Book Description
A sweeping and dramatic history of the last half century of conflict in the Middle East from an award-winning journalist who has covered the region for over thirty years, The Great War for Civilisation unflinchingly chronicles the tragedy of the region from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution; from the American hostage crisis in Beirut to the Iran-Iraq War; from the 1991 Gulf War to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. A book of searing drama as well as lucid, incisive analysis, The Great War for Civilisation is a work of major importance for today's world.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful, honest and shocking.......2007-10-07
The book "The great war for civilisation", by Robert Fisk, is wonderful, mostly for its vivid and honest telling of the history the author has lived in thr last 40 years.
Even not having finished its reading (it's a 1,100 pages book!), I can see the author does not leaves "stone on stone" (translated from a Portuguese sentence). He show how ignorant people of developed countries can be (to make a monument in Vincennes, indiana, USA, to USS Vincennes, which blowed up a civil plane, killing 290 people, is terrible!), and how dishonest governments like Reagan's and Thatcher's were. Please, divulge this book!
A Great Book for Civilisation.......2007-10-06
It's hard to exaggerate when trying to accord sufficient praise for this great book. As a pure work of journalistic reportage it seems impossible to beat, let alone come near to its level of sincerity, humanity and scope. I don't know how Mr. Fisk was able to collate and make such sense of so much material, and survive the ordeal.
Whatever one's own proclivities may be in the world of politics and religion, I don't think anyone could quarrel with the author's many observations, which are so clearly animated by an overriding sense of outrage at the callous and sensless brutality which he has so often witnessed in person in the countries where he has been a reporter.
He tries his best to be impartial, and indeed it is virtually impossible to know where the truth lies in a world of spin and manipulation. However, he clearly shows a penchant for the Muslim argument in the Middle East, and certainly there must be a lot to be said in his favour, even if he is not always wholly convincing.
This, however, is but a quibble compared with the might and majesty of this splendid book, which I would recommend anyone who is in any way concerned with the Arab world to read, and learn from.
Detailed and well-written account.......2007-10-03
Fisk's narrative pulls no punches, and does a superb job of recounting events ranging from the Iran-Iraq War to the Armenian genocide the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan to the Palestinian Israeli conflict to the current War in Iraq -- as well as many other events relevant to the contemporary Middle East (and U.S. foreign policy in the region).
I found the account to be depressing at times, but for those who are looking for a thought-provoking, and engaging narrative this is a great place to start. No easy answers, and plenty of information to digest. The best kind of reading.
A Must Read.......2007-09-02
I read every word in this book. At first I was skeptical that it could all be true, but on completion I believe it is. I highly recommend this book to all.
It is an excellent way to learn just how big a mistake was made by the US and GB in trying to overthrow the goverment in Iraq and establish a puppet democracy.
grat book, must read if u wanna learn about the middle east.......2007-08-29
here is a writer who lived in the middle east, who walked the streets and breathed the air, who talked to all the big heads and saw all the battles...he is not your typical expert who appear on CNN/Fox News... he has in-depth knowledge, i wish alan dershowitz can learn from him
read this and pitty the nation
Book Description
Foundations are a peculiarly American institution. They have been the dynamo of social change since their invention at the beginning of the last century. Yet they are cloaked in secrecy- their decision-making and operations are inscrutable to the point of obscurity-leaving them substantially unaccountable to anyone.
Joel Fleishman has been in and around foundations for almost half a century...running them, sitting on their boards, and seeking grants from them. And in this groundbreaking book he explains the history of foundations, tells the stories of the most successful foundation initiatives-and of those that have failed-and explains why it matters.
The baby boomer generation is going to participate in the largest transfer of wealth in history when it passes on its assets to its successor generation. The third sector is about to become more powerful than ever. This book shows how foundations can provide a vital spur to the engine of the American, and the world's, economy-if they are properly established and run.
Customer Reviews:
Examining a Big but Little Known Area.......2007-03-09
Foundations are a subset of Non-Profit organizations that have become surprisingly big busines in the United States. Somewhere around 1/7th of the business in the country is conducted by these organizations. Somewhere around 1/9th of the workforce is employed by one. They have become an integral part of the American economy.
In this book Mr. Fleishman looks at Foundations (a number of which he has been associated as employee, trustee or some other capacity). He examines what makes a foundation successful, and how some have failed. He offers insight and advice on how to make a foundation more successful, and at the same time how foundations should have an obligation to become more accountable since they received special tax considerations from the Government. He suggests that this accountability should be done by the foundations voluntarily. However, Mr. Fleishman is an attorney and believes that if voluntary response is not forthcoming then new legal requirements should be placed upon them to require more openness.
Deserves serious reading from people who want to make a difference........2007-02-06
Joel Fleishman's book lays an excellent bedrock of history underneath its discussion of philanthropy as a great element of American tradition. We live in days of some staggering examples - from Warren Buffet's living bequest of billions, to the fine work of Bill and Melinda Gates - and many others. But rather than see this as some product of the new millennium - Fleishman shows how the new avatars of corporate generosity are following a fine tradition. More than this, the author shows that certain gifting strategies have been leveraged for huge social benefit. For those who are thinking - at whatever scale - of giving to support a cause, this book sets out the strategies that have produced most benefit. This is an excellent, thoughtful piece of work on a topic that currently has wide currency. Well worth reading.
