I bought this book when my Dad was entering into the final few months of his life and I wanted to go through this final chapter of his life with him in a meaningful way. David Kessler provides information on the needs of the dying in a kind, compassionate and truthful way. I find knowledge to be comforting and grounding. If you do also, this book will be a special gift to yourself.

I bought this book because my mother is dying and I needed to know more. Kessler has a wonderful way of delivering this knowledge. He is thorough in imparting this knowledge and does so with total compassion for the dying and the living. I underscored many passages in this work and especially appreciated someone telling me (chapter 8) what can I expect in the way of physical signs as mom goes through the dying process. This book is very user friendly having a very readable quality. I strongly recommend it!

A must-read for anyone who is experiencing the death of a loved one. This book really helps you understand what your father or mother or other loved one is experiencing, and gives you practical suggestions for how to deal with all the emotions YOU might be experiencing. Beautifully written and easy to read without a bunch of psycho-babble.

Thank you David Kessler.

Hong Kong Action Theatre! 2nd Edition is a game based on Chinese action films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Killer. It attempts to accurately portray the style of these films and tries to cover all the genres: kung fu, wire fu, gunplay, and so on.

Players portray actors in Hong Kong cinema. Characters are created using Guardians of Order's simple Tri-Stat system, rounding out the character with skills like gun combat and kung fu and special attributes to set the actor apart like Director's Friend or Cantopop Star.

The actor is the character that players will be portraying every single game. Their abilities and attributes will remain stable. However, the character's Role changes from one session to the next.

Each session is a movie, and the Role is the actor's part in the movie. A Role can be anything from Triad Assassin to Hard-Boiled Cop to Drunken Fisherman. Each Role has unique abilities that stack on top of your actor's for that specific session.

Another interesting quirk of the game is Stunts. During combat, players are encouraged to have their characters do the wild and death-defying stunts of Hong Kong cinema. The wilder and more dangerous the stunt, the better the reward. Characters are rewarded by the gamemaster with Star Power points which represent the Actor's pull in the cinema world and his or her popularity with the audience. These can be cashed in for rerolls and other goodies such as script rewrites (e.g. the villain happens to be standing next to barrels of flammable liquid).

The game also contains a lot of "real-world" information on Hong Kong and the history of Hong Kong cinema that some might find interesting and others might find to be a waste of space in a roleplaying game book.

The game is great. With an energetic group with a feel for the Hong Kong action genre, you can make movies to rival Hong Kong blockbusters. In some respects, I feel that HKAT lumps too many of the genres together with no demarcation between gun fu, kung fu, and wire fu films, and so they all get smushed together. In general, it's fun, original, creative game and a worthy second edition to the original by Gareth Michael-Skarka.

Gameplay is episodic, with each game session being a "movie" independent of other game sessions. The movies can cover any of the traditional Hong Kong action film genres.

