New Deal or Raw Deal

Synopsis (Barnes and Nobel)

A sharply critical new look at Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency reveals government policies that hindered economic recovery from the Great Depression—and that are still hurting America today.

More Reviews and Recommendations

Biography

ALAN SKLAR has narrated over 75 audiobooks and earned numerous awards for his work. He has also provided the voice for thousands of corporate and medical videos, as well as many radio and TV commercials. He lives with his wife in New York.

More About the Author

Sacred Fire - highly recommended by Glenn Beck

From the Publisher

What sets George Washington's Sacred Fire apart from all previous works on this man for the ages, is the exhaustive fifteen years of Dr. Peter Lillback's research, revealing a unique icon driven by the highest of ideals. Only do George Washington's own writings, journals, letters, manuscripts, and those of his closest family and confidants reveal the truth of this awe-inspiring role model for all generations.

Dr. Lillback paints a picture of a man, who, faced with unprecedented challenges and circumstances, ultimately drew upon his persistent qualities of character-honesty, justice, equity, perseverance, piety, forgiveness, humility, and servant leadership, to become one of the most revered figures in world history.

George Washington set the cornerstone for what would become one of the most prosperous, free nations in the history of civilization. Through this book, Dr. Lillback, assisted by Jerry Newcombe, will reveal to the reader a newly inspirational image of General and President George Washington.

The Overton Window - Beck


From Barnes & Noble

This novel by conservative pundit Glenn Beck centers its concatenations firmly around the Overton Window. What, you wonder, is the Overton Window? It is the political theory that proposes that the range of acceptable political ideas is widened by the introduction of new, less acceptable fringe ideas. Not surprisingly, this hypothesis plays out entertainingly in this fringe-decorated fiction. (Hand-selling tip: Pile it high; watch it fly. Glenn Beck always sells well.)

Lies the Government Told You


Synopsis (Barnes and Nobel)

What new crisis will the federal government manufacture in order to acquire more power over individuals? What new lies will it tell?

Throughout our history, the federal government has lied to send our children off to war, lied to take our money, lied to steal our property, lied to gain our trust, and lied to enhance its power over us. Not only does the government lie to us, we lie to ourselves. We won't admit that each time we let the government get away with misleading us, we are allowing it to increase in size and power and decrease our personal liberty.

In acquiescing to the government's continuous fraudulent behavior, we bear partial responsibility for the erosion of our individual liberties and the ever-expanding federal regulation of private behavior. This book attacks the culture in government that facilitates lying, and it challenges readers to recognize that culture, to confront it, and to be rid of it.

More Reviews and Recommendations

Laura Bush


Synopsis

See the Collector's Edition of Spoken from the Heart

In this brave, beautiful, and deeply personal memoir, Laura Bush, one of our most beloved and private first ladies, tells her own extraordinary story.

Born in the boom-and-bust oil town of Midland, Texas, Laura Welch grew up as an only child in a family that lost three babies to miscarriage or infant death. She vividly evokes Midland's brash, rugged culture, her close relationship with her father, and the bonds of early friendships that sustain her to this day. For the first time, in heart-wrenching detail, she writes about the devastating high school car accident that left her friend Mike Douglas dead and about her decades of unspoken grief.

When Laura Welch first left West Texas in 1964, she never imagined that her journey would lead her to the world stage and the White House. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in 1968, in the thick of student rebellions across the country and at the dawn of the women's movement, she became an elementary school teacher, working in inner-city schools, then trained to be a librarian. At age thirty, she met George W. Bush, whom she had last passed in the hallway in seventh grade. Three months later, "the old maid of Midland married Midland's most eligible bachelor." With rare intimacy and candor, Laura Bush writes about her early married life as she was thrust into one of America's most prominent political families, as well as her deep longing for children and her husband's decision to give up drinking. By 1993, she found herself in the full glare of the political spotlight. But just as her husband won the Texas governorship in a stunning upset victory, her father, Harold Welch, was dying in Midland.

In 2001, after one of the closest elections in American history, Laura Bush moved into the White House. Here she captures presidential life in the harrowing days and weeks after 9/11, when fighter-jet cover echoed through the walls and security scares sent the family to an underground shelter. She writes openly about the White House during wartime, the withering and relentless media spotlight, and the transformation of her role as she began to understand the power of the first lady. . . . . READ MORE >>>

Courage and Consequence by Rove

Synopsis

From the moment he set foot on it, Karl Rove has rocked America's political stage. He ran the national College Republicans at twenty-two, and turned a Texas dominated by Democrats into a bastion for Republicans. He launched George W. Bush to national renown by unseating a popular Democratic governor, and then orchestrated a GOP White House win at a time when voters had little reason to throw out the incumbent party. For engineering victory after unlikely victory, Rove became known as "the Architect."

Because of his success, Rove has been attacked his entire career, accused of everything from campaign chicanery to ideological divisiveness. In this frank memoir, Rove responds to critics, passionately articulates his political philosophy, and defends the choices he made on the campaign trail and in the White House. In the course of putting the record straight, Rove takes on Democratic leaders like Harry Reid and Tom Daschle who acted cynically or deviously behind closed doors, and even Republicans who lacked backbone at crucial moments.

