It's Friday night in Goshen and I have just a few minutes to myself before I take off the volunteer at Goshen's homeless shelter . I finished "The Good Book", (I windexed the cover and whenever I pick it up I feel its shiny smooth surface :) ) As soon as Julian, my seventeen year old son finishes it, there's a whole line up of my fellow employees at Care At Home Services where I work (who were with us Saturday night at the Brew) who want to read it. I loved your music, the lyrics, the stories . . . it's like i figure, stories and music bring people together and make them forget about their preoccupation with beliefs and ideologies; if original sin can be thought of as separateness, (an idea from Matthew Fox's book-"Original Blessing" that I kind of like,) then art, music, dance and storytelling, etc., etc., are what can save us. I haven't set aside my miseries with such abandonment since I rode the Tilt-a-whirl at the Elkhart County Fair as I did at the Brew Saturday night.

Keep looking for the rainbow. Love, Carolyn

Y'ALL isn't so much a band as it is a world unto istelf: eight years of making music in a relationship has inspired the pair to metamorphose into an impressive home industry with its own product line (calendars, pamphlets, hand-painted rhinestone T-shirts and six albums with a seventh on the way); vocabulary (with words like "bedazzled" for their rhinestone fashion); original holiday recipes; and most impressive, a good back story, which is lovingly chronicled in a 300-page hardcover autobiography they just published.

"The Good Book: the true story of Y'ALL," a Product of Mr. Byrd's hyperactive imagination and boundless energy, tells the half-true story of Y'all's wacky preacher relatives, their fated meeting during a thunderstorm and the lucky green dress given to them by an uncle who advised, "You can't never tell what might happen to you if folks have a reason to stare."

Well, they said they were going to do it. And, with their undying sense of pluck, the simple country boys of Y'ALL have finally told their tale in a hardback book. And what a gorgeous production it is, too. The members of this backwoods cabaret act have always aspired to mixing their simple hillbilly tastes with the utmost professionalism. Anyone who writes about performers in this town is swamped with self-published projects, and it's only natural that Y'ALL gets it right. Even the actual writing is fabulous.

They're living in Nashville now, but Y'ALL occasionally returns to remind us that New York City's best gay act of the 1990s was all about a simple love story. James Dean Jay Byrd and Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer wasted too much time here trying to get attention with their touching songs and funny stories. Frankly, they deserved all the acclaim that ended up going to Hedwig and the Angry Inch. They never had a chance here, though. They refused to be decadent, and they didn't know how to be victims.

That's what makes The Good Book such an inspirational read. These two lovers come from a country background that isn't nearly as fantastical as it seems. The fictionalized history is still based on the special backwoods indulgence of eccentricity. Jay gets his lucky green dress from his crossdressing uncle, and Steven's grandmother--who crochets hotpants on the side--explains to the struggling musician why he was never meant to take over the family farm.

It's really a shame that a book this wonderful was rejected by so many publishing companies. But then, publishing companies rely on victimization to sell books. They wouldn't know what to do with a simple saga about determinedly happy gay men celebrating their family and heritage. Fortunately, there's an untapped audience out there--both straight and gay--who would love getting a gift this simple and sentimental.

As a marketing consultant and author of several books for entrepreneurs and professionals, I expected this volume to be similar to many other marketing books. It's not. Not only is it focused on existing rather than new businesses, it concentrates on planning and strategy, which receive little attention in other books. Full of checklists, charts and truly helpful explanations, it will aid you in creating and tweaking a reasonable, effective and comprehensive marketing program that grows your business.

Jay Lipe's book is just what I needed to help me sort out the confusion I was feeling in putting together some new business campaigns. It is common sense marketing put into a very useful format. Looking at the book, I have marked 17 different pages for immediate action. For me, Chapter 14, "The Keys To Branding Your Company," was the most powerful. A must read for any business wanting to get their marketing house in order.