This is a solid system for a Kung Fu movie action game. This is made by Guardians of Order, so it uses the Tri-Stat System (if you've played BESM, this will be very familiar). The basic system is based on three stats: body, mind, and soul. You use these base stats to calculate your health, energy, starting star power, and attack and defense values. You then buy attributes and defects that customize your character. HKAT! 2 offers a wide variety of attributes and defects that allow you to build any kind of character. And if the attribute or defect you need doesn't exist, you can make a new one! (The GM, of course has say on what is allowed.) HKAT! 2 has the unique concept that the PCs (Player Characters) are actors playing roles in movies. When you make your character you make an actor, and can only buy an attributes and defects that are open or actor only. Then you use star power to bid on the role you want to play. Now you buy role attributes and defects to add to your character to simulate the special effects crews and such (the role attributes and defects go away at the end of a movie), and you can use leftover star power to improve the role too. What's cool about the role/actor concept is that your group can play a wide variety of games, say a horror action thriller one time, then a waxia (as in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) next. Also using star power, one person can have the lead role one movie, and some else can outbid him for the lead next time, so everyone gets a chance to be at the center of a game. At the end of a movie, the GM hands out star power rewards you use on the next movie. What you get is based on what you bid as well as how well everyone did and bonuses the GM may hand out. This encourages everyone to work as a group, as if the group "wins" the movie, everyone will get more star power. Another good point is that if you die, it's not necessarily bad, because it's only your role that dies, not your actor, and if you die heroically, this can be worth bonus star power!
Make no mistake, this is a Role-playing game, with emphasis on role-playing rather than dice roles and statistics and rules. While creation is a little involved, it's fairly straightforward one you get use to it. For resolving actions the Tri-Stat system offers one of the simplest systems I've seen.
Combat is also petty simple, I won't go into the details here, if you've played other tri-stat games, you'll be on familiar turf. HKAT! 2 does, however offer some optional combat rules that are worth mention. When you attack, you can choose whether to deliver a high, low, or medium kick or punch and you can target an opponent high, low or torso. The type of blow you deliver gives a bonus or penalty to your damage and initiative, for example, a light punch will let you attack sooner, but won't do as much damage as a hard kick. The attack location affects your opponent's defense, if you attack low, but you opponent defends high, your opponent will have a harder time defending.
The system, in summary is simple, yet flexible enough to handle any thing from swordplay and magic attacks in ancient China to a fierce shootout in modern Hong Kong.
And finally, I'll cover the quality of the book. As is typical of Guardians of Order, this is a well-done book. It's a good read with cool art and it is very clear. There is also a lot of extra martial here besides just the game. There is a section on Hong Kong, one on the history of Hong Kong film, one with summaries on a lot of Hong Kong films, and finally some sample adventures to get you started. The extra info is really great, especially for some like me who only has little knowledge on Hong Kong film; this book is a treasure trove of info for creating you own Hong Kong action film game. The only flaw I saw in this book is that the last line in some of the sidebars at the beginning of the book was truncated, and while this is annoying, no impotent information was lost (it was mostly flavor text) and this flaw doesn't greatly detract from enjoyment. Given how error riddled other role-playing games (just look at the errata on 3rd edition D&D) are, I couldn't justify taking off a point for this. I highly recommend this book if you want a simple and flexible system for an action Hong Kong style game.

This book is different from most herbal medicine books in that it plainly states what value the herb has in treating illnesses, and if the herb has no value, it is so stated. It is NOT a herbal remedy book, but if a herb will help, the book tells how and what dose to use.

After reading about the Khazars and thinking very little information existed about them and their past, I am amazed at how little is known about 'Ethiopian' Judaism. Mr. Kessler, one of the best sources on the subject, describes to the best of current information the history of the Beta Israel, definitely taking the view that these people are anciently related to Judaism.

His views are controversial -- many have claimed that the source of the Beta Israel was from the Arabian Peninsula, or a break-off from Ethiopian Christianity, although I find the latter hard to believe. I am currently reading other works about them written by Steven Kaplan and other.

Very little is known about the Beta Israel, hopefully much more research will be devoted to understanding them, their past, their history, their customs and their beliefs. I firmly believe that these people are Jews descended, as they believe, from Solomon. Luckily these people are still alive while other groups have unfortunately been relegated to history.

I highly recommend this work and I'm pretty sure most will enjoy it! Thank you David Kessler for all your study and devotion to this topic and to the Beta Israel.

This is not so much a book about death and grieving as it is about learning to live a more meaningful life. The authors help us to sort the important from the unimportant in our lives by sharing stories about their experiences and the experiences of their patients. Many people (especially Americans) become so caught up in our own schedules and "things" that we sometimes fail to get our priorities straight. This book will provoke re-evaluation of of your life, and your deepest feelings about what is really important.

I am a psychiatrist in training and I really find this book helpful in understanding the concepts of family therapy.

This book is the best book I've read in a very long time. It's for all of us who lose sight of what's important in our lives. It's about how to live life without regret, without fear, with inner peace, which, as someone currently going through a divorce and recently unemployed, I have to say, that's really tough sometimes. And, yet, this book helps us all see the true beauty in our everday lives, no matter how small. It helps you see that things happen for a reason, even if that reason is very difficult to figure out at times. So, if you think your life is good, this book will help you see that it's actually great; if you think your life is terrible, you hopefully will come away thinking that it's not so bad after all.

