Future Books

... In 2002 this is a book that people who seek viable solutions for 2002 problems and challenges should read. The author carefully shows how what worked in 1700, 1800, 1900 wont and shouldn't work in the 21st Century. That just as women were forced to bear children in later decades there are now better screening programs and preventatives to make that no longer the case.

That just as slavery was once the norm it no longer is and in large part because non-religious people were able to show that it was inhumane and wrong. That as times change so must belief systems. That just because something worked in the past doesn't mean it does or should in 2002. That there are some ideas that are moral and ethical that transcend religion and are held and were held long before religion became the dictate. That free men need to be truly free.

After my "Phenomenology and Education" was recently published, aimed at scholars in phenomenology, human factors engineering, ethics and education, I hoped someone would write an interdisciplinary volume communicating the unified approach to ethics for the nonphilosopher. Happily, J. L. Daleiden has done so brilliantly. Kant's second Copernican revolution regrettably argued that reason could not deal with ethics; fortunately we have Daleiden who implements the third Copernican revolution for the nonphilosopher: reason can deal with ethics and morals. His landmark work is a "must" reading for scholar and educated citizen. Provocative, incisive, systematic, yet humane, Daleiden's work will be read and analyzed for a very long time.

The introduction is a treat. With refreshing candor, the author provides insight into the genesis of his work. Intellectual, but readable, this second book of a trilogy by Joseph L. Daleiden is a guide through the complexity of today's moral and ethical choices. He begins with the classic reasons for earlier beliefs and gently updates and applies them to our current dilemmas for evaluation. This philosophical treatise has something for every reader. It encompasses the major concerns of humanity, neatly compartmentalized and presented with balance and compassion, yet arrives at logical conclusions.

As one of those who edited this book for Mr. Daleiden, I take pride in the extent to which the book clarifies, for the lay public, some of the nuances of the ethics debate that has raged among philosophers, and spilled into a broader public arena, in modern times. Of particular importance, in the "culture wars" debate in contemporary America, is Mr. Daleiden's emphasis on the secular case for a solid relationship between rights and responsibilities. All too many secular thinkers seem to abandon emphasis on this relationship, thereby giving the would-be theocrats a golden opportunity to present themselves as the indispensible bastions against an otherwise inevitable "slouching towards Gomorrah". While Mr. Daleiden and I differ on some nuances regarding Rawls' theory of justice, this book is a boon to those who suspect that a principled alternative, to the relativism of the Left and the absolutism of the Right, is the most appropriate course for humanity. It shows how ethics are relative to human desires, but absolute insofar as humans can and do reach consensus on what is desired. In this respect the book is in the best tradition of Enlightenment thought, and is an overdue response to the smear campaigns so successfully waged against the Enlightenment by both Left and Right.

An excellent work which successfully takes on the monumental task of updating ethics and morality derived from antiquated sources - tradition, revelation, fiat, etc. - to a system based on reason. The reduction of criteria for determining the validity and efficacy of a moral precept to three - Mr. Daleiden's "three harmonies" - will allow any rational moral leader to evaluate a system of morality without the need to appeal to the supernatural or to convoluted logic. One can only hope it will be read by those in positions of influence.

Johnson has done an excellent job of reviewing the Old Testament view on death and the afterlife. I have often been puzzled at what seem to be contradictions in the scripture's view of Sheol, and this works seems to prove that my bewilderment was quite appropriate. It seems that the author's conclusion is that writers of the Old Testament weren't all that concerned with death and the afterlife, focusing on their relationship with Yahweh in the current life. It seems that much of the focus on death and the afterlife occurred in the inter-testamental period and quite possibly reflected the Hebrew exposure to Persian and Greek cultures.
Although dry and academic in parts, overall this is a well done and well written work. If you are interested in Sheol, or "The Pit", this is a great place to start.

I recently wrote a research paper on Sheol for a class I had, and was astonished to find that there were so few books available on the subject. I believe this was the only book I could find (after searching diligently on the internet) about Sheol written in the last 50 years or so. Sure a few books about the afterlife in general had sections about Sheol, but this was the only one which was dedicated entirely to Sheol. Other than this book the only recent (written in the last 50 years) texts about Sheol were some M.A. theses (not published) and individual journal articles. This book was by far the best source I found on the topic.

Johnson goes through, in great detail, the Hebrew beliefs about death, burial, the underworld, and the prospects of future life. It was a little difficult to read straight through because he went off into so much detail about specific relevant texts in other near-eastern cultures contemporary to the Old Testament texts, but it was definitely very readable as long as you skimmed over some sections instead of getting bogged down in them. As a reference tool, this would be of extraordinary benefit, as he has an index in the back of all the relevant scripture verses and what pages he discusse them on.

If I were to describe this book in one word, it would be thorough. I was astonished at the level of research he put into this book. He interacted with just about every scholarly source there is on Sheol, including those written in German and other languages which are inaccessable to most english speaking people. His book is very systematic and easy to follow, and he leaves very few stones unturned in his quest to determine what the Hebrews believed about Sheol.

His conclusions, in a nutshell, are that the Hebrews believed that (1) Sheol was a literal, underground abode of the dead which was (2) where the wicked go and (3) where they are cut off from God and exist in something resembling an unconscious state. I agree with one and three, but his evidence that they did not believe that everyone goes to Sheol was a bit scant and seemed to be something he wanted to believe rather than something he thought the evidence merited. He took the position that the Hebrew saints hoped for something other than Sheol upon their death, but they just didn't know what that would be. At this point I will have to politely disagree with him, as I think he has gone beyond the evidence on this point.

