It is Politics As Usual - A Book Review on Taking Sides

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How much do you know about world politics? Geopolitics can be one of the most interesting subjects, and if you'd like to learn more, perhaps you need to dive into the challenges of our time, and understand all sides of the debate. I believe that's the best way to approach it, and if you agree, there's a very good book I'd like to recommend to you, the name of the book is;

"Taking Sides - Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics" by John T. Rourke.

In this book the author asks some pretty tough questions, about some of the most challenging and problematic issues of our time. Each chapter adds to the chaos and controversy of world events in our present period. And there are many questions, which perhaps have no answer, however are debated by scholars and academics alike. In fact, one of the tough questions is frequented by those that write articles in foreign affairs, the economist, and in letters to the Washington Post and New York Times.

"Is the Capitalist model for Third World development destructive?"

This is a very tough question, and one that is always discussed at the Davos World Economic Conference. But there are more comments, questions, and concerns in this book for instance;

"Is economic globalism a positive trend?"

The international monetary fund or IMF suggests that globalism should serve all, but countries and corporations often exploit the labor. Everyone benefits if we are all on the same page, even if it undermines their national sovereignty temporarily. The debaters also discuss international cooperation and choice in trade. And they discuss issues of global governance, and if it is right if it is forced? One debater suggests that the European Union is in danger of a revolution of culture and economics, however the academics of Europe have an answer for that as well.

If you want to get at the heart of the debate of the new world order, how to run the United Nations, a global currency, or a global trade free market place, there is probably no better book to start out with to hear all the different sides of the chaos and controversy surrounding these topics. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in smart dialogue.

Review: No One Would Listen

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Author: Harry Markopolos

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

ISBN: 978-0-470-55373-2

After reading Harry Markopolos's No One Would Listen, I had to shake my head in disbelief and mutter the old adage. "there's none so blind as those who will not see." Markopolos is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Fraud Examiner and No One Would Listen is the complete story of how the SEC would not listen to him and his team. As result and unfortunately, they failed to stop the greatest financial crime in history, the Bernard Madoff catastrophe.

Over a nine year period Markopolos and three colleagues tried to get the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to investigate Madoff, the mastermind behind this unbelievable Ponzi scheme. Unfortunately, due to incompetency, stupidity, and laziness, and even after Markopolos presented five separate submissions to the SEC with dozens of pages of incriminating evidence showing Madoff to be a fraud, nothing was done. You are probably asking how is this possible where a government agency is set up to protect investors and it turns out to be a complete sham and joke, costing thousands of investors their life savings to the tune of approximately five-five billion dollars? Moreover, what about the feeder funds that fed Madoff`s Ponzi scheme? Why didn't they conduct due diligence? Did they know it was a fraud and swept it under the rug in exchange for the huge commissions they were earning from Madoff as well as from their clients?

Markopolos first encountered Bernie Madoff when he and his team tried to emulate Madoff's phenomenal rate of return- a product that was producing one percent per month. After taking apart and analyzing Madoff's strategy, they concluded that it was impossible and that in reality it had to be a fraud. As he states: "We weren't looking for a crime; we simply wanted to see how he made his numbers dance." When Markopolos investigated further with interviews he conducted with various fund managers and others, his initial assessment and feeling was confirmed.

A startling and unbelievable discovery was when investment manager, Thierry de la Villehuchet, (who had later committed suicide), told Markopolos that Madoff could never be a fraud and to prove his point he alluded that he used a handwriting analyst as part of his company's due diligence procedures. We are not quite sure if in fact he did analyze Madoff's signature. However, the underlying theme was the common consensus among all of these mavens that after all Madoff was among the most powerful and respected men on Wall Street. He was the founder and operator of an extremely successful broker-dealer firm. How could it be possible that he was perpetuating such a blatant scam involving billions of dollars he took in from investors living all over the world? What is really amazing is that everyone wanted to do business with Madoff but nobody would own up that they were doing business with him. As Markopolos states: "It was as if he had walked through Times Square naked in the middle of a summer afternoon and no one admitted seeing him." Even more disturbing was that Markopolos and his team were not the only ones who discovered the fraud but they and perhaps one or two others were the only ones who reported it to the SEC. Even after articles about Madoff appeared in some reputable financial publications, nothing was done.

