Future Books

While I'm not Mike Topp, while I've never met Mike Topp, I'm not Mike Topp.

Very clever and amusing and often quite brilliant:

STELLA

It was a hot afternoon - perfect for a swim - but I'd promised Stella I'd meet her at the train station. Around two o'clock I took my bicycle and started out. When I arrived at the train station, Stella wasn't there. Then I realized I wasn't at the train station, but in a hut made of tongue depressors and pieces of gum. Still, where was she?

I read it straight through--delighted--then became exhausted and misplaced it beneath me and fell asleep and dreamed. When I awoke I found Happy Endings under my ass, where it had left a peaches and creme complexion the lovely heart shape always deserved. Happy Endings really works. Thank you Mr. Topp. A grateful Bottom (female).

Very clever and amusing and often quite brilliant:

"It was a hot afternoon - perfect for a swim - but I'd promised Stella I'd meet her at the train station. Around two o'clock I took my bicycle and started out. When I arrived at the train station, Stella wasn't there. Then I realized I wasn't at the train station, but in a hut made of tongue depressors and pieces of gum. Still, where was she?"

"There is laughter because there is nothing to laugh at. Laughter, whether conciliatory or terrible, always occurs when some fear passes. It indicates liberation either from physical danger or from the grip of logic."--Theodor Adorno

'Happy Ending' is a marvellously effective and portable means of temporarily escaping from power long enough to maybe, just maybe, regain one's sanity. Apply pages directly to brain and massage in a slow, circular motion as necessary.

It also possesses marvellous healing and beautifying powers. From the American Dermatology Academy Review of Poetry: "'Happy Ending' has been used for centuries by the Tahitian people as a natural therapeutic and beauty aid for it's ability to heal and regenerate the skin. It has been used successfully by many for the treatment of psoriasis, diabetic sores, eczema, age lines, rashes, and stretch marks making them look less unsightly. 'Happy Ending' may be used on the face to soften wrinkles and lines. Apply book directly to affected areas to treat skin disorders or marks to help make them less visible."

Truly inspiring. Hempsters owe a great debt to Chris Conrad for taking the time to collect the information required to write such an informative tome. I also really like the way "Lifeline" is presented. - John Dvorak, Hemp magazine

A great read. Very informative. Packed full of common sense and facts. This book will convert you to the Hemp solution.

The most interesting book on hemp I've ever seen. I've read it and re-read it, and lent it to people, etc. until it's now falling apart. - Anthony White

I couldn't put this book down. Even though I knew much about hemp, reading all the new information that Chris has unearthed was fascinating. I highly recommend this book. - Sally Miller, Synergy Books

A few minutes ago I finished a wonderful and impressive book, Hemp: Lifeline to the Future. It really amazed me, stunned me and enthused me. ... so many emotions went through me ... anger at the vested interests who so cruelly denied so many their rights to employment, health, freedom and enjoyment ... hope for a future with hemp ... amazement at all the positive products that can be made from hemp ... fellowship for all those engaged in changing the system to bring some lightness and brightness to the increasingly stressful and down-in-the-mouth world.

Chris Conrad has my complete and utter admiration for what seems to me to be a superhuman feat of research, communication, compilation and devastating exposition. Amazing. ...

"Thanks" is too small a word, but thanks for giving me the experience of reading your book - finally I have read a book that lives up to that old marketing line, "This book will change your life ...." It really will and it really has.

Thank you! - Allan Tierney

Following my mother's sudden death, I was filled with many questions about the afterlife. Kubler-Ross writes so directly for the griever as well as those facing death. This book was profoundly helpful in my search for questions to ask, as well as answers to be found! A must read no matter where the reader is in understanding death and dying!

Great audio CD. I love listening to her speak. I find it very comforting and helpful to me at this current time. I am dealing with the sudden and unexpected loss of my Mom. I was with her when she died and all of the data on this CD really brings alot of my feelings to the surface and sheds alot of insight into my many unanswered questions.

Are you the total skeptic towards the afterlife ?
Then you've hit the perfect introduction.
You'll be moved and fascinated listening to this caring and compassionate medical doctor describing her first-hand observations on the dying and passing over. And how - regardless of circumstances - everyone is met and embraced by a previous lost loved one...
In her own voice ! Don't worry about the accent; you'll revert to this 2 CD set many times over !
It has so much to offer. Least of which is scientific consolation in mourning.

