The ultimate proposition
593916
Angelica French is an author with many gifts - and almost as many hats. One aspect of writing and publishing is the ability to change names with changing genres of books and Angelica French does that with aplomb. This reviewer's first encounter with her writing was as Sharon Arthur Moore in her captivating culinary mystery thriller MISSSION IMPASTABLE (as fine a recipe book as a novel) and under that name she has successfully written not only culinary mysteries but also women's fiction, historical fiction and short stories. Under the moniker of River Glynn she has penned paranormal novels and stories. And now we meet Angelica French, the nom de plume for her very intensely sensual books of eroticism. She groups these as the `Sex Sells' series and if STREETWALKER is an indication of her affinity for this branch of writing, she is already on top of the situation! Though she has lived in many locations she is now happily at home in the Southwest, having transitioned from the life of an educator to a full time fiction writer.

STREETWALKER is so vitally written that the reader feels as though the author is intimately affiliated with this side of life; she is not, but she admits that her characters write themselves. Or as she so aptly put it in an interview, `The story of Carrie and Harlan came to me whole cloth. Out of nowhere. Suddenly, I had this 22-year-old prostitute commandeering the keyboard. I was just Carrie's fingers. This is one of two novels I've written where the main character took over the book and wrote the story. This sort of fugue experience is so cool-yet scary-that I look forward to having it happen again. The first draft of Streetwalker was completed in a bit more than a month. The edits, meh, not so quickly. When the hard work started, Carrie got scarce, and I had to do that on my own! Still, there was such a paranormal feel to the first-draft writing, that I wondered if there were a real Carrie behind it!'

The story of STREETWALKER is the tale of the sex industry - with a fine twist. Our heroine is Carrie, a prostitute who gives it all except her own physical and emotional connection, who rises from the lower class `houses of ill repute' to the classier format - on her own terms. French summarizes it best: `Carrie is my 24-year-old prostitute who works her way into a deal to partner with Harlan, the older male "madam" of a high-end brothel on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The fact that he's black doesn't bother her, but the way he works his way into her life does! Harlan is the sexiest man she's ever met, and he threatens her vow to never let a man get close. Carrie is vulnerable while trying to be tough, and Harlan just doesn't get ruffled about much. She's smart but doesn't think she is. She's curious and a voracious reader. Harlan's extensive vocabulary intrigues her, and she requests he define words he uses. Harlan is a fixer. He sees Carrie for who she truly is long before she's aware of it, and he sets about to ensure she attains her potential. Their sex is sizzling even as she fights her attraction to him. His dark demons cause him to withhold part of himself, too. While they have a HFN ending to book one, more misadventures await the two of them in the remaining books in the trilogy.'

