The Courage of My Convictions

Book Description

THE COURAGE OF MY CONVICTIONS is a true story and an invaluable resource for anyone re-engineering their career, who is part of a dual career household, and who considers personal integrity and family their top priorities."

After graduating Texas Christian University, Peter Duffy takes a sales position with Procter & Gamble and quickly climbs the ladder.

Duffy meets and marries Barbara, a technology wiz, and moves to Pittsburgh to become the company's youngest district manager.

When the couple's first daughter arrives, Barbara is offered an exciting opportunity in New York and Duffy encourages the move resulting in disastrous consequences for his own career. This begins a five-year ordeal in which Duffy endures seven job changes.

The recession of the early nineties finds Duffy working in a delicatessen. The couple has two young daughters, no savings, and they're approaching bankruptcy.

One final, desperate attempt at a corporate job is a complete disaster when Duffy finds himself in a tangled mess, and is fired.

The Courage of My Convictions is ultimately a success story and an inspiration for anyone who has been fired or is part of a dual career household.

Download Description

After graduating Texas Christian University, Peter Duffy takes a sales position with Procter & Gamble and quickly climbs the ladder.

Duffy meets and marries Barbara, a technology wiz, and moves to Pittsburgh to become the company's youngest district manager.

The recession of the early nineties finds Duffy working in a delicatessen. The couple has two young daughters, no savings, and they're approaching bankruptcy.

One final, desperate attempt at a corporate job is a complete disaster when Duffy finds himself in a tangled mess, and is fired.

The Courage of My Convictions is ultimately a success story and an inspiration for anyone who has been fired or is part of a dual career household.

Customer Reviews:

Rodman's book is worse than his hair doo.......1998-08-07

Dennis Rodman gives us a jorney of his thoughts and what makes him tick. Rodman fails to mention the things we really want to know about, like his fling with Madonna and playing with Micheal Jordan.

Book Description

Implicit and explicit, Hollywood and European, these 100 films revolutionized the way cinema represented the pleasures of the flesh. Alluring photographs capture the physical heat, while a perceptive analysis examines every crucial aspect of cinematic eroticism. Some of the films, such as Double Indemnity, show sex as an irresistible, dangerous trap; others, including Tom Jones, wittily suggest desire through dialogue and visual metaphors. A number of works, from Ai No Corrida to the homoerotic Caravaggio, shocked, challenged, and disturbed. Also on display are the frank, uncompromising approach of European directors such as Bertolucci, Buñuel, and Almodovar; the darker side of on-screen sexuality including S/M (The Night Porter); and taboo subjects such as incest and necrophilia—implied in Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Vertigo.

Customer Reviews:

review for "!00 greatest sex scenes".......2005-08-07

this book gives a great overview for the non-film buff for it's subject matter. It focuses primaril on meaningful or metaphoric narratives exsisting within each film and it's relationship to sexuality, not the sex scene specifically.

Book Description

What could possibly account for the scope and longevity of the Star Trek phenomenon? With legions of impassioned fans and a life span of 30 years and counting, the Star Trek television and film corpus has made Gene Roddenberry's creation nothing less than an American mythology. Deep Space and Sacred Time examines for the first time in book-length form the many ways Star Trek has served as a mythic reference point for American society--and suggests that an understanding of this might help us to see ourselves more clearly as a culture. Moreover, this thoughtful and thought-provoking work posits that Star Trek offers its audience a sense of hope and, in the setting of an orderly cosmos, the possibility for empowerment. Written to appeal to thoughtful Star Trek viewers, as well as teachers and scholars, Deep Space and Sacred Time examines Trek's humanist creed, with its faith in the human capacity for compassion, growth and self-guidance. Roddenberry's optimistic vision stressed the tolerance of diversity, the central role of friendship and loyalty, an opposition to prejudice, and the rejection of organized religion and divine authority. Employing the framework of contemporary social analysis, authors Jon Wagner and Jan Lundeen reveal the evolving tension between Star Trek's liberalism and its subliminal messages of gender, race and class hegemony; yet they also take issue with the recent wave of critical scholarship that finds only homophobia, sexism, racism, and other "oppressive" forces dominating the Star Trek mythos. Citing hundreds of examples from the first eight Star Trek feature films and the four television series, the authors consider the ways in which Star Trek invites its audience to explore the nature of the self, the essence of humanity, the construction of gender, the possibility of utopia, and the role of narrative in shaping an intelligible cosmos.