The subtitle of No One Would Listen is appropriately called A True Financial Thriller, and as you can see from the above, it certainly is, only it is a very sad story when you consider the billions of dollars that were not only lost by individuals that trusted their financial advisers to perform due diligence and the SEC to protect them, but also the dozens of charitable organizations, where millions of dollars vanished. However, one positive outcome of the Madoff debacle was that Markopolos was influential in having legislators listen to his advice concerning a complete overhauling of the SEC and we only hope that they will adopt many of his ideas that he lists at the end of the book.

No One Would Listen should be required reading for anyone who is directly or indirectly connected to the financial industry and this includes individual investors that invest in all kinds of financial products without really understanding what they are all about. This is not to say that every financial adviser is corrupt or doesn't care about his or her clients, however, to keep them on their toes, there is no harm in thoroughly questioning them when they try to sell you a particular financial product. And if you don't understand the product, don't invest in it.

To read Norm's Interview with Harry Markopolos click the following link: http://goo.gl/2z7l9

Norm Goldman is the Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com and a top 500 Amazon reviewer. Bookpleasures has been in existence since 2002 and has posted over 5000 reviews and over 650 author interviews. In addition to the complimentary reviews offered by bookpleasures' reviewers, Norm also offers his own personalized Priority, Fast Track Quick Review that you can find out more about by clicking on:

http://goo.gl/wPki

Radicals For Capitalism - A History of Libertarianism

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A fascinating look at the history of the uniquely American political philosophy of Libertarianism, Radicals for Capitalism is a richly rewarding book on the beginnings of the Libertarian movement and some of its founding members and supporters. Brian Doherty does an excellent job in writing a compelling history of the Libertarian movement.

For anyone with an interest in small government politics this book is not only informative but entertaining. While most people captivated by the Libertarian movement have only a cursory knowledge of its beginnings, reading this book will flesh out your knowledge in an engaging and informative way. Ayn Rand? Everyone has heard of her, but how about Isabel Paterson and Rose Wilder Lane? All three women can be said to have lain the roots for the libertarian movement of today.

All three published important works in 1943, pre-dating Hayeks Road to Serfdom and other seminal Libertarian works. Rands The Fountainhead, Lanes The Discovery of Freedom and Patersons The God of the Machine were all put out in 1943 birthing many important ideas of the Libertarian movement. Explaining Americas exceptionalism, defending the greatness of the founding documents and espousing on the importance of individual liberties these women are of great importance to anyone interested liberty and freedom. While Paterson and Lanes books are difficult to find, they can be located with a little digging, Laissez- Faire books would be a good place to start.

Ayn Rands books are available just about everywhere. Covering the well known like F.A. Hayek and the less known but influential (within the movement) like Murray Rothbrand this book has all the bases covered. The chapter "Goldwater, The Objectivist Crack-up, and Hippies of the Right" had some laugh out loud moments. Covering the Austrian School of Economics and the Chicago School this book explains sometimes mundane and complex subjects in an interesting and understandable manner. Milton Freidman is well covered and as one of the most popular Libertarians besides Ayn Rand.

For anyone interested in Limited Government ideals and the variety of philosophies swarming around inside the Libertarian Movement Radicals For Capitalism by Brian Doherty is a must read. In depth and touching on all the main characters, oddballs and strange but true stories that make up the Libertarian movement this a throughly enjoyable book. Go to Libertyoutrider for more ideas, thoughts and information on History and philosophy.

