If you think there's no way for business to flourish and the environment to be protected, this is the book for you. If you wonder how civic society can survive the globalization of business, this is the book for you. In this slim and readable book, Peter G. Brown, Professor at McGill University and Director of the McGill School of Environment, presents a program that can change how citizens, businesses, non-profit institutions, and governments think about, and act on, today's pressing social, environmental, economic, and political problems. He presents a moral basis for the very practical decisions required to balance the needs and rights of all life with the economic and government institutions required to secure them.

The book has three broad themes. The first asserts that the goal of universal progress for humans is best achieved by respecting these basic rights: "bodily integriy; moral, religious, and political choice; and subsistence." We need to insure that these rights are available to all humans. The second theme is that concerns for life must include the animals and plants, indeed the entire environment, with which we share the Earth. Prof. Brown calls this the "commonwealth of life" and points out that this is not a new or revolutionary idea. The third theme is that of stewardship, "our responsibility to restore, protect, and enhance the commonwealth of life." The idea of stewardship provides objectives for economics, and for the roles of individuals and governments in participating in and regulating economic activities.

Peter Brown skillfully and forcefully argues for a sensible and workable moral base upon which we can make instrumental choices regarding economic, business, government, and civic practice that provide the basic rights to all humans and enable stewardship for the commonwealth of life. No matter what one's political, religious, or practical views are on how we might achieve a humane, safe, and sustainable world, this book will provoke and challenge your ideas and your actions. You should send a copy to your government representatives. I did.

This is my favorite New York Guidebook. I lived in New York City for 5 years, and although I was in my thirties, whenever my friends would come to visit me in New York, I would pull out my Kid's Guide to New York to remind me of the most fun things to do in the city. Too bad it is 12 years old. Much of the material is still valuable, and it wouldn't take much to update it for 2002. I'd like to give a copy to a 9 year old who will be visiting the city for the first time next month.

The preface states that any book focusing on Hollywood's past as informed by the personalities, is burdened by gossip, speculation, and outright lies - a source described by Norman Mailer as "factoids". This book has jumping chronology, splintered focus, occasional repetition, and there is no attempt to present the full biographies of these ladies, but the Browns have the knack of presenting trash on a silver tray. It all started with Louis B Mayer. After he had established his studio he saw that audiences were more captivated by women than men, so he set about finding star actresses. Unable to borrow Gloria Swanson or Mary Pickford, he devised a battle plan where he would create his own stars - Daddy's little girls, who were thirsty enough to "drink from his goblet of temptation". This is how the careers of Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford were launched. Crawford's rise is paralled with the downfall of Mae Murray, who re-made herself after extensive plastic surgery into a Jazz age baby with bee-stung lips at the age of 39. Although Mayer grew impatient with her demand for extravagance, and she battled with director Erich Von Stroheim on The Merry Widow, she was the number one box office attraction in the world. But it all ended when she ran off with a phony Russian prince, and ended up sleeping on a park bench. It is thought that Crawford's feud with Norma Shearer began when Joan's first film appearance was one line with her back to the camera, while Shearer acted. Crawford was shrewd enough to see Murray's example and play the obedient employee, agreeing to a regimented diet not unlike the one imposed on Judy Garland, and in a Faustian gesture, trading happiness for fame. Mayer imparted a strict moral over his stars. It was one thing to perceive onscreen dalliance when he thought the "dirty dancing" employed by Gene Kelly and Judy Garland in The Pirate's Voodoo number revealed Garland's interest in Kelly, with her own husband directing proceedings, and ordered the scene deleted from the film (though later we are told the tale of Garland's drug-induced paranoia that left the number incomplete). It was worse when the stars made offscreen love. A case in point was Crawford and Clark Gable, both married at the time, though Gable at the time was not yet the star he would become. Mayer used this as leverage and since Gable prized his career over his love for Crawford, Mayer won. Some stars had the opposite problem. It is said that Garbo's erotic kissing of Robert Taylor's face in Camille is due more to her frustration of his fear of touching her. Garbo is said to have poured over every magazine and gossip column that mentioned her "in a manner that would have made an adolescent girl blush". The world's fascination with her was ironic because in private she was shallow and the owner of "a chilly soul". The myth of her reclusiveness was created to cover her public incompetence. Her sets were closed, she was even separated from her crew, and the studio wasn't even told her home address! Her agent Harry Eddington devised the Garbo drag of sacklike clothes, large hat and dark glasses and her private life became as much as performance as those in her films. It is said that Hitler was responsible for the end of her career, by throwing Europe into war and cutting off the distribution channels for American movies. Her European box office is what kept her a star, though I understood that Ninotchka was a hit for her in America. Marion Davies is described as a butterfly "with glue on her wings" referring to her lover, William Randolph Hearst. We are told that Mayer ordered the studio doctor's prescription of sedatives and stimulants for Judy Garland but arranged it so that Judy's mother was the one who gave them to her. Mayer's agenda was greed and any extra poundage Judy might put on required new costumes, retakes, special editing and continuity nightmares. Her body clock had been established when as a child in vaudeville, she worked late at night and slept until 12 the next day. However the stories of Garland on Annie Get Your Gun are clearly untrue and unnecessarily cruel in light of the surviving footage and soundtrack. Other "tragic muses" covered include Barbara LaMarr, who was known as "the girl who was too beautiful" and became addicted to morphine after the studio prescribed it for a sprained ankle; Alma Rubens, another studio-created drug addict; and Jean Harlow. Mayer invented the legend that Paul Bern was impotent and had shruken genitals when it was initially thought that Harlow would be indicted for his murder, as a way to protect the studio by throwing Jean to the wolves. Friday's Child Lana Turner and the Johnny Stompanato killing is raised with nothing new apart from the studios low opinion of Lana's taste in men; and at the height of the Liz/Debbie/Eddie saga, MGM tactfully cast Liz as a whore in Butterfield 8. She got the last laugh when she won the Oscar. Connie Francis may qualify as a latter MGM girl, but she is remembered more for her albums than her films, and perhaps even more for her 1974 rape and ensuing depression. The last of the breed, like Ann Miller, Debbie Reynolds, Jane Powell and Cyd Charisse survived by performing on the road, in Las Vegas and regional theatre. Others like Lucille Ball and Ann Southern did television, but only Liz would last in films and even her time was finite. Mayer had been fired and was dead, MGM closed, the backlots demolished and artifacts like Dorothy's ruby slippers auctioned. The advent of New Wave movies, TV, and the collapse of the studios had made the MGM stars dinosaurs.