Overall, however, I found myself agreeing with the majority of his conclusions. He stands in the middle ground between very conservative Christians who want to interpret Sheol simply as the grave (or else they have the embarassing problem of affirming a strict view of inerrancy and yet have the Scriptures affirming a literal underground abode of the dead) and liberal scholars who want to equate it with other near-eastern underworld beliefs. No matter where you find yourself on that spectrum, this books needs to be encountered in any study of Sheol, as it seems likely to emerge as THE definitive study on it. My one critique of the book is that it really needs an index by suject. He has an index by scripture references, and one by authors, but there is no subject index. There were quite a few times I wanted to go back and re-read his secion on, say, Sheol's relationship to the literal grave and was unable to find it because there was no subject index. That is definitely something that needs to be added to future editions.

Overall grade: A+

This is an excellent reference book in that it covers many a Hebrew bible text that scholars have suggested are even remotely related to the topic. The author outlines each text, giving the literal Hebrew translation, or admitting where the texts have difficulty in translation and reviews scholarly approach to arguments suggesting the texts are related to the concept of the state of the dead and the possibility of afterlife. This method I found establishes well his argument that the subject matter of the state of the dead and an afterlife is hardly referred to at all in the Hebrew bible. He reviews apparent contradictions between texts which basically state there is no existence beyond this one, and the handful that hold out the hope of a physical resurrection. Likewise he reviews the chronologic development of Israel's belief system concerning the subject. By the time of the New Testament, he states "the perspectives between the Old and New Testaments on human fate after death are significantly different. Indeed for many scholars they are not just distinctive, but actually contradictory." I recommend this as an excellent book on the subject for those not afraid to investigate.

This book is an excelent book. Johnson explores almost everything the Old Testament says about death and Sheol. He even brings points that go against the common thought of the day which cause one to think. I recomend this book to anyone wanting to more about death in the Old Testament. It is a great resource for papers too.

The author organises this encyclopaedic study under four parts: Death, the Underworld, the Dead, and the Afterlife. An introductory apology for the study confronts the reader with a paradox: death and the underworld are fascinating topics for Judaism, Christianity, and modern scholarship, yet 'Israel's religious writers were not particularly concerned with the underworld or with the dead. The related to Yahweh in this life, and were relatively uninterested in the life hereafter.'

In Part A, the manifold figures under which death appears in the Old Testament are exhaustively surveyed, noting that death is sometimes seen as natural while at other moments is viewed as a contradiction and adversary of the life which Yahweh has created. A second chapter reviews practices surrounding death and burial in ancient Israel, concluding that 'religious rites either did not occur or were of such minimal importance that they have left no trace in any of the varied literary strands of the Old Testament. Little continued interest in the remains of the dead is evident.
In his consideration of the underworld (Part B), Johnston finds an Israelite distinctive in its relative disregard for Sheol, which when it is mentioned is an unwelcome fate, sparsely described, and always in first-person accounts rather than reportage. The argument for late editorial extraction of the theme is discussed, then dismissed.

Arguing that most underworld language is metaphorical, Johnston criticizes studies by Pedersen and Barth that suggested that the Israelite sufferer actually experienced Sheol in this life. Under the questioning heading 'The Pervasive Underworld?', Johnston examines uses of earth, water, and similar words which the Dahood school has understood as references to the underworld. He answers the title's query in the negative, concluding that water and earth are physically associated with the underworld, but never used as names for it. The probability of accidental or intentional minimization of a pervasive underworld by the tradents of the biblical text is dismissed.

In Part C, Johnston turns to the dead themselves, noting biblical texts that show people naming, consulting, and honouring them. Again, his emphasis falls on how unimportant the dead were to living Israelites. Part of his effort is dedicated to deconstructing scholarly reconstructions of practices that involved the dead, usually by observing their tenuous basis.

Unlike related ANE literatures, the Old Testament is largely uninterested in the consultation of the dead. There exist a few prohibitions of necromancy and scattered references to the practice, but just one account. Johnston claims that all literary layers of the witch of Endor story at 1 Sam 28 show the practice to be both effective and illegal.

Johnston find reconstructions of a cult of the dead textually dubious and methodologically spurious. Further, the paucity of censure of such cult speaks for its scarcity or absence. The biblical record and, Johnston judges, Israelites themselves were largely unconcerned with rites that honoured the dead.

In Part D, Johnston discusses the afterlife under the headings of 'Communion Beyond Death' (ch. 9, pp. 199-217) and 'Resurrection from Death' (ch. 10., pp. 218-239). Some biblical characters escaped death, but they did not become paradigms of subsequent experience. Johnston cautiously analyses possible intimations of hope beyond death in the Psalms, Proverbs, and the crux at Job 19.25-27. While the Proverbs and the Job passage are found not to affirm communion after death, the psalmists do. However, they provide no details beyond the hope of further communion with God. Johnston's final chapter argues that a `distinctively Israelite' notion of individual resurrection was not significantly influenced by other faiths.

Rather, this idea-absent in Old Testament witness but present in Second Temple speculation and New Testament assumptions-emerged from 'Yahweh's proclaimed power to renew life, its occasional experience in life and in vision, his authority over the underworld, and the desire for unending communion with (Yahweh).'