Book Description
The threat of continued warfare to the future of humanity has become dire. "The Great Turning explores that threat in detail and provides an equally detailed plan for meeting -- and overcoming -- it. Written in the author's trademark clear, compelling style, this timely book uncovers the roots of Empire in ancient Athens and charts the long transition from the institutions of monarchy to those of the global economy as the favored instruments of imperialism. Korten then discusses the promise of early America as a democracy dedicated to spreading liberty and freedom -- and the failure of the "American experiment" through the contemporary takeover of the U.S. government by corporate plutocrats, religious theocrats, and neoconservative militarists in pursuit of naked imperial ambition. Korten draws on sources as varied as evolution, developmental psychology, and the wisdom of religious mystics to make the case for "Earth Community" -- a people-centered, community-based future that is both possible and necessary.
Customer Reviews:
Hope Restored.......2007-08-07
David Korten has restored my hope that humanity can and will survive the upcoming collision with our own short sighted Hubris. Some, perhaps many of us will make it through and will have restored to us in the process a great deal more of our own compassionate humanity. Well researched, well written. A seminal work! Thank you David!
The Great Turning.......2007-06-12
This book should be read by anyone thinking about how to move toward a fair, just society. Korten talks about levels of maturity leading to understanding that enough people and groups have reached a level where a society based on the principle of community rather than that of domination is within reach. It undercuts struggling with all the forms injustice takes in our present society and considers joining with like-minded groups all over the world to form a bottom-up society concerned with the good of all rather than just looking out for what's good for the most powerful among us.
The Ideal of the Bodhisattva.......2007-05-13
The Great Turning masterfully traces the concept of Empire from pre-history to the present and states that the current world situtation has been shaped by the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the few. The motivating actions of governments are to preserve their control over the forces of money and power. The democracies of the Western world are not true democracies as they maintain their control over the many by giving prevledge to the few. Korten goes on to relate various pardighms that our culture buys into and which perpetuate the rule of Empire. one of these views is related in the "Imperial Secular Meaning Story."
"Matter is the only reality. the whole of the cosmos is a product of the orderly playing out of physical forces amenable to description and prediction by mathematical equations. Life is the accidental outcome of material complexity. Consciousness and free will are illusions, nothing more. Because life has no intrinsic meaning, the only rational couse of the intelligent individual is to seek material gratification through the accumulation of wealth and power.
The evolution of the living species occurs through a competitive struggle in which the fittest survive and the less fit perish. Mammalian species, naturally organize themselves into heirarchies of dominance for mutual protection and breeding success.
Human progress likewise depends on competitive struggle in which the most fit triumph and those of second rank serve the most fit. the winners prove their superior worth and therby their contribution to the betterment of the whole by virute of their victory. They have a natural right to the rewards of their victory as their just due. Their is no reason for guilt or for concern for those whom the struggle destroys or leaves behind, as their loss is itself proof that they are the less fit. For the betterment of the whole, we must all accept that this their proper fate."
What makes the Great Turning a landmark book is that it exposes these myths for what they are-propaganda for maintaining control with power and wealth. The actions of governments rather than being for the well being of the people are for the maintaining of the myths which concentrate power and wealth in the hands of the few. Korten goes on to forge the strategy for removal of these myths and replacing them with the reality of a sustainable Earth Community.
The human and Divine potential of the sage, writer, artist, scientist cannot be fully realized without the move away from empire to Earth Community. The Bodhisattva's vow while at the threshold of enlightenment takes on the meaning for all of us to work out our daily lives in harmony with the forces that are attempting to bring about an Earth Community.
A "Must Read" for Every Lover of Democracy.......2007-03-08
This is the most important book I have read in years! There is hope. The people can take back America and truly make it a land of freedom, liberty and justice for all.
A MUST-READ.......2007-02-20
This book has changed the way I think about the world and the challenge we face in avoiding "the great unraveling." After reading it, I want to stand up and start making a difference.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
|
History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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Similar Items:
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History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
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History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
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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
The suicide bombings carried out in London in 2005 by British Muslims revealed an enormous fifth column of Islamist terrorists and their sympathizers. Under the noses of British intelligence, London has become the European hub for the promotion, recruitment and financing of Islamic terror and extremism - so much so that it has been mockingly dubbed Londonistan. In this ground-breaking book Melanie Phillips pieces together the story of how Londonistan developed as a result of the collapse of traditional British identity and accommodation of a particularly virulent form of multiculturalism. Londonistan has become a country within the country and not only threatens Britain but its special relationship with the U.S. as well.
Customer Reviews:
Sad Commentary on a Once Great Nation.......2007-10-08
Melanie Phillips' "Londonistan" (2006 213 page hardback) is a shocking and sad commentary on the demise of a once great nation. This study is well documented and referenced with 14-pages of endnotes and a 7-page index.
Beginning with the premise of British national demise due to late 20th century secular humanism, Phillips makes convincing arguments for the extremist Islam conquest of Britain. She tells a frightening documented story of government inadequacy in the face of this jihadist Muslim takeover. She convinces that British authorities choose to "turn a blind eye" to this surrender. Phillips cites events, places, and personalities in this contemporary real life drama.
British moral decadence, unrestrained progressivism, European law's outside influence on the British judicatory, lax immigration policy, and extreme Islamism are presented as the perpetrators for Londonistan (the terrorist Islamization of Britain). Britain's full Muslimization, beginning with youth culture recruitment, is currently underway, according to Phillips, resulting in troubling affect for British Jewry, Western democracy advocates, and British culture.
Phillips details events into the summer of 2006. Her documentary is a call to rescue her homeland from militant Islam's violation and conquest. Does this book have prophetical implications for America? This book is recommended to everyone.
Happy Columbus Day!
A "Must Read" book........2007-09-09
What has happened to London may happen to many large cities in the U.S. The author gives a frank appraisal of how London became a haven for radical muslims and the adverse results thereof.
Worth reading.......2007-08-22
Excellent coverage of events taking place since the seventies until now. Looks at the impact of social and legal policies on the security of Britain and the western world in general.
