Though dated (written in the early 1980's), this book provides an accurate and thoroughly researched analysis of how institutional influences in the British press - cross-ownership with other industries, ideological bias of senior editorial staff - shape, and even distort the reporting of news.

It's written through a good old left wing lens - chapters deal with the media's treatment of women (the Greenham Common anti-nuke protests), race (race riots in London and Crime reporting), and sexuality (gay-activist Peter Tatchell's campaign for Parliament). As well, it details the broad anti-Labour consenus which drove news reporting in the UK during the 1980's general election campaigns.

This book complements well more systematic analyses of the media, such a Chomsky & Hermann's "Manufacturing Consent" by filling in the details of how the interests which own the media shape the news.

Peterson's work was key for changing my mind about the "half-way covenant" (the "compromise" solution the Puritans decided on around 1662 about what to do with children of other-wise moral and orthodox church attendees who had not experienced grace.) Before I read Peterson, I thought the half-way covenant was a sign of decline, an example of starting down the slippery slope of losing Puritan convictions. Peterson convinced me, though, that it was rather an expression of authentically evangelical concern for the world that made Puritanism so potent.

Peterson uses two churches as case studies: Boston's third church (I believe) and Edward Taylor's Westfield church. The Boston church embraced the half-way covenant; Taylor did not. Peterson then contrasts these two churches to demonstrate that Taylor's sleepy Westfield church had little impulse to reach the outside world while the Boston church was showed a genuine sense of responsibility for the spiritual welfare of its society. Peterson believe that this shows that the half-way covenant was an expression of that evangelical sense of social responsibility. He convinced me. However, his comparison has its weaknesses: the Boston church was, obviously, urban and led by active, cosmopolitan members; Westfield was rural and Taylor was an introverted poet (so introverted he never published his works as long as he lived!). It maybe these factors, rather than the adoption (or not) of the half-way covenant which was decisive. Or, perhaps the adoption (or not) of the half-way covenant was merely a symptom of these other factors. Nevertheless, Peterson made some substantial contributions from which I profited greatly.

Primer of Polysomnogram Interpretation is written for the clinician in sleep medicine, but is also useful for the sleep technologist who wants to understand how the collected PSG and clinical data is used to synthesize an interpretation and diagnosis.
The book is presented in two sections, the first of which explains normative sleep data, general factors to be considered when interpreting PSG's, evaluating sleep stages, cardio respiratory parameters, measures of daytime sleepiness and a discussion of CPAP, BiPAP and split night studies. The second section is comprised of eight case studies.
The format Pressman uses in the first section is quite straightforward and concise. For each topic he first defines a clinical finding and gives alternative equivalent expressions. He then explains the general significance of the finding and gives possible explanations for abnormal results. Each section is concluded with several narrative sample statements to be included in the interpretive report. Another useful feature of the book is that the author provides a general algorithm for interpretation of the different portions of the PSG. Pressman has included many samples of sleep histograms along with a method for interpretation.
The case studies portion of the book includes eight cases in which the PSG as well as patient sleep history, sleep diary, evening and morning questionnaires are used to synthesize a report and diagnosis.
The experience of reading Primer of Polysomnogram Interpretation is similar to having an experienced clinician sit down beside the sleep tech and having a record review session. It gives the technologist an appreciation of what the interpreting clinician is looking for and needs to make a good interpretation of a PSG.

Today I finished the 2nd week of a four week rotation in derm, and I have read about 2/3 of the book. Our derm dept lends the book to us during the rotation, and recommends that we buy it for our own referrence afterwards. In my opinion the book is a well written overview of the common presenting derm complaints. The format is clear, and well thought out. The presentation of each condition includes brief sections on incidence, PE, DDx, Tx, and pathology. The pictures are good. The one weakness is that it could have more pictures. I am very happy with the text, and I am hard to please. I don't give it five stars because I never give anything five stars. It is a great book for med students rotating thru derm, and is even a good reference text for gen'l practitioners. Not sure if I'll shell out the bucks for the book though at this point--I still have to figure out how to pay for tuition, which was just raised by 5% for next (my final!)year.

The book gives to the reader all basic information to start to think in Global Terms. All steps to face the new markets are presented in a objective view. Even if you work in a local company the book can make you think about threats which may come from abroad.

I got this book because the boss said to find something to help resolve the FCC/CE and other world EMI/EMC compliance issues we have, and it was instantly used and had the answers we needed.

It covers power and grounds, signal integrity, and used with Howard Johnson's book (High Speed Digital Design), gives a strong insight to the PC board layout issues of high speed digital and analog electronics.

This is a well written scholarly book dealing with a narrow subject. While not denying Aquinas a natural law position, he convincingly shows that the traditional emphasis on Aquinas' natural law position is misplaced, and that a careful reading of Aquinas demonstrates that prudence ought to be given a more central position in Aquinas' thought. Given the genre, the author manages to do this without being tedious.

Privacy 2000 discusses many US laws relating to a US citizens' seeking financial privacy in an international world. Discussions include Bank Secrecy Act, Money Laundering Control Act, Mutual Legal Assitance Treaties, Memorandum Of Understandings, Racketeering in Corrupt Organizations and how these servere laws can be applied to normal unsupecting citizens with grave consequnces. This book also list which countries participate in these agreements. Privacy 2000 explains the many reporting forms and when each must be filed. This book is expensive but worth every dollar to someone who wants to understand the possible consequences of a US citizen moving money and/or assets offshore.

I enjoyed reading this book. It is an easy read and is packed with useful information, though of course not everything will be applicable to every person's situation. Still, it provides a good framework for how a father might go through the process of rebuilding relations with kids he has left behind. I bought it with the idea of sending it to my "prodigal" father, who lives in another state and who I haven't seen in many years, to maybe encourage him to learn something. If I were a father who had left his family and wanted to try to reunite with my kids, I think this book would be a good starting point. It is primarily aimed at fathers with adolescent kids, though it does have information for fathers with older and younger kids, too. Even adult kids. It doesn't have all the answers, but it has many. It is especially good about warning prodigal fathers to fix their own lives and to be reliable and trustworthy for a change, which I think are the most important things that prodigal fathers must do if they expect their kids to want them back. It also does a good job of teaching prodigal fathers how to get rid of their own emotional baggage *before* trying to initiate contact. I think some prodigal fathers expect they can just waltz back into their kids' lives whenever they feel like it, and it just doesn't work that way. Too bad it's out of print -- I don't know how it compares to other books on this same topic, but it's worth looking for.

Mark Powell has written a haunting tale of life in World War II era South and North Carolina. After taking a course in Southern Lit at the University of South Carolina, I highly recommend Powell's work. He follows other southern writers in portraying life in the south but adds his own unique perspective. I found his work to be thought provoking. Anyone who has an interest in mystery or just wants to be challlenged to see life outside the normal box should read this work.