Of course, those leaders can only reflect the nature of the overall trade union movement. Trade unions in the US have historically been both exclusionary and, since WWII, controlling in their relationship to the working class. Most trade unions, until only very recently, have focused on protecting the relatively privileged position of white, skilled craftsmen within the economy while either outright excluding or only rhetorically supporting the largest portion of the working class due to differences in race, ethnicity, gender, or skill level. The rise of industrial unions in the WWII era, despite being a small step in the direction of inclusion, ushered in a labor relations regime where labor unions' role became one of enforcing constraining collective bargaining agreements as much as the representation of workers.

By the early 1950s union officials, as typified by Meany and Kirkland, came to see themselves as the counterpart to business leaders in a labor-management accord. They adopted the same lifestyles and moved in the same social circles. Labor officials, in their newfound role, had no problem with making the world safe for business interests. So-called radical unions and unionists with their demands for worker activism at the point of production were purged from the AFL and unions. The AFL and AFL-CIO under the regimes of Meany and Kirkland collaborated with the US intelligence community through a series of front committees and councils to defeat popular movements in favor of pro-US, right-wing thugs in foreign lands, especially Latin America. Even though the PATCO fiasco of 1981 clearly showed the shredding of the post-WWII domestic social compact, the focus of the AFL-CIO remained on expending tremendous amounts of federation resources on dubious foreign operations.

Clearly, Meany and Kirkland did little to advance the interests of US workers, but the author does not really address the weakly federated structure of organized labor in the US. Given the independence of the AFL's constituent unions and the history of organized labor through WWII, were Meany and Kirkland types not almost predictable? Perhaps they do deserve the author's scorn as symbols of the ineffectualness of organized labor, but the problems run much deeper.

The author more than hints that the Gompers-Meany-Kirkland threesome squashed the desires of the US working class to establish some sort of workers democratic regime - his admiration for the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) being a tip-off. But that view may be mostly wishful. He cites the Knights of Labor as indicative of working class interest in social unionism, but it is clear that only a small portion of the membership of that organization supported the KOL position of transforming the US into a cooperative society. In fact the KOL impaled itself on traditional, yet failed, strike actions. The author does not attempt to quantify, or place in a broader perspective, the impact of the 1890-1920 movements of populism, the IWW, and socialism on the wider society. Though Gompers, a socialist in his early working days, was clearly unsympathetic towards these movements, the attribution that he was a major factor in their demise seems very questionable. His power to influence events pales in comparison to power of various organs of the state, especially the judiciary, and corporations to adversely affect the working class.

Though the author continually raises the issue of worker democracy as a rebuke to the policies of labor leadership, there is scant reflection on what worker democracy may entail. It would have been unthinkable that the author's much admired IWW would have tolerated third-party bureaucratic organizations like unions negotiating contracts for workers. The IWW wanted direct worker control at the point of production for all workers. But then the practical questions of social and economic coordination arise quickly with such radical decentralization. Nonetheless, the author does not attempt to resolve in any practical way the conflict between actual democracy and the current form of organized labor in the US. Nor is there any real assessment of the desire of the American working class to participate in some form of IWW-like democracy.

The author does not limit himself to the personalities that have led the AFL-CIO. He is determined to identify countless former communists and socialists of labor organizations who renounced their radical pasts and joined neo-conservative political bodies or collaborated with the intelligence community. The fact that the author is a socialist undoubtedly is germane to his mission of identifying those who have abandoned the cause.

A book that is so intent on skewering personalities usually suffers as a result and this one is no exception. The author hints at but does not pursue some worthy topics. What is worker democracy? Are trade unions compatible with such democracy? Aren't centralization and bureaucracy necessary in any complex society? Now those are topics worthy for a book on the labor movement and the working class.

Water is the only resource for which there is no substitute. The world's water resources are plagued with a great variety of problems, and they typically fall into one of five broad groups- availability, quantity, quality, distribution, and competing agendas. Rich countries are increasingly finding themselves pitted against poor countries for limited water resources. In many instances, large and wasteful consumers are taking needed, precious quantities from others to slake their insatiable demand. Furthermore, more societies are reaching farther and farther to acquire this precious and critical resource.

Tapped Out has a number of favorable attributes. The book introduces the reader to the problem in an easy to understand manner. All technical terms are clearly defined as they are presented, and the book succeeds immensely in achieving its stated goal- eliciting the reader's interest in water issues. Moreover, Mr. Simon goes beyond lamenting the situation, and offers practical solutions to the problem. Finally, Mr. Simon shows the reader how the average person can be part of the solution to the problem. The reader is not left feeling overwhelmed and powerless in the face of the sheer magnitude of the problem. As such, the book is a good call to action overall.

