Future Books

This book is a collection of 34 articles summarizing many of the presentations at one of the recent NDSS annual conferences. The list of authors read like a who's who of the Down syndrome community. The book is divided into ten sections with articles ranging from advocacy to communication to education to the role of the family. The last section is made up of six articles written by people with Down syndrome. The book is very similar to the more recently published "Down Syndrome: Visions for the 21st Century," (ISBN: 0471418153). But this book is not replaced by the new edition. The articles in this book are different and are still very much worth reading. This isn't a book for a new parent and it certainly shouldn't be your first book on Down syndrome. There are other books such as "Babies with Down Syndrome," that would be a better choice as a first book. But this book does provide a lot of very useful and interesting information. Anyone interested in finding out what is going on in the world of Down syndrome will want to get a copy.

Book contains current info in every category a new parent wonders about. Answers questions before you even think to ask them. Especially poignant are the sections on advocacy and education. Chapters written by people with DS are very powerful. Can do without the section on genetics. A must read.

"Dreams Have No Expiry Date" is an excellent guide for creating and living out personal dreams for women of all ages. It is written from the heart and speaks to the heart. This book would make a great gift for the vibrant, vivacious, life-loving women in your life. I'm planning on buying a copy for my mom!

The authors ask mid-life women a difficult philosophical question: What are you doing with the rest of your life? But they don't leave us dangling. They provide thoughtful advice based on research and practical exercises that allow us to make sound decisions. Baby boomers are lucky to have Gottlieb and Rosenswig to lead us onward and upward!

I have been a strong advocate of Elaine Morgan's Aquatic Ape Theory and Murray's Sea Energy. This book combines my favorite subjects, e.g., evolution, aquatic ape theory, the energy of the sea water and nutrition. It is the only one of its kind. Yet, it is out of print. I donot understand that. Evolutionist are either blind with their own theories or just getting old. I noticed that terrestrial evolutionists debunk the AAT, while the marine evolutionists tend to accept AAT. I wonder if they also recognize the influence of nutrition on evolution of homo sapiens.
Miguel Melgar

A species must have the proper nutrition to thrive, if nutrition changes the species must adapt. Better adapted mutations survive and the species is changed. For other challenges the nutritional support for the adapting mutation must be present. For instance, man must have developed his big brain while he had access to omega 3 fatty acids ---most likely near a lake or the ocean. Today,the IQ in UK is declining to lack of proper nutrition

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FUTURE is the best compilation of essays that I have seen on different ways to organize businesses and nonprofits to achieve different kinds of results. The book is full of intriguing questions and choices, and lots of good ideas about how to make the desired changes you select. Anyone who manages people should read this book, and refer to it when effectiveness questions arise. The only thing that seemed to be missing from this book was a "clean slate" approach to organizations, by imagining what has never existed before. That would be an intriguing addition for future editions. The Drucker Foundation has done a real service to us all by creating its series (THE LEADER ..., THE ORGANIZATION ..., and THE COMMUNITY OF THE FUTURE). I hope that a future version will appear on THE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES OF THE FUTURE. That would be an invaluble complement to this outstanding series.

The three books of the Drucker Foundation Future series represent a wonderful collection of thinking by noted thought leaders. Each chapter in the LEADER of the FUTURE, the ORGANIZATION of the FUTURE, and the COMMUNITY of the FUTURE, is short, concise, and insightful. Authors include Peter Drucker, Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, Frances Hesselbein, Meg Wheatley, and others.

This package makes a wonderful gift for a student, a graduate, someone taking a new job, or someone hungry for renewal. The paperback editions of the books are attractive and easy to carry, and the boxed set is handsome.

It's an enjoyable book with an expanding vision of the e-universe. Goes much beyond the customer-focused aproched. A valuable tool for any manager in today's world.

Understanding the e-customer: sounds familiar BUT going through the book gives us the feeling we've just been in the parallel universe of the Matrix surrounded by the bright colours and sounds of MTV. It has a life of its own, truly has captured the soul of the e-customer. After the journey (reading) we are left with star trek expectations and what's wrong with that? Once someone said `ideas do change the world', well here it is a book full of those. If Mckeown truly is a guru that makes me a follower.

Es el mejor libro en español sobre postproduccion que he leido. Yo esperaba que hubiera mas informacion sobre la autoria de dvd y material para la web pero habla más sobre cine y video. Sin embargo el resto es apasionante. Explica la tecnología moderna con facilidad, me ha resuelto muchas dudas que tenía pendientes.

