Toward a Just and Caring Society: Christian Responses to Poverty in America

Book Description

In this collection of essays, sixteen evangelical scholars and teachers consider the dilemma of poverty in modern America. Brought together by a Bauman Foundation grant under Evangelicals for Social Action sponsorship, they address the historical, political, and economic issues involved in this pervasive social problem. The authors also bring Christian principles to bear on their analysis of povertys root causes, on their consideration of policies that have been adopted or proposed, and on their own responses. Practical suggestions for concrete action are offered that warrant the consideration of churches, charitable agencies, and politicians.

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State on March 22, 2002. The length of the article is 550 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: Toward a Just and Caring Society: Christian Responses to Poverty in America.
Author: Paul Mastin
Publication: Journal of Church and State (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2002
Publisher: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
Volume: 44 Issue: 2 Page: 370(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Paternalistic federal laws and regulations thwart initiatives to grant women the same economic liberties as men. Why have federal institutions overseeing employment, employee benefits, childcare, taxation, health care, education, retirement, and social security adopted such a warped and antiquated perspective of traditional family life? And what can be done about it? Kimberley Strassel, Celeste Colgan, and John Goodman answer these important and provocative questions. They call upon the federal government to get out of the way of marketplace initiatives. Published in cooperation with The Manhattan Institute and The National Center for Policy Analysis.

Customer Reviews:

Love this book.......2007-04-10

I think this book is really important - walks through the analysis of how laws are stuck in the 1950's, as if people stay in the same job for their career, aren't freelancing much of the time and are part of single-wage-earner families. It's a real eye-opener, very disturbing and points out some fundamental problems with current US laws. I think this should be required reading.

Fantasy land read.......2007-01-16

I'm a woman - and the supposed benefactor of this crazy stuff. I don't get it. Pie in the sky. Also not really any more fair than what's going on now. Some of it is downright dangerous - like loosening regulations for informal childcare!!! . The author is an ideas person with little sense of real life application.

Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws.(Book review): An article from: Business Economics

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Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws.(Book review): An article from: Business Economics
Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Business Economics, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1371 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: Leaving Women Behind: Modern Families, Outdated Laws.(Book review)
Author: Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Publication: Business Economics (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 42 Issue: 1 Page: 76(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Insects of Eastern Hardwood Trees
A. Rose
Manufacturer: Intl Specialized Book Service Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Agricultural Sciences | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0660112051

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A selective bibliography on insects causing wood defects in living eastern hardwood trees (Bibliographies and literature of agriculture)
C. John Hay
Manufacturer: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Bibliographies & Indexes | Publishing & Books | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006E7A62

Book Description

Many methods for analyzing clustered data exist, all with advantages and limitations in particular applications. Compiled from the contributions of leading specialists in the field, Topics in Modelling of Clustered Data describes the tools and techniques for modelling the clustered data often encountered in medical, biological, environmental, and social science studies. It focuses on providing a comprehensive treatment of marginal, conditional, and random effects models using, among others, likelihood, pseudo-likelihood, and generalized estimating equations methods. The authors motivate and illustrate all aspects of these models in a variety of real applications. They discuss several variations and extensions, including individual-level covariates and combined continuous and discrete outcomes. Flexible modelling with fractional and local polynomials, omnibus lack-of-fit tests, robustification against misspecification, exact, and bootstrap inferential procedures all receive extensive treatment. The applications discussed center primarily, but not exclusively, on developmental toxicity, which leads naturally to discussion of other methodologies, including risk assessment and dose-response modelling. Clearly written, Topics in Modelling of Clustered Data offers a practical, easily accessible survey of important modelling issues. Overview models give structure to a multitude of approaches, figures help readers visualize model characteristics, and a generous use of examples illustrates all aspects of the modelling process.

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Topics in Modelling of Clustered Data
Marc Aerts
Manufacturer: CRC PRESS INC @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N6BMOO

Customer Reviews:

great book!.......1999-04-09

full of factual, helpful information

Student study guide Introductory chemistry for health professionals

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Student study guide Introductory chemistry for health professionals
Ken Liska
Manufacturer: Collier Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General & Reference | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00070YU7C

Book Description

Get ready to take another fantastic journey with physicist and author Robert Gilmore, this time with Dorothy, following the yellow building block road through the land of the Wizard of Quarks. Using characters and situations based on the universally known story, The Wizard of Oz, we learn along the way about the fascinating world of particle physics. Classes of particles, from quarks to leptons are shown in atomic garden, where atoms and molecules are produced; see how Dorothy, The Tin Geek, and the Cowardly Lion experience the bizarre world of subatomic particles. Thousands of readers who were delighted by the adventures and science content of Alice in Quantumland are in for another treat, with the prose and illustrations of Robert Gilmore.

