The heart attack handbook: A commonsense guide to prevention, treatment, recovery, and staying well

Customer Reviews:

Very informative; easy for a mon-medical person to read........1999-03-24

I have been intimidated by medical books in the past, but this book was very easy to read and follow. The content was very informative, and will help me to lead a healthier, longer life.

The Heart Attack Handbook: A Commonsense Guide to Prevention, Treatment, Recovery, and Staying Well

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The Heart Attack Handbook: A Commonsense Guide to Prevention, Treatment, Recovery, and Staying Well
Joseph S. Alpert
Manufacturer: Little, Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTQFGA

Book Description

Some warriors are drawn to the thrill of combat and find it the defining moment of their lives. Others fall victim to fear, exhaustion, impaired reasoning, and despair. This was certainly true for twentieth-century American ground troops. Whether embracing or being demoralized by war, these men risked their lives for causes larger than themselves with no promise of safe return.

This book is the first to synthesize the wartime experiences of American combat soldiers, from the doughboys of World War I to the grunts of Vietnam. Focusing on both soldiers and marines, it draws on histories and memoirs, oral histories, psychological and sociological studies, and even fiction to show that their experiences remain fundamentally the same regardless of the enemy, terrain, training, or weaponry.

Peter Kindsvatter gets inside the minds of American soldiers to reveal what motivated them to serve and how they were turned into soldiers. He recreates the physical and emotional aspects of war to tell how fighting men dealt with danger and hardship, and he explores the roles of comradeship, leadership, and the sustaining beliefs in cause and country. He also illuminates soldiers' attitudes toward the enemy, toward the rear echelon, and toward the home front. And he tells why some broke down under fire while others excelled.

Here are the first tastes of battle, as when a green recruit reported that "for the first time I realized that the people over the ridge wanted to kill me," while another was befuddled by the unfamiliar sound of bullets whizzing overhead. Here are soldiers struggling to cope with war's stress by seeking solace from local women or simply smoking cigarettes. And here are tales of combat avoidance and fraggings not unique to Vietnam, of soldiers in Korea disgruntled over home-front indifference, and of the unique experiences of African American soldiers in the Jim Crow army.

By capturing the core "band of brothers" experience across several generations of warfare, Kindsvatter celebrates the American soldier while helping us to better understand war's lethal reality--and why soldiers persevere in the face of its horrors.

This book is part of the Modern War Studies series.

Customer Reviews:

Terrific Exploration of Combat's Effects On Individuals!.......2004-01-09

Wow! It isn't often that I actually feel a little shaken by virtue of what I have read, but if anything can conjure up for one an unforgettable yet eminently non-fictional picture of the modern battlefield in the post-WWII era, then this book by retired U. S. Army historian Peter Kindsvatter does so. What the author offer is literally a phenomenological exploration into the heart of darkness of modern combat, one into which young soldiers have been sucked into the vortex of the experience with wildly inaccurate and romanticized notions regarding their own fallacious expectations of the experience. As the dust jacket appropriately remarks, this is a journey into the hearts and minds of the average soldier, in Korea, Vietnam and since, and shows how popular "John Wayne" colorized fictions set our kids up for a fateful slam into the brick wall of a much more horrible reality. Thus, beginning with such unrealistic ideas of what to expect, Kindsvatter argues quite forcefully that such inaccurate conceptualizations aided the solders in creating what he refers to as a "fictionalized" set of images of war.

Therefore, despite the relatively intensive military training the young recruits received, the author contends nothing could succeed in disabusing them of these fallacious notions or completely prepare them for the horror of actual combat. The nature of that combat, with its extreme emotional stress, physical hardships, and bloodthirsty graphics, spawned a kind of emotional syndrome that the author argues progresses fairly predictably from initial shock and disbelief through a period of confusion toward a perpetual state of much more hyperawareness, a state in which their immediate performance becomes maximal while the effects on their long-term mental health becomes progressively more dangerous. Critical to the success of this progression of this 'pilgrim's progress' from disbelief through confusion and into a battle-weary hyper-vigilance was the camaraderie of their fellow soldiers, their belief systems, and each soldier's individual will to survive. Obviously, Kindsvatter observes, in situations such as Vietnam, where the belief systems came into serious question both within the ranks and in the culture back home, successful maintenance of this state of combat readiness was more and more imperiled.