This book takes its place as an indispensable-because encyclopaedic-guide to the Old Testament discussion of the themes it treats, a feature that is complemented by a welcome layer of sober interpretation.

The author of this book has shown us so much about how to use the taking and sharing of digital photos to express yourself that I feel really grateful to him for having written it. The ideas in the book are wonderfully creative, and it's a beautiful book to boot. I intend to give this book as a gift to my daughter for her birthday to accompany the new digital camera her dad and I bought her.

This is a really amazing book that goes beyond the technical aspects of digital photography (those books are a dime a dozen) and explores the issues of organizing, archiving, and ultimately telling stories with your digital photographs.

I believe this book will have a lasting impact on the world of photography because it helps the reader capture better pictures, streamline the tedious parts of digital photography, and how to tell effective digital stories with photos. Stories and memories, isn't that's why we take photos anyway?

It's also a beautifully designed book that I'll keep just for the design even after I've absorbed all the content.

I was able to get an advance copy of Dane's book and am so glad that I did. There are so many books out there on digital photography, mostly how-to's that are basic. What Dane does in this book is attack the issue from a completley different point of view - how to use the images to tell a story.

I especially appreciate his very tactical advice on how to start the process - what picture to use first, how to setup a sequence that conveys a mood and character to the story line.

I really liked how he used real examples (his daughter) which helped take this practical book out of the theoretical and into the real world of dealing with images.

My girlfriends father relies on me for technical support for his camera (which we got him for Christmas). So for Fathers Day we bought him his own copy of Dane's book - and a copy of Microsoft's Digital Image Suite software.

He is loving both!

mark sylvester

I just book the Italian version of this book which has just been published here.

This simple and lovely book is not about how to use my new sophisticated digital camera (I will have to study the manual) but has encouraged me to free my amateur photographer mind from concepts carved there like "don't shoot until you are pretty sure the scene is good enough and that film is not wasted". It didn't teach me either how to download the photos to my Mac but certainly has broaden my world and taught me creative ways of sharing my good memories with my Spanish family.

The photos are really nice and support very well all the concepts. The language is clear and so are the explanations even if I doubt I will use the Microsoft products mentioned in the book. I am sure I will be able to "replicate" them with my Mac. To cut a long story short: as the proverb says "it hasn't give me the fish but has given me the knowledge to catch fish by myself".

This book is about capturing experiences, not just photos. It is an excellent read for any beginner (or digital camera buff) interested in learning not just how to take digital images, but how to take and create photos that tell a story. I was originally looking for a book to help me expand the way I use my digital camera when I came across "Sharing Digital Photos". What an unexpected surprise. As soon as I went through it, I knew it was a great find and was amazed at the breadth of possibilities that exist.

Dane covers a multitude of options available for the digital photographer, and covers various methods, programs, and techniques for sharing, managing, and tweaking images. The clarity and simplicity with which the book delivers this information is refreshing. He delivers clear descriptions of the mythology and uses personal family experiences as examples. These personal stories form the heart of the book and make the concepts easy to understand. Each chapter continuously serves up an honest and straightforward delivery that helps create a solid perspective on the different techniques.

Access to website links allow you to experience the solutions and further demonstrate the possibilities. He uses "easy to follow" language, plenty of photo examples, and well laid out graphics in various combinations to effectively communicate the essential message in each lesson while encouraging you to dive in along the way. This book has changed my paradigm concerning digital images where they no longer sit idly in my hard disk! Happy story telling...

I feel the addition of a CD with examples and demos of the software programs would have made the experience even more enjoyable.

This book is an antidote for the cynicism and sense of helplessness that pervades too many of our communities. We are given actual examples of communities builing on their strengths, talents, histories and values to create new energy and optimism. As an amatuer historian, my favorite chapter was the one on preserving the past as a way to begin building the new. Now I have the language to encourage renewal by honoring the past.

Finally, an exceedingly hopeful book about how to effect meaningful change in a community, large or small. Here, Dr. Suzanne Morse, in her characteristic lively and to-the-point style, has given us a guide, repleat with documented examples of how to move the needle on those issues we're all too familiar with: poverty, lack of a board base of leadership, chidren's welfare. Armed with more than 10 years of hands on experience working with groups in communities all across the country, Dr. Morse's book, as well as many of her other supportive pieces such as What Works, guarantees us all that we no longer have to start at square one. If you were depressed by Robert Putnam's novel a few years back, Bowling Alone, which bemoaned the lack of citizen involvement in communities today, this book and the work of Dr. Morse will give you not only hope but the tools to join forces with others where you live to make a difference.
Read it for the cheer joy of finding out how this is done, and done well.Each chapter ends with, How to Get Started in Your Community, a virtual workbook for action. Her reference section will also help guide you in fruitful directions.Putnam's latest book, Better Together: Restoring the American Community, speaks of a hint that citizens are beginning to "bowl together". Dr. Morse's book is proof that they are and have been doing so effectively for the past decade.Enjoy--an exhilerating read.

I got this book because it is being used as a textbook for a college course I am taking, but once I got into the book, I started enjoying it. Morse is a real excellent writer and she makes the subject matter of creating good communities interesting. Normally, I would dread reading a book for class, but this one is a good read especially for those who wnat to be more involved in making a smart community.

I was attracted to this book while looking for insights into strategic thinking for work in another arena. I was not disappointed.

Smart Communities offers many very useable ideas for anyone with responsibilities for thinking and acting strategically to enhance our lives together. And that probably includes most everyone.

