Dark Side of the Moon Review

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The Dark Side of the Moon by Wayne Biddle is a very compelling, intriguing detailed book entailing political propaganda, with German Nazi heritage to futuristic knowledge combined with scientific credibility and hypothetical theories about Romanticism during the Second World War.

Biddle encapsulates the readers into bringing back the dark truths of history evolving around the Nazi Regime and talks a lot about seizing political power e.g. Socialist movements, communist power seized from Hitler's armies, the bourgeoisie movement etc.

I particularly liked the photos printed because the readers can visualize the scientific impacts Astronomy played in history during the crucial wartime.

For example one of the photos showed a group of rocket scientist enthusiasts Space Flight inventions back in the 1930's in Berlin so the readers can compare the space flight technology we have today to the inventions they used back seventy decades ago.

I also found the maps intriguing as it showed German War fronts and the International Borders.

I think Biddle gave the readers a real insight where Germany's enemies were and what the country was like in 1933 compared to how it is now in the 21st Century.

In the book Biddle highlights a very famous historical figure German non-political Scientist Wernher Von Braun and he talks about Von Braun's transition stages from a Scientist to being a SS officer and German Patriot, Biddle also shows many photos of Von Braun shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy at the Space Flight Centre in 1962 and redeveloping rocket models for the US Army in 1995 to show he was an important scientist during that time.

Von Braun surrendered to American forces shortly before World War II ended, subsequently moving to the United States to assist scientific efforts there. When later asked about his role in developing and producing the V-2 rockets used against Allied forces, von Braun said his focus was solely space travel.

But on the basis of declassified archival material and interviews with survivors of the Nazi labor camp where these rockets were produced, Biddle portrays von Braun as an opportunist who fully understood and accepted his orders to produce weapons, not spaceships. The scientist was also far more aware of atrocious conditions in the V-2 factory than he would later admit, Biddle contends.

Biddle richly details von Braun's youth and life during World War II and the bumpy road to the V-2's development. But Biddle fails to fully support one of his major points - that America's obsession with beating the Soviets in the space race allowed von Braun to whitewash his past association with the Nazis. Still, Biddle succeeds in creating a more nuanced portrait of an American space "hero" and forcing the reader to contemplate scientists' ethical responsibilities.

Overall this book enables readers to understand the complex intricacies of Von Braun's mentality as well as the scientific issues involved, it also makes the readers think that science did play a huge impact with the war.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in social Sciences, History, Media, Philosophy and Science in general as the Dark Side of the Moon combines all of the subjects in one.

Virginia Woolf and 'A Room of One's Own'

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Virginia Woolf published her extended essay, the six-chapter, 'A Room of One's Own', in 1929, based on a series of lectures she had delivered the previous year at Girton and Newnham, the two women's Colleges at the University of Cambridge. By then, an established and esteemed novelist, the theme she was exploring was 'Women and Fiction'. Published just ten years after women had gained suffrage in Britain, the book is regarded as a precursor to the voluminous feminist literary activity in the later years of the 20th century.

In spite of the lack of a formal academic background, Virginia Woolf was a well-read autodidact. She uses a narrative form of an imaginary young woman named Mary given any of three surnames, researching the topic of 'Women and Fiction'. She concludes that minimally a woman needs 'a room of her own' (lockable) and some cash to live on (500 a year in Mary's case). What she is clearly saying, after a careful historical analysis of lives led by men and women in relation to each other in the past, and up to the day of her deliberations, is that women are deprived of artistic and literary expression because of their economic, personal, and social subordination by men, and not because of a lack of innate ability or talent.

The purpose of this essay is to analyse, and comment upon the author's extensive use of binary categories beginning with the central, historically loaded, categorization of the differences between men and women. Although two sets of binaries, reason/emotion, and fiction/fact, are delved into in this essay, Woolf's awareness of the complexities of apparent binary categories is far more extensive and will be examined more closely in the following paragraphs.

Although there does not appear to be 'opposites' in nature, dualism seems to be deeply rooted in language and human thinking. Binary opposites or polarizations are not always logical opposites but are necessary for the units of language to have value and meaning. Following Saussurean structuralism, it is generally held that 'binary opposition is one of the most important principles governing the structure of language', while 'paired contrasts' are not always 'opposites', in any exact sense, they are believed to be necessary as a means of ordering the 'dynamic complexity of experience'. Most linguists believe that 'binary opposition is a child's first logical operation'. Another powerful influence on binary thinking in the West was Descartes' mind-body dualism.

Binary thinking is also hierarchical. One of the two terms is considered positive and the other negative. Religious thinking cannot exist without the polarisation of guilt and innocence. Structuralists believe that the world is organised into male/female constructs, roles, words and ideas. For example, masculinity (phallus) is associated with dominance and femininity (vagina) with passivity. Post-structuralists seek to deconstruct the whole edifice of binary thinking, not allowing one to be intrinsically superior to the other, giving instances of binary opposition contradicting itself and undermining its own authority.

However, there is increasingly a consensus forming that such 'antitheses' are aspects of a deeper unity and 'all so-called opposites such as reason/emotion and spirit/substance is merely 'apparent' binary opposites' (Forceville, 1996). Woolf's essay, having utilised a plethora of binaries in her exposition, concludes with the acceptance of that 'deeper unity' in her acknowledgement of 'manwomanly' and 'woman-manly' qualities in human nature.

Enough has been said about the fundamental significance of binary thinking in the use of language until recent times that it is no wonder that Woolf's essay is filled with many instances of the complexities between apparent binaries. Of course, the main concern when talking of 'Women and Fiction' is of defining and delineating the subject. Woolf shows that this is no easy matter. In the course of her investigations by reading books written by men on women, she unearths many 'fictions' like the insistence on the inferiority of women on all fronts. Such views are not based on 'fact'. Woolf dramatizes the effect of discrimination and disempowerment of women by asking the reader to imagine an equally gifted sister of Shakespeare. Prevented from achieving any of her creative aims and ambitions, Judith Shakespeare commits suicide only after what women from time immemorial were expected and permitted to do, give birth.

Since Woolf's lectures are given from a personal point of view and has no pretensions to being academic, she implores her audience not to expect a neat conclusion. She uses a fictional device to present her argument based very much on facts she gathers at the British Museum Library. At the Oxbridge college she visits, presumably by invitation, figures like the Beadle, Fellows and Scholars whom she introduces almost casually in Chapter One return at the end, emphasising their relevance to the narrative and her subject matter. She was debarred from trespassing on their 'turf', both literally and metaphorically. She was also not admitted to a library there because of her sex. She confronts and questions binaries such as illusion and truth. She also dichotomizes pre-war and post-war sensibilities. She describes the trees and the river at Oxbridge as vague and resigned at sunset, while becoming glorious and expectant in the morning. She also addresses the binary qualities of 'laughter' and 'anguish'. Her thought processes are clear and well articulated mainly because of her use of such binary signifiers.

The binary theme continues with her contrasting the sumptuous lunch given at a well-endowed male preserve at Oxbridge with the rather 'poor' meal for dinner at a female college. While gold and silver are said to be 'buried' within the 500-year old grand buildings patronised by Kings and nobles, the women's college built in the 1860s had a struggle to raise the initial 30,000. She contrasts the safety and prosperity of men against the poverty and insecurity of women throughout history reflected in every facet of their lives.

In Chapter Two, she deals with the binaries of interest and confusion as well as amusement versus boredom allied with the roles of masculinity and femininity. When she speaks of the freedom from fear and bitterness that the inheritance from Mary's deceased aunt gave her, she can also contrast that with the pity and tolerance ('toleration') she feels for womankind from her position of freedom. Reflecting on the culinary pleasures she enjoyed the previous day, she wonders why men drink wine while women drink water. She also contrasts two types of anger she felt over Prof von X's peroration over 'The Mental, Moral and Physical Inferiority of the Female Sex'. Her anger at the treatment of women at first was a complex emotion of disgust while it then transforms into a 'simple and open' anger that she could use constructively.