Among other controversial topics Rove addresses, he sets the record straight on:

  • The facts of his mother's suicide and reports of his father's alleged homosexuality
  • The accusation that he bugged his own office in Texas
  • The real story of how George W. Bush defeated governor Ann Richards
  • The details of Bush's stealth campaign to win the White House in 2000
  • Why Bush cratered in New Hampshire but prevailed in South Carolina in 2000
  • How Bush chose Dick Cheney as his presidential running mate
  • How the Bush campaign managed Bush's DUI
  • The defection of Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords
  • The frustrating challenges of Hurricane Katrina
  • The facts behind Rove's painful three years fending off a federal indictment, and
  • Why Obama is wrong on healthcare

Courage and Consequence is also the first intimate account from the highest level at the White House of one of the most headline-making presidencies of the modern age. Rove takes readers behind the scenes of:

  • The bitterly contested 2000 presidential contest
  • Every tense minute aboard Air Force One on 9/11
  • The decision to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and
  • The hard-won 2004 reelection fight
Rove is candid about his mistakes in the West Wing and in his campaigns, and talks frankly about the heartbreak of his early family years. He spells out what it takes to win elections and how to govern successfully once a candidate has won. But Courage and Consequence is ultimately about the joy of a life committed to the conservative cause, a life spent in political combat and service to country, no matter the costs.

Intellectuals and Society by Thomas Sowell


Synopsis:

How intellectuals as a class affect modern societies by shaping the climate of opinion in which official policies develop—on issues ranging from economics to law to war and peace

More Reviews and Recommendations

Biography

Thomas Sowell has taught economics at Cornell, UCLA, Amherst, and other academic institutions, and his Basic Economics has been translated into six languages. He is currently a scholar in residence at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He has published in both academic journals and in such popular media as the Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine, and Fortune, and he writes a syndicated column that appears in newspapers across the country. . . . a Barnes and Nobel review

Courting Disaster


How the CIA Kept America Safe and how Barack Obama is Inviting the Next Attack

"Marc Thiessen knows, in ways that few others do, just how effective, heroic, and morally justified were the interrogators who kept this nation safe after 9/11. If you want to know what really happened behind the scenes at the CIA interrogation sites or at Guantanamo Bay, you simply must read this book." —Dick Cheney

Courting Disaster reveals—as no other book has—just how close we've come to the next 9/11 and how enhanced interrogation techniques (including waterboarding) have saved us from numerous would-be terrorist attacks.Offering a behind-the-scenes look at the CIA's "black sites," the book also provides substantial evidence to prove the tactics used by the CIA were not only effective, but lawful and morally just.

A Cracking of the Heart - a comprehensive book review



This review was posted on the Intellectual Conservative

by George Shadroui | January 15th, 2010

David Horowitz's tribute to Sarah Horowitz is an act of grace, a recognition that however important his own work, it is no more important than the gifts his daughter gave to those around her who could never aspire to brilliance or success or celebrity. A review of A Cracking of the Heart.

A Cracking of the Heart
by David Horowitz
published by Regnery Press (October 26, 2009)
Hdbk., 256 pgs.
ISBN-10: 1596981032
ISBN-13: 978-1596981034

In his book, A Theory of Justice, John Rawls suggests that a social contract that aspires to be just could only be formed in a state of unknowing: we collectively will only achieve justice by not knowing how and where in that society we might land.

Stripped of our beauty, intellect and power, might we not be a bit more humble and cautious about the kind of society we would create and live in?

Every thoughtful parent faces this dilemma when their child is born. From the moment of conception, there is no way to know who and what their child might be or what challenges they might face. And yet, such parents love with such devotion that they would gladly take on almost any discomfort or pain to protect and assist that child. There will be no perfect justice on this earth, but surely that love is a glimpse of God, if we believe with Saint Paul that God is love in its most pure distillation.

David Horowitz's latest book, A Cracking of the Heart, grows out of this deep affection and love. It is his tribute to his daughter Sarah, who died in March of 2008, without warning, at the age of 44. A tragic occurrence in the most normal circumstances, but Sarah's life was anything but normal.

Born with Turners Syndrome, Sarah Horowitz battled physical ailments of the kind that surely must have broken the hearts of her parents years ago. She was unusually small, was hard of hearing and had various physical deformities that made her feel unwanted and undesirable in an age where physical beauty and talent is so overvalued.

What she lacked in classic physical beauty, however, she made up for with a spiritual grace and determined resiliency that her father can only admire. She wrote poetry, studied relentlessly, chartered her own spiritual journey and endured her hardships with a fierce courage that refused to embrace victimhood in any way.

And she did it while defying, without bitterness or recrimination, the gravitational pull of her father's ideological power. David Horowitz is an icon, a man who has helped lead not one, but two political movements. He was a founder of the New Left, as it has become known, before having his own Damascene revelation in the 1970s and moving steadily toward the right. Moreover, as is well known, he is perhaps the most controversial of right-wing intellectuals, for he has brought to the battle of ideas a contentious and often uncompromising style that was honed in the street wars of the 1960s.

Now imagine this gentle, but tough woman, leftist in her point of view, but deeply private in personality and temperament, forced to witness her father's turbulent and very public intellectual battles. It is perhaps no wonder that she found it impossible to embrace his offers to assist her writing career — how does she measure up, after all, to an author of dozens of books, among them several bestsellers.