I'll next recommend you move on to Allison & Joe DuBois's [portrayed in the "MEDIUM" TV-series]6 audio cd set We Are Their Heaven: Why the Dead Never Leave Us , 5 audio CD set Don't Kiss Them Good-bye , and one-audio cd (MP3 format) Secrets of the Monarch: What the Dead Can Teach Us About Living a Better Life . Plus Linda Williamson's book Contacting the Spirit World
Next there's a host of many other excellent elaborations by competent, renoved psychics. Easy to be found !

Dr. Elisabeth Kubler Ross takes an optimistic, insightful, and thought provoking look at life after death. Having dealt with recent deaths in my family, I've become very interested in the possibilities of what comes after our life here on earth. I found this audio book to be very spiritual, but not overly biased to any specific religion, which I appreciated. Dr. Ross has spent thousands of hours with dying patients and studying near death experiences to try to scientifically prove whether what people experience in "near-death" experiences is "wishful thinking" or an actual indication of what is to come. She gives compelling stories which help to backup the idea of life after death, and that we will not be alone when we die.

A few weeks ago, I had read a book from Dr. Ross, which seems to contain almost identical content to this audio book ->Tunnel and the Light: Essential Insights on Living and Dying

I found this book to be much better than the audio book. The book was based on lectures that she gave in the 1980s, and I found the book to be much more enjoyable than the audio book. With the exception of a few lectures on the 2nd disk of the audio book, most of the audio book contains what sounds like a straight dry narration of information. Also, her Swiss accent can make some parts of the audio difficult to understand. Tracks 6-10 on the 2nd disk of the audio book sound much different - her speach flows very naturally as she talks to a crowd (which is also heard on the audio book), and she frequently interjects some humor into the lecture, which keeps it entertaining and lively. I suspect that the book I mentioned above was taken from lectures she did around the same time frame as disk 2 tracks 6-10, as it has the same "feel" as these specific tracks on the audio book. The other sections of the audio book have good information, but this same information is presented much more effectively in the regular book.

Also, most of the lectures on disk one of the CD have poor recording quality, where all of the "S" sounds are harsh and somewhat ear-peircing. Overall, I think that Dr. Kubler Ross provides great information in this audio book, that makes the process of dying seem much more optimistic than I ever would have imagined, but wish the entire audio book would have been taken from lectures done around the time frame of tracks 6-10 on Disk 2. Those lectures were much clearer and more entertaining. If you're not stuck on getting an "audio" book, I would highly recommend getting the Tunnel and the Light: Essential Insights on Living and Dying instead.

This two CD audio book tells, in the author's own voice, of discoveries made from numerous interviews of people who'd had a "near death" experience. From them she's been able to answer the age old question, "Is there life after death?" Her description of what we each are destined to undergo is both convincing and joyous.

Kubler Ross was trained as a medical doctor and researcher. Her evidence is presented scientifically: the blind man capable of describing the doctor's tie, the accident victim who knew his mother and brother had preceded him in death. Conclusions are founded on reported common experience and scientific observation.

This pair of CDs is recommended to anyone interested or curious about life after death who has at least a slightly open mind. Those who already hope for or believe in life after death will end up knowing it to be fact. Those who doubt are going to be very hard pressed to not to become convinced.

The only caveat I have is that Kubler Ross's Swiss accent may be difficult for some to understand. For them repeated listenings should help.

Most stories in this book are easy read and thrillers. There are some that are extremely difficult to read. I found two such stories, both of which were first place holders. This contest does not only choose goo stories i.e. those that have content and are well-written, but also good those that have prfound use of language. That makes the English in some stories difficult to read. Either way, if you like thrill, this book is for you. If you get easily annoyed with different writing styles all in one book, then it's not for you.

I really like all of the WoTF books. This one is no exception. The stories and ideas are always new and original. I will buy the next one and the one after that and so on and so forth. Thanks Galaxy Press.

I love the Writers of the Future stories!

