For all the religious rhetoric in justifying what is not biblical, the annual celebration of Jesus birth, resurrection, and keeping Sunday are nowhere to be found instructed in the Bible. Nor are the also pagan notions of immortal soul, going to heaven (when you don't die), and a triune Godhead.

Those who observe this unbiblical package of paganism do not practice the religion instructed in the Bible, nor do they represent the one and only religion of the Creator God, contained in it.

I believe anyone writting about the religion of the Bible should first read it, then if they believe contrary to it, disclose that and admit to a theology that has its origins elsewhere.

Ralph Woodrow is amazing. Formerly an anti-Catholic, Mr. Woodrow has now realized how hollow, one-sided, biased, and inaccurate the arguments are that attempt to suggest that there is a connection between the Catholic Church and paganism. Some who profess belief in Christ insist that Christmas trees are evil (condemned by the Bible), that December 25 is really the day of the winter solstice on which the pagans worshiped Sol Invictus (a sun-god) and therefore anyone who celebrates Christmas endorses pagan sun-worship, and that nowhere in Scripture are we commanded, or even ALLOWED, to celebrate Christ's birth.

In this book, Ralph Woodrow clearly shows that these arguments are based on an insufficient knowledge of the Bible, mere anti-Catholic bias, have no connection to history, and do not result from sound reasoning. There is no doubt that Woodrow really proves his case. His knowledge of the Bible is amazing, and his fairness in dealing with the issue is commendable. He is still not a Catholic, so some remarks in the book are at odds with Catholic doctrine, but Woodrow is a genuine seeker of truth, and that makes this book especially refreshing.

One of Ralph's best books yet, Christmas Reconsidered silences the hateful rhetoric from the anti-Christmas crowd. This rhetoric is less concerned about "truth" and more concerned about passing judgment on Christians who choose to exercise their liberty based on Romans 14 to keep days that they deem fit to keep. Ralph Woodrow pleads for sanity and reason in the X Mas debate, especially for those who use psuedo-research to show that X Mas was "pagan." Rev. Richard Lee

What I found really disappointing was that the supposed "workbook" has the word sample written all the way across each of the budgeting pages and that over half of the book contains a screenplay I can already look up on the internet.

I used this book along with a couple of other titles by Singleton while producing an independent feature from Aug-Nov 1998 ( now editing). I found it useful and direct, and the forms it contains and were helpful.

Hey -- do as I did. Get Singleton's Film Scheduling and his other book Film Budgeting and this one and use them together as a complete course on scheduling and budgeting. Then rent Coppola's The Conversation and watch it after doing your own schedule and budget. Much better than any $500 software program or quickie film course! Learn from a master (check out his credits on the IMDb). He knows what he's talking about.

Gunter Grass, The Flounder (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977)

I just couldn't get through it. I can't really put my finger on why, but there it is. The Flounder contains all the things I revere about Grass-- a strong sense of history, scurrlious sense of humor, strong characters put into wonderfully unrealistic situations. But this novel, Grass' weightiest (literally), never seems to come together in all the little ways that made similarly large tomes like The Tin Drum and Dog Years such wonderful reads.

The Flounder is a massive creation myth, seen through the eyes of a continually-reincarnated man, his continually-reincarnated longtime companion (who is always a cook of some sort), and the Flounder himself, who serves as a kind of fairy-godfather figure. In modern times, a group of feminists discover that the Flounder has been the architect of the overthrow of matriarchal society and put him on trial; the narrator and the Flounder use the trial as a method to go back over history and show the development of patriarchy in Poland, and how it relates to the potato. Yes, I'm serious.

The novel feels as if Grass had lost his sense of dynamic while writing it. The earlier long novels each keep the reader's interest with a series of climactic events, each leading up to the larger climax upon which the novel turns; The Flounder, on the other hand, continues on at the same rlatively leisurely pace in its survey of history. And that, ultimately, is its downfall; there's just too much of it without anything really going on, on a larger scale.

Definitely a bad starting place for Grass; turn to the Danzig trilogy instead. (zero)

I read this book when it first came out (1980?), and have read, in English or German, 4 other novels by GG. All were wonderful, but this was my favorite. It's "magic realism" that's both thought-provoking and very entertaining, and so well-written and translated. It's really too bad that it's out of print.

An outstanding statment by Grass on history, feminism, cooking and Joycean bodily details which encapsulates the obssession by the Germans of systems, machoness and abstractions that have led to disaster. But the book is a balanced look at the effects of excess feminism as well.

This book is severely out of date, but still provides a good introduction to the science of cosmetics. Real chemistry knowledge may be needed though! Not a moment too soon comes v2000 thankfully.

