Book Description
Google, the most popular search engine worldwide, provides web surfers with an easy-to-use guide to the Internet, with web and image searches, language translation, and a range of features that make web navigation simple enough for even the novice user. What many users dont realize is that the deceptively simple components that make Google so easy to use are the same features that generously unlock security flaws for the malicious hacker. Vulnerabilities in website security can be discovered through Google hacking, techniques applied to the search engine by computer criminals, identity thieves, and even terrorists to uncover secure information. This book beats Google hackers to the punch, equipping web administrators with penetration testing applications to ensure their site is invulnerable to a hackers search.
Penetration Testing with Google Hacks explores the explosive growth of a technique known as "Google Hacking." When the modern security landscape includes such heady topics as "blind SQL injection" and "integer overflows," it's refreshing to see such a deceptively simple tool bent to achieve such amazing results; this is hacking in the purest sense of the word. Readers will learn how to torque Google to detect SQL injection points and login portals, execute port scans and CGI scans, fingerprint web servers, locate incredible information caches such as firewall and IDS logs, password databases, SQL dumps and much more - all without sending a single packet to the target! Borrowing the techniques pioneered by malicious "Google hackers," this talk aims to show security practitioners how to properly protect clients from this often overlooked and dangerous form of information leakage.
*First book about Google targeting IT professionals and security leaks through web browsing.
*Author Johnny Long, the authority on Google hacking, will be speaking about "Google Hacking" at the Black
Hat 2004 Briefing. His presentation on penetrating security flaws with Google is expected to create a lot of buzz and exposure for the topic.
*Johnny Long's Web site hosts the largest repository of Google security exposures and is the most popular destination for security professionals who want to learn about the dark side of Google.
Customer Reviews:
google, hack, hacking.......2007-01-19
Very informative book, I've been using some of the knowledge I got in the book to improve my searches as well as to test the security of some of my company's web pages.
Great starting Point for New or Intermediate- Reference for advanced.......2006-11-08
You name it someone may have left it in the wrong place. This text is a good reference for everyone interested in information security and honing their research abilities to a razor's edge. As Obijan says "know your target- get inside of his mind." Experts might scoff, but a handy reference. I use it to nail airline miles, among other things...in all honesty I have found some wild things using the standard techniques- really you need a guide on unraveling people's stupidity or, if you are feeling rather viscious lay a trap and hook it with cheese that has unexpected side effects. Fun for the whole family!
got the warm-fuzzy i was looking for..........2006-08-22
I work for a Forture 500 company that is upgrading intranet Search capability using Google Appliance. I bought this book to help determine what risks Google Appliance might expose. The book begins with good overview of the basic Google interface and includes tips for searching. I then expected to get the low-down on hacking using Google. What i discovered was somewhat anticlimactic, there really aren't any serious hacks to be had using Google. Obviously, you must be careful about web-content publishing processes. Also, Google is respectful of content you don't want crawled or exposed (using both Internet Search and intranet appliance).
The book is well-written and was a quick-read. Most of the info can be found online at Google website itself. I am glad i read the book cuz i got the warm-fuzzy i was looking for.
Best-of-class book at using the power of Google!.......2006-02-26
Syngress's "Google Hacking for Penetration Testers" (GHPT) by Johnny Long demonstrates to average Joes the power of Google. The author is the authority on how to use Google to recon an intended target. Considering the narrow focus of the subject, the book is able to thoroughly dissect the various tools and weapons Google offers. Certainly, this book is not admitting anything not already known in the hacking world, but the books does provide a valuable asset as a one-stop-shop at using Google.
First and foremost, before scouting a target, you must cover your tracks. GHPT first focuses on anonymity (I was particularly impressed with using Google as a proxy server on page 95). After masking yourself, the book focuses on network mapping, and locating exploitable targets. The book then offers 10 searches to find oodles of information that website owners probably don't want you to have. One chapter is devoted to tips to hunt usernames and passwords. Chapter 12, on automating Google Searches, was particularly valuable to me as I'm an extreme novice at scripting.
The book is written in a very simple, plain-spoken (or, more correctly, plain-written) style. While this book should not be the first book on one's security shelf, the subject cannot be any better defined than this book.
I give this book 4 pings out of 5:
!!!.!
That is a lot of info!!!.......2006-02-21
It has everything you NEED to learn how to hack w/ using something as simple as Google. i never in my life would have thought you could get that much server info and vuln. info with just using Google. Johnny knows his stuff and this is a must have if you are a novice hacker that wants to stem-away from the title; "script-kiddie", this book will help you. Thanks to the authors for this great release.
Book Description
Metabolic Man: Ten Thousand Years from Eden describes man's journey from a harmonious co-existence with nature to today's state of nutritional disorder following the agricultural revolution. Leaving Eden and moving into civilization, man has failed to live by nature's laws and throughout the last 10,000 years has paid the price with disease, maladaption and premature death.