By the time she reaches Chapter Three, she has not unearthed any facts, but only opinions totally detrimental to women (fiction). She now turns to historians (fact). She refers to Prof. Trevelyan's 'History of England'. There she finds the abominable treatment of women by men during Elizabethan times regarded as the norm. Wife-beating was a regular practice. Marriages were pre-arranged to suit the men. Contrastingly, women who were portrayed in literature possessed personality and dignity denied to the ordinary middle-class woman. Women 'burnt like beacons in works of all the poets from the beginning of time.' While women in literature, like Antigone, Cleopatra, Lady Macbeth and Emma Bovary could be 'heroic or mean', 'splendid or sordid', 'infinitely beautiful or hideous in the extreme', the average woman was a complete nonentity, hidden from view. Binaries abound in this chapter as in 'women are imaginatively of the highest importance' while 'practically she was completely insignificant'.

When we reach Chapter Four, we come across the struggles of Lady Winchilsea with poetry, with Aphra Behn having more success with her plays. This further supports Woolf's insights into why and how women were denied free expression. Woolf first uses the word 'incandescent' with which she describes the creative mind, as a quote from Lady Winchilsea. She needed for her mind to have 'consumed all impediments and become incandescent.' But unfortunately it was 'harassed and distracted with hates and grievances'. Aphra Behn was the first woman in England to make a living by her writing, although her personal life is not said to have been worthy of emulation. However, Behn opened the way for the 18th century women novelists like the Bronte sisters, Jane Austen and George Eliot. In describing them and the novels of the early 19th century Woolf speaks of their virtues in binary terms as swift not slovenly, expressive without being precious.

In Chapter Five Woolf introduces a representative contemporary woman fiction writer she calls Mary Carmichael. This is an imaginary figure chosen to show what is lost in writing from a position of defensiveness and protest. Woolf lauds the fact that Carmichael is no longer self-conscious of being female in her imaginative writing. There are binaries like 'heavenly goodness' and 'hellish depravity', compared with writing that is 'serious, profound and luminous' with others, 'lazy-minded and conventional'. She advises contemporary women writers to 'illumine your own soul with its profundities and its shallows, and its vanities and its generosities'. Although Carmichael's fiction may be 'pulped by the publisher in ten year's time', Woolf is confident that her successors in another 'hundred years' would have achieved their full and glorious potential.

In Chapter Six Woolf describes a man and woman approaching each other from opposite sides of the street. The setting is a London street viewed by the author from her apartment window. They get into a taxi and are driven away. For Woolf this is a symbol of the binaries coming together. The strain she had being going through over the last two days eased, and she now has an insight into the 'unity of mind'. As Coleridge had said, great minds are androgynous. The true creator is 'incandescent' and 'undivided'. Sex-consciousness stands in the way of creativity. She says that 'it is fatal for anyone who writes to think of their sex.' She finally arrives at the conclusion that good writing flows from a marriage of opposites. Gender, masculinity/femininity is no longer relevant. Honest, creative and lasting fiction arises from a mind that is uncluttered and can face facts.

Virginia Woolf has engaged in a thorough examination of many binary concepts including masculinity/femininity, reason/emotion, and fact/fiction in her extended essay ostensibly dealing with women and fiction. This brief analysis reveals her arriving at the conclusion that it is the androgynous mind, which is 'naturally creative, incandescent and undivided' that can arrive at 'truth' by 'bringing together many varieties of error'. Her understanding of the vagaries and complexities of binary thinking reflected in this book shows her to have been one of the pioneering, formative minds of her time.

School and Depression

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School can be difficult time in the lives of many students. The hours of study can become very stressful and can ultimately lead to irrational decisions. One of the worst things that can happen is being touched by a suicide. This is a theme that often arises in law school. It is sad that this is what occurred in The Paper Chase, a story about a few students navigating their way through law school. The suicide attempt happened on the night of Kevin's big birthday party. Hart and Ford decided finally make their way over to the party at half past ten when they assumed it would be well underway. Instead they showed up as the only guests who had arrived all night.

Kevin's girlfriend Ashley answered the door and revealed that she had to stop him from committing suicide yet he still lay bloody on the floor in the bathroom. "He tried to kill himself. I stopped it. I had to. I'm having a baby and he tried to hill himself," she said. "I didn't hurt him. He'll be all right.""

Death is arguably the most significant human issue there is, especially in the form of suicide. This was a very close call but at the same time it is a welcomed light that is shone into some of the dark sides of law school. This issue of students committing suicide is so important that precautionary plans need to be in place to prevent such tragedies in the future.

Despite a near fatal tragedy the group began with good intentions and those who belonged in law school benefited greatly from it. Kevin actually dropped out of Law School before he committed suicide. There were also some great human issues that the group promoted and that was working hard towards success. The students ended up putting together outlines to study for their final exams which more resembled full length novels. This study group was no doubt more academically savvy then most groups. In many ways this should have helped Kevin but maybe because his peers were academically superior this deteriorated his emotional stability. It is a shame none of Kevin's group members could have been their with him the time he was alone and decided to end his life.

Book Review - Between Two Bridges by Victor Colaio

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It was sometime in the mid 1980's. I was having dinner at Forlini's Restaurant at 93 Baxter Street in downtown Manhattan with my good friend Rudy Riska, who was the Athletic Director of the Downtown Athletic Club, and was known as the King of the Heisman Trophy. I had grown up across the street from Forlini's, in a tenement at 134 White Street, the corner of Baxter Street in the Sixth Ward, across the street from the city prison called the Tombs. Rudy had grown up on Madison Street, in the adjourning Fourth Ward, just a 10-minute walk away.

The Fourth and Sixth Ward people were friendly enemies, especially in sports. My first memory of the Fourth Ward was in 1958 when I went to play Little League baseball at Coleman Oval, under the Manhattan Bridge. By then the neighborhood had been completely transformed and tens of thousands of people had been thrown out of their homes by of the cruel law of Eminent Domain. This was done to make way for the construction of Al Smith low-income projects and the Chatham Green middle-income co-ops. The same thing had happened in the Sixth Ward, albeit on a smaller basis, to make way for the construction of Chatham Towers middle-income co-ops.

During dinner at Forlini's, Rudy told me about the Fourth Ward of the 1940's and early 1950's. He mentioned streets that no longer existed; like Roosevelt Street and Oak Street, and parts of Williams Street. And he mentioned a Catholic church I never heard of named St. Joachim's, which was on Roosevelt Street. Then Rudy started talking about the guys he grew up with.

"Do you remember Victor Star?" Rudy asked me.

No, I didn't, but after reading the wonderful book "Between Two Bridges" by Victor Colaio (Victor Star), even though I never met the man, I know Victor Star very well (we even went to the same high school - Cardinal Hayes in the Bronx).

Both Victor and Rudy are about 10-12 years older than me. The Lower East Side they grew up in was slightly different than the Lower East Side I grew up in. Sure, we played stickball, stoopball, softball, hardball, basketball and football, like they did, but we had actual balls that we bought at a sporting goods store on Nassau Street, the name of which escapes me (Spiegels?). In Victor's era, they bought pink Spaldeens, and the occasional Clincher softball, like we did, but their footballs were made of wrapped up newspaper and tape. Talk about roughing it. (I'm assuming they used real basketballs, because if the ball wasn't perfectly round, how could they bounce it properly?)

Also, in Rudy and Victor's era, television was a new invention; basically only bars had them to show sporting events like baseball and boxing. However, I don't remember not having a TV set in my apartment, nor do I remember any of my friends not having TV sets in their apartments. But this was the mid to late 1950's; not the mid to late 1940's, when Rudy and Victor grew up.