President Ronald Reagan Speaks Out on Abortion

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In 1983, President Reagan wrote an essay for the "Human Life Review" entitled, "Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation." This brief writing of his pro-life philosophy was published in book form a year later. It was expanded to approximately to 95 pages with lengthy afterwords by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and British essayist Malcolm Muggeridge. Reagan's brief composition is probably one of the better well-argued pro-life essays ever written. It is also significant as it was the first ever by a sitting President. It was President Reagan's attempt to awaken a nation to the implications of abortion. In this short book, President Reagan gives an account on how important the issue of abortion is to the "conscience of a nation."

President Reagan's essay is only 26 pages of the book, but it is well structured. He believed that diminishing the life of the unborn diminishes the value of all human life. He tackled the pro-abortion "quality of life" argument and compared it to the Dred Scott slavery issue. Reagan likened the pro-abortion argument to slavery and drew parallels between the Roe vs. Wade decision and the Dred Scot decision that divided America over a century earlier. According to Reagan, the quality of life argument is an argument for quality control of the population.

Reagan surmises that legalized abortion is a very slippery slope. He says that unborn babies are being killed because they are simply not wanted or come at an inconvenient time. He also states that many are killed because they will be unable to lead a "normal" life as the result of birth defects. Such babies are considered to be of less value and thus denied human rights. He claims this denial of human rights is accomplished by activist judges who frame the interpretation of the US Constitution through the lens of their own pro-abortion beliefs.

Reagan believes that the arbitrary evaluation of unborn lives must stop. He states that this philosophy will lead to further the crimes of infanticide and illustrates this by citing the Indiana case of "Baby Doe." Baby Doe was allowed to starve to death because the child had Down's syndrome. The essence of Reagan's argument is that no nation can survive and prosper when a group of individuals look at a child and declare whether that child has value as a human being. Reagan goes on to say, "Abraham Lincoln recognized that we could not survive as a free land when some men could decide that others were not fit to be free and should therefore be slaves. Likewise, we cannot survive as a free nation when some men decide that others are not fit to live and should be abandoned to abortion or infanticide. My Administration is dedicated to the preservation of America as a free land, and there is no cause more important for preserving that freedom than affirming the transcendent right to life of all human beings, the right without which no other rights have any meaning."

The pro-life movement will not be disappointed with Reagan's essay, and will conclude that it contains very powerful and logical anti-abortion arguments.

Johnny Kicklighter is a charter contributor to the Mosaic Pregnancy & Health Centers, (formerly the New Beginnings Pregnancy Care Center) Fairview Heights, Illinois. Johnny is also an instructor and counselor at the Gateway Biblical Counseling and Training Center.

Politics and People - A Book Review

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Often politicians running for office will write books, and many of them will use these books to rally their base of supporters. It's always been an excellent tool for high-power politicians in the House and Senate or perhaps even running for president. Often governors of states will also write books and they use these books to propel their notoriety, and help establish themselves as experts of integrity and credibility.

Not long ago, I pulled an old book off my bookshelf by a politician that later became president. You will know his name he was once governor of Arkansas and his running mate at the time was a Senator from Tennessee just like his father, a man who would later also run for president and lose. Of course, you already know who I'm talking about, but the book that I like to recommend is;

"Putting People First; How We Can Change America," by Gov. Bill Clinton and Senator Al Gore, 1992

Now before I explain this book, I'd like you know that I am conservative, and I doubt I would have ever voted for the gentleman. Although history has done Bill Clinton well except for his little escapade with that intern. In this book he talks about agriculture, arms control, the degradation of our cities, civil rights, the ADA, healthcare, immigration and all the problems and challenges in the Middle East. Yes, they're still going on.

In hindsight, much of what he wrote in the book didn't turn out all that well with him as president. His Agriculture initiatives turned into corporate welfare. His arms control ideas only caused North Korea to lie about its missiles and when it was his turn to catch Osama bin Laden; he missed. His civil rights initiatives turned into just more political correctness. And his healthcare concepts merely subsidized HMOs and created many billionaires.

As far as the American disabilities act, it's been used all over the country by lawyers to sue small businesses. When it came to immigration he didn't do anything, not that any other president did either, but it is interesting. He also was unable to solve the problem between Israel and Palestin, as if that was ever solvable or if there will ever be peace there.