The Marketing Toolkit For Growing Business: Tips, Techniques And Tools To Improve Your Marketing by Jay B. Lipe (President of Emerge Marketing) is a step-by-step guided tour through the basic essentials of developing a successful marketing process regardless of the product or service being offered in local, regional, national, or international marketplace of commerce. Readers will learn what marketing is and is not; the most common marketing mistakes made by growing business and how to avoid them; how to quickly develop an effective marketing plan; how to efficiently implement a marketing plan; how to write promotional copy; how to measure the results of marketing efforts; as well as how to brand a company so that it will stand out and apart from any competitor. Enhanced with an extensive glossary of more than two hundred marketing terms, The Marketing Toolkit For Growing Business is ideal for the novice entrepreneur, and has much of value to offer even the more experienced businessman or businesswoman.

Finally, someone has put into print an accurate and factual picture of what the drug manufacturing industry does to place profits way ahead of patient benefit and safety. Anyone who takes prescription medications should read this book. Maybe it gets a little too technical in spots for people not in the health professions, but there is plenty of excellent information and suggestions to make this a very valuable reference for consumer-oriented patients.
I am a doctoral-level clinical pharmacist, and I found myself in agreement with most all of what Dr. Cohen has written and recommended in this book. This should be required reading for every practicing physician, medical student, pharmacist, and nurse in the country. Medical schools should add this to their curriculum for all of our doctors-to-be to read before they take their pharmacology course and start their clinical training.

A valuable theme disclosing inadequate testing by the drug companies and woeful evaluations by the FDA of prescription drugs. The main thesis is well-taken: lower doses of many drugs could minimize side-effects, including death. Actually does not go far enough in exposing all the major drug classes that do not increase lifespan at all!
Also available from Amazon: Prescription for Disaster by Thomas Moore and The Nutritional Cost of Prescription Drugs by Ross Pelton and James LaValle.

...I was intrigued by Dr. Cohen's basic premise. The drug industry tries to make drug dosing easy for doctors, but what about the patient? The one size fits all.. dosing is not consumer centric, and in the new age of the informed drug consumer it is about time consumers got their correct dose. Dr. Cohen is... pro-drug treatment for many conditions. He wants to have drug makers offer information and pill sizes for lower dose use. Why should a 250 pound man and 100 pound grandmother get the same starting dose. Yet that is what pharmaceutical companies do in their starting dose recommended. This leads to greater side effects and reduces the use of medicines, says Dr.Cohen. Well-written and easy to understanfd Dr. Cohen raises new opportunities for consumer centric companies interested in making drugs that can be used with less side effects. With poor patient retention and compliance by patients drug companies should be doing what they can to make drug treatment more palatable. Clearly, reducing the over dosing is one way to get greater compliance.

I was recently diagnosed with CHF & someone online recommended this book. I got it yesterday and I have read it. This book will become my companion. There is so much info here. If you feel like there is no hope buy this book and I am sure the quality of your life will encrease. Dr Silver is very knowledgeable on CHF. If all Drs. talked to their patients like Dr Silver does in this book we would all live healthier lives.

My husband was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure recently. Although we haven't had the book for very long, it has already made an impact! In addition to the great writing, it also has plenty of specific tips, treatments (even experimental ones), and even questions to ask your doctor. We'll probably even bring the book with us to his next appointment. While physical health is a focus, Dr. Silver also addresses the mental health of a patient and his/her family by discussing issues with anger and depression that sometimes follow a diagnosis of CHF.

I am a medical student at Loyola University and I also do research in Heart Failure. This fabulous book is consistent with everything else I know of Dr. Silver - it is both caring and extremely knowledgable. This book is a MUST HAVE for any patient or family dealing with a diagnosis of heart failure. It is writen in clear english and explains all aspects of this disease, its treatment and impacts on lives and families. "Success with Heart Failure" is not a "dumbed down" medical book. If anything it is "smartened up," with insights and practical information to go along with the often overwhelming vocabulary and litany of tests and treatment options. An enthusiastic two thumbs up!!