I am not a writer, but I love to read. The stories are almost one for one, great stories. They're short, but always a good read and original work! Since L. Ron Hubbard Presents Writers of the Future is a contest, the stories are picked by big writers: Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Brian Herbert, etc, so I am always guarenteed a GREAT read and I find them to get better and better. Volume 23 has been the best so far. I loved last year's one, too.

Keep the Writers of the Future going - it's keeping SF and Fantasy alive! Thanks, S.C.

A great read and an interesting collection of short stories that should interest the science fiction reader. I just finished the book and noticed that Jeff Carlson, one of the authors included in the selection, also wrote another book I just finished, Plague Year. So, the book contains stories by authors on their way to notoriety, and I've heard that past winners have gone on to successful careers in the fantasy and science fiction genres. This book will not disappoint. Highly recommended.

I've got to say that I'm pretty impressed with these guys. I'm an illustrator in the book, and was able to meet all the authors during the conference. The stories they've written are surprisingly original, and the writing quality is very very professional. My favorite is Primetime by Douglas Texter, but they're all remarkably memorable.

I work in an environment with mostly Latinos. I saw that my fellow co-workers were reading The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness. I asked to borrow a copy and let me tell you, the book is not just for Latinos. I am glad someone has had the courage to write a book like this. I saw myself in many of the limiting money beliefs he talks about. After reading this book, I signed up for my 401k plan, and have started saving money to live a life of financial greatness. His book is not a get rich quick book, like most others. It is about inspiring you to help you make more money to live a great life. All I know is that I have just purchased 3 books and have handed them to my non-Latino family members.

I just finished reading Louis' book, The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness. The book is extraordinary. I am a financial advisor from Houston, Texas and have been working in the Latino community for over 5 years now. I read so many books on personal finance that I thought no one could specifically address the financial needs of our community. It's thoughtful, inspirational, and just plain honest and practical. I now recommend this book to all my clients. As someone who is currently involved in the financial planning industry, I can honestly tell you that this book will transform our community to financial greatness. I hope the book does well. I will definitely do my part and tell everyone I meet to buy a copy.

The best recommendation I can give this book is that I am going to suggest it to my congregants. It is written for them, that is, hard working, Spanish-speaking immigrants who may not understand how money really works. And by the way, I understand the book is soon to be available in Spanish.

The reason I like this book as a pastor, is that what Barajas means by "financial greatness" is not an idolatry of the dollar, but a much broader approach to true happiness. In his how-to approach, his illustrations, and his closing forms to complete, he guides the reader through a wholistic approach to life.

First is the question: what are your major life foci and roles? He gives the examples of foci that include physical health and spiritual growth. Then he deals with roles that are associated with each focus, e.g., spouse, parent, coworker. And this like every other chapter concludes with a written exercise to help the reader answer the focus question.

Chapters on "Core Values," "Ideal Outcomes," "Starting Point," "Obstacles," "Resources," "Strategy," "Practical Systems," "Monitor Progress," and "Celebrate and Share" follow. This is a good pedogogy and an integrate approach. Money is central to but not solely what he means by wealth.

I plan to give this book to my compadre, and once he has read it, to discuss it with him. I think it will help him manage his hard earned money as well as prioritize his values. And that will make him not only a more proficient bread winner, but a more grateful recipient of the banquet of life.

The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness is an extraordinary and groundbraking piece of work. This book is by far the most insteresting and inspirational of all the Latino financial books so far written. Believe me! I have read them all. It is a true road map in finding financial and personal greatness. As Barajas writes" the why is more important than the how". It is practical and fun to read. As a Financial Planner, I have seen many of the cultural barriers that Bajaras points out with my clients. I have used the 10 steps with my clients and they all found the process motiving and inspiring. This book is a must read for all the financial consultants that wish to serve the Latino market.

Louis' book is revolutionary and groudbreaking, wow! The Latino Journey to Financial Greatness will change your life! Louis is the first and only Latino author to address the culturally conditioned beliefs about money that limit latinos. All latinos should read this book. This book should be required reading at the high school and collegiate level. The book is a very easy book to understand yet its message is pure and powerful. You will not change and you will not start your path to financial greatness until you make yourself aware of what is limiting you. Louis opens your eyes to the cultural limiting beliefs that hold us all back!