What the author contends is that once such belief systems are destroyed, few things can repair or sustain them. For some, the excitement of battle turns them into "combat junkies", and it is these guys who may succeed in surviving only to find readjustment to civil society later is extremely hazardous. For the majority, it was integration into the unit and the friendships within it that sustained them, and allowed them to continue under some of the most extreme continuing conditions modern humans can experience. Yet eventually, for most soldiers the ability to function slowly eroded, to the point that many casualties occurred for "burned out" grunts who had more than enough savvy to protect themselves, but who has lost the kind of emotional edge they needed to continue. In these cases, many of them suffered emotional breakdowns and/or total physical exhaustion. This is an important book, and one that anyone with either a friend or relative in the military would do well to read. I hope it gains wider readership, as it is a serious, enlightened, and worthwhile entry into the field of military history. Enjoy!

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American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea and Vietnam.
Peter S. Kindsvatter
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M4V1DY

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American Soldiers: Ground Combat in the World Wars, Korea, and Vietnam (Modern War Studies)
Peter S. Kindsvatter
Manufacturer: University Press of Kansas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N66ZB4

Book Description

Discusses the Native Americans known as the Anasazi, who migrated to southwestern Colorado in the first century A.D.

Customer Reviews:

Nothing new here.......2000-04-10

This book is a quick, interesting read for a grade-school kid, but it's coverage of both the history of Mesa Verde and the Anasazi people who lived there is shallow and sheds little light on the subject. Few of the assertations in the book (for example, that the male members of the community built the cliff dwellings and that the kivas were used for ceremonial purposes) are backed up with any documentation or reasoning. The photos are just average in quality, and the reader finishes the book not knowing much more about the cliff dwellers than when she started. Even kids want more info than this!

Cliff Palace: The story of an ancient city

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Cliff Palace: The story of an ancient city
Don Watson
Manufacturer: Lithoprinted [by] Edwards Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007F0M1K

Ancient Civilizations of the Southwest Calendar 2002

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Ancient Civilizations of the Southwest Calendar 2002

Manufacturer: Tidemark Pr Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

Book Description

Climbing the heights of a mesa green with trees in 550A.D., hunter gatherers found a plateau rich in water, soil and wood. Their discovery led to the first permanent human occupation of the place that became a thriving village. By 1300A.D., however, the Anasazi people mysteriously abandoned their land leaving behind an exceptional architectural and cultural heritage. Ancient Civilizations of the Southwest celebrates that legacy and its preservation. Sales of the calendar benefit the Mesa Verde Museum Association, which supports the work of Mesa Verde National Park.

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Ancient cliff dwellers of Mesa Verde
Don Watson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Ancient Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde: A Story in Pictures

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Ancient Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde: A Story in Pictures
Don Watson
Manufacturer: Verde Museum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VFQ094

Product Description

This volume provides a history of the MESA program from its roots at the University of California, Berkeley, through expansion to many other institutions and school districts in several states, all aimed at nurturing science and math study by minority students.

Customer Reviews:

Good book for WWII history.......2007-08-30

of the Holocaust. The poems in this short biography are so inspiring. I read this as part of a unit study for the Holocaust and we enjoyed the message the author brought through her life experience and poems.

Survival of a little star.......2007-05-31

Inge Auerbacher was only three years old,in 1938, when the massive pogrom called Kristallnacht, or the Night of the Broken Glass took place.

At the age of seven she was sent to Terezin concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

In this incredible little book, Auerbacher tells of her experiences of being a little girl in Terezin concentration camp, one of the few young children who survived the death camps.

As she recounts:

"Of fifteen thousand children imprisoned in the Terezin concentration camps in Czechoslovakia, between 1941 and 1945, about one hundred survived. I am one of them. At least one and a half children were killed in the Nazi Holocaust. The reason most of these children died is that they were Jewish".

Auerbacher takes the horror of these years, and imparts a message of hope. She has created an account for young readers of her experiences, in a book filled with moving poetry and with the aid of haunting illustrations by Israel Bernbaum. There are also several photographs of her home town and of Inge as a child and her family life.