With stories like "Ferryman" (Eric Brown), "The White Stuff" (Peter F. Hamilton & Graham Joyce), and "A Night on Bare Mountain" (Graham Charnock), anthologies don't get any better than this. My only quibble is with the experimental narrative "Thirteen Views of a Cardboard City"(William Gibson) which rounds out the volume with a whimper, not a bang. Otherwise, this is Hugo & Nebula territory.

After being asked to read this for the third night in a row by my 5 year old daughter and 3 year old son, I thought, well if they love it, other kids will too. The kids seem to get caught up in the imagery of galloping around a toy shop on the back of a rocking horse. It's a great bedtime storybook, both in length and content.

This book was a favorite of my childhood and I still read it to this day. I pick it up somtimes at night or just when I want a quick read! All children will love this story.

This book is a great book for setting up samba!

I have a copy of "SUCH DEVOTED SISTERS: THOSE FABULOUS GABORS, and it's a very good book. It tells about their childhood in Hungary, then coming over here to the United States during World War II, and getting themselves established as international superstars.

Although Zsa Zsa's life has been full of scandal, Eva had very little scandal in her life. I can certainly understand why Eva was devastated after hearing that her last two husbands had cheated on her and were having affairs, and never remarried again after that. She hated cheating and lying, and because she was very hurt by these last two divorces, she managed to pull herself together and move on.

This book needs to be updated because a lot has happened since this book was first published in 1985. Zsa Zsa was arrested for slapping a Beverly Hills police officer in 1989, went on trial for it, was found guilty, and sentenced to three days in jail. Their mother Jolie's third husband died in 1990.

