and left out Herbert's science fiction aspect.
I've never read anything by PD James before and must admit that I really enjoyed her style of writing. My impression is that this book is more of a "literary work" than "pulp fiction" -- the author spent a lot of time developing the main character, Theo, who I felt like I almost knew by the end of the story.
I too saw the movie first... I bought the book because of the other reviewers who mentioned how different they were from each other. I enjoyed the movie but hated the ending... the book's ending was much more positive. I would add that though there were many differences between the movie and the book, the movie producers really cast the actors well: Clive Owen as Theo was brilliant, Julianne Moore as Julian and Michael Caine as Jasper were perfect. I can't name all the other actors in the movie, but they were all great; in fact, the movie did the book justice even with all the changes made to bring it to the theater.
One of the reviewers complained about the "religious overtones" being too heavy. I didn't notice that -- I would expect different elements of society to behave in extreme ways were the end of the world to be eminent. And since the entire story takes place in England, it is not surprising that some of the events occur in churches.
Coulda Been Less Ho Hum.......2007-09-14
This is essentially a tepid version of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale."
Both books take place in the near future, when for some reason humanity has lost its ability to reproduce. Nobody is producing babies any more and society as we know it collapses. New, repressive governments take over, civil liberties are squashed, and social miscreants are packed off to some remote place where they run lawless and kill each other. The governments are doing everything in their power to get someone, anyone, to reproduce, but it's all in vain.
Margaret Atwood's book is vivid. It provides sensation after sensation, so you feel you're living the experience. You witness public hangings, torture and rape, and you live through severe repression. In fact, the book gave me nightmares.
PD James's book is more removed, at least the first 90%. Her characters mention enforced sperm tests for males and government-run porn businesses, but you never see them in the book. It's very genteel, no-sex-please-we're-British-and-we-cling-to-our-pointless-useless-lifeless-and-absurd-religion.
The main character in Atwood's book is a fighter. The main character in James' book is a wet fish.
I found "Children of Men" a great way to put me to sleep; I couldn't read more than a page or two before my eyelids grew heavy.
Note: the last 10% gets down to the nitty-gritty and really perked my interest, but I doubt I'll read another PD James novel again.
dystopian fiction meets romance in a morality tale.......2007-08-08
I always knew PD James as a mystery writer. The film of the same name inspired me to read this book, and I'm glad I did. PD James' prose is muscular, yet beautiful. Her understanding of the nuances of human character transcend this story beyond its dark, dystopian premise: in the future, the human race has lost its ability to reproduce. With the end of the species in sight, humankind becomes depraved, depressed, and lost.
PD James explores how some people confront this dismal future with lust for power, and others with unfailing hope. She touches on topics which are germane today: treatment of immigrants and the aged; violence in the face of despair, etc.
The story and the movie are rather divergent at points, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying either one of them for what they are. I would absolutely recommend this book for both the fearful vision of the future PD James conjures and for her relentless, confident prose.
Unlike the movie, but worth reading regardless.......2007-08-06
I'm writing this review in 2007, and this book was first published in 1992. If you're interested in this book, it's likely because you saw the movie and want to see where it came from. That's my scenario in a nutshell: I saw the movie, thought it was tremendous, and when I stumbled across the book at a used bookstore, I decided to give it a try.
Be warned: the movie bears very little resemblance to the novel. Only the premise (first pregnant woman after a couple decades of planetary infertility) was retained (and the title, I suppose), but the similarity ends there. The events, the characters ... you might find a similar name here and there, but that's it. Even the protagonist, he has nothing in common between the two versions except his name.
But that's not to say it's a bad read. It was a leisurely, yet compelling book, and engrossing in spite of its flaws. It's not a thriller, by which I mean that the pacing is slow, but it still works very well. The author is a master of words and the writing itself is part of her product.
(Sure, I mentioned flaws; being written in 1992, the book predates the recent technological revolution, and there were moments when the plot's credibility was stretched simply because the author hadn't predicted the boom of the internet, satellite surveillance and mobile phones. Also, I'm not a fan of fiction that proceeds through journal entries -- especially journal entries that are written with an impeccably beautiful narrative and talks mostly about backstory -- and some of the character situations, notably the setup of the climax, were 100% implausible. Oh, and the ending was a heavy disappointment.)