In "Between Two Bridges," Victor talks about spending many wondrous afternoons at the Venice Theatre, which was owned by a wonderful woman named Mazie, who let kids into the theater for free if they didn't have the money. Mazie also gave money to the bums on the Bowery, so that they could buy something to eat, or most likely something to drink. I don't remember the Venice Theater, but I do remember Mazie, but from the Chatham Theater on Chatham Square, under the Third Avenue El, which was knocked down when I was about 9 or 10 years old. However, the Chatham Theater remained there for many years.

In "Between Two Bridges," Victor regales the reader with stories of how kids played ball in "The Lots," a filthy strip of land under Manhattan Bridge. I don't remember "The Lots," but I do remember remember Coleman Oval, which was constructed on the former site of "The Lots." This is where the Two Bridges Little League Baseball Association played their games. In fact in 1960, my Transfiguration Little League team beat Victor's St. James Little League team for the Two Bridges Championship.

And then there were the nicknames, which almost everybody had.

Victor was Victor Star. My nickname in the Sixth Ward was Mooney; people still call me Mooney. Victor mentions childhood friends like Pete the Lash, who was built like a safe and wasn't afraid to throw his weight around. After I moved to the Fourth Ward's Knickerbocker Village in 1964, I met Pete the Lash, who was definitely an impressive physical specimen; only by the mid 70's his brick-like body did have a bit of a beer belly. Even though Pete was basically a friendly, jovial guy, woe to those who got on the wrong side of Pete the Lash.

Victor mentions other nicknames names like Richie Igor, Nonnie, Paulie Knock Knock, Junior, Bunny, and Butch, all men whom I knew in later years. But I don't recall Goo-Goo, Bobo the Hippo, Hammerhead, Paulie Batman, Georgie Egg, Bopo, or Bimbo. But I wish I did.

Growing up in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 30's through 60's was a unique experience; an experience that no longer exist for the youngsters of New York City. In the Lower East Side, we grew up with people of all denominations and faiths. The Two Bridges Little Baseball League had teams from Transfiguration Church - almost exclusively Italians and Chinese. St James was mostly Irish with a few Italians. St. Joseph was mostly Italians with a few Irish. Mariners Temple's team was Puerto Rican. Educational Alliance and LMRC were Jewish. And Sea and Land, sponsored by neighborhood people, were African-Americans. And there were Polish, Spanish kids from Spain, and Czechoslovakian kids sprinkled throughout the teams.

We didn't have the time or energy to be racist or prejudiced. We all grew up together and we all respected each other. It was the only way to survive.

One thing that Victor points out in his book is very true. If you grew up on the Lower East Side, you grew balls; you had to. You had to fight almost every day, and if you didn't; you got beat up almost every day. Bullies invariably picked on the weaker kids, or the ones who didn't fight back. But if you did fight back, even if you caught a beating or two, the bullies moved on to easier pray.

It was just the law of the jungle.

The Lower East Side did produce mobsters of all nationalities. But it also produced doctors (Joe Fiorito), lawyers (Mathew J. Mari from the Fourth Ward is a prominent criminal attorney), politicians (Al Smith from James Street became Governor of New York and lost the Presidential Election in 1928), several judges ( Judge Piccariello), professional singers (Johnny Maestro, Luther Vandross), and professional athletes. Rudy Riska was one professional athlete from the Lower East Side (he played for the Triple A Yankees); his brother Steve was another (the Cincinnati Reds farm system). There was also a guy named Vinnie Head (I never knew his real name) from the Sixth Ward (NY Giants Farm system), and Charlie Vellotta, also from the Sixth Ward (Dodgers farm system). Charlie lived on the same floor with me at 134 White Street.

My next door neighbor at 134 White Street was Mikey Black; real name Michael Corriero (we shared a firescape, and Mikey used to frequently knock on my door because he forgot the key to his apartment and had to use my bedroom window to get onto the firescape to get into his apartment). Mikey, after being on the periphery of juvenile gangs when he was a teenager, became a lawyer, then a judge in New York State Juvenile Court System. He is now the Executive Director and Founder of the New York Center for Juvenile Justice.

So there.

Growing up on the Lower East Side in the mid Twentieth Century cannot be described any better than Victor Colaio does in "Between Two Bridges." I highly recommend this book to all New Yorkers - no matter what age group. And if you come from other parts of the country, you can't help but enjoy this brilliant book too. If people not from New York City can flock to watch a ridiculous program like "Mob Wives," they should read a book that is true to life, not a stereotype of the worst possible people in the New York City area.

One more thing - if you don't buy "Between Two Bridges," I might have to send Pete the Lash to visit you.

And that can never be a very good thing.

You can view my Author website with all my fiction and non fiction writings at: http://josephbrunowriter.com/.

In addition, my my Joe Bruno on the Mob can be seen at: http://joebrunoonthemob.wordpress.com/

Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin: A Review

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Mrs. Kennedy and Me recounts Clint Hill's Secret Service assignment to protect Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy from November 1960 until Lyndon Johnson was elected in 1964. Written with dignity and respect, the book describes the challenges and rewards attached to guarding Mrs. Kennedy.

The detail about Mrs. Kennedy's daily activities and overseas trips is extensive. Photos of her public and private life abound. Mr. Hill and co-author Lisa McCubbin write of her indomitable spirit, her coy humor and her grace. Hill clearly adored the whole Kennedy family and guarded them with diligence. He generously chronicles his time with Mrs. Kennedy. She was an expert equestrian, which forced him to find creative ways to protect her while riding. At one point, she mischievously bummed a cigarette off him while they were in a car out of the public eye. A lover of ballet, she teased him about his reaction to a performance she thought particularly moving.

He describes her beautiful outfits for various state functions. Clothing was an important part of her image. American's adored her sense of style. She wanted to purchase some outfits while in Italy. Advising her against it, Hill found himself dispatched to women's boutiques with the former First Lady's shopping list.

A Secret Service agent must problem-solve in situations we can't fathom:

? Determining on the spot whether or not it was safe for Mrs. Kennedy to touch a baby elephant during a trip to India.
? Safely transporting a horse gifted to Mrs. Kennedy by Pakistani President Ayub back to the United States.
? Keeping Presidential moments private while maintaining adequate protection for the family.

Mrs. Kennedy valued her privacy and wanted her children to have a normal life. Much of her time was spent away from the White House. Although this meant Mr. Hill would see his wife and children less, he never complained. It was simply part of the job.

If you are looking for rumors and bits of scandal supposedly tied to the Kennedy Administration, look elsewhere. Wanting to bring a balance to salacious gossip about that time and negative stories of the Secret Service's response to the President's assassination, Mr. Hill breaks his fifty-year silence. The memoir is a positive and honest assessment of the joys and tests he met as an agent. The memoir overflows with respect for the Kennedy family. Hill writes eloquently about the depression and guilt he suffered because he felt he didn't move quickly enough to take the bullets that struck President Kennedy on that fateful day in November of 1963.

The author of this memoir is a consummate gentleman who humbly went about his duties. He was at that time, perhaps, Mrs. Kennedy's closest friend. In Mr. Hill's own words, "What started out as uncertainty for both Mrs. Kennedy and me, had turned into a comfortable and enjoyable working relationship based on mutual trust and respect."

Readers, you will be moved by this personal tribute to an unforgettable First Lady. I highly recommend Mrs. Kennedy and Me.

Article originally published by Holly Weiss on http://www.blogcritics.org/.

Holly Weiss is the author of a historical fiction novel, Crestmont, writer and reviewer of newly-released books. http://www.hollyweiss.com/.

Free reprint of article if entire bio is intact.

Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math - Book Review

If you were to have known before you started this book, that it was written by a genius, who was also a top-flight writer and mathematical theoretician -- albeit with a playful bent -- you probably would have left it right where it was, but still you would have had a playful mathematical "theoretician" doing the research.