The author's perspective of the history of man, his state of health, and the ecological devastation to the planet during the last ten thousand years allows the reader to clearly see where man fits into a downward spiral of ill health and degradation of quality of life.
Extensively documented, Metabolic Man provides the reader with a path to individualizing a personal nutrition tailored to his or her metabolic profile. Metabolic Man clears the mine field of processed food and advertising ploys that are in fact destructive to good health by helping the grocery shopper become a "hunter/gatherer" for specific metabolic body types in the supermarkets of today. AUTHORBIO: Alarmed at the deteriorating health of society in the "advantaged" nations, Charles Heizer Wharton, Ph.D. has devoted much of his time since his retirement in the early 80's to the subject of human nutrition. It is his fervent hope that through understanding their individual heritage and lifestyle, fellow humans can not only improve their own lives, but can help mitigate earth's problems in accommodating an exploding population. Currently he is Affiliate Faculty at the University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology.
The author's consuming interest in nutrition began in 1947, with the care and feeding of rare animals from the Philippines, (Published in National Geographic Magazine) and academically, by a course in nutrition at Cornell. He has Worked with native peoples in such diverse places as the Paraguayan Chaco and Sabah, Borneo. His first expedition to Cambodia was highlighted in the TV series, Investigative Reports (A&E). The National Academy of Sciences sponsored his second trip to Southeast Asia. His interest in early man was whetted by visits with the Leakeys and trips to Africa's Olduvai Gorge and Masai Mara.
Customer Reviews:
Practical for modern readers and amazing for everyone.......2002-07-06
Ten Thousand Years From Eden: The Long Search For A Personal Nutrition From Our Forest Origins To The Supermarkets Of Today by nutrition expert and retired academician Charles Heizer Wharton is a detailed, college-level study of human nutrition from the perspective of an ecologist. From the origin of human beings with a hunter/gatherer system of food gathering and consumption practices, to achieving the best nutrition from today's complex, market-heavy and artificially flavored world of foods and beverages, Ten Thousand Years From Eden is as practical for modern readers as it is amazing for everyone with an interest in the history of the human diet. Ten Thousand Years From Eden is a unique and highly recommended addition to students of nutrition, human evolution, human ecology, and contemporary food habits in a post-industrial age.
Customer Reviews:
A Perfect Collection.......2000-04-10
This collection defines modern drama. From Ibsen's realistic masterpiece The Wild Duck, to Pirandello's brilliant and revolutionary Six Characters in Search of an Author, to Eugene O'Neill's pitch-perfect character study Long Day's Journey Into Night, this collection is the epitome of modern dramatic literature in all its variations. Even the criticism for each play is brilliant. A definite recommendation for serious readers who haven't read any of these, but want to.
Amazon.com
"If people have had enough chicken soup for the soul, how about some Irish stew for the mind?" asks John Dominic Crossan in the introduction to his meaty new memoir, A Long Way from Tipperary: What a Former Irish Monk Discovered in His Search for the Truth. Crossan burst into the public eye in 1991 with the publication of his bestselling The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. In this and subsequent books, Crossan's historical research has demonstrated the follies of both secularist denial and fundamentalist distortions of Jesus' significance. Tipperary is Crossan's memoir of the ways in which his personal experience "from Ireland to America, from priest to professor, from monastery to university, and ... from celibacy to marriage" have influenced his evolving understanding of who Jesus was. Crossan's struggle has always been to find a way of understanding Jesus that engages "both reason and revelation, both history and faith, both mind and heart." Here is his description of his ideal readers:
They are ... dissatisfied, disappointed, or even disgusted with classical Christianity and their denominational tradition. They hold on with anger or leave with nostalgia, but are not happy with either decision. They do not want to invent or join a new age, but to reclaim and redeem an ancient one. They do not want to settle for a generic-brand religion, but to rediscover their own specific and particular roots. But they know now that those roots must be in a renewed Christianity whose validity does not reject every other religion's integrity, a renewed Christianity that has purged itself of rationalism, fundamentalism, and literalism, whether of book, tradition, community, or leader.
Those who recognize themselves in this passage will find hope and courage in Crossan's book. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
I have spent thirty years reconstructing the historical Jesus. I have done so self-consciously and self-critically and have tried to do the same on reconstructing myself. But what justifies this memoir is how my own personal experience, from Ireland to America, from priest to professor, from monastery to university, and ... from celibacy to marriage, may have influenced that reconstruction. Where has it helped me see what others have not, and where has it made invisible to me what others find obvious?