Auerbacher explains that the silent voices of the innocent children who died in the holocaust must be heard, and that is why felt compelled to trace the historical events that made this great evil possible and to tell her own story.

The author talks about her home town, Kippenheim, a village in southern Germany, where she was born in 1934.

She recounts the iddylic existance of her family and community in Kippenheim, until the horrific events of Kristallnacht.

She traces the roots of anti-Semitism for young readers, and summarizes the rise of Hitler, and the holocaust, before talking about her own story.

"We still feel the pain and we weep.

This nightmare will not let us sleep.

A page in history; one must learn.

Yesterday us, and tommorow your turn?"

She talks of her experiences of being forced to wear the yellow star at the age of six years old, the harsh circumstances of deportation, and the horrific conditions for children in Terezin in crowded and filthy cells infested with rats, mice, fleas and bedbugs, and of the other children who she befriended in the camp, such as Ada, a German Jewish child who longed to go to the Land of Israel, as did so many hundreds of thousands of Jews trapped in the Nazi inferno.

Ada taught her a song about the Holy Land, and promised Inge that they would soon go to there, "Just hold on a little longer" she used to say.

Ada's dream never came true-she died at the age of nine in Auschwitz.

Another friend was Ruth, a beautiful blond little girl of mixed Jewish and Gentile blood, who was brought up as a Christian, and who loved to draw. Ruth died in Terezin because her Jewish heritage, even though she never considered herself Jewish.

The final two chapters are about Inge's liberation from Auschwitz, and her hopes and afterthoughts:

She closes with a wonderful poem about the horrors and deaths and the hopes and dreams of those who survived and their descendants entitled NEVER AGAIN:

"Minds were dulled by bombs of hate,

Only the hero cared about our fate,

We saw the truth, it began to unfold,

You may kill the body but never the soul.

Here we are with honour and pride,

a new generation at our side,

the silent voices join us today,

Never, never again we hope and pray".

Child Survives the Holocaust.......2007-03-22

Inge is just a child living in a small village in Germany when Hitler rises to power. Like so many other Jewish families, her family did not escape from Germany soon enough to be safe. By the time they think to get out, it is too late. They are sent from place to place until they are finally deported to Terezin, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Conditions there are horrible, and people live in constant fear of being shipped off to Auschwitz, where the gas chambers are.

Because Inge's father is a disabled war veteran, shot in the shoulder in World War I while fighting for Germany, the family has special priveleges in Terezin. Inge is able to stay with her mother and father, instead of being separated. However, the family is still fighting for survival, just like every other family in the camp.

Miraculously, Inge and her parents survive the Holocaust in Terezin. They live to be liberated and to start a new life in the United States after the war. This is one of few stories about the Holocaust with a relatively happy ending.

I liked that there was so much history included in this story. It isn't only Inge's story, but the story of the Holocaust in general. She tells of Hitler's rise to power and the other things that were going on right before she was sent to the concentration camp. I didn't like the inclusion of the poetry in the book. I felt like it broke up the flow of the story, because it often was in the middle of a page where the narrative was.

I am a Star: Child of the Holocaust.......2007-03-21

This book is a neccesity if you would like to get background on the Holocaust while reading a young girl's journey through it.

deeply moving.......2004-05-27

"deeply moving and true...i cannot think of any book on this topic which i could recommend for this age group as i do this book." -Bruno Bettelheim

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I am a Star. Child of the Holocaust
Inge Auerbacher
Manufacturer: Prentice-Hall Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIEU9U

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I Am a Star: Child of the Holocaust

Manufacturer: Recorded Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: 0788726277

Product Description

Inge is a happy German girl when the nightmare begins. As Nazi's gain power her family is subjected to greater and greater horrors until finally they are forced to move to Terezin concentration camp.

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I Am a Star : Child of the Holocaust
Inge Auerbacher
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OIERNY

Book Description

The heart of this book is the remarkable Civil War diary of the author’s great-grandfather, William Benjamin Gould, an escaped slave who served in the United States Navy from 1862 until the end of the war. The diary vividly records Gould’s activity as part of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron off the coast of North Carolina and Virginia; his visits to New York and Boston; the pursuit to Nova Scotia of a hijacked Confederate cruiser; and service in European waters pursuing Confederate ships constructed in Great Britain and France.

