1990 Books

Through his natural perception of nature and his simple and sensitive expression, Janis Baltvilks creates a moving atmosphere. I like nature very much and there is really few poetry which let us discover the world with such a perspective. Estonian poet Jaan Kaplinski is another poet of nature I like very much. People from Baltic countries really seem to have a strong link with their environment, and the capacity to share it with us.

I was tremendously moved by what I found in "The Skylark Will Come" -- a collection of poems by a Latvian poet, Janis Baltvilks, who must have been a marvelous person to walk in the woods with. These are mostly nature poems with a haiku-like simplicity and profundity, moving back and forth between the poet's listening to Nature and his own inner responses. It was a privilege to be invited to listen in on the conversation. If I had encountered just the poems, I would have guessed that they were translated from Japanese, not from Latvian. A very fine introduction by the translator prepares the reader for Baltvilks, who died in a road accident in 2003. It says that several of his volumes of poems have been published in Latvian. I hope that these, too, will become available to us in English.

I thought it might be helpful to you to know the complete contents of this songbook.

Contents:

Candle In The Wind
Careless Whisper
Could've Been
Don't Worry, Be Happy
Ebony And Ivory
Endless Love
Every Breath You Take
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Fast Car
Flashdance...What A Feeling
Good Thing
Got My Mind Set On You
Hard Habit To Break
I Love Rock 'N Roll
I Want To Know What Love Is
I'll Always Love You
I'll Be Loving You (Forever)
Islands In The Stream
(Just Like) Starting Over
Kokomo
Lost In Your Eyes
Man In The Mirror
Memory
Miami Vice
One More Try
Physical
Sailing
Sara
She's Like The Wind
Soldier Of Love
Somewhere Out There
There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)
These Dreams
Through The Years
Time After Time
Total Eclipse Of The Heart
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go
We Built This City
We Didn't Start The Fire
What A Wonderful World
What's Love Got To Do With It
With Or Without You

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I hope you will forgive me for rating an item that I do not own, but I do feel justified enough in that I own a number of these songbooks from the Decade Series and am always pleased with them. I am also basing my rating on the selection of song titles as a whole.

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I hope I have been a little helpful to you.

When my boyfriend's firend saw this book at the piano, he sat down and started playing, we all started singing and it was like all the songs we like are there! Great chords, all the best music from the 80's... I talked his friend out of stealing this book by telling him I was going to order it first thing in the morning.

On election night, commentators usually forget to provide the context and background explaining why the south votes the way it does, making it "mysterious" to all but the pros.

This book begins by explaining the shift towards the Republican Party in the south in recent years in clear language. As much as was made of Gore's loss in his home state in 2000, this books makes clear that any democrat would likely have lost there.

The first chapter gives a regional overview and each succeeding chapter covers one state, written by a local expert. Highly recommended.

An amazing review of the status of the political situation in the American South in the 1990s. It will appeal to the lay audience, political scientists, and political professionals. In the fine tradition of V.O. Key.

I was particularly moved and impressed with the freshness of the images. They definitiely lend themselves to contemplative viewing over significant periods of time. Enjoyed Suite Two the most, The Horse in the Wild series. So much in each image. Highly recommended!

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2WMKJ5AW84JS1

Boswell and Chase Dunn's book is an absolutely important contribution to present-day world systems research and political science in general. At breathtaking visionary power they re-interpret the course of world history since the beginnings of the capitalist world system to the revolution of 1989 and beyond. Where others speculate on the nature of the future of the international system, the authors present solid scholary knowledge, based on their own research and on that of others, masterly presented to the reader. Their vision of long Kondratieff cycles, hegemonial powers, revolutions, and the social democratic possibilities of changes will dominate the debate for many years to come. The main political conclusion of their research is: it will be up to the alternative and social democratic forces in Europe to qualitatively and quantitatively shape the chance for a transformation of the world system.

However much I disagree with one point in their analysis - the dating of the Kondratieff cycles from 1689 to 1893 (I rather do not share their Fernand Braudel and Ernest Mandel dating vision, but share Bornschier's scheme here, with the depressions around 1756,1842 and 1884), this book is one of the major contributions to world systems research in our days.

An outstanding work which argues convincingly that current problems of the globe can and must be solved in the spirit of global democracy. The authors understand global democracy as global social democracy. In a masterful syntesis of a vast array of literature they give a new meaning to the expressions "freedom from oppression" and "freedom from want". A major problem of contemporary international organizations and, indeed, of world society and the world economy is their lack of democratic input and responsibility, according to the authors. The book contains a vision of worldwide democratic socialism which is refreshingly removed from the acrimonies of the Cold War and, instead, is looking toward the future. A splendid publication.

I bought this book as I am a modeller, it sure was a good investment! It has great photos of the actual restoration process as well as a brief history of where these fabulous fighter came from. It also goes into great depth on the history on the spitfire and the differences between the different Mk's. So if you think your just a little bit interested, get this book and it will take the little out!

This is an excellent book for Spitfire enthusiast like me. There are full of dreams such as rebuild and fly this world famous fighter. There are many clear photos to understand structure and detail of this elegant style plane. The explanation of rebuilding process and history of the plane is quite clear. Appendix of living Spitfire and Seafire is also usefull for your visit. If you like Spitfire, you certainly enjoy this book.

If it's info on a Buick you're looking for, then you'll certainly find it here. This book is a must for any Buick owner (like myself) who really want to know the details about their car. Even cars from the mid-80's are photographed and described in detail. Everything from transmission gear ratios; wheelbase, overall length, height, and other measurements for all models; suspension; engine specs on standard and optional models; and sooooooo much more. Listed by year. Even includes articles on the history of Buick. Excellent book!