Customer Reviews:

At Last!.......2001-01-21

At last the author of "Alice in Quantumland" has written another parody, mixing a well-known tale with modern quantum physics. My son enjoyed "Alice in Quantumland" when he was eight, and he will enjoy "The Wizard of Quarks" (based - loosely - on "The Wizard of Oz") now as a teenager. The books are quite charming and witty for adults, as well.

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Faust: A Story in Nine Letters
Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1425477623

Book Description

The acknowledged master of Holocaust historians offers an analysis of the nature of the sources, with attention to structure, style, and content.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent supplemental reading for college-level students.......2001-12-16

Raul Hilbeg's Sources Of Holocaust Research provides the evidence itself and the history it contains. His scholarly survey of the sources used in the writing of Holocaust history analyzes the types of materials and content of Holocaust source material. Excellent supplemental reading for college-level students.

Book Description

Richard Cytowic's dinner host apologized, "There aren't enough points on the chicken!" He felt flavor also as a physical shape in his hands, and the chicken had come out "too round." This offbeat comment in 1980 launched Cytowic's exploration into the oddity called synesthesia. He is one of the few world authorities on the subject.

Sharing a root with anesthesia ("no sensation"), synesthesia means "joined sensation," whereby a voice, for example, is not only heard but also seen, felt, or tasted. The trait is involuntary, hereditary, and fairly common. It stayed a scientific mystery for two centuries until Cytowic's original experiments led to a neurological explanation--and to a new concept of brain organization that accentuates emotion over reason.

That chicken dinner two decades ago led Cytowic to explore a deeper reality that, he argues, exists in everyone but is often just below the surface of awareness (which is why finding meaning in our lives can be elusive). In this medical detective adventure, Cytowic shows how synesthesia, far from being a mere curiosity, illuminates a wide swath of mental life and leads to a new view of what is means to be human--a view that turns upside down conventional ideas about reason, emotional knowledge, and self-understanding.

This 2003 edition features a new afterword.

Customer Reviews:

Not recommended.......2004-04-18

Originally published in 1993, this book is a popularization of Dr. Cytowic's more detailed 1989 book Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses. At the time it was published, it was of some value in bringing the topic of synesthesia to greater attention among both scholars and the general public. Dr. Cytowic thus gets an A for public education efforts, but a failing grade for accomplishment.

The book suffers from an unwarrantedly grandiose and revelatory style, and an amateurish presentation of the psychological side of the topic. Now, ten years later, many articles and books on synesthesia have come out. None of them corroborate the limbic theory of synesthesia Dr. Cytowic presents, nor do they echo his interpretation of synesthesia as an example of emotion taking precedence over reason. For the most part, this new literature offers a much better place to start understanding synesthesia than this book.

In the revised (2002) edition of Cytowic's other book Synesthesia: A Union of the Senses, he goes some way towards taking account of these new developments; this new edition is worthwhile, but should definitely be balanced with other books on synesthesia. The Man Who Tasted Shapes, however, is no longer worth much attention.

A wonderful read.......2002-06-18

This is a truly great book. I enjoyed ever word on the page. Not only is it a story of a life but it teaches you about a very interesting abnormality. It goes into depth and describes at a simple enough level what is going on to cause it. It is funny and informative all in one. Not only that but it criticizes the medical community who tried to hold him back. It puts some insight into the dependents of technology in todays society.

Great tale, Good theory, Stilted prose.......2001-09-23

One thing is clear upon reading this book: Richard Cytowic, M.D., is no Oliver Sacks. Though, as will be seen, there is much in here to recommend itself, his stilted reproduction of conversations which or may not have taken place and his `Creative Fiction 100' characterizations (i.e., Dr. Wood's continual inhalation of smoke or food) strike the experienced reader as painfully contrived, as though Cytowic were doing his level best to imitate Sacks and reach that always-elusive `wider audience'.

On the other hand, as Cytowic describes his quest to make sense of his friend's synesthesia (the man for whom gustatory sensations were experienced as the contours, edges, textures, and surface temperatures of external objects), the reader is also drawn into the mystery. One sense experienced as another simply does not compute in our Newtonian each-thing-in-its-place universe. Along with Cytowic, the reader is made to wonder, `How can this be?' Cytowic picks up clues along the way until he is led to `seeing the primacy of emotion over reason; the impossibility of a purely "objective" point of view; the force of intuitive knowledge; and why affirming personal experience yields a more satisfying understanding than analyzing what something "means" ' (7).