Gould’s diary is one of only three known diaries of African American sailors in the Civil War. It is distinguished not only by its details and eloquent tone (often deliberately understated and sardonic), but also by its reflections on war, on race, on race relations in the Navy, and on what African Americans might expect after the war.

The book includes introductory chapters that establish the context of the diary narrative, an annotated version of the diary, a brief account of Gould’s life in Massachusetts after the war, and William B. Gould IV’s thoughts about the legacy of his great-grandfather and his own journey of discovery in learning about this remarkable man.

Customer Reviews:

Remarkable!.......2007-08-21

This scholarly study paints a portrait of an unsung patriot and black American patriarch. How many Americans escaped slavery, survived Civil War Naval duty and then raised sons who all fought in U.S. wars themselves?

The author, a Stanford law professor, is pretty accomplished himself: the first black man to head the National Labor Relations Board under President Clinton. Bill Gould has written a clear and sweet study of his great-grandfather. After taking in the panoramic sweep of this inspirational life, we are left to mull over the mystery of it. Who taught young William Gould to read and write well enough to produce a Civil War diary aboard a Union warship?

Diary of a Contraband: the Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History

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Diary of a Contraband: the Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor.(Book Review): An article from: Journal of Southern History
Matthew McKenzie
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B00082J5VU
Release Date: 2005-07-31

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 541 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Diary of a Contraband: the Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor.(Book Review)
Author: Matthew McKenzie
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 70 Issue: 2 Page: 446(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Politics for thinkers

The best counter-argument to the right's lies and myths

Seems Credible

Buy it!

I Was Disappointed

Big Lies: The Right-Wing Propaganda Machine and How It Distorts the Truth
Joe Conason
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Political Parties | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
U.S. | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Political Doctrines | Political Science | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-Conservative

The Republican Noise Machine : Right-Wing Media and How It Corrupts Democracy

WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA? THE TRUTH ABOUT BIAS AND THE NEWS.

The Raw Deal: How the Bush Republicans Plan to Destroy Social Security and the Legacy of the New Deal

The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton

ASIN: 0312315619

Amazon.com

Conservative talk show hosts and newspaper columnists have made an industry out of incessantly deriding the American left, citing liberals for everything from moral decay to bad economic policy to a soft approach on terrorism. Often these accusations are bound in book form and sell quite well. Only one problem, according to Salon.com and New York Observer writer Joe Conason: the charges they're leveling just aren't true. In Big Lies, Conason dissects 10 of the most persistent, and--according to him--glaringly incorrect, arguments made by conservatives. Each chapter begins with a quotation ("Liberals control the media and misuse their influence to promote left-wing politics," "Conservatives are the only true champions of free enterprise"), which is then picked apart using statistical evidence and detailed historical research and rejected. The modern right wing, in the opinion of Conason, is not the bastion of virtue and defender of the common man it claims to be. Rather, it is a calculating and shrewdly efficient group of propagandists fueled by revenues generated by a system that rewards cronyism. Granted, it doesn't take much to deflate the bombast of shrill political talk show hosts whose very living depends on making shocking accusations about public figures, a couple of raw facts usually does the trick, but Conason offers more than simple refutation, going deeper to challenge the presumptions that generate such platitudes. And he navigates a highly readable and informative writing style that feels more substantive than Molly Ivins and Al Franken but still a lot wittier than Noam Chomsky. Many of Conason's arguments, like those of his foes, naturally come down to matters of opinion, and published material can readily be found to back up nearly any perspective. Nonetheless, he presents clear and logical points, and his thinking is well supported by both the historical record and empirical data. Accusing Joe Conason of lies (of any size) would certainly be a difficult task. --John Moe

Book Description

In Big Lies, Joe Conason rips through the ten most damaging lies perpetrated by the right wing propaganda machine. This scathing, fact-filled analysis debunks it all: The myth that Republicans are fiscal geniuses and champions of free enterprise. The right's self-proclaimed monopoly on "family values." The conservative smearing of liberals as unpatriotic and anti-American. And of course, the "compassionate conservatism" of George W. Bush. (It depends on the meaning of "compassionate.")Big Lies confronts right-wing slander and bias with a long-awaited, badly-needed counterpunch to the deceptions that have plagued American politics for a generation.