Conocí a Antonio hace dos o tres años porque nos ayudó con un problema que teníamos en el laboratorio con un cortometraje que estaba editando yo, osea q seguramente no soy muy objetiva ya que se porto de maravilla con nosotros. Todavía no he podido comprar el libro, pero si es la mitad de bueno q los consejos que nos dio entonces seguro qeu merece la pena.
Muchas gracias por todo.

ENERGY REVOLUTION presents a sensible strategy for promoting the necessary transition to renewable energy in the U.S. I would say the title is misleading (revolution?), but even sensible reforms seem like revolutionary changes in the face of the entrenched power of the oil companies, auto industry, nuclear power lobby, and the rest of the empire of the fossil fuel status quo.

Howard Geller is an old hand and an expert in the field -- he headed the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy for two decades in Washington D.C. He has stepped out of the Beltway, and is now Director of the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project based in Boulder. With that background, you can bet he knows what we're up against.

The core of Geller's book are his presentations of Clean Energy scenarios for the U.S. and Brazil, where he studied. His U.S. scenario has 10 policies:

1) increase passenger vehicle fuel economy standards,

2) establish a national system benefits trust fund (a utility surcharge used to promote energy efficiency),

3) adopt voluntary agreements to reduce industrial energy use,

4) establish a renewable energy portfolio standard for power generators,

5) adopt new appliance efficiency standards and stronger building codes,

6) provide tax incentives for innovative renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies,

7) expand federal R&D and deployment programs,

8) remove barriers to combined heat and power systems,

9) establish renewable or carbon content standards for vehicle fuel, and

10) strengthen emissions standards on coal-fired plants.

Geller calculates that the impact of these policies would be a $600 billion cost and a $1200 billion savings, for a net savings of $600 billion compared to a baseline scenario of continued promotion of fossil fuels. He knows that this economic analysis is critical, given that the fossil fuel lobby will try to portray renewable energy as more costly. Notice that Geller avoids proposing any sort of energy or CO2 emissions tax -- such "green taxes" are already being used to great effect in Europe, but Geller is experienced and pragmatic enough to know that the U.S., the land of cheap gas, long distances and gas-guzzling SUVs, requires a different approach.

Much more could be said about this excellent book. But given the political campaign now going on, let me add a word about Democratic political strategy and vision. The current debate is over who will do a better job of keeping gas prices low. Kerry is certainly realistic in this, and I hope he wins in November -- with Bush/Cheney and the oil industry in the saddle, renewable energy is going nowhere. But keeping gas cheap is doing nothing to encourage renewable energy -- it's sending the wrong price signal. Kerry needs to go on the offensive, making the case that we've got to rapidly wean ourselves from oil for the sake of national security as well as ecological survival. His policy team should take a look at the bold program of the Apollo Project, which includes major labor unions -- a proposed all-out push for renewable energy comparable to the 1960s race to the moon. This would create jobs and revitalize the economy while making the environment cleaner and making the U.S. self-sufficient in energy. Put Bush on the defensive! Renewable energy needs to become the focus of a mass movement, starting now.

For a truly revolutionary strategy for renewable energy, see THE SOLAR ECONOMY by Herman Scheer, a member of the German parliament, the Bundestag, and a Social Democrat (SPD) -- see my review. See my OVERSHOOT AND COLLAPSE? list for more on oil and energy.

I would recommend "Energy Revolution" to anyone interested in energy policy. Howard Geller provides an inspired, yet extremely practical and down to earth vision of a path towards sustainable energy use. It is an understatement to say that most people in the energy industry assume that energy demand will continue to grow, and that the increasing supply needs should be met mainly through a mix of coal, nuclear, and natural gas. To successfully debate with the tremendous inertia of this business as usual view, it will be extremely valuable and essential to have available the depth of research and documentation that Geller provides in this book.

Of course all discussions of future energy use scenarios are debatable, but Geller provides numerous examples of policies to promote efficiency and renewables that are currently in use in various countries, as well as the successes and results they have achieved. The bottom line is that an intelligent and rational energy policy in the U.S. or any country would consider the least-cost options to meeting energy needs (including social and environmental costs as much as possible). Analyzed in this way, policies to encourage energy efficiency and renewable sources are clear winners, more often than not. As Geller clearly illustrates, the main obstacles to more sustainable energy use are not technical, but a variety of other obstacles that can be overcome through different types of policy instruments. However, there are also serious political obstacles to smarter energy policies. For example, U.S. oil and automotive companies continue to oppose and successfully block any new standards for increasing the fuel-efficiency of cars and trucks, in order to increase their own short-term profits and despite the negative impacts of wasteful U.S. oil consumption.

Even many people with only a moderate interest in energy policy would enjoy the reading at least the first and last chapters of Geller's book. Hopefully, "Energy Revolution" will become an important part of rational discussions of energy policy issues by policy- makers, researchers, progressive business leaders, students, and informed citizens for at least the next several years.

I tracked this book down because I was so impressed with the author's earlier work, AFTER WE DIE THEN WHAT? Infact, it seems that most of the material covered in that first book is repeated and updated here.

The major difference between the two is the large amount of channeled material from the author's recently deceased wife. Your reaction to it will depend on your reaction to the phenomenon of channelling, but as the author points out, he travelled the world and only found a handful of legitimate channels in his entire life. These are the channels that he relies upon here. Personally, I found these communications to be believable. In addition to contacting his wife and daughter, lengthy transcripts are included from such historical personages as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Eleanor Roosevelt. I know that many people will automatically dismiss this, but the author spent his life researching this field and he was not automatically accepting nor easily fooled.

The book is not all channelled material, though. There is much on the subject of electronic instrumentality to establish contact (Electronic Voice Phenomenon with tape recorder, SPIRICOM, European electronic equipment, TV picture tube, computer contact, telephone.) I was especially interested in the fact that most electronic contact relies on a psychically gifted person being present to perhaps provide an ectoplasmic component or coating to the circuit...

Do not make the mistake of dismissing this book as an act of desperation by a man trying to ensure the survival of his beloved wife after death. There is none of that here. This is rather the capstone, and a validation, to a lifetime spent in researching survival of the personality after death while cutting through distorting accretions of dogma and creed (yet the spiritual core of the great religions are still confirmed.)

Mention is made of a companion volume, WHAT IT'S LIKE IN HEAVEN, but I have not been able to confirm that it ever actually made it to press before the author's passing.

Not handicapped by preliminary assumptions as a clergyman, or philosopher, George Meek has given many years to communication with the dead.Using current electronic skills he is one of the first to establish verifiable communication with the physically deceased. Working with other seekers he has helped to validate appearances on television screens of people in spirit. His work agrees with the many individuals have experienced death, not as something horrendous, but rather a beautiful, "going into the light." With his background as a successful international industrialist he is able to bring his discoveries to the attention of a broad spectrum of people.

Did you know that marijuana is not only legal in Cambodia, but is often used as a flavoring in soups? Or that traditional Chinese law in the fifth century forbade merchants from wearing nice clothes in public? Did you know that in Japan, giving a potted plant to a sick patient is a bad omen, a sign that a malady may take root? Or that Laos produces some three hundred tons of opium annually? How about the fact that the Philippines is the word's third largest English-speaking country (in terms of population)?

In Leo Paul Dana's new book, Entrepreneurship in Pacific Asia: Past, Present & Future, the countries of the far east are presented with both the precision of a shrewd business man, and the sensitivity of one for whom this region of the world holds an obvious and ineluctable charm. Covering the ten countries that make up what is known as the "far east" - Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam - Leo Paul, in short erudite chapters, attempts to convey both the complexity and appeal of a region that harbors extremes of material wealth, divergences of spiritual practice and histories as rich in flavor as they are in turmoil.

The book is the first of its kind, pulling together a wealth of knowledge that will be required reading for anyone - student or professional - interested in getting to know either the culture or the business possibilities that abound in Pacific Asia. In Indonesia, for instance, a carefully constructed balance has been created between the country's massive reliance on agriculture, and the need to modernize and create more opportunities for entrepreneurship. Development programs have been set up to bridge the gap between traditional village life and the needs of a growing world economy. Considering the tensions in East Timor, it is important for entrepreneurs and western businessmen to be sensitive to climates that are undergoing such radical changes. And while it is perhaps impossible to retain the sort of agriculturally based economies that have led us to the present day, it is a worthy cause, as Leo Paul shows, to try and save those cultures within a broader context. Even in France, where the world economy is clipping along, there are fierce battles raging over how to manage GM foods and how the cultural inheritance for today's children will be defined. Leo Paul's book testifies to the presence of an Asian entrepreneurial spirit, and at the same time attempts to show the importance of paying attention to the cultural values that define that spirit. In Singapore, for example, "clan associations" were founded in an attempt to foster co-operation among people who spoke the same language. As Leo Paul says, "Mingling with other members helped individuals understand trends in product development as well as price fluctuations."

The complexity of entrepreneurship in Asia is astounding. The importance and preponderance of Chinese immigrants, for example, is a phenomenon which Canadians and Americans have witnessed on their own shores, but whose effect, perhaps, they have been ignorant of in other regions of the world. The Chinese brought both Mandarin Script and Chinese Medecine to Singapore; and in the Philippines, although they comprise only 2 percent of the population, they control more than half of the market capitalization in that country. Often, despite prejudice from local populations, as well as from colonial powers, the Chines have not only fostered, but helped expand an entrepreneurial spirit throughout Pacific Asia.

Filled with stunning photographs, taken by Leo Paul himself on his trips to the various regions detailed in the book, Entrepreneurship in Pacific Asia is a must read for the business minded of the next generation. That is, those who recognize that the world of business is no longer an isolated one, that to be successful you have to understand, or at least be interested in the whole world. An exciting time indeed to be an entrepreneur!

Pacific Asia has become a very important region for commerce since the easing of trade barriers and expansion of the global economy. The effects of globalization have had a tremendous impact on Pacific Asia, not only through the creation of big multinational corporations, but their effects on social values and nature of doing business resulting from this increased competition. In Entrepreneurship in Pacific Asia Past, Present and Future, Professor Leo Paul Dana gives an in-depth description of the entrepreneurial events that have been occurring in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Professor Leo Paul Dana is the deputy director of the MBA International Business Program at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, as well as a Senior advisor for the World Association for Small & Medium Enterprises and the Associate Director of the ENDEC Entrepreneurship Development Center. Along with his expertise on entrepreneurship, Professor Dana has personally visited each location and therefore each chapter is written from his personal travels and experiences.

This book answers all your questions about how countries in Pacific Asia are dealing with the internationalization of entrepreneurship in the new global economy. This includes new and exciting incentives governments are providing to encourage entrepreneurs and create new opportunities for locals as well as the need for foreign experts to help train and work with local talent. The support programs that local governments are beginning to implement and the increasing amount of venture capital that is now more readily available for entrepreneurs, has made Pacific Asia a very attractive region for new business enterprises.

Each chapter begins with a countries historical overview that is essential in understanding the specific events that tailored and shaped the entrepreneurial activities and opportunities in each individual country. By acknowledging the past, we can better understand what strategies need to be implemented in order to support a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the future.

Professor Dana has shown how culture can greatly affect the business practices of a country. From the work-loving, motivated Buddhists in Thailand, to the multicultural, diverse and efficient Singaporeans, each country has its own cultural diversity that has shaped the economy and business community.

One of the main stresses of this book is on the role of the Chinese in entrepreneurship. The Chinese have deep entrepreneurial roots in each of the chapters described. For example, there are one million ethnic-Chinese in Vietnam. In Ho Chi Minh they compose 12% of the population yet control up to 50% of the local economy. Usually making up only a small percent of a country's total population, the Chinese have historically been very active and influential on their economies.

This book is perfect for both new business students who want to gain insight into the field of international business and entrepreneurship as well as more advanced students who can gain a more clear insight into the characteristics of Pacific Asian economies and business opportunities available in these 12 countries.

After reading this book, one will be able to see the limitations and advantages offered in each country and compare how these governments have attempted to expand there efforts into stimulating new business opportunities and remain competitive in the new global economy.

A wonderful book told with humility, intelligence, warmth, anger and knowledge.
It presents the text of Don Berwick's annual talks at IHI's (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) National Healthcare Forum.
This is a highly reccommended read if you work in healthcare. I don't know what others will think about this book.

Escape Fire is collection of compelling speeches by one of America's leading crusaders for health care quality and patient safety - Don Berwick, MD, founder and president of the Boston-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI.org).

Each year, IHI hosts the National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care. The influential annual event draws 4,000 health care leaders from around the world in person and 6,000 via satellite. In many ways, Dr. Berwick's keynote lectures set the tone for quality improvement efforts across the US. With an effective blend of common sense, real-life stories, persuasive metaphors, and out-of-the-box thinking, Dr. Berwick's presentations make for fascinating reading for anyone interested in improving America's $1.7 trillion health care system.