In Search of the Light: The Adventures of a Parapsychologist

In Search of the Light: The Adventures of a Parapsychologist
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A very human journey into the supernatural

In Search Of the Light

This book changed my view of the world forever

One More Reason why Psi doesn't Fly

Fascinating, but suffers from being a "second edition"

In Search of the Light: The Adventures of a Parapsychologist
Susan Blackmore
Manufacturer: Prometheus Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Mysticism | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ESP | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Parapsychology | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1573920614

Customer Reviews:

A very human journey into the supernatural.......2005-09-07

Susan Blackmore provides us with a very personal and emotive recounting of her career as a scientist investigating the paranormal. She started out from a belief that ESP/psi is an important physical force that can be measured scientifically. This book explains how her rigorous approach took her through paranormal investigations and into the new science of consciousness. It is not a dry academic analysis of the evidence, so both believers and skeptics may be disappointed. It is, in fact, a very human story about what to do when your beliefs no longer match your experience, and the courage it takes to face up to that and more forward.

In Search Of the Light.......2005-01-02

Unlike other reviewers, I find her scientific technique distinctly flawed and lacking in any creative lateral analysis. The presentation of her book shows a deeply personal and emotive approach to the material that she is handling.

But what I found particularly disappointing in this book was the philosophically materialistic arguments which seemed to be exacerbated by her overwhelming inability to see the whole picture and by her being totally lost in the minutiae of the mundane. Some of her arguments reminded me of a story told concerning an early Soviet cosmonaut who proclaimed that he now knew for sure that there was no God because he had looked out the window of his spacecraft and had seen that there was no 'god' outside - only empty space.

There is no doubt, indeed as Dr Blackmore eloquently points out in the book, that much PSI research is flawed and unscientific but this, in itself, proves nothing except that the research methods need to re-evaluated. Many traditional medical practices and treatments in the past have been equally unscientific and arbitrary (e.g. electric shock therapy), that does not mean that certain diseases don't exist (as many have claimed hitherto regarding ME and depression) or that proper methods of diagnosis and treatment cannot be procured.

Certainly, stylistically the arguments are written well and Dr Blackmore has the ability to hold the reader's attention. However, the book is, in my opinion, as fatally flawed as are the PSI researchers whom Dr Blackmore so rigorously denounces in her book.

This book changed my view of the world forever.......2000-06-20

I have not read this second edition, but I read the first edition in college back in 1991 or so. It changed my outlook on psychic abilities completely. It's pretty engagingly written, and profound too. I'd heard so much about the existance of psychic abilities but had never seen any scientific studies of it. This book is not only a great introduction to psychic phenomena, but a great introduction to the power of the scientific method. This book may be part of the reason I'm a scientist today. Thanks, Susan!

One More Reason why Psi doesn't Fly.......2000-06-15

Blackmore's autobiography provides a great deal of insight into the motivations of psi researchers. Inspired by a drug induced OBE at Oxford, and encouraged by the occult interpretations given to such phenomenon by an earlier generation of parapsychologists and spiritualists, it becomes understandable that she began a search for the Holy Grail of psi, even earning a doctorate on the subject. Personal experience, however explicable by reference to the material world, still carries a strong emotive weight, engendering hopes for transcendent explanations. Despite a continuing stream of negative results, using a wide variety of methods, Blackmore continued for several years to research psi, until the dishonesty of some researchers, and the flaws in psi's definition caused her faith to erode. Thankfully, she takes with her an insider's understanding of the parapsychology movement that helps explain how a pseudo-science can perpetuate itself after a hundred or more years with undetectable progress.

Fascinating, but suffers from being a "second edition".......1998-09-23

This is an intriguing book, and I was impressed by the sincerity of the author. She began her academic career determined to scientifically prove the paranormal, but over time became disenchanted when her experiments repeatedly failed to find "psi", and she found flaws in the experimental methods used by researchers who reported success. The book was originally published in 1986 or so, and has been updated with a few chapters added to the end. The book is valuable because the author is not a traditional debunker. I get the feeling she thinks there is something valuable to be discovered in studying "altered states", but she believes they are a construct of your mind, and doesn't think that psi is involved in them. I would have greatly appreciated a chapter trying to summarize all her ideas--There are a number of intriguing thoughts scattered through the book.