This is one of the most important books that I've read in the last 30 years. I purchased 22 copies of this book, so far. I am giving this book to everyone that I love or for whom I care. I find myself reading it over and over again. Each time that I read it, it holds some different meaning for me. The authors offer up the wisdom of those who have entered the zone of "dying soon". Each author in their own unique way urges the reader to listen to this wisdom now, while there is, hopefully, many more years to apply it. I love the brutal honesty of Kubler-Ross, who has in her later years, suffered a debilitating stroke. She is in recovery now but still angry about it. However, because the stroke did not kill her, she realizes that there are still many lessons for her to learn in this life. This book is not morbid but rather, uplifting. The advice and descriptions can suit anyone at any stage of their life. If you are fighting certain "battles" in your life, as we all are, you may find comfort knowing that you may not in this life learn all the lessons that you need to. As the authors put it so well, even the most terrible people in our lives can become our teachers.Whether you are just beginning your life experiences or you have had many, this book gives you so much to consider.

Heard the taped version of LIFE LESSONS by Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross and David Kessler . . . the authors, experts
on death and dying, use this book to help answer the
question: Is this really how I want to live my life?

It got me to think about what was important to me
and, also, how to go about obtaining it . . . as is the
case with some books on tape, this is one that I wish
I had also read because there were so many
quotable parts that I would have wanted to go back
to . . . for example:
Being there and caring is everything in love, in life and
in dying.

Whether you're married or not, if you want more romance
in your life, fall more in love with the life you have.

In any relationship, one person makes pancakes, the other
one eats them.

Everybody falls. Hopefully, they get up. That is life.

You have made being a mother a wonderful experience.
It was worth living just to be with you.

Remember that play is more than a light hearted moment
here and there. It's actual time devoted to play. You have
to get away from work, get away from life's seriousness.
There are a million ways to introduce play back into your life.
Instead of checking the stock market first thing in the morning,
read the comics, see a silly movie, buy a fun outfit, wear a
colorful tie. If you like, where work is conservative, wear fun
underwear. Practice saying yes to invitations, be more
spontaneous, do something silly. Anything can be play,
but beware, any form of play can also be turned
into productivity.

I came to "A Question of Intent" as a stalwart pro-tobacco reader. I've often attacked David Kessler -- doctor, lawyer, teacher -- and his Food and Drug Administration with all my energy. After reading his book, I saw the light and it was emanating from the proverbial ember of truth. Dr. Kessler's book completely changed my view on whether the FDA should regulate nicotine. He so completely reveals the dishonesty and foolishness of the pro-tobacco side that I felt embarrassed to be on it. I'm still pro-tobacco, but his book gave me a perspective of an anti-smoker movement to which I never gave much credit. Reading his book was reading a detective story, with ex-FBI, ex-CIA and army agents at center stage.

Dr. Kessler takes the reader, in superbly crafted prose, through his investigation that began with his subordinate imploring him to look into cigarette regulation. Even when faced with false civil -- and a few times, criminal -- charges, Dr. Kessler and his team persevere. By book's end, Kessler cynically concludes that the tobacco industry needs to be dismantled and administered by a quasi-government corporation.

(One complaint: I agree with The New York Times' review book that his constant attempt to deflect credit seems disingenuous. He reminds us way so often that other people deserve credit that he seems to be hiding something. This might not be intentional, but it still raises questions in the reader that detracts from the narrative.)

What makes "A Question of Intent" so outstanding is the way Kessler logically dissects each point put forth by the industry on why the FDA shouldn't regulate nicotine. Each of my clashes with the proposed regulations was addressed in this book. He even interviews Steve Parrish, a current executive at Philip Morris, who provides candid explanations and amplification. My favorite line comes from Mr. Parrish, as quoted by Dr. Kessler: "When you are talking only to yourselves, you begin to believe your own bull--."

Buy it, read it, study it -- TREASURE IT. You'll enjoy it, whatever side you're on.

I've always been a little suspicious of the anti-tobacco crowd -- it seemed a bit Puritanical, a bit holier-than-thou -- so I admit to approaching A Question of Intent with a chip on my shoulder. By the time I had raced through this book -- which literally kept me reading through the night -- my view had changed dramatically. Like many Americans, I had bought into the myths created by the tobacco industry to protect its own vast profits. My perspective had been almost painfully naïve. There's nothing inherently glamorous about holding a smoking stick, but the industry's aggressive and long-lasting public relations campaigns have somehow convinced us that there is. The argument that people smoke of their own free will is unsupportable when the industry works to addict the nation's children, but we've allowed rhetoric to persuade us otherwise.