This is a 'must-have' for any Buick enthusiast. It includes many articles written by recognized Buick historians. Great photos and detail. A complete year by year description of each model with specs and pictures. All the things you want to know about your Buick. A good description of how to determine the condition of the car, and an approximate value guide according to the condition (this is a little dated, but gives you an idea). The Buick Clubs info in the back is completely out of date.

Reviewed by Christina Smith For Reader Views (2/06)

"If you stand up and are counted, you may get yourself knocked down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good."-Watson J. Thomas Jr. This quote is taking from Chapter 5 of Zighen Aym's book and is, in my opinon, a perfect example of the man that Mr. Aym is. In his book, "Still Moments," Zighen shows us what it is like to be an Algerian-American after 9/11. Mr. Aym came to this country to get away from the hardships that were in Algeria and make a better life for himself and his family. Little did he know that just by taking innocent pictures of spiderwebs and railroad tracks he would be under investigation. This just goes to show you the kind of country we are living in where innocent people are questioned just because they enjoy doing something that the government sees as could possibly be related to terrorists.

This book has made me realize even more that not everything the government does is for our protection. While people were investigating Mr. Aym, there could have been something else going wrong somewhere that the moment they would have known nothing about. Zighen Aym's book is one that should be read by all of us, to show that there are still good people in this world and that not everybody is out to hurt us.

Mr. Aym is a normal person, just like you and me, who one day decided to stop on the famous Route 66 and take some pictures. That is when a State Trooper spotted him and started asking him all kinds of questions. Now I know that in this day in age everybody is scared, but after the answers that Mr. Aym gave, I feel as though he wasn't a threat and should have been let go, instead of being made to wait in his car until the Trooper came back after checking him out and let him go. I liked how Mr. Aym thought that it was amusing. You could still tell that he was anxious about the meeting with the FBI, but that he was also accepting it. In the end, everything turned out okay. Mr. Aym wasn't arrested for anything and was allowed to go back to his family. If you want to read a book that shows you how life is like for people after 9/11, pick up this book. You won't be disappointed.

I think this book provides an example how we are loosing our freedom in the US these days. While the author's experience might not be as tragic as many who faced jails or deported outside the US without any crime, the emotion of the author and his family show how difficult to deal with a false accusation. Many gave their life to provide us a free country with a strong constitution; however, we are willing to give our freedom away just to feel safe. It is a sad story for the US. It is also interesting that how the author links his experience with a police in Algeria several years ago to his experience with a police in the US.

Who are refugees? People who fled the wars in Bosnia and Croatia are scattered in Missouri and Ontario, Germany and Austria, Israel and Pakistan, and they are displaced to other towns within their own countries. They are not voluntary emigrants whose bags are packed with hopes in search of a dream. They may be wealthy, or at least they may once have been. The refugee cleaning floors for minimum wage may have been a surgeon in her own life. The eight-year old girl may be the only one in her family who has learned English, so it is only she who can speak with government officials and store clerks. Refugees are anyone and everyone. They are professionals and farmers and little boys and criminals and poets, but mostly they are women and children and the elderly.

The Suitcase gives voice to the people "without context". They speak of their dreams and their losses. Their poems are here and sad scenes of small things washed away forever by tides of war. "War taught us a lot. How the fear makes people irrationally greedy. It is difficult to resist becoming greedy. It is almost like an instinct. To possess, to hold on to something. In shelters, to hold on to somebody. To hold on to your prayer, even if you never prayed before". Some refugees long only for the day when they can return to their hometowns to begin to reglue the shards of their old lives. Some can speak only of Bosnia's beauty or the pleasures of a cup of coffee with friends.

Others close and lock the door on the past with determination. "We arrived here safely. Everyone is fine. Please do not write us or try to contact us. We do not want to be reminded of anything", reads the postcard sent by a Bosnian family after they arrived in Canada in 1994.

The book is well-edited and well-organized along five broad themes. These are followed by three powerful afterwords, of which Dubravka Ugresic's is the strongest as she muses on the fact that the people of the Balkans are one people. Divided by the same language, they look alike, and yet "not one generation in the Balkans manages to escape war, in every family there is at least one killer and one killed, new life only begins on somebody else's dead head." There is one minor error (p.11, Vukovar was attacked in 1991, not 1992).

The Suitcase rings powerfully and true. The simple message here is that refugees are people, and the lives they lead are but a shot away for us all.

The Suitcase is a wonderful and sorrowful journey into the hearts of an oppressed and victimized land. the personal stories are of those who, throughout history have had no voice. Any person with a sense of history will surely feel the magnitude of the plight of a refugee.

At the time when we are in the middle of the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression, we should appreciate the insight of this book. Prof. Meeropol covered the period of time when this current crisis was in the making. According to this book, the so call "financial" crisis we are suffering now is, in fact, a social crisis. Social inequality and the uncontrollable wild drive toward capitalist profit seeking can be regarded as the fundamental cause of the current economic crisis, while the economic and public policies formulated and administered by the Reagan, Bush Sr., and Clinton administrations promoted the unbalanced power dynamic between the capitalist Wall Street and the public Main Street. I spent my last weekend reading this book and believe it is worth reading.

A well reasoned and factually based crtique of the historical record of Ronald Reagan, George Bush and William Jefferson Clinton. All three have served the interests of the wealthy and not the working people of the United States. Our economy is in danger because the wealthy do not wish to work and the working people are not in good wealth or health. A dose of democracy might do our system some good. A tax increase on the upper class would be a small step forward. This book needs to be read and we should heed its lessons.