She didn't try. She rejected offers of help, and lived her life her way, perhaps grasping what so many of us don't see as we seek to drape ourselves in the accoutrements of material and worldly success — that, really, so much of it is vanity. Sarah, instead, sought to listen — to hear the small, still voices that go unheard in the crass, vulgar world of which we are, alas, all apart. She gave them voice in short stories, a novel, poems, in the essence of her life, in which she reached out to those who were, like her, so often shoved to the margins.

Horowitz's reaction to his daughter's death is not unusual. He relives, as we all do in such situations, those inevitable moments in life when we were too harsh or did not choose our words as well as could have. We are consumed with regret because there will be no more opportunities to apologize or to temper with a hundred acts of kindness or patience those missteps. Horowitz remembers in particular one evening, not long after his conversion to conservatism, when he was having dinner with the family, including Sarah.

Consumed by the controversies in which he had been immersed, he began a tirade against anti-war movements. He went on and on, oblivious to the effect on his sensitive daughter. "But all of a sudden her features came into my view with an excruciating clarity. I saw that her eyes had grown red and liquid, and her face was convulsed as though an immense weight was pressing inexorably down on her. Her expression in that instant was one of such mute and irredeemable suffering that the distress of it has never left me."

Having caused his daughter so much grief stayed with him for 20 years, and though he tried to make it up to her in uncountable little ways and big, he admits here that the pain that he inflicted still causes intense shame. On the other hand, there are many positive exchanges as well, my personal favorite being their shared skepticism of Christopher Hitchens' rantings about religion.

And there is this moving tribute, rooted in Sarah's efforts to help others as an integral part of her own journey. Horowitz writes: "I can take a small satisfaction in the fact that death's victory over my daughter remains incomplete, for though she is gone, she has left me this gift: When I see a homeless person destitute on the street, I think of Sarah, and my heart opens. If there is a criminal shut behind bars, I force myself to remember her compassion, and a sadness shades my anger. If there is a child languishing in need, I think of my daughter in a mud floor hut ministering to the children of the Abayudaya tribe, and my heart goes out to them. These images and their influence are an incarnation of her life after life, her rolling of the soul…."

And so David's tribute to her is an act of grace, a recognition that however important his own work, it is — in the cosmic scope of things – no more important than the gifts his daughter gave to those around her who could never aspire to brilliance or success or celebrity.

Let us be clear, however, that David's gift is no less valuable. In this instance, it is the vehicle that brings Sarah to our attention. He paints with loving and sometimes painful intimacy the struggles she endured, so often feeling ugly and rejected and perhaps forgotten as she sought to live within her physical limits with grace and courage. Yes, he burst out crying when he saw her photo as a child, remembering those precious early years when she looked out trustingly to her parents, all the wonder of life still in front of her.

"Of all the images, the hardest to endure were the ones that had been taken when she was a child, her heart open to a world that had been cruelly set up to put enormous obstacles in her path and eventually to crush her."

I would say this to David, knowing how presumptuous it must seem: Sarah was not crushed by life, as the testimonials to her from many quarters demonstrate. She transcended life with a grace and yearning for understanding that must be called holy.

Perhaps the proof of a Godly life is one that generates sincere mourning and love in good hearts. And we might also contemplate the possibility that this desire to be reunited springs from the deepest parts of our souls, where this world and the eternal connect.

This book is a prayer of remembrance and reconciliation, a prayer surely no merciful or just God will ignore.

A Cracking of the Heart is available on Amazon.com.

From the folks at The Tenth Amendment: a recommended reading list: Sounds good

by Michael Boldin

Here at the Tenth Amendment Center we’ve had a number of requests to put together a recommended-books section on the website, and while that proposition isn’t really as easy as it would seem, it’s something we’re working on. In the meantime, and especially after seeing Lew Rockwell’s “Some Books I Like” post, I thought it was a good idea to do something similar here.

What follows are 18 books that I’ve found to be insightful, influential, educational, and/or moving over the years. Some are introductory and easy to read, others take a far more scholarly approach.

If you’re looking for last-minute Christmas gifts or simply something new to tackle – I believe each and every book here would be a good addition to your reading. And best yet – anytime you go to Amazon.com through one of these links and make a purchase (for one of these books or anything on their site), a portion of the sale goes directly to support TenthAmendmentCenter.com. Thank you to everyone for your purchases on Amazon!



























Knowing God - a timeless classic by J.I. Packer


J. I. Packer's Knowing God has become a classic of the Christian faith. Why? While it gives us information about God with clarity and grace, it does much more---it aids us in actually knowing him, in building our relationship with him, and helps draw us closer to him in love and worship. This 20th anniversary edition of Packer's classic has new Americanized text, reader-friendly type, and a new preface. Study guide not included.

The Bible, rocks and fish

As the need to clearly define distinctions between evolutionary scientific positions on 'origins' (man, the Earth and the Universe) and the biblical scientific position (young-earth Creationism) become more necessary, books by experts from all perspectives become more prevalent. In The Bible, Rocks and Time, two Ph. D. level geologists examine the evidence from the view of secular science to make their determination of a very old earth, culminating in an attack on young-earth creationism. The authors' presentation is broad enough to fit many parts of the old-earth spectrum of origins beliefs (theistic evolution, Intelligent Design, progressive creationism, etc.).

