Current Events Books - Page 6

Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less: A Handbook for Slashing Gas Prices and Solving Our Energy Crisis

Newt Gingrich, Vince Haley

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

New York Times bestselling author, former Speaker of the House, and Fox News political analyst Newt Gingrich has a plan for slashing gas prices and reducing our long-term dependence on foreign oil.

Gingrich is famous for taking big, visionary ideas and boiling them down into practical solutions as demonstrated in this year's earlier release, Real Change, which was on the New York Times bestseller list for eleven weeks. His new book Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less does just that. Dealing not only with spiraling gas prices, but with the energy crisis as a whole, Gingrich shows how we can safely reap the benefits of America's own natural resources and technology in gas, oil, coal, wind, solar, biofuels and nuclear energy.

Gingrich argues that the pinch Americans are feeling at the pump is not a blip in the economy but a looming crisis--affecting not only the price of gas, but the price of food, the strength of our economy, and our national security.

To meet this crisis, Gingrich lays out a national strategy that will tap America's scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs, and require Congress to unlock our oil reserves and remove all the impediments and disincentives that unnecessary government regulation has put in the way of American energy independence. The energy crisis is solvable, as Newt Gingrich's plan makes clear. His handbook, Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less is sure to become the talk of the presidential campaign season.

Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries

Naomi Wolf

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Call To Action 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Ms Wolf in a clear and concise manner calls all patriotic Americans to action. A great book and a must read.

Motivates to take Action 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

"Handbook" is a good description. After making a convincing argument that it is our duty to make some noise and get involved, Wolf gives specific advice and resources to have our voices heard. One thing lacking is addressing the importance to really be informed. It appears to me that the people who know the least are the ones who talk the most and have the strongest opinions. Emotions run high and it is hard to have productive deliberation with people. Addressing this would have added an important element to the conversation.

It is scary to me that most people I talk to are willing to accept our government's lawlessness because they somehow think that it secures their safety. After reading this book I have a firmer belief and understanding of the meaning of rule of law and why our safety lies within the rules instead of the rulers.

Wolf outlines how to be a revolutionary in ways that may land you in jail and therefore gives advice for what to do if you are arrested. I don't think I will be taking to the streets in protests, but I am much more motivated to understand our constitution and become more involved in understanding what my representatives are doing in Washington. If government knows that "we the people" are watching closely, it will probably generate better behavior in government. Even though I am not willing be a revolutionary to the extent that would risk imprisonment, this book has motivated me to get off my duff and at least be present.

Editorial Review:

As the practice of democracy becomes a lost art, Americans are increasingly desperate for a restored nation. Many have a general sense that the "system" is in disorder -- if not on the road to functional collapse. But though it is easy to identify our political problems, the solutions are not always as clear. In Give Me Liberty: A Handbook for American Revolutionaries, bestselling author Naomi Wolf illustrates the breathtaking changes that can take place when ordinary citizens engage in the democratic system the way the founders intended and tells how to use that system, right now, to change your life, your community, and ultimately, the nation.

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters

James W. Douglass

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 35 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

There is room at the top of your shelf for this book. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

There may be only five or six books dealing with John Kennedy's assassination which not only provide a complete review of the event or new insights, but are also extremely well written. This book belongs on the top shelf with them.
This brilliant history does not so much tell the reader which antagonists were against Kennedy, it allows a recognition by the reader of forces building independent of our democracy yet ostensibly within it.
While some familiar witness testimony is covered again, this narrative might even have been better had these not been included. The reader's knowledge of Kennedy's shooting provides the answer--the relationships within intelligence agencies, the State Department, and foreign governments provide a vivid equation which the reader himself creates. A remarkably unique book.

Best Book I've Read in 10 years 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Masterful, deep, and brilliant. When you add this great book to Peter Dale Scott's book "Deep Politics and the Death of JFK," you get an understanding of the period that is profound, nuanced, and remarkably well documented. Because of the world-changing salience of these events -- and the fundamental nature of the darker processes that drove them -- such an understanding brings readers to an unsettlingly high level of sophistication about matters where ignorance is an anxious bliss, and enlightenment is a mournful search for hope. A wonderful and inspired book.

Letter to a Christian Nation

Sam Harris

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 621 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

GET...right on outta town! 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I have to say that I began reading this book as one critical to the point of view expressed. I thought it was an extraordinarily well-written letter, using good grammar and turns of phrase, that though smarmy and condescending, were still of the highest literary quality. I started sympathizing with the author, because I'll admit, as everyone should, that not all Christians are "tolerant" of other points of view (like Sarah Palin is! ... couldn't resist). Roundabout page 21, Harris's argument got a little thin around the 10 Commandments ... I thought he was overly grasping, just to doggedly make his point. He gradually minced backwards until he admitted that at least commandments 5-9 were good ... and later on, I believe he indirectly endorsed #10 (like oh, by the way, envy, jealousy, coveting, etc. can be bad). Soon after, on page 26 his argument got a little thin again ... I'll let you read it for yourself.