If you're looking for a scene-by-scene movie novelization: stop. Turn back now. But otherwise I would recommend giving this book a try, especially if you're not turned off by character-driven narrative fiction that doesn't try to drag you through the grass at flank speed. It's fun to see what the filmmakers started with, where their inspiration came from, and imagine the path they took toward creating what I feel was one of the best movies in recent years.
Book Description
James Howard Kunstler's The Long Emergency was an underground hit, going into nine printings of the hardcover edition. His shocking vision for our post-oil future caught the attention of environmentalists and business leaders and was the subject of much debate, stimulating discussion about our dependence on fossil fuels. Now in paperback, with a new afterword, The Long Emergency is set to reach an even larger audience.
The last two hundred years have seen the greatest explosion of progress and wealth in the history of mankind, much of it based on the exploitation of cheap, nonrenewable fossil-fuel energy. But the oil age is at an end. Life as we know it is about to change radically, and much sooner than we think. The Long Emergency tells us just what to expect after we pass the point of global peak oil production and the honeymoon of affordable energy is over, preparing us for economic, political, and social changes of an unimaginable scale. Riveting and authoritative, The Long Emergency is a devastating indictment that brings new urgency and accessibility to the critical issues that will shape our future, and that we can no longer afford to ignore.
Customer Reviews:
When the oil runs out, life as we know it will end...........2007-10-16
Well, there's no denying that there is a finite amount of oil in the earth, and when that runs out, we're in big trouble. Most of the "alternative means of energy" we now know about are poor substitutes (e.g. require more energy to produce than is obtained). Oil is also used to make fertilizers, plastics, and other modern products. Nuclear power might be used to keep the lights and heat on, but "you can't run a car with it". Having a well kept up railroad network would be helpful too.
In short, all of 20th/21st century technological advances and life style depend on easy-to-get oil. Add the effects of global warming and emergent diseases, and society (primarily United States society) will have to adapt. Anything that was made possible by cheap oil, from suburbs to skycrapers, to the Sunbelt and Southwest, will be abandoned. Farming, manual labor, and all those nearly-forgotten pre-industrial age skills will suddenly become valuable again. Automobiles, air travel, and even modern healthcare and education will, if still available, become the domain of societal elites. For the most part, people will travel less....much less....
Of course, how people will react to these changes will determine whether this future society looks like the Amish, a 16th century European feudal society with fancy guildhalls (not over six stories) in each city, or something out of Mad Max/Blade Runner....A lot of our social advances (civil rights, women's rights, perhaps even our whole Constitutional system of laws) may be considered luxuries and fall by the wayside as well. Kunstler in a couple of places envisions armies of angry whites causing trouble, perhaps Mexico (re)taking the Southwestern United States, Asian pirates off the coast of Seattle, etc. (He doesn't think that out-and-out slavery would coming back, though)
_The Long Emergency_ reads like a sequel to Kunstler's _Geography of Nowhere_, where he has very little good to say about the development of the American city, especially the suburbs. But while _Geography_ was mostly one criticism after another, the tone of _Long Emergency_ seems to be "Oil's running out? Bring it on. And don't look for technology to save your butt this time, you geeks. I can't wait for 18th Century society to come back". Rather analogous to the "Rapture Ready" evangelicals he denigrates. but instead of God whisking us away to a better place, Kunstler would like to use the social upheavel caused by the "perfect storm" of peak oil, global warming and emergent disease as a "dice roll" that would, hopefully, remake society into a form more to his liking.
I think the book is useful as a reminder to everybody that the end of oil is coming. If we don't want to all go back to the farm (and that's one of the "nicer" scenarios in this book), we'd all better think long and hard about the big part oil plays in our society.
Worth Purchasing for Yourself.......2007-10-13
I did something with this book I rarely have done before. I checked out a copy from the library. Read it. Then purchased a copy for myself.
The book is filled with information I know I will want access to in the future.
It really takes a book like this to give a handle on reality, in the face of the daily barrage of information that tells you something else is true. Just driving around in the suburbs with traffic going in this and that direction, building developments continuing, markets shelved with a huge variety of foods and supplies, all the signs that growth and prosperity will continue.
Kustler has brought together in this book the evidence of converging catastrophes that will completely change the viability of these growth and prosperity scenarios. I would much rather be alert to these impending changes, and adjust my lifestyle and life choices in gradual anticipation, than to be happily going about my business, and suddenly have to confront these realities without any advanced preparation.