Angelica French is a thoroughgoing pro - and having sampled two very satisfying aspects of her skills it is it is easy to see her becoming a very popular American author - whatever your palate. Better erotic writing would be difficult to find. Grady Harp, May 14
2886053
I came across this book while researching background for my own ideas in the same vein. The premise the author presents is both valid and already upon us. The style is clear and easy to read and the message can be understood by anyone of at least average intelligence.  The concept of the "lights in the tunnel" is a quite useful and original way of helping the reader conceptualize the problem. In fact the problem of the economy no longer creating the jobs necessary to support growing demand and prosperity is wider and more intractable than the author has outlined. Some of the proposed solutions might not be practical, but serve as "seed crystals" for further discussion and development. For sure, we are facing an unprecedented situation that current economic theory does not deal with, and we need to develop a whole new economics of no or at best very slow growth.
I have read the 1 star ratings for the book and find them either closed minded conservatism, (if you don't like it it's socialism), or "la la land" the future will always be like the past. For at least 3,000 years (since the start of the iron age) technology advances have driven economic growth and increasing prosperity, and new technologies have always created more and more rewarding jobs than they destroyed. There were always jobs enabled that required intelligence or dexterity that machines couldn't match. That situation is no longer true. Believing that it will still be true is like believeing that because a few months old child has never walked he/she will never walk.
If you have any real concern about what our future holds, this book is one of the must reads.
3691639
One of the most balanced and sophisticated evaluations of theistic arguments I have encountered. The author considers contemporary versions of arguments for the existence of God and demonstrates them to be deeply flawed. The author makes the case that the existence of the tri-omni God has empirically verifiable consequences and that taken together, absence of evidence for God's existence and evidence of God's absence render God's existence highly improbable. Everitt further demonstrates that many of God's traditional attributes (e.g., omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence, omnibenevolence) when considered in conjunction, show God's existence to be self-contradictory and hence that God's existence is not only improbable (given evidential considerations), but is impossible (given logical considerations).
Everitt sets up no straw men. He fairly presents what are generally considered to be among the best contemporary theistic arguments available and systematically dismantles them. Throughout he also considers possible theistic rebuttals to atheistic critiques and exposes their impotence. This well-written and carefully argued book is highly recommended to both theists, who wish to challenge their faith by the fire of reason and to non-believers, who will gain greater sophistication in their arguments for the non-existence of God.
3212720
There have literally been thousands of books written based on the idea that "thoughts are things". That is, your thoughts and feelings guide your actions and your actions ultimately create your world, everything you have and everything you become. But never will you read the complete story of how this "magic" works unless you read this 1937 version by Napoleon Hill.

The fact that 80 years ago, he talks about thoughts being vibrating waves of energy that "collapse into matter" is frankly astounding! This concept has not come into mass public awareness from the world of quantum physics until relatively recently. You become what you think, and Mr. Hill takes you step by step through the process, the way to think, so that you can accomplish anything you desire. With every page he reminds us that WE CREATE OUR OWN REALITY.

Do remember that this was written in 1937 when civil rights and equal opportunity for all Americans is still many years away. He does say however,  that things are changing, and that some day any boy will be able to grow up and be president. There is no mention of women except to say that they are the loving, driving force behind every successful man. Fun reading!

This book would make the best gift I can think of for any young child.  Once they learn that they can accomplish anything they can dream of, the world will open up for them.
833683
I really enjoyed reading this novel.  I found the possibility of tapping into Zero Point Energy and the role of a Supreme Being incredibly thought-provoking.  Just because I completed reading the book does not mean I will stop thinking about Quantum Physics and how mankind can leverage it more.  Doug, thanks for all of your insights in the book!
4765470
This is a wonderful read, with illuminating ideas that opened my mind to many possibilities. I strongly recommend the book.
1364622
WOW! I feel quilty that I just robbed the greatest idea bank in the world.  If you want one single book to fuel your own greatness this is the one.  This straight to the point book delivers hundreds of life changing thoughts and ideas. Just one is all it may take to transform your life forever. This book is a well spring of truth. buy it, read it, and share it with everyone you hold near and dear.
2926996
Charles Koch's core premise is universal and elemental, one that should prompt any reader to have a "V-8 moment," like the characters in the old television commercials. That premise is this: We know what makes an economy successful -- private property; the rule of law; individualism; risk and incentive; innovation; entrepreneurship; profit and loss; competition; and Schumpeter's "creative destruction." In other words, a market economy. Why shouldn't those very principles be the foundation of an organization's success? The challenge, as Koch puts it, is to "develop the mechanisms" that allow a firm (or any organization) "to harness the power of the market economy within the company."

Koch's book is more than a management guide. It's a refresher on the critical pillars of market economics. The reader is reminded of concepts he might have either forgotten or never learned -- opportunity costs, sunk costs, marginal utility, subjective value, comparative advantage, imperfect knowledge and numerous others. The author admits to being greatly influenced by some of the giants of economic scholarship, from F.A. Hayek and Joseph Schumpeter to Milton Friedman. He attributes the success of Koch Industries to the leadership's concerted effort to meld management principles with the principles of the market economy, and much of the book explains how that translated into real-world decisions, strategies and directions that built the company over the years.