Tree Book (Learning to Recognize of British Columbia)
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Tree Book (Learning to Recognize of British Columbia)
Coward Garth
Manufacturer: Forestry Canada
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000X1P1NM

Tree Book : Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
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Tree Book : Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
Roberta Parish
Manufacturer: Canadian Forest Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000I15CWM

Tree Book: Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
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Tree Book: Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
Garth Coward
Manufacturer: Forest Service Information Division
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000HICAS0

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Tree book: Learning to recognize trees of British Columbia
Garth Coward
Manufacturer: Forest Service Information Division, B. C. Ministry of Forests
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Plants | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
General | Botany | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006CWCIU

Tree Book: Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
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Tree Book: Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
The Province of British Columbia
Manufacturer: The Province of British Columbia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000PKSO1C

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Tree Book: Learning to Recognize Trees of British Columbia
robert; thomson, Sandra parish
Manufacturer: Canadian Forest Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000PQGVQ6

Book Description

If you're taking the kids to the Pine Tree State, this is the book for you. From Marginal Way to Perry's Tropical Nut House to Sunday River Ski Area, you'll find something to satisfy every whim! The book divides the state into 6 geographic regions, each with accommodations and eateries listed by city/town. Written by a parent, for parents, this opinionated, personal and easy-to-use guide has the best things to see and do to keep the kids busy and happy for an hour, a day, or a weekend-a guaranteed antidote to vacation boredom!

Customer Reviews:

A must read for families.......2000-07-10

Fun with the Family in Maine is a comprehensive guide for activities and fun destinations for kids. Our family has already used the guide several times on our excursions to Maine and all of the tips we took from the book have been a big hit with all 5 of our kids. It helps immensely that the author is a parent of young children and that she adds her own personal experiences with some of the destinations. This is a fun-filled and very well written travel book that I would highly recommend to anyone who plans a trip to Maine!!

Fun with the Family Maine, 5th: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids (Fun with the Family Series)

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A Must Have For Parents

Fun with the Family Maine, 5th: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids (Fun with the Family Series)
Bonnie Merrill
Manufacturer: Globe Pequot
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Family Travel | Specialty Travel | Travel | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0762743948

Book Description

Travelers to Maine will find fishing villages, centuries-old forts, museums, parks, shopping and more with this guide.

Customer Reviews:

A Must Have For Parents.......2007-09-01

This book outpaces many other day trip and travel guides in that it also recommends accommodations in each area, which is key when traveling with children.
The book is well designed inside and out and is destined to become a favorite in any household fond of piling in the car for adventures. Maine is a fabulous state to explore and this book is a terrific guide for anyone looking for a hike, a mountain, a lake, a place, a scenic drive and many activities of varying duration.

Book Description

The history of India’s struggle for independence has often focused on nationalist leaders such as Gandhi, Nehru and Jinnah. Women have appeared merely as wives, sisters or daughters. Yet women were present at all levels of the struggle: as followers of Gandhi’s great campaigns of civil Disobedience in the 1920s and 1930s; and as vigorous and outspoken campaigners for self-rule. Rozina Visram looks at the role of women in the struggle for independence from the British, as well as in their fight for equal rights and the vote. Largely through the eyes of Indian women, she examines their traditional role; their social and political awakening; and their active part in the political life of India and Pakistan before and since 1947. A chapter on rebel women also uncovers the terrorist activities of the determinated minority of women advocating revolution.

Book Description

A comprehensive collection of state-of-the-art techniques for generating transgenic plants that are resistant to plant viruses via the cloning and expression of the coat protein gene. Its unfailingly reproducible methods, perfected by hands-on masters, cover the entire process from virus isolation, RNA extraction, and cloning coat protein genes, to the introduction of the coat protein gene into the plant genome and the testing of transgenic plants for resistance. Methods for testing for transformation by PCR and Southern blotting, the detection of RNA transcripts by Northern blotting, and the production of protein by Western analysis are provided, as are methods for challenging the transgenic plants produced and for detecting and measuring the levels of virus.

Microwave study of chemical structures and reactions
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Microwave study of chemical structures and reactions
Peter Hedvig
Manufacturer: Iliffe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General & Reference | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
General | Physical & Theoretical | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0592012239

Microwave Study of Chemical Structures and Reactions.
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Microwave Study of Chemical Structures and Reactions.

Manufacturer: 0
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IBOOFI

Book Description

The search for the best possible performance is inherent in human nature. Individuals, enterprises and governments are seeking optimal, that is, the best possible, solutions for problems that they meet. Evidently, continuous optimization plays an increasingly significant role in everyday management and technical decisions in science, engineering and commerce.