Customer Reviews:

Now I finally understand what "post-modernism" means!.......2000-07-22

I decided to read this book mostly because of the title -- as a Trekker who is also Jewish, I was interested to see what these authors had to say about "sacred time," because, as Abraham Joshua Heschel said, we Jews live more in sacred time than in sacred places. So, any book with "sacred time" in the title is bound to catch my eye.

As it turned out, their definition of "sacred time" wasn't quite the same as the Jewish one, but I still enjoyed the book. It's an excellent analysis of Star Trek from an anthropology POV. Especially useful to me was the clear, concise explanation of what "traditional," "modernist," and "post-modernist" worldviews mean in terms of how various cultures view time and the future. I had heard TOS called "modernist" and DS9 called "post-modernist" before, but could never really get a grasp on what that meant, exactly. (What can I say? I'm in the over-50 generation and haven't always kept up on the latest buzzwords.) This book clearly explained all three POVs -- traditional, modern, and post-modern -- then put them into the context of various Trek episodes. Great job!

I also enjoyed the brilliant insight that Trek has, in effect, moved primal mythology from sharing a common story about the past, to sharing a common story about the future. In centuries gone by, each culture assumed its origins story to be the "real" story, and that was a uniting factor for each group. But today, with so many cultures colliding in an ever-shrinking world, we cannot assume that we all we share the same past heroes anymore. Instead, we look to the same future heroes on Star Trek for role models and inspiration. Whether or not Trek is the "real" future is beside the point here. It has become a mythology that people use on a global level (to greater or lesser degrees), regardless of the different creation stories that make up their individual cultures' past mythologies.

I liked the fact that this book intelligently questioned some of the politically-correct criticisms of Trek that have come out in recent years. While not accepting everything on Trek at face value, this book does point out that some PC critics have bordered on the ridiculous. The authors here strike a very good balance between entering into the spirit of the Trek universe, and critically examining some of the basic assumptions that Trek makes about what the future "should be." >I highly recommend "Deep Space and Sacred Time" to anyone seriously interested in the impact of Star Trek on our modern (or is that post-modern? ) culture.

An excellent analysis.......1999-03-25

Wagner and Lundeen have added an important book to the growing repository of "serious" literature concerning Star Trek. In a sense they take over where Harrison Taylor et al left off with "Enterprise Zones", and they are not slow to suggest within their own book criticisms of that earlier work. The chapter on religion was particularly enlightening, since for me it seemed to highlight the inconsistencies inherent in Star Trek's treatment of the subject. Less caustic than Taylor's volume, its apparent gentleness does not betoken an acceptance of all things Trek.

The book was very interesting........1998-11-12

This book was a great book because of how he include family life and the things about star trek. I would recomend this book to the star trek fans.

Deep Space and Sacred Time Star Trek in the American Mythos

Average customer rating:

Deep Space and Sacred Time Star Trek in the American Mythos
Jon and Jan Lundeen WAGNER
Manufacturer: Praeger Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

BradyGames' Mega Man X7 Official Strategy Guide features a complete walkthrough leading players through every hazard-filled area and boss battle. Comprehensive listings of Battle Chips, Program Advances and more! Character coverage and expert boss tactics. Game secrets and more!

This product is available for sale worldwide, excluding Japan and Asia.

Book Description

SolidWorks 2006 is a solid modeling program that goes beyond 3D capabilities. Since its initial release over a decade ago, it has transformed the way its users create, express, and document a design. But with so many functions to remember, it can be hard to design an image exactly the way you want it to look.

SolidWorks 2006 For Dummies shows you how easy it is to create precision 3D drawings and utilize its other functions. This straightforward, plain-English guide provides all you need to know to take advantage of SolidWorks 2006’s cool functions and controls. You’ll discover how to:

Create sound, robust 2D sketches
Examine design intent
Design and model a part and the virtual prototype
Design drawings using basic controls
Create drawings automatically
Edit your design’s visual properties, dimensions, and features
Maintain old drawing files
Print and plot your designs
Improve your project by working with others
Extend and reuse your design information

The bonus CD-ROM features product demonstrations that show you how to use key parts of the program, examples of various add-on products that can help you get the most from SolidWorks, and case studies that show how other companies in different industries work with SolidWorks. Packed with tips and tricks on becoming more proficient with this program, as well as resources for further referencing and inspiration, SolidWorks 2006 For Dummies is the ultimate guide that will get you familiar with the program and start building!