: “The Climate Hysteria – What’s It All About?”

New from CFACT: “The Climate Hysteria – What’s It All About?”
April 06, 2009 | CFACT EU | Comments 0 |

CFACT Europe recently released The Climate Hysteria – What’s It All About? The New Nairobi Report on Climate Change, Climate Hoax and Climate Madness by Senior Advisor Michael Limburg

This provocative book examines the latest political developments surrounding the issue of climate change and their relationship to the current state of climate science. It begins by exploring the question of whether there has been any substantial warming outside the range of natural variability (answer: no), continues by examining whether the alleged increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide over the last 100 years is a principle cause of global warming (answer: no), discusses the possible impact of current climate policies on economics and the demography (answer: dangerous), and concludes by discussing whether global warming would be a more of a bane or benefit if it should be proven true (answer: it depends!).

Other questions the publication addresses include:

  • Can humankind realistically prevent further increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide?
  • Are efforts to curb greenhouse gases proving to be more costly than beneficial?
  • Does the existence anthropogenic greenhouse gases really matter?
  • How did the present hysteria emerge?

The impetus for crafting this pamphlet came from the heightened public attention drawn to the global warming issue, largely forged by media hype in Europe, shortly after the 2006 IPCC-Conference in Nairobi. Originally entitled the “Nairobi Report”, and very successfully published in 2007 under the title “The Climate Catastrophe – What Is It All About?”, this pamphlet has since been substantially updated and doubled in size. It attempts to clear a path for those who are, for various reasons, unable to clearly see through the vast jungle of climate literature.

The author is one of the speakers of the European Institute for Climate and Energy, Mr. Michael Limburg from Berlin (Germany), who is also a senior advisor to the European CFACT network, and was an NGO-observer at the UN Climate Conference in Poznan (Poland) in December 2008. In the upcoming weeks, the book will be distributed to policy makers, newsmakers, the business community and students in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

German title:
Michael Limburg:
Klimahysterie – was ist dran?

Der neue Nairobi-Report über Klimawandel, Klimaschwindel und Klimawahn.
ISBN 978-3-940431-10-3. TvR 2009. 158 p. 12,90 EUR.

The Night after Christmas: Perfect gift for a child

Midknight Review note: the following reveiw and commentary came from http://icarizona.blogspot.com/2009/11/night-after-christmas-perfect-gift-for.html

The Night After Christmas

by Jim Chapman, illustrations by Jay Montgomery

WinePress Publishing

ISBN 13: 978-1-60615-008-5

ISBN 10: 1-60615-008-1

24 pages

$14.95


With the familiar cadence of its much-loved predecessor, The Night After Christmas at first draws the reader back to childhood, and to imagining the sound of reindeer on the roof. Very soon, however, this contemporary collection of poetic couplets scrutinizes post-holiday exhaustion, mounting credit card debt, unrealistic expectations, and the lack of devotion paid to the Child whose birthday the holiday should celebrate. The relevance of the message, the read aloud nature of the text, and the photo-like quality of the illustrations will make this light-hearted look at a serious topic a new Christmas tradition for stressed out families everywhere.

Freelance writer and editor for the past ten years, Marlene McCurley has also served in the field of Christian education for more than fifteen years.


ORDER THE BOOK FROM WINEPRESS HERE FOR $14.95

(If you live in Phoenix, contact Jim at jechapman22-at-cox.net to avoid shipping costs)


IC Editor's note: Jim Chapman is my very gifted Bible Study leader. He writes poems about the chapters of the Bible as he goes through and teaches them, that sum up all the key points of the books amazingly well. He eventually hopes to finish the entire Bible and compile them into a book.

A Code of Jewish Ethics - (a foundational perspectiive for a Christian ethic ?)


Jewish thinkers don’t talk all that much about love. All too often we leave that to Christian theologians. But in this excellent volume, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin puts the commandment to love at the center of Jewish theology and experience. This is a book that will change the way you think about–and practice–Judaism.”
–Professor Ari L. Goldman, Columbia University, and author of The Search for God at Harvard

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the best-known commandment in the Bible. Yet we rarely hear anyone talk about how to apply these words in daily life. In this landmark work, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, one of the premier scholars and thinkers of our time, gives both Jews and non-Jews an extraordinary summation of what Jewish tradition teaches about putting these words into practice.

Choosing the Good - a survey of critical ethical issues

The subject of ethics has always been of fundamental importance for thoughtful Christians, but it has become even more significant in recent years with the recognition of the pluralism and postChristian context of contemporary society. In Choosing the Good, Dennis Hollinger surveys several different approaches to ethics, considers the most critical issues facing Christians today, and suggests that any viable perspective must be rooted in a Christian worldview. Choosing the Good begins with a survey of the ethical approaches that have been adopted by secular and Christian ethicists. Beyond the common consequentialist and principle-oriented perspectives, an alternative character/virtue approach has recently found wide acceptance, particularly in the work of Alasdair MacIntyre and Stanley Hauerwas. Hollinger provides a critical analysis of these views and suggests that they overlook a critical element, which is the basis found in a uniquely Christian worldview. Next, Hollinger reflects on the application of Christian ethics in what he calls the "complex world" of contemporary pluralism and postmodernism. He examines the complexities of secular society and how these complexities affect Christian ethics. He then explores the factors that influence how Christians make ethical decisions, including Scripture and empirical judgment. Finally, he surveys the questions of justice, pluralism, and Christian influence in the secular world. This volume has grown out of Hollinger's many years of experience in both academic and local church settings. His work is unique in that it surveys common approaches to ethics as well as contemporary issues of critical importance. Sure to find widespread use as a text in colleges and seminaries, it will also provide Christian lay readers with an excellent analysis of the subject.