A very important book..........2007-10-03
There are many reviews here and on the web so I will add only a small amount to the praise. "The Long Emergency" is a very important book since it grapples with the issue of how (and even examines if) western culture can proceed now that we have passed peak oil. I use the past tense since all indicators point to the fact that we passed peak oil at the end of 2005 - so there is a real state of global denial over planning and implementing changes to deal with this problem.
Kunstler guides the reader through the issue - our global reliance on cheap oil - and the ramifications of the fact that this stage of our development is now over. He deftly examines the geopolitical history of the production of oil and the impacts that this history will have shaping the future. He makes his case on the enormous issues that arise because everything is based upon the premise that oil is a cheap and infinite resource. That is, technology (and he nicely separates the concept progress from growth/technology) is dependent on cheap oil so there is no quick fix.
His real aim is to examine the possible outcomes of our lack of response, on any but a very small individual level, to the problems that now face us. This is why the book is so scary - no government action is occurring besides preparations for resource wars and keeping the soon-to-be-irate population under control (hundreds of millions are being spent on incarceration facilities!). Not a good prognosis for the future and a very pathetic legacy for future generations.
It is nicely summed up:
"Some other things about the global energy predicament are poorly understood by the public and even our leaders. This is going to be a permanent energy crisis, and these energy problems will synergize with the disruptions of climate change, epidemic disease and population overshoot to produce higher orders of trouble.
We will have to accommodate ourselves to fundamentally changed conditions."
We are shortly going to look back and wonder why we didn't act when there was still time...You should read this book so at least you know the facts for later years when you and your children are living like we did hundreds of years ago...
Must read, must share..........2007-09-21
This book provides a glimpse into our not-very-distant post-oil world. Realistic, without becoming negative. Fact-based and logical in every respect. The writing is never dull. Since buying this book, I've shared it with five friends. I also enjoyed Mr. Kunstler's book "Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape".
Mr. Kunstler was also very giving of his time in answering some questions I emailed to him after reading this book.
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kunstler.......2007-09-19
The Long Emergency is an eye-catching book with hits bright alarm-yellow cover and black and red title. It's a book about the future of the world, what's going to happen when we run out of oil, and what to do when this "Long Emergency" begins. The first part of the book goes into depth about when oil was discovered, how it was first used, when and how it was converted into the many products that use oil today. The reader learns what are the events that led up to the discovery of oil in the Middle East and the reason it is in its horrible state today.
After this enlightening history lesson, Kunstler goes on to explain that there is a specific oil production peak that will be reached, when half of the available oil would've been used up, and the other half -- which is harder to get -- will drive up gas and oil prices. According to a number of sources in the footnotes, this peak will be reached some time between the year 2000 and 2008. Kunstler says that they way we will be able to tell is through the oscillation of oil prices rising greatly, then dropping a little, then raising more, but only going down a little each time. Over the past year, this is exactly what has happened, and I'm pretty sure we're never going to see gas go below $2 again.
Kunstler goes on to point out that the supposed alternative forms of energy we're working on will be nowhere near to replacing the oil industry once we dispense with it. This is mainly due to the recent Republican Presidents, starting with Reagan who stopped most funding to alternative energy means and essentially killed the drive for it. Along with Bush Senior and our current idiot, they are all part of a white male arrogant group that believe we will never run out of oil, and it is merely a case of finding it in the earth, albeit by digging deeper and further (re: Alaska!); couple with this is these men's beliefs that the Rapture will arrive tomorrow and they'll be ascending to Heaven, leaving all their problems behind them. Though Clinton is also to blame for looking towards the future and working on prepare the civilized world for the inevitable.
Kunstler predicts all out pandemonium and chaos, worst felt in the United States, of course, where suburbia is in full force. When all the material goods and services we've taken for granted for so long collapse, and our society crashes around us, the Long Emergency will being. This is what Kunstler says. Though he provides little advice and assurance in how one can survive this event. Plus there's the fact that this nonfiction work doesn't have an index or bibliography at the end. I know all nonfiction works don't need this, but when it's a book predicting everything going to hell in my lifetime, I would at least like a list for further readings, or maybe some websites.
It will at least be interesting the see in the coming decades what will begin happening, and I know for now what I most want to get is a hybrid, because gas prices aren't going down ever again.