The Journey to greatness starts by focusing on your strengths and delegating your weaknesses. Despite what Home Depot tries to make you believe, A do it yourselfer is wasting their valuable time on a weakness. Some people waste a life time on careers and task that take them off their path to greatness. I ask you today. Are you a specialists or are you a generalists? Who would you go to today if you had a brain tumor, a neurosurgeon or your campadre that is a real estate agent, insurance salesman, travel agent and notary. Louis identifies this cultural barrier in his book as Mi Campadre, Consulting (Non)Experts. We as latinos do this all the time and aren't aware of it. The book is divided into two parts. The first part makes you aware about the 10 barriers or potholes on your journey to financial greatness. It is also very inspiring and motivating. Only after you are aware of the barriers will you be ready for the second part of the book, the 10 steps to financial greatness. I use the word Awareness because it is the key that Louis Barajas will hand you to unlock the imaginary door that you have placed on your path to financial greatness.

For the pastor in Indiana, thank you for writing that great review it was very helpful for me. Please contact me at (323) 890-8180. I will be in Indiana soon and would love to share my story with you and your congregation, thank you and kindest regards.

I think that this book will be a bomb! I work in the bookshop and I know that Werber like a people a lot

This is an in-cre-di-ble story of a group of people, the "thanatonautes" who experience the after-life in stages. There are five stages before the soul can reach heaven, and until then, the sould can come back to the body. What are the five stages, and can they see them all? You will find out if you read this book. So creative, and honestly, we all hope it's true.

Just an amazing theory about heaven.

If you are the kind of person who thinks every religions agree to say the same thing, this book is for you.

Enjoy it.

This book rocks! Get ready for one hell of a ride into the unknown and beyond... and perhaps not that unknown. Don't miss out, READ THIS BOOK! (and if one book isn't enough, vol II just came out... in French for now)

Un livre qui vous épatera à coup sûr. Tout le monde s'est demandé qu'est-ce qui arrive après la mort. Bernard Werber a réussi à partir de livre tels le Livre des Morts Égyptiens à créer une explication à la mort. Vous resterez marqué par ce livre, c'est garanti!!!

À lire du même auteur, la suite "L'empire des Anges" ainsi que la très populaire trilogie des fourmis.

Je vous recommande fortement la lecture de ce livre nouveau genre qui traîte d'un sujet délicat d'une manière intéressante et enrichissante.

I am a middle school English and Social Studies teacher, and I just finished reading this book. I think it's a must read for any middle school or high school age girl. It's a bit dry in parts, but has a good explanation of how our government actually works with respect to a topic that has certainly affected their lives (whether they know it or not!) There are some more interesting side bars, and I really enjoyed the charts of statistics showing how the numbers of girls and women in different areas of sports and education increased every year following passage of the law. I think current teens will be surprised to find out how little was allowed for (or expected of) girls even at the time that their moms were entering school.

I consider myself quite well informed about current women's issues, but had always wondered what the impetus was behind Title IX. I had no idea that the law we hear about that applies to women's equal access to sports, was aimed at equal access to college admissions and financial assistance. I cried several time while reading this book; I was mad at the earlier treatment of women, I was saddened by the personal stories of disappointment suffered by the women who were shut out of playing games they loved only because they were girls. I was also proud of the triumphs of the recent past, but mostly I was moved to buy another copy and pass it around to as many women as I can. ANY WOMAN WHO HAS PLAYED SPORTS OR GONE TO COLLEGE IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, OWES IT TO THEMSELVES TO READ, APPRECIATE, AND SHARE THIS BOOK WITH THE NEXT GENERATION OF GIRLS. Laurie in Utah

Let Me Play puts a passionate perspective on the plight of women in the fight to obtain simple civil liberties and human equalities. Author Karen Blumenthal presents her work in a format targeted to a young audience, making this easily manageable book appealing to people of all ages that appreciate the continuing battle for equal rights.

Let Me Play is not simply the history of Title IX, part of the 1972 education amendments to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but an outline of the ongoing fight women have endured in demanding equal treatment. It tells the stories of women all over the country fighting for recognition as something more than homemakers. Let Me Play fervently depicts, through narration, anecdotes, pictures and cartoons, the ways women fought, and still fight, for status as equal humans of equal worth.