Along with very practical help, the accounts and interpretations of real experiences also offer inspiration and hope.

I'm sure that you are busy. I've got a lot of things to do myself, more than I can get done today. And then the time comes when you have to stop being busy, some times you just have to sit and let the batteries recharge. As the old saying goes, sometimes I sits and thinks, and sometimes I just sits.

And the question has to come up of what can one person, you or me do to make the community we live in a better place. Suzanne Morse's book can't tell you what you can do. But it can tell you what other people like you have done. Will her ideas work in New York City, no. Will they work on the block you live in within New York City, in the neighborhood you live in, yes.

Meanwhile I've got to quit writing about this book. I'm going help the local community theater try to get started. I don't know anything about theater, but I can find some way to help, even if it's just sweeping the floor.

Excellent depiction of how WWIII might start. Very accurate on new technologies and diplomatic machinations. Other reviews on Amazon were on point. The book reads very much like a movie script--it could be easily adapted to a film which I would certainly like to see. I believe the writer intended this to be a movie as the story line is very current and realistic.

Simply amazing book, it puts you in touch with the realizm and fackness of world politics. recomend that book to your friend or use it against your enemy. Hopefully Mr. Hawksley will have more books coming.

Have to admit, I wrote a scathing review for Dragon Strike and with good reason, it had a lot of techinal mistakes, and was a dry read overall.

So with a bit of trepidation, I picked up The Third World War. To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. This book is up there with the best efforts of Clancy (Red October, Red Storm Rising) and Bond (Red Phoenix, Cauldron).

It has been a few months since I read it, and I was so moved by the story I was going to write a review then, but put it off until now.

Even though the story is not fresh in my mind, I can say that I was literally riveted all the way throughout, and the mistakes that plagued Dragon Strike were not present at all.

The story is gripping, and disturbing, from beginning to end. You are pulled right in as we globe hop from flare-up to flare-up, as events spiral completely out of control.

And the ending, well let's just say it left me chilled, and very few books have managed to accomplish this.

For any fan of the geopolitical/technothriller genre, this is a must read IMHO, and you will not come away dissapointed!

Hawksley is by turns brilliant, earnest, insightful, and frustrated. The eye and ear of a knowledgeable World Correspondent for disasters in the making calls out loud and clear. If an economic concept creates opportunities for man's deadly sins to play themselves out with horrific consequences, then The Third World War sets about showing us the possibilities. Hawksley expertly examines the roles of such things as chance, betrayal, confusion, greed, arrogance, misunderstanding, technology, against the backdrop of the Free Market notions which have no definable center. "If you lose India, you lose" says one character. "And if China withdraws support?" says another. "It is more complicated than that." Perhaps this is key to his view of potential cataclysm. Driving the text of The Third World War is Hawksley's seasoned, global experience of complexity, error, the role of communications and communicators, the narrow edge of facts known in time by decisionmakers. This is not a rousing tale for the adventurer in us. It is a call to thought and leaves us wondering why the global political/industrial complex in which we live has so few failsafe options. Common sense? Hawksley seems to say that no longer exists locally or globally. The Third World War is a provocative, timely and urgent read. To say it is 'chilling' is an understatement. It should be read inside the Beltway, at Downing Street, from Beijing to Geneva, from Singapore to Delhi, from Stockholm to Tokyo and Seoul. Weeping and flailing of hands is not enough. This is a call to action and cooperative action at that. Or as Hawksley intimates, is it more complicated than that?

I am flabbergassed why this novel has not had wide distributuin in the United States. I got it on Thursday and with a busy schedule just finished on Sunday Night. The way it is written is engaging and realistic; and very cautionary. It crystalizes the geopolitical relations we have today, and each countries agenda when looked at in a historic context are no relationships at all. The actual war is very realistic as modern terrrorist incidents and experimental Rouge Nation missile tests touch off a conflagaration. This book is well written, suspenseful and very entertaining. It is also realistic and frightening because the scenario centers around South Asia and the Far East, which in terms of international competition are violent and on the rise. There needs to be a publisher that can pick this book up and distribute in the USA, a must read for gobal war watchers! As good or better than Arc Light which up to this point was one of my must read novels.

The book is good I have not gotten through all of it. I enjoy what I have read so far.

I enjoyed this book. It was better than most 4-in-1 collections. I especially liked the first story. All were good.

Three stories by three very good writers, woven around a family spinning wheel.
SPOKE OF LOVE, by Cathy Marie Hake
Samuel Walsh didn't believe in owning another human, but he couldn't turn his back on the abused woman being offered for sale. He paid the price and took her back to his home. Sold for her husband's debts, Garnet Wheelock first believed the kind stranger might be different from the others, but common sense and a lack of trust convinced her she had to be wrong. Garnet had been through so much that her terrible experiences had rendered her mute. She communicated with Sam through sign language. Garnet was a hard worker, and was adept at using the spinning wheel that had belonged to his first wife. Against his better judgement, Sam found himself becoming the protector of the comely widow, but love was out of the question. Or was it?

SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL By Vickie McDonough
Alone, and with no place to go, Amy Rogers has come prepared to throw herself on the mercy of her cousin, Kathryn Walsh. Kathryn is in labor with a difficult birth when Amy arrives, and she finds herself pressed into helping. Kathryn dies, leaving Amy to care for the newborn baby girl. Micah, Kathryn's husband, has been trapping for furs in the Appalacian Mountains. Unaware that Kathryn was pregnant, he's looking forward to being reunited with his wife and young dughter. Intead he finds that Kathryn is dead, and a stranger is running his household and caring for his two daughters. Amy works hard, but Micah doesn't want her in his house. However, God has plans for both Amy and Micah.