Customer Reviews:

Politics for thinkers.......2007-03-22

While reading this book, I realized something. For the first time in years, I was proud to be a Democrat. I've never regretted my political choice, but it had been a long time since I felt this good about it. Joe Conason rebuts ten major conservative myths with solid facts and excellent writing. Some of you may have read my earlier review of "Conservative Comebacks to Liberal Lies" The format of "Big Lies" is similar to that, but this book does a much better job, going in-depth on each myth, why it's so prevalent, and why it's dead-wrong. Mr. Conason obviously did a lot of research for this book, providing twenty pages of references in support of his points. His research is the cause of my one complaint with the book, however, since he does make some statements without any supporting documents. This is a little annoying, since he obviously understands the importance of backing up his words with evidence.

This should be required reading for every Democrat in the country, and is highly recommended for thinking Republicans, too, even if you don't agree with most of what he says. A great read.

The best counter-argument to the right's lies and myths.......2006-06-20

I've read this book three times now; you'd think I'd have my own copy, and stop checking it out of the library!

I've you're a lefty and are tired of being beaten in arguments with Republican friends, this is the book for you. This is, in fact, the BEST book for you... much better than the vitriol of comedian Al Franken and the conspiracy talk of Michael Moore - two liberals who are easily dismissed by the right as being partisan lunatics. Joe Conason's counter-arguments to all the usual conservative arguments (which are shown to be lies and myths) are concise, but heavily supported by facts and relevant quotes. (Conason is at his best when he uses quotes from CONSERVATIVES to make his own point - as when he takes the words of Rush Limbaugh and two other conservatives to help prove there is no "liberal media bias.")

This book should be your liberal Bible. Read it, memorize as much of it as you can, and - the next time a Republican utters one of his ten favorite lies about liberals - quote from it. Nobody articulates the strengths of the left better than Conason - not even James Carville. I love this book.

Seems Credible.......2005-12-28

Conason sees the continuing schism between public opinion and conservative political actions and domination as an indictment of the way we conduct and finance elections. This is an important point and Conason may be correct, but he does little to substantiate the conclusion. He also states that demonizing liberals (and especially the label - eg. "limousine liberals," "Hollywood liberals," "the eastern establishment") is a conscious strategy of the Republican right, dating back to Joe McCarthy, and their version of class warfare.

Each chapter begins with a common assertion about how conservatives are superior to liberals in a specific area, which Conason then picks apart with reality research. Example: Republicans balance budgets and promote economic growth, liberals . . .. Obviously bogus, given Clinton's balancing an inherited budget deficit situation, and Bush's blowing that balanced budget situation to smithereens. (Bush also took Texas over the edge with tax cuts that have created deep deficits faced by his successor.)

Republicans are supposedly strong (vs. Democrats) on defense. Thus, it was particularly interesting to read the list of conservatives who had dodged military service or taken an easy out through the National Guard. Besides Bush II the list includes Dan Quayle (desk job in Indiana Guard), Pat Buchanan (bad knee), Newt Gingrich (student deferment), Dick Cheney ("other priorities"), and Trent Lott, Tom DeLay, Richard Armey, Karl Rove, John Ashcroft, Phil Gramm.

Evidence on the economic front was also offered to show that Republican pork (when they are in control) outstrips Democrat pork when they ran things. Then there was Reagan's "supply-side economics" tax cuts - characterized correctly by primary candidate Bush I as "voodoo economics."

As for "conservatives protect family values, liberals promote immorality and vice" - Conason provides a long list of Republican philanderers and gays.

"Free enterprise" becomes "crony capitalism" under Republicans, per Conason. Examples include government support for Ken Lay and Enron, and how others went out of their way to support, rescue, and establish Bush II during his earlier years.

Finally, we get to terrorism. Everyone has heard that conservatives are tough on terror, while liberal Democrats are soft. But what about Bush II trying to block investigations of 9/11 to prevent reoccurrence, Reagan's bungling in Lebanon, Bush I's reported bribing Iran to delay the hostage release until after U.S. elections, and warnings by French, Italian, CIA and Philippine authorities of terrorist plans to use commercial aircraft as guided missiles?