-from A Long Way from Tipperary
From his upbringing in Ireland to front-page coverage in the New York Times and mention in cover stories in Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report, John Dominic Crossan-who has courageously pioneered the contemporary quest for the historical Jesus-has dared to go his own way. In this candid and engaging memoir, the world's foremost Jesus scholar reveals what he has discovered over a lifetime of open-eyed, fearless exploration of God, Jesus, Christianity, and himself. Crossan shares his provocative thinking on such issues as how one can be a Christian without going to church; whether God is vengeful, or just, or both; and why Jesus is more like Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. than like the Pope or Jerry Falwell.
Raised in the traditional Irish Catholic Church, Crossan inherited a faith that was "accepted fully and internalized completely but undiscussed, uninvestigated, and uncriticized." A dauntless spirit whose imagination was ignited not by piety but by the lure and challenge of adventure, he became a monk to travel and explore the world, unaware that his most thrilling quests would be scholarly and spiritual. "God had going the best adventure around," Crossan confesses.
Because he could never subject his theological convictions and historical findings to the restrictions of the Church, Crossan chose to leave the monastery and priesthood. Speaking of this time in his life, Crossan writes, "Not even a vow of obedience could make me sing a song I did not hear." But he never abandoned the Roman Catholic community or tradition and never lost his faith. He has devoted his life and career to a reexamination of what he calls "necessary open-heart surgery on Christianity itself."
Customer Reviews:
The humanity behind the heresy.......2007-03-19
Once, a Lutheran pastor went up to an author (who's also an ex-monk who spent many hours in monastic choir and Latin chant) and asked, how could one have a personal relationship with God in prayer when all was set and programmed, all was ritual, formal, and liturgical?? This author later wrote in his memoirs,
"I have never, ever, thought that Latin chant opposes personal prayer. It is simply personal prayer as part of a total community at prayer. It helps you to distinguish, in prayer, between human echo and divine response, between your own will set to sound and the divine will that allegedly transcends it. As a simple analogy: Does singing the national anthem communally enlarge or diminish personal and individual patriotism??"
It's amazing how much you can learn from people who've been deemed outcasts, super-deviants and heretics from your community. I suspect there are Christians who wouldn't touch the works of John Dominic Crossan with a 10-foot pole.
But after reading A Long Way From Tipperary: What A Former Irish Monk Discovered In His Search For The Truth, whilst I'm nowhere near agreeing with his views on the historical Jesus, I can identify with his struggles, his doubts, his pain (I can almost weep with him over the loss of his first wife).
I see a man who needs the love of Jesus Christ, yet also one I can learn from tremendously (even N.T. Wright has celebrated Crossan's genius; see the opening remarks in his chapter on Crossan in Jesus & The Victory of God). If nothing else, Crossan's wit-filled prose brings literary delight which one finds rare in evangelical works. For example:
"If, in fact, you want a parent metaphor for God, I think father is much more appropriate than mother. It is the mother who is publicly knowable, visibly provable, and legally certifiable. You do not need faith to know a mother. You need faith to know a father, because he is known only on the mother's word and sometimes not even then.?" (p.37)
Whilst evangelicals rightly ought to warn the community of the problems in Crossan's writings, we would do well to humble ourselves and learn from our enemies? (wouldn't we want them to learn from us, too?). Try this sharp observation on the Catholic-Protestant schism:
"It is the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, during which Catholicism and Protestantism forced each other into opposite extremes (faith or works, Bible or tradition, individual or community, real or symbolic, etc. or etc.)in that separation within Christianity, Catholicism lost any internal but loyal opposition, any sternly self-critical voice from within. In that separation, Protestantism lost anything to protest against save itself and has continued to fracture into every increasing diversity.?" (p.72, emphasis mine)
Perhaps we need (or God has allowed? or predestined?? [grin]) writers like Crossan, the quintessential postmodern Biblical scholar, drawing his inspiration from, among others, the work of Jacques Derrida, to shake us into seeing our own problems, to look closer at our sacred cows.
And one day Crossan was at a book-signing event, someone came up to him and said, "My pastor told me not to come here tonight because you are even to the left of Marcus Borg.? Crossan replied,
"Give your pastor my best regards and tell him that is the good news. The bad news is that both Borg and me are to the right of Jesus. And worse still, if he will recall Psalm 110, Jesus is to the right of God."
An autobiography by a well-known NT scholar.......2007-02-23
Rather disappointed with this book. Bought it at the local Borders and found its prose rushed; was the copyeditor asleep? I found long stretches rather tedious, not enhanced by the author's strong ego, which lacks discernment about what the reader might find engaging and what s/he might not. I appreciate much of Crossan's work, such as In Search of Paul, and this one has many good paragraphs. But the whole work never quite seems to come together.