In her book, Blumenthal vividly profiles the lives of many empowered women from soccer superstar Mia Hamm, who grew up playing on boys' soccer and American football teams, to 1993 University of Louisville Medical School graduate Dot Richardson, Olympic softball gold medalist and orthopedic surgeon. The stories of these women are heartening and relatable. No matter their field or occupation, each of them was once a girl growing up in a boy's world.

Let Me Play is a powerful addition to the unique genre of children's books adopted by Blumenthal, celebrated author and Wall Street Journal reporter. She has a way of capturing the meaning and relative application of a major historical event and conveying it in a way that is straightforward and dynamic, educational and entertaining.

Let Me Play is, essentially, the very recent, very true and very shocking story of girls being denied the right to not only participate in school-sanctioned sports and activities but also to take top-level math and science classes and be admitted to top universities, solely because of their gender.

The underlying message of Let Me Play is this: Know the words of Title IX and remember that, by law, no one can deny you the right to play, learn, advance and win.

A fiery and well examined recounting of the road to equality for women peppered with fun political cartoons and unforgettable quotes, this book is a necessity for any girl who plays ball in a once strictly male park.

I'm so glad to see a history for today's young women about what it was like before Title 9 - which, while it wasn't that long ago, seems unreal to my daughter's generation. I remember The Days Before, when the boys got the gym and were formed into athletic teams while the girls got WHAT PASSED for PE - calisthenics in the cafeteria! (and instructional time was used to move the tables and chairs aside)

In a day when feminism is facing a hostile backlash, Ms. Blumenthal's book is a valuable reminder that "what used to be" wasn't as rosy as some claim, a reminder of the gains made in sports by talented girls, and of what we DON'T want to return to! Five stars!

"Female admissions to colleges and graduate programs picked up speed, driven by female ambition, the law, and a growing acceptance that it was simply wrong to reject someone just for being a girl. Between 1971 and 1976 the number of women attending college jumped 40 percent. By the fall of 1976 one in every four law students was a woman, up from fewer than one in ten in 1971; likewise, a quarter of first-year medical students were female, up from about one in seven just five years before."

Recently at this year's Book Expo in New York City, I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with Patricia Macias. At publishing conventions, Patricia is known as the wife of author Ben Saenz. But back home in El Paso, she is more frequently referred to as "Your Honor."

As I wandered the exhibition halls at Book Expo, I frequently got the chance to catch up with old friends in the publishing industry. Many of the women I've known for years who are employed by the large publishing houses now have titles like "President & Publisher" or "Vice President and Associate Publisher." They not only have the positions; they have the power that accompanies those titles.

I also had the opportunity at Book Expo to chat briefly with my favorite member of the United States Senate. I feel so fortunate to be represented by Barbara Boxer who, like me, grew up in New York and moved westward. When we first elected Barbara to the US Senate in 1992, having her join Diane Feinstein there in representing California, it was the first time in US history that two women Senators were representing the same state at the same time.

Myra Bradwell would have though that it was long past time.

"In 1869, Mrs. Bradwell passed the Illinois bar exam with high honors and turned in her application to practice law. Though she easily qualified, she was turned down because she was a married woman. She filed a lawsuit, but the Illinois Supreme Court turned her down too, saying that her sex was 'a sufficient reason for not granting this license.'
"In one of the nation's first sex discrimination cases she appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. But America's top court had a different view than she did. 'Man is, or should be, woman's protector and defender,' the Court wrote in 1873. 'The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.' It concluded: 'The paramount destiny and mission of woman [is] to fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator.' "

It does not require looking back a hundred and something years to the life of Myra Bradwell (who, we learn, persevered to become America's first female lawyer) in order to recall when things were really unfair for women in America. I grew up a youngster not all THAT long ago, in a world where women didn't have the same opportunities as men to go to college, didn't have the same opportunities as men to work in many fields, to attain the highest positions in business, government, or education, to get paid the same money for the same work, and sure as heck didn't have the same athletic opportunities as their male counterparts.