Koch drives home that even in the for-profit business world, where markets exert a great deal of discipline, plenty of firms really still don't understand the power that market principles can have in their own operations. For instance, in looking at a private business, how many times have you noticed excessive bureaucracy, short-term thinking, ossified decision-making and reward structures that pay for tenure rather than entrepreneurship? How many times have you witnessed supervisors afraid to bestow real authority on those they supervise? And how many times have you observed a corporate culture beset from the top down with corner-cutting on both quality and integrity?

In most cases, what poor managers need is a reality check. If they don't comprehend the miraculous workings of a market economy, don't expect them to be diligently implementing its principles within their organization's operation. If they're managing as if they were Soviet central planners, they're probably reaping Soviet results.

Nonprofits sometimes behave more like unresponsive, unaccountable and nonentrepreneurial government outfits than they do for-profit firms. MBM can work well here, too, with the right leadership that knows how to implement the spirit (and not just the letter) of MBM principles. I'm proud to say that as I read Koch's book, I realized that my nonprofit organization, the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has succeeded in great measure because of MBM-like ideas, though that wasn't fully apparent to me until I read the book.

The answer to what ails poorly-led organizations is Koch's principles of "Market-Based Management," or MBM, spelled out in very readable fashion in this new book.

Koch knows what he's talking about. He is CEO of Koch Industries Inc., a star performer of a company that boasts $90 billion in annual sales and 80,000 employees. Since the late 1960s, Charles, his brother David and their business associates have taken the oil firm that Koch's father started more than half a century ago and fashioned it into a privately held global conglomerate. It produces more "stuff" than I could describe if I had your attention for an afternoon, including things you eat, walk on, drink from or put in your car -- oil, beef, carpet, asphalt, disposable cups and paper towels, to name a few.

[...]
1740561
Businesses frequently languish in the hands of leaders who choose to follow the beaten path of conventional wisdom. Mitchell and Coles provide the ultimate lesson in progressive thinking. "The Ultimate Competitive Advantage" will open your eyes to an unlimited world of business innovation and greater profitability simply by changing the way you think, and by keeping the development process rolling. Constant change is proving to be the new standard of modern business, and those who remain stagnant will not remain in the game for long!
3112200
What ever you think will come to fruition, so think good thoughts.  This is the main point written 10 times every page.  You only need a page or two to figure it out, not super enlightening.
4081435
I've ordered hundreds of books from Amazon, the vast majority on personal development, spirituality and success. I am fascinated with possibility and potential. How can we live our ultimate lives?

If I had to recommend one book, Unlocking Your Intuition would be the one. When you are able to understand, use and count on your intuition, you no longer need to rely on sources outside of yourself. You are connected to the ultimate guidance. Potential becomes possible.

What drew me to Andrea's book was her very grounded approach to material that can be very airy and literally hard to grasp. She takes you through a very straightforward, step-by-step process that is easy to understand and follow. She shows you how to get clear answers by using language that is direct and precise to ask your questions. It worked for me because it is practical, yet, I could still feel the magic of the universe at work.

Since implementing the material in this book, my life has opened up and daily, I experience more ease and flow. One of the most powerful aspects of the book is meeting your Spirit Guides, being able to call on them by name and knowing how they can be of help. I've had lots of fun and great results since learning how to unlock my intuition.
4104046
This book confirms everything that I believe but says it far more succinctly and elegantly than I ever could.
We learn that the quantum theory proponents may finally be gaining a foothold in the traditionally entrenched scientific community and their stubborn adherence to a material concept of physics (Newtonian). Dr. Lipton sees us as part of a whole (the metaphorical drops of water in the great cosmic ocean); we are a universal melting pot, (ie, the planet, the stars, the earth and all living creatures dependent upon it, are all made up of energy AND matter), and that this knowledge may ultimately save our planet and our species from extinction as we begin to move toward a more spiritual understanding of our place in the universal order.