For more book reviews, and other writings, go to www.alexctelander.com
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- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
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.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Half a century after brave Americans took to the streets to raise the bar of opportunity for all races, Juan Williams writes that too many black Americans are in crisis—caught in a twisted hip-hop culture, dropping out of school, ending up in jail, having babies when they are not ready to be parents, and falling to the bottom in twenty-first-century global economic competition.
In Enough, Juan Williams issues a lucid, impassioned clarion call to do the right thing now, before we travel so far off the glorious path set by generations of civil rights heroes that there can be no more reaching back to offer a hand and rescue those being left behind.
Inspired by Bill Cosby’s now famous speech at the NAACP gala celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown decision integrating schools, Williams makes the case that while there is still racism, it is way past time for black Americans to open their eyes to the “culture of failure” that exists within their community. He raises the banner of proud black traditional values—self-help, strong families, and belief in God—that sustained black people through generations of oppression and flowered in the exhilarating promise of the modern civil rights movement. Williams asks what happened to keeping our eyes on the prize by proving the case for equality with black excellence and achievement.
He takes particular aim at prominent black leaders—from Al Sharpton to Jesse Jackson to Marion Barry. Williams exposes the call for reparations as an act of futility, a detour into self-pity; he condemns the “Stop Snitching” campaign as nothing more than a surrender to criminals; and he decries the glorification of materialism, misogyny, and murder as a corruption of a rich black culture, a tragic turn into pornographic excess that is hurting young black minds, especially among the poor.
Reinforcing his incisive observations with solid research and alarming statistical data, Williams offers a concrete plan for overcoming the obstacles that now stand in the way of African Americans’ full participation in the nation’s freedom and prosperity. Certain to be widely discussed and vehemently debated, Enough is a bold, perceptive, solution-based look at African American life, culture, and politics today.
Customer Reviews:
A Thought-Provoking Critical Analysis Of Black Culture.......2007-10-13
Juan Williams has eloquently and courageously put to words thoughts that I've had for many years. I find it interesting that it took a speech from famed comedian / actor Bill Cosby to spur Mr. Williams to take center stage in the culture battle within the black community.
Nevertheless, this book exposes to the world the mindless rhetoric and failed strategies of many of the so-called civil rights leaders that are just as much a drag on the ability of American blacks to successfully pursue the American dream as slavery and racism ever was. I would even go so far as to assert that self-appointed civil rights leaders practice an entirely new brand of slavery, economic slavery, designed to keep a noble and proud culture chained to the failing polices of past radicalism and confrontation that had their place in the 60s but are woefully inadequate today; and which only presently exits to serve the self-interests of those who promote them. While Mr. Williams hints at such, a bolder, more clearly articulated statement would have been a welcomed addition to his work. My only other disappointment with Enough was the lack of footnotes and source citations for many of its claims.
Minor criticisms aside, this is a well written book. Mr. Williams presents his ideas in a smoothly organized fashion that rivets the readers' attention in a vice grip of paradigm shifts, provocative ideas, and conservative thought that the black community would do well to consider. Its been said as a political force the black vote is taken for granted by the Democrat Party and written off by the Republican Party. Many of the reasons are revealed in this book. How can either party consider blacks to be politically relevant when the emerging leadership in politics and pop culture debase and disrespect their own people and the rule of law?
As so well stated by Mr. Williams, the key to ending black poverty and lack of social progress lies within the black community itself. Government can throw billions more dollars at the problem with equally meager results as seen these past 30 years, or blacks can rise above the crass, degrading, demeaning, and enslaving icons of rap artists, self-serving civil rights leaders, tolerance of neighborhood crime, and lack of moral courage to propel the race to unimagined prosperity. Enough is certainly a step in the right direction.
Speaking For Us!.......2007-10-06
It took one speech by one man at one moment frozen in time to set off a barrage of discussions on the Black community's progress post-civil Rights era.