As recalled in LET ME PLAY by Karen Blumenthal, it was in 1964 (when I turned nine, the same year the Beatles first came to America), that a Southern segregationist in Congress unintentionally played an important role in promoting women's rights when he "proposed adding the word 'sex' to the section [of the Civil Rights Act of 1964], so that it would forbid job discrimination against women as well as blacks." Congressman Howard W. Smith of Virginia was figuring that adding such an amendment would cause the male-dominated Congress to quickly sink the entire Act including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that the historic Civil Rights legislation would create. That Smith's plan backfired and the legislation passed meant for the first time in our history that it was illegal to pay a woman differently than a man employed in the same position as she.

"State universities in Virginia had turned away 21,000 women in the early 1960s; during the same time not a single man was turned away."

While the author takes us back to the 1800s and forward to the 1960s in setting the stage, the overwhelming focus of her fascinating and important book about women in America is on the fight for passage of and subsequent fights over enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as well as the far-reaching changes in our country that resulted from that landmark legislation.

Blumenthal's well-documented story of Title IX is interspersed with illuminating profiles and photos of notable twentieth century female athletes who got badly cheated by being born in the backward days of the earlier 1900s, along with great profiles of the federal legislative heroes responsible for Title IX passage, and a terrific assortment of strips from Doonsbury, Tank McNamara, Peanuts and other daily comics and political cartoons that shed light on the legislation and the issues behind it.

"At the University of Georgia the budget for women's sports grew to $120,000 in 1978 from $1,000 in 1973, but the men received $2.5 million. Among the differences: The men on the golf team got all the golf balls they needed. Women golfers got one for each competitive round they played."

If the words of the "stupid white men" on the Supreme Court in the 1870s seem like something from the Dark Ages, readers will discover that the ignorance of those words is easily matched by what Ronald Reagan and his minions did to try and destroy Title IX in the 1980s. I can't imagine any woman who's aware of what Reagan and Bush One carried out in those years not gagging over the current President's recent words that "We are blessed to live in a Nation, and a world, that have been shaped by the will, the leadership, and the vision of Ronald Reagan." I'd say there's a serious lack of vision when you've got your head in the place that Reagan obviously had his when it came to women's rights.

But now the question is, is the battle finally won?

When we consider what portion of Congress and Senate seats are currently filled by the majority gender in America, when we look at what portion of the CEOs of Fortune 500 corporations are female, or when we look at the gender of the Presidents of the nation's most distinguished universities, we must conclude that there is a long way to go.

A report released by the AAUW back when this week's high school graduates were in kindergarten found that "boys' expectations were built up while girls' were whittled back." That's THIS generation, not mine or a previous generation.

And lest anyone suggest the glass half-filled attitude, I'd hasten to suggest that they consider trading places and then claim that things are moving along quickly enough.

Edith Green, a major figure in the story, was fond of the saying: "The trouble with every generation is that they haven't read the minutes of the last meeting." Thanks to Karen Blumenthal, we now have an accurate set of minutes available from a pivotal episode in recent American history.

If a lawyer can go this far to prove life after death and communicating with those who have passed over, then the jury would be in total agreement with him and believe! Case Closed.

This book is terrific! It says what I've been thinking for years and removes any fears I might have anticipated.

i always felt there was something beyond death.but when i read this spectacular book, with pages full of documented evidence, i was absolutely convinced.l loved reading it. this is a must read for anyone on the fence.

I had always questioned life after the death and the presence of spirits in the world. I now know that the answer is that they all do exist. I could not put this book down, which is funny because I usually hate reading. There were many great stories and things in it that really make you beleive in life after death. If you want to know anything in this area, then Life After Death is the book to read. This book is definately on my top 10 ten list of best books ever read. Enjoy!

I finally got to read your book during my vacation last week. No, "read" isn't the right word. How about "feast upon", "devour", or "celebrate"? Yes, that more like it! Your book is wonderful; it will certainly earn you your angel wings on the other side. I was like a kid in a candy store. I was thoroughly entertained and couldn't put it down. My book, Toward Heaven On Earth, covers alot of afterlife proofs but there was much in your book that was new to me. Mr. Freeman, you're the Sidney Sheldon of the afterlife evidence genre! Thank you and God bless you.

The little Green Handbook is packed full of data covering our environment. From facts on environmental degradation, population data, energy use plus more. Each topic is thoroughly covered with a multitude of up to date facts and figures. These facts and figures are easily understood and well explained by the author. This book has been written so that the average person can easily read and understand the subject. It is not a book by a scientist for scientists. The only thing overwhelming about this book is the state our life giving planet finds itself in.