Cytowic moves through the years inexorably but somewhat leisurely after these answers. At last, with the help of a thick caseload of personal testimonies and controlled tests, he narrows down the subjective nature of the experience enough to declare his conclusion that `synesthesia is actually a normal brain function in every one of us, but that its workings reach conscious awareness in only a handful' (166, italics in original text). Cytowic `sees' (and perhaps smells, tastes, and hears!) synesthetes as `cognitive fossils' (167) who still experience the senses united as did our mammalian forebears. For the rest of us, this continuing brain process has become unconscious. The key, for Cytowic is emotion which `seems to reside at the interface between that part of our self which is accessible to awareness and that part which is not' (167).

It is when he examines the neurological evidence that his hypotheses are borne out. The climax of the detective work is reached when he gets his friend inside a regional cerebral blood flow scanner (CBF) where, with the help of a technical expert and doses of amyl nitrate (to accentuate his friend's synesthesia), he is shocked to discover that as his friend experienced the deep pleasure of synesthesia in the machine his cerebral cortex appeared to shut down almost entirely. Simultaneously, his limbic system and hippocampal areas became riotously active. Against the linear `standard view' of the brain, Cytowic announces that the limbic system has evolved in humans alongside the cortical system and has integrated itself into every area of the nervous system. In short, `the limbic system forms an emotional core of the human nervous system' (157). Thus, emotion `was no longer localized in a discrete control center but was spread out over pathways' (158). With this evidence, Cytowic concludes that even the nature of perceptions is largely determined by emotional valences and that such emotional elision of value is precisely what occurs in synesthesia. The emotional mind (as opposed to the logical, cognitive one) is the basis of human action and experience, according to Cytowic.

This is an important conclusion, if not all that original. What this means to consciousness studies and to the understanding of human life in general, Cytowic is not the slightest bit hesitant to tell us. In fact, such speculation appears to be the raison d'être of this user-friendly text and is the content of Part Two, `Essays on the Primacy of Emotion'. Unlike another, more `scientific', review of this book which I previously encountered, I quite disagree that these essays are `irrelevant' to his research. Anyone who has worked so prodigiously in one area of study and comes to such startling conclusions has earned the right to ruminate on what it all implies. Cytowic reveals himself as a stimulating essayist, but, in the end, he proves to be not much better a philosopher than a literary artist.

Cytowic usually seems to consider our `emotional mind' as non-conscious and this is a pivotal, if controversial, point. This implies our emotions are not subject to conscious volition and may explain why he feels the source of emotions to be somewhat mystical. He indicates that emotional valuation is necessary for any sort of mental consciousness to develop. He also shows that as learned adaptations become habit, both emotional charge and self-awareness decline or even disappear so behavior continues mechanically along. Cytowic calls upon the experimental literature on divided brains, the `readiness potential', and neurological conditions such prosopagnosia (wherein patients cannot recognize familiar faces but their galvanic skin resistance reveals definite physiological responses to those same faces) to demonstrate the primacy of the emotional mind - usually the right cerebral hemisphere. These examples clearly reveal a mode of experiencing which is not conscious, if we are to trust the first-person reports of the subjects. `Our conscious self is the tip of an iceberg' (170), Cytowic asserts. He adds that `recognition can be dissociated from conscious awareness of it' (212). The basis of our knowing is `unconscious knowledge' and the basis of our perception is `subception' (214). Here, Cytowic's case for the primacy of emotions sounds more like it supports the Freudian, the Jungian, or even the Darwinian unconscious rather than indicating any sort of transcendent spirituality.

The major problem of his essays is this: He makes an unwarranted leap from the primacy of the emotions into the strong anthropic principle and panpsychism, clearly revealing his bias for `spiritual' explanations of human existence. He claims that terms like `faith', `God', and `spirituality' are non-concepts which refer to ineffable experience. How emotional primacy indicates anything more than our ongoing connection with evolutionary processes escapes me entirely, as does the suggestion of concepts which are non-concepts. The terms he uses clearly are concepts, as rife with assumption and allusion as ever. Apparently by revealing the inefficaciousness of conscious intentionality, he feels he has simultaneously revealed our intuitive spiritual connection with all that is. This spiritual source is not self-evident.

Still, one may quibble too much. Cytowic goes to bat for emotions most effectively and his conclusions ring true that `consciousness, language, and higher mental functions [are] the consequences of our ability to express emotion. Emotion is fundamental to mind and what we call consciousness' (196). Our emotional core is understood by most of us to be basically part of our organic heritage which can be altered by continued conscious experience. His `faith', however, seems to pre-empt his seeing that our `consciousness, language, and higher mental functions' almost certainly return the favour and affect our emotions in their turn. The brain works in cycles of mutual effect and affect. Indeed, many persons as they age and learn may well succeed in uniting the two `minds' and creating conscious emotionality, i.e., they `get in touch with their feelings'. This understanding of the potential of higher mental functions to change emotions (as well as being changed by them) may well help to explain why non-rational believers like Cytowic feel their emotions indicate a doorway to the infinite and eternal. It is worth considering that their cultural belief-system has predisposed them to values which generate, in turn, appropriate emotional resonance.