Must Reading for Everyone--Especially Politicians.......2007-08-03
Londonistan should be required reading by all elected officials. It provides clear and compelling evidence that appeasement, as practiced by the U.S. Britain and Europe over the past few decades, is no less dangerous than the appeasement which led to WWII. The insidious and self-destructive political correctness that permeates Western policy, when dealing with Islamic extremists and so called "moderate" Islamist apologists, is exposed for the sham it is in this highly readable and well referenced work. Outstanding!
Terrorist Alert.......2007-08-02
This book made me both scared and angry and wanting to distribute it to every member of Congress. It is a must read for every American who does not take the terrorist situation seriously. We must learn from history. Really opened my eyes as to how easily we can be overcome and in fact are doing so at the present time. Great read!
Joan Murphins
Book Description
An investigative history of Western complicity in Saddam Hussein's crimes reveals the story his trial never will.
In February 1991, the Shia of southern Iraq rose against Saddam Hussein. Barry M. Lando, a former investigative producer for 60 Minutes, argues compellingly that this ill-fated uprising represents one instance among many of Western complicity in Saddam Hussein's crimes against humanity. The Shia were responding to the call for rebellion from President George H.W. Bush that was broadcast repeatedly across Iraq by clandestine CIA stations. But, just as the revolution was on the brink of success, the United States and its allies turned their backs: U.S. troops destroyed huge weapons caches to prevent them from falling into rebel hands and blocked rebels trying to reach Baghdad. In the end, tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands, were massacred.
Because of restrictions imposed by the Special Tribunal prosecuting Saddam Hussein, the extensive role of the U.S. and its allies in his crimes will never be explored at his trial. But as Web of Deceit demonstrates, the nations that now denounce Saddam most prominently secretly backed the dictator from his rise to power in the 1960s and '70s to his offensives in Iran and, despite warnings, took no action to stop his invasion of Kuwait. They also turned their backs when he used chemical weapons against the Iraqi people and persisted in international sanctions long after they had proved ineffective and, for hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians, lethal.
Web of Deceit draws on a wide range of journalism and scholarship to present a complete picture of what really happened in Iraq under Saddam, detailing—for the first time—the complicity of the West in its full and alarming extent.
Customer Reviews:
All Roads Lead to Britain.......2007-09-16
I suppose we will never see the end of the damage done by the old European colonial system. Even my hero, Churchill, was guilty of moving boundaries of countries to serve the empire. Very eye opening book and gives insight into some of the reasons "they hate us".
Web of deceipt.......2007-06-26
most excellent & informative. brings the hypocrisy of the western world out into the light. a must read.
The One Book No US Politician Will Read, That You SHOULD Read.......2007-06-19
This is one of two books that I have read together, both documenting the decades of deceit by both the US and UK governments, and to a much lesser degree, by France, Germany, and Russia, among others.
The two compelling facts that stay with me as I put the book down, are two:
1) From Churchill to Kennedy to Bush (Cheney), all of our Presidents in the US, but most especially Reagan, Bush, Clinton (Brzezinski), and the current and failed crew of neo conservatives that use Bush Junior as a talking doll, have been complicit--let me spell that again--complicit in the mass murders, the massacres, the torture that we first condoned and now practice ourselves. The US White House denizens are all long overdue for formal indictment, at least by a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The author documents, very ably, a long string of broken promises (e.g. to the Bedouin leader for a free Arab state in return for help in WWI, to the Kurds, etc.) and complicity in mass murder. In the author's views, the sanctions are a war crime against the children, women, and elderly of Iraq, a war crime that lasted thirteen years.
2) Salaam Hussein was a creature spawned in large part by the CIA. Although I have spent 30 years in the intelligence business, it was not until I embarked on my broad non-fiction reading program that I have been able to understand that the CIA specifically, but all the rest of the classified intelligence community, is complicit in mass murders, genocides, running cocaine into the US to wipe out poor communities now addicted to crack, made affordable by the CIA's drug runners, and made politically kosher because Wall Street demands drug money--laundered drug money--for its liquidity.
I join Lee Iacocca in asking, "Where is the outrage?" There is not a candidate for President today, not even Ron Paul, who can outline in chapter and verse, as I now can on the shoulders of the 900+ authors whose hard-earned insights I have absorbed these past six years, the evil that Lionel Tiger and others show is inherent in industrialization and the centralization of power. We need to destroy the current corrupt elections process, implement electoral reform across the board, and start putting bright honorable people in office, instead of these nakedly immoral and profoundly evil creatures who will inflict any sacrifice, impose any burden, on We the People so that they may profit.
A few of the many gems from this superb work:
1) All our Presidents in recent time have lied to us, and the most humiliating of all of these lies was not the weapons of mass destruction, but the abandonment of the Kurds and the refusal to listen when Iraqi generals approached Iraqi dissidents who in turn came to the Department of State only to be shunned away. Salaam Hussein promised to leave Kuwait, but US wanted to destroy his army, and refused to hold off on what proved to be 40 hours of pure slaughter. Gulf II was not only more lies, but the active suppression of facts and dissident views, not least of which were General Tony Zinni's views--he was called a traitor by Condolezza Rice, who appears to know nothing of honor, decency, and truthfulness.
2) CIA is creating more long-term havoc than it is worth. I am finally persuaded, with absolute certainty, that we need to get out of the covert action business. CIA should become the National Analysis Agency, and the small clandestine arm should be limited to multinational operations against transnational crime and terrorism, with an Inspector General in every Station.