Does God Need Our Help?: Cloning, Assisted Suicide, and Other Challenges in Bioethics

By John F. Kilner and C. Ben Mitchell
Designed like a field guide, this accessible book covers all the bases. Kilner and Mitchell present the major secular ethical frameworks and contrast them with biblical perspectives. They also sort out promising developments from morally dubious ones.

Cloning: Does God Need Our Help? Stem cell research . . . cloning . . . end-of-life issues . . . infertility treatments . . . These topics are splashed across the media nearly every day. What does it all mean, and how are Christians to respond? In this important book, respected authors in the bioethics field not only inform readers of the latest advances in biotechnology but clearly state the biblical principles by which Christians can judge how these technologies are used. This book emerges from the collaborative research on biotechnology and ethics sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity.

Bioethics: A Primer for Christians

By Gilbert Meilaender
For the reader wanting to dig deeper, Meilaender—a former member of the President's Council on Bioethics—lays out the theological framework. From prenatal screening to organ donation, this volume elucidates and elaborates. A must-read for pastors, teachers,lay leaders, and thoughtful Christians.

Review:
Meilaender comes to the point early: "I have tried to say what we Christians ought to say in order to be faithful to the truth that has claimed us in Jesus." The permission of the law, he asserts, does not supersede Christian teachings, which he sees requiring that abortion be countenanced only to save the life of the mother and in cases of rape and incest, that genetic engineering be tried on somatic but not germ cells, that medical treatment be refused only if useless or excessively burdensome, and that death never be induced by painkillers or disconnecting feeding tubes. Living wills are not acceptable, he says, although health care powers of attorney are, and if the family disapproves of a member's desire to donate organs, its wishes must prevail. Meilaender gives his reasoning, carefully worked out from Christian writings, for each of these major conclusions. Some Christians may demur, especially from his regard for suffering as part of God's unchallengeable design, but, concise and definite, his primer does its duty well. William Beatty --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Embryo: A Defense of Human Life

By Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen
If you have ever wanted to defend the moral value of an embryo without using the Bible, this is the book for you. Simplifying a complex issue, the authors offer a compelling case for the embryo from the perspective of systematic biology and ethical reasoning.

Book review:
The bitter national debates over abortion, euthanasia, and stem cell research have created an unbridgeable gap between religious groups and those who insist that faith-based views have no place in public policy. Religious conservatives are so adamantly opposed to stem cell research in particular that President Bush issued the first veto of his presidency over a bill that would have provided federal funding for such research.

Now, in this timely consideration of the nature and rights of human embryos, Robert P. George and Christopher Tollefsen make a persuasive case that we as a society should neither condone nor publicly fund embryonic stem cell research of any kind.

Typically, right-to-life arguments have been based explicitly on moral and religious grounds. In Embryo, the authors eschew religious arguments and make a purely scientific and philosophical case that the fetus, from the instant of conception, is a human being, with all the moral and political rights inherent in that status. As such, stem cell research that destroys a viable embryo represents the unacceptable taking of a human life.

There is also no room in their view for a “moral dualism” that regards being a “person” as merely a stage in a human life span. An embryo does not exist in a “prepersonal” stage that does not merit the inviolable rights otherwise ascribed to persons. Instead, the authors argue, the right not to be intentionally killed is inherent in the fact of being a human being, and that status begins at the moment of conception.

Moreover, just as none should be excluded from moral and legal protections based on race, sex, religion, or ethnicity, none should be excluded on the basis of age, size, or stage of biological development.

George and Tollefsen fearlessly grapple with the political, scientific, and cultural consequences arising from their position and offer a summary of scientific alternatives to embryonic stem cell research. They conclude that the state has an ethical and moral obligation to protect embryonic human beings in just the same manner that it protects every other human being, and they advocate for embryo adoption—the only ethical solution to the problem of spare embryos resulting from in-vitro fertilization.

How to Be a Christian in a Brave New World

Two pioneers in defending the dignity of human life challenge the church to understand and care about efforts to remake humanity using robotics, embryo harvesting, and genetic engineering. Who better than Eareckson Tada to talk about the use of exotic technologies to heal human bodies?
Review
"This book tackles some of the most profound ethical questions facing Christians today, including stem-cell research, cloning, and genetic engineering. It draws on both cutting-edge information and life experience to help believers think through issues they can no longer ignore. This book will not only teach you about these important issues, but it will help you think through them from a biblical perspective." — Rick Warren's Ministry Toolbox

Human Dignity in the Biotech Century

Human Dignity in the Biotech Century: a Christian
Vision for Public Policy
By Joni Eareckson Tada and Nigel M. de S. Cameron

This volume comprises essays from top thinkers and activists in the field on topics like learning from past mistakes, new technology, genetics, and transhumanism. Get ready for the science fiction realities of the 21st century, and get involved.