However, there are a few moderate demerits, primarily structural, to the text. First, Mr. Simon cites too many examples in the first half of the text. These examples, while informative, come one after another and at times made the reading rather plodding. Instead, each major point should have been isolated, described in general terms, and then two to three examples which elaborate on each point should have been cited. That way, the reader gets a true sense of the problem while at the same time learning and more importantly retaining the pertinent facts. Second, the book relies too much on text, making the book very monotonous at times. Pictures would have added considerable value to the text. In addition a global map that explicitly displayed the distribution of the world's water resources, as well as the areas where water shortages are a problem, would also have been helpful. Moreover, the inclusion of graphs depicting trends in population, water supply and water consumption would also have been useful. Finally, future editions of the text should include a more balanced discussion of the technical challenges associated with water purification, desalination, and energy requirements and costs.

While I agree in principle with many of the points that Mr. Simon raises in his book, I have very strong reservations about Mr. Simon's solution to the water supply problem. Unfortunately, American bays, coastlines, rivers and lakes have earned the dubious distinction of becoming our nation's 'Great Toilet'. Mr. Simon has very high hopes that one day in the near future, we will desalinate the dirty water from this make-shift natural toilet for the purposes of human consumption and agricultural production.

Given the current state of the art, it may not be possible to use reclaimed water or seawater on any appreciable scale to avert water shortages. Traditionally, wastewater treatment is used to bring microbial and organic loads down to a 'safe' level so that the wastewater can be discharged to natural water systems. These natural systems then do the rest, primarily via dilution, entrapment, and degradation processes. Considering the deplorable state of the nation's waterways and coastlines, a desalination plant on the coast would have to be immediately adjacent to and downstream of a wastewater treatment plant. Moreover, each step in the process would create waste- effluents that would either have to be disposed of or put in some way to use. Finally, the process would also require a dedicated energy source. Desalination schemes currently require large amounts of energy for their operation, and as they are envisioned, will require huge energy input. As such, I am afraid that these schemes will ultimately play into the already strong hand of the energy companies. Solar energy, while a possibility, depends on area, and a given area, usually quite large, is required to satisfy a very limited water demand. Should demand increase, one would have very little maneuvering room when looking to scale up a solar-driven process. Therefore, solar-driven processes may be extremely limited, leaving only fossil fuels and nuclear power to provide the necessary energy. As a result, the cost of desalinated water if deployed on a large scale would inevitably track the cost of energy very closely. Thus, I suspect that energy companies are salivating at the prospect of such large-scale desalination schemes becoming reality.

In conclusion, this book, along with J R McNeil's Something New Under the Sun, has forced me to seriously consider the social, ecological, and environmental consequences associated with the adoption and deployment of any techno-economic process. After reading this book, I am now one more person who is strongly motivated to work towards a practical solution to a problem that affects all of us in the global community.

As usually, I first looked at the physical form of the book. I'm interesting with its full color design. I'm quite sure that this book is expensive enough. And I'm true, it's $49.99. I hoped that the content will equal with the price.

From the user level category at the back cover, I know that this book for New until Casual user. I wonder how it will explain about great web design for new user. After I read and passed chapter to chapter, I have plus mark for this book. It teaches the user how to layout the position of every object in the web page for nice looking purpose. With its full color figures, will make user enjoy their trip to great web design.

But, I have found one big minus mark for this book. It doesn't explain the syntax of HTML itself deeply. It just explains a few of HTML tags, and shows great figure of each example. If new user buy this book, he will be disappointed with the lack of HTML tag explained here.

Finally, for new user that had previous knowledge of HTML syntax or had the HTML Reference Book, buying this book is good for improving the knowledge of web page great design with nice looking. But for the truly new, it's not recommended to buy this book because its lacking of HTML syntax especially frame syntax. For $49.99 it's equal for full color examples and full loaded shareware programs for this book, but not for referencing HTML deeply.

If only the author actually got to the point and described what he calls "Ultra Solutions" in a manner that wasn't so annoying, this would be an ok book. The content is potentially interesting, but is wrapped in so much fluff that I found it impossible to finish the book.

THIS IS NOT A BOOK FOR YOU, IF YOU ARE A N.AMERICAN COLLEGE GRAD WHO BLENDS IN PASSIONATE MEDIA-SPUN OPINIONS WITH LARGE DOLLOPS OF PERSONAL IGNORANCE; AND WHOSE READING RANGE STOPPED SOMEWHERE SHORT OF YOUR PRESCRIBED TEXTBOOKS PLUS 'WHO MOVED MY CHEESE'!