This book is packed with great information, is very well written, and has an easy to follow format. Tips are given that are easy to understand and implement by parents desirous of increasing the success of their children. The language is straightforward, the bullet points of ideas and shaded boxes of examples, create an inviting approach for the reader. Referencing information after the initial read is simple, which is a real plus for a hands on book like this. The ideas offered in each chapter are critical and can make a difference in the lives of children right away. As a professional speaker and mother of two small children I look forward to many years of using Jay's techniques! Thank you for sharing your wisdom in a practical format that will make an impact on the youth of today and tomorrow! Excellent work.

Jay has put together an insightful book that contains what you need to know and what you need to do to connect with our youth of today. This is an excellent book for adults without children as well as parents and teachers. Our world is heading in a better place and the future looks brighter because of books like this. Thank you Jay, and keep up the great work!

Author shows us how we can have more fun with our children, do it inexpensively, and build better relationships as a result of good parenting habits. Lots of resources and great ideas you can read in one night. Not only does the author tell you "How" to teach your children easier, but also "Why" kids do the things they do so it all makes sense. If every parent read this book, they would see that they don't need to go broke "buying" their children unnecessary toys, but that just spending valuable, quality time with them is the best gift of all. Great work!

This book is written for anyone concerned about an older parent, grandparent or other older adult who has a problem with alcohol or mood-altering medications. It is the only book I've found that covers this topic so completely and, not only does it explain the problem clearly, it offers practical steps to help the older person get the right kind of help and live out the rest of their golden years sober -- able to, once again, enjoy family, grandchildren and friends. Best insight: many of the things attributed to aging can be a result of addiction. With sobriety, many or all of the problems go away.

I have suffered from food addiction for many years. This book has helped me dig deep into myself to find out when my eating disorder began. If you suffer from an eating disorder or would like to better understand how an eating disorder affects the life of someone you care about, this book is definately worth purchasing.

This book gave me what I'd been searching for -- a guide to help my 67 year old mother who has a serious alcohol problem. She didn't remember conversations, slurred her words, had falls during the night, had bruises on her face and arms, ate poorly, isolated from us and her friends, and refused to see a doctor. I slowly watched my wonderful mother change before my eyes. I couldn't even trust her to babysit her grandchildren. This book not only gave me the information I needed, but helped get my reluctant brother and sister to finally agree to get our mother help. I give this book my wholehearted endorsement and recommend it to anyone worried about an older parent who has an alcohol problem. I haven't found any other book like it.

As Garfield states in the introduction, his analysis of the text is more from an analytical, Western philosophical perspective than from a "Buddhalogical" (his word) one. The result is authoritative, scholarly and a little dry. His presentation reminds me of David Brazier's presentation of the Abhidharma in his book "Zen Therapy: Transcending the Sorrows of the Human Mind." The experience of reading this book is very demanding, but also very satisfying. The benefits to be derived are probably directly proportional with the work one puts in to understanding it.

A more poetically compelling translation of the Mulamadhyamikakarika, along with a very thought-provoking introduction, is to be found in Stephen Batchelor's "Verses from the Center."