Customer Reviews:

A real success for the "Dummies" brand of books.......2007-07-28

This is a good task-based, issues-based overview of SolidWorks. Suitable for today's attention-deficit, info-overloaded, multi-tasked-maxed-out student or working stooge who wants to get a solid beginner's feel for this complex, cool 3D engineering tool--jus' the facts and not a heck of a lot of incomprehensible theorizing. (Of course a committed engineer will need to go somewhere else for the math & other CAD ideas). I'd venture a bold statement and say that this is THE starting point for people considering a career change to this field, and what I liked especially is that the book is pretty clear about being a starting point only. Near the end are the "Ten Tips" for new SW engineers; they make a lot of practical sense. I recommmend pairing this with another task-based product, a video tutorial by VTN, which is also good for the busy beginner who just needs to figure out how to become quickly productive with this tool. Learn SolidWorks by Video - Volume 1 and Learn SolidWorks by Video - Volume 2.

Excelent biginners book.......2007-04-08

I am still busy with the book but have already started enjoying it. As for Amazone the book arrived one day after their estemated day of delivery Very good

Waste of money.......2007-02-16

This book is written by the Solidworks Customer Satisfaction Manager.

He rehashes the same stuff as in the Solidworks Essentials manual that comes with the software.

I found it virtually useless.
I was seeking a different viewpoint in the hopes of gaining a better grasp of the many vague issues in the manual.

I paid [...] for an infomercial.......2007-02-05

I love the dummies series, so I was greatly dissapointed by this book. I needed a solidworks tutorial because I found the help files and "basic" tutorials that come with solidworks to be too advanced. When this book is not tooting its own horn on how great solidworks is, then it is way too technical for the beginner. I am a designer, not an engineer. I am hired for the look of a product, not for how it is molded. This book assumes too much. I had to look up chamfer and fillet on Wikipedia, as this books skips the basics and launches into a thou-shalt-sketch-like-this. (again, I am NOT AN ENGINEER) I understand that engineers out there would find this book too basic because it takes half the book outlining anal-retentive ways of structuring workload before launching into actually making anything. [...].

Solidworks for Dummies review........2007-01-11

This book works very well for those of us who do not make a living actually running Solidworks. Great for Managers or part time users.
Our Engineering Manager and two engineers have reviewed the book and they thought it was quite good.
Thanks
Regrads
Grant George

Learn SolidWorks By Video Vol 3 (Learn SolidWorks by Video, Volume 3)

Average customer rating:

Learn SolidWorks By Video Vol 3 (Learn SolidWorks by Video, Volume 3)
Video-Tutorials.Net
Manufacturer: Video-Tutorials.Net
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000VEQFPO

Product Description

This is the third volume in VTN's Learn SolidWorks by Video series. It covers Mold Design and Weldments, and includes 26 topics, for a total of 1 hour and 25 minutes.

Learn SolidWorks by Video - Vols 1-3 (Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 [3CD set])

Average customer rating:

Learn SolidWorks by Video - Vols 1-3 (Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 [3CD set])
Video_Tutorials.Net
Manufacturer: Video_Tutorials.Net
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000VEMRBA

Product Description

This is the best value and quality available; almost 11 hours of video CD-ROM instruction and 169 topics/chapters. This is a 3-CD set, including volume 1, 2 and 3 of VTN's Learn SolidWorks by Video series. For a complete detailed course contents, please see our website or contact us.

Average customer rating:
Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859
Joseph Frank
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
19th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Russian | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
Similar Items:

Dostoevsky: The Seeds of Revolt, 1821-1849

Dostoevsky: The Stir of Liberation, 1860-1865

Dostoevsky: The Miraculous Years, 1865-1871

Dostoevsky: The Mantle of the Prophet, 1871-1881

The Cambridge Companion to Dostoevskii (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

ASIN: 0691014221

Average customer rating:
DOSTOEVSKY THE YEARS OF ORDEAL 1850-1859
Joseph Frank
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000RAWG5A

Average customer rating:
Dostoevsky: The Years of Ordeal, 1850-1859

Manufacturer: Princeton University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HJJWHQ

Average customer rating:

Fun and user friendly

Pretty informative...