This micro-tome on the injuries and idiocy of organized religion finished stronger than it started out, but still lapsed occasionally into sneering and pure name-calling. Also, conspicuously missing is any more than a passing mention of atheist ills and wrongdoings. Harris, Dawkins and basically every atheist advocate (though rightly reproachful of religious mobs) all fail to acknowledge the murder records associated with famous atheists. Thomas Aquinous, Popes Pious X and XII were famous Christians mentioned ... let's talk about some atheists that really got the world's attention! Socialism (to use the general term, which includes[ed] Nazis, Marxists, Communists, Maoists, and a dozen other political ideals which hinge on a faithless society to govern. BTW, Hitler cannot be described as anymore than a nominal, non-practicing, non-observant child of Christian parents, who admired the tenants of at least 3 religions insofar as they would further justify his persecution of Jews and his championing of the master races), anyway, Socialism is responsible for far many more murders/deaths/kills than Christianity. China's Great Leap Forward alone ended in roughly 25MM premature dirt-naps. Part of this is organizational (governments have more horsepower when it comes to killing than do private entities like a religious group), and part of it is that most religions condemn killing without good cause. He makes the irrefutable point that many groups of Christians, Muslims, Hindus and myriad others still have killed, though fails to mention there has always been dissent among them as well, showing a lack of dedication to religious killings overall ... socialist atheists haven't even this mild influence, and are thus left to depend on the (Harris's atheist assertion) intellectually obvious "morals" non-religious people can arrive at without the influence of religion. Nice job, Stalin! Way to misuse or ignore the Harris System to kill over 14MM (just like Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Buddhists have ignored the basics of religion ... and there I was thinking atheists were superior?!?!). Oh yeah, and Harris thinks science and religion don't mix ... this is where I stare at the screen and contemplate what would happen if the most integral part of science were faith, or the keystone of religion were emperical proof. Thanks for the head's up, Harris.

I find his framing the whole abortion issue around 3-day old blastocysts, used for stem cell research to be especially ludicrous yet prima facia ingenious. If you let Harris couch the argument as such, you really are missing out on the whole partial-birth thing ... oh yeah, that ... the thing that makes most people want to puke. I have seen folks get up and leave the discussion, the table and the room when the details of why partial-birth abortions are murder come up. These are pro-choice individuals without the stomach to fly the flag of their "convictions". I've heard them say, "If men had babies, abortion would be sacrosanct!" While a memorable and catchy phrase, this is not a valid argument any more than, "If Africans had reciprocally traded in white slaves, then slavery would've been OK." It has an air of fairness about it, but entirely misses the point. The harvest of thousands of petri-dish-blastocysts (though troubling to some) isn't really what the abortion battle is about. It is, however, viewed by both sides as a crucial stepping stone to partial-birth.

We religious nuts (which I'm actually not ... not even a moderate or religious liberal; I use this phrase only to identify with the thinking of the actual church folk, and to satirize Harris's caricature of believers as somehow mentally inept), anyway, we nuts aren't st-st-stoopid. We realize the benefits of stem cell research, and know all about the roughly 50% of all pregnancies being naturally aborted. We also know that a fetus torn limb from limb on the mother's whim is a grotesque miscarriage and misapplication of morals, and even writing about it makes me want to get up and leave the room . I know partial-birth bans are a stepping stone to blanket bans ... I also know framing the abortion issue around blastocysts is a chicken-poo and small minded tach, and is thusly receiving all the respect it deserves here in my review.

Finally, Harris closes with a moderately smug and again condescending entreat for all readers to please read up on the topic and join him and the other culturally enlightened souls who despise organized religion. The language is more than a little demeaning and harsh, which I sort of let slide, and his logic is mostly in step with the jack-booted rank and file atheists who want to tear down monuments and waste public dollars making uncultured and rustic rubes like me feel inferior. To rephrase, it gets a little thin more than once. I like that this book makes one think, and in that, I would say Harris enjoys total success. He isn't a bad writer or some demon-man (as far as I can tell). In short, nice little book with good points scattered throughout. However ... if you finish it, and say to yourself, "I agree with everything HE said", then I would say, "GET right on outta town!"

Editorial Review:

“Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.”

So begins Letter to a Christian Nation…



www.samharris.org

Peace is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Thich Nhat Hanh

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Total reviews: 84 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment. World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to "mindfulness"—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.

Lucidly and beautifully written, Peace Is Every Step contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh's experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is—in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking a part—and shows how deep meditative presence is available now. Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace. Nhat Hanh also shows how to be aware of relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty and also its pollution and injustices. the deceptively simple practices of Peace Is Every Step encourage the reader to work for peace in the world as he or she continues to work on sustaining inner peace by turning the "mindless" into the mindFUL.

The End of Poverty: How We Can Make It Happen in Our Lifetime

Jeffrey Sachs

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 116 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Insightful and inspiring perspective on one of the great opportunities of our generation 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Jeffrey Sachs uses his broad knowledge to frame the context of a call for action to end extreme poverty in our generation. He demonstrates through detailed statistical comparisons the evolution of the widening gap of economic opportunity between the world's regions, and provides interesting narrative examples to support his conclusions.