Bellos does go over the great Euclidian discoveries and the math theory behind them. It makes sense that if you are going to pun on the name of the master, that you look at his work. Yes, this homage to the Greek mathematician makes it seem as if this will be one of those books you skim and leave on the coffee table to show that you are an intellectual. If that is as far as you get, then you are doing yourself and mathematics a great injustice.

There's far more to Bellos' mathematical journey, not only across mathematical space, than the title would indicate. It is a journey around the globe, following Bellos' journey, that takes you to some surprising places. Bellos can pull this off because he is a snappy writer with a surprising command of the language. Because of these abilities, he pulls you into math, using some real gems that include:

His theory that ants actually count the number of steps in trips to and from their colonies, an interesting construct that anthropromorphizes insects, giving them human-like qualities to them. How else can you explain ant behavior?

His side trip to the Amazon where he meets the only native tribe that uses a base-5 number and counting system because they can only understand numbers up to 5, yet their numbering system works at a highly sophisticated level. They use it to get as any being done anywhere else, which is quite a start to a person schooled in two theories (rote learning with the table cards and "the new math" and "set theory.")

His jump to the zen master of the theoretical math involved in oregami is priceless, as is his proof -- in a way -- that chaos theory is just about chaos and nothing more as he shows that in a chaotic system it is nearly impossible to introduce true randomness into iPod music list building. He theorizes, one cannot get to the absolute randomness as there are too many other distractions in the search for randomness, including the fact that many people like the same musical groups and will inevitably include their music on other music lists.

Bellos' book is so surprising that is also based on our prejudices about math. Just one example reinforces our prejudices. Of course, the teachings of the Buddha are surprising, quickly turning around our prejudices. This lasts until we meet the two New York "mathheads," who would rather build a supercomputer to use to write and argue about their "pi" mania, at a huge number of teraflops per second, rather than put their considerable talents to work on other, more important work.

Yes, Bellos' work is truly dense and takes an understanding -- and rereading of parts -- to make it all understandable, but Bellos, if you stick with him, is a witty, accurate writer who gets his educational point across. That, in itself, makes this a master work.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Book

"No Longer Silent" by Tammy Gagnon Is An Amazing Story of Self-Discovery and Triumph

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When I began reading No Longer Silent by Tammy Gagnon, I had no idea I'd be taken on such an intense journey through another's life. Albeit a bumpy and often uncomfortable ride, it was one I wanted to finish.

Ms. Gagnon writes as if she's right there talking to you, at a simple table, over coffee, without pretense or anything counterfeit. She's not trying to impress you or sell you anything; she sugarcoats nothing. With utter transparency and candidness, she walks you through a childhood and young adult life packed full of events so nightmarish, one might think it was all invented for a movie or a novel storyline. As I read, I almost felt like I was watching a film reel clattering by, complete with sound and sometimes even smell as her life whirled before me. And some of it, frankly, is not easy to read.

But it's not a horror story, nor is it a plea for pity. It's a narrative about people and the lives we live and the lives we touch. As with all of human behavior--what people do and how they treat each other--there is good and there is evil; there are noble intentions and there are wicked. There are Good Samaritans and there are those who victimize. We live in a world where people make choices based a lot of things, some at surface level, and some at levels so deep it can take years of digging and peeling layers to get to the root of it. Truly, the psychology of this story is gripping.

But the details of what happened to Tammy are merely ingredients in a much bigger picture. What her story is really about is self-discovery. It's also about hope and forgiveness and the freedom they bring. And this is what makes it worth trudging through some of the muck and mire events of her life. Yes, she was a victim, and yes that, in turn, had negative effects on certain people in her life. But absolute honesty with herself, a desire to love her family and to seek God, and a firm conviction to make right what wrongs she could, pulled her through.

If you're like me, you'll not be able to relate to a lot of her story, but you'll be glad she told it to you. In fact, I wish I'd read this in years prior. It would have given me a whole different perspective, not to mention empathy, for people I have seen over the years acting out in certain ways.

Read No Longer Silent, take this voyage. There are some dark and turbulent waters. But there is a port waiting on the other side refreshingly filled with faith, hope, and recovery.

Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, trainer and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.

Visit http://www.libatique.com/ or Contact Kelly at: Kelly.Libatique@gmail.com

The Imperial Cruise By James Bradley

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World War II holds a certain interest for me. I have to wonder if it is because I would be speaking a completely different language and my country would be a little red blip on the world map if events had turned out otherwise. Anyway whatever the reason I do read the occasional book on that era. This book is about the previous 100 years and the reasons why Japan bombed Pearl Harbour on that fateful morning of December 7th, 1941. Now after saying that you won't necessarily like the answers that this book holds.

Bradley is also the author of Flags of Our Fathers - the book about his father's role in raising the flag at Iwo Jima and how no one knew about his level of his involvement until after he had died. The humility of that generation coined the Greatest by Tom Brokaw is exemplified by his behaviour in the Pacific. Bradley probably was intrigued by the attack of the Japanese as that changed his family's history dramatically. He researches the presidencies of McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt and also the involvement of Taft and his work with Roosevelt out in Asia specifically with this subject in mind.

Just about everything I knew about Teddy Roosevelt was a fallacy. As a heads-up, this book was incredibly hard to read with respect to the way that many people were treated. Roosevelt wanted the world to view him in a certain way and never was photographed in some situations and always in others. He was the original media and public relations junkie. He often would have one conversation with a world leader but then relay a completely different notion to the American press.

In the summer of 1905 Roosevelt sent then Secretary of War William Howard Taft and his oldest daughter, Alice on a diplomatic mission across the Pacific. Alice was hugely popular as she lived a relatively wild life and the press and people of the US loved her. Alice was to keep the reporters and photographers busy while Taft met secretly with several leaders. Civilizing the Asian people was the idea of the trip for Roosevelt. These meetings would set up the groundwork for America's Pacific engagement but would come back to bite the people of the US less than 40 years later.

Bradley never gives his opinion throughout the book which is admirable. He just writes how history went down and who met with whom and why America was so interested in Asia and the Pacific. Personally I found the chapter on the opium wars very interesting with Queen Victoria being the most notorious 'dealer' along with some pretty heavy hitting names from American history. Worth your time especially if you are at all interested in world politics.

You can find more of my book and movie reviews at: http://ukchica.com/

Tuesdays With Morrie - My Thoughts

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AppId is over the quota

I just finished reading the book Tuesdays with Morrie and it is as inspiring as what people have said about it. I have read Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith as well, two years ago. And they are very inspiring, why? Because, for one, it's non-fiction which means it's true-to-life, obviously and it brings out more emotions to the readers because you feel like you have met the same people and you have been with the author in his journey and you have experienced it first hand though you are just sitting in your room reading. But that's what I like about it.

Okay, for those who do not know the story, here is the gist. In college, Morrie Schwartz was Mitch's psychology professor. But to him, he was more of a mentor and as the story progressed, they became almost like relatives. Often, Mitch calls him "coach" as Morrie had come to like it and so, he is called "player". After he graduates from college, he started to seek out a job. Many times he failed until the death of his uncle drove him to go back to school. Eventually, he got a master's degree in journalism and became a sports writer. He went from New York to Florida and finally landed on Detroit where he worked for the Detroit Free Press.

From there, his life started to turn around for the better. He quit renting and bought a house and a car. He married afterwards. All his life, he was chasing after his accomplishments which seemed to give him satisfaction and worth in his life. He thought he could control things when he was successful and so he tried. Up until one night when he hears his professor's name on the TV. Who is Morrie Schwartz? And it hit him.