What kind of Christian are you?.......2006-07-22
If you want Jesus to be what you need, avoid this book. If you want to learn about the historical Jesus, read Crossan. This book is more accessible than some of this others; but it presumes some familiarity with his other works which should, I think, come first. Then read this one by all means.
The journey of an Irish monk.......2005-06-19
Before I read this memoir, the only other insight I had of Crossan was from "Excavating Jesus", a book he and Reed collaborated on. Many times I would pause during a particular chapter and ask "Why does Crossan think that?" and I found many of my answers in "A Long Way from Tipperary." This memoir describes how Crossan's upbringining contributed to his analysis of the historical Jesus. It is the genuinity and extreme honesty with which Crossan speaks that makes this memoir truly memorable. I especially liked the parts when Crossan would describe an event in his life and compare it to the life of Jesus and ask how it influenced his conclusions on Jesus- I would have liked to see more of this for it was truly insightful. I also woudl have liked to see more of discussion on his faith in God- he makes the point that he doenst use human logic to prove God's existence yet doenst really seem to describe how he arrived at his conclusion. Overall a great read into a fascinating mind.
Witty, heartfelt, easy reading - recommended!.......2004-09-08
Book Review
A Long Way From Tipperary: A Memoir by John Dominic Crossan (2000)
Dom Crossan, the world's leading expert and best-selling author on the historical Jesus, has written a witty, hearfelt and easy reading (about 200 pages - you can finish it in an afternoon) memoir of his remarkable life. From the Prologue:
"This book is about a series of transitions, from Ireland to America, from priesthood to marriage, from monastery to university, and from academic scholar to public intellectual. It is especially about the transition from a very traditional Roman Catholic faith...to a self-conscious and self-critical Roman Catholic faith for the next [century]."
Born in 1934 in County Kildare, Ireland to parents of modest means, he entered a monastery at sixteen and remained in the priesthood for some nineteen years, most of which was spent as a professor in seminary. After leaving the priesthood to get married, Crossan taught at DePaul University for nearly twenty years. His memoir is a charming recollection of the very different worlds along his life's journey - interspersed with reminiscences of how each episode shaped his thinking.
Crossan, co-founder of the (in)famous Jesus Seminar, has been a public voice proclaiming the need for Christians to revitalize their tradition. Again from the Prologue:
"After a decade of interviews in newspapers and magazines, discussions on radio and television, lectures in parishes and seminaries, colleges and universities, I now recognize a group...who claim a center of the road between secularism and fundamentalism. They are also dissatisfied, disappointed, or even disgusted with Classical Christianity and their denominational tradition...They do not want to invent or join a new age, but to reclaim and redeem an ancient one. They do not want to settle for a generic-brand religion, but to re-discover their own specific and particular roots. But they know now that these roots must be in a renewed Christianity that has purged itself of rationalism, fundamentalism, and literalism, whether of book, tradition, community, or leader. I did not set out to speak to those people, because I did not know they existed until about 80 percent of my mail told me they did."
In the final pages of his memoir, he says:
"In conclusion, this is what I have learned between Ireland and America, monastery and university, priesthood and marriage, scholarship and public discourse. I have learned that God is more radical than we can ever imagine, that a divine utopia on this earth is more subversive than we can ever accept..."
John Dominic Crossan is a monumental figure in the reformation of the Christian tradition underway in the world today. A man of deep faith, profound intellect, and searing vision, this memoir provides a window into the humble origins and very human journey of a great modern sage. His dry Irish wit is ever present, his writing style is clear and conversational and you finish the book with the feeling that you now "know the man". That's what a memoir is all about.
Book Description
Have you woken up to the journey of life? Have you reached a point where you long for “something more”? Have the things you have striven to achieve turned out to be far less than enough? Do you desire to unriddle life’s mystery and pursue a life rich with significance?
Long Journey Home is a seeker’s road map to the quest for meaning. Rich in stories and profoundly personal as well as practical, it explores the great philosophies of life and charts the road toward meaning taken by countless thoughtful seekers over the centuries. Written for those who care and those who are open, “it assumes no faith in the reader, only the recognition that the humanness of life as a journey is something we should all care about enough to seek to make sense of it and to make up our minds for ourselves.”
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
A Seeker's Roadmap.......2004-08-21
Author of numerous works of theology, religious sociology and cultural apologetics, Os Guinness is one of today's most perceptive and engaging writers. This, his latest book, is an exceptional work that deserves to be read widely and disseminated eagerly.
Written as a seeker's road map to the quest for meaning, and presented as an exploration of the road toward meaning as taken by countless thoughtful seekers over the centuries (p.8), Long Journey Home offers insight into how such meaning can be found today. Beginning with the dictum that the unexamined life is not worth living (p.12) and concluding with the realization that the untransformed life is not worth finding (p.204), Guinness invites the reader to join him, and to recognize with him, that the humanness of life as a journey is something we should all care enough about to want to make sense of (p.9). Winsomely written, replete with stories and choice quotations, I believe this volume and its approach will resonate with significant numbers of people.