It was a good book that I found until this time

At last, the 2000 version of this classic book has been published. This book, unlike others in the market, is about cometicology, i.e., it includes a very thorough section on the physiology of the skin, nails and hair, that most books leave out. Then the other chapters provide not only the background for the production of different products but provide with very valuable formulation approaches and formulas. The manufacture of cosmetics chapter is specially useful. There is very little in the market when it comes to industrial production and the scale up process and this chapter is very instructive. A remarkable work as one would expect Dr. Rieger to render with the contribution of more than thirty world experts in different fields. Given the approach of the book, this reference should be helpful not only to cosmetologists but to cosmetic dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons and everybody in the cosmetic industry.

Clarke is an Arminian, that is he denies the doctrines of protestant reformed theology as taught by Luther, Calvin and all the great names of the protestant reformation. As such, I can't recommend this biased work to the church.

As a student of the Bible for over a decade, I've read countless commentaries on the Old and New Testaments. Most of these great authors kept quoting Dr. Adam Clarke. The information always quoted from Dr. Clarke was to say the least awe-inspiring, so I knew I had to purchase this commentary one day. The unfortunate news is that the abridger Ralph Earle has removed extremely important information such as the correct order of chapters of Jeremiah (which are incorrect in our current Bibles), as well as the 39 verses in 1 Samuel which are of doubtful authenticity, and should not have been included in the Holy Bible account. The book get three stars because I wanted to give Dr. Adam Clarke his deserved praise, but not a five star rating because of the irresponsible job done by Ralph Earle. We should all seek out the original 3-book series, or if out-of-print, search for the unabridged version on CD-Rom.

Adam Clarke's commentary is very unique. He believed in total sanctification and makes a very cogent argument for it. He is very scholarly , but very accessible. He takes the greek words and shows what they meant in greek works, like the Iliad,etc. He was not afraid to change the meaning of a verse when he thought that verse was inconsistent with the corpus of orthodoxy and to me, at least, it gives a much different interpretation than what i was taught..but he always backs up his interpretations with lucid commentary..would highly recommend..a definite call to holiness.

This book skips all the important details, it is fine for someone who is NOT going to Small Claims Court. This book is useless to the person who IS being sued.

The book is somewhat of a "pastepot" job, lacking in important details such as where to find pertinent law. Instead, the authors vaguely suggest "checking out" questions, but don't even tell in what code book the rules are to be found, or where to get the answers omitted from the book.

The book also suffers because the authors use it as a vehicle for personal opinions and editorializing. Mixed in with the factual information the reader seeks, is various opinion, suggestions, comments on the authors' opinions on how the law should be and so forth. This is extremely frustrating for the reader trying to use the book as a reference, diminishes the value of the book as a useful tool, and is generally considered unethical.

With a little more detail and work, and the personal stuff omitted, this would have been a much better book. The book is jnot completely useless in present form, but don't expect to find the answers you seek in this book only: the authors were too busy with their personal opinions to include the nitty-gritty needed by the buyer.

As Small Claims Legal Advisor for the Superior Court, County of San Francisco, for nearly 19 years, I recommend this book to anyone who needs nationwide information on small claims court. Why research each state individually when you can have it in one book?

Jeanne F. Stott

Sacchi's learned and erudite critique of Heidegger amounts to a complete rejection of Heidegger's insights based on the thesis that Heidegger's system does not allow for fruitful philosophic reflection, whereas the Scholastic-Thomist system does allow for deep reflection on the science of being.

I picked up this book expecting that Sacchi would thematize both the "Apocalptic" or revelatory aspect of Heidegger's thought as well as explicating the "esoteric" and "gnostic" aspects of Heidegger's early and later works. I was sadly disappointed, for Sacchi offers neither.

Instead Sacchi offers a sustained polemic (or more properly an apologia) in favor of Scholastic methods of metaphysics and against Heidegger's seemingly illogical and confusing attempts at approaching the question of being. It seems to me that Heidegger is saying something like: if we thinking about being using the tools and methods of Scholastic thought, we are already looking for a certain kind of being; whereas if we suspend one or more of these methods perhaps another kind of being will disclose itself to us. While this might be a radically different kind of investigation, I find Heidegger's claim not to be entirely disconnected to traditional philosophy as Sacchi wants to claim.

A more troubling quibble, Sacchi repeatedly argues that Heidegger follows in a line of idealistic thinkers from Parmenides to Kant to Hegel. Heidegger himself thought his system completely escaped the realism/idealism debate (we can dispute his claim, but we would need to understand why Heidegger thinks he can claim this).