That was the start of his turning a new leaf. His professor from then on showed him new perspectives and gave him advice on how to live life. By that time, Morrie was already terminally ill and has no more than a few years or even less to live. After realizing that his death was imminent, he started to live. He called everyone he knew, he started to share to people his story--he was simply making his life worth something not only to him but to others. His condition became known to many people and he started receiving letters from people all over.

Mitch got the opportunity to know his professor up-close. He was able to learn many things from him regarding relationships, life, death, marriage, values. He became like a child to Morrie. And the book became his 'final thesis' with his professor. Time came when Morrie was bed-ridden. Lifting his hand was already a heavy load for him to do. Through it all, Mitch was beside him, to help him. Usually they met on Tuesdays and every Tuesday, they would have a great time just talking to each other.

Morrie died peacefully as he always wanted. Nobody was there when he gasped his last breath but it was what he wished for--to have nobody hold on to the memory of knowing that you were there beside him, knowing that you were not able to do anything. He did not want anybody to feel pity for him or to feel guilty, he did not want anybody else to suffer. He just lived life as normally as possible even with the illness. And Mitch still felt the same way toward his professor when he was in college, and when he was almost going to die. Nothing changed except that he became even more cheerful that he got the chance to spend time with all the people before he died.

It is a really great story. For me, to be so engrossed in a book that I would not put it down says something about the book and the author. I read it in one sitting and every page of the book has something that can inspire you. You can feel the literature coming to life and you feel every bit as the author feels. And I believe, Mitch feels deeply for his professor. And I came to like him as well, and I realized more about my life than I have sitting in front of the computer. I have learned so much from this book and I bet everyone who has read it has been consumed and motivated by it.

Finding Your Road To Success by Patrick Daniel Is a Different Kind of Success Book

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IP is over the quota

Finding Your Road to Success by Patrick Daniel was a pleasure to read, and will be a pleasure to re-read. There are a gazillion books out there about "how to be a success," but Patrick Daniel's book stands out from the crowd.

First off, this really isn't a book about "success," not the way we in Western culture would normally define it. It's really a work about two things that allude so many in this rat race of life: happiness and satisfaction. Unfortunately, what we call success and what we call happiness very often don't go hand in hand.

Right away you don't feel like you're reading a book. Rather, you're sitting down with Patrick and having a one-on-one with him about life. He doesn't come across as some "success expert" with a bunch of finger-wagging, cocksure formulas or old clich?s. Instead, he simply starts telling you what he's done, how he's achieved his own success, and how you can as well if you follow some basic concepts.

Patrick is very transparent and talks openly about himself and his family, his goals, his dreams, and even his failures. He tells you how he's responded to all these things and how he's come out ahead as a result. He also shares his faith and why that is so important to him. He makes it clear that what he considers success, and ultimately his goal of "Ultimate Success," is not necessarily what you and I would choose. His formulas are more like conceptual templates where you, the reader, fill in the blanks.

And all along he backs his views and models with stories; some heart-warming, some serious, some funny, but all applicable. I think my favorite story was how thrilled Patrick was to finally achieve his long-term goal of throwing $500 in one shot at a slot machine and how satisfied he was even though he lost (you'll have to read the book to find out what that was all about).

This book is also packed with rich quotes worthy of noting from all kinds of sources, both unknown and famous individuals, as well as the Bible. These quotes, as well as some of the methods he's used to manage his life (like a budget sheet) are all reprised in one handy section at the end of the book.

All in all, this is a personal and touching work by someone who has achieved success in many ways, including learning to help others, budgeting money, living by ethical standards, cultivating friendships, and by always being a lifelong learner. Be prepared to read Finding Your Road to Success several times, taking notes and piecing together your own version of how you can find your Ultimate Success as well. There's way too many nuggets in this work to gather in just one or two shots.

Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, technical trainer, and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.

Visit http://www.libatique.com/ or Contact Kelly at: Kelly.Libatique@gmail.com

Courage Before Every Danger, Honor Before All Men

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IP is over the quota

Courage Before Every Danger is a documentary of the lives of the people who served in the 31st Bomb Squad (H). A reader will find the importance of the book within the "Foreword" section written by Norah Davenport Pratton. "When that old veteran faces the reality of the final days of his 90 years and has only one request - to hear the unfinished manuscript of Joanne Emerick's book - there is no doubting that manuscript's importance...Roy Davenport passed from this world into the next a few hours after the reading of this special manuscript. He was so satisfied with what Joanne had written - with the truth, the harsh reality, the beauty and all of those voices of his fellow warriors telling the stories that would now be passed down to the next generation and the next. 'Don't forget me,' he told us again and again. 'Don't forget me.'"

While family and friends may never forget those who served in the 31st Bomb Squad (H), others have never heard of them. Why is that?

This year is the 70th anniversary of the beginning of WWII for the United States. Three to four generations have joined those old veterans and with each new generation, WWII becomes less of a conversation around the dinner table. That is unless you are related to someone who served in the war or you are studying the war in school or as a history buff. Even then, the common veteran's name is unknown because not all could hold the high commanding jobs such as Eisenhower, Patton and Marshall. For the common veteran's name to become known it takes people like Emerick doing research - tracking down the veterans or their family and reading through thousands of documents, letters, diaries, etc. to find that special story.

Courage Before Every Danger is told in the veterans' own words. Twenty chapters tell stories of where the veterans were from, what they did before becoming a part of the 31st and what they did during the war. Most of the veterans became a close knit family during the war. After the war, some remained friends and others grew apart as they were reincorporated into their own families' lives.

It took Emerick eighteen years to complete this masterpiece. One of her most moving times was when she attended the funeral and burial service of William Wyatt Patton, Jr. On a mission to Munich, Germany, Patton, flying a P-51 Mustang, encountered fog and disappeared. On February 22, 2001, near Longueville, France, a farmer digging a ditch found some metal which turned out to be the P-51 Mustang and there in the cockpit was Junior Patton, wearing his flight jacket and dog tags. Fifty-six years later, on November 9, 2001, Patton made it home and to his final resting place in Springfield, Missouri.

There are other touchy, feel-good stories in this book: some may bring tears to the eyes of the reader. But, mostly, the stories will give you a glimpse into the lives of the 31st Bomb Squad (H) stationed in the Pacific islands during WWII.

The book itself is pleasant to look at and is easy to read. It has several pages of endnotes for those who want to do their own research, an index to help locate a certain name and/or place, acknowledgments, maps, photographs, poems, excerpts of diaries/journals, and direct quotes from the living veterans.

I would recommend this book to high school and college history classes, to all WWII history buffs, and to others who have that curiosity to dig into the past of other people.

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Award-winning and best-selling author Erik Larson pulls back the screen and exposes the world behind the glamor of 1933 Berlin with its beribboned, dashing young officers. Its seeming gaiety and the never-ending round of parties. This was the world into which the first Ambassador to Hitler's "Thousand Year Reich", William Dodd and family were thrust when he accepted the post.

Larsen is a skilled story-teller who has a rich body of material to work with. Indeed, it takes a craftsman to walk the fine line where his work remains true to the moment so that Dodd's unusual and sadly frustrating years as America's top diplomat to Hitler's Reich remains the centerpiece without slipping off as a sad sideshow to the life his family led as they were seduced, wined and dined by the country's ruling elite.

Dodd was just a college professor when he was tapped by then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt to become the top diplomat in Berlin. He brought his wife, son and daughter with him on this assignment. Martha becomes the chief protagonist in this piece as the flamboyant young woman is not only swept off her feet by the royal treatment she receives, but is swept into the arms of lovers such as Rudolph Diels, first head of Hitler's feared secret police, the Gestapo and then into the arms of others.

Larsen, using Dodd's accurate reporting, skillfully recounts the rising horror as he hears reports of Jews disappearing and of regular beatings in the streets. Dodd knew there was a "special program," as it was easy to see, aimed at Jews and he reported the facts to a State Department that seemed not care enough.