Product Description "If ever there was need and opportunity for Christians to shape culture, it is now," write Charles W. Colson and Nigel M. de S. Cameron.

The contributors to "Human Dignity in the Biotech Century" make the case that biotechnology is the next front in the battles over ethics and public policy, and Christians need to bring their influence to bear on the debates. These twelve essays, contributed by scholars and leaders who are part of Colson’s Wilberforce Forum, alert readers to the ethical and legal challenges we face in the new genetics, involving embryo research, stem cell research, cloning, genetic engineering, gene therapy, pharmacogenomics, cybernetics, nanotechnology and abortion.

"We need to get a grip on biotechnology and the bioethical considerations that go along with it," Colson challenges. "It is time for people to get educated, to think about these profound moral questions that affect the future of the human race."

A book review: America for Sale


Dr. Jerome Corsi received a Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972 and has written many books and articles.

Between President George W. Bush's "new world order" and the unprecedented governmental growth and massive redistribution of wealth under President Barack Obama, the United States risks losing the greatest middle class ever created in the history of the world. In his groundbreaking new book, Dr. Jerome R. Corsi blows the whistle on a movement to undercut the fundamental principles of limited government that our Founding Fathers fought for and died for trying to establish. As policy-makers manipulate the economic panic of our times to advance a globalist agenda that threatens American sovereignty, we must protect our independent and self-governing nation and preserve the decades of economic power and military strength we have enjoyed since the end of World War II .

In America for Sale, Corsi explains the globalists' plan to put America on the chopping block. While the radical Left promotes socialism and the radical Right champions unbridled free trade, valuable jobs are being outsourced, our national borders erased, and our dollar destroyed before our very eyes. Foreign investors are buying up U.S. assets, from financial-services firms to public infrastructure such as highways. We are on our way to a European Union-type North American common market and a one-world government.

(an Amazon review)

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The Good and Faithful Servant

Something for patriots to do come November - A call for grassroots activism


The Good and Faithful Servant (Paperback)

Christians in America have been accused of unthinking support of both major parties at various times in the country's history. What is crucial for any follower of Christ is not only that they be able to give an account of why they believe in the Gospel, but also of how the Gospel informs every aspect of their lives, including their decisions as citizens and voters. This book provides the millions of small groups that meet weekly or monthly with a series of readings and questions to guide those decisions.

Price: $14.99
Availability: November, 2009

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Another reason for you to meet some of your neighbors???

Saving Freedom by Representative Jim DeMint

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Product Description

The United States—the world’s great bastion of freedom—is sliding toward socialism. Recent high-profile bailouts show the walls between government and the private sector are getting thinner each day. Federal control now extends in various ways to education, healthcare, financial markets, real estate, businesses, and religion. And as out-of-control government spending and debt increase accordingly, America is drained of the economic and political strength its people fought and worked so hard to achieve. But it isn’t too late to save the land of the free.Saving Freedom is Senator Jim DeMint’s firsthand account of the unsettling socialist shift—behind-the-scenes actions in Congress that are changing the character of our nation. He illuminates key principles of freedom and how they are being compromised by big government. More important, DeMint lays out a complete action plan to reclaim America’s freedom based on legislation that would reduce debt, fix Social Security, and provide a tax credit for every family to buy health insurance. The plan also emphasizes reversing America’s cultural decline by restoring a strong spirit of God and country.Endorsements:

Saving Freedom is a new Declaration of Independence, a call for the American people to reclaim America. Jim DeMint's passion for the cause of individual liberty and person"Saving Freedom is a new Declaration of Independence, a call for the American people to reclaim America. Jim DeMint's passion for the cause of individual liberty and personal responsibility is evident in this manifesto. It needs to be read—and acted upon—by every citizen of this republic."

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

"Jim DeMint has delivered a ‘how to’ plan for avoiding a future that we neither want nor deserve. For those of us who want to keep America the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave,’ Saving Freedom is a must read!"

Oliver North, USMC (Ret.), author of New York Times best seller American Heroes

"Once again, as we did in 1776, Americans must choose between freedom and oppression. In Saving Freedom, Jim DeMint describes the clear and present danger posed by big government - and what we must do to preserve individual liberty and personal responsibility. Every American needs to read this book."

Sean Hannity, host of the Sean Hannity Radio Show and Hannity's America on FOX News Channel

"It's comforting to know that someone like Jim DeMint is standing in the gap as we see so many of our nation's founding principles eroding. I view Saving Freedom as a blueprint for the effort that all concerned Americans must join to restore and protect the freedoms we depend on."

Steve Forbes, president and chief executive officer of Forbes and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine


Going Rogue - An American Life by Sarah Palin

Book Description
From her humble beginnings to her time in the spotlight as the first female Republican Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin has led an extraordinary life. Going Rogue will recount her political experiences, her time as Mayor of Wasilla and as the first female governor of Alaska, as well as her rapid rise on the national stage during the 2008 campaign. Additionally, she’ll share insights into the personal challenges she’s faced including balancing her time as a working mother, recognizing the war’s impact with her son serving combat in Iraq, having a child with a disability and supporting her teenage daughter through an unplanned pregnancy.