In this book the author also tackles the issue of over population that few environmentalists dare to discuss. The chapter about population succinctly explains the relation ship between the global population and the state of our planet and how this is the core problem to it's ills. An example from the book; the author predicts that the population level in 15 years from now will be 7.6 billion people and in 25 years it will be 8.4 billion from our current levels of 6.2 billion and that's his medium growth forecast

This book is a wake up call. Ron Nielson says it is not too late yet but time is short to reverse of perhaps ameliorate the problems about to occur. I believe this book is a must read for anyone concerned for the fate of the planet. It brings to a startling reality the facts of what is happening and what is predicted to happen to our precious home, Earth

What riveted me to my chair whilst reading Ron Nielson's book, was no so much the shear volume of facts that he has assembled, but the compassion of the man for this planet. What else could drive him to assemble the massive compendium of frightening facts about our impact on it. Ron lives the credo espoused by Einstein and even though I have not yet met the man, I admire him for it. Ron has helped me understand who I am and why I struggle so hard to change the way we impact on earth.

The Little Green Handbook puts into print the evidence about global trends we all fear are true but avoid as they spell the end of our dominance of the planet. As Ron states in his Epilogue on page 263, "We have entered a unique century, in which questions about our survival will be answered and our future decided. This century will mark the conclusion of the first ever population explosion, with all its damaging and ominous consequences. For the first time in human history, we are approaching and crossing the ecological limits of our planet. Never before has the survival of the human race been so threatened. Never before has there been a convergence of so many critical global trends"

This is a must read

The Little Green Handbook is must know information for us all. Dr Nielsen cuts through the hype and misinformation and delivers the facts on the state of our planet. This stunning book is superbly written delivering its impeccably researched material in a cleverly structured format. The layered format of the book allows the reader to choose the level of detail they want. If you want a comprehensive overview of a given topic it's provided. If you want very detailed information in support of that overview it's also provided. To say the book is comprehensive is an understatement.

With the release of the Little Green Handbook we can no longer claim ignorance as an excuse for not taking action to address the environmental devastation we are inflicting upon our planet. The Little Green Handbook should be compulsory reading for every politician on the planet. It should also be studied in schools across the globe because our children have a right to know about the environmental legacies we are leaving them.
Ken Davey
Tamworth Australia

The Little Green Handbook gives a broad outline of the worldwide trends that have impacted on the global environment and will continue to do so. They are presented under the chapter headings of population explosion; diminishing land resources and water resources; the destruction of the atmosphere; the approaching energy crisis; social decline and conflicts and increasing killing power.
As someone who earns a living from words, it was with trepidation I approached a book filled with figures. But within hours of starting the book I realised the enormous power and impact of seeing this data laid out in tables. The figures really do speak for themselves, with some help from Dr Nielsen. Under each table he gives an example of what the data is telling the reader and allows you to confirm that you are reading the information correctly.
Dr Nielsen's message is not only that humans are reaching the ecological limits in many of these areas but that in some we may have already surpassed them.
For example, the concept of the ecological footprint has gained widespread uses as an indicator of how much land it takes to produce the resources to maintain a person's basic needs and lifestyle choices. Dr Nielsen says the current global footprint is 2.3ha per person, but global capacity is 1.8ha per person - that means the world's current consumption is at rates 28 per cent higher than global ecological capacity.
The handbook is full of facts and figures that are presented in a way that is never cumbersome or less than an absorbing read.
It is a great reference for anyone with an interest in the environment.
This review first appeared in Government News magazine, Volume 25, Issue 2, March 2005.

If you want to provide the best possible future for your children then you should read this book. Why?

In eight chapters, the book describes the state of the world, carefully summarising a massive amount of factual research on environment, population, land, water, atmosphere, energy, society and conflict. It is easy to read and quite complex issues are described simply and clearly.

There is a vast collection of very interesting facts in the text and more in many easily understood tables. For example, did you know that

-- oxidation of sulphides in wastes from most mining operations produces land, water and air pollution for several generations?

-- more than four babies are added to global population each second?

-- in Australia, over 4.7 million hectares of agricultural land have been degraded by dryland salinity?