By now nearly every Dodd's cable to the State Department seems to be met with not much concern even as Hitler enacts the racist "Nuremberg Laws," where the degrees of "jewishness" are established with penalties attached. Larsen shows us Dodd's frustration mounting, also as the Reich leadership becomes more and more oppressive and erratic. Newspapers are censored; reporters and other disappear.

Larsen, whose gripping writing takes us through this dark period in history, builds his work like a composer builds a symphony as the intrigue, excitement and romance lead inexorably to the cataclysm called "Crystal Nacht," where Jewish shops are burned and ransacked, their owners beaten senseless by thugs with clubs and ax-handles, all in the name of the "pure" Reich.

Larsen's portraits of the bizarre behavior of Goering and the slimy Goebbels are spot on.

This work deserves a place on your reading list if you enjoy good history and it most certainly deserves a spot there if you like good writing and portraits painted as if by a painter. Larsen deserves high praise for his work. It was chosen for an Amazon Best Books Award.

Roberto Sedycias works as an IT consultant for ecommUS-Books

Good Leaders Lead Without Deceiving Their Followers or Themselves

Most of us can't stand it when we learned that a politician, our boss, or someone in an authoritative position has been lying to us. In fact, nothing boils our blood quicker. Over the years, I have been fairly hard on those who stand up at the podium and tell us they are better leaders, claiming we should vote for them due to their leadership skills. I often laugh and think that if someone has to tell us they are great leader, then obviously they haven't been showing us or leading by example in the first place.

Indeed, what is that famous quote when it comes to politicians; "how do you know when a politician is lying? Their lips are moving." It is a sad state of affairs that we have to think like this, but perhaps the reason we do is we've been led astray far too many times by those who call themselves leaders. Of course there is something worse than a leader deceiving all of us, and that would be a sociopath or psychopath that also deceives themselves.

Now then, along this line of thinking there is a very good book I'd like to recommend that you read. In fact, it is written in simple layman's terms that anyone can understand, and it is a book that I own in my personal library. The title of the book is;

"Leadership and Self Deception - Getting Out of the Box," by The Arbinger Institute, Berrett-Koehler Publishing, 2000, 181 pages, ISBN: 1-57675-094-9.

The book explains how people lock themselves and their mind in a box and fail to understand the people around them. It's almost as if they don't care, and that their job is to accomplish the task, mission, or objectives without regards to the people involved, or the team which is to make it all happen. This can get leaders into trouble. Often leaders believe they are better than everyone else when they are not, and even if they are, that doesn't give them any advantage treating people like crap.

Often the authoritative style leadership works good in the beginning, but it also creates yes-men, and people who do not give their full potential, or volunteer pertinent information, or their full experience and observations to the cause. In this case it is the leaders fault for using their own particular style without regards to the people involved.

Thus, I think you'd be wise to read the book, it's a quick read, not more than a day and a half, with plenty of time to think in between the chapters. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative eBook on Change Management. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net/

How I Killed Pluto by Mike Brown Book Review

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AppId is over the quota

If you are older than 15, you probably learned at school that the solar system includes 9 planets. This was not always the case. In ancient times there were only seven. Seven is a good number. It is a meaningful number as there are seven days in a week. Earth was the center of the world and did not count while the Sun and the Moon did. During and after the Copernican revolution the number changed quite often. Earth become a planet but the sun and moon were deleted from the list. Then came William Herschel and discovered Uranus, then came Adams, Leverrier and Galle predicting and finding Neptune. Meanwhile more large objects were found in what's now called "The Asteroids' belt" (Ceres, Palas, Juno, Vesta) and for some time they were also counted as planets and finally Clyde Tombaugh found Pluto in 1930 making a nice (but meaningless) number of 9 Planets. Then come Mike Brown and on his pursuit to find the tenth planet actually killed the ninth.

Mike Brown's story is detailed in his book "How I killed Pluto and why it had it coming". Well Pluto is not to blame for anything. It is just there, but Mike managed to write a story which is a great mix of: history, biography, science, philosophy and even a thriller. A thriller you might ask? Yes, chapter nine is written as a thriller and describes how private observational data was exposed on the Internet and might have been used by other researchers to get first credit for Mike's discovery (I can't resist to compare this case to James Watson and Francis Crick who used Rosalind Franklin's data without her knowing about it to get the breakthrough they needed in their DNA research). In this chapter you will also read Mike's philosophical thoughts about science, why and when some observations must be kept secret, and why others must not.

The story reaches its climax when the International Astronomical Union (IAU), in 2006, decided what is a planet (and thus deciding if Mike discovered new planets or the opposite, reduced the number of planets by removing Pluto), and although Mike had much more to gain as a planet discoverer, he strongly felt that Pluto should not be a planet. If you need someone to blame for Pluto's fate, Mike is a good choice, and occasionally he gets a number of complaints on this issue. However, even though Pluto is not a planet, it is still important, as the rest of the distant objects out there, since their existence requires new theories about the creation of the solar system itself and Mike relates to this subject throughout the book.

As you read, you will enjoy the story, as it goes from Mike's early childhood to that of his daughter, Lilah. You do not have to be an astronomer to enjoy the book (although it helps). However, as an amateur astronomer I liked the fact that Mike is also an observer. Mike isn't just a researcher, looking through telescopes (and the biggest ones - Keck and Hubble) and at thousands of pictures of the sky to find new planets (sorry, not planets but "dwarf planets"!). Throughout the book Mike shows us what it is to observe, he describes how much he loves to watch the moon and the planets. The book ends with Mike describing the conjunction of Venus Jupiter and the moon. It happens from time to time and I remember hosting a star party to share this experience with people from my community. Also, Mike gives a good explanation about naming the new objects he finds, and although the meaning of Haumea, Makemake, Eris and Sedna is known and written in many places, the reasoning behind giving these names is detailed in the book.

Read more astronomical articles at The Venus Transit site.

Book Review: A Spring Without Bees, by Michael Schacker

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IP is over the quota

In recent years honey bees have been dying off at an alarming rate. In the United States, bee keepers claim the increase in this annual die off rate to be 30 per cent. The phenomenon has been wide spread also in Europe, especially France, where research is most thorough into possible reasons why. For some reason or other, countries like Australia and New Zealand have not experienced this problem.

The strange disappearance of the bees has been labelled Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD (I know, another acronym to keep up with.) Bee colonies usually have some annual die off. Their numbers are typically killed off by disease and mites (the varroa mite, for example, which attaches itself to the abdomen of the bee and infects the bee with various diseases). Making the problem even more perilous for the bees is the fact that they have a low immunity, making them doubly vulnerable.

When bees die in this manner, they usually expire at the front of the hive, leaving a pile of bee corpses. With Colony Collapse Disorder, the result is different. Very few dead bodies are found at the front of the hive, and no adult bees are found within the hive. Unhatched broods are still found in the hives, and honey is still left behind. Adding to the strangeness of the scene, it takes weeks before predators like wax moths and hive beetles move in to start looting the abandoned honey. Typically these predators are quick to start eating the free honey. If these hungry predators were holding off, then this was a sure sign that something was wrong with the honey itself. The bees surely must have been sick.

Is Imidacloprid, Commonly Known as IMD, to Blame?

Enter the French beekeepers, who since 1994 have noticed that there has been a problem. After much science and research, the French started to point the finger at the insecticide IMD (imidacloprid), which is widely used in the US. Once the French called for a ban and restrictions on the use of IMD, they found that, after a few years (it takes time for the IMD to be flushed out of the ecosystem), the bees returned. Interestingly, Australia and New Zealand, the two countries that did not experience CCD, have stringent rules when it comes to the use of IMD. (Also of note, organic bees did not suffer CCD).