Structured around four major sections, with each section highlighting a particular stage of the journey, this work offers no `keys' to happiness, no `short cuts' to success and no `techniques' to master. Avoiding both simplism and stereotype, Guinness offers the thoughtful seeker only a well-beaten path to follow. The stages of the journey mapped out by Guinness are: (1) The asking of questions, (2) Actively seeking out answers to the questions, (3) Evaluating the evidence for the answers, and (4) Commitment to what is discovered, realizing that all stages of the journey ought to culminate in responsible action.
In the first section, Guinness introduces the journey by pointing to the human desire to know meaning beyond the meaning we know. Building on sociologist Peter Berger's identification of "signals of transcendence" (those catalytic experiences in everyday life that point to a higher reality), Guinness illustrates the impetus deep within us all to search for more. Pointing to G.K.Chesterton's experience of gratitude, W.H.Auden's absolute sense of justice and the impossibility of not condemning evil, as well as C.S.Lewis' deep sense of joy, Guinness articulates how such experiences raise questions and creates seekers.
With the second stage of the journey characterized by actively seeking answers to the specific questions raised the focus of this volume now falls on truth-claims and the nature of the search for answers (p.68f). Showing his practical genius in narrowing down what could potentially be an overwhelming search, Guinness counters two frequently voiced objections. First, that the search for answers is unnecessary (because all beliefs at their core are the same), and second, that the search for answers is impossible (because there are too many beliefs to investigate). Guinness then shows how the truth lies somewhere in between and in so doing introduces the idea of `families of faith' (p.69). By addressing the vexed question of evil, suffering and death among the Eastern, Secular Western and Biblical `families of faith' that Guinness exemplifies how the search for answers can proceed.
Building on the answers gleaned in the previous stage, the third stage of the journey commences when the answers arrived at are evaluated. In short, this stage asks: Are the answers uncovered true? Acknowledging the controversial nature of truth-claims today, Guinness attempts to clear away some of the fog (p.120ff) and to shed light on the notion of truth. (Following in the footsteps of Francis Schaeffer, he talks about truth in terms of its correspondence to reality and its livability). Managing to avoid a complicated and protracted discussion of all things epistemological, the argument of this section is propelled forward by exposing two common roadblocks: the skepticism of old wounds and the skepticism of bad experiences inflicted by people of faith (p.132). Leading ultimately to a consideration of the identity of Jesus Christ, Guinness shows his dissatisfaction with those who dismiss the evidence for truth and shows up two equal and opposite mistakes: The setting up of impossible standards of truth, and the attempt to bypass the question of truth altogether (p.145). In contrast, two positive means of assessing evidence are advocated. One, the examination of particular beliefs "up close and in detail' (illustrated, in this instance, by Phillipe Haille and Eleanor Stump). And two, seeing the `big-picture' or assessing large webs of interwoven truth claims (i.e. worldviews).
In the fourth and culminating stage of the journey, Guinness focuses on individual responsibility and the full embrace of responsible faith. Emphasizing commitment in light of the conclusions the search has led to, this final section does what too few books of this genre do. It warns against the intrusion of techniques and the simplification of faith. It embraces the diversity of ways in which individuals come to faith. It highlights the holistic nature of faith, recognizing that people are far more than walking minds. It celebrates the often forgotten reality that we are never more ourselves than when we come to faith. And it wonderfully plays up the truth (illustrated by the story of Simone Weil) that we find God because He first finds us; that the secret of our quest for purpose and meaning lies not in our brilliance but in His grace.
As a reviewer, I've not rushed my description of the contents of this book because I believe the ebb and flow of its argument deserves to be highlighted. On the whole, this book deserves to be read as much by pastors and preachers as by the `seekers' it was penned for. It is an excellent volume that draws upon classical and contemporary sources (often juxtaposed in fascinating ways), which is informed by a sound biblical anthropology (cf. p.198ff), and which dares to rely upon the diverse integrity of human beings and the sovereign freedom of God. Long Journey Home is a book whose themes and approach ought to shape evangelism, inform preaching and dissuade anyone from dependence upon, generic, pre-packaged, `one size fits all' forms of witnessing.
Help for the seeker mixed in with Christian apologetics.......2004-01-21
Os Guinness states in the introductory chapters of this book that it is written "for those who are asking enduring questions" such as "How do we unriddle the mystery of life and make the most of it?" Or "What does it mean to find ourselves guests on a tiny, spinning blue ball in a vast universe?" He endeavors to guide the seeker through four stages in the quest for meaning: A Time For Questions, A Time For Answers, A Time For Evidence, and A Time For Commitment. These four stages also make up the four section of the book.