A wonderful introduction to Jewish history

Reasonably Good

Real Life spoiler

The Story of the Jews : A 4,000-Year Adventure
Stan Mack
Manufacturer: Jewish Lights Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
History of Religion | Judaism | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Jews in America: A Cartoon History

Tough Questions Jews Ask: A Young Adult's Guide to Building a Jewish Life

The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey: A Graphic Novel of Jewish Wisdom And Wit in the Wild West

The JGirl's Guide: The Young Jewish Woman's Handbook For Coming Of Age

The Hebrew Kid and the Apache Maiden

ASIN: 1580231551

Amazon.com

For every Talmudic scholar there are 10 well-intended souls who can't scan a page of Genesis without snoring. But thanks to Stan Mack, the history of the Jews is accessible to anyone who's ever succeeded in reading the comics. With humor, biblical quotes, cartoon sketches, historical accuracy, and an irreverent tone, Mack sums up 4,000 years of Jewish history in a fast-paced, delightful narrative. So a few incidents and details get lost along the way--more important is that what's included actually gets read, because Mack's style and drawings are so beguiling. From Abraham's covenant with God and the introduction of monotheism (a Jewish soldier instructs a Canaanite at sword point, saying "Y'see, our God isn't really fighting your God because our God is your God and your God isn't really a God because...") to today's diverse denominations ("My synagogue is unaffiliated. Our members have an equal say, are nonideological, and have low dues"), Mack's quips and sketches cover a lot of ground, from the Exodus, Romans, Christians and Moslems, onward. He sashays through ghettos and shtetls, illustrates Europe's anti-Semitism and Zionist fever, breezes through immigration to the U.S., WWII, and the establishment of Israel, ending with Jewish culture in the late 20th century. Backed by an index (which makes this a reference instead of a comic book) and a savvy political cartoonist's eye for irony, Mack's book emanates a fondness for his subject. And he tells a good story. --Stephanie Gold

Book Description

A Fresh Look at 4,000 Years of Jewish History--Authoritative, Complete...Funny

Through witty, illustrated narrative, celebrated artist Stan Mack will take you on a rewarding pictorial journey through 4,000 years of ups and downs in Jewish history. The first "graphic history book" of its kind, The Story of the Jews celebrates the major characters and events that have shaped the Jewish people and culture, illustrating what it means to be Jewish.

In this book you will visit all the major Jewish happenings from biblical times to the twenty-first century--from Abraham and Sarah on the banks of the Euphrates to the diaspora, intermarriage, and the State of Israel.

* Moses receiving the Ten Commandments * The triumph of King David * The creation of the Talmud * The rise of Christianity and Islam * The Crusades * The Inquisition * The Enlightenment * Life in the new Babylon (the United States) * The birth of the State of Israel * And--of course--the world's first "Oy!"

Customer Reviews:

Fun and user friendly.......2004-07-22

First off, I am biased. I love Stan Mack. He was my favorite cartoonist when I was in high school and college, back when he was with the Village Voice.

The book is fun and user friendly. Perfect, no - there are some areas where his NYC Liberal Jewish impulses might have stifled a deeper or more balanced approach (I think the issue of "choseness" could have been explained differently.) But over all, I highly recommend this book. Solomon Graysel and others have deeper, richer, but tougher to read books on the same topic. Why go the Stan Mack route? Stans approach is funny, edgy and smart. I loved it.

Pretty informative..........2004-02-05

I enjoyed this book and found it to be very informative. Most books explain 20th century Jews. This gives a rare historical perspective.

A wonderful introduction to Jewish history.......2003-10-02

A wonderful introduction to Jewish history in graphic novel format. Brief, but well-told, with a sensitivity to women that is a delight to see. Where else will you find Queen Alexandra, whose reign in the 1st century BCE was a golden age for the Jews, and Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish Italian business woman, who helped Portuguese Jews escape persecution in the 16th century CE.

Stan Mack's book is not as funny as Larry Gonick's cartoon histories, but more factual. As a result it serves as a good brief one volume history of the Jewish people. Only thing missing is a bibliography of further readings to pick up where this overview leaves the reader clamouring for more information.

Reasonably Good.......2002-10-25

Good Cartoon histories are not an easy find. If you have stumbled onto this one,then, by now you must have read Larry Gonick's Cartoon history of Universe too (if you havn't check it out).

The story of the Jews is a reasonable good history. It is a little pro-Jew rather than impartial. However once you take that into account and stop looking for Palestine-Israel struggle history, it becomes a good introduction to overall Jewish history throughout the ages. Cartoon Histories are fun to read and create a better impact than raw text.

I initially checked it out from my library but then I bought it. Of course it would be better if the author could become a litle more critical. Larry Gonick's Cartoon history of USA is a good example where the author went beyond normal textbook history and added his insights. Another good cartoon history is the Latino USA: A Cartoon History by Ilan Stavans. But then with so few cartoon histories (6 precisely - 4 from Gonick, 1 from Stavans and this one) you can't really afford to pass this one.