Bill Cosby, famed doctor of the Cosby show, stood in front of the crowd as if he was a preacher standing at a pulpit speaking truths from the Bible instead of having a congregation of the willing eagerly anticipating his every word the crowd was members of the NAACP who expected a simple congratulatory speech from the non-controversial celebrity. The event that Mr. Cosby made his infamous speech was deemed, by him, to be appropriate--it was the commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Brown vs. the Board of Education Supreme Court ruling (this ruling prompted the eventual integration of public schools across America--making the "separate but equal" policy unconstitutional). Irregardless of how you felt about Cosby's speech, you have to admit that it took immense courage on his part to risk his reputation and long-standing alliances (both political and social) to draw from his wisdom that he has gained over the years as an actor, activist and as a black man.
The author, Juan Williams, of "Enough....", is an accomplished commentator (known from his correspondent work on NPR and Fox News) exceptionally delved into Mr. Cosby's argument about the downturn and complacency of the Black community after the Civil Rights Movement. He took each hard-hitting point of Bill Cosby's speech such as the lack of importance on education leading to increased drop-out rates, social failures as result of deteriorating family cohesion, the long-term effects of criminal elements within neighborhood of all economies--especially poorer areas, lack of credible leadership to further carry-on the torch of the movement, cyclical poverty effecting the economic wealth of the community, and the ill-conceived plea to seek reparations from the federal government for the crimes against our ancestors.
Mr. William's approach to analyzing Bill Cosby's argument for change was reminiscent of a college professor that taught one of my "art of argument logic" courses--he presented a theory, dissected it, built it back up, presented opposing views and brought it all full circle!
As I read this book, I realized that it was justified for Cosby (or anyone else) to point out the shortcomings within the black community to invoke change. Why should we continue to go on with our lives being disillusioned? Everything is not okay! Cosby's speech is simply a rally call to everyone, in particular, those that will take heed to his battle cry. We are not at war with this mystical force out there to get black folks (aka "the man"), we are at war with "crabs in the bucket" weighing down on the community making it appear to the world that we are a community who continues to fail whether in education, economic advancement and social imagery. I know that Cosby wasn't speaking to everyone--not all blacks are dropping out of school! Not all blacks are unaware of the sacrifices that our ancestors went through so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we have today! Not all blacks are accepting of the negative images and buffoonery that is in the media! Not all blacks are accepting of anything that sets us back to a period prior to the civil rights movement!
People within the Black community should not dismiss Bill Cosby as just some old, rich man with nothing better to do than to nitpick at the "wrongs of the young generation". His speech had validity and needed to be heard and what better venue than at event celebrating a freedom that some black people take for granted--the right to an equal opportunity to a quality education under the eyes of the law.
Enough by Juan Williams.......2007-10-05
This was an awesome book that should be mandatory reading for Liberal Arts majors and just the general public. The author describes a realistic pathway for both blacks and whites in the search for racial harmony.
Juan Williams -- The Black Radical.......2007-09-28
I used to think that people like Mr. Williams were sellouts. Now, I know better. When you look at what he is saying...he is saying the same thing as Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. (Farrakhan just has a slicker approach.)
That is, the Nation draws you in with their "hate whitey" message, but when you join they slowly flip the script. When you attend the meetings, buy the tapes, and read the there books, the message is the same:
1. Eat good foods (How to eat to live).
2. Take care of your responsibilities. "Every brother needs a job. If he doesn't have a job, then the brothers need to get together and create him one." -- Farrakhan
3. Don't buy things (cars and homes) you can't afford. - F.O.I. meetings
4. Educate your own children. - If they won't treat you right, they won't teach you right. N.O.I slogan
What more needs to be said? Juan Williams is as pro-black as you can get!
Important, should have been shorter.......2007-09-22
I'm glad I read this as it is an important topic. The author vindicates many of the thoughts, and feelings I and I imagine many other people have about this issue. That said it is nice to see it written about by someone who clearly pays attention and knows the history of this dilemma. It does feel like a long article or essay expanded into a book as it is quite repetitive. It easily could have been one half the length or less and gotten its message across just as well. Even so, if its an important issue for you, I'd recommend reading it as it does fill in many gaps as to how we got to where we are now.
Book Description
The attacks of September 11, 2001 were accomplished through an amazing orchestration of logistics and personnel. Crossing the Rubicon discovers and identifies key suspects - finding some of them in the highest echelons of American government - by showing how they acted in concert to guarantee that the attacks produced the desired result.
Crossing the Rubicon is unique not only for its case-breaking examination of 9/11, but for the breadth and depth of its world picture - an interdisciplinary analysis of petroleum, geopolitics, narco-traffic, intelligence and militarism - without which 9/11 cannot be understood.