He did indicate in the book that we need a civilian advanced technology agency, and I believe he was right about that. Anyway, it's fun to read these old political books, because you can look at the history behind the words and see if they mean anything. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes in fact checking.

Hartmann Ought to Know Better, and Surely Does

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Thom Hartmann's stated aim in Rebooting the American Dream is to, "bring back a strong middle class and restore America to stability and prosperity without endangering future generations." He ought to know better, and I'm certain he does.

Though he never defines the term, Hartmann's idea of the American Dream seems to be straight out of the post World War II era, a period of unprecedented production, expansion and consumerism. Almost anyone with any gumption whatsoever qualified for a job with benefits and a pension; a house in the suburbs; two cars; a color TV, and nearly every imaginable gimcrack and geegaw his or her little heart was persuaded to desire.

That era effectively died about 1973, when America's oil production hit its peak. Though the fiesta of consumerism has gone on for another 40 years, it has been financed by financial shenanigans; booms and busts; outright looting; non-stop wars; and various other diversions such as Monica Lewinsky, 9/11, and NASCAR.

There will be no resurrection.

Peak Oil, to put it bluntly, puts the kibosh on the whole concept of economic growth as we've known it for about 300 years. Hartmann knows this. He wrote The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight, way back in 1998, so he is hardly unaware of the phenomenon of Peak Oil, the maximum worldwide production of petroleum. It occurred in America about 1973 and worldwide in 2006, according to the International Energy Agency, so from now on until forever, we'll be chasing diminishing supplies of oil with our insatiable demand; and we'll have to do it in places that are massively hostile to us. At an oil price of about $80 a barrel, economic growth ceases, and we're there now.

Ronald Reagan, or at least his advisors, knew of Peak Oil and its ultimate implications for a society based on neverending growth, fueled by abundant, cheap oil. So did Presidents Bush, Bush, Clinton and Cheney. Carter certainly knew it, hence his doctrine declaring the Middle East a theater of strategic importance to America. For all we know, Nixon understood Peak Oil, too.

The corporate oligarchy and uberwealthy kleptocrats behind both political parties and the presidency have engaged in an orgy of self-aggrandizement, knowing that the petro-industrial train was heading for a brick wall. America's transition from self-sufficiency to import dependency in oil is the most significant reason behind the economic "devastation of 30 years of Reaganomics." It isn't a big secret, except to our willfully ignorant fellow citizens.

Yet Hartmann seems maddeningly oblivious to even the more obvious implications of Peak Oil. There's not even an index entry for it. Even if it were desirable, which it's not, we're not going to "recover the industrial base we've lost." An American Dream of outrageous energy consumption per person is no longer possible under any circumstances, Hartmann's 11 Steps (12 being taken) notwithstanding.

If there were a shred of honesty in the political arena, which there isn't, we'd be told to dig in, plant Victory Gardens, relocalize as many facets of production (craft, cottage and manufacturing) as possible, and virtualize everything else. Hartmann doesn't deliver this message, either.

But it's not that his ideas are, per se, bad. Hartmann is a serial entrepreneur and progressive author and talk radio host. He's built businesses, put people to work, created value where there was none. He'd like to see an America like the post-WWII one he grew up in - made in America by Americans for Americans. He wants to reverse "the 'free trade/flat earth' idiocy" of the past 40 years. What Hartmann doesn't say is that globalization is already a dinosaur. The 7,000-mile WalMart pipeline and the 3,000-mile salad are both artifacts of an era that's rapidly passing.

The steps Hartmann suggests are worthwhile to take. But even if they are implemented, there's not a snowball's chance in Hades of their success in restoring the American Dream. I suspect Hartmann agrees.

The nation needs to be saved from the corporate oligarchs... absolutely. We need to educate ourselves and reward initiative and get basic medical care for everybody and abolish corporate personhood (see Hartmann's excellent book, Unequal Protection). But we can't count on the federal government for any of it. For better or worse, that bloated, all-intrusive Washington welfare state bureaucracy is another artifact of the upside of Hubbert's Peak, where we could always do more of everything because we had the energetic capacity to do it.