Buy This Book.......2000-12-16

The Man Who Tasted Shapes is an extraordinary work of research into the human mind that was, to me, only superficially about synesthesia. The information and perspective shared are much bigger than the title would imply. I believe that you'll find it to be fabulously interesting, even if you have zero interest in synesthesia.

Most doctors are afraid to write what they truly believe in their hearts lest it be challenged and scorned by their peers. Rarely do scientists allow you to "see the man behind the curtain," preferring to hide instead behind that mysterious veil we called "objective data." In this, Dr. Cytowic is far braver than most, and certainly more honest.

Here is just such an example from the book: "My innate analytic personality had been reinforced by twenty years of training in science and medicine. I reflexively analyzed whatever passed my way and firmly believed that the intellect could conquer everything through reason. 'You need an antidote to your incessant intellectualizing,' Clark suggested, 'something to put you in touch with the irrational side of your mind.'... I had never considered that there might be more to the human mind than the rational part that I was familiar with. It had never once occurred to me that a force to balance rationality existed, let alone that it might be a normal part of the human psyche."

In another chapter, Cytowic asserts, "Not everything we are capable of knowing and doing is accessible to or expressible in language. This means that some of our personal knowledge is off limits even to our own inner thoughts. Perhaps this is why humans are so often at odds with themselves, because there is more going on in our minds than we can ever consciously know."

If you read a lot of medical texts, as I do, you will find Dr. Cytowic to be far more broadminded and much less linear in his thinking than his peers. This makes Cytowic interesting, instead of boring like the others.

One final quote: "Neuroscientists have just lately come to realize how important emotion is. Placing reason and the (intellectual) cortex first and foremost is like the Wizard of Oz shouting, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." Reason, and an accomplice called self-awareness have deluded us into believing that they have been pulling the strings, but emotion and mentation not normally accessible to self-awareness have been in charge all along."

The Man Who Tasted Shapes is a delightful bridge between the hard science of neurology and the mystery that is man.

Buy the book. You won't regret it.

Not for the "Close-minded"!.......2000-02-02

While Dr. Cytowic's book mainly deals with his investigation of the rare neurological phenomena called "synesthesia", his resulting insights on emotions, reasoning and consciousness are really what make this book worth reading. He presents "The New View of How the Brain Works". A view that helps us understand the critical interaction of emotions and reasoning. If you are open-minded and ready to give an alternate point of view a chance, you will find this book to be truly enlightening, absorbing, thought provoking and enjoyable. If you are close-minded and think that science already has all the right answers - don't waste your time - try science fiction instead!

Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Med. Mystery Offers Rev. Insight Into Emotions &

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I Tasted a Hint of Soap Box...

Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Med. Mystery Offers Rev. Insight Into Emotions &
Richard Cytowic
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Physiological Aspects | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Behavioral Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

Book Description

The world's scientific expert on cross-sensory perception givesa layman's account of an incredible neurological situation--hearingcolors, tasting shapes, and seeing sounds. Welcome to the world ofsynesthesia.

Customer Reviews:

I Tasted a Hint of Soap Box..........1997-04-09

I eagerly snatched this book off the shelf when I learned of it -- synesthesia is a fascinating subject with too few works devoted to it -- but Dr. Cytowic's tendency to climb onto his soap box took much of the potential pleasure out of "The Man Who Tasted Shapes". We are given details about only two people with the condition, and one of those only glancingly. The rest of the book is either written in coy dialogue form (taking scores of pages to relate an incident easily expressed in a paragraph -- padding, anyone?) or else denouncing other scientists' viewpoints. This is no "Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" [by Oliver Sacks], as the title seems to imply. I was left hungering to know more about the actual subject: synesthesia. I did not necessarily disagree with Dr. Cytowic's views, but they seemed to have pre-empted another book already in progress.

Janet Coleman Sides

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The Man Who Tasted Shapes
Richard E. Cytowic
Manufacturer: Imprint Academic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Neuropsychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0907845436

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The Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Medical Mystery Offers Revolutionary Insights into Emotions, Reasoning, and Consciousness.
Richard E. Cytowic
Manufacturer: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NI1AIU

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The Man Who Tasted Shapes
Richard E. Cytowic
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OR8Y16

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The Man Who Tasted Shapes: A Bizarre Medical Mystery Offers Revolutionary INsighs Into Emotions, Reasoning, and Consciousness
Richard E. Cytowic
Manufacturer: Tarcher / Putnam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NZSQ9O

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