WEAVING A FUTURE By Susan Page Davis
Harry Cooper just wants to buy horses, but then he meets high-spirited, strong-minded Sadie McEwan. It's clear Sadie is attracted to the handsome stranger, and he seems interested in her too, but she has a serious problem to contend with, and he'll soon return home. Besides, she isn't being exactly truthful in their business dealings.
Three delightful stories, by three very accomplished writers. They know exactly how to involve the reader from page one. Fans of historical romance will want this one.

Three books spun around a family's spinning wheel in the Shenandoah Valley. All through these books you are uplifted, encouraged and feel for the people involved. These three stories are hard to put down. I carried my book everywhere and even read while at computer.
Made me almost want to go back in time to the time when work was hard but people could survive with less money.
In Spoke of Love a widower Samuel Walsh sees an indentured servant, Garnet Wheelock, being mistreated by the person who brought her over to sell her as a bride. His compassion reaches out to her and he takes her home. Thus he is able to bring his daughter home from her Aunt's where she has been since his wife died. Both Samuel and Garnet are dealing with a lot of stuff from their past and it takes time to heal and begin to feel they can trust each other. Broken lives are mended and healing takes place.
In Spinning Out of Control, Micah Walsh returns home to find out his wife died in child birth and her cousin, Amy Rogers, is there taking care of his children. As Amy does not know who Micah is, she hits him over head when he returns to protect the children. Amy stays on to continue caring for Micah's children but Micah keeps her at arms distance. Little by little the two strangers learn to trust each other. You can learn about trust and how sometime's harsh circumstances can bind two people together.
In Weaving a Future, Sadie McEwan falls for a horse trader Harry Cooper. When he comes to her farm to buy horses from her father to breed, she wants him to court her. But before he returns to pick up his horses, her father dies and she tries to hide it to protect herself and her freed servants. When Harry finds out her secret, they separate because of mistrust but robbers come and try to rob from Sadie. The servant's son goes to get Harry as he knows he is in the next town because he left his mares behind. Finally Harry and Sadie are able to solve their differences and move forward in forgiveness and love.
These books are books you cannot lay down.

First let me note that this review is for the book "Virginia," NOT "Virginia Brides." When looking into purchasing the latter I decided to read the reviews. To my shock I saw that my review for "Virginia" was posted there. The synopsis' written are for the novellas in Virgina. Now...

I loved, loved, LOVED this book. All the stories were well thought out. They were a perfect combination of drama and lightheartedness.

The first and last stories were more dramatic. The characters in these had their share of struggles. In the first story, a 19 year old is taking care of her younger sister (decieved into a false marriage) and baby and their much younger brother. They are starving when they find the "husband's" brother (who believes someone posed as his brother). The last story takes place during WWI with a decendent of theirs comes back injured from war. He is bitter and angry and seeks solace in their old family home. As he rebuilds it he meets a German neighbor and is forced to deal with his prejudices.

The 2nd and 3rd stories are very quick reads with lots of humor and no dark secrets or pains. They are fun, quick page turneers.

Stories of faith and mercy- beautifully done. I will save this book for another rainy day and read it again!

This book is part of Bruce Moen's "Afterlife Series" and anyone who is the least bit interested in what comes "after" should read these books. This one continues the adventure. These are not fiction, but the experiences of a man who is able to access other dimensions. These books need to be read by everyone to eliminate the fear of death so prevalent in society.

I wasn't even aware this last volume existed until stumbling over in Amazon. Really interesting work.

Bruce Moen was one of the early pioneers who worked with Robert Monroe of the Monroe Institute. Bob, Bruce and many others explored the boundaries of the afterlife, nonphysical reality that exists. In Bruce's 4th book, Voyage to Curiosity's Father, Bruce takes us into an exploration of the possibilities that can exist for all who (eventually) return home, to the afterlife.

If you've never read any of Bruce's works, you will enjoy the clarity he brings to many subjects and questions of the afterlife all of us have had at one time or another (and some you've never thought of !) . Many times I found myself saying out loud "Ah-so" that's what another author in another book meant ! after Bruce carefully and Fully stripped the haze and dogma that often passes for insight. Other times I had to Laugh out loud after Bruce and his friends pointed out insights that the voice in my head told me, have always existed and have been waiting to be rediscovered. If all us are like a filter or a rose colored lens, Bruce surely is one of the finest meshes and sharpest lens around !

In Voyage to Curiosity's Father I learned more about the inner workings of Intent doubt and awareness (and immediately placed my own intent.... manna baby, manna !) and that there are no coincidence's. And more about ghosts, the Hollow Heavens, Max's Hell how they work and why. In the end Bruce searches for the answer to ultimate reality, the big question, who are we ? Join Bruce as he discovers the answer !

The only other books I've found this clear, is Neale Walcsh's CWG series. I highly recommend Bruce's 4th book, Voyage to Curiosity's Father. Thanks Bruce, for being a light upon the Darkness.

Bruce Moen was one of the early pioneers who worked with Robert Monroe of the Monroe Institute. Bob, Bruce and many others explored the boundaries of the afterlife, nonphysical reality that exists. In Bruce's 4th book, Voyage to Curiosity's Father, Bruce takes us into an exploration of the possibilities that can exist for all who (eventually) return home, to the afterlife.

