Politics As Usual and the Move Towards Socialism

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Politics is like a drug for society as it is the catalyst, as well as the sound and fury of mankind and his slow progression. Some say that politics is no way to run the human race or our civilization, yet others swear by their leaders, who often enough turn out to be complete hypocrites. Just when you think you have found an honest politician, low and behold we learn that they are not what they purport or the media allows us to believe.

Still, whether you like the idea of the political process or not, and yes, admittedly it has a lot to be desired; it is how we do things here. And so, it makes sense to be informed about our leaders and know what's really going on behind the publicity stunts, political strategists and barrage of mass media advertising. It is for this very reason that I feel compelled to offer you a recommendation for a very good book to help you sort things out and not be fooled by the fa?ade:

"Do As I Say, Not as I Do; Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy" by Peter Schweizer; 2005 by Random House New York.

This author also wrote the bestselling book; "The Bushes and Reagan's War." This book has chapters of some of the leading Democrats that are involved in modern day US politics. People such as the Clintons, George Soros, Nancy Peloci, Barbara Streisand, Edward Kennedy, Al Franken, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Steinem, and Cornel West. Once you read about some of the reality behind these larger than life celebrities and their true exploits it will leave you shaking your heads and running for higher ground.

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

Rising, Falling, Hovering - Dynamic and Creative Poetry!

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Certainly, it was a rare opportunity for me to have met Professor C.D. Wright in person during her visit to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the famed award winning poet and esteemed English professor from Brown University. Being able to speak face to face with such a brilliant and inspiring person and listening to her poetry recital all in one day is really uplifting. Furthermore, receiving an autographed copy of her book, Rising, Falling, Hovering, is like having your choice of ice cream on top of a birthday cake.

Professor Wright has certainly produced a master piece with the writing of this award winning book of poems, Rising, Falling, Hovering. This is a dynamic and captivating poetry book in many ways. First and foremost, it's packed with poetic brilliance and an "awe" in exclamation regarding the compilation and flow of poetic images to stimulate the mind, body and soul. Next, the architecture of the poems in this book stimulates the sense of sight in terms of their variations and how they motivate the reader to produce imaginary poetic thoughts. Finally, based on the awards this book has won so far, one could say, "It's a majestic literary edition of our time and age."

The comparative analysis in the poems, Like Having a Light at Your Back You Can't See but You Can Still Feel, on pages four and seventy-one, is very interesting in terms of content and tonality. The additional syllables in the latter enhances the vibrancy of the lines. Have you ever told your wife, "Honey will you turn the lights off so I can get some sleep?" You will find an allusion of such in this poem and it's really hilarious and real. It also reads like a movie scene.

Additionally, Like a Prisoner of Soft Words on pages forty-six and seven-seven, equally presents a moving and dynamic poetic contrast with an array of anaphoric lines. The use of action words in the poems enhances the interpretation of the projected images while moving the lines as the words impact the senses. For example: "We suspect someone has followed one or the other of us," and "We dropped some cash on the tablecloth," lend curiosity to the imaginative spirit in contrasting the two poems.

Rising, Falling, Hovering presents a historical sketch covering a spectrum of scenes including: Mexico, cancer, war, Washingtonians, linguistic array of words, military operations, Egypt, South America, news reporting, funerals, and many other interesting and intriguing topics. The scenes are very interesting and appealing to the senses in one way, shape or form. The is really some emotional stuff; it's very striking, yet humorous in some ways without an oxymoronic essence.

On the other hand, the book is balanced with humor. I laughed out loud upon reading the poem regarding "Aisle 13 of Wal-Mart" and the person in the reptile section while sitting in a public place. I was laughing so hard the people started looking at me. I showed them the cover of the book and told them, "Get your own copy!"

This book is packed with: irony, alliteration, inversion, metaphor, simile, extended analogy, comparison, temporal setting, poetic style, enjambment, dramatic structure, figurative language and the rest.

Joseph S. Spence, Sr. (aka "Epulaeryu Master"), is the author of "The Awakened One Poetics" (2009), which is published in seven different languages. He also co-authored two poetry books, "A Trilogy of Poetry, Prose and Thoughts for the Mind, Body and Soul" (2005), and "Trilogy Moments for the Mind, Body and Soul," (2006). He invented the Epulaeryu poetry form, which focuses on succulent cuisines. Joseph is a Goodwill Ambassador for the state of Arkansas. He has completed over twenty years of service with the U.S. Army.

[http://www.trilogypoetry.com/]

Best Political Books

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I feel it's time for me to speak up and be counted.  At sixty-three years on our planet now, I figure better late than never.  It's still a free country, I do believe, and that's what I am very concerned about -  the future of our nation.

I've created , over  time,  my best political books library.   I use "political" in very broad sense.  For example, economics, social issues, current events, history, as well as politics, etc.,  all these would be included under my term "political."