3) Jimmy Carter, advised by Zbig Brzezinski, comes out of this book looking both more ignorant and more unscrupulous than Reagan or either of the Bushies. Brzezinski not only masterminded the tacit okay for Pakistani development of nuclear weapons in return for aid in Afghanistan, he also began the process of helping Salaam Hussein acquire, develop, and utilize weapons of mass destruction, and I hold Brzezinski directly accountable for the mass murder of Kurds, Iraqi Shiites, and Iranians.
There are many other notes from this book that I have, but rather than lay them out here I am going to simply say that this book moves to the top of my list of books on evaluating the Iraq misadventure that has given us a $2 trillion debt and 75,000 amputees whose lives are forever shattered ***for no good reason***
The betrayal of the public trust by both the Executive and Congress, by both politicians and senior civil servants and military flag officers, has been outrageous. The author uses the words ignorance, arrogance, incompetence, amorality, illegality, hypocrisy, and cynicism sparingly. This is not a vendetta book. This is a reasons indictment and joins a host of other books that demand the immediate impeachment not only of the sitting President and Vice President, but also of the Republican ***and*** Democratic leadership in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
I am ashamed of our Republic and what these amoral thieves have done "in our name." I am disheartened by the knowledge that all of our brave troops have died, been disabled, and suffered for ***no good reason.*** This makes me very angry. Angry enough to begin speaking out, pleading with America to wake up and find within itself the means for a non-violent restoration of the Constitution and We the People as individuals with liberty for all, lest America be disgraced, and our children's' futures sacrificed, forevermore. Shame, shame, shame.
Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Fundamentalist Islam (American Empire Project) (American Empire Project)
Unintended Consequences: The United States at War
The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic (The American Empire Project)
Manufacture of Evil: Ethics, Evolution, and the Industrial System
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency
Statecraft as Soulcraft
Why the Rest Hates the West: Understanding the Roots of Global Rage
The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People
Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
And, so we solemnly pray for..........2007-05-24
Barry M. Lando presents a virtual rogue's gallery of the good Christian boys and girl who the knuckleheads at my church pray for, apparently because they have put young men and women from our community at the point of the spear to "fight for our freedom." The author's revelations appear authentic, and are not as surpising as they should be. As a veteran, not a hero, of Desert Storm, I remember the TV interview of the young African American soldier from our fort who was raring to go to Kuwait to "restore democracy." Apparently, the poor sap did not realize Kuwait never had democracy and he himself, as a black in the south, did not either. It was about oil then and is about oil, and a rather dangerous vendetta mixed with bizarre religious tones now. How fascinating that we propped up both Iran and Iraq during a lengthy and bloody conflict that killed both civilain and soldier alike. Then, we merrily ran sanctions that killed perhaps half a million or more children in Iraq, while at the same time, praying, wailing and beating their chests in agony when a brain dead woman was taken off life support. This rather reminds me of the Kingston Trio's "Merry Minuet." Perhaps this is something more than irony, but I do not know what it is. Colon Powell and Tony Blair were added to the cast of villians. I had hoped Powell had been duped by the sock puppet, but he appeared to go along of his own volition. I should have figured Blair all along, considering the imperialistic horrors that have been inflicted upon the Southwest Asian Peninsula by his country for more than a century. The civilian and military deaths add up to quite a tidy total, but as Stalin would have agreed, this is merely a statistic and no one cares. So, this is why I gave the book a 3 star. It is a swell documentation of a murderous disaster, but it does not accomplish a darn thing. This book will not cause one policy change. America will still believe the president, inspired by Jesus, is fighting the war to protect us from terrorism, instead of actually fanning the fires of terrorism. Since the publication of this book, things have gotten from bad to worse. One voice on Christian radio denouncing gay marriage will get more attention than all the press run of this title. Folks who wish to read more books on this subject, which also have not changed a darn thing, might read "All the Shah's Men" by Stephen Kinzer and "Sleeping with the Devil" by Robert Baer.
They're all Idoits.......2007-04-03
After reading this book, you'll discover that Bush isn't the only idiot when it comes to the current Iraq situation. In fact the idiocy of today goes way way back. It's a fasinating history and make you realize that our leaders don't read history because they foolishly repeat it. In the case of W, it makes you wonder what the hell he thought he was going to do once he got there. Makes you appreciate George W's policy of not going to Bagdad during the Gulf war, though he screwed up too. And Clinton! Don't even get me started... Buy the book, read the book, it's very very good.
Book Description
What secrets connect Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Freemasons, and the Council on Foreign Relations? In this astonishing book, celebrated journalist Jim Marrs examines the world's most closely guarded secrets, tracing the history of clandestine societies and the power they have wielded – from the ancient mysteries to modern–day conspiracy theories.
Searching for truth, he uncovers disturbing evidence that the real movers and shakers of the world collude covertly to start and stop wars, manipulate stock markets, maintain class distinctions, and even censor the news. Provocative and utterly compelling, Rule by Secrecy offers a singular worldview that may explain who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.
Customer Reviews:
It makes you think.......2007-07-04
I do not know if everything what Jim Marrs put in this book is as he says. I think there is a wide percentage of speculation and it would have been better if every author quoted could be referred to a specific book. That kind of information is not included.
Nevertheless, it is a book that gives us a hint of what could be happening around us everyday, of what we are not aware or we didn't even notice.
Summing up, it is a very different view of the world that couldn't be put aside, because maybe, it is the vision of the real world where we live.
Informative.......2007-06-20
Okay, the alien stuff is paranoid and silly. The stuff on bankers and the UN, CFR, Trilateral commision is pretty much documented and anyone can look up. Fascinating read. And about 85% is documented and provable.
