General Books - Page 6

The True Story of the Bilderberg Group

Daniel Estulin

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Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Delving into a world once shrouded in complete mystery and impenetrable security, this investigative report provides a fascinating account of the annual meetings of the world’s most powerful people—the Bilderberg Group. Since its inception in 1954 at the Bilderberg Hotel in the small Dutch town of Oosterbeek, the Bilderberg Group has been comprised of European prime ministers, American presidents, and the wealthiest CEOs of the world, all coming together to discuss the economic and political future of humanity. The press has never been allowed to attend, nor have statements ever been released on the attendees' conclusions or discussions, which have ramifications on the citizens of the world. Using methods that resemble the spy tactics of the Cold War—and in several instances putting his own life on the line—the author did what no one else has managed to achieve: he learned what was being said behind the closed doors of the opulent hotels and has made it available to the public for the first time.

Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth

Margaret Atwood

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Life and Debt 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

What could be more timely, in these economically unstable days, than a discussion about debt?

The essays in Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth were presented as a series of radio lectures in Canada in November 2008. While I often enjoy the non-fiction writings of writers who are more famous for their novels (Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, Stephen King, among others), such collections are usually on a variety of topics or on a fiction-related topic such as writing. In Margaret Atwood's case though, she has taken on the subject of debt, although not exclusively financial debt.

Starting with a history of debt that is sprinkled with childhood memories of Scrooge McDuck and her first bank account, she examines the morality of owing other people. Using examples from literature and from nature, Atwood explores the universality of the concept of fairness. When capuchin monkeys realize that when one of their group is being rewarded with juicy grapes while the rest of them are being rewarded for the same work with lesser treats, they know it's a rotten deal and they rebel.

Atwood looks at how changing attitudes toward debt have affected the way we look at debt in literature. In Shakespeare's A Merchant of Venice, for example, Shylock is a moneylender, which is a necessary, but not very respectable profession. Now one of the most respected professions is banking, which of course, is mainly moneylending.

Debt isn't just about money. Atwood explores the concept of forgiveness, such as when Nelson Mandela was finally released from prison and knew he had to forgive those who'd persecuted him over the years and he had to do it before he walked out of the prison grounds. Otherwise he would carry those resentments with him forever. We know, as he did, that failing to forgive does more harm to ourselves than it does to those who wrong us, but we want payback. Payback for those psychic debts. It's only right, isn't it?

Atwood concludes with a modern-day Christmas Carol that puts all of these debt-related conundrums into perspective. Just in time for Christmas and just in time for the collapse of the world economy. How's that for serendipity?

Editorial Review:

Collected here, the Massey Lectures from legendary novelist Margaret Atwood investigate the highly topical subject of debt. She doesn’t talk about high finance or managing money; instead, she goes far deeper to explore debt as an ancient and central motif in religion, literature, and the structure of human societies. By looking at how debt has informed our thinking from preliterate times to the present day, from the stories we tell of revenge and sin to the way we order social relationships, Atwood argues that the idea of what we owe may well be built into the human imagination as one of its most dynamic metaphors. Her final lecture addresses the notion of a debt to nature and the need to find new ways of interacting with the natural world before it is too late.

Culture Warrior

Bill O'Reilly

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Total reviews: 494 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

With three straight #1 bestsellers and more than 4 million copies of his books in print, the most powerful traditional force in the American media now takes off his gloves in the ongoing struggle for America’s heart and soul.

Bill O’Reilly is the very embodiment of the idea of a Culture Warrior—and in this book he lives up to the title brilliantly, with all the brashness and forthrightness at his command. He sees that America is in the midst of a fierce culture war between those who embrace traditional values and those who want to change America into a “secular-progressive” country. This is a conflict that differs in many ways from the usual liberal/conservative divide, but it is no less heated, and the stakes are even higher.
In Culture Warrior, Bill O’Reilly defines this war and analyzes the competing philosophies of the traditionalist and secular-progressive camps. He examines why the nation’s motto “E Pluribus Unum” (“From Many, One”) might change to “What About Me?”; dissects the forces driving the secular-progressive agenda in the media and behind the scenes, including George Soros, George Lakoff, and the ACLU; and dives into matters of race, education, and the war on terror. He also shows how the culture war has played out in such high-profile instances as The Passion of the Christ, Fahrenheit 9/11, the abuse epidemic (child and otherwise), and the embattled place of religion in public life—with special emphasis on the war against Christmas. Whatever controversies are roiling the nation, he fearlessly confronts them—and no one will be in the dark about which side he’s on.
Culture Warrior showcases Bill O’Reilly at his most eloquent and impassioned. He is an unrelenting fighter for the soul of America, and in this book he fights the good fight for the traditional values that have served this country so well for so long.