Moreover, I particularly want to object to the claim that Parmenides is an "univocist monist" (p. 27). Some contemporary Parmenidean scholars (I'm thinking in particular of P. Curd: The Legacy of Parmenides) argue that the charge of monism is without foundation. Long before our modern debates about monism, dualism and pluralism, Parmenides articulated an original and altogether logical exposition of the meaning of being. I would be very interested if Sacchi or other Thomists could articulate a Scholastic response or commentary on the extant fragments of the Eleatic as it seems that Parmenides might have a lot to offer to philosophers who are rigorously and systematically trained.

Sacchi's claim that Heidegger is an alter Parmenides (p. 35) stands in tension with Sacchi's claim that Heidegger rejects traditional logic. If Heidegger rejects logic, then he would reject Parmenides too, for Parmenides relies above all else on the principle of non-contradiction as the first law of thought and of being to unfold his entire exposition of being. If however Heidegger is to be our alter Parmenides (in the line of idealistic monism as Sacchi claims), then Heidegger cannot reject logic. This tension seems to strike at the heart of Sacchi's treatment of Heidegger as both anti-philosophical and the end of a long line of idealist thinkers.

Stanley Rosen's The Question of Being: a Reversal of Heidegger is a much more sympathetic articulation of what's wrong with Heidegger, and I recommend Rosen's book very highly.

I waited at least 6 months for this book to finally become available. My anticipation was magnified by the remarkably cogent and faithfully Thomistic essays written by Mario Enrique Sacchi and posted at the Jacques Maritain Center. I still consider him to be one of a handful of the sharpest Thomists out there.

But, alas, the book fell far short of my expectations. The previous reviewer mentioned in a review of Caputo's Book on Aquinas and Heidegger that Thomists might prefer this more polemical work by Sacchi. Unfortunately, I think that the only people who will wade through this book at all are dyed-in-the-wool Thomists, which, given the capacities of the Argentine author, is a real disappointment. In fact, I now wish I had rated Caputo's book more highly, so that I would not equate the level of argumentation in the two by a common three-star rating.

This book, short as it is, could have been a lot shorter still. It seems to circle about in the same polemical tracks without showing for this any significant gain in understanding. In fact, Dr. Sacchi really missed the point on which the debate between Aquinas and Heidegger turns. Using Heidegger's terminology of the "ontological difference" between "being" and beings and the "theological difference" between the First Being (God) and beings, the two thinkers give a different priority to them. Aquinas makes the "ontological difference" subordinate to the "theological difference"; Heidegger does the opposite. So the burden of refuting Heidegger is to show that the "ontological difference" is indeed subordinated to the "theological difference". And that would require a deep investigation of the meaning of the "analogy of being" in Saint Thomas. That really does not take place, and I do not recall so much as a single productive reference to Thomas' "analogy of being". Rather, there is too much circular reasoning of the sort which says that Heidegger's mistake was that he was not a Thomist and did not understand the centrality of the act-of-being ("esse"). I think that Caputo in his own work showed decisively that repeating this word like a mantra does not really get at Heidegger's critique, because act-of-being ("esse") and essence ("essentia") would be another pair of poles in which "being" reveals itself, but in no way capture "being" exhaustively. Esse/essentia would merely be a temporally conditioned revelation of "being", but "being" itself withdraws from us.

Perhaps I will read the book again at some point to further sift his arguments. But I am far more inclined to reread Caputo at this point.

Sacchi competently shows how Heidegger's use of the term "Being" is so nebulous that it cannot function as a sufficiently refined notion for a truly penetrating "thinking on being". By contrast, Sacchi explains, Aquinas' doctrine of "esse" (the act of existence) serves well for deep metaphysical reflection on God and His creatures (angels, man, animals, plants, minerals). Heidegger erred in departing from the traditional Scholastic machinery of potency/act, essence/existence, matter/form, substance/accidents. Only with these concepts ready at hand can one lay a firm philosophical foundation for theology and apologetics.
It seems to me that Heidegger's "critique" of the so-called "oblivion of being" by the Scholastics can be answered with a mere shoulder-shrug. I don't see how it is really a negative criticism (at least not anything devastating or monumental) to point out that they are "guilty" of promoting a congealed ontology of "sheer presence" rather than Heidegger's favored "emergence" or "unconcealment" or "presencing within absencing". It is doubtful whether this sort of "thinking about being" goes anywhere that is relevant for either philosophy or theology; it seems to lead to a dead-end, by contrast with the richly honed tools of Thomistic metaphysical analysis.
From my perspective, the question of the "theological difference between God and creatures" versus the "ontological diff-erence between Being and beings" can be answered with Aquinas' doctrine on the analogy of being. "Ens commune" can be truly predicated of both God and creatures (all of whom are "beings"), but in radically diverse ways according to an analogy of proper proportionality (since creatures have an "essence" that is a limiting potency for their "act of existence", which is not the case for God who is "Ipsum Esse Subsistens"). There is no need to seek refuge in a notion of Being as "unconcealment" or "emergence into the clearing" or "presencing within absencing". These insights (whatever their value) do not seem anywhere near as helpful for philosophy and theology as Aquinas' Aristotelian-Platonic Scholastic machinery.