The US manufacturing sector has been mostly replaced by speculation on financial data whose underlying economic reality is a dark secret. Hundreds of billions of dollars in laundered drug money flow through Wall Street each year from opium and coca fields maintained by CIA-sponsored warlords and US-backed covert paramilitary violence. America's global dominance depends on a continually turning mill of guns, drugs, oil and money. Oil and natural gas - the fuels that make economic growth possible - are subsidized by American military force and foreign lending.
In reality, 9/11 and the resulting "War on Terror" are parts of a massive authoritarian response to an emerging economic crisis of unprecedented scale. Peak Oil - the beginning of the end for our industrial civilization - is driving the elites of American power to implement unthinkably draconian measures of repression, warfare and population control. Crossing the Rubicon is more than a story. It is a map of the perilous terrain through which, together and alone, we are all now making our way.
Customer Reviews:
A must read!.......2007-08-05
A timely revelation of facts and events that the lamestream media has conveniently omitted. Much of what we hear in the news makes no sense in the backdrop of what we see from the misleading perpectives of the "right " or left" , but this book explains the process behind much of what is going on. Being aware of the government's role in 9/11as described by Ruppert and watching the constant consolidation of power by the administration enables one to predict with some certainty the future: decreasing oil supplies not meeting population demands, resource wars (the imminent Iranian attack) to maintain our lifestyle, massive population declines as oil-based food production drops dramatically, and the imposition of martial law over an increasingly pacified Congress and "terror-conditioned" population.
Good, yet I'm not totally convinced.......2007-06-28
There is an overwhelming amount of more than just circumstantial evidence here that our goverment aided the 9-11 attacks. As for peak oil being the prime motive, I don't know, if that were the case, wouldn't the world have unraveled even more by now? In any case, it was also entertaining, not your father's conspiracy theory. If Thomas Malthus, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Oliver Stone got together to write a book, this would be the result.
Wake up - be alert - question.......2007-06-19
Riveting, provoking and disturbing are the three adjectives for Crossing the Rubicon. It is a page turner, filled with fascinating details about 9/11, the CIA and our government. Surely, for the truth seeker, this book is captivating.
Be alert, sober and a critical thinker. Be willing to question all that you learned...for things are not as they appear...or what we have been indoctrinated to believe.
Read the book.
Also, take a look at Catherine Austin Fitts' website solari dot com
Excellent analysis of the evidence available .......2007-06-12
This is a well done researched book that taps into the Official 9/11 Commission Report myth. Who was behind 9/11, what prompted it, and what was the purpose and consequences for the US political process. The books delineates in detail the CIA's involvement with the drug trade and arming foreign guerillas to meet their own needs and their involvement with events leading up to 9/11 along with the FBI, Military Industrial Complex, and Wall St. This detective journalism at its best. If you ever wanted to know what and who was REALLY behind 9/11, I highly recommend this book. It is quite extensive with lots of hard factual information. If you are looking for stats like the guy below, this is not for you. Instead, the book acts like a "connect the dots puzzle" that flows consistently throughout the book. I think this will seriously change how you view the US political and governmental system.
There should be a million more books like this on the shelves........2007-06-12
This books absolutely blew me away. I don't even know what else to say.
Ruppert argues his case in the book as if presenting to jury. The only defense to the book's logical conclusion is that Cheney and Co. weren't cross examined; but since the Administration refused at all cost the 9/11 Commission's establishment and their own sworn testimony before it, that's about all the proof we need of their treason.
READ THE BOOK. Read the 9/11 commission report, and then Whiteout (by Cockburn and St. Clair) and every other expose of CIA drug dealing and covert terrorism in alliance with Nazis and neo-Nazis...I mean, neo-conservatives. You'll be convinced, if you can handle it that is.
Average customer rating:
- Love it, always have!
- This may be another save the world story, but worth reading
- Wondrous
- The Belgariad
- Great Reading
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The Belgariad, Vol. 2 (Books 4 & 5): Castle of Wizardry, Enchanters' End Game
David Eddings
Manufacturer: Del Rey
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Binding: Paperback
Eddings, David
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Similar Items:
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The Belgariad, Vol. 1 (Books 1-3): Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit
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The Malloreon, Vol. 1 (Books 1-3): Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda
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The Malloreon, Vol. 2 (Books 4 & 5): Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell
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Belgarath the Sorcerer
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Polgara the Sorceress (Malloreon (Paperback Random House))
ASIN: 0345456319
Release Date: 2002-08-27 |
Book Description
David Eddings’ acclaimed series, The Belgariad, reaches its stunning conclusion in these final two gripping novels. Continue on this magnificent journey and be entranced by a saga of strange lands and peoples, of prophecy and strife set against the background of a seven-thousand-year war of men, Kings, and Gods.