If you've never read any of Bruce's works, you will enjoy the clarity he brings to many subjects and questions of the afterlife all of us have had at one time or another (and some you've never thought of !) . Many times I found myself saying out loud "Ah-so" that's what another author in another book meant ! after Bruce carefully and Fully stripped the haze and dogma that often passes for insight. Other times I had to Laugh out loud after Bruce and his friends pointed out insights that the voice in my head told me, have always existed and have been waiting to be rediscovered. If all us are like a filter or a rose colored lens, Bruce surely is one of the finest meshes and sharpest lens around !

In Voyage to Curiosity's Father I learned more about the inner workings of Intent doubt and awareness (and immediately placed my own intent.... manna baby, manna !) and that there are no coincidence's. And more about ghosts, the Hollow Heavens, Max's Hell how they work and why. In the end Bruce searches for the answer to ultimate reality, the big question, who are we ? Join Bruce as he discovers the answer !

The only other books I've found this clear, is Neale Walcsh's CWG series. I highly recommend Bruce's 4th book, Voyage to Curiosity's Father. Thanks Bruce, for being a light upon the Darkness.

In this book, Bruce Moen explores further in the non-physical realms, covering territory pioneered by Robert Monroe, who mentored Bruce's quest into spiritual realms. This book uses much of the lingo created by Monroe and incorporated into Moen's previous books, so it is helpful if you have read other books by these authors. In this book, the author describes fascinating experiences and goes further into the nature of how consciousness is projected into physical reality. It explores how our beliefs produce our realities in out-of-body realms, and how our lives and experiences may be integrated into a higher level of self, all the way up to the Source, which Moen describes as "Curiosity's Father." This is a wonderful book to read if you are interested in exploring the nature of life and spiritual development.

"Weightless Wealth is a very important contribution to the development of work on Intellectual Capital. It reviews the historical development of IC as well as addresses how to leverage the potential of your intangibles, competences and talents. It has a very interesting appendix called the Value Explorer Toolkit. It shows how to identify core competences and then calculate the value contribution of these competences. This will give a model and fundamental platform for identifying wealth creating dimensions and sustainable shareholder value cultivation."

Leif Edvinsson, the world's first corporate director of IC at Skandia, now associate professor of IC at the University of Lund

Finding a workable and practical means of linking the core competence approach to business management with financial measures has been the goal of many researchers. In Weightless Wealth, Andriessen and Tissen suggest an approach and illustrate it with the easily-followed example of a toy manufacturer which runs through the book. Andriessen and Tissen provide practical advice on how to define and test company competencies and link them to the basic intangible assets that underlies them. Their

toolkit, the Value Explorer, is described in the last part of the book and guides the reader through their suggested process. Their linkage of competencies to financial results and the future earning power of the company is new and provides an alternative perspective for managers faced with critical strategic decisions. This is of special importance in a world in which the value of businesses by traditional means has become very difficult. Weightless Wealth is a well-written book, easy to read and engaging from start to finish.

As a researcher in the field of intellectual capital, I am keen on examining various conceptualizations of managing the intangible knowledge assets of firms. This book provides a refreshing perspective on this matter. It is both an easy read and comprehensive enough to provide the reader with a firm understanding of the current management theories, concepts and measurement approaches in the field. I encourage anyone interested in the management of organizational knowledge (both practitioner and academic) to pick up a copy and enjoy.

As a full time practitioner and researcher on Intellectual Capital Management since the beginning of the 90's, I am always looking for new useful concepts, methodologies and tools on managing intangible assets. This time in Weightless Wealth of Andriessen and Tissen I have found something unique that breaks the conventional thinking: a new practical method that leads to better strategic decisions focusing on core competencies, as the foundations of present and above all future value creation and as the unique bundle of intangible assets.

A took kit the "Value Explorer" guides the reader through the practical applications of the method. I would like to say, that my experience on the model ICBS (Intellectual Capital Benchmarking System), that follows a similar way, guarantees the effectiveness of this new alternative approach. Weightless Wealth is a well-written book, easy to read, enjoyable and engaging from start to finish.

As a researcher in the field of intellectual capital, I am keen on examining various conceptualizations of managing the intangible knowledge assets of firms. This book provides a refreshing perspective on this matter. It is both an easy read and comprehensive enough to provide the reader with a firm understanding of the current management theories, concepts and measurement approaches in the field. I encourage anyone interested in the management of organizational knowledge (both practitioner and academic) to pick up a copy and enjoy.

I started worrying about death and found this book in a store. I read through it and found it really well balanced. Craig HP presents a clear view of our spiritual self in a very persuasive way. What I liked the most about the book was that he did not espouse any specific view of the afterlife, only that there is one. In those rare occasions where he does, the book lost its grip on me for a bit. It is however the more 'neutral' book on the subject that I have been fortunate to read and it changed my view on my spiritual life for good. Highly recomended.

Psychic News has been following the career of the mediums Craig and Jane Hamilton-Parker for many years now and we have enjoyed watching them progress from television psychics for the Big Breakfast to the international recognition they enjoy today. We are particularly interested in seeing how Craig is making a big splash in the USA. Just before Christmas he appeared on American television to talk about his best selling books which are selling in the region of 150,000 copies a year. The Americans just love his easy to understand approach to mediumship.