This book has been a treasure to those of us who had stared in consternation at K. Inada's translation or wrestled with the misprints in D. Kalupahana's edition. Here lucidity reigns. But there is something excessively dry and scholastic about Garfield's Nagarjuna. I think this is partly due to the fact that Garfield translates from the Tibetan, not the original Sanskrit. Compare his translation of Ch. 19, verse 1: "If the present and the future/Depend on the past,/Then the present and the future/Would have existed in the past", with Sprung's: "If what is arising here and now and what is not yet realized are dependent on what is past, what is arising here and now and what is not yet realized will be in past time" (which could be further improved by translating "atita" as "what has been"). So dry is Garfield's diction that his retention of a verse format seems pointless. The Gelug-pa Tibetan interpretation of Nagarjuna is a scholasticizing one, and loses some of the savor of emptiness and liberation which gives meditative point to Nagarjuna's laconic logic. Also, Garfield keeps referring to Hume and Wittgenstein in a way that further domesticates and scholasticizes Nagarjuna, making him a linguistic therapist who frees us from substantializations and reifications, but who also allows us to install ourselves comfortably in the conventional dependently co-arising world. It seems to me that in Buddhism this samsaric world is always painful, radically unsatisfactory, and that Nagarjuna is not just curing us of false theories about it, but is revealing it as radically self-contradictory even in its everyday pragmatic or conventional texture. To say that emptiness "is not a self-existent void standing behind a veil of illusion comprising conventional reality, but merely a characteristic of conventional reality" (p. 91) sounds very bland. Emptiness is not just any characteristic, but a radically subversive quality of our world, which it is by no means easy to realize. "The actuality of the entire phenomenal world, persons and all, is recovered within that emptiness" (p. 95) is again too bland. Only a Buddha can grasp the world in its ultimate emptiness and its conventional texture at once. The recovery of the conventional from the point of view of ultimate emptiness is not a comfortable restoration or even a disillusioned Humean resignation to conventions. It means realizing that the apparently solid world of experience is only a flimsy, provisional raft or skillful means, surpassed by the empty ultimacy which it can serve to indicate. "The eventual equation of the phenomenal world with emptiness, of samsara with nirvana, and of the conventional and the ultimate" (p. 101) is very, very eventual, so that only a Buddha can perceive it correctly. Asserted too early, too sweepingly, it can short-circuit the path to liberation.

The Mulamadhyamakakarika(MMK) by Nagarjuna is one of the most important scriptures within Mahayana Buddhism. It's the Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. Although other English translations exist already, Mr Garfield's rendition is the first that shows the Prasangika Madhyamika (Middle Way Consequence school) view on the MMK.

The MMK consists of 27 chapters which are examinations of fundamental theoretical elements in Buddhist ontology like Dependent origination, Impermanence, Perception, Aggregates (skandhas), Self, and relations between Substance and Attribute. The book is divided into two sections: 1. The translation of the 27 chapters, 2. The translation + commentaries.

It's noteworthy to mention that this book is based on the Tibetan dBu-ma rtsa-ba shes-rab, the Tibetan translation of the original Sanskrit work of MMK.

Garfield asserts in this book that Nagarjuna's goal was to refute the view of extremism of the Sarvastidas (All exists) and the other side of Nihilism (Nothing exists), proposing a Middle Way position. Pointing out the Two Truths of reality; Absolute Truth and Conventional Truth, Nagarjuna uses the Emptiness (shunyata) doctrine to show the reader upon examination that phenomena (both mental and physical) are empty of inherent-exitestence, but also that they are NOT non-existent (they exist within the Absolute Truth). Through these Examination one will obtain insight into the relativity of concepts and phenomena.

As a side note: Nagarjuna's goal is not to bring about a philosophical debate on metaphysical elements. Garfield points this out perfectly in the Introduction to the Commentary section of this book.

I have not read other renditions in English on the MMK, but so far this one is a very bright shining jewel in my extensive collection on Buddhism.

For further reading I would suggest Candrakirti's Prasannapada (Lucid Exposition of the Middle Way), which is a commentary on the MMK and it's best companion in my opinion.

Jay B. Barney has written an enduring, understandable user's guide to corporate strategy that is a must read for any business student. Barney helps would-be business leaders frame their strategic decision-making process. Barney first explains to his audience the concepts of strategy and performance, and their relevance to the corporate organization both internally and externally. Barney then explores the different strategies that the corporation can adopt in dealing with its competitive environment: Cost leadership, product differentiation, tacit collusion, and alliances. The author does a very good job in demonstrating to his readers that the four strategies are not mutually exclusive but occasionally complementary. Finally, Barney explores how a company can structure itself across markets over time. He successively addresses the issues of integration, diversification, mergers and acquisitions, and globalization. Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage has been one of the most influential business textbooks that I have ever been asked to read.

This is a great book - more for what it organises than what it adds as new ideas.

Barney sets a model for Competitive Advantage (VIRO) and them compares strategic models as potential sources. It places many of the modern attempts in perspective. Without this starting understanding, the modern gurus (Hamel) are almost impossible to apply as their ideas lack the perspective on the role of strategy within an organisation and within all of the other management tools.