Recently, I read  Glenn Beck's  Common Sense, The Case Against an Out-of-Control Government.  Glenn states that his book was inspired by Thomas Paine, who wrote the original Common Sense in 1776, which, for sure,  I have in my best political books library.    Included in Glenn's book at the end, is a copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense, a good deal - getting two books in one.

Glenn reports on how the present government is out of control and what we must do to take our country back.  He reports on what both parties have done to undermine our freedoms and concludes with:

          "The time has come for a second American Revolution -----bring your passion, but leave your muskets at home.  This revolution will take place in our minds and hearts...This revolution will be won when Americans rebel against the lies that are being told by those in power..."

I believe Glenn Beck is a true Patriot, and is bringing a very important message to us at this time.  It's  "we the people"  that have the power, and must realize this and must take our country back from the politicians that do not have our best interest at heart or our children and grandchildren's best interest at heart.

I have read  Glenn's book and try to watch him on a daily basis, his program is on the Fox News Channel every afternoon.  I highly recommend everyone tune into his program and get a copy of his book Common Sense, it's a must read.

Another book that I have recently read  is Catastrophe, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann.

"How Obama, Congress, and the special interests are transforming...a slump into a crash, freedom into socialism, and disaster into a Catastrophe...and how to fight back."

Another book in my best political books library that needs to be read by every American.  I have placed Catastrophe as well as Fleeced, another book by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, in my library.

Tom Noffsinger a.k.a Liberty Tom, is a concerned American citizen and has decided it's time to make some comments on our country we live in. For more information go to:
http://www.politicalthoughts-libertytom.blogspot.com/

Decision Points - A Review

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Acquiring all the books written by U.S. presidents would result in a surprisingly small collection. Though there are some anthologies of presidential papers and speeches from the 19th century, true autobiographies are rare, the most notable being that of Ulysses S. Grant. That all changed beginning with Harry S. Truman. In fact, since Truman, every president with the obvious exception of John F. Kennedy, has written some sort of post-presidential memoir. Their writings provide an interesting look behind the fence of the White House and into the rarefied atmosphere that is the U.S. presidency.

Of course, past presidents seem quite interested in their legacy and might be accused of writing memoirs to burnish their image as they fade into history. As an amateur student of history, I enjoy reading these books; but, to me their real value is the portrayal of what is certainly one of the most difficult and unique leadership challenges any person can shoulder.

The reader of an autobiography must always keep in mind that the work is written by the subject, and therefore must be more critically analyzed. Presidential autobiographies have an additional problem in that the author knows details about the events they relate that must be forever withheld from the general public. With these cautions in mind, I read Decision Points by George W. Bush.

President Bush took office under a cloud. The election of 2000 was a trying experience for the candidates in particular and the country as a whole. Though this cloud would stay with his presidency for the entire eight years, to his credit Bush did not let it sway his agenda. The keystone of that agenda was the push for education reform - until September 11, 2001.

As Bush details the events that followed that historic day the heavy weight of leadership clearly emerges. He explains his thoughts immediately following the attack and why he took the actions he did. He demonstrated that a leader is most effective when able to remain outwardly calm and remember that people are relying on him or her for thoughtful leadership.

Many other events happened during the Bush years and he is refreshingly honest about what he feels he didn't do well. In discussing Hurricane Katrina and the devastation the Gulf Coast, he clearly lays out the mistakes that were made, including his decision to fly over New Orleans, instead of landing. Again, his explanation provides a good lesson for leaders.

Knowing that any presidential visit is very disruptive, and stopping at that time would pull people away from the important task of trying to save lives, it seemed like a good decision. However, leaders must always remember that the perception of their action may have more impact than the action itself. Bush's decision was based on his desire to not exacerbate the situation. His action was seen as the exact opposite; as lack of concern for suffering people.

In the 222 years since George Washington was inaugurated as the first President in 1789 there have been only 44 presidents making that office one of the world's most exclusive leadership clubs. The U.S. president accepts a leadership role more difficult, more wide ranging, and more publicly scrutinized than any other. How he performed in that role provides a treasure trove from which the rest of us can glean lessons to become better leaders.

For those who were paying attention during the Bush presidency, Decision Points provides no real historical revelations, though Bush does discuss some very effective policy to help African nations fight AIDs which didn't get a lot of notice in the American press. There does seem to be a "set the record straight" agenda and maybe even a little legacy management, but I would expect that and it certainly doesn't take away from the value of the book. Whether you thought George W. Bush was a great president, a terrible president, or somewhere in-between, if you have leadership responsibilities, you need to read this book. Its significance is the view of rare leadership challenges.

Bob Mason is a speaker, trainer, and author of "Planning to Excel: Strategic Planning That Works." After 30 years of leadership experience he founded RLM Planning and Leadership to transform leadership by developing great leaders. Bob works with organizations that want to excel by training managers to lead and creating great strategic plans to keep leaders focused. See what he can do for you at http://www.planleadexcel.com/.

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.