$16.00 at Amazon

Arguing with Idiots by Glenn Beck - We own it / We like it

Glenn Beck, author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers An Inconvenient Book and Glenn Beck's Common Sense, has stumbled upon the secret formula to winning arguments against people with big mouths but small minds: knowing the facts.

And this book is full of them.

The next time your Idiot Friends tell you how gun control prevents gun violence, you'll tell them all about England's handgun ban (see page 53). When they tell you that we should copy the UK's health-care system, you'll recount the horrifying facts you read on page 244. And the next time an idiot tells you that vegetable prices will skyrocket without illegal workers, you'll stop saying "no, they won't" and you'll start saying, "actually, eliminating all illegal labor will cause us to spend just $8 a year more on produce." (See page 139.)

Idiots can't be identified through voting records, they can be found only by looking for people who hide behind stereotypes, embrace partisanship, and believe that bumper sticker slogans are a substitute for common sense. If you know someone who fits the bill, then Arguing with Idiots will help you silence them once and for all with the ultimate weapon: the truth.

Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity

A review from Amazon
Product Description
The definitive history of supply-side economics—the most consequential economic counterrevolution of the twentieth century—and an incredibly timely work that reveals the foundations of America’s prosperity at a time when those very foundations are under attack.


Book Description

Ever since America descended into economic crisis the comparisons to the Great Depression have come fast and furious. Incredibly, we have heard almost nothing about a much more recent economic calamity: the ruinous “stagflation” of the 1970s—the second-worst decade in American economic history. But now, in the riveting, groundbreaking book Econoclasts, historian Brian Domitrovic reminds us that the twentieth century’s greatest economic counterrevolution emerged in response to that crisis: supply-side economics.

In a pulsing narrative, Domitrovic tells the remarkable story of the economists, journalists, Washington staffers, and (ultimately) politicians who showed America how to get out of the 1970s funk and ushered in an unprecedented quarter-century run of growth and opportunity. Here we meet Robert Mundell, the brilliant economist who held court over martinis in a Manhattan steakhouse; his gregarious cohort Arthur Laffer, chief economist on the president’s budget staff at the tender age of thirty; Robert Bartley, the Wall Street Journal’s reticent editorial-page editor who became the first impresario of supply-side economics; Jack Kemp, the football-star-turned-congressman who led the fight to turn supply-side theory into practice; Jude Wanniski, the eccentric, hot rod–driving reporter whose best-selling book touched off the supply-side revolution; and a host of other fascinating figures who helped upend the economic establishment.

Based on the author’s years of archival research, Econoclasts explodes numerous myths about supply-side economics, including its “creation myth”—the famous incident in which Laffer sketched a simple curve on a napkin. Domitrovic conclusively demonstrates that supply-side advocates did not invent a doctrine out of whole cloth. Their central insight was that the two massive means of governmental intrusion in the economy—the income tax and the Federal Reserve—play the primary role in starting and perpetuating any economic crisis. What’s more, Domitrovic shows that the specific combination of tax cuts and stable money had an unbroken record of success long before it went by the name “supply-side economics”: in 1962, when JFK ended the economic sluggishness that had brought three recessions in Eisenhower’s eight-year presidency; in 1947, when the United States embarked on the postwar boom; and in 1922, when Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon inaugurated the Roaring ’20s by imploring the Fed to keep the price level stable and arranging for Congress to slash income-tax rates.

Econoclasts is a masterful narrative history in the tradition of Amity Shlaes’s The Forgotten Man and John Steele Gordon’s An Empire of Wealth. It is also impeccably timely: this is a story we must know if we are to understand the foundations of America’s prosperity—foundations that are now under increasing attack.

Liberal Fascism - one of 30 books on review here at "page two"

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At his Liberal Fascism blog, author Jonah Goldberg starkly recapitulates the progress of the State under Obama:
Let's see. Off the top of my head, in the first six months of Obama's presidency we've seen corporatism and "state capitalism" run amok, in the government takeover of two car companies and numerous banks. Labor unions have become increasingly indistinguishable from the government and the party that controls it. Herbert Croly and the Progressives have once again been rehabilitated as founding fathers of the New Age. The entire liberal intellectual class is convinced that this the time for a new New Deal. Critics of statism are vilified by liberal elites as racists and fascists. (And those who refuse to get with the Gorian program are guilty of "treason against the planet"). When out of power, liberals lionized free speech and celebrated dissent as the highest form of patriotism. Now, they label dissent "un-American" and the president insists he doesn't want to hear a lot of talking from anyone who disagrees with him. While the stench of eugenics and euthanasia do not quite sting the nostrils yet, the odor is detectable and the liberal impulse for controlling the lives of others has been re-exposed.

The ideal of human liberty reached its zenith in only one country on earth: the United States of America. The American principle that each person is a free individual, not a part of a family, tribe, or state, is unique even among Western democracies. Individual liberty has made us the most dynamic, inventive and powerful nation on the planet.