The quest may be nearing its end, but the danger continues. After discovering a shocking secret about himself he never could have imagined—all in pursuit of the legendary Orb—Garion and his fellow adventurers must escape a crumbling enemy fortress and flee across a vast desert filled with ruthless soldiers whose only aim is to destroy them. But even when the quest is complete, Garion’s destiny is far from fulfilled. For the evil God Torak is about to awaken and seek dominion. Somehow, Garion has to face the God, to kill or be killed. On the outcome of this dread duel rests the future of the world. But how can one man destroy an immortal God?
“Fabulous . . . Eddings has a marvelous storyteller style . . . exceedingly well portrayed and complex people. . . . More! More! More!”
—ANNE MCCAFFREY
Customer Reviews:
Love it, always have!.......2007-08-15
Approximately 15 years ago, I was given a copy of Pawn of Prophecy (Belgariad). I quickly read all the Belgariad, then the Mallorean and moved on to Belgarath the Sorcerer and Polgara the Sorceress. I have never read anything like these books. Over the last 15 years I have read all these books at least 20 times. Everytime I read the series something else comes out of the books that i either didn't notice last time or that became more important as I aged. David and his wife Leigh Eddings intersperse just enough philosphy and aged wisdom to enhance the reading experience. Dialog is often funny, while maintaining the seriousness of the story. The characters are some of the most engaging characters I have ever read, and they will grow with you.
For a great read, and an engaging read, I recommend you read the best series of books I have ever read.
This may be another save the world story, but worth reading.......2007-06-25
This is the second installment of the Belgariad, finishing out the tale of Garion and his group of friends. Though the Belgariad Volume One is somewhat stronger and a better read, This second half of the tale finishes the story in a way that keeps the readers attention. He develops the characters even more, and they were my favorite part of the entire story.
At the end of Volume One, Garion and his friends have defeated Ctuchik and in the process caused Rak Thol to destroy itself. This book picks up right where that last one left off and continues with the groups travels to get to Riva on the Isle of the Winds. The beginning of the story is quite engaging, but it tends to get a bit tedious towards the middle. But the ending comes back around and grabs the reader refusing to let go until the last page is turned. We follow along as Garion decides to go off on his own with Silk and Belgarath for his meeting with the evil god Torak, and leaves Aunt Pol and Ce'Nedra behind to deal with the Kings of the lands of the West. They are forced to raise an army, mostly of Ce'Nedra's doing. This is where the story begins to slow. Once the army is formed and the marching finally comes to an end, a battle begins at Thull Mardu, and from then on the reading is fast and entertaining.
I thought this book was a great ending to this enjoyable series. I gave it three stars only because I enjoyed volume one slightly more. I plan on tackling the next series The Mallorean in the near future. Hopefully it will be just as entertaining as this story was!
Wondrous.......2007-05-22
Part 2 of a wondrous series of books. The author is amazing at captivating his audience.
The Belgariad.......2007-01-21
The books were in excellent condition. David Eddings's story of Belgarion keeps the reader enchanted throughout the series.
Great Reading.......2006-11-13
I was introduced to this series a couple of years ago and I've been in love with it ever since. I can't believe I never came across it sooner. Of course now that I've read it I come across it in book stores all the time now. This series is a beautiful series for all readers. I wouldn't limit it to fantasy lovers because it is simply a terrific series. It has everything you can ever want to read in a book - humour, fear, action and satisfaction that good does indeed have a say in what goes on in the world. The characters come alive in your head without even trying, the storyline is addictive so it's best to either buy all the books in the series from the start or make plans to get it as soon as you can.
It was great to get these books in 4 books instead of 10. I still re-read this series and I've recently bought them as christmas presents. It's an excellant buy for any avid reader or even for those you might want to encourage to read. For all those who do buy this series, check out Belgarath and Polgara - the companion editions.
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