Although the statistics sometimes are mind-numbing, Sachs does a good job of creating graphical representations in the form of world maps, which serve to educate the reader and demonstrate the often overlooked connections between health, education and economic development. He has "done his homework" in providing a wealth of historic perspectives on the problems we observe in today's economy.

Sachs uses his groundwork effectively as a springboard to inspire our thinking about how we can help create a better world by doing relatively simple things. Again, he uses the narrative to demonstrate how small amounts of money, medicine or appropriate technologies, delivered to the point of need, can make a huge difference in the outcomes for people living in or near extreme poverty.

Editorial Review:

Jeffrey Sachs draws on his remarkable 25 years' experience to offer a thrilling and inspiring vision of the keys to economic success in the world today. Marrying vivid storytelling with acute analysis, he sets the stage by drawing a conceptual map of the world economy and explains why, over the past 200 years, wealth and poverty have diverged and evolved across the planet, and why the poorest nations have been so markedly unable to escape the trap of poverty. Sachs tells the remarkable stories of his own work in Bolivia, Poland, Russia, India, China and Africa to bring readers with him to an understanding of the different problems countries face. In the end, readers will be left not with an understanding of how daunting the world's problems are, but how solvable they are and why making the effort is both our moral duty and in our own interests.

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

Sam Harris

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Total reviews: 838 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

An impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith.

This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, we can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion—an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism. While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world.

Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior

Dick Couch

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Total reviews: 38 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. More than ever, we need men like those of the Army Special Forces–the legendary Green Berets.

In Chosen Soldier, Dick Couch draws on nearly a year spent at Special Forces training facilities and offers an unprecedented view of the education of these men.

Following the experiences of one class of soldiers as they endure this physically and mentally exhausting ordeal, Couch spells out in fascinating detail the demanding selection process and grueling field exercises, the high-level technical training and intensive language courses, and the simulated battle problems that test everything from how well SF candidates gather operational intelligence to their skills at negotiating with volatile, often hostile, local leaders. Chosen Soldier paints a vivid portrait of an elite group, and a process that forges America’s smartest, most versatile, and most valuable fighting force.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS STYLEBOOK AND BRIEFING ON MEDIA LAW

Norm Goldstein

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The supreme authority! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have used the AP Stylebook for over 5 years. The entries are easy to find and easy to understand. Entries are brief and to the point. Are the seasons capitalized? How about north, south, east and west? Where do you place adverbs - before or after the verb, or someplace else? It's Web site - two words and the first one is capitalized. Internet is capitalized because it's a proper noun.

This book has the definitive answers. I don't work for a newspaper anymore, but, as a freelance writer, I miss this book more and more everyday. I must get my own. You will never be sorry that you bought this book. It will help you no matter what kind of writing you do.

Helpful 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This was quite helpful while taking a journalism course. It takes a few minutes to understand the layout of the book to lookup things, but once you get it, it's easy.

I think this book helped raise me a letter grade in my course. Anyone taking a journalism course with a strict professor or planning on entering journalism should get a copy. My textbook had a reference in it, but it was quite small. With the low cost of this book, you can't go wrong.

If you're taking the course without an intent to go into journalism, check to see if you can use copies from the department first.

A Million Little Pieces

James Frey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1836 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Intense, unpredictable, and instantly engaging, A Million Little Pieces is a story of drug and alcohol abuse and rehabilitation as it has never been told before. Recounted in visceral, kinetic prose, and crafted with a forthrightness that rejects piety, cynicism, and self-pity, it brings us face-to-face with a provocative new understanding of the nature of addiction and the meaning of recovery.

By the time he entered a drug and alcohol treatment facility, James Frey had taken his addictions to near-deadly extremes. He had so thoroughly ravaged his body that the facilityís doctors were shocked he was still alive. The ensuing torments of detoxification and withdrawal, and the never-ending urge to use chemicals, are captured with a vitality and directness that recalls the seminal eye-opening power of William Burroughsís Junky.

But A Million Little Pieces refuses to fit any mold of drug literature. Inside the clinic, James is surrounded by patients as troubled as he is -- including a judge, a mobster, a one-time world-champion boxer, and a fragile former prostitute to whom he is not allowed to speak ó but their friendship and advice strikes James as stronger and truer than the clinicís droning dogma of How to Recover. James refuses to consider himself a victim of anything but his own bad decisions, and insists on accepting sole accountability for the person he has been and the person he may become--which runs directly counter to his counselors' recipes for recovery.

James has to fight to find his own way to confront the consequences of the life he has lived so far, and to determine what future, if any, he holds. It is this fight, told with the charismatic energy and power of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, that is at the heart of A Million Little Pieces: the fight between one young manís will and the ever-tempting chemical trip to oblivion, the fight to survive on his own terms, for reasons close to his own heart.

A Million Little Pieces is an uncommonly genuine account of a life destroyed and a life reconstructed. It is also the introduction of a bold and talented literary voice.


From the eBook edition.