All roads lead back to Sumer.......2007-06-06
After I decided to learn the truth about who really runs the world and what not, I picked up this book since it seemed to tie together all the things I was wondering about, going back to the ancient mysteries. Jim Marrs really does an amazing job of compiling all this information and tracing it back through history to the Sumerian texts about the Anunnaki. If you are at all interested in shattering the false view of reality our society is conditioned to accept, then take the red pill, and read this book.
Rule by Secrecy.......2007-05-31
Marrs gets through a little over half of this book doing a great job of exposing the new world order, reminding me of a newer up to date version of None Dare Call it Conspiracy by Gary Allen. He exposes the CFR, Trilateral Commision, Bilderbergers, the Federal Reserve, and that all roads lead to oligarchal business and banking families like the Rothschilds and Rockefellers. Marrs also shows the role that was played by these people in fomenting, funding and profiting from both sides of almost all major wars going back to the days of Napoleon. He does drop the ball when he briefly discusses "Nazi Occultism" and uses idiots like Trevor Ravenscroft and Peter Lavenda as sources.
From there he shows the role played by Masonic secret socieities in the French revolution, what is known about the Bavarian Illuminati and a few other secret societies. After that he goes into Knights Templar/Merovingian Bloodline/Priory of Scion territory, which while that stuff is interesting and should be studied, its all just conjecture. Actually those topics have became a whole genre onto themselves in recent years. Besides that I've always thought that Priory of Scion lists that the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail got ahold of were either an out and out hoax perpetrated by the authors of Holy Blood Holy Grail, or put out as intentional disinformation by somebody trying to mislead them and the public.
After the Merovingian stuff Marrs gets way out there by going into Sitchen/Von Daniken territory. Here is where Marrs really loses me. Maybe I missed something but is he claiming that this is the hidden knowledge that the secret societies of the world elites hold? That the true origins of the human race are that we are hybridized creations of aliens from another planet?! Hey I'm not an atheist and I believe in a lot of stuff that the average person would consider pretty far out but this is just a bit much even for me. I'm familar with Marrs work and he's a very well researched, down to earth guy normally so it really surprised me that he included this in Rule by Secrecy. Especially considering I've heard him on radio shows several times making fun of David Ickes wacky reptilian theories.
But that aside I'd still recomend reading this book, if not buying it if you can get it for cheap because whats good in this is great. Just take a few things, especially the last chapter, with a few thousand grains of salt.
Mythic religious fiction.......2007-05-31
"Rule by Secrecy: The Hidden History That Connects the Trilateral Commission, the Freemasons, and the Great Pyramids" is a clumsy yet informative and entertaining collection of cross-cited references concerning Masonic history, Rosicrucianism, and Egyptology with geo-politics, & lastly aristocratic geneologies. The majority of citations stem from David Icke, a controversial and notable conspiracy theorist whom correlates geo-politics with ambiguous research and disreputable claims against Freemasonry. I myself find it fascinating how such authors fail to give credit to the propensity of the human species to greatness. All cultural and religious achievements {a frequent target of this behaviour are the Sphinx and Great Pyramids} are viewed by conspiracy theorists as centres of diabolic plots to enslave the lesser classes.
Inheritors of a Dying World have within our dominion the creative execution of the revolutionary Laws of Imperial Liberty to overcome our dire desolation and ruin in this emerging historical paradigm. Initiated Oracles journeying on the Path of Forgotten Knowledge know a Great Ordeal of purification and consecration overshadows history; and that the profane masses would become slavishly appalled by this Initiation of the World. Out of the fires of purification and consecration, a New Order would then arise, promulgating the revolutionary precepts of the Libertine, the privileged, the patriciate.
The Patriciate, the secret few, the sanctity of Elitism heralds a New World Order of self-government, self-legislation, and s-elf-discipline. Inscribe this into your Undying and Secret Souls with the sacramental blood split upon the holy lands, O' kindred of the earth: patriciate is the progeny of a republic. Democracy is a vice to Imperial Liberty - the Grace of Destiny is of the elect. Dominance and submission hearken a new dichotomy in human society; there is a master, there is a slave.
This is what the author, and many conspiracy theorists fail to understand. The geo-political and cultural status quo simply cannot be maintained in the global age. Paradigms of elitism and imperial Liberty were modified by the religious institutions of the native countries to whom they were introduced. Applications of Law to every Woman and Man according to condition are fundamental. "...A democracy is impracticable beyond the Limits of municipality." {Thomas Jefferson to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1816}. Independence of the Will of a democratic society is a solecism in the privileged Patriciate. It is the elite and elect right of a society to change political principles and constitutions at Will to serve the greater good. The goal of the Elite, of the Patriciate is to convoke theoretical politics and government to the forefront of society, be it against the Will of the low men or not. Governments and religious institutions, it is true, have failed to mark the subtle evolution and dire tribulation of the initiation of the world, which is taking place under their vigilant eyes.
Similar to the bestseller Da Vinci Code, which this title predates, the book tries to incite paranoia and sensationalism by merging fiction with religion and mysticism. There is history and there is conjecture. Moreover, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, and Egyptology, do not feature prominently in this book. The predictable conclusion outlines a vast history-shattering conspiracy that reveals extraterrestrial involvement and their human breeding, with Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism and the Illuminati Heritage.
Secret societies have existed since Mankind first began to record its myths and religions. For thousands of years societies have existed safeguarding secret religious teachings transmitted through the generations. Monuments, Apocrypha, ordained occult knowledge, catacombs, forgotten ciphers, and secret sacrifices all have been kept guarded by the heritage of the Illuminati.
The book does provide stimulation for further research in the style of others in its genre {"Holy Blood, Holy Grail"; "Temple and the Lodge"; "Codex Magica"; and of course the "Da Vinci Code"} but falls short of any serious research into the Illuminati Heritage
~ Joshua Seraphim,
author of Babylon: Secret Rituals of Illuminati
"The few who understand the system, will either be so interested from it's profits or so dependant on it's favors, that there will be no opposition from that class."
-Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1863)
"The great strength of our Order lies in its concealment, let it never appear, in any place in its own name, but always covered by another name, and another occupation."
-Father Adam Weishaupt
{1748-1811 A.D.}
Book Description
America's leaders say the economy is strong and getting stronger. But ordinary Americans aren't buying it. They see what the rosy statistics hide: We are all struggling under the weight of terrifying economic instability. No matter how well educated and hard working we are, we know that the bottom can fall out at any moment. Meanwhile, the safety net that once protected us is fast unraveling. With retirement plans in growing jeopardy while health coverage erodes, more and more economic risk is shifting from government and business onto the fragile shoulders of the American family. In The Great Risk Shift, Jacob S. Hacker lays bare this unsettling new economic climate, showing how it has come about, what it is doing to our families, and how we can fight back. Behind this shift, he contends, is the Personal Responsibility Crusade, eagerly embraced by corporate leaders and Republican politicians who speak of a nirvana of economic empowerment, an "ownership society" in which Americans are free to choose. But as Hacker reveals, the result has been quite different: a harsh new world of economic insecurity, in which far too many Americans are free to lose. The book documents how two great pillars of economic security--the family and the workplace--guarantee far less financial stability than they once did. The final leg of economic support--the public and private benefits that workers and families get when economic disaster strikes--has dangerously eroded as political leaders and corporations increasingly cut back protections of our health care, our income security, and our retirement pensions. Hacker concludes by advocating an "insurance and opportunity society" that would safeguard economic security and expand economic opportunity, ensuring that all Americans have the basic financial security they need to reach for and achieve the American Dream. Jacob Hacker brings into focus as never before the pressures that the Great Risk Shift exerts on our pocketbooks and on our lives. Blending powerful human stories, big-picture analysis, and compelling ideas for reform, this remarkable volume will hit a nerve, serving as a rallying point in the vital struggle for economic security in an increasingly uncertain world.
Customer Reviews:
A book to avoid out of respect to fellow taxpayers.......2007-07-30
My book came, and I flipped through it to the last chapter--the REAL reason why I got this book.
While I knew this was a whiny tome about how people are being expected to shoulder more and more of their own social burdens, the title did contain a "how you can fight back" clause.
Well, the so-called "fighting back" involves exchanging one set of social programs for another, for example:
Medicare--of course, this would become Universal Health Care.
Retirement--instead of the accounts we have now, there'd be a Universal Savings account invented to take it's place. This account would cover any kind of savings you can imagine--retirement, college, etc., and would take the place of the ailing Social Security program.
Welfare--another magical account would be created to cover "insecurity": periods of unemployment, downshifting or pay cuts, high inflation, death of a working spouse, etc. to take the place of the existing food stamp, AFDC, unemployment, and/or disability. This would become Universal Insurance.
In short, the author proposes turning America into a highly-taxed, highly-coddled state like Denmark, where all is provided at taxpayer expense (up to 80% of people's pay), and only enough is left for housing, food, gas, and fun (like there'd be any fun on THAT plan!). Where would low-income earners come up with the money for THIS plan?
A quick calculation reveals that we couldn't even afford to pay rent on the 20% of our remaining income, let alone eat and commute, on our middle-class income with this plan.
Taxpayers would contribute to the new accounts, and the government would administer them just like it does now, except that your dollars would have your name on them. Personally, my dollars have my name on them now with my own private accounts, and I'm not paying for something I don't want or need.
There are solutions to these problems in existence now, but few are able to (or choose to) take advantage of them. This plan would take the choice out of the equation, and as far as I can see, doesn't account for the entrepreneurial spirit or self-employment.
If you prefer being self-sufficient, self-reliant, personally responsible, and to live below your means, then stay away from this book. There's nothing here for you except anger. This plan is clearly geared for the mindless sheep out there who want something for nothing, only this plan shows how dear the cost of that something would be--we're already paying up to 40% of our incomes in various taxes just to support people and government now!
What got us into trouble as a country is the fact that government borrows against assets--what's to say the government won't borrow against THESE assets as well? I don't want my accounts to be used as collateral by Uncle Sam.
Where oh where is the INCENTIVE to improve one's self, dear author? This is what got the "have-nots" into the position they're in now!! We've been leading horses to water for so long, they now expect us to bring it to them--and we STILL can't make them drink.
Rising Inequality and Anxiety in America.......2007-05-11
This past fall I heard Jacob Hacker speak about his work in The Great Risk Shift, and I just finally got around to reading the book. What I like about Hacker is that he not only critically examines complex political and societal issues, but he beautifully transforms his conceptions into practical solutions. He doesn't just ask, "What can we do?" He shows us how it can be done.
There are points I agree with in his book and other points I still have some reservations about, but his explanations and reasoning is thoroughly engaging nonetheless. For instance, he proposes a health coverage plan that reemphasizes national concerns about health care security. His proposal places more obligations on employers, which in my opinion, is a plausible expectation if the United States is not willing to adopt a universal health coverage plan. Hacker points out that a large contributor to the rise in bankruptcies is a result of healthcare costs. It's clear that health care insecurity poses great risks to countless Americans from all different placements of the socioeconomic spectrum.
I did face some apprehension and concern regarding his "universal insurance" proposal. This insurance would be designed to protect families in the event of a threatening change in finances and security - for instance a drastic pay decrease. Although I can agree that current job market conditions are very unstable (I myself have faced a drastic pay decrease formerly working in the business sector), I also feel as though we generally have a highly exaggerated sense of materialism and pretentious consumption patterns in America. How will these factors be accounted for when claiming instability and who is entitled to what? Is this where federal money should go when much larger issues regarding our nation's schools, health and extreme poverty are being neglected?
