I will never look at the future quite the same way again

Wow! This is the bet book on decision making I have ever read. I think that so many of us are unsure about the choices we make, and Where Do I Go has some advice that I applied to my life. It really works!

This is an excellent book, the kind of which is so sorely needed, in that it promotes reason, openness, and scholarliness-- all of which are found lacking in present day Islamic discourses. As an example of the above, in its chapter on Islamic pronouncements on sexual affairs, it reports and comments on the matter in an extensive way, with a most dispassionate scholasticism, especially regarding the prophet's sexuality and preferences. In doing that, it is doing something rare, yet utterly needing doing: That the man himself, whatever else he may have been, was also merely a human being, subject to human characteristics, not the unreachable, glittering, profound, glorious symbol of utterly complete perfection "for all times and all men" that Muslims have made him out to be, with such fierce conviction. Of course, the truth of the matter is that most Muslims themselves privately laugh at and violate such notions without a second thought in the conduct of their daily lives, especially nowadays; the reasons for the strong public/social presence of such notions is more deep and sinister, having more to do with the social nature of these people, and their treatment towards each other.

The ins and outs of Islam ...teaching alot and clearing misconceptions of many. It is truly an eye opener for those in doubt of the teaching taught to them by others...

it justifies every action...

A must for all women to keep informed of their rights and duties.

War, any war, is a sad and brutal indictment of failed politics and blundered diplomacy, but it always finds its willing supporters: militarists, super patriots, blind loyalists and cynical businessmen whose pursuit of profit knows no moral or ethical barrier. Could any war exist without them? This excellent book revealed many pages of World War II's history that I, and I suspect, many other people did not know existed - or existed on such a vast scope. It is both scholarly AND readable. It documents facts, not speculation. There can be little argument as to what went on during those years. Only someone suffering a massive bout of denial could argue with the facts. Still the book, with all that it reveals, and it reveals much, would not have guts or emotion without the perspective of the little guy. If anyone can read Mareno Mannucci's ordeal of his first night at Ford Werke and not see the pathos, feel his complete and total fear when he awakened alone and lost in the blackness of that night, with the sound of air raid alarms filling the tense night air and the shriek of his panicked voice joining the blaring alarms in a surreal duet of terror and helplessness, then that reader is not human. THAT memory of Mareno Mannucci probably is shared in one form or another by countless millions who experienced the war first hand. I wonder how many times he re-lived that night in the ensuing decades. The world should forever remember all the Mareno Mannuccis, whether they were frontline GIs, or Brits, or Russians, concentration camp prisoners, POWs, or slave laborers, but it won't. There's no profit in it. This is a real history book. Buy it, read it and remember it.

In Working For The Enemy: Ford, General Motors, And Forced Labor In Germany During The Second World War, Reinhold Billstein, Karola Fings, Anita Kugler, and Nicholas Levis effectively collaborate to present the reader with a revealing and meticulously presented series of essays on the history of German industry within the context of World War II. From airplane manufacture at a General Motors Subsidiary (1939-1945), to forced labor at Ford Werke in Cologne, this compelling and informative contribution to twentieth-century German history is a significant, scholarly, and welcome addition to academic collections and reading lists.

As a partner in a software startup company, I am far from being an ERISA expert. However, ERISA Facts helped me to understand and navigate the complexities of ERISA law. Filled with enough detail for "experts", it is still written in a format that a novice like me can understand. Costing less than many business lunches, ERISA Facts is one of the best tools I have obtained for my business.

Needham has done an excellent job with this 4-book series of giving his readers a big-picture of Church History. He does not cover material at great depth, but deals with the major characters, issues, and events that have shaped the history of the Christian church in enough detail to leave his readers with a good idea of how they each fit together in space and time.

The first book is concerned with the period of the Church Fathers; the second, the Middle Ages (including the foundation and early character of Islam); the third, the Reformation; and the fourth, the Post-reformation to the Modern age.

Needham correctly believes that Christians today can learn and profit from the lessons of the past: the battles that have already been fought, the issues that have already been debated, the leaders who have come before us, etc. And he is able to present all this information in a manner that leaves Christians excited about the great work Christ has done through His church, from the first century through to our own day.

walking through his colourful style in all portraits the reality is swept away and the eccentric personas survive

A plot description of "Accident" might make it seem like a conventional mystery/thriller novel, and yet it is not that at all. It's not a thriller (though it is a sort of moral and metaphysical mystery) and it is certainly not conventional. Mosley's use of language is innovative without being obscure -- he uses the rhythms of his words, sentences, and sentence fragments both to create suspense and to force the reader to pay as much attention to what is not being said and thought as what is (it's no surprise that the book was made into a film with a script by Harold Pinter).

