There are times when working closely together in one crisis arena builds bonds that provide an essential glue for sticking closely together in another. In this case, the crisis is the growing gap in revolutionary military capabilities between the United States and its NATO allies as described in 1999 by David Gompert, Richard Kugler and Martin Libicki. And, I argue, had the prescriptions for addressing this challenge been followed at the time, there would have been less political separation between the U.S. and its allies in the UN Security Council in the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The authors write with the authority of top-level national security leaders and analysts. At the time, Gompert was a VP at the distinguished RAND Corporation, and Libicki worked there as a senior policy analyst after a previous posting at National Defense University. Kugler is a research professor with the Institute for National Strategic Studies at NDU.

"Mind the Gap" argues that the "United States is moving not only at a different velocity but also in a different direction, with different priorities, based on a different philosophy than its allies in modernizing its forces to exploit new technology." The authors assess this situation (Chapter 1), and put forth a "four-tier" solution to the problem (Chapters 2-5). Chapter 6 concludes with prescriptions for the roles of national governments, military services, NATO, principles of collaboration and establishing practical ways to do this.

The "first tier" gives a broad view of international security interests to which the United States and most European countries ought to be able to subscribe. The "second tier" expresses how the NATO allies should work toward an agreed view of the most critical operational military challenges and requirements. To the extent that political authorities can forge a shared strategic outlook, the "ability of militaries to play their role will be enhanced."

The "third tier" gets into detail that explains how effective coalition building can be facilitated by development of a combined military technological infrastructure -- one based on C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The "fourth tier" discussion centers on how to accomplish the practical matter of pursuing a common goal in revolution in military affairs capabilities on both sides of the Atlantic. This, the authors argue can be facilitated by open market competition in information technology.

Despite the successes of U.S.-led coalitions and alliances in wars since "Mind the Gap" was written (Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq), the problem described between its pages persists. Now, with the U.S. Defense Department embarked on a major effort to further transform capabilities, the gap will continue to widen.

In the short term, this may not impose very severe penalties, at least as far as battlefield successes are concerned. But we have already seen a widening of the political gap between some NATO allies and the United States. Should both gaps be allowed to continue to expand, we are left with the possibility of considering the U.S. role as not only the world's chief of police, but as the world's policeman as well.

Coalitions are a critical element to military successes, and an equally critical dimension of political achievement. This book shows one way to address the former challenge, and by extension, helps to show a way shore up the latter.

In today's day and age, it's easy to be critical of television. We can cite numerous shows that inaccurately portray life, shows that convey messages we would never send our children, shows that aim for the cheap laugh, no matter how immoral it is.

But "More Than Meets the Eye" does the opposite. It looks at television's illustrious history and shows how some of today's greatest shows evolved. True, the early parts of this book read like a tv commercial and it cites Entertainment Weekly far too often (a good, but not exactly scholarly magazine), but its strength lies in defending today's television shows.

The authors take an honest look at today's shows (ER, The X-Files, Frasier, just to name a few) and dissect what fans love about them, why critics hate them, and why they work. The authors, who are obviously avid tv watchers, judge the tv shows for what they really are, not what they appear to be. Here are a few examples... Even though they're an animated family, The Simpsons are the truest depiction of family life on tv. And even though it's a fantasy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer says more about teenagers in one episode than Beverly Hills 90210 ever did.

Now if you believe this book is just advertisements for current tv shows, think again. One of the authors is a school principal and he certainly wouldn't put his name on a book that advocates television outright. The book may defend television, but it also explains that not everything should be watched by kids. Shows like The Simpsons and Buffy may appeal to younger viewers, but their impact is probably greater on older viewers.

The book does more than look at current tv dramas and sitcoms (it covers shows as recent as Charmed and Brimstone). It also examines the media's role in recent newsbreaking events, such as Princess Di's death.

So if you really like tv, but you're feeling bad about watching too much of it, I recommend this book. You'll appreciate the book (and tv as well).

The Myth of Self-Esteem, by author and social psychologist, John P. Hewitt, offers a dispassionate, although slightly spirited, discourse on self-esteem in American society. Hewitt begins by stating, "the object of this book is to unravel the assumptions that are built into the contemporary usage and understanding of the idea of self-esteem and to build a more complete picture of this phenomenon and the importance we attribute to it." He goes on to state of his subject, "to learn something about the reality of self-esteem, we must first consider it as a myth - a set of beliefs contemporary people hold about themselves and their social world, stories they tell about themselves and their lives." Through focusing on the cultural rather than scientific significance of this uniquely western/American phenomenon, Hewitt challenges our assumptions about how we achieve success in the midst of despair and how we use this non-universal, in one respect, concept to buttress our identity in our daily interactions.

Hewitt asks questions that cause one to wonder, "what exactly is meant when we say 'self-esteem'?" Do we mean what we intend, or have we fallen into the trap of engaging in empty dialogue without critically analyzing our intent. The Myth of Self-Esteem offers various vignettes that illustrate the varied ways not only that the term is used, but also its lack of solidity as to a definitional meaning. Also, given that many cultures around the globe focus more on humility as an admirable trait, how have Americans come to value two words that seemingly defy a single sufficient definition upon critical analysis?

Strengths and Weaknesses

Overall, the book is well written in that it provides the reader an opportunity to examine what is meant by "self-esteem" and the social structures that maintain such a myth.