He does a decent job of telling how others have made the journey through skepticism to faith, and of explaining the process and the potential rewards and dangers. He is great at dropping the memorable quote or anecdote to illustrate a point. He is obviously quite widely read but I sometimes wondered how deep his knowledge goes.
Unfortunately, the book was not all that I had hoped it would be. I was looking forward to an objective look at the process of being a "seeker." While the book does explain that process it became quickly apparent that the author also had another objective--to steer the seeker towards a particular "meaning of life," that of the Christian faith.
At the beginning of Part Two, Guinness states that there are three leading families of faith in the modern world: the Eastern family (including Hinduism, Buddhism and New Age), the Western family (including naturalism, atheism and secular humanism), and the Biblical family (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He then writes a chapter on each of the families in which he "endeavored to portray them straightforwardly and accurately."
I found the chapter on eastern faith (Buddhism & Hinduism) to be woefully inadequate. The author's childhood in China and his studies under a Hindu guru (length of time studying not mentioned) are trotted out as if they make him an authority on eastern religion. However, he only gives a cursory and in my opinion inaccurate picture of Buddhism and Hinduism today.
The same can be said for his chapter on secular humanism. He highlights two writers, Bertrand Russell and Albert Camus, as the archetypal secular humanists. Both Russell and Camus were relatively bleak about mankind's future, so Guinness paints secularism as a pessimistic philosophy. Apparently for him there is no such thing as an optimistic humanist.
He then writes of the biblical family as being that family of faith that most closely mirrors the truth. Note that in this chapter he excludes any discussion of Islam (the second-largest religion in the world behind Christianity). The rest of the book (Parts Three & Four) is basically Christian apologetics. Not that there is anything wrong with apologetics, but I feel that some people will be mislead into buying this book because they think it may be an impartial guide in their search for meaning. Nowhere on the jacket or in the introduction is it stated that this book is meant to be a guide towards Christianity.
That being said, "Long Journey Home" is still a good book that asks penetrating questions and offers some useful insights for the seeker who needs some direction for starting his or her quest.
Thoughtful, Knowledgeable Guide To The Search.......2003-12-01
The search for the meaning of life--now talk about a topic for a book.
Guinness knows what he's writing about. Not just his search for the meaning to life, but in his search his reading of philosophy, literature, art and biography and other seekers is included herein.
This is profound and chock full of wonderful, deep statements of seekers.
He carefully, philosophically goes through each step of seeking. His background of being born in Buddhist China to his time with Hinduism, then his education under classical secular humanism at Oxford well qualify him as such a guide.
Just one salinet quote from this marvelous read is: "The secret of the search is not our 'great ascent' but 'the great descent'--of God toward us. Instead of the seeker finding love, love seeks out the seeker."
Highly recommended for thoughtful seekers, to be given ones we know and for those of us whom God has already sought out and now on the way to serve Him eternally.
A Journey Worth Making.......2003-10-12
This book is a very fine distillation of wisdom applied to the "big questions" of life's meaning and purpose. Os Guinness takes the reader on a tour of how the world's major religions and some of its greatest thinkers have wrestled with questions of ultimate significance. How does death and human suffering affect our sense of hope and longing for purpose and meaning for our lives? What is the place of gratitude for life's goodness? What principles are worth living and dying for? There are no prepackaged answers to these questions, of course. But whether or not we are to believe there is an answer and what road we take to lead us there are crucial steps in the journey upon which we are all embarked. Whether we conscious of it or not, life is taking us somewhere. When we get to the end, will we look back on our journey with satisfaction and fulfillment or with a sense of shame and loss? For those who feel that an unexamined life is not worth living, this book is provides much to consider. Philosophy and Religion are not an intellectual game we can play with detachment and control over the outcome. The questions are bigger than we are and the Answer must be bigger still. The implications of the search for your life's meaning, if you follow it honestly enough, will end up handling you rather than you handling them. Are you ready? Then read on...
Decent, good and true........2002-02-06
This is a good book. It's short, easy to read, and fairly well written. It also contains true wisdom, not only from Os, but from the brilliant thinkers across historical and cultural spectrums.
The best thing to do is accept this book for what it is and not for what the author intended it to be. Mr. Guiness sought to show how humanists, and those in western and eastern civilizations have approached the "meaning of life." Os is so overtly partial to Western thought, that he gives only cursory explanations on Eastern and humanist traditions. Besides, it just over 200 pages, can you really plumb the depths of even a single thinker from any one of these traditions?
Instead, enjoy this book as a background work that you can use to direct further study. This is philosophical book for your bedstand, that give pretty simple explanations for complex issues that mankind has grappled with since we gained constructive use of our frontal lobes.