"Accident" begins with a car accident. The narrator of the book, who we soon discover is a professor of philosophy at Oxford, lives near the accident site and is the first person on the scene. He discovers in the car a half-conscious woman and a dead man, both of whom are students of his. He carries the woman to his house, then calls the police. But he doesn't tell them about the woman.

The book moves backwards in time from there, and we get to know who these characters are and their tangled relationships to each other. At the end, we return to the accident, now fully understanding all of the forces playing into the situation.

The book is not quite 200 pages long, and yet its texture is so rich, its moral and philosophical questions so difficult, its language so perfect that it lives in the reader's (or, at least, this reader's) mind as books of twice its length do not.

Achieving Environmental Excellence: Integrating Pollution Prevention (P2) and Environmental Management System (EMS) to Increase Profits by Avrom Bendavid-Val and Dr. Nicholas Cheremisinoff is an excellent book for senior-level management. It provides a step-by-step, methodical approach to maximizing the long-term profitability and sustainability of a business by merging pollution prevention (P2) techniques with an environmental management system (EMS), and does so in a unique manner. The book was written as a sequel to Green Profits: The Manager's Handbook to ISO 14001 and Pollution Prevention (Butterworth Heinemann Publishers, 2001). Whereas Green Profits focuses on the fundamental tools for applying pollution prevention within the framework of an EMS, the present volume goes beyond by providing the reader with a flexible management structure that illustrates, with very straightforward explanations and examples, how companies can manage both regulatory and voluntary environmental concerns to maximize profits and minimize environmental risk. While there is literally an ocean of articles and books covering P2 and EMS, rarely can one find the two subjects melded together and in such a unique way. The authors present a model approach to developing a formalized EMS with P2 as the principle engine for financial performance tracking. The concept borderlines the subject of metrics, but focuses only on financial gains associated with good environmental performance. The concept presented is simple, but very eloquently explained. Surprisingly the literature does not present similar discussions.
There are eight chapters. Chapter 1 provides a detailed overview of EMS and ISO 14001. Chapter 2 provides an overview of P2. Of particular interest in this chapter is a breakdown of the costs associated with environmental compliance. The authors make a good point with regard to how traditional approaches tend to heavily discount so-called soft-costs, thereby opening the door for future and long-term liabilities. Chapter 3 discusses the authors' integrated EMS/P2 model program. This chapter sets the stage for the balance of the book and is worth a careful reading. Chapter 4 ' titled Getting Started, describes for the reader innovative approaches to establishing the entire P2/EMS program. Chapter 5 covers pre-planning activities. Chapter 6 covers planning priority environmental management initiatives. Chapter 7 covers planning pollution prevention initiatives and is an exceptionally well written chapter providing good information on life cycle costing and introducing unique concepts like P2 investment portfolios. Chapter 8 wraps up the volume by focusing on monitoring and the importance of top management review, and how to implement environmental management initiatives.
The book includes two in-depth case studies, reviews of six types of environmental management initiatives, has a glossary of EMS and P2 terms, photographs, diagrams, charts and calculations, and end-of-chapter summaries. It also includes an examination of the relationships between activities in each phase and the requirements of ISO14001 and how a company would fulfill ISO 14001 certification requirements through an integrated EMS/P2 approach.
The book is a great volume for senior managers, EH&S personnel, compliance officers, and engineers (especially because of the life cycle costing and risk assessment principles laced throughout the book). The authors are highly knowledgeable about the subject and their bios support a large international experience in applying the principles and practices presented in this volume. Dr. Cheremisinoff in particular is a well-known chemical engineer that has contributed many books and articles on pollution prevention to the industrial press.

Get to the mind of a troubled child and see the world through his or her eyes and feel the way they do and learn more than you ever thought you would!

This story provides a plausible explanation for Santa Claus, why he wears a red suit, makes toys, has reindeer, goes down chimneys, etc. I recall reading it many times while growing up; and as I was just finding out that my parents might be "helping" Santa, I was comforted by this book...as it even explains why parents would need to help. I think this is most appropriate for those at the tender age where they may not believe but still wish they could... and for anyone who loves a heartwarming Christmas story.