It places Michael Porter within a framework where his work can be better used.

For managers and post graduates, this book sets out the fundamentals of strategy and where it can take you.

Not cheap (by a long way) but a fair price for the knowledge.

This is a very concise and interesting book on competitive and corporate strategies. It compiles all the main issues regarding studies on competitive advantage withouth losing focus on the specifics of each different kind of strategy.

I would recommend using the book only after a review of microeconomic concepts. This will allow graduate business students coming from other areas (like engineering) to grasp the strategy concepts more easily.

One suggestion: it would be nice if the authors included cases at the end of each chapter. Since the book presents the theory from a basic up to a more advanced level, this would let students to quickly fix the concepts by applying them in real world situations.

The crux of this book is that trance -- the method employed by shamans, mediums, and other mystics -- is the doorway to the fifth dimensional field of cosmic consciousness. He calls trance the "Rosetta stone" that unlocks the mysteries of existence.

Author Harper calls upon a wide variety to authors, including Alice Bailey, Jacob Boehme, Richard Bucke, Carlos Castaneda, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Albert Einstein, Stan Grof, Graham Hancock, Aldous Huxley, Carl Jung, Charles Lindbergh, John Mack, Raymond Moody, Michael Morse, Oliver Lodge, Kenneth Ring, Gary Schwartz, Ian Stevenson, Ken Wilber, and scores of others in piecing together the very complex puzzle of consciousness and the meaning of life. He adds in his own mysical experiences and observations. The picture that emerges will be an abstract one for most people, but there are many smaller images within the full picture that are easily discerned.

Dr. Harper concludes that the universe is a hologram -- one whole message. He sees our DNA molecule as the simplest form of a hologram. "Our DNA molecule serves as the monitor and the system clock of the cosmos tuned to the geomagnetic cycles of Gaia, our Sun, and Milky Way Galaxy," he explains. "This is what the shaman does in trance: taps into DNA transmissions."

Harper draws from quantum physics, anthropology, biology, the Bible, mythology, abnormal psychology, near-death experiences, astronomy, astrology, crop circle studies, alien abductions, Egyptology, Mayan Cosmology, seemingly every conceivable source that that lends itself to the mystery of consciousness and the meaning of life. It's an intriguing and fascinating read.

So many answers, so well documented. Well worth your time to read.

Before reading the book, I asked the question: did you ever wonder how ETs can get from there to here instantaneously with their very physical (in our terms) bodies and craft?

Here is my take on the answer to this question. In the common, current understanding of the universe by our species, time and distance seem important. But, the reality of the universe is that there is no time. It is only an illusion, a convenient mechanism we have invented to justify our perception of reality. All of our universe exists in the now and exist as manifestations of consciousness.

When we look out from Earth into the Universe, we see past events of space-time, events that have happened, which have resulted in apparently what, where, why, and who we are. But, we never see the instantaneous now. The future only exists as multiple probabilities until a consensus of consciousness is reached on the next instant of now.

Perhaps multiverses exist to fulfill all probabilities, but you and I in this consensual manifestation can only experience one flow of now that we call our time. However, we all can have the ability to travel instantaneously, not just mentally, as many of us have from one point in the universe to another, but physically as well. All locations of space-time in the now are really at the same "place." It is only an illusion that we think we must travel to some distant location at some velocity that is less than the speed of light.

As such, UFOs and ETs and their interaction with us are absolutely centered in my view of reality. It will be great when we can, as they, go anywhere we wish just by "wishing." That time appears to be coming upon us, but we must prove ourselves first and overcome our ego-centric universal view that keeps getting us in trouble.

Read this book. John's writing reveals the same answer to my question and so much more.

This is an important book and I was glad that I read it. It isn't one of those books where the author tries to sell you a new theory at great length.
The subject of the book is the reality of the spiritual component of the universe and its relationship to the physical world.
Functionally, this book is a literature review of modern books and theories ranging from physics to freemasons.
I liked the way he provided his references right there in the text and also URLs where there is a website, and I liked the honest way he presents the information and explains his thoughts.
Andy McCracken - Exodus 2006 website.