The collection of 16 refereed papers in this book covers a diverse number of topics and provides a good picture of recent research in continuous optimization. The first part of the book presents substantive survey articles in a number of important topic areas of continuous optimization. Most of the papers in the second part present results on the theoretical aspects as well as numerical methods of continuous optimization. The papers in the third part are mainly concerned with applications of continuous optimization.

Hence, the book will be an additional valuable source of information to faculty, students, and researchers who use continuous optimization to model and solve problems.

Book Description

An Oxford Classical texts edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses has been planned for nearly a century, but earlier efforts by D. A. Slater and Franco Munari were not completed, largely because of the size and complexity of the manuscript tradition. Building on their work and that of many other scholars, R. J. Tarrant has produced a text with a broader manuscript foundation than any previous modern edition. The early fragments and oldest manuscripts have been freshly collated, and the twelfth-century manuscripts have been fully drawn on for the first time; as a result many potentially original readings that had been attributed to later manuscript sources or even to modern scholars can now be located in the mainstream of the medieval tradition. In establishing the text, Tarrant has been more generous than his immediate predecessors in adopting and recording scholarly conjectures, among them a number of emendations not previously published. In the matter of interpolated verses Tarrant has taken a more sceptical view of the transmitted text than editors of the last century; some of the lines he has bracketed had been suspected by earlier editors (especially Nicolaas Heinsius), but other proposed deletions are new. In the apparatus the editor has often noted that a rejected variant or conjecture offers a plausible alternative to the text printed, thereby calling attention to the many places where the original reading remains open to question. Offering a wealth of new information and ideas, this edition will be indispensable for all future study of Ovid's masterwork.

P. Ovidi Nasonis Metamorphoses (Oxford Classical Texts)

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P. Ovidi Nasonis Metamorphoses (Oxford Classical Texts)
R. J. Tarrant
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLD78W

Only Make Believe: My Life in Show Business
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Honest, interesting story

a great book

GREAT HOWARD KEEL!

A true hero of stage and screen

Don't Hate Doris Day, She's Great and Howard Keel Loved Her!

Only Make Believe: My Life in Show Business
Howard Keel
Manufacturer: Barricade Legends / Barricade Books Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Entertainment | Subjects | Books | Humor | Movies | Music | Performing Arts | Pop Culture | Puzzles & Games | Radio | Sheet Music & Scores | Television
Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson: The Pretty Boys and Dirty Deals of Henry Willson

ASIN: 1569802920

Book Description

This is the deliciously entertaining memoir by the coal miner's son who became an international star of stage, screen, and television. Keel speaks his mind about his many co-stars, including Judy Garland, Betty Hutton, Tammy Grimes and Katherine Greyson, to name a few.

Customer Reviews:

Honest, interesting story.......2007-08-23

Very honest! You can feel his mood when he wrote it, when you are reading. Strong language. A complex character, this Howard Keel. He comes across as a fine man, a good-natured down-to-earth man. A true gentleman. But he also has a temper! It was interesting read. I give it 4 stars. Not five, but it was good!

a great book.......2007-05-06

A wonderfully written book, I've been a Howard Keel fan for many years, and his book is great.It will make you smile,laugh and feel sadness as you read about his childhood and his entry into show business and how life was not always easy for him. A wonderful actor,with a beautiful voice,a truly great man and entertainer, a big loss to the entertainment world.I loved the book as well as Howard and urge people to read this book.

GREAT HOWARD KEEL!.......2007-03-12

This book is good and easy to read.
Nice memories about Howard Keel and his life for the
classic movies as well as for the modern TV series.

Thank you for an unusual perspective of this late actor.

Recommended!

A true hero of stage and screen.......2006-09-23

Not only is this book good, I couldn't put it down. He was so damned funny! Maybe it wasn't meant to be that way, but I laughed my butt of several times. He may have not been the best writer in the world, but he was original and honest. I could have done without all of the facts of everyone in every show, but I was so amused that it really didn't matter. Without a doubt, one of the greatest voices ever. I wish he'd have spent more time in discussing Doris Day. I always thought they were a cute couple. All in all, one of my favorite books. Maybe it is because I was in awe of his voice, or maybe it's because he didn't dance around the facts. It was a great read, and I highly recommend it.

Don't Hate Doris Day, She's Great and Howard Keel Loved Her!.......2006-09-07

"Betty Burk's" review is nothing more than a dig at Doris Day. "Calamity Jane" happens to be the BEST musical western in the history of film. The insane jealousy over Miss Day's unequaled success as a movie box office star, drove many close to residence in asylums.