The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century

George Friedman

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Editorial Review:

“Conventional analysis suffers from a profound failure of imagination. It imagines passing clouds to be permanent and is blind to powerful, long-term shifts taking place in full view of the world.” —George Friedman

In his long-awaited and provocative new book, George Friedman turns his eye on the future—offering a lucid, highly readable forecast of the changes we can expect around the world during the twenty-first century. He explains where and why future wars will erupt (and how they will be fought), which nations will gain and lose economic and political power, and how new technologies and cultural trends will alter the way we live in the new century.
The Next 100 Years draws on a fascinating exploration of history and geopolitical patterns dating back hundreds of years. Friedman shows that we are now, for the first time in half a millennium, at the dawn of a new era—with changes in store, including:

• The U.S.-Jihadist war will conclude—replaced by a second full-blown cold war with Russia.
• China will undergo a major extended internal crisis, and Mexico will emerge as an important world power.
• A new global war will unfold toward the middle of the century between the United States and an unexpected coalition from Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Far East; but armies will be much smaller and wars will be less deadly.
• Technology will focus on space—both for major military uses and for a dramatic new energy resource that will have radical environmental implications.
• The United States will experience a Golden Age in the second half of the century.

Written with the keen insight and thoughtful analysis that has made George Friedman a renowned expert in geopolitics and forecasting, The Next 100 Years presents a fascinating picture of what lies ahead.

For continual, updated analysis and supplemental material, go to www.Stratfor.com

Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals

Shane Claiborne, Chris Haw

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Very Disturbing 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." -Sam Clemens, aka Mark Twain.

I entirely disagree with many of the conclusions reached in this book. I'm just not sure which ones yet.

The beginning montage was the story of my life, sort of. I picked this book up because it looked interesting.

...and then Shane and Chris challenged exactly everything I believe in, except the existence of God and His nature as a loving Father. They challenged even my identity as an American (excuse me, citizen of the United States), calling "my country" the Empire - Rome, in fact. The beast. And utterly antithetical to the Kingdom of God. I'd been listening to the Bible on CD (The Word of Promise), and a lot of what they were saying jived with what Jesus said. They challenged the way I live life.

I say this of them: Chris and Shane have taken belief in Christ in a real way, where one actually.. you know.. believes what He said... they have taken it to a very radical conclusion. Their anti-war position has not completely convinced me, but it has made me rethink my position.

Make no mistake, I want Jesus for President. I want to share this book. I'm not sure I agree with the authors' conclusion, but "J4P" rocked my very nice and cozy American world. I also recommend Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It too is quite disturbing.

Editorial Review:

Amid all the buzz of politics and elections, Jesus for President is a refreshing reminder that our ultimate hope lies not in partisan political options but in the Jesus who gave his life for us. Politics for ordinary radicals who want to love the world into the kingdom of God.

Fast Food Nation

Eric Schlosser

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Total reviews: 1409 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On any given day, one out of four Americans opts for a quick and cheap meal at a fast-food restaurant, without giving either its speed or its thriftiness a second thought. Fast food is so ubiquitous that it now seems as American, and harmless, as apple pie. But the industry's drive for consolidation, homogenization, and speed has radically transformed America's diet, landscape, economy, and workforce, often in insidiously destructive ways. Eric Schlosser, an award-winning journalist, opens his ambitious and ultimately devastating exposé with an introduction to the iconoclasts and high school dropouts, such as Harlan Sanders and the McDonald brothers, who first applied the principles of a factory assembly line to a commercial kitchen. Quickly, however, he moves behind the counter with the overworked and underpaid teenage workers, onto the factory farms where the potatoes and beef are grown, and into the slaughterhouses run by giant meatpacking corporations. Schlosser wants you to know why those French fries taste so good (with a visit to the world's largest flavor company) and "what really lurks between those sesame-seed buns." Eater beware: forget your concerns about cholesterol, there is--literally--feces in your meat.