It should also tell about Eva's untimely illness and sudden death in 1995. On June 20 of that year, she went to Mexico on a week's vacation, and while she was there, she fell and broke her hip. She was then taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los
Angeles, and upon be admitted, her lungs will already filling up with fluid. She was diagnosed with viral pneumonia and given antiobotics and medication, but then she fell into a coma and died on July 4, America's 219th birthday. Unfortunately, her longtime friend and companion Merv Griffin was in Atlantic City at the time of her death, but he did go to the funeral, which was held on Saturday, July 8 at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

Jolie died on April 1, 1997 at the age of 101, and Magda died of a kidney infection just two months later, on June 6, just three days before her 80th birthday. Isn't it ironic that Eva died on the Fourth of July, Jolie on April Fools' Day, and Magda on the anniversary of both the D-Day invasion and the day that Bobby Kennedy was killed.

With the deaths of Eva, Jolie, and Magada (their father, Vilmos died back in the early 60's. He stayed in Hungary, and did not come to America.), Zsa Zsa is now the only surviving Gabor. Zsa Zsa has sort of stayed out of the spotlight ever since Eva died. I have read in the tabloids that she misses her mother and sisters dearly and just simply talks about the old days. Zsa Zsa should understand that Eva, Jolie, and Magda are in a better place today, and that she will one day see them again. In fact, in a 1997 article of "THE GLOBE", which was published at the time of Magda's death, Zsa Zsa said that there'll be so much fun in Heaven when all the Gabors are there, and guess who's going to be there with them; me.

I had been a big fan of Eva since 1966 when I first saw her on "GREEN ACRES", and when I heard the news of her death, I couldn't believe it at first. But then in August of '97, my cable company added TV Land to it's lineup, which at the time was airing the reruns of "GREEN ACRES", and I just started crying on and off. I just couldn't accept the fact that my very favortie actress and the idol of my youth, Eva Gabor, was now deceased. No other actor or actress in Hollywood will ever take her place as my favorite performer of all time. Although she's gone now, Eva is definitely not forgotten, and she shouldn't be forgotten by Hollywood either. I plan to visit Eva's grave at Westwood Memorial Cemetery the next time that I go out to Los Angeles. When I lay flowers at her grave, I just want to let her know that I was her Number One fan, that I truly and deeply miss her, that I think about her all the time, and that I'll see her in the next life. To me, EVA GABOR STILL LIVES!!

In this book, Poco, "the curious scientist," gets asked a difficult question: "What good is a cactus?" He goes into the desert to search for the answer and some beautiful insights emerge. Lovely illustrations enhance the beauty of this thoughtful little book.

This is a wonderful book for helping children gain an awareness of ecological connections. I am an environmental educator in southern California who teaches in an outdoor science school (5th-6th grades), and I find this book to be a wonderful springboard for writing. When we are studying ecosystems or plants (the book works well with either), I take the students to a special place and read it aloud to them. After reading, I ask them to think about the different plants we have studied and challenge them to write a story, essay or poem (or even conduct an "interview" with the other members of the natural community) answering the question, "What good is a ________?" Replacing "Cactus" with another plant (or anything else in nature, for that matter). Some wonderful stories showing understanding of the connections in nature have resulted from using this book as a writing prompt.

I place this book in the category with other great environmental children's literature such as "The Great Kapok Tree" and "The Lorax." Recommended for teachers, parents and environmental educators who wish to help children understand the importance, connectedness, and beauty of all life forms.

This is a great book because it shows you exactly what you need to know. They get to the point effectively with every topic. I like the real world questions being answered. Like client side or server side cursors. And topics on how to write the more efficient rs object. The only problem I have with this book is the writers lack of expertise with other databases. Like MS SQL server, and Sybase SQL server. Getting information on pitfalls with other database platforms would be invaluable. They kind of tickled us with the Oracle info, I want more now.

Awesome book for somebody wanting to learn more about ADO/ASP/Database Interaction. I was dumped into the middle of a project with very little ADO knowledge and this proved extremly helpfull through my journey. I have recommended this to all of my friends interested in the subject and countless others who ask me for good books.. Definitly worth every penny!

I first bought this book for the RDS part since I've been working with ADO since it got out. I tought I knew ADO and even though I knew a lot about it, I've learned as much about ADO than about RDS with this book!

Good for any programmers working with ADO, as always, Wrox made it possible for beginners to understand the book and for experienced programmers to learn new stuff.

Another must by Wrox and I'm waiting to get a hand on the "Professional Ado 2.5 Rds Programming With Asp 3.0" that should be coming out soon.