THE GERMAN REVIEWER ALSO PUTS HIS FINGER ON THE PROBLEM THAT THIS IS A TRANSLATION FROM THE GERMAN INTO 'AMERRYENGLISH'. PERHAPS SOMETHING HAS BEEN LOST IN THE PROCESS, BUT NOT MUCH FROM WHAT I CAN SEE.

IT HELPS IF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH KARL POPPER'S WORK, EVEN MORE SO IF YOU BELIEVE THAT POPPER WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT EPISTEMOLOGIST OF THE 20TH CENTURY.

WATZLAWICK IS A POPPER POPULARISER WHO DOESN'T PATRONISE.

DON'T TOUCH THIS BOOK, IF YOUR IDEA OF A GREAT TREATISE ON MANAGEMENT IS 'THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER', OR IF YOU IMAGINE THAT PETER DRUCKER IS MUCH MORE THAN A WSJ COLUMNIST.

BUT, IF YOU TAKE DECISION-MAKING SERIOUSLY, BELIEVE THE 'PETER PRINCIPLE' STILL APPLIES, EVEN MORE SO TODAY THAN WHEN IT WAS WRITTEN (BY A CANADIAN, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN), THEN THIS AMUSING LITTLE GEM WILL DELIGHT YOU.

WARNING: WRITTEN IN 1988, IT PREFIGURES THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WITH UNCANNY ACCURACY. THE TITLE SAYS IT ALL. IN A NUTSHELL, HIS EXPOSITION, AS I READ IT, PREDICTS THAT A VERY NASTY SHOCK IS NOW LOOMING FOR AMERICA, WHICH WILL ONLY ADD INSULT TO THE TERRIBLE WTC INJURY ALREADY INFLICTED.

WHAT A TRAGEDY THAT 'ULTRA-SOLUTIONS' ISN'T ON GEO'S NIGHTSTAND, AT A TIME WHEN AMERICA NEEDS BRAINS INSTEAD OF BOMBS.

Be aware, however, of very technical sentences like: "Containment and visibility are key characteristics of model elements in packages. Packages encapsulate the model elements htey contain and define their visibility as private, protected, or public." Certainly for somebody with a good understanding of OOAD can discern what is going on, but you will find that many, maybe too many, are written in this way.

In the same way that it amazes me that Rational presumes to tell developers how they should develop software while their own software is a buggered up mess of different pieces that don't work well together (and companies a fraction of their size are now competing with them favorably), it is a little surprising to see how poor the organization of this book is and how many times you see a subject in a chapter or section heading and expect a serious drive, but end up with another little chip shot. The last chapter of the book (putting the pieces together [A for originality]) is almost a joke, but endemic: the author just summarizes the work of another guy, making a couple little points and quoting liberally. Methinks he was huffing and puffing by this point in his little journey.

If you are buying this for the 'patterns' be forewarned: a. there are precious few of them, and b. as is so often the case, everything down to a design tip qualifies as a pattern in this guy's mind. 'Seven Plus or Minus Two' is one of his patterns. It basically means people are only capable of keeping between 5 and 9 concepts in play at once. Ok, good thing to stress, but is this a pattern?

In reality, this book is good for one thing primarily: spurring you to consider some things that you probably had not considered before. For instance, there is a good discussion of the difference between business modeling and domain modeling, that considers also the role of vision in modeling (which is rare), and overall that is very useful. The chapter on Product (focusing design on product more so than on just managing tasks) started out very promising and ended up being just a couple of ideas. If you are a person who looks to a book to just turn over practical, useable nuggets and get out of the way, this one is not for you.

Those who were not terrible cognizant of the sometimes stark and sometimes ambigious realities of the Cold War will find this an engaging read.

More than just a series of anecdotes strung together with a calendar, Ulam presents us with gripping and often moving tales from his past - including, most notably (to me), his departure from Poland at the age of 16, just six days before Hitler's invasion.

This is a book I'll proudly display on my shelf; it's certainly not one I would have run out and bought the second it hit the shelves, but it was, like a roller-coaster ride through the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, a breathtaking journey, and one I'll revisit again and again.

The novel works both as the story of a single man's life and in exploring more generally how Czech society after Communism did and did not live of to the dreams of freedom that its citizens had. There is a safety in unattainable dreams that is no longer there once they are realizable. (Think _The Iceman Cometh_.)