Schlosser's investigation reaches its frightening peak in the meatpacking plants as he reveals the almost complete lack of federal oversight of a seemingly lawless industry. His searing portrayal of the industry is disturbingly similar to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, written in 1906: nightmare working conditions, union busting, and unsanitary practices that introduce E. coli and other pathogens into restaurants, public schools, and homes. Almost as disturbing is his description of how the industry "both feeds and feeds off the young," insinuating itself into all aspects of children's lives, even the pages of their school books, while leaving them prone to obesity and disease. Fortunately, Schlosser offers some eminently practical remedies. "Eating in the United States should no longer be a form of high-risk behavior," he writes. Where to begin? Ask yourself, is the true cost of having it "your way" really worth it? --Lesley Reed

Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs

Robert Spencer

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

This is America's wake up call 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Seven years after 9/11, most Americans remain ignorant about the history, nature and intent of Islamic jihad. Even our elected leaders today profess the view of Islam as a peaceful religion. Unfortunately Islam is anything but peaceful. Islam is more of a political ideology than a personal faith, and exists in a fundamental and permanent state of war with non-Islamic civilizations, cultures and individuals. The Islamic holy texts outline a social, governmental and economic system for all mankind in Sharia law. Any cultures and individuals who do not submit to Islamic governance exist in a state of rebellion with Allah and must be forcibly brought into submission.

Everywhere Islam exists it slowly overpowers and oppresses any freedom of speech, thought or action until it is the only dominant ideology. One only has to look to Europe to see it happening there. How long before America follows?

Islam seeks to dominate the world, whether it does it by violence or by stealth. Robert Spencer's new book is a wake up call for America.

Editorial Review:

Most terrorism experts agree: it is not "if" we are attacked again, but "when." Yet the assault has already happened. A silent battle is being waged on our nation everyday. Not with guns and bombs, but via covert sources: Islamic charities, the ACLU--even presidential candidates. They are all pawns in a stealth holy war. Unwittingly advancing the jihadist agenda not by violence, but through endeavors designed to acclimate and subject us to Islamic law--just the way Osama bin Laden wants it. In Stealth Jihad, bestselling author Robert Spencer exposes how a silent but lethal movement is advancing on the U.S. and calls upon Americans to resist it--before it's too late.

There Is No Alternative: Why Margaret Thatcher Matters

Claire Berlinski

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Great Britain in the 1970s appeared to be in terminal decline—ungovernable, an economic train wreck, and rapidly headed for global irrelevance. Three decades later, it is the richest and most influential country in Europe, and Margaret Thatcher is the reason. The preternaturally determined Thatcher rose from nothing, seized control of Britain’s Conservative party, and took a sledgehammer to the nation’s postwar socialist consensus. She proved that socialism could be reversed, inspiring a global free-market revolution. Simultaneously exploiting every politically useful aspect of her femininity and defying every conventional expectation of women in power, Thatcher crushed her enemies with a calculated ruthlessness that stunned the British public and without doubt caused immense collateral damage.

Ultimately, however, Claire Berlinski agrees with Thatcher: There was no alternative. Berlinski explains what Thatcher did, why it matters, and how she got away with it in this vivid and immensely readable portrait of one of the towering figures of the twentieth century.

Barack Obama in His Own Words

Barack Obama

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Not the best source for Obama 3 out of 5 stars.
28 of 30 people found this review helpful.

Barack Obama In His Own Words is interesting and would be useful as a research tool for anyone writing about Obama, but it is nowhere near as interesting as his own books, all of which are insightful and fascinating.