-- underground water reserves are defined as non-renewable as they take about 1400 years to recharge?

-- average temperatures in some regions of Australia increased by 2ºC over the last century?

-- worldwide, around 14% of natural gas is lost in transmission?

-- there are around one billion obese people in the world, 300 million critically obese and 170 million underweight children?

-- the assets of the world's 200 richest people grew by $2 million per person per day from 1994 to 1998?

-- the US spends about 50% of its discretionary budget on military activities?

Chapter 9 provides a summary of the previous eight chapters, and in Chapter 10 - Landmarks of Progress - the author extracts answers to some critical questions, based on the information provided in the earlier chapters. Most provocative are his projections, based on careful - and very conservative - trend analyses based on published facts.

Take just one example: oil. Around 95% of global transport depends on oil. Many other industries depend on oil, too. We have used up about half of the known reserves. The demand will very soon exceed supply and that gap will widen very rapidly. In our market-based economy, this will lead to very significant price increases (already oil has tripled in price from $US25 to $US75 per barrel in the last five years). What will we do when we cannot afford to fill up the tank? What will be the consequences for food distribution?

Besides these 10 chapters, there are nearly 100 pages of appendices, notes, references and two indexes (one by subject and the other by country and region).

The author, a nuclear physicist, is very careful to refrain from 'doom and gloom', focusing most on facts and a little on probabilities for the future. And he asks a lot of hard questions.

If we needed a wake-up call, this book is it -- and a deafeningly loud one at that. I read a lot of books and this one is, in my view, the most important book published in Australia in more than 10 years. It ranks with Rachel Carson's 'Silent Spring'. In the Australian publisher's opinion, it is the most important book they have ever published, in 15 years.

If the trends described in The Little Green Handbook are even close to being accurate, then the lives of our children will be very, very, very different from ours, unless we change our behaviour very quickly, across almost all areas of our lives.

Read this book--for the sake of your children.

I have owned this book for a few years and turn to it again and again. It is filled with photos in black and white of children from various parts of the world who are on their last legs. For me the most touching image is opposite a foreward from Mother Teresa. It is a picture of an Ethiopian mother and a beautiful child waiting for food in a refugee camp. The child is skin and bones. The love between the mother and child goes straight to the heart. The caption explains that the child died later that day. In her foreward, Mother Teresa says that the "children in these pictures speak to us." Indeed they do.

Grossfeld is a master. Compassionate photographs of childrenin horrific situations. You haven't seen these images before. Thereare stories in their eyes. Check out the section in the back on how to change the world for them.

If you read this book, it will change you forever. This isStan's best book to date.

Every child in these pictures asks questions. Why don't I have a home? Why do I live in a car? In this camp? Why is my mother crying? Why is everything broken? Why is the refrigerator empty? Why do I need help breathing? Why is the air so bad? Why did I die before I could grow up? Why am I in a coffin? Why are there so many coffins? Why must I be a prostitute? Who are these people who come to me? Who keeps the money? Who eats the vegetables I pick? Why do the chemicals make me sick? Who makes the money? Why is the only place I have to live in this sewer? Why do they rape me? Why do people think I'm bad because I sniff glue? Why do I have to work instead of going to school? Why did the soldiers try to kill me? Will my mother still love me even though I lost a hand? An eye? Why do I feel so good when I have this gun? Who paid for the gun? Who will I kill? Why ....?

Stan Grossfeld has mercy on us. The last two pages offer us ways to help these kids.

Read it. Meditate on it. Weep. Act.

I must first begin with admitting that I have not read this book, yet I still believe that my thoughts are applicable. Over the summer of 1998 I was introduced to Mr. Grossfelds work in the form of a lecture/slide show. He revieled much of the content of the book and explained his views on the subjects at hand. After the show by instict all I could do was sit alone and question my life, my social awareness and action, and appreciate what a wonderful life I was born into.

The photographs of this book document the aspects of our world of which we are less proud. During times where we are advancing phenominally, these problems can not be ignored. The making of this book is one important step to recognizing and addressing these issues. I urge anyone with any hint of social awareness, any hint of compassion, to purchase this book. The profits contribute to worthy fondations which give direct aid and make direct changes in the lives of those who are less fortunate.