Future Books

This book by Ken Kerle, Ph.D. covers a wide spectrum of issues dealing with jails in America. One chapter flows into the next, yet a reader can start with any chapter and make perfect sense of it. The author uses an easy writing style somewhere between a text book and a friendly chat. The book is documented but not dry like many books. Reading the book is like having a conversation with a jail expert. Dr. Kerle infuses personal experiences in the chapters and the examples he uses really drive home the ideas.

The author is co-founder of the American Jail Association and founder and editor of it's magazine AMERICAN JAILS. Ken Kerle is probably the foremost jail authority in the United States. This is a must read/must own book for anyone with an interest in American jails.

This is a great book for anyone who enjoys the history and social divisions of religious groups. Students, scholars and seekers will all find this book a great reference. After reading, you finally understand how religion, religious groups, and religious ideology play a role in the lives of Americans today. It can be dry and long for persons who just wanted some information but not the nitty gritty details. I highly recommend for social scientists.

Tom Brown's "Anatomy of Fire" is a provocative resource for anyone looking for ways to understand or discuss leadership, as applicable to classrooms (where I use the book) as it is for boardrooms. Though any book should be read as a whole to understand the author's full intent, Brown has managed to create a series of readable chaplets that can stand alone, allowing for focused discussion and emphasis. His ideas about civic, organizational, and political leadership, and particularly his discussion of placeholders versus true leaders, are sure to excite readers generally and students specifically in ways not commonly found in most leadership books or texts. Equally important is the passion that Brown exudes for his topic. This is not a cold, distant, academic treatise. It is a statement of belief from a true entrepreneur and leader in his own right. Brown writes from his heart, encouraging the reader to agree or disagree, challenge or apply, use or discard, but never ignore. I am one of a number of educators who have used the book in classes and have seen the ways that students respond. Brown's positions on leadership are not the standard positions students have come to expect, and they appreciate that fact. The book helps them develop their own ideas and insights, often by challenging conventional wisdom, and thereby helps them learn. I know the book well, I have seen it work, and I recommend it highly, particularly for teachers trying to help their students understand the complicated nature of genuine leadership.

Dr. Engbring has created a true treasure for Marquette/MCW alums and all others with an interest in the school. What a labor of love it must have been. The book is extremely well written and well organized, and it appears to be frank and comprehensive. I thought that I was quite aware of the goings-on during the period that I was at the school, but this book sheds much new light even on things that I thought I knew well. If you have had any significant involvement with the school, you are bound to find this book of interest. And for a book of this type, it's actually a great read! Highly recommended.

This is a very good book for those who are interested in World music and/or fusion music and want to be able to play all those beautifull and often complex rhythms that one hears in that type of music.

The first chapter is about the Rhythms from West Africa, it has a clear chapter on polyrhythms and a formula to figure them out. Chapter two deals with the rhythms from Bali, the one you will hear in Gamelan music, and chapter Three deals with Indian Rhythms, Both from North and South India.

And then in the fourth and final chapter one mixes all that rhythm knowledge to create new patterns, hence the name Future Possibilities.

If you do all the exercices in the book you are well one your way to play and understand the rhythms that masters like Trilok Gurtu and Glen Velez play.

Also recomended are Rhythm book authors like Reinhard Flatischler, Alan Dworsky, Sule Greg Vilson, Peter Magadini and Tom Klower.

See also the videos by Airto Moreira, Alex Acuna, Kalani and Paulo Mattioli.

This is the first Webber book I have read. I was originally uncomfortable with his ideas (about five years ago) but having recently been dismayed with all modernist Christianities (be they liberal, Evangelical, or some Reformed), and given a recent interest in Patristic thought, I decided to give this book a chance.

Webber defines "ancient-future" worship as "publically enacting God's narrative." The worshipping church tells God's narrative, which Webber carefully defines, following the Eastern tradition, as "Creation-Incarnation-Recreation." Given this, an ancient-future church will proclaim God's Scriptures as "true," but not merely in the Enlightenment style of "proving the Bible."

Ancient-future worship will climax in the Eucharist. Don't worry, he isn't advocating Roman transubstantiations. His "Word and Table" model, in my humble opinion, is the best I have ever seen. The Eucharist tells the story of the Incarnate, who while being in the womb of the Virgin, united humanity to his nature so that he may redeem humanity and the world. The bread and wine symbolize the life of the world; the life being given to the world. Christ is really present. The Patristics, contra the moderns (be they conservative or liberal), saw the reality inherent in a sign.

Conclusion:
I don't have any cons with this book. It is very easy to read and flows very well. Webber cuts across the so-called "worship wars." He notes how staid traditionalism and silly happy-clappyism easily tend toward idolatry and man-worship. An ancient-future model provides a glorious alternative.

As a retired minister I appreciated the viewpoint presented in the book. Like most people I am interested in the future, especially mine. The subtitle on the cover stated a subtheme that Christians would "judge angels". I found the reference that was used in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 6:3. Since I believed angels could do no wrong, I dug into the original language and found the word can also mean to distinguish or decide. The view is presented to accompany the promise that believer would sit with Jesus on His throne as promised in Revelation 3:21. The book mentions that Jesus said that He could have summoned twelve legions of angels to protect Him. When believers are promised they will have special privileges over the angels the prospects are exciting to me. I recommend the book as credible and interesting to those of us who are curious about the future from a biblical viewpoint.

It's amazing how this book transcends time in relevance and interest. Any one who loves animals will love this book. Anyone who doesn't, will after they read this book. MWB

If the Women's Health Initiative made you reluctant to prescribe hormone therapy, think again. And if you happen to be a lady doctor of a 'certain age,' you'll think a whole lot better if you're taking estrogen yourself.

These doctors have compiled an awesome archive of research on hormones and brain function. This body of knowledge from studies on neurons in petri dishes, animal brains, and women proves that the Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS) has no relevance to decision making for our patients now facing the menopausal transition and beyond.

You owe it to your patients to pick-up a copy; the price for a used copy is a steal!

Another Future: Poetry And Art In Postmodern Twilight is an anthology of critical essays about contemporary poetry, art, culture, and politics by independent scholar and poet Alan Gilbert. Divided into three sections, "Considering How Material Documents Can Be", "Territories and Other Forms of Knowing", and "Meaning Politics Without Regrets", Another Future questions the social context of modern poetry and charters a discourse for thinking about contemporary culture in terms beyond post-modernism. A scrutiny so meticulous as to resemble a documentary, Another Future is especially recommended reading for students of modern poetry.