Barbershop Jive Talk 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Barack Obama's ideas are barbershop jive talk. The black barbershop is a black institution. It is racially segregated physically, emotionally and intellectually. Physically, only "brothers" are welcome inside. Woe betide the white customer who wants a hair cut in a black barbershop. The barbershop is like the black bar in the movie Animal House. Viewers will recall that the blacks in the bar greet the white students with hostility, disrespect and violence. Emotionally, the barbershop is where black men can express their feelings that are grounded in ignorance, fear, and hatred. Intellectually, the barbershop is like black radio and TV. The brothers exchange false, misleading, and racist ideas. The ideas are always general, not specific. Their discussions are always one-sided. They do not tolerate dissent or freedom of expression. The do not require or welcome supporting evidence. Like the O.J. Simpson criminal case, no amount of evidence can convince the brothers that O.J. is guilty of murder or that Obama is not the messiah.

Obama's ideas developed in this culture of intolerance,bigotry and racism. Although he is bi-racial, he consciously chose to identify himself as black. He chose to marry Michelle, a clone of Black Panther Angela Davis. Like Davis, Michelle hates most white Americans and rejects American values. Both Barack and Michelle accepted racial quotas and other benefits of being black. Both played the race card at every opportunity. He chose to be a "community organizer" among blacks in South Chicago. For 20 years he chose to listen to and financially support the racist theology and philosophy of Rev. Wright. And when it was expedient for him to assert his black identity, he threw his saintly white grandmother under the bus.

Obama has put many Democrat and independent white voters in a trick bag, another black institution. Playing the race card, he has brainwashed these lost souls into believing that his barbershop abstractions will cause:"Change We Can Believe In"! Those lost souls are afraid to ask him for specifics or evidence of this "change". One major change would be converting the oval office into a black barbershop where the ideas of Wright, Jackson and Sharpton prevail. Obama has concealed from those lost souls the philosophy that Michelle Obama expressed in her Princeton thesis. That philosophy is that for him the black community will always come first, the Democrat Party second, and America third. Obama can run but he can't hide from his chosen ideas. He will never let his white supporters become "brothers" or admit them into his barbershop. In the end he will treat them as he treated his white grandmother and throw them under the bus. Before it is too late, those lost souls should realize that Barack Obama is not like us and is not one of us. He is not worthy to be president.

Editorial Review:

Since delivering his keynote speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama has been hailed as the clear savior of not only the Democratic party, but of the integrity of American politics. Despite the fact that he burst onto the national scene seemingly overnight, his name recognition has grown by leaps and bounds ever since.

Barack Obama in His Own Words, a book of quotes from the Illinois Senator, allows those who aren't as familiar with his politics to learn quickly where he stands on abortion, religion, AIDS, his critics, foreign policy, Iraq, the War on Terror, unemployment, gay marriage, and a host of other important issues facing America and the world.

Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President

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Editorial Review:

“Mark Green and Michele Jolin look to 2009 as the beginning of an era of renewal and progressive governance in America. Change for America presciently and insightfully offers specific ideas for what our next President can do to revitalize our nation and restore our standing abroad."—President Bill Clinton

It was an election about change, but how will that change actually happen?

The result of a collaboration between the Center for American Progress Action Fund (the advocacy arm of Washington’s leading-edge progressive think-tank led) and the New Democracy Project's Mark Green, this comprehensive volume is written by over sixty leading policymakers, scholars and advocates.

Based on four core values—of democracy, security through diplomacy, opportunity and a greener world—Change for America offers scores of solutions how to repair our broken government and create an enduring progressive era.

“The Center for American Progress Action Fund and Mark Green have assembled some of our nation's best minds, and their best ideas, into a book is packed with innovative, practical, and progressive solutions that will help take America in a New Direction."—Speaker Nancy Pelosi

“These thoughtful essays offer a progressive way forward for the vast majority of Americans who hope their government works for the many, not just the few.”—Senator Ted Kennedy

“We don't just need a transition -- we need a transformation. Mark Green and Michele Jolin's encyclopedia of change offers a brilliant roadmap for the 44th President.”—Senator John Kerry

“This is one of the most important books to be published this year. It's a handbook for restoring the New Deal's social compact with our citizens over the first '100 Days' and the next 1360.”—James Roosevelt, Jr.

“Change for America is brilliant, timely and practical and teems with hard earned wisdom and common sense.”—Michael Eric Dyson