The studies found that even minuscule amounts of IMD (a few parts per billion), could disrupt the nervous system of the bees, making them unable to forage and basically think and act as bees should. Here is the Schacker on the subject:

"The French researchers got all the way down to less than one part per billion with their detector, and found that as little as a few parts per billion in the nectar or feed syrup could make the honey bee groggy, impairing the bee's short-term memory in smell and theoretically blocking normal foraging."

As mentioned above, IMD is used widely in the US, even extensively on suburban lawns and golf courses (the book cites alarming studies showing high cancer rates for golf course attendants).

Weaknesses in the Second Part of A Spring Without Bees

The second part of A Spring Without Bees turns into the usual call to arms, giving action plans and ways to help get rid of IMD on a personal level. Michael Schacker takes as certain that IMD is the culprit for Colony Collapse Disorder, yet the science on the subject, as described in the book, does not strike me as conclusive. This seems to be a major fault with the book: Schacker jumps too quickly to the conclusion that IMD is the culprit. While the research on IMD is certainly persuasive, it's not really conclusive. More work needs to be done.

Any argument against excessive use of chemicals and toxins in our environment is a no-brainer, yet this shouldn't be wound up with an argument stating that IMD is certainly the reason for Colony Collapse Disorder. We need to know the truth.

For the novice reader on all things bees, the book also could have been made more interesting by including a more detailed history of the bee and their ecological role. A Spring Without Bees offered lots of fascinating snippets of bee facts that could have happily been expanded upon.

As it stands, A Spring Without Bees works like a fascinating detective story that reaches its conclusions too soon.

A Spring Without Bees: How Colony Collapse Disorder Has Endangered Our Food Supply, by Michael Schacker. Foreword by Bill McKibben. Published by The Lyons Press. ISBN: 978-1-59921-432-0

Chris Saliba is a book reviewer from Melbourne, Australia.

More of his book reviews can be read at: http://chrissalibabookreviews.blogspot.com/

Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean - A Review

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IP is over the quota

Lee Duncan, a corporal in the trenches of World War I France, rescued a military German shepherd and her pups during an artillery attack. Duncan, an orphan, "immediately bonded" with a pup he named Rin Tin Tin. He knew somehow that the dog would become immortal. Ninety years later, the legacy of Rin Tin Tin is still alive in the hearts of Americans.

"He was born in 1918 and he never died." The dog that was to become a hero, an ideal, a companion and a caretaker also became a celebrity. Lee wrote a screenplay about the intimacy between a man and his dog, starring Rin Tin Tin. The dog became a favorite in Hollywood's silent movies. He rode a steeplechase horse, dove off a thirty-foot pier, and drove aquaplanes. His successors starred in movies though the years. A 1950s television show about the dog and an orphaned boy adopted by a cavalry troop during the Apache wars hit the charts. Rin Tin Tin IV starred. No matter what the format, Rinty bounded across the screen to save the day.

Although rescued in World War I, Rinty became the "spokesdog" for the United States Army in World War II. Seen as a symbol of bravery, intelligence and toughness, he encouraged many families to donate their pets to the military. His legacy would have died without the dedication of Lee Duncan, Herbert "Bert" Leonard, Daphne Herford and other owners of Rin Tin Tin descendants.

Much of the book details Lee Duncan's early years. His mother left him in an orphanage when he was six. He always felt alone and the only balm to his loneliness was his friend and companion, Rin Tin Tin. Never forgetting his early difficulties, an orphanage was always the first stop when Lee and Rinty did publicity tours.

Susan Orlean, author of New York Times bestseller, The Orchid Thief, says that her initial impetus to write Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend was her love of animals. She feels that Rin Tin Tin has character and because of that his fame has lasted through decades. Orlean spent ten years writing the book and researching in France, Texas and California. She scoured Duncan's records and interviewed people who owned Rinty dogs, obviously relishing the entire process. "I loved the unfurling narrative of Rin Tin Tin because it contained so many stories...as well as the pure, half-magical devotion an animal can have to a person."

The book is impeccably researched and full of details of Hollywood, television and American life. Lee's war experience, the rescue of Rin Tin Tin, and the parts he played in movies are the most compelling sections of the book. It was fascinating to read about the 16 million animals deployed in World War I as scouts, messengers, carriers of medical supplies, and sentries. The insertion of the author's personal reflections detracted from the more compelling story, but is a minor flaw in an otherwise extraordinary book.

The book releases September 27th in hardback, eBook and audio formats. Kudos to Marilyn Dantes who captured Rin Tin Tin's essence on the book's cover. The book's text is large enough for those who watched the 1950s TV show. The texture on the book jacket is a pleasure to feel. It is slightly sticky, but it is the story within that will stick with you long after you've finished the read.

Rin Tin Tin and his lineage, heroes through decades of history, are the stars of this story of canine courage and devotion.

Simon and Schuster graciously supplied the review copy for my unbiased opinion.

Article originally published by Holly Weiss on http://www.blogcritics.org/.

Holly Weiss is the author of a historical fiction novel, Crestmont, writer and reviewer of newly-released books. http://www.hollyweiss.com/.

Free reprint of article if entire bio is intact.

Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch

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IP is over the quota

Okay, I'll admit, I've read a number of novels where the hero enjoys sipping on a single malt scotch and I'm not entirely sure the differences, so I couldn't tell you if he was sipping on a good one or not. I also have friends who talk about various scotches and I can't contribute much to the conversations. Sure, I've enjoyed scotch now and then, and will again, but I really can't say I know that much.

However, that is where "Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch: A Connoisseur's Guide to the Single Malt Whiskies of Scotland" comes in. This fully revised sixth edition, updated by Dominic Roskrow, Gavin D. Smith, and William C. Meyers, and published by DK, covers just about anything you would want to know about malts. It's not a book to read cover to cover, unless you are really into scotch and enjoy reading reviews and tasting notes on over 1,000 malt whiskies, with vintages from 1926 onward, including reviews of over 500 new bottlings. I spotted it on the library shelf and had to pick it up and give it a read.

The book begins with a few pages on the late Michael Jackson of the whisky industry, not music fame. Then it proceeds with an instant guide to the pleasures of the pursuit of malts. Just a few pages, but it will help you understand why malts are so popular, and why many heroes in books and movies refer to these beverages. Next come chapters on the origins of malt whisky, the words used on the label, flavors, regional variations, the age, the wood, and finally the owners, distillers, and bottlers. These are all very short chapters, with photographs that take up the first 71 pages of the book. You can read these pretty easily and know more about malt whisky than most people. The rest of the book, which is nearly 450 pages long, is an A to Z directory of single malts.

In these pages, you can find information on just about any single malt you can think of. This expanded edition includes chapters on world whiskies, including malts from Ireland, Japan, and newer producers in Sweden and Australia. One of the first entries I turned to was the chapter on Laphroaig, a favorite brand of a few of my friends. Sure, I've shared toasts with it with those friends, but I now know a bit more about what I was drinking. So, if you have any questions regarding single malt whiskies, check out this book and you'll find your answers.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a writer, speaker, and mediator who teaches how to live, take action, and get things done through the Warrior's Edge. He is an expert on conflict and mediates and teaches conflict resolution and negotiation. Additionally, he teaches physical conflict skills in his Hapkido and Self-Defense courses, lectures, and seminars. Alain is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From The School Of Hard Knocks, the DVDs Hapkido Hoshinsul, Streetfighting Essentials, Hapkido Cane, the Lock On Joint Locking series, and numerous articles and reviews. You can read more articles and reviews and see clips of his DVDs as well as much more at http://www.burrese.com/ and http://www.yourwarriorsedge.com/

Book Review of "Journey of Dreams" by Joan Bridgeman

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AppId is over the quota

Journey of Dreams: 40 Years of Dream Keeping [Paperback]
by Joan Bridgeman
352 pages, $12.95
ISBN-13: 978-1456514761
Nonfiction

Since dreaming is a common occurrence for us all, one would think we would have discovered a purpose for dreaming by now. Sadly, no consensus exists to answer the question of "why" humans dream. Theories abound insinuating that dreams are necessary for our development and others maintain that dreams are merely the underpinnings of the dreamer's subconscious.