Despite the success Miss Day enjoyed in the 50s and 60s as the top female box office star, she was hated by many. In contrast, her co-stars had nothing but praise for her, including the wonderful, Howard Keel, who felt that Day would have been a better choice for "Annie Get Your Gun."

Howard Keel had one of the BEST baritones in the history of film. The very SOUND of his voice was as unique as Doris Day's fabulous voice. Her's was commercial, however, garnering her many top ten popular hits. Like Julie Andrews, Mario Lanza, Jane Powell and Kathryn Grayson, Howard's voice was operatic and not cogent with the popular music sound.

I have read this book, mainly to see what he said about working with Doris and another favorite of mine, Jane Powell.

Book Description

While information regarding children and their outlook on the war is not abun-dant, James Marten, through extensive research, has uncovered essays, editorials, articles, poems, games, short stories and letters that tell the story of the Civil War through

Customer Reviews:

One Of A Kind Book About Children's Experience In Civil War!.......2004-04-02

This fine book shows how the Civil War was viewed through the young of all races, locales, and backgrounds. Mainly through magazines for children, you get a real feel for history at this terrible time. From children's letters from their dads at the front, visits to hospital, songs, battles (especially Gettysburg), homes and schools, this is a unique visit to the time. My favorite section related plays written and performed, including "Succession From Union Seminary" starring Columbia, Louis Anna, Mass, N York, Flora Da,Britannia, and all the rest. Definitely a keepsake that will remain fresh for years to come.

Lessons of War: The Civil War in Children's Magazines.: An article from: Journal of Southern History

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Lessons of War: The Civil War in Children's Magazines.: An article from: Journal of Southern History
Louise L. Stevenson
Manufacturer: Southern Historical Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008HDABG
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Southern History, published by Southern Historical Association on August 1, 2000. The length of the article is 552 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: Lessons of War: The Civil War in Children's Magazines.
Author: Louise L. Stevenson
Publication: Journal of Southern History (Refereed)
Date: August 1, 2000
Publisher: Southern Historical Association
Volume: 66 Issue: 3 Page: 651

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Amazon.com

Written by a pair of social scientists--Stephan Thernstrom is a professor of history at Harvard; his wife, Abigail, is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute--America in Black and White is a comprehensive look at how much life has changed (and remained the same) for black Americans. The authors conclude that, while much remains to be done, life has gotten measurably better for blacks since the civil rights movement. For example, only a quarter of black families live below the poverty line, as compared with more than three-quarters of black families in 1940; similarly, where 60 percent of working black women were domestics in 1940, today a majority are white-collar workers. In what will likely prove to be the most controversial of their conclusions, the authors argue that, while many problems remain, traditional civil rights remedies, such as affirmative action and racial preferences, will not solve those problems.

Book Description

In a book destined to become a classic, Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom present important new information about the positive changes that have been achieved and the measurable improvement in the lives of the majority of African-Americans. Supporting their conclusions with statistics on education, earnings, and housing, they argue that the perception of serious racial divisions in this country is outdated -- and dangerous.

Customer Reviews:

The Most Comprehensive Study of U.S. Race Relations.......2007-07-14

It's clear the Thernstroms set out to create a definitive work. Despite the claim that Americans struggle with discussions about race, they argue the opposite is true and it seems we can't stop talking about it. Race is the focus of our media, entertainment, political discussions, economic policy, education policy, etc. What they believe is missing is the `lack of analytical rigor' applied towards these issues. They believe the discussion has gotten muddled with dogma, clever rhetoric, and unproven assumptions, which has led to tremendous confusion and frustration. Exceptionally well researched and written with `analytical rigor', passion and sensitivity, the Thernstroms have produced a work that has cleared the fog on many racial issues ranging from housing, civil rights legislation, education, job discrimination, voting, crime, the black middle class, etc. This work is also highly qualified to stand the test of time.

Some may be put off by the authors right of center analysis. They question the merits of affirmative action, proportional representation, and the degree to which racism continues to hinder blacks. This work is less incendiary than Dinesh D'Souza's `The End of Racism' (which is still very good), however, this work is highly concentrated with statistics and hard data that are difficult to dismiss. They dispel many ideological shibboleths, which can be painful, but is also very encouraging. America has gone through extraordinary steps to move beyond the sins of its past. There is little doubt that the Thernstroms have a sincere interest in helping America move towards becoming a genuinely color-blind nation.