In his discussion of Western medicine vs. Eastern energy healing, he rightly suggests that Western society has ignored the benefits of Eastern healing techniques to our detriment for centuries:  For thousands of years, he writes, . . . Asians have honored energy as the principal force contributing to health and well- being. (Lipton 108)

He talks about the dangerous and adverse effects of drugs and how belief can heal or harm, how fear and anxiety can kill. Most informative in this section is the discussion of parentinghow important parenting is -- even before birth.

Our universe and everything in it, Lipton say, is made up of energy  a fact that Einstein recognized but the medical profession has ignored until recently. Thus, in the quantum universe, knowledge flows holistically  rather than linearly, as in the Newtonian paradigm.  It is therefore incumbent upon us to learn to live in harmony with the natural order rather than to impose dominion over all living things.

We are in the midst of a mass extinction says Dr. Lipton, one in a series of six and created by greed for natural resources and material things as well as an early abandonment of spirit in our evolutionary history.  This loss of connectedness to spirit was caused, he says, by a desire of the scientific community to create distance from itself and the controlling factions of the early church.  If human kind acts to reverse our trend towards the earths destruction, we may avoid another planetary catastrophe.

I found the book an engaging and enlightening read. Four Stars -

Sue McGhee, author of When the Eagle Flies with the Condor.
437324
I think that the title appropriately describes Buddha's ultimate intention for us all. That is, that the path to enlightenment should be joyful, playful and relaxed.

The clear and detailed instructions in this book are a joy to practise. Gyatso has given Western Mahayana buddhists the closest thing to "Bible" with this extraordinary condensation of Buddha's 84,000 teachings.
3252402
This book's product description promised "a way to a thriving global community." Well, it most certainly delivered. From the author's incredible life story (read the Preface, you'll know what I mean) to the book's simple, yet profound thesis, everything in Univetica speaks directly to the humanity in all of us.

The understanding that greater challenges in the future require more effective solutions in the present sets the tone for Univetica's roadmap to a thriving global community. Ghafourifar presents his arguments clearly and succinctly while addressing some of life's greatest and most complex quandaries. The conversations about life, success, behavior, progress, happiness, love and hate is captured in small chapters that open up a world of thoughts and possibilities.

The author's systematic approach to asking questions, or more important, asking the right questions, about current global challenges (socio-economic, environmental, educational...) not only awakens the mind of the reader, but also reveals a hope for the future. Ghafourifar's vision is nothing short of revolutionary and holds real promise as a game-changer in the continual discussion of progress.

A wonderful, thoughtful read by any measure. 5-stars all the way.
4167307
The author makes a seemingly irrefutable argument in favour of the Authorized Version based upon novel propositions. The main one being Jesus, if he were to read from the scriptures today, would first be forced to locate them. Thus the works title.

The history behind ' fundamentalisms ' tactical retreat to the originals under the heat of textual criticism is most interesting. Prior to a meeting at Niagara Falls in 1878 belief in inspiration and perfect preservation was orthodox (e.g. the Westminster Confession).

The legacy continues today with the 1978 Chicago Statement on Inerrancy and most bible college doctrinal statements. All build houses made of two manuscripts (B and Aleph) on an invisible foundation of the non-existent autographs.

Much work on the AVs 75,000 changes, edition variances, also the pre-1611 question has been done. While thorough, the things that are different question in terms of a perfect presentation of the text could still be legitimately levelled at a Bible Believer, in which case an edition choice is the only ultimate answer. Not withstanding all are perfect in the sense of being the same translation.

The author brings a keen business mind that cuts to the bone of much scholarly obfuscation yet evenly deals with personalities. An excellent summary work on a crucial topic in todays bazaar of bible versions, one which will force a decision either way.
2598802
The discplined Pursuit of Less in an overloaded world. The author Greg McKeown lays out "the process of how to focus on what is essential," and apply all your energy towards the relentless pursuit of that intent.