Real Life spoiler.......2001-10-17

Being a huge Stan Mack fan from his "Real Life Funnies" work in the Village Voice, I was looking forward to an iconoclastic, irreverent and hard-hitting work. The book was a huge disappointment, although the endorsements by various very "serious" individuals on the cover blurbs shoud have warned me! This is History done by the numbers, accepting all the official myths and institutionalised legends of Jewish History, thus doing a disservice to what is actually a very complex, revealing and fascinating story.

Stan Mack comes on, surprisingly enough, as a deeply religious and one-dimensional viewer of History whereas, if we know one thing about History, it's that it is anything but one-dimensional. The book, in its eagerness to toe the line, makes several blunders on historical accuracy too. Take the howler on p.230 about Hitler: "In '33, powerful industrialists got Hitler apponted Chancellor of Germany" - which is simply false. Hitler was appointed by Hindenburg, the old warrior then serving as President of the Republic after the Nazi Party amassed a considerable percentage of the popular vote. The economic establishment did want a bulwark against the Red Menace but they were not exactly happy with Hitler's strong anti-capitalist rhetoric. In other instances, the book makes no distinction between myth and reality. This could easily have been called "A Jewish Mythology".

Stan, I'm sorry but your book is definitely NOT "overheard verbatim"! It could have easily being written (and drawn - in the same bland manner) by Norman Podhoretz. A big, big letdown.

Customer Reviews:

Understanding Systems to Heighten Awareness.......2006-08-17

Ervin Laszlo, one of the greatest minds contributing to systemic theory, has done an excellent job of introducing this construct which takes one "outside the box!" Opening the door to bring heightened awareness of Self and the universe, Laszlo presents systemic and holistic thinking in invitng simplicity, while facilitating the exploration of the same. The world which Laszlo opens to the reader is a world that can inspire visionary thinking, leading us to a more peaceful, understanding existence. I strongly recommend anyone to follow Laszlo into a world of holism, growth and new paths to a more peaceful world!

Excellent explanation of systems theory!.......2003-10-03

If you would like to learn about systems theory with minimal background knowledge, this is an excellent book! It shows how we are all inseperable parts of nature and that everything we do to everyone and everything else influences ourselves as well. It shows us how nature is organized into many levels of whole units. It eloquently shows how we are all parts of larger whole units made of smaller whole units. It is just a wonderful book that reminds us of our connection with the rest of the universe. If you are interested in systems theory, I also recommend another super-fascinating book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato that discusses this in relation to human consciousness. It is also one of my favorites! I am sure you will feel that these books are well worth the money.

Fundamental to understand modern science and philosophy.......1997-08-29

Systems thinking is more than another new field of scientific and philosophical research. It leads to a new world view, integrating the sciences of nature and man. It is a world view for our times, explaining some some of our most cherished successes and some of our most distressing problems, and showing ways to resume progress toward new achievements. Knowledge of systems thinking is a key to understand modern developments in areas such as physics, business management, ecology, politics, natural resources, etc.

Ervin Laszlo is one of the most important contributors to the development of systems science and philosophy. With "The Systems View of the World" he achieved a remarkably accurate condensation, in a hundred clearly written and pleasantly readable pages, of the fundamental ideas of systems thinking.

The book begins contrasting the systems view of the world, based on integration an understanding of relationships, with the atomistic view of the world, based on decomposition and understanding of parts. He proceeds presenting the concept of system, leading the reader through a series of distinctions and examples. It is interesting to remark that Laszlo does not present a definition of system, coherently with the idea that system is a basic, primitive concept.

Laszlo follows with the explanation of the systems view of nature, summarized in four propositions, which are developed and exemplified:
1. Natural systems are wholes with irreducible properties;
2. Natural systems maintain themselves in a changing environment;
3. Natural systems create themselves in response to self-creativity in other systems;
4. Natural systems are coordinating interfaces in nature's holarchy.

The book's final part deals wit the system's view of ourselves. To do this, Laszlo begins from our cosmic origins, proceeding to the appearance of matter, life, consciousness and finally culture. He emphasizes the importance of values and explains why even traditional values, in spite of their permanent character, must be reformulated to meet the requirements of our times. Laszlo shows how the systems view of the world has a place for freedom and differentiation in an integrated world. He finishes the book stressing the role of religion in human life and proposes that the systems view of the world may offer some openings for conciliation of science with the different religious traditions.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books