Good but not as good as "No Excuses".......2005-06-04

Because I had enjoyed "No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning" I read the Thernstrom's previous book. "America in Black and White" provides a well-researched historical, contemporary, albeit conservative perspective on black-white race relations in America. In "No Excuses" they held back their strong opinions at least while presenting the information. However, in this one I thought that the Thernstroms allowed their opinions to interfere with the presentation of the prodigious factual information at their disposal. However, I still recommend the book because the data presented is worth having.

Slightly to the right of center look at race relations.......2003-12-09

Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom's "America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible" charts a different course from many of the scholarly books written about racial relations in the United States today. The authors agree that the civil rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s was a resounding success, opening many doors to African-Americans as a result of the systematic dismantling of Jim Crow laws in the South. This book is necessary, claim the authors, because the ideas that originally drove the civil rights movement have since drifted into dangerous terrain. According to this book, Martin Luther King's message of one nation where all people will be judged by their individual merits and not skin color has become a land where blacks and whites are once again moving into separate camps based on race. The introduction of affirmative action programs and other racial social policies does not solve divisive problems but instead creates new racial barriers. Moreover, media and civil rights proponents today discuss black problems as though that segment of the population has made little progress. The authors insist that there are still nagging difficulties to overcome, but that a "lack of analytic rigor" leads to false perceptions about how far blacks have actually risen in society. Therefore, the authors rely heavily on statistical tables, charts, and polls to prove their arguments.

The first section of "America in Black and White" outlines the history of the odious conditions blacks faced in the American South and the resulting rise of the civil rights movement. The Thernstroms describe southern society in all of its squalor: the crushing poverty faced by both whites and blacks, the lackluster drive towards industrialization that kept many members of the population toiling in fields and small towns, pathetic levels of state spending on education for blacks, and the biases of the criminal justice system. Relying heavily on Gunnar Myrdal's groundbreaking study of race in America, the authors correctly detail the host of social structures aligned against the African-American population. For example, blacks rarely received decent treatment in the legal system because police departments run by whites often failed to protect the black citizenry from criminals. Moreover, the legal system in the South considered crimes committed against blacks secondary to outrages perpetrated against white members of society. Subsequent sections of the book take an in depth look at black progress in various social arenas from the 1970s onward, arenas such as education, politics, law, crime, and many others.

The absence of job opportunities, poor education, lack of protections in the courts, and segregation policies in the South led African-Americans to increasingly move north. The first migration came during World War I. A second, even larger migration occurred in the 1940s and 1950s. Blacks in the North did not have to deal with segregation, but did experience racism in housing and certain sectors of the job market. Better conditions in the northern states led to an increasing drive for an end to Jim Crow in the South. The authors argue that federal legislation destroying segregation in the 1960s also contained the seeds of future divisions. The Thernstroms see a sinister change of direction with the release of Daniel Patrick Moynihan's report on the black family in 1965. Moynihan's remedy for the problems faced by black citizens, echoed by Lyndon Johnson in a speech at Howard University the same year, moved beyond providing for equal opportunity to call for "equal results" as well. This argument indirectly endorsed the idea of affirmative action and social entitlement programs based specifically on race. For the authors, the problems inherent in this approach are clear: to formulate policy giving special treatment to one race is just as racist as passing laws subjugating specific races.

Perhaps the most interesting section of "America in Black and White," and probably the most controversial, concerns the authors' claims that African-American social advancement was greatest immediately before the rise of the civil rights movement. During the 1940s and 1950s, the authors write, blacks surged forward in nearly all areas of American society. This growth was far from perfect, but in the arenas of education, economics, politics, and sports blacks saw remarkable gains. Almost half of the African-Americans who lived in poverty moved out of that classification during this period. Education levels for blacks, while lagging behind whites, still grew significantly compared to earlier eras in American history. This period also saw the integration of professional baseball and basketball, opening up an entirely new aspect of society to black advancement. African-Americans showed signs of vigor at the polls, as a court case outlawing white southern primaries and greater movement to the North allowed more blacks to vote than ever before. Obviously, there were still many problems to overcome: black wages still lagged behind white levels, education was still a problem, and the South still practiced vigorous discrimination against its black population. But African-Americans did make progress, and this chapter effectively illustrates that modern day claims about the complete lack of black improvement before the civil rights movements of the 1960s are patently false.

