Factor

This book destroys any argument that can be made against shared parenting, unless there has been a history of abuse on the part of a parent. His research shows that children raised through shared parenting are happier with the arrangement and on average are better adjusted to the divorce than are children raised in mother-custody homes. Through painstaking research, the author shows how men and women are equally adept - albiet different - at parenting. Mr. Warshak shows that presuming mothers are better parents - and hence should be the primary custodian - is detrimental to the children, the father, AND the mother (after all, how many single moms complain about having to "do it all?"). When I read the statistics on what happens to children who are raised without a father in them home, I resolved once again that I would do all I could to be a presence in my son's life, and to make sure he knows his Daddy loves him. This book reinforces without a doubt that children need their fathers AND their mothers. Mr. Warshak then makes a strong argument for shared parenting, and advises parents to avoid litigation at all costs. He even shows sample schedules for balancing custody where there are more than one child involved, so that each child gets some one-on-one time with both parents.

Throughout this book, the emphasis is not on trying to get more custody for personal satisfaction, nor as a means to reduce child support. The main concern throughout the book is "what is best for the children?" And once we've concluded what's best for the children, how can we possibly do anything else?

I wish that this was required reading for attorneys and Judges, and anyone involved in family law and/or divorce counseling. This was an eye-opener for me, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

"Well referenced throughout, this monograph then is a unique collection of the then current research and discussion on this important topic. Of Particular value to transfusion specialist clinicians and medical scientists, this monograph would also be of interest to haemotology specialists and scientists, and researchers in these fields."
- by R.B. Dow, FAIMS

Read this book if you aren't lucky enough like me to be the Teaching Assistant to Pat Jordan's Designing Pleasurable Products class. An incredibly smart designer and man who conveys so much in one book! Smart purchase

I arrived on this book by chance - and i am definitely not sorry for that! The book magically incorporates fluent writing with hard facts. Thus, it makes for hours of VERY interesting reading. Dr. Mathews, an expert forensic psychiatrist, has a very impressive resume (and obviously a razor-sharp mind) to back this book. A must book for every pychiatrist, mental (that's me ;-) ) or anyone else interested in the field. I give it a big 5-stars rating.

I just wanted to correct some bio information - the name of my company is Martin T. Focazio, LLC and we're based in Upper Black Eddy, PA.

Thanks.

Epidemic diseases provided some of the great disasters in the history of mankind. This book provides a general history of the communicable diseases that affect many persons at one time. Several diseases, like tuberculosis, were omitted. The authors cover the written record from before 1500BC to the 1970s. It is hard to identify the diseases from more than 600 years ago. An endemic disease is one that is part of everyday life in a region. An epidemic disease is one that quickly affects a large number of people. The book does not cover social diseases like pellagra, or industrial diseases.

The Plagues of Pharaoh are the best know plagues of ancient times. The authors say they were a series of natural catastrophes from drought (p.4). Dried rivers, dust storms, diseased cattle and men, then a crop failure followed by locusts. The strict adherence to dietary laws saved the Israelites. Other pages tell of diseases from eating fish from rivers used to dispose of plague victims; pigs and dogs are known to be carrion eaters. Quail fallen from the skies suggests they died of a disease. Burning aromatic herbs may protect against plague (p.6) like citronella candles against mosquitoes. Ticks and fleas have long passed on typhus, bubonic plague, Lyme disease, etc. Rats and mice too. Invading armies are also transmitters of disease.

The severe plague that hit Rome in 452BC affected society (as in medieval times): people disregarded the norms of their society. Could this happen today after a disaster? The only comparable even was the gasoline shortages of the 1970s, but people weren't dying from that.

Given the current level of medical knowledge the plagues of the past should not reoccur. But what if the Power Elite decides to stop vaccinating against a disease like smallpox? Would an epidemic be an accident or the result of this calculation? Readers of "Rule by Secrecy" by Jim Marrs might nor view this as an accident.

The Roman plague of the 5th century BC was followed by a reform of the laws (pp.16-7). This also happened after the Black Death in England (14th century). What would happen after a Nuclear Winter? Pages 194-5 tell of the political unrest that followed the cholera epidemics. Another effect was to create Boards of Health and public water and sewage systems in the cities. Cholera was possible because of the rapid transportation from steam power. Previously people would die before they could infect others. This book will teach you many facts that are censored from the usual academic histories. The outbreak of cholera in 1833 Mexico was followed by the revolts in Zacatecas and Texas.

Oliver Wendell Homes wrote about the contagiousness of puerperal fever in 1843, and the need for cleanliness. A. Conan Doyle held him in such esteem he gave the last name to his fictional detective. It is educational to read of the controversy on puerperal fever (Chapter 13).

Being a constant reader of health letters and health books for over 30 years I find Levenstein's book worrisome, because I have read it 10 years late and have been unaware of some hazards and have misjudged the magnitude of others. Backed up by 24 pages of references (approx. 470 citations) she has created a highly penetrable interface between the heavy-duty scientists and the rest of us who just want to know enough to be sufficiently motivated and informed so that we can protect ourselves. She is impressive in her 35 chapters of broad and skillful coverage of this broad topic; in her writing style which slapped me hard with persuasive truth many times; in her presentation of the compelling need for realistic action; and in her providing of resources for guiding and assisting our action. Writers are famous for skipping "the elephant in the living room" in their books - could I criticize this one for skipping mind-body medicine - no - she digs right into it in her chapter on stress. She even wrote a chapter on protecting our pets from environmental hazards and from some pet foods which may contain even more potentially carcinogenic material than the foods most pet owners eat.