However, despite this, I walked away with teachings and instruction that inspired, compelled and provoked me to live with a greater understanding of how I can give to others.
Amazon.com
Filled with interesting examples of quilts from throughout the British Isles, Quilt Treasures of Great Britain is a remarkable visual history of a country with a wonderful quilting tradition. The volume documents the results of the 1990-93 British Quilt Heritage Project, which examined more than 4,000 quilts and related items, "reading" them to determine their age and history. Supplemented by more than 170 color photos, the nine very informative essays (each by a different quilt historian) discuss why quilts were made in the first place; analyze the various types of patchwork patterns, applique, embellishments, and quilting motifs; explore quilts with special associations (military or bible quilts, for example); and tell the stories of some individual quilters. The result is a fascinating cultural portrait as seen through the eyes--and told through the fingers--of generations of talented quiltmakers. --Amy Handy
Book Description
Combining history, autobiography, and ethnography, Georges Woke Up Laughing provides a portrait of the Haitian experience of migration to the United States that illuminates the phenomenon of long-distance nationalism, the voicelessness of certain citizens, and the impotency of government in an increasingly globalized world. By presenting lively ruminations on his life as a Haitian immigrant, Georges Eugene Fouron—along with Nina Glick Schiller, whose own family history stems from Poland and Russia—captures the daily struggles for survival that bind together those who emigrate and those who stay behind.
According to a long-standing myth, once emigrants leave their homelands—particularly if they emigrate to the United States—they sever old nationalistic ties, assimilate, and happily live the American dream. In fact, many migrants remain intimately and integrally tied to their ancestral homeland, sometimes even after they become legal citizens of another country. In Georges Woke Up Laughing the authors reveal the realities and dilemmas that underlie the efforts of long-distance nationalists to redefine citizenship, race, nationality, and political loyalty. Through discussions of the history and economics that link the United States with countries around the world, Glick Schiller and Fouron highlight the forces that shape emigrants’ experiences of government and citizenship and create a transborder citizenry. Arguing that governments of many countries today have almost no power to implement policies that will assist their citizens, the authors provide insights into the ongoing sociological, anthropological, and political effects of globalization.
Georges Woke up Laughing will entertain and inform those who are concerned about the rights of people and the power of their governments within the globalizing economy.
“In my dream I was young and in Haiti with my friends, laughing, joking, and having a wonderful time. I was walking down the main street of my hometown of Aux Cayes. The sun was shining, the streets were clean, and the port was bustling with ships. At first I was laughing because of the feeling of happiness that stayed with me, even after I woke up. I tried to explain my wonderful dream to my wife, Rolande. Then I laughed again but this time not from joy. I had been dreaming of a Haiti that never was.”—from Georges Woke Up Laughing
Customer Reviews:
Who am I ... an imigrant struggles with identity.......2006-07-07
This is the best professor ever and his class was so interesting. The course, as well as the book talks about his battle with identity as a transnational citizen in a world filled with identities it is somethings hard to find your place. Graduating from Columbia (after moving to the U.S.) and teaching at stony brook university George is look upon as a changed man.. he if not hatian because he has moved to the U.S. but in the U.S. he is not american enough for the americans, where then does on fit when they battle with their own identity and ask themselves who am I ? This was the dilemma which caused him to write this book.
Ethnographic Dialogue.......2002-08-08
In this excellent book, Nina Glick Schiller and Georges Eugene Fouron tackle the question of national identity, transmigration, and the effect that this has had on Haitians. The authors chose to write the text as a dialogue between two separate and distinct voices: the first is a voice of the social scientist, attempting a theoretical understanding of social and political aspects of transmigration; the second voice is the personal, intimate one, encompassing the thoughts and emotions of Haitians. The theoretical points made are underscored by real-life narratives, which add depth to the scholarship. I believe this approach is a successful way of creating a "dialogue" between the authors and the subjects (especially in cases such as this, where Georges fits into both categories).
I especially appreciated Schiller's diasporic perspective as a Jew. Her insights to the experiences and differences between Jewish Diaspora and African-Caribbean Diaspora are illuminating.
Book Description
Peter G. Wallace interweaves the Reformation into the transformations of political institutions, socioeconomic structures, gender relations, and cultural values in early modern Europe. In approaching the European Reformation as a long-term process, Wallace argues that the classic sixteenth-century religious struggles with the resolutions proposed by reformers such as Luther, were not fully realized for most Christians until the early eighteenth century.
Book Description
Although she came to be known as merely "that girl with the dirty books," Dollree Mapp was a poor but proud black woman who defied a predominantly white police force by challenging the legality of its search-and-seizure methods. Her case, which went all the way to the Supreme Court, remains hotly debated and highly controversial today.