Into this fray comes Joan Bridgeman, who has written a captivating treatise covering forty years of her dream experiences. From the outset, it is impressive to note the tenacity required to type and catalog four decades worth of dreams - particularly in an era where the cataloging was done on a manual typewriter. Bridgeman gives the reader a very personal glimpse of her life and the ardor which surrounds single parenting, remarriage, and the tumultuous waters of career change. Perhaps the only real anchor for her during these years was the reality demonstrated by her dreams.

Bridgeman came to trust that her life is guided by spiritual beings who explain life's nuances in the dreamscape. Certain dreams are meant to foretell doom, unexpected change, or even unanticipated light at the end of the tunnel. These guides are in place to ensure the dreamer does not deviate from the master plan determined for her life. Such revelation encouraged the author to trust her instincts which had been corroborated by various disclosures in her dreams. If many of your dreams actually came true...would it make you more interested in writing them down?

Woven into this biological dissertation is an exposure to various paranormal concepts; such as, astral travel and OBE's (out-of-body experiences). Throughout history, various cultures have endorsed the idea that a separate "astral body" disconnects from the physical body during sleep and is free to travel along the astral plane. Whether or not the person who reads this book agrees with the mystical content portrayed - the experiences described are quite interesting. This well-written, rather unusual book is commended to the open-minded reader. Dream interpretation can be a very revealing endeavor.

Journey of Dreams presents a unique understanding of how life can change when one learns to trust one's dreams. As an accomplished thespian, musician, and teacher, Bridgeman's life proves the lyrics made famous by Carly Simon: It's your heart and soul's desire; It's the stuff that dreams are made of...

Review by Steven King, MBA, MEd

Because I Think, I Believe, by Donald R. Wilson Is an Engaging Read That Will Make You Think

IP is over the quota
IP is over the quota

Because I Think, I Believe, by Donald R. Wilson, is an enjoyable and engaging read for anyone interested in taking a philosophical deep-dive into the core principles of Christianity.

Challenging both skeptics and unbelievers, as well as those who have already made a commitment of faith, Mr. Wilson explores many aspects and perspectives of not just the Christian belief system, but the pursuit of God in general. He explores why the human race has so consistently sought after a higher power, and why so many differing religions have spawned from this innate desire.

Without sarcasm or insults, Mr. Wilson evenhandedly investigates the science that challenges the roots of Christianity. This is good timing, because never before has the voice of atheism (and religious beliefs that oppose Christianity) been louder. And yet, what are those voices based on? This book lays out a myriad of evidence and research that not only contests the "pre-molecular bedlam" theory of the origin of life, but also Darwin's flawed and failed theory of evolution. Wilson intricately shows how science, in fact, fully supports the Biblical account of creation in many ways.

Mr. Wilson touches on many scientific ideas that have become recently popular as science digs deeper. For example, his introduction to the code of DNA, the resulting information it produces and how there's not a chance any of this could have come from, well, chance, will leave you wanting to find out more. I personally have delved quite a bit into the subjects of DNA and Information Theory and can tell you that Mr. Wilson's research is thorough. His descriptions are comprehensive and intriguing and he leaves few stones unturned. He also throws in some great little items I did not know about. For example, the "left-handed" amino acids in life--wonderful stuff that makes any intelligent person think.

Read on for great discussions of the historical accuracy of the Bible, and how the prophesies of Christ (written over centuries by different authors in different places with no connection to each other) were fulfilled. This book also deep-dives into what it really means to be reconciled with Christ, and answers some of the hot questions of all time like, why does God allow suffering? And, how can a loving God create a place called Hell?

Mr. Wilson makes no pretenses about being some all-knowing scientist or world-renowned apologist. He simply writes this from both his heart and his well thought-out deliberations. He sums things up with a transparent and personal testimony of how he came to find God after looking at life in every way through his own weak and limited eyes. From this, he discovered an omniscient and omnipotent God who creating him uniquely for a purpose.

Read Because I Think, I Believe, and get ready to really think about why you believe what you do, or why you don't.

Kelly Libatique is a professional speaker, technical trainer, and author. He holds a Master's in Education and a Bachelor's in Psychology. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Anne and two sons.

Visit http://www.libatique.com/ or Contact Kelly at: Kelly.Libatique@gmail.com

Are You Finally Interested in Losing Weight? The Resolution That Will Work!

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

Lose It! The Personalize Weight Loss Revolution [Softcover]

by Charles Teague and Anahad O'Connor

206 pages, $21.99

ISBN-13: 978-1605290942

Nonfiction

In the era of the smart phone, it seems that new applications are released nearly every day. Some applications, such as Rovio's wildly popular Angry Birds, promise to steal countless hours of your life with very little offered in return. Slinging birds via slingshot into the skeletons of buildings is alluring to many-but will not do anything for you health. In 2008, Charles Teague sought to change that.

He released an iPhone application which would help people manage their weight. Hugely successful, the LoseIt application has been downloaded by over 6,000,000 people. Today, the Lose It platform can be downloaded for use on the iPhone, iPad, Android, or used online. If you own one of these devices, or have access to the World Wide Web, you have the ability to lose weight and keep it off for good. The Lose It solution works because it is based upon a time-honored principle: you must burn more calories than you ingest to actually lose weight. You enter the weight you want to weigh and you are provided with a calorie maximum for each day (and are even told when you'll reach your goal based upon your plan for losing weight.)

In the book Lose It! The Personalized Weight Loss Revolution, Charles Teague and Anahad O'Connor explain why the LoseIt application has been so successful. The LoseIt philosophy is based upon five pillars:
Embrace mindful empowermentTrack your caloriesTrack your habitsTrack your exercise as negative caloriesBenefit from peer support

The novelty of the program is the fourth pillar: Track your exercise as negative calories. When you use Lose It, you keep track of all calories ingested. The caveat is that any calories you burn while doing exercise are automatically deducted from your daily log as negative calories. It doesn't take the user long to figure out that losing calories from your log has a dual benefit: not only are you exercising-you're also able to ingest those negative calories and remain under your maximum for the day.

The Lose It! book helps dieters understand caloric intake and gives visual clues to help you understand how many calories you might be ingesting. For example, three ounces of cooked fish is about equal to the size of one's palm. Additionally, the book helps the novice by providing an exercise guide with plenty suggestions on how to burn more calories. Remember, calories burned can be eaten.

The most compelling chapter of the LoseIt book would have to be the one entitled, What's Your Type: Identify the habits that are holding you back. In this chapter, the authors illustrate why a one-size-fits-all diet will not work for everyone. In this chapter, this writer discovered he is the consummate weekender - logging calories fastidiously until the weekend, and then letting the logging go. LoseIt reminds you: a calorie is a calorie. Want to burn off a pound? Burn 3500 more calories than you've eaten and, yes, you will lose a pound.

Written in an easily read, narrative style, the Lose It! book is commended to anyone trying to lose weight. In the book, you will find the philosophy behind the LoseIt application; plenty of dietary information to help you; and a variety of personal testimonies of individuals who have lost over 100 pounds and have kept it off. If you like online forums, you will not be disappointed, either-there are numerous individuals who log on to LoseIt's virtual forums to discuss exercise strategy, swap recipes, and give each other motivation.

Slinging virtual birds into the meager structures to watch them cascade to the ground will not help you reach your fitness goals. LoseIt will: buy the book and download the program. After all what do you have to lose...

...except maybe the weight you've been wanting to lose all your life?

Review by Steven King, MBA, MEd