The strength of Hewitt's argument comes from his ability to illustrate, via the use of vignettes, the imprecise nature of a definition among many of the term "self-esteem." However, the weakness, although delineated earlier in the work, is that he does not relay on "scientific" studies. Although he chose to focus solely on the cultural component of the created phenomenon, adding to the discourse the positions of scientific research would quite possibly shed additional light on the subject and make his already strong argument stronger.

What does it all mean?

Hewitt, has done an admirable job of presenting considerable information, although not scientific, that yield many questions regarding self-esteem. While reading the book, many questions arose in my mind as to how I have come view myself in relation to others and my surroundings. It soon became apparent that such is due in part to my acceptance of many of the present social structures and limited concepts that attempt to define them. Given that I have undergone a shifting of consciousness, as it relates to my surroundings and my role in the creation and sustaining thereof, many of the previously accepted concepts have begun to whither away. For instance, as a child and young adult, growing up in and attending church "religiously" was an accepted, although unquestioned, way of life. As a result of delving into ontology, my view on the nature of being has shifted to a differing perspective; one which is more inclusive as opposed to exclusive. Not necessarily, "better," just different. The end result is that I now think more critically about information that is presented to me, be it in literature or lectures. Given Hewitt's offering for discussing "self-esteem," many will be in a more advantageous position to recognize a portion of their being and its functioning that they may have not previously considered.

As humans prepare to move to the next phase of physiological/psychological evolution, such concepts as self-esteem must be challenged in order to provide a clean slate upon which to erect the forthcoming reality. Questioning the very essence of our beliefs and abilities and upon which such is based, causes many to have an even greater insight into their complete nature. In one instance, Hewitt eludes to the potential of creating individual realities by thought. In this instance, he touched on a key point that warrants further consideration. As humans come to realize that they possess the ability to create and destroy "worlds" by thought, the potential then exists to journey into realms of the "little known" and begin serious critical inquiry into the human essence and its "higher" potential. As this journey begins, the evolution not only of human conscious continues, but the physical evolution of humans continue as well. With this in mind, Hewitt's "Myth of Self-Esteem" is a wonderful addition to the ongoing discourse.

Note: the above is part of a work presented in a course on Deviant Behavior and Social Control.

If, like me, you're considering upgrading from a small peer-to-peer Windows 95/98 network to a proper NT server network and are wondering what NT is all about, this is a great introduction. Better than most introductory books, it clearly explains the advantages and limitations of moving up to NT and the basics of how file server and client/server operations work. However, if you're looking for up-to-the-minute NT information, you'd be better to look elsewhere. Despite the "totally revised and updated" claims, this book is clearly near the end of it's currency. The references to 9600 speed modems and PC's with 16 MB RAM let you know the revisions were not all that complete. But if you're mystified by what NT can do and want an introduction, this book will prepare you for more current/technical books.

If there were a mathematics of watching paint dry, Martin Gardner would make it interesting. Without peer as a popularizer of mathematics, he is equally adept at explaining all areas. This book, another updated collection of his Scientific American columns, is a twenty member set of polished pearls. Although somewhat mundane as a descriptive adjective, the word readable fits his writing like a custom made body stocking.
Always interesting and entertaining, reading his essays is somewhat like eating tiny chocolate bars. You can't get enough, each seems too small, and there are no negative side effects.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission.

Here is a group of stories with enough diversity to please anyone's taste. The authors have, through fiction, presented the people of the West, their customs, dreams, triumphs, and defeats, and done it in a way to keep the reader going. The infusion of humor brings a welcome chuckle to the at times discouraging and hard life described in the writings. In short, these stories bring reality into the myth of the Old West.

Lest's see... stories by Gregory Benford, Paul Di Filippo, Stanley Schmidt, Tanya Huff, and 10 others including Wil McCarthy himself. The skew is mainly but not totally toward hard science fiction. Some of the fairy tales are recognizable (even named the same as the original), and some are not. Are they well disguised, or perhaps original? Fine reads in any case. Much better than you usually find in these concept anthologies.

McCarthy's introduction is illuminating: "Fairy tales are among our most formative influences, adding a visceral heft and sting to the purely verbal warnings of authority. But fairy tales, without exception, hinge on a supernatural occurrence. And in a way, this seemed to undermine their authority, to relegate them to some other universe where things like that could really happen."

Though not quite up to the level of Starlight, this is an excellent collection by some of the best writers in the field.

At a price of over $1,000, I had expected a very interesting look at one of my faviorite industrialist genuises. J.D. Rockefeller Sr. is one of the most interesting Captians of Industry both personally and professionally I have seen in my life. These published papers of his were a deeper insight into his mind and how it worked. This most fascinating man had class, style, intelligence, and logic. I can tell by these papers that he is not only consevative but also not, contratry to popular belief, an ultra malterialist. He beleived he needed to surround himself with such riches and luxuries to "meet the social image of a man of my stature". These papers are a must for any "fan" of John D. Rockefeller Sr., founder of the Standard Oil Trust and richest, in most all respectes, man of his time.

When looking at the PLOPD serie, it become obvious that material become more and more mature. We'll find in this book good design patterns we can directly apply in our everyday work. Yo will probably found that all patterns are not usefull, but only a subset, but it's however an enough reason to buy this book.

For those who cannot view the Smithsonian traveling exhibit of the same title, this is an excellent substitute. The 60 plates depict the schoolhouses, diplomas, playground equipment, teaching aids, and housing quarters. The text also chronicles the rise and ruin of these schoolhouses, most of which are now gone.