Craig's latest book has just been released in the UK and is titled "What to do when you are dead" Not surprisingly, it has already been awarded the 'best title of year' by a leading American magazine. Now it is set to take the UK market by storm. "The title may sound a little silly to some people," says Craig "but it is serious Spiritualism that is packaged in a way that will appeal to a wide range of people. I really enjoy reaching out to ordinary people with our message of hope that is based upon the empirical evidence of mediumship. Serious students of mediumship are of course inspired by the Spiritualist classics but nowadays many of these are too weighty for the beginner. At the same time, there are many books on the American market that make my blood boil, as they are pure fantasy without any substance to back up their fantastic claims. I hope my books can present sensible ideas about the afterlife to a somewhat bewildered public in a spirit of cheerfulness and compassion.

'What to do when you are dead' is not fantasy. It is based on information revealed through proven spirit communicators and from those who have had near-death experiences. Its Spiritualist inspired ideas are also complimented by mystical teachings from Eastern traditions. You will come away with answers to many questions about life and death including:

How do you know you are dead?
Will I be able to contact loved ones left behind?
Do guardian angels exist?
What happens when someone dies suddenly?
Can I will myself to come back?

In addition, the book considers what it is like to live in the afterlife and what day-today life is like over there. "I have tried to tackle some difficult ideas", says Craig. "Naturally I have drawn upon many classical Spiritualist ideas but also asked questions about the nature of reality. I have tried to show that the Afterlife is not a place as such but a state of being. There are also things in the book that many Spiritualists may not agree with such as the question of reincarnation and whether there is a conclusion to the continuous evolution of the human soul. I certainly do not have all the answers but I hope the book will make people think and so begin their own odyssey to find out the truth for themselves."

"What to do when you are dead" is a landmark book and is beautifully presented. It has full colour illustrations throughout by the artist Steinar Lund and is printed on quality paper and in a large format. Copies are available from your local bookshop and Psychic News from the 14th February.

I just finished reading Craig's great book. The title is a bit deceptive - It's not only about the afterlife, dying and perhaps returning, it's also contains much wisdom concerning what existence and conciousness are all about, along with our purpose on earth and our purpose in the grand scheme of things. The author has written about various ideas printed elsewhere over the years plus some of his own thoughts. The reader is enlightened to make his/her own choices in what to believe, but in the process the reader's conciousness is greatly expanded. As someone else in another review said, it's hard to put the book down once you've started reading. Also, the color drawings are beautiful. The afterlife is probably more of a state of "absolute awareness" but the drawings will enthrall our human mind.

This book,is well worth reading,it has so many things that apply to everyone and some that will help people grieving.it is a feel good book and made simple to understand for all of us.It is the best read ever and once you start you cant put it down.Providing you believe in all things spiritual it will be worth getting this book now.The pictures are very good in the book and you can see a lot of time went in to it

I recommend this book to everyone, especially those who either have just lost someone or are terminally ill and expecting to soon go on their own adventure into the afterlife.

People who's minds are stuck on the material and have no real sense of spirituality (or a church given one -- same thing) look upon death as the end. The real truth -- and there is no doubt in my mind about this -- is that it's a new beginning. On the other side, many wonderful things beyond our comprehension await us. This has been verified by countless mediums, spiritualists, and others who all arrived at the same conclusions without sharing any information.

Look down at that wonderful piece of bio-mechanical machinery you now occupy -- your body. The thing that carries you about in this world and enables you to interact with it. It's like your car, in a way. You get into your car when you need to go somewhere, and you get out of it when you get home. You can do the same thing with your body if you'll take the time to learn how. And, like your car which will soon be sitting in some junkyard being eaten away by rust, your body will soon occupy a pine box, on the other side of the grass, rotting away as bacteria slowly consume it.

Most people don't want to think about this, but the truth is, death will never happen to YOU -- it will only happen to that BODY you've grown so attached to. You, meanwhile, go on to another place.... a place you've already visited several times before if you're wise enough to learn about Astral Projection (AKA Astral Travel).

Get this book, read it cover to cover, then read it again. You will never again fear the death of your earthly body. I know that I have a lot of life left in me and a lot of time left on this earth.... but when this body of mine stops working for whatever reason, I'm looking forward to turning out the lights and moving to a bigger place with a much better view. ;-)

I can only say congratulations on this most informative book. As a source of information about workflow it is excellent!!

The Workflow Handbook 2001 is exactly what the title indicates. It is a valuable handbook for anyone who is interested in learning about workflow management. Workflow, under whatever label you wish to give it, is a critical enabler in today's hot technologies, such as portals and e-business.

The first chapter - Workflow: An Introduction - describes the current understanding of workflow with the assumption that the reader has no prior knowledge of the topic. It is designed as a basic primer that will help with the appreciation of the more advanced topics described in later articles.

The 20-page paper on workflow interoperability standards for the Internet is clear and easy to understand. It includes details of which operations are defined in the current version of the Wf-XML interoperability specification and a reference list of business-to-business protocols that are being defined and standardized for capturing different business models and

processes. It also describes the efforts toward defining a standard for workflow interoperability that began in 1994 with the Workflow Reference Model from the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC)...

As Editor of the Workflow Handbook 2001, I feel that adding the TOC will help readers decide if this is the right book for them:

Divided into three main sections; "The World of Workflow," Workflow Standards" and "Directory and Appendices," Workflow Handbook 2001 includes the full new Wf-XML Binding Specification and the updated WfMC workflow glossary.

White papers cover topics such as the role of workflow in portal environments, managing time in workflow systems, and fundamental trends in application integration, development tools, and workflow engine cooperation.

The Appendix includes a listing of the more than 250 Workflow Management Coalition member organizations. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC), a non-profit international organization of workflow vendors, academics, users and consultants (www.wfmc.org). Their contributions to the Workflow Handbook are educational in nature, vendor-independent and have studiously avoided any element of a sales pitch.

Workflow: An Introduction; Rob Allen, Open Image Systems Inc., UK

Workflow for the Information Worker; Keith Swenson, MS2 Inc., USA

The Many Generations of Workflow; Carl Frappaolo, Delphi Consulting Group, USA

Workflow-based Process Controlling-Or: What You Can Measure You Can Control; Michael zur Muehlen, University of Muenster, Germany

The Role of Workflow in Portal Environments; Mike Marin, FileNET Corporation, USA

A Supply Chain Management Framework using the TINA-C Business Model and a jFlow Workflow Prototype; Benito T. Giordani and Manuel de J. Mendes, GMD FOKUS, Germany

Managing Time in Workflow Systems; Johann Eder, University of Klagenfurt, Austria; Euthimios Panagos, AT&T Labs - Research, USA

The Birth of m-Commerce; Robert Haxne, Staffware, UK

Interworkflow: A Challenge for Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce; Haruo Hayami and Masashi Katsumata, Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Ken-ichi Okada, Keio University, Japan

Applying Intelligent Workflow Management in the Chemicals Industries; Jussi Stader, Jonathan Moore, Paul Chung, Ian McBriar, Mohan Ravinranathan, Ann Macintosh, United Kingdom

Workflow in the Public Sector; Kathleen K. Billie, DoxSys, Inc., USA

Building Complex Workflow Applications: How to Overcome the Limitations of the Waterfall Model; Stefan Junginger, BOC GmbH, Germany; Harald Kuehn, BOC GmbH, Austria; Mark Heidenfeld, BOC Ltd, Ireland; Dimitris Karagiannis, University of Vienna, Austria

From Workflow to e-Process Automation; Dave Hollingsworth, ICL, United Kingdom

Three Fundamental Trends: Application Integration, Development Tools, and Workflow Engine Cooperation; Martin Ader, Workflow and Groupware Strategies, France

SECTION 2-Workflow Standards

The Value of Standards; Betsy Fanning, AIIM International

Workflow Interoperability Standards for the Internet; James G. Hayes, Computer Sciences Corporation, USA; Effat Peyrovian, ECC Consultants, USA; Sunil Sarin, TIBCO Software, USA; Marc-Thomas Schmidt, IBM UK Ltd., UK; Keith D. Swenson, MS2 Inc., USA; Rainer Weber, SAP AG, Germany

Workflow Standard-Interoperability Wf-XML Binding

SECTION 3-Directory and Appendices

Terminology and Glossary; WfMC Structure and Membership Details; WfMC Officers; Coalition Member Directory; Author Directory

For an organization to achieve effective electronic communication, its workflow systems need to successfully interoperate both internally at the department level and externally with the organizations with which they do business. This can apply to external parties such as vendors, other businesses, and customers.

To achieve wide scale interoperability between organizations, cooperation between workflow vendors is critical. The Workflow Management Coalition ... has worked strenuously for the adoption of standards throughout the industry. Standards allow organizations that have more than one workflow system to connect them easily. They provide a fertile environment for workflow component development to grow and flourish, giving a rich array of options for user organizations. Most importantly, standards provide an infrastructure for inter-organizational process automation and the basis for electronic commerce.

This book puts workflow in its proper context - much more: it convincingly shows how pervasive the subject has become, despite earlier reports on its death as yet another hype gone sour. On the contrary, the most glorious days for this technology still lie ahead as is eloquently presented in the chapter by Carl Frappolo "The many Generations of workflow", which I particularly enjoyed. It becomes clear that the biggest driver of this technology is and will be the internet, whether for e-business, e-government or enterprise portals, actually for most future web application. And this also means continuous adaptation and further development of the field. It is not surprising: after all behind many web application there is some process, and the automation of a process is called workflow by definition, even if it is not made explicit. I strongly recommend the book to anybody concerned with internet/intranet applications.

I was disappointed when the Workflow Coalition failed to bring out a next publication after the 1997 Handbook. At last, we have the 2001 edition, which is truly great. Like the last edition, this is basically a collection of white papers by a bunch of techno-gurus over a broad spectrum that addresses the interests of any organization involved in information technology.

I liked David Hollingsworth's paper on how workflow supports e-business. He's the top workflow guru at ICL and really knows the deal. Another paper I liked that made good sense was Michael zur Muehlen's "Workflow-based Process Controlling-Or: What You Can Measure You Can Control." (He's a wizkid professor from a university in Germany...)

There are about another 20 chapters (I'm going from memory) that cover workflow/BPR/IT etc. The appendices includes the workflow glossary, and the full nteroperability Wf-XML binding.

By and large, I'd say this book is worth the money (it's not cheap) - but I learned a lot (more than I thought I would). Go to the wfmc.org website for more info on the organization. The Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC) creates workflow standards like Wf-XML, and was the first to establish stuff like workflow interfaces for e-commerce, b2b etc.

Our company uses their standards, because everybody else does.