The greatest problem with this analysis of black gains during the 1940s and 1950s is that it undercuts the need and influence of activism as a force for change. If African-Americans were achieving so much, why did the civil rights movement appear on the scene? It may well be a case of a segment of the population finding some success and quickly wanting more, thereby accelerating the growth and scope of that change. But the Thernstroms spend more time discussing the overarching factors-political, economic, and social-that contributed to two decades of growth instead of focusing on what everyday people were doing on a local level to bring about advancement. Following this argument to its logical conclusion makes a reader suspect that twenty years of gradual progress would have toppled Jim Crow laws without the assistance of any sort of social activism.

The moralists of the Right.......2003-09-09

This book renders a thoughtful and persuasive treatment of the facts of racial divisions in the United States. The problems encountered by the Thernstroms in propounding on this subject can be summed up in what one anti-reveiwer on this page has written in order to smear another reveiwer with whose opinion he apparently disagrees. To wit, the anti-reveiwer does nothing more than cite a case brought by the CFTC against the son of the targeted reveiwer whom he's attempting to marginalize, much as those who don't agree with the Thernstroms' attempt to marginalize them; and with the same type of faulty facts and sloppy research, just as in the instant case I cite.

It's unfortunate that the debate of such momentous and substantive issues, such as the racial problems addressed by the Thernstroms, cannot take place in more temperate tones. It would also be more helpful if reveiwers would focus on and respond to the facts presented in this book, on the merits, rather than opposing them because they affront the complainants belief system.

This book reflects some sobering and instructive work. Let's hope the more emotionally balanced among us can use it to further the goal of racial harmony rather than to continue being divisive.

A Comprehensive Analysis of American Race Relations..........2003-07-25

Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom's book is the most comprehensive survey of American race relations that I have ever read. The authors present important new information about the positive changes and improvements in the lives of African-Americans as a whole. They go on to argue, with tons of statistics to back them up, that the perception of serious racial divisions in our country are outdated, exaggerated, and dangerous. The reason for this, they show, is political: "it nurtures the mix of black anger and white shame and guilt that sustains the race-based social policies implemented since the late 1960s." Proponents of this status quo are afraid that calling attention, for example, to the rapidly-growing black middle class, "... would invite public complacency and undercut support for the affirmative action regime."

I was especially enthralled by the authors' analysis of the "War on Poverty" programs of the 1960's, particularly the expansion of welfare, and their horrifically negative effects on generations of black families since. Not only did the "War on Poverty" make things worse for the poor, but the expansion of welfare to include unwed women and children fostered a lifestyle of dependency and irresponsible behavior, and precipitated the downward trend in two-parent black families, that has left three generations of black Americans in dire straits ever since.

Liberals, especially black liberals, are terrified of books like this, and rightfully so. This book undercuts the blacks-as-perennial-victims/American-society-as-forever-racist rhetoric that keeps the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons, with support from the liberal media, in business. Along with the works of John McWhorter, Shelby Steele and Thomas Sowell, this books serves as a much-needed wake-up call on the issue of race; a cold dose of reality that no doubt makes most liberals cringe.

AMERICA IN BLACK AND WHITE; ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE, RACE IN MODERN AMERICA
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AMERICA IN BLACK AND WHITE; ONE NATION INDIVISIBLE, RACE IN MODERN AMERICA

Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster New York, NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000IAOFSA

Book Description

The United States is about to embark on the most thorough reconsideration of its ocean policy in more than three decades. With 1998 designated as the International Year of the Ocean by the United Nations, and with both the executive branch and the Congress currently working toward developing new approaches to formulating and implementing ocean policy, a comprehensive overview of key issues and concerns is essential.

The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy provides such an overview, with an in-depth analysis of the evolution of U.S. ocean policy and a timely discussion of the most important ocean and coastal issues facing the nation. The book assesses the current status of ocean policy, examines national and international trends, and considers choices for policymakers in the 21st century. Following an introductory chapter that reviews national ocean policy and the process by which it is made, the authors:

review the history of development of U.S. ocean and coastal policy
examine the major ocean laws enacted in the 1970s and review and assess their record of implementation
examine factors that will affect U.S. ocean policy in the coming decade
discuss the need to make policy more coherent, and to develop institutional mechanisms that can foster more effective guidance and oversight
present a set of policy options for improving U.S. ocean policy

The Future of U.S. Ocean Policy is the only recent book that focuses on national ocean policy in its entirety, and will play an important role in upcoming debates concerning the future direction of policy initiatives. Agency personnel, members and staff of nongovernmental organizations, industry groups, Congressional staffers, state and local government officials, academics, and concerned citizens will find the book an invaluable guide, as will students and faculty in courses in marine and coastal management and in environmental management.

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