In the Great Risk Shift, Hacker identifies significant points of concern for Americans and the anxieties and rising inequality pressing citizens. With higher and higher concerns, these are questions we will be continually readdressing for years to come. This book proves Hacker always has amazing ideas and great things to say. We can contiunally look forward to his new approaches at examining significant social and political issues.
An attempt to ameliorate economic volatility.......2006-12-16
Although Jacob Hacker exaggerates the level of risk shift in the "Great Risk Shift", he makes some public policy proposals that deserve at least debate if not adoption.
Much of the book is a critique of what he calls "The Personal Responsibility Crusade", which he views as the vehicle for the shift. He tends to overreach at times. Much of the talk I have heard regarding "personal responsibility" was directed about teenage pregnancy or fathers who abandon those they impregnate and/or their children. He is right that "personal responsibility" is sometimes invoked as an argument against certain government social programs but those programs also have very real budgetary concerns that feed most of the efforts to constrain them.
Some of his arguments also seem peculiar. On page 66 Hacker quotes some corporate statements to outline what he calls the "new contract" for workers. "The only job security is a successful business" and "if loyalty means that this company will ignore poor performance, the loyalty is off the table". It is strange he would cite these as somehow new, when were they not true? Even under the "old contract", an unsuccessful business could not offer job security, nor was poor performance ignored.
Hacker makes a compelling case that there is more volatility in incomes (although incomes are generally higher) than in the past. His argument that this was essentially by design is a little less compelling. The three decades after World War II is his (and that of many others) reference point for security. That era can't be recreated. Fortunately, he doesn't resort to the easy (but unwise) option of endorsing trade protectionism, rather he recognizes the globalized economy is a fact of life and suggests a series of measures to mitigate the greater risk born by workers.
For health care coverage, he proposes something called "Medicare Plus", which is a variation on "pay or play" coverage proposals, which require employers to cover their employees or pay into the government plan that covered their employees and everyone outside of the employer market. It isn't really clear why this proposal is better than a universal government run system, other than Hacker seems to think the latter can't be enacted.
He also wants to enhance unemployment insurance and introduce "wage insurance" (for those who are displaced and take a new job that pays less than their previous job).
He also makes a proposal that appears to be novel, what he calls "universal insurance" that would cover families from an array of potential vicissitudes. Both this idea and wage insurance do not have a track record (at least not in the United States) and may not work as well in practice as they might in theory, but they at least deserve discussion.
Strong on describing the issue; Weak on solutions.......2006-11-20
"The Great Risk Shift" has much to recommend it. Hacker cogently explains the way risk has been transferred since the New Deal and Great Society eras (when health care, pensions and the like were seen as collective or corporate responsibility) to individuals. Hacker is at his best in describing the issue -- indemnity medical plans replaced with HMOs or medical savings accounts; defined benefit pension plans replaced with defined contribution plans or 401(k)s; secure, full-time jobs replaced with several part-time jobs cobbled together to make a less-than-full-time salary; broken families who cannot be relied upon for support.
Where the book falters, however, is in its view that every risk should be socialized, at least to some extent. When it comes to catastrophic health risks, many would agree that society should assist. I tend to agree with Hacker that one's medical insurance should not depend on one's employer: some businesses cannot afford adequate insurance for their employees. Likewise, adequate health insurance cannot always be purchased in the market: insurance companies "cherry pick" the healthiest candidates. Thus, Hacker has convinced me that we need some sort of baseline national health insurance, at least for significant or catastrophic illnesses (after all, we have something like it today, as those with health insurance subsidize the emergency room visits of those without it). However, we need to beware of a system with Canada-style rigidity or one which leaves no room for innovations.
Fewer would want to subsidize pensions, however, and Hacker fails to provide a real solution. The problem with defined contribution plans is not that they cannot work, but that they must be adequately funded. They can work if employers contribute enough to them so that employees can have a real pension when they retire. Likewise, individuals should be allowed to put greater amounts of pre-tax income into 401(k)s, and companies should be able to match a greater amount dollar-for-dollar. (This is the type of free-market solution that Hacker does not favor, as he believes individuals are not always able to manage their own 401(k) money.) In any event, Hacker provides no advice for those who find themselves in a defined contribution plan, under the present rules, other than "save more and stop spending on luxuries." As for broken families, that is a trend that predates "the risk shift" and will not be solved by the government. Although Hacker wants more risks to be socialized, it is important to ask what this will cost, and whether we will have a Eurpoean-style economy at the end of it.
Hacker has correctly identified the trend to shift risk from government and corporations to individuals. The question is whether the solutions he suggests will be appropriate and cost-effective. The jury is still out.
Unchallenged Assumptions.......2006-11-16
From his comfortable tenure at Yale, Jacob Hacker offers us an analysis of where things have gone wrong with the American economic system. He identifies three traditional pillars of economic security:
1. The family
2. The workplace
3. Public and private benefits
The first two are under siege. The third one is at risk. Hacker argues that the erosion of that third one - public and private benefits - is not inevitable.
Fair enough. But let's start with the family. The decrease in the stability of the family unit over the years didn't just happen. Victims of the Jerry Springerization of the family - as a mainstream example of how far things have gone askew - have no one to blame but themselves. The freedom to treat family relationships as a disposable commodity is bound to come with some trade-offs. Economic security is one of them. While the erosion of family bonds has been widespread, it is not inevitable either.