"Winning 'em Over" is a book with some strong positives and some moderate negatives. On the positive side, it describes a person-centered approach to persuasion writtten in an intellectual style, and with an eye towards the reader. Mr. Conger offers direction on the mindframe needed to relate to others on a human level, while dealing with the important and sometimes harsh business issues of money and power. On the negative side, Mr. Conger seemed to want the reader to like him and buy his book, instead of being solely focused on communicating his own solidly held beliefs and values on the subject at hand. Because of that lack of focus, Mr. Conger never outlined the individual maturity and experience needed before the reader should attempt to persuade others in an organizational setting. His book gives case studies of mature, well-developed managers, but is flawed in that it could reasonably lead less experienced readers to see this book as "tricks and techniques" instead of as a good book with a limited scope.

For a prelude to "Winning 'em Over", I suggest a short but powerful treatise titled "The Courageous Follower" by Ira Chaleff.

"One important aim of this book is to challenge your stereotypes of persuasion. We usually think of persuasion as something reserved for salespeople-certainly not for managers. What I am going to propose to you is that, quite to the contrary, persuasion skills have become absolutely essential to the job of managing-far more than we might imagine. Much of what a good manager does today is sell: sell their ideas to coworkers; sell their organizations on change; sell their bosses on new investments. But it's not traditional selling. A large part of what we do as effective managers is to find optimal solutions for problems through investigation, discussion, and debate. We then convince our organization to get behind them. It is in the convincing part that we face our greatest hurdless-getting buy-in. This is where the skills of constructive persuasion play a vital role. So leave behind your older notions of persuasion. It's time for a paradigm shift. Your effectiveness depends on it" (pp.14-15).

In this context, in Chapter 2, after listing wrong ideas about persuasion as following:

1. persuasion is simply mustering the best arguments for something;

2. persuasion almost always involves stating your position up front;

3. persuasion means being assertive-often very assertive; and

4. negotiating and deal making are at the heart of it.

Jay A. Conger writes that "These are some of the stereotypes people have about the act of convincing. There are several others. Together I call them the 'killer myths' of persuasion-'killer' because they can kill our ability to be effective and our motivation to become better persuaders."

Killer Myth 1- The most effective persuasion is the hard sell.

Killer Myth 2- Persuasion is a one-way process.

Killer Myth 3- Effective persuaders succeed on the first try.

Killer Myth 4- Good persuaders don't need to compromise.

Killer Myth 5- Great arguments are the secret to successful persuasion.

Killer Myth 6- Persuasion is pure manipulation.

As a result, he writes that "Now that we know what persuasion isn't, we may be wondering what constructive persuasion really is." Hence, he shows four distinct steps such as (i)building your credibility, (ii)finding the common ground, (iii)developing compelling positions and evidence, and (iv)connecting emotionally to becoming an effective persuader, and he discusses these steps/the four elements of effective persuasion throuhout the following four (3-6) chapters.

Highly recommended.

As an indication of how good this book is, I bought five copies when it came back in print. There are less than a dozen business books I have more than 2-3 copies of (Drucker is half of them.) It's that good.

As a leadership consultant who regularly has to assist Directors, Vice Presidents and above - many of them in technology-heavy companies - this is the book I used to recommend most often, and it breaks my heart it is out of print. It is good enough that I have contacted Mr. Conger directly. Here's what I've found: it speaks in language that most executives can understand, and with a litle bit of coaching this book provides a framework for them to see what they are doing and not doing when it comes to internal communications, relationships, and, yes, politics. I am no longer amazed at the lack of caolition-building and relationship development skills of executives, but I come across it constantly. As such, I often find that great ideas are NOT being implemented either do to a lack of understanding of, or blatant disregard for, the need to PERSUADE others of the viability and effectiveness of the recommended course of action.

If you're a bright executive who wonders why someone with less technical depth than you has gotten promoted in front of you, this book is a good place to start looking. Ask yourself whether you are as good interpersonally as you are technically.