In 1957, Cleveland police raided Mapp's home on a tip-from future fight promoter Don "the Kid" King-that they'd find evidence linked to a recent bombing. What they confiscated instead was sexually explicit material that led to Mapp's conviction for possessing "lewd and lascivious books"-a conviction that initially pitted Ohio police and judges against Mapp and the American Civil Liberties Union. At stake was not only the search-and-seizure question but also the "exclusionary rule" concerning the use of evidence not specified in a search warrant.
Carolyn Long follows the police raid into Mapp's home and then chronicles the events that led to the Court's 5-4 ruling in Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which redefined the rights of the accused and set strict limits on how police could obtain and use evidence. Long traces the case through the legal labyrinth, discusses the controversies it created, and assesses its impact on police behavior, as well as subsequent prosecutions and convictions of the accused. She also analyzes Justice Tom Clark's creative use of Mapp's case to overturn Wolf v. Colorado, which had ruled that the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches applied only to federal law, and presents Justice John Harlan's strong federalist-based dissent.
As entertaining as it is informative, Long's book features a host of intriguing characters: Mapp, her seasoned and determined attorney, A. L. Kearns, and police sergeant Carl Delau, among others. Combined with her concise and insightful explanations of key legal principles-including the exclusionary rule itself-Long's deft narrative provides an ideal format for teachers and students in criminology, legal history, constitutional law, and political science, as well as anyone who loves a good story.
The Mapp case is still much debated, especially in light of the recent reauthorization of the U.S. Patriot Act and the free rein given to law enforcement officers in matters of search and seizure. Long's compelling study thus poses important questions regarding privacy and individual rights that still matter today, even as it also illuminates one of the keystones of the Warren Court's criminal procedure revolution.
This book is part of the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series.
Customer Reviews:
Mapp v. Ohio.......2006-04-21
Dr. Long's book about Mapp V. Ohio is an engaging and insightful look into this Supreme Court case that set precedent for many in the future.
Long's use of both primary and secondary sources contributes to a fascinating reading.
I particularly like the section of the book that focuses on the aftermath of the case. it highlights why this case was so important. If you are interested in historic court cases, interpretation of the Constitution, or the evolution of civil liberties, I strongly recommend this book.
Customer Reviews:
The Godfather of Harry Potter?.......2007-03-15
This was one of my favorite books growing up and like the other reviewers I read it hundreds of times. Where oh where are all these wonderful authors from yesteryear? How could they have been forgotten once publish-on-demand technology became available? Whoever owns the rights could be rich with all the Harry Potter hype of today! This story was at least as good and would have produced a similar hub-ub had it been marketed in as effective of a way. I'll bet money that Rowlings read it too!
J. Lyon Layden
The Other Side of Yore
So sad I can't find this book..........2003-08-15
My parents bought me this book during a weekend trip to Vermont when I was six. I must have read it hundreds of times, mesmerized by the illustrations and intrigued by the fantasy. I can remember Miranda, Polly, Oliver and the little "brownie" imp as if I had read the book only yesterday. Fast forward 29 years later and now I'd love to share this book with my children. Who wouldn't dream of riding on Miranda's broomstick in the middle of the night in search of her kitty?
Witches, Ghosts, and Goblins spooky search for Miranda's cat.......2002-03-19
I have been trying to find this book for years and years. The first time that I read it I was only seven or eight years old. My older sister had brought it home from the school library for a book report assignment. She never got around to reading it. So one day I just decided to pick it up and read because the illustrations caught my eye but it was the actual story that turned out to be so compelling. Whenever someone asks what my favorite book is I tell them. They say that they never heard of it. Embarassingly I tell them that it's a children's book. But I think it's much much more than now. It's an all out classic for the ages. I think that it is very underrated. I mean the kids now have this Harry Potter fellow which I believe to be not the most intriguing story line for youngsters. I think WGG is has a more innocent plot. I think that this book deserves to go to reprint. I am now a grown man of 26 and I'm still begging for this book. Ruthanna Long, whereever you are, we love you and your work. It was you that made me have a passion for reading. Thanks.
Before there was Harry Potter . . ........2001-11-28
I've been hoping with all the Harry Potter hype (yes, I too am a fan), that this book would be made available again. I used to check this book out of my school library about twice a year, and I adored the adventure every time. It is a true classic of children's literate, clever, humorous and magical. Please, please Amazon, FIND US THIS BOOK!
Where can I find this book?.......2001-11-03
I loved this book as a child. It was a magical moment when I found it on the library shelf, opened it up and began to read. Now I want to share it with my nieces and nephews. Please, please, please, Amazon, can't you find copies?
Books:
- Government by the People, Teaching and Learning, Classroom Edition (6th Edition)
- History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
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