As for the other two pillars, they revolve around the ability of commerce to fund them. More corporate profits means more tax revenues - and at least the possibility of more jobs. Without corporate profits, we have no corporations to bash, no corporate profits to tax, and no jobs or benefits, public or private.
Yes, traditional jobs are under siege and traditional benefit programs are morphing. Hacker says we have choices. Yes, we do.
We could, as a society, opt to have more stable jobs, even in an era of increasingly worldwide competition. This is a valid choice. Many parts of Europe have opted for lower overall standards of living in exchange for greater job security and more leisure. Many EU citizens appear willing to tolerate double-digit long-term unemployment rates and higher tax rates in exchange for generous social safety nets.
Of course, we in America have always been looking for the free lunch. Look at U.S. savings rates, which are negative. A critical examination across all socioeconomic classes suggests that the personal saving deficit may have more to do with an insatiable appetite for big-screen televisions, $90 a month cable services, frequent restaurant dining, coiffed hair and acrylic nails, rather than for prudent expenditures on basics like food and shelter.
But by all means, we should welcome Mr. Hacker's debate. It will be useful to make explicit the trade-offs that come to light in the process.
Amazon.com
Look again at the title of this book: it's not a question, but a statement. "America is the greatest, freest, and most decent society in existence," writes Dinesh D'Souza. "American life as it is lived today [is] the best life that our world has to offer." There are those who hate it, or at least essential elements of it, from radical Islamists to the likes of Patrick Buchanan (on the right) and Jesse Jackson (on the left). But they are wrong to hate it, and D'Souza grapples with all of them in this engaging and compelling volume. D'Souza is the author of provocative books such as Illiberal Education and The End of Racism, plus the appreciative Ronald Reagan. This may be his most personal book, with parts written in the first person as the India-born D'Souza describes his encounter with the United States, first as an immigrant and now as a citizen. Foreign authors such as Alexis de Tocqueville and Gunnar Myrdal have offered some of the most penetrating assessments of America, and D'Souza clearly shares in this noble tradition. "I am constantly surprised by how much I hear racism talked about and how little I actually see it," he writes. What's So Great About America is also vintage D'Souza, full of feisty arguments and sharp humor. He is perhaps better at explaining why America's critics are wrong than explaining why America's celebrants are right, but he's very good at both. Written in the months following the September 11 terrorist strikes, this book should find a large and receptive audience. --John Miller
Book Description
Dinesh D'Souza explains what is so great about America--and why that greatness inspires critics and even terrorism.
Customer Reviews:
"I want to move to a country that the poor people are fat!".......2007-08-24
As an immigrant myself, I can see the reason why the author stress the reason why people wants to come to America. I as and adult, choose to come to America an become an American citizen. It is a conscious choice, for all the flaws of the system, and the ugliness of bigotry, America is still an attractive country to be a part of. As a woman, I will not have as many opportunities as I have in America anywhere else in the world, especially some one that is not as well educated as I should have been. I loath the people who put down America because of the flaws, but never give credits for the advance and opportunities she offered. I personally think, most people who had never suffered from the oppression of other countries should not have the right to championed these oppressive countries. This is the typical mentality of the prilivaged few. Until you are oppressed by the country of your choice, you are not entitled to defend the country of your choice.
Excellent Insights Into Our Country.......2007-07-28
This book offers a fresh look at racism, terrorism, global politics...it's a welcome and thoughtful perspective. I think every American should read it, and have already bought copies for friends and family!
What's So Great About America.......2007-07-12
This is a well written book reminding us that with all of our problems, the United States of America is still the greatest county in the world. This is a must read for any person doubting America'a greatness.
Important Rejection of the Fad of Anti-Americanism.......2007-06-04
The author does an outstanding job of retelling what is so great about America. Although this would seem like an easy thing to do, the constant America-bashing that comes from the media, the left, and academia makes it a challenge. The author is definitely up to the challenge, and as an immigrant from India, makes the case for a great America from that unique perspective. Of note, he persuasively discredits multiculturalism and the victimization mentality among other sacred cows of the left. This is a quick read and worth your time.
"Last best hope for the world".......2007-06-01
D'Souza is a former White House domestic policy analyst. He first came here as an exchange student from India. We gain a unique prospective of America viewed through the eyes of a former East Indian. Excellent observations are made, such as the comparisons to ancient Athens. There are notes with extensive references.
So how did the West become so great?: through science, capitalism, democracy, and Judeo/Christian ethics...........but we Americans, and the media's idea of who the terrorist are, is not exactly accurate (as in the motives behind 9/11). D'Souza believes our media, our schools, and the left, are feeding the hatred and emboldening the enemy; there is a progressive attack from the "intellectuals"; what is driving our enemy is mis-leading. In a way Muslims are right about our morality, in what they believe; Islam is strong in its faith, we are weak in ours. This may be our demise if we don't recognize what is happening; we need a renewal--to show them we are strong in our faith. Remember, there are times when the enemy of our enemy is our friend.
The cultures of the world are being shaped by the west. But through multiculturalism, students get a false picture of the world: the West is the blame for the ills of the middle East (lack of prosperity), but remember, the East has been around much longer than we have. Also, because we hold on to the guilt of being racist, we end up strangling "minorities" and risk our safety with protectionism. No, the "new morality" of Rousseau has not died, he is alive and well in America. We are under a different set of standards because of our moral superiority; the U.S. is the "last best hope for the world".
We may look at English colonialism and Americas African descendants of slavery as a blessing in disguise; are these cultures not better off?
I will leave you with this thought by the author: "the only time the Islamic world makes the news is when they killed somebody, when is the last time we heard of an Islamic discovery or invention?".
Wish you well
Scott
Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon (Nation Books)
Failed States: The Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy
Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq
American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury
Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein
