David Griebner offers wonderful short stories that are almost Zenlike, but are rooted in Christian faith. His stories, like koans, take us on the road of discovery to gain a sense of the self within, the sense of self that lives beneath the many artifices that we construct.

His stories are short, quiet, meant to be read slowly, and especially, to be read one at a time. Do not read this little volume in one sitting, though certainly that is possible. Rather, read one story, chew it, savor it, and understand how it connects with your life's journey.

Griebner's stories evoke in me Dag Hammarskjold's words of gratitude:
"For all that has been--Thanks!
To all that shall be--Yes" (*Markings*, p. 95)

This book is a great book for christans. It has many inperational stories for all ages.

David takes us away from our everyday cares with a set of stories which show the depth of love being offered to us by God. Wonderful reading for spiritual growth.

I know that Imperialism 2 is a great game, and I want to make this cheaper, I bought a "internet cracked cd" that includes the game, so I played and liked it.when I saw the help issue (within-
the game),I saw the manual,and I asked myself what the heck is that manual.And so I wrote here and found out.

aleady out of words,
xxxxx!

I'm one of those people who buys every strategy guide for every game I have worth playing. The guide for Imperialism II is one of the very best I've read. It contains very helpful advice on sound strategies covering each aspect of the game and has a very helpful section outlining research options. Highly recommended.

I was pleasantly surprised by the information content, analysis, and true strategic content in the strategy guide. At a time when few strategy guides for war and strategy games are worth buying, this is a strong exception.

Compared to books such as "Voluntary Simplicity" by Duane Elgin and similar books, one realises that many of these ideas are nothing new when one reads Walden by Thoreau. In fact, what strikes me is that we as a Western society have not overcome many of the issues pointed out by Thoreau 150 years ago. Thoreau left Concord MA "disdainful of America's growing commercialism and industrialism", the slavish materialism of that society then. One wonders what he'll say if he would see the extend today - in the post Coca-Cola society. But then Thoreau was a man who clearly stepped to his own drum. Becuase of slavery, he refused to support the state on moral grounds. How would his views have been tolerated today?

I am not luddite, but my favourite quote from the book is this: "We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing to communicate". Does this say something about the Internet, newsmedia and our contemporary information overload, or what?

I liked the introduction and footnotes of Meyer. Just enough to provide context and explanation, but never intrusive. This book is as relevant today as it was during Thoreau's lifetime. Highly recommended.

H.D. Thoreau is the first and most important figure in U.S. Radicalism. This collection provides the essential background for the latent radicalism inherent in American politics, especially as it was vocalized in the Civil Rights and Anti-War movements of the 1960's.

Disobedience is the shorter of the texts, but probably more important. It is an attempt to justify moral anarchism and a call to act on individual judgements about justice.

Walden can be interpreted as an important treatise against consumerism and the dangers of specialization, as well as an appreciation of the natural environment. Those interested in anti-globalization/anti-free trade movements would do well to read Walden to gain an understanding of where anti-consumerism came from and an examination of its ethical implications. However, it also pays to remember that Walden is a failed experiment and, in the end, Thoreau returns to Cambridge.

Thoreau, as political philosophy, has certain problems. Moral anarchy and denial of the social contract is difficult to replace in civil society--Thoreau makes no more than the most vague references as to what could replace it, seeming to rely on the fact that his personal sense of justice is universal.

Nevertheless, Thoreau's conscience has resonance and is as relevant today as ever. His rejection of consumerism as the basis for society and its stratification also teaches important lessons.

Thoreau represents that first step in understanding the other part of American political thought--extremely different from that of the Constitution and Federalist Papers--but with profound connections to the work of Dr. Martin Luther King.

I can only speak from experience on this one. This is one of the most remarkable books I've ever read. Thoreau influenced my views on liberty, justice, and integrity [following what is right, not merely that which is deemed law]. The inner journey Thoreau got me started on has continued throughout my life. I credit him for instilling within me the concept of "Teach me how to think, not what"--invaluable to the fledgling independent thinker and philosopher. I highly recommend Ralph Waldo Emerson, in conjunction with Thoreau.

A good book for nearly anyone. There is plenty of excitement and it is full of sea knowledge. My only complaint is that there are dreary sections filled with the author's life philosophy that I found quite boring, and ended up skipping over.

Books should have a central theme, and the philosophy blurred whatever the theme was supposed to be. A good editor would have removed most of it.

I absolutely loved this book, and am looking forward to reading it again. Carlos' narrations combined with his twist on words paints a picture even the most land locked reader can imagine. As a marine enthusiast and student, it is wonderful to read works from hunters who also appreciate the undersea world and respect its power and importance.

The Blue Edge is Carlos Eyles latest book. It is a pseudo-diary of the authors sixty-five day journey aboard the Nirvana with his friends Jack and Pam. He journeys through the Sea of Cortez to the San Benedicto islands. The journey is on one level a journey from the once bountiful Sea of Cortez to near pristine San Benedicto islands. On another level it is a journey through man's impact on the ocean in the infinitesimal slice of geographic time that man has populated the planet. On an introspective level it is a journey through one man's search for balance and his link to the ocean, and to himself.

The word "mystical" has been used to describe the writing of the book. "Mystical" implies something apart from the human experience. The Blue Edge is experiential. It is about experiences that we all face. It is apropos that the boat is named Nirvana, which is the Buddhist term for "enlightenment." Some of the things that the Buddha realized on the road to enlightenment were, that the world is suffering, all things are impermanent, and that there is no Self. The Blue Edge takes us through part of that journey. It shows us the pain, and the joy, as one man struggles with finding his place in the world. As he tries to balance his love for the ocean, his love for his family, and his love for himself.

Carlos leads the reader through the fragile, and thus transitory, illusion of the permanence of job, family, possessions, and our natural resources. He describes how man's greed, and ego, has affected the balance of the once pristine waters of the Sea of Cortez, and how it also is taking its toll on the San Benedicto islands.

For the spearfishmen this is the journey that some of us go through in our diving careers. Our pictures of full stringers of fish on our desks and walls. Our attempts to give permanence to a moment in time. Our attempts to catch the "most" fish. As our diving careers progress we find we take fewer and fewer shots looking for the "right" fish. The contrast Carlos paints with Jack, who is struggling to find his place in his relationship with Pam and with the ocean, and the spearfishermen aboard the Ambar III that are dumping the carcasses of the filleted fish into the water, to Brian Yoshikawa not taking any shots waiting for the 200 pound tuna.

The Blue Edge may be difficult reading for people who have no ties to the ocean, since the sixty-five day journey is aboard a boat. It, however, is must reading for anyone who spends any time with the ocean. The book encapsulates our life journey in those sixty-five days. It gives us glimpses of Nirvana (enlightenment) through Carlos's eyes. It is this poignant glimpse which is what wraps us up page after page, because we feel from the very beginning of the book that Nirvana is not to be attained for Carlos at this time. The struggles through the grinding teeth of sharks, and lawnmowers, is something the ocean takes us through. The longing to play in the ocean, the longing for wealth, the longing for pleasure, the longing for the kill. The experiences Carlos goes through in The Blue Edge shows us that "Nirvana", on one level, or more simply the struggle to find balance with the ocean, on a lower level, is unattainable as long as we long to possess it.

In September 2000 at the time of the Jewish High Holidays, the editors of this book published a statement in the New York Times titled, "A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity." The statement recounted how, in the years following the Holocaust, Christian denominations had expressed sorrow over the Holocaust and over Christian anti-semitism over the ages. The editors believed these outreach and healing efforts by Christians merited "a thoughtful Jewish response" and an attempt by Jewish people to rethink and reconsider their own attitudes to Christianity. They offered eight statements in an attempt to show common grounds for understanding and respect between Jews and Christians.

This book is an outgrowth of the initial statement of September, 2000. The editiors are part of an organization known as the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies, an organization composed of both Christian and Jewish scholars, with the goal of promoting Jewish-Christian understanding.

The goals of the Statement, the Institute, and this Book are of great importance and worth. The effort which is undertaken in this book (which, as the editors indicate as hardly a new one)should continue to the benefit of both Jews and Christians.

This book is structured essentially as a conversation among Jewish and Christian scholars. Following the Statement and two introductory essays, the book is organized by topic. There is an initial essay on the topic by a Jewish writer followed by two essays, one by by a Jewish writer the other by a Christian writer. The topics chosen for discussion are serious and important for inter-faith understanding and include the Holocaust, concepts of God, Scripture, commandment, the place of Israel, the nature of prayer, the attitutes of Jews and Christians towards suffering, incarnation, redemption, and sin and repentance. There is also a discussion of the meanings each faith finds in the Biblical statement that man is created in the image of God.

These writers treat theses topics with respect, with humility and with depth. One can only be awed by the complexity of the teachings included in each tradition and by the learning shown by the participants in this venture. The essays will teach readers the complexity of the tradition of which they are a part as well as suggesting the overlaps with the sister tradition, the possible agreements, and the core of areas in which Judaism and Christianity simply differ.