This book recounts in vivid detail how Viet General Giap defeated
French General Navarre in the game of grand strategy played out in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The author contrasts the intense patriotism and self sacrifice of the Vietminh soldiers against the professionalism and devotion to honor of the French units. Maybe the book deserves 4 stars instead of the three I gave it but I thought the writers style left a little to be desired. All around though a very good book and worthy to sit in any history buffs collection. Note: I had to comment on the previous persons review who ignorantly badmouthed the French army while not even offering a review of the books merits. It takes more than watching a couple of History Channel specials to understand a nations motivations and willingness to fight. The heroism displayed by the French soldiers at Dienbienphu was just one more example of their well known devotion to duty. Ever heard of Camerone, Verdun, Birhacheim or the great victory at Austerlitz? Make sure you get your facts straight before insulting a nations military achievements.

I've watched the History channel inteviews of the German soldiers being interviewed with questions about "who were your most fiercest enemies"? The German's usually replied either the English or the Americans. No German's mentioned the French. The French as our allies, was always bailed out by the Americans. Some Americans say that the French is only good for surrendering!

Only having limited exposure to the battle of Dien Bien Phu, I looked forward to learning about this decisive battle. Mr. Roy has written a saddening, gripping account of sufferings and heroism displayed by the French troops. Of course, I wish he had given more time to the VienMihn, but since he is French... he had to place more emphasis on the French experience. Without doubt, this book is not for arm-chair generals who wish to learn about battles to debate with others. This book is for those who wish to learn everything about the war: Horrors, deaths, sadness, defeat, struggles, honor, disgrace.

Generally, I am very happy with Syngress books, but not this one. First of all, the writing style is very difficult to follow at times.. It's kind of hard to explain but it's almost like the authors are trying to find the most confusing way to explain things.

I was also dissapointed to read so much of the same stuff that is available directly in the Citrix manuals (albeit the Citrix literature is much more clear). The funny thing is there is a ... editorial review that says that this book actually explains what all the heading do in the CMC. Well guess what? SO DOES THE MANUAL!! (Except the manual is free, not... like this book.) Of course I noticed this review after I bought the book.

I'm kind of new to Citrix, but even I found an error (this book says that MS License Servers must run on a domain controller--but that's not true because ours aren't). I know that mistakes are common in tech books, but now I kind of wonder what else is wrong with it.

Overall, the book does seem to cover a lot of areas, but there's a lot to read through to get to anything useful.

The book description says that it comes with a CD-ROM, but mine sure didn't. No mention of it anywhere.

Other than that, the book is not stellar, but OK. It tends to repeat itself at times as is common in books written by multiple authors.

I have been working with Citrix products for a few years now and my company has recently decided to migrate to MF XP. Having little experience with the product i turned to books. Syngress always delivered for me and i found this book published by them.

I am extremely happy with the content in the book, covered everything i needed to know and more. This book has been invaluable in my migration form MF 1.8 to XP.

I most definately recommednt his book....

This book should be included in a HP catalog as part of its "tutorial" section. It should be free and certainly does not worth the money. It took me about an hour to read through the book when I was sipping my coffee at Borders. After finishing the book, I found my coffee worth more to me than the book. If you want to learn Fibre Channel, you don't need any book. Just go to the internet. If you really like to spend your money, put your money on a booklet published by the Fibre Channel Association...

I found Ralph Thornburgh's book, Fibre Channel for Mass Storage, to be a very useful source of information about the new technology of Fibre Channel. It is logically laid out, taking the reader from the very rudiments of Fibre Channel to a discussion of the highly-complex subject of Hewlett-Packard's addressing schemes.

The book is written in simple terms and features many useful illustrations. It really worked for me.

I work in Information Technology at a very large financial institution in Sacramento. As a result, it's imperative that I stay up to date on the latest technologies, especially mass storage and connectivity.

For the most part, the book is well done. I especially enjoyed the presentation of HP's latest Fibre Channel products. However, I would caution the editors to exercise a newer approach to book design, as some of the page layout elements seem to interfere with the development of the text.

In conclusion, I believe your money is well spent in buying this book. It provides a complete definition of Fibre Channel (from the HP perspective) in only about 150 pages. A longer book wouldn't have served me nearly as well.

I always new that a good ole boy from Indiana could succeed in the world of business in the great progressive State of California. Keep up the good work