Conason's anecdotal evidence seems credible; on the other hand, there probably is just as much evidence pointed in the other direction. So who to believe? I don't have the answer - but I do wish political dialogue was fact-based rather than primarily childish name-calling.

Buy it!.......2005-12-21

Joe Conason claims that the right wing propaganda machine distorts the truth. He charges the right with being weak on fighting terrorism, soft on crime, weak on family values, the killers of free enterprise, and fiscally irresponsible. These issues have always been the republican claim to fame. This is when Conason proves that if you hear something often enough people take it as fact.

In a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle style of writing that will grip the reader, he provides examples of his charges that fall like hammer blows. It was Reagan who pulled out of Beirut, and traded arms for hostages (Iran/Contra), and lifted an embargo on Chile imposed by Jimmy Carter after Chilean agents killed an American in the streets of Wash. D.C. Under Bush we have record deficits. The republicans fought the Family Leave Act and Social Security Act tooth and nail. It was the republicans who cut programs that added police to our streets, and it was under republican deregulation that businesses have abused and cheated the citizen and taxpayer as the robber barons of old did.

Conason makes too many fascinating and factual observations to list here. Suffice it to say that this book is one you may always keep as a reference.

You don't give this one away.

I Was Disappointed.......2005-12-04

While I generally share Joe Consason's political sensibilities, and I am a fan of his column on (at?) Salon.com, I found this book to be a disappointment. Too often Mr. Conason seems utterly scandalized by minor transgressions on the part of Republicans/conservative pundits, or posits innuendo as fact. To be fair, at several points he does intelligently treat some genuinely egregious instances of mendacity, hypocrisy, and/or venality on the part of the American far-right over the last few years. Here his commentary is illuminating, and his conclusions are sound. Also, throughout the book, one never gets the sense that Mr. Conason is motivated by meanness or vindictiveness in any of his contentions. Yet ultimately the book can be characterized by (dare I say) what are at times partisan and dubious assertions.

(For a truly sober, superbly researched, and utterly convincing look at the ascendancy of the far-right, and what has been a well-financed (and highly successful) campaign of distortion, read Eric Alterman's superp "What Liberal Media.")

Big Lies - Right-wing Propaganda Machine And How It Distorts The Truth

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Big Lies - Right-wing Propaganda Machine And How It Distorts The Truth
Joe Conason
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NCO0H4

Book Description

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has been active in the United States officially since 1997, causing more than $45 million in damages to various entities. As the organization continues to grow and expand its range of targets, ELF has taken an extreme position against individuals, corporations, and governments that, in the organization's view, places monetary gain ahead of the natural environment. Rejecting state sanctioned means of legal protest, ELF uses economic sabotage to inflict financial suffering on those deemed objectionable.

In February 2002, the FBI listed the ELF as the largest and most active US-based terrorist group. Although no one has died in any of these operations, ELF's campaign against loggers, SUV dealerships, and others it considers threats to the planet have galvanized and polarized the environmental movement.

Former ELF spokesperson Rosebraugh charts the history and ideology of ELF and explores their tactics, successes, and limitations. He shows how ELFers offer an uncompromising vision of an earth under assault from the forces of greed and corporate violence, and how they employ direct action against those they deem a threat to the planet.

Rosebraugh also examines the issues of whether violence is or is not justifiable, and the short- and long-term political benefits and drawbacks of using violence. Finally, he offers a trenchant vision of the future of the environmental movement, radical politics, and US democracy under the so-called Patriot Act.

Whatever your view of direct action or violence, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet is essential reading for those trying to understand the mindset and motivations of contemporary radical environmentalists.

Customer Reviews:

What you won't learn on Fox TV News!.......2006-08-16

Author Craig Rosebraugh was spokesperson for the ELF from 1997 until a few days before 9/11 and recounts his experiences reporting on their activities while being continually harassed by the authorities. Branded as a terrorist organization, the ELF was the focus on several grand jury investigations and the author recounts his many adventures avoiding subpoenas and taking the fifth while under constant threat of prosecution. The extent of ELF activities during this time and since 9/11 surprised me, as we read little about them in the national press and we hear even less of their motives and aims. In addition to being a great read for anyone interested in learning more about the radical environmental movement, it raises some important social questions.