As would be expected, the essays are not of uniform quality. In some instances, I thought the writers got sidetracked into discussions of matters such as political activism and feminism which, to me, detract and don't add from the questions Jews and Christians need to discuss one to another. Also, although there is some discussion of Kabbalistic themes in Judaism and attempts to relate these themes to Christianity, the book could have used much more. I think there is room for discussion of how the contemplative tradition in each faith can work to promote a sense of sharedness. As it is, the book is deep, thoughtful, but perhaps too (if this is possible) intellectualized.

I was particularly impressed with Irving Greenberg's essay "Judaism and Christianity: Covenants of Redemption" and the reponses. I liked the impression given to Philo's writings as a source of common ground between Jews and Christians in Hindy Naiman's essay. And I thought Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer's essay "Redemption:What I have Learned from Christians" showed me I had much to learn as well.

This is a book that promotes an attitute of understanding and shared respect that has antecendents but still is long overdue. It encourages one to pursue in one's life the tradition of "prayer and study" common to both these venerable religous traditions.

This is one of the most important books available, not just for those already initiated into J/C relations. Every Christan Pastor in every denomination needs to use this book as a new source of balance as they attempt to nourish their congregations in an accurate understanding of God, scripture, and a host of other central faith topics, note the word "central."

The light that eminates from this collection of writings is profound. This balance is what you will not recieve in Seminary training, except from a very few knowledgable educators. The Christian world must listen, and this book is one of the most important collective "voices" to hear from.

I wish I could give this book six stars. I can't remember the last time a work of Jewish-Christian dialogue seized my mind, challenged me, and opened up new avenues to understanding. It's a series of essays penned by Jewish scholars, each of which is followed by a pair of response-essays, one by another Jewish specialist, the other by a Christian. Topics include the law and ethics, salvation history and covenantal pluralism, liturgy and worship, suffering and martyrdom, incarnation theology, and redemption -- all explicated in Jewish and Christian terms, but with a focus on Jewish origins.

All contributors (thirty-two, by my count) steer clear of the common errors which poison religious dialogue: triumphalism, proselytization, syncretism, relativism. (1) Triumphalists believe that no commonalities can be found between the two religions, Jews claiming that Christianity is a deviant form of its parent faith, Christians that Judaism was only a precursor to (and is now superseded by) its successor faith. The authors affirm many commonalities between the two religions, and that denying them is as much a distortion of one as the other. (2) Proselytizers use Jewish-Christian dialogue as a venue by which to persuade the other side to "convert". The authors, while allowing that either side might naturally wish for the conversion of others, do not approve of using dialogue to realize this hope. (3) Syncretists attempt to construct a new religious reality out of various elements of Judaism and Christianity. The authors reject this as idolatrous and trivializing. (4) Relativists deny that some things are true everywhere for everyone. The authors, while recognizing commonalities between the two religions, also know that the ultimate truth claims of Judaism and Christianity are different and thus mutually exclusive.

The dynamic interactions throughout this book show that authentic Jewish-Christian dialogue can succeed without both sides offending the other and (equally important) without both sides becoming one. As an orthodox Jewish theologian puts it, "True dialogue is dialogue that respects difference and is animated by it." This is essential reading material for any who are actively involved in Jewish-Christian relations, or for any who have an abiding interest in the Jewish origins of Christianity.

This is a great book about Disney Company. It goes chronologically from 1901 to 1999 and beyond. Every event in the company's history is put in the book, but without much detail.
Since he maintains Disney Archives, Dave Smith could have done a litle better, like he did with Disney's Encyclopedia.

This book was excellent! It had terrific pictures and it told from 1901 when Walt was born until 2001. It is a great keepsake. I purchased mine at Walt Disney World during the 100 Years of Magic celebration.

I really enjoyed this book. It is packed with lots of great photographs and artwork from Walt Disney and the Disney Company. It also has a really nice overview of the life of Walt Disney and the work of the Disney Company in text.

I appreciated the organization of the book. The book is arranged chronologically, which helped me to understand the flow of events better. This book has a very upbeat, positive tone and paints a very bright and exciting future for the Disney Company.

This book does not contain nearly as much information about Walt Disney as some of the biographies that I have read, but I don't think that was the goal of this book. This book does a very nice job of chronicling the art and the work of this great American icon and then continues the chronology with the work of the Disney Company in the post Walt era.

This book starts with very early Disney and takes the reader all the way through to Fantasia 2000. This is an excellent coffee table book. I highly recommended it to anyone that loves Walt, his work and the continuing work of the Disney Company.

While Crawford and March do a good job of presenting documented information, the data appears to confirm creation rather than evolution. Certainly nutrition can affect the size of man's brain, body and mental capacity. But had anthropologists written this book they would have falsely concluded that modern man is a different species. Mankind can progress or regress depending upon nutritional factors. Mankind appears to be in regression at the present time. Population expansion may force famines and disease, lest we forget the earth's human population has gone from 1.5 to 6.0 billion in just a couple of centuries. Good reading for the serious reader.