No more. We have to do it ourselves.

You want to bring jobs home? Stop buying anything made outside the United States. Period. Buy local; make it yourself, or do without. If you must have an item that's only made overseas, buy a used one so the money stays here. Stop exporting your dollars.

You want a healthier society? Stop eating crap and do some physical work. The overwhelming majority of medical problems are diet- and lifestyle-related, and the same companies that make you sick are profiting from treating the sickness.

You want to level the playing field with the corporations? Work to amend the Constitution, as Hartmann suggests, and nullify at the state level all unconstitutional acts of the federal government... now there's a fertile field.

Fortunately, we still do have the US Constitution, written during and for a time of small, self-reliant communities and individuals, deeply mistrustful of self-serving power, whether in the form of the state or the corporation. The Constitution empowers us to take back control of our lives, and still remain a nation, strong where it counts.

Hartmann wants to do good things, but they won't get us anywhere close to where he thinks they will; and he wants to do them on a scale that's more a part of the problem than it is part of the solution; and I don't think he trusts the language and vision of the Constitution, or the power of an aroused citizenry, to see us through the dark forest we're heading into. Too bad.

Rick Ostrander is in recovery from a lifetime as a wage slave. His new blog, http://taylorsprings.blogspot.com/, discusses 21st Century homesteading on the Santa Fe Trail, building resilient communities in a post-Peak Oil world, and whatever else either strikes his fancy or looks like it might make a buck.

Indian MBA problem

Almost a decade ago, computer science or it was the thing 'in'. With a job as a software engineer was so renowned as today's investment banker, of course, the main reason is, that both highly lucrative and therefore are the most sought after. For them, the people of trade background, began learning programming and various IT companies. I know people in my workplace, which of course are from different backgrounds, BSc, BCom and b.e. But after the break the scene drastically changed. And now, since 2001 I think, a new trend has started MBA for engineers. Its literally a rat race.

IIMs, CAT, XAT, etc. become buzzwords "among the engineering community in India." Everyone wants to be a Manager! Without ever knowing what exactly they want to MBA, many people are just jumping the train without noticing that it held a toll on the technical training of the country.

Students in the most prestigious institutes like IITs, have a goal in mind, the IIM. In the third and fourth year the engineer they start early preparation for cat, apart from the technical Studies.Wie the technical integrity of the country under such conditions will improve?

And then we start our universities holding it not freshly made. Lab facilities! Why would they give when they know that a majority of students donot plan to the higher up in their respective technical domain studies. Those who have the passion you study ahead and the technology it carries non-fiction book, because they receive donot enough support for the realization of their dreams.

If it something that has improved our lives, abolish bad habits and superstitions, developed the modern man, his technology! But for Indians who yet always for money. This is the biggest difference between Westerners and us. People in the West such as United States, Germany etc. have passion contribution to technology ' we lack such passion, such zeal. ISRO is a US Pentagon and NASA, or compare the State of the DRDO and the differences are strong. And its all our fault (technician).

To add insult to injury, the IIMs and all Indian MBA schools, you must no mandatory work experience holder. If we are the countries considered "make better than India, then India is the only country, Freshers MBA courses are offered." What a blasphemy! and why do they do this? Money! 10 Lacs, 20 Lacs are charges for the most MBA institutes!

Even if this MBA schools, only her internship is required at least 3 years, it'll do wonders of technological health of Landes.Menschen would take up masters in some technical areas, rather than an MBA. Students become stronger on her technical studies rather than your cat or an entrance examination in the 3.-4 year.

Another major problem is that people, work that not so much time to prepare such as the students for these entrance exams, to not end up getting always a good Institute. Its such an unfair competition.

Of course, one can argue that everything is a matter of choice, but where can you always someone see a decision in a herd! An informed choice is the way to go.