"Too much has been lost ...".......2005-09-24

After reading about the case of Jeff 'Free' Luers, sentenced to 22 years and 8 months in prison for torching 3 SUVs, I decided to research more about The Earth Liberation Front--also known as ELF--and found "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front" by Craig Rosebraugh. While Luers denies any connection with ELF, the severity of his sentence is a reflection of the increasingly stiff jail terms being handed out for sabotage events termed "eco-terrorism."

Author Craig Rosebraugh served as the media spokesperson for ELF from the first action in 1997 until his resignation in 2001. He charts his life as an activist, and during the first Iraqi war, Rosebraugh quickly found his social attitudes shifting and developing. He became a member of People for Animal Rights, but parted ways with this group when they refused to support the actions of ALF (Animal Liberation Front). Rosebraugh decided he "would philosophically support illegal activity such as civil disobedience and property destruction as long as it was nonviolent." Gradually, Rosebraugh shifted from his single focus on animal rights and embraced a broader based philosophy that addresses various social and political issues. As a founding member of the Liberation Collective, he was recognized as a prominent activist in the Portland area.

In 1997, Rosebraugh began to receive anonymous 'communiques' from individuals announcing various acts of sabotage conducted in the name of the Earth Liberation Front. ELF is an underground movement--composed of individual cells--with no hierarchy, no leadership, and no membership. The Earth Liberation Front basically embraces a radical philosophy that includes the idea that activists have tried 'normal' channels for social change in the environment (petitions, demonstrations, court, etc,) but since those legal channels have failed, and a state of emergency exists with the planet's entire future at risk, individuals take matters into their own hands with sabotage actions committed according to one's conscience. Targeting urban sprawl, animal experimentation, animal cruelty, genetically modified crops, and various instances of anti-environmental travesties (such as gas-guzzling behemoth vehicles, logging of old growth trees, and road building in previous unroaded areas) individual activists conduct acts of sabotage against the property of those they hold responsible for crimes against the environment.

Rosebraugh charts the acts committed in the name of ELF, brushes with law enforcement personnel, numerous encounters with the FBI, and a series of Grand Jury subpoenas. Copies of many of the anonymous ELF communiques are included in the book--along with the ELF guidelines for Direct Action. The book also details efforts of various politicians to crack down on ELF activity (particularly since 9/11), the introduction of the Juvenile Justice Bill, and the amendment of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) to include "Animal Enterprise Terrorism and Ecoterrorists." Since the underground group's first acknowledged action in 1997, approximately $100 million dollars of damage has been wreaked against those targeted by ELF as enemies of the environment, and the group is considered to be the "number one domestic terrorist threat" in the U.S.

"Burning Rage of a Dying Planet" is primarily an account of Rosebraugh's involvement with the ELF as a spokesperson, but it's also a remarkably well-written account of Rosebraugh's development as an activist and as a human being. The book is not a political rant, and while Rosebraugh makes no apologies for his strong political opinions, his complex beliefs are laid out lucidly, sincerely, and with striking humility. "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet" is a gripping read, and anyone interested in environmental issues or in the radical actions of ELF should find it extremely interesting. Frankly--and surprisingly--this is one of the best non-fiction books I've read this year--displacedhuman

A sharply worded yet highly literate manifesto.......2004-12-13

Written by a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front from its inception in 1997 to September 2001, Burning Rage Of A Dying Planet: Speaking For The Earth Liberation Front presents the viewpoint of an organization that uses economic sabotage to inflict financial losses on individuals, corporations and governments that, in the ELF's view, place monetary wealth ahead of the natural environment. In February 2002, the FBI declared the ELF to be the largest and most active US-based terrorist group, even though ELF's operations have never claimed a single human life. Burning Rage Of A Dying Planet describes the ELF's history and ideology, scrutinizes the the short and long-term benefits and drawbacks of using violence, and presents a vision of the future of the environmental movement - as well as an American democracy increasingly threatened by the so-called Patriot Act. A sharply worded yet highly literate manifesto, and a must-read for anyone seeking to better understand the ELF's point of view - whether out of sympathy for its goals or antipathy toward its means.

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