The people of whom the Constitution and Lincoln spoke are free men, with a revolutionary vision of the nature of humanity. Only Americans have ever known it. We must not let that perish from the earth.
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Source: from the American Thinker

South Park Conservatives

In ''South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias,'' Brian C. Anderson, an editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal, charts the rise in respectability -- or, at least, of visibility and audibility -- of ''proudly anti-elitist'' right-wing thought in America's public dialogue over the last two decades, a development that was spearheaded by Rush Limbaugh in the late 1980's on talk radio and has since spread to other media in a process Anderson calls ''FOXification.'' To him, the popularity of the stingingly anti-P.C. cartoon series ''South Park'' signals the advent of a new generation of Americans who refuse to accept public censure for their scornful attitudes toward gay men and lesbians, Native Americans, environmentalism and abortion rights. In an effort not to gloat, he cloaks his descriptions of this triumph in the humble fleece of the common man (Limbaugh is, for example ''a college dropout'' who ''had put himself through a rigorous self-education, mastering an array of issues'') and champions talk radio as ''the first media forum in which ordinary Joes can actually get a hearing for their complaints about what liberals have wrought in America since the 1960's.''

Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right

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Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right
by Ann Coulter
Crown. 256 pp.

Among the recurring characters on NBC's acclaimed show The West Wing, the most improbable is a sharp-tongued, right-wing lady lawyer who, having bested a top White House staffer on one of the political talk shows, is invited to join the Democratic administration. Young, blonde, and beautiful, she hates taxes, loves guns, and considers liberals smug and patronizing—yet, when the President calls, she feels duty-bound to serve.

What is improbable in all this is not the basic profile. The character is a composite of such real-life media personalities as Laura Ingraham, Kellyanne Fitzpatrick, the late Barbara Olson, and, of course, the queen of the fair-haired, conservative fire-breathers, Ann Coulter, all of whom rose to prominence as cable-TV talking heads during the Clinton scandals. What makes the character on The West Wing utterly incredible, nothing more than the fantasy of an overimaginative screenwriter, is the idea that any of these women, least of all Coulter, would be tolerated for a moment in a den of hungry liberals—or would allow herself to be so easily tamed.

Getting America Right,

Where did we take a wrong turn?

That’s what proud conservatives are asking. The era of liberal dominance is finally over, but sometimes you wouldn’t know it. Government spending is out of control, huge waves of illegal immigration threaten our security and our American identity, more and more Americans look to Washington for the “quick fix,” the government grabs for more power at the expense of our liberty, American businesses are fleeing overseas, and terrorism threatens us more than ever. How do we deal with these crises when our leaders refuse to?

By following Edwin J. Feulner and Doug Wilson’s unique and practical six-point plan —specific steps that every one of us can take to put America back on course. As conservative leaders—Feulner as president of the nation’s preeminent think tank, the Heritage Foundation; Wilson as chairman of America’s leading conservative news and community website, Townhall.com—the authors know that what will rescue us now are the things that have always made this nation great: free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, a strong national defense, and the rule of law. We must demand accountability and a return to our core principles.

Getting America Right also reveals:

  • Stunning real-world examples of government run amok, and how it hurts you
  • The politicians who are selling out, and the brave souls who are fighting for what’s right
  • How to restore fiscal discipline among Washington’s pork-addicted pols—Feulner and Wilson identify ridiculous programs we could slash immediately, with no harm done
  • The blueprint for getting the federal government out of our way and out of our pockets
  • The threats Washington is ignoring, and the steps we must take at home and abroad to ensure our security
  • What you can do to hold politicians accountable

What is at risk if we fail? Nothing less than the freedom, prosperity, and security of ourselves and our children and grandchildren. We must get it right—each and every one of us. And we need to start today. As Newt Gingrich writes in his foreword to Getting America Right, “The blueprint for our action—yours and mine—is contained within the pages of this remarkable book.”

Getting America Right
Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Crown Forum (March 7, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 0307336913

Conservatives Are from Mars, Liberals Are from San Francisco: 101 Reasons I'm Happy I Left the Left

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Synopsis

“For years,” Burt Prelutsky writes, “the ranks of the Right were so bereft of amusing people they had to point to William F. Buckley Jr. as their token funnyman. Finally, thank God, P. J. O’Rourke came along. Now he was really funny. I mean, on purpose.”

So begins the man who invented political incorrectness. In this delightful social commentary and rant on just about everything the Left does that offends him, he brings a biting wit. Among his observations:

  • On Politicians: “If you have a politician for a friend, you don’t need an enemy.”
  • On Free Speech: “Most Hollywood types are zealots when it comes to free speech. Except when they aren’t.”
  • On Working People: “While liberals will sing folk songs celebrating the wonderful folk who build the bridges, till the soil, and make the world run, they just don’t want them to vote.”
  • On Campaign Finance Laws: “What [the politician] wants is to get money out of his opponent’s election process.”
  • On Lawyers: “How is it that in a society in which everything from toys to toasters comes with dire warnings attached, lawyers don’t?”

    In 101 short, pithy chapters, Prelutsky applies his wit and wisdom to the big issues of the day. To quote him: “So right-wingers, dig in and enjoy. Liberals, dig in and wise up.”

    Biography

    Burt Prelutsky has been a humor columnist for the Los Angeles Times and a movie critic for Los Angeles magazine. As a freelancer, he has written for the New York Times, TV Guide, Modern Maturity, Emmy, Holiday, American Film, and Sports Illustrated. He has also written for several television series, including Dragnet, McMillan and Wife, M*A*S*H, Dr. Quinn, and Diagnosis Murder, and several television movies. He lives in the San Fernando Valley area of southern California.

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