The FDA's efforts to bring this industry into line through commonsense regulations that carefully avoid the taint of Prohibition are chronicled here, with the author revealing a deft touch for detail, a strategic mind worthy of Bismarck, and no small degree of humor. And the decision by the Supreme Court to undercut Kessler's effort (the same five judges who voted to defeat the FDA's tobacco initiative also made that dead-of-night decision to cheat Al Gore of a fair election count) will surely go down in the history books as a great opportunity squandered. Rather than showing the courage to change public health forever, the Court chose to bolster the profit margins of an industrial killer. That's something we should all remember next time we go to the polls.

A friend of mine is in the recovery room at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. He just had thoracic surgery. He stopped smoking years ago. I hope he stopped in time. The verdict on his surgery isn't in yet. But the verdict on smoking is in. Thanks to the FDA and the awesome investigative job they did to uncover the truth about tobacco. In David Kessler's book, "A Question of Intent" we get the gripping tale of the tobacco industry and their effort to hide the truth from the public. For decades the tobacco industry has escaped regulation even though their product was known to be dangerous and addictive.Even today, after Dr. Kessler and the team at the FDA have revealed mountains of evidence against the tobacco industry the Supreme Court has ruled against regulating tobacco. "A Question of Intent" is a powerful story about the uphill battle to protect the health of our children from a deadly addictive disease. It reads like a detective story, a thriller, a race against the premature death of 3,000 teenagers who start to smoke every day. Every parent should read it. Every educator. Every person who cares about the children of this country.

Ever since it's formation in the 1950's the CIA. has been one of the most intriguing and at times most controversial organizations of all time. Ronlad Kessler's investigative novel: Inside The CIA offers to shed some much-needed light on the agency's purpose. Using information gathered from interviews with retired CIA and KGB officers, Kessler reveals more about the CIA's structure, policies, and personnel than any James Bond movie ever could.

Kessler explains that the CIA is divided into four chief directorates: operations, intelligence, administration, and science and technology. He goes on to say that these four departments work in unison to keep the CIA runnning smoothly. The CIA could not withstand the loss of any one of these divisons; if the directorate of administration was taken away no one would get employed, paid, or terminated. Likewise if the directorate of intelligence was eliminated the CIA's main role (gaining information about other countries and using that information to protect national security) would not be fulfilled. At the head of all these directorates and sub-directorates is the office of the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Movies like James Bond and Misson: Impossible may give people the wron idead about the CIA. Kessler states that "When the public or the media cannot know something they immediately assume that the agency has make a mistake." Many people think that classified information is something the CIA doesn't want to acknowlege; in reality the CIA classifies information to protect the US and its citizens.

I picked up this book looking foward to pages full of clever gadgets and shadowly double agents. What i found was long drawn out procedures and policies that often confused me. However the book was occasionally spiced up with an intresting fact or two. For instance did you know that former president George Bush was once director of the CIA? Or that in the past the CIA hired US citizens vacationing over seas to spy on foreign emmbassies? These seldom facts combined with the agency's interesting history kept me reading. This book might appeal to someone who wants to clear up some of the speculation of the CIA.

I found this book to be filled with worthwhile information. My husband has been with the CIA most of our marriage and there was much that was useful and relevant in Kessler's text, but I did feel that he might have cut a bit of the excess wordage out and offered more background material.

This was an all around excellent book - informative, humourous and entertaining. It is well balanced between the CIA's successes, failures and excesses. I really enjoyed it and got the feeling that this book is a creditable account of the CIA's history. The author is a well respected jouranlist and had unprecidented access to former agents.

I do not mean, by giving this book a poor rating, to dissuade anyone from reading Sophocles' greatest works. Rather, I would instead urge everyone to avoid the Slavitt & Bovie translations specifically. Examples of the excessive liberties that they have taken with other Attic dramas include inserting puns and one liners into the Chorus of Agamemnon, adding references to Black American hymns to the Chorus of the Libation Bearers, as well as many smaller, but still significant translation crimes. Get the Grene & Lattimore or almost any other version of these works, but do not get the Slavitt & Bovie