Becoming an essentialist is key to creating space in one's life and creating space for fullfillment. Reading this book has made me rethink about what things I say yes to. A powerful read with the potential to change how you lead your life.

Eight  key ideas discussed in the book are

1. Explore options, eliminate quickly and execute flawlessly. Repeat cycle. Essentialists exercise the power of choice

2. An essentialist thinks almost everything is non essential. The trick is to distingvish the vital few from the trivial many.

3. FOCUS -Essentialists ask "what problem do I want to solve? What do I bet big on?" This is the study tradeoffs, risk and reward

4. CREATE SPACE - Essentialists create space to escape, and have this time to explore and choose focus

5. SEE CLEARLY - Essentialists learn how to see - discern signal from noise, and pay attention to what is not being said

6. PLAY - Essentialists see work as play, stress kills. Stress takes away choice and ability to explore. Shift  into the play mode to be successful

7. SELECT - Your response to life and things should be Hell Ya or NO! Say yes only to the top 10% of opportunities. Remember if it is not a Clear Yes, then it is a Clear No.

8. ESSENTIAL INTENT - Have clear essential Intent, and clearly know when your task is done. Design a routine that enshrines what is essential. The essential is the default position

Mahipal Lunia
www. TheRenaissancePath.com
www. RadicalChangeGroup.com
www. MountainViewAiki.com
1744860
The quest for immortality has been a persistent theme in human history. From the mythology of ancient Greece through the ages to the present we have sought limitless life. Stories of vampires, for instance, are in part predicated on the quest for eternal life. So is the story of Frankenstein. But Sidney Perkowitz, professor of physics at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, demonstrates in this important new book written for a general audience that the quest has taken the form of androids, robots, and cyborgs for millennia. For example, Talos of Greek myth was a bronze automaton created by Hephaestus. More recently, fiction has given us robots, cyborgs, and replicants that all demonstrated this quest for immortality. For the first time modern science has created the possibility that the bionic human might be possible in the twenty-first century.

After an introduction that suggests that androids are all around us, Perkowitz divides his study into two parts--"Artificial Beings: Meaning and History" and "How Far Along are We?"--and proceeds to discuss the evolution of the quest for eternal life and the possibilities that exist at the present. In the process he argues that humans have always been bionic from the point that they picked up the first stick and used it as a club to the ultimate merging of humans and machines in cyborgian symbiosis. We see this all the time with artificial body parts made for amputees or hip or knee or other replacements. We also see it with pacemakers and diabetic pumps and hearing aids and eyeglasses.

Perkowitz believes that this is just the beginning of the merging of human and machines and finds the possibilities for the future truly exciting. He does envision serious moral and ethical concerns that require concentrated and long-term consideration. He does not, however, envision any way of stopping this inexorable movement toward ever-greater symbiosis between living beings and technology.

The quest for a bionic person is well underway in laboratories around the world and Perkowitz takes us on a tour of some of the most inventive people and places, ranging from Rodney Brooks and Cynthia Breazeal at MIT to the Honda Corporation lab to the ROBODEX 2003 exposition where the latest ideas on robotics found expression. There is, in Perkowitz's thinking, a critical mass driving humanity toward a new and different level of life and consciousness. Science is exploiting fast developing knowledge of materials, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and molecular biology to move toward the creation of ever more complex machines that look and act like people. At the same time scientists are incorporating into humans more and more technology to enhance the quality and longevity of life.

As written on the dust jacket of "Digital People": "In short, we are going beyond what was once the stuff of books and films to create genuine bionic people with fully integrated artificial components--and it will not be long before we reach the ultimate goal of constructing a completely synthetic human-like being." Perkowitz asks, will this step lead to reinterpretations of the meaning of life and debase the human spirit? As text on the dustjacket indicates: "Certainly this God-like ability brings us face-to-face with a host of troubling spiritual, ethical, and legal dilemmas."

This is a stimulating book, one that educates and provokes and questions all at the same time. I highly recommend it.