I know quite a bit about nutrition and the problem with our modern diet, so I was mostly interested in their theories on how nutrition has shaped evolution.

The authors present some truly astounding theories on the evolution of humankind, and argue their case well. The book is a bit slow in the beginning, but once they start talking about the evolution of life from the algae onward, hand on to your hats!

As I began to read, I had a sense of deja vu - and no wonder, it was published in the UK as The Driving Force in 1989. I lent my copy to some miserable bastard who never returned it and it's now out of print, so I'm delighted to have re-acquired it, albeit inadvertantly; I recommend it highly. Don't be put off by any philosphical excess here, theories of our origin don't matter nearly as much as the biochemistry set out in this book which can literally restore your health if you have a Western degenerative disease. Crawford and Marsh elucidate an emerging paradigm.

While this book has an incredible amount of information in it, the writing style makes it pretty slow and difficult reading. The fact that each chapter is written by a different author means there's a lot of overlap between chapters, especially in the introductory part of each chapter. (I assume they did this so each chapter could be read independently.) Also, the language is strickly academic: always use the most technical term, never use one word when four or five can be used.

A very valuable resource, but not meant to be read from cover to cover as I tried to do.

As a student of Syro-Palestinian Archaeology, this book has become one of my most used reference. Each chapter is written by archaeologists and biblical historians that are renowned for their work. It covers the Biblical lands from their early beginnings, into the Bronze and Iron Ages, and ends with the Roman Period. The most attention is paid to the Hebrew Bible sections, specifically Bronze and Iron Age. I found the references to Philistines, and ancient Israelite women particularly helpful in my research.

As a textbook on introductory biblical studies or as a personal resource, this volume is a winner. With its maps, diagrams, photographs and insightful writing, this volume is indispensable for those who want to understand where biblical-historical research is going these days. The Bible did not develop in a vacuum, and this fine volume will offer the necessary insights for understanding those forces and situations that shaped the Jewish and Christian scriptures. The chronological appendix is especially helpful as it divides the cited historical developments into multiple regions. More than a dozen experts combined their insights to produce this volume and it is perfectly suited as an introductory or mid-level college text.

This is a fairly good book, but is rather thin for the price. It seems targeted to the Intermediate Civ2 player -- anyone who is looking to refing winning high-level play strategy will find it rather redundant.

However, if you are struggling at King or Emperor level, this book will help you. It's targeted to building a sound empire, then winning (albiet sloppily) at Emperor and Diety levels; however, it will not help with most of the more subtle play at those levels (e.g., getting your score from 3,000 to 15,000 by 1850 AD, etc.).

This book does discuss solid fundamentals, how to deal with unhappiness, how to start a strong empire, etc. It does not cover things such as the OCC (one city challenge), getting your top Diety score above 20,000, and the game's more subtle idiosyncracies (max advances, the food caravan 'trick', cheapest way to rush build, etc.).

The cutting edge strategies still reside on the Internet, or maybe you'll discover them during extended gameplay.

PS, If you still seek a challenge, take the OCC (though this book does not help). OCC game rules are simple: you are only allowed ONE--that's right--ONE city, no cheating, no takebacks (unless a hut gives you a city); game setup: Diety level, small world, 7 civs, raging hordes. Your single city against the world... Top players can LAND a spaceship by 1900 AD, and the best have done it before 1850... Questions? My email is civII@bigfoot.com

Unlike most so-called strategy guides, which are really rehashes of the game manual, Rymaszewski's book outlines a legitimate strategy which players of CivII can use to succeed at the game on its hardest settings (Emperor and Deity).

The author knows his book is different; he recommends that the most effective way to use it is to simply "read it, and then play the game again". In other words, _Advanced Strategies_ is not a step-by-step walkthrough, nor is it a comprehensive references source full of charts and tables. Instead, it is an outline of a new way of thinking about the game.

I recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with CivII. While Rymaszewski's advice cannot compete with the level of detail available on some CivII-related Web sites, his clear writing style and no-nonsense approach to the game make _Advanced Strategies_ well worth its list price.

Sand Pirates is not only a romance, it's a breezy mix of suspense, mystery and thrills beyond ones wildest dreams. It takes you far away to a land of fantasy. I was intrigued by the characters that were well developed and interesting. The story moves fast and keeps the blood pumping. The twist and turns of the plot and the island of Sava made me feel as if I were there.

by- Kim Sandford author of Secret Fears