I am reminded that our cancer vulnerability is primarily determined a) by what we do to ourselves with varying levels of awareness, and b) by what we are exposed to because of the actions of others (engaged in providing us products and services) who limit or distort our knowledge about the environmental and potentially carcinogenic impacts of their work and their products. As a result of two cancer cases in my family, of general self-education on cancer, of reading Levenstein's book, and of writing my own set of book notes, the following have become realizations for me:
1) Buying organic foods is more health-strategic than most of us realize.
2) Cancer research works both ways for humans and rats - research on either, for a given carcinogen, often indicates likely cancer causation in the other.
3) One needs to develop and maintain throughout his life a plan for avoiding cancer with at least the same priority as his plans for finances, education, career, child-raising and retirement.
4) It is more difficult, complex, and perhaps traumatic, to arrive at an understanding of the cancer-affected body and the methods and effects of cancer treatments than it is to arrive at an understanding of how most of us can prevent cancer.
5) The appetite of the masses for cheap electrical power has been stimulated far beyond our ability to produce that power while withholding carcinogens from the environment.
6) Industry has a simple bottom line - give the public what they want (or can be induced to want) or go into bankruptcy. Therefore, industry restraint in placing potential carcinogens in the air, earth, water and foods is impossible without enforced laws and without informed individual restraint in using products and services. (Perhaps due to increasing pressures on industry to make environmentally-friendly changes while they are without the necessary economics and technologies to make these changes, we sometimes encounter their opposition. Nevertheless, as part of creating a "mood" for change we can ask the individuals who speak out against environmental protection and clean-up whether they are deliberately placing themselves in jobs judged to be high-risk by the likes of Levenstein, or whether they are leading any campaign to get the lead back into auto fuel.)

The medical system - including the educators, researchers, manufacturers, marketers and practitioners - have failed to produce a cure for cancer despite the billions of dollars spent and the millions of persons killed by the combination of so-called "early detection," conventional cancer treatment and the cancer itself. Yet, somehow, a proven effective system of cancer management - cancer prevention, as advocated by Levenstein and numerous others - is looked upon with suspicion and skepticism. For example, the practice of deliberately abstaining from known unwholesome foods and consuming other foods for prevention of and relief from some illnesses is considered unproven and risky "alternative medicine."

Levenstein details throughout her book exactly which chemicals and radioactive products increase cancer susceptibility in the persons exposed, then she drives the point home (without saying so) in her last chapter on workplace hazards. Sure enough, the groups of persons who were more exposed to specific carcinogens did contract more of the types of cancer associated with those particular carcinogens.

I think that it needs to be recognized that this book is just as much about cancer prevention-of-relapse as it is about cancer prevention. Apparently the most functional aspects of Mary Levenstein's response to her own cancer case were her take-charge attitude toward her illness, her ravenous pursuit of all that could be learned about cancer and its treatment, and her recruitment of many supportive allies from within her immediate family, from among her friends, and from within the professional community. Many cancer writers have noted the association between longer survival times - and sometimes complete recovery - in persons who responded in this manner. Levenstein's book-writing response to cancer reminds me of the of Jacquelyn Rogers' successful book-writing response in 1977 to her own tobacco addiction and high cancer risk (You Can Stop).

I hope that Levenstein and the professionals who have created the vast cancer prevention literature that has inspired and informed her work will drive a revision in public activism so that instead of cancer walks, runs, marathons etc. we see "Cancer Prevention Walks To The Library" wherein we can order, find and read books on cancer prevention and can motivate libraries to bring into their systems more of the most useful books and other materials. And I hope that the individuals who do read will develop good verbal communications with those who don't.

Don't be misled by the apparently narrow title of this book - it is actually a very comprehensive text which addresses many pertinent areas to Facilities Management.

The material is excellent and up to date, offering useful case studies.

I shall be adopting this excellent book for my intermediate level and final level undergraduates.

This fast-moving tale takes place on a small Caribbean island in 1958-59. Field biologist and epidemiologist, Harvey Shoals,seeks to find a safe way to control deadly, water-borne snail fever responsible for the deaths of hundreds of villagers. Harvey gets caught in a life-threathening batttle between corrupt politicians and an educated, charismatic and sympathetic guerrilla named Marcos. I kept turning pages until I read how the conflict was finally resolved! You will too!
--Doreen Gandy Wiley, author, ONE HUNDRED CANDLES, Infinity Publishing.com; FIRES OF SURVIVAL, Strawberry Hill Press

Gives amazing evidence on the effects of prayer on the health and recovery of medical patients. Includes this charge to the medical profession:"It is entirely possible that, a century from now, people will look back at twentieth-century medicine and say, 'Can you believe that those doctors never prayed with their patients? Just think how many lives could have been saved-if only they had set up intercessory-prayer teams in every hospital as we have today!' Will they be as stunned then that we didn't pray for our patients as we would be today if doctors didn't wash their hands before treating patients' wounds?" (Dale Matthews, The Faith Factor, p. 58) I sent it to three physicials I know to consider incorporation into their practice. This